skypuppy

I do know that every other profession I've been involved with (school teachers, skiing instruction, snowboarding instruction, etc.) there are currency requirements. ________________________________________________ What are the currency requirements for school teachers? I know maybe there may be employer requirements with individual boards, but I don't know of any for the Ontario College of Teachers, who regulate in the province, to renew. So, like I said before, it should be between the instructor and the employer (dzo, chief instructor, wahtever) what the requirements would be. On the other hand, teachers also get a certain amount of pd on 'pa days', for which they are paid. I doubt too many instructors would have a problem being paid for pd at the dz, either.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Who and when did it represent. Bonus marks for who created it.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

The realities of skydiving and instructing in a busy full-time year-round turbine-powered Southern US dropzone is far-removed from a cessna-powered 4 or 5-month season in Bum-f**k, Canada, where even that season can be shortened by weather. It's quite possible you could go a year without jump-mastering, spending your time doing tandems or pff, only to find the next year the previous jumpmasters have moved on and it may be up to you to drop students. Now, surprise, you no longer have a rating. Or vice-versa.... But of course if part-time instructors all stop instructing, that creates more work for the full-time go-getters.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I just found out that due to sport canada directives cspa will be implementing new currency requirements for ratings holders in canada. Up until now, once you completed a ratings course you had one year (or two, if extension needed) to complete the minimum number of students required to have your rating marked 'continuous', after which you simply needed to renew your cspa membership each year in order to keep your ratings valid. In the future apparently instructors will be required to complete minimum requirements FOR EACH RATING in order for them to be valid, and have it signed off. In canada we have coach 1 (in-air and on ground with novice students, things like turns, backloops), coach 2 (1on1 rw with novices, etc.), jm (iad/sl progression), SSI (first jump courses), PFF (basic aff), SSE (first jump and signing endorsements). That would mean dropping X amount of s/l or iad students to maintain that rating AND Y amount of pff students at the same time, and so many in-air coaching jumps for that rating, and teaching certain number of first jump courses for that rating, plus signing off a certain number of endorsements per year or losing that ability. I wondered if other national organizations had these sort of policies, and if it was a problem for instructors at some dz's to get the numbers needed to stay current, say with pff. Or could it be a problem on some dz's for instructors who do mainly pff or tandem to get in sl loads? What are other countries' experiences? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

There's about 5 shots of the skyhawks from an airshow in Canada this weekend. Looks like they put on a good show. http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/07/06/10038831.html If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I know there are a lot of "girls from Canada" but I can't help but wonder if she might be the same girl from Canada who was kicked out of Pope Valley for a VEEEERRRY low pull. ______________________________________________ Don't think so, I had the impression she was a student. Went down with Harry G., but stayed with Hawkeye the night before her bounce. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Remember : Skydiving ..... It's something that I do, not what I am. Maybe you. I've been skydiving more than half my life. During that time I've been through at least 4 career changes, moved around, married, moved around, bought a house, moved again, gone through 6 vehicles. The one constant in my life has been parachuting. Family members die, friends die, employers lay you off or go bankrupt, maybe you go back to school, or to jail, who knows. But the one thing you can count on, is, you're are a jumper. I don't really bring it up consciously in conversations any more, the way I did when I started BASE jumping, for instance, but having not been a great atlete in school, skydiving gave me self-confidence, taught me goal-setting, both short and long term, and gave me a lot of friends who liked me for me, not for what I could do for them. It showed me how to train, how to compete, how to mature. I've learned how to instruct, and hopefully how to assess students and to put a student's needs before my own.... Sure, I may problems, could be an alcohol problem, could be ego problems, but generally I've learned if you want to claim something you should be able to back it up. I'm not perfect, hell, I may not be a great person, but what I am, I am because of this sport. And I'm guessing there are a lot other people that feel this way, too, right or wrong. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

He had some for sale but I don't know if any got sold yet. Some are leased out, I think 3 are still at the dz.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

STI = Skydive Toronto Inc. 1/2 hour north of Toronto at Cookstown, just off highway 400. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Well, I said I'd believe it when I saw it, but Friday I actually got to jump out of it, so I guess it's true! The Caravan is flying at STI! Yesterdat the weather sucked, but I'm sure it's going to be flying again today. If you're near Toronto, check it out! If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Nothing calm about it!! It's the sheer terror that spins our minds into slow motion mode. __________________________________________________ Well, it wasn't with me. I think the ones feeling sheer terror are the ones that freeze and go in without pulling all the handles. I'd pulled mine, and I was just a bit disappointed.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

_________________________________________________ Well, you're not going to get that kind of money. The first chuteless jumps (Bill Coles', anyways) were done more or less 'on spec'. You do it and we'll see what it's worth. After successful completion your rep as a stuntman goes up and you can command more money for other stuff. He (Cole) was offered a considerable amount of money to jump the CN Tower before Dar Robinson did it. Dar ended up doing it for quite a bit less than that because, like I said, it would be good for his portfolio, and he wanted to do it.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

With the techniques and technology, and the skills available today I don't think you can really say that. Certainly in the old days, the late 60's and 70's, it might have been true to an extent. I know that before Bill Cole's second chuteless jump in 1972, the guys sat around discussing what would happen if the fellow Bill was to hook up with just stayed out of his reach. A lot of these guys were Vietnam vets, and maybe a little 'out there'. In the end, he made it easy for Bill to hook up, but if he hadn't, it might have been difficult to prove anything from the film evidence. but nowadays with not only the techniques and equipment, but also great video, a permanent record of everyone's actions would be available, showing why it happened, and I don't think you could get away with screwing the jump up (maybe with screwing up the parachute you give him, though). So as long as you find the guys with the proper skills, it wouldn't be hard to do. It just sounds scary, but it's really only one point. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

_________________________________________________ I don't know, it could be a cultural thing. Up here we have colleges and universities. If you're in a masters program, you're in university, not college. Generally colleges gave certificates or diplomas, universities bestowed degrees. So you could have been a bit unfair to her.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

When I found myself sub-400 at terminal, with all the handles pulled and nothing happening, I thought about the people watching, "man, they're going to thinkin' he pulled off more then he can chew this time...." Then I saw my girlfriend's face in the field below me, and got a bit sad for a second.... then I just wowed at the groundrush, man, if you ain't seen it from 300' at terminal, it's impossible to describe.... I knew right where I was gonna hit.... Then, the reserve opened. On the other hand, when I had fewer jumps, after cutting away from my first malfunction I did an accidental backloop (using r-3's), then, instead of pulling the reserve right away, I figured I only got one shot left, I don't want to know too soon if it's not gonna work, so I did a couple more backloops before pulling the handle. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Are the dvd's commercially available, Howard? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I believe Skydive Jack was featured on the cover of Skydiving Magazine way back when in a triplane formation built using T-10's. Anyone got a scan of that pic? I'm guessing somewhere in the 1980-1983 period. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

This is my cobra, which looks quite different from yours. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I think if you look under 'chicken ranch', you might find it. I guess they had a meet there as an annual event for a while. Yup, it's there... "I've still got my "Support Your Local Hooker" T-shirt. I was at the meet in 1977, and was on the winning team in the 5 way scrambles. The prize was a 30 minute gift certificate, and according to my logbook entry the name of the prize was "Christine." Oh yes, there's a trophy. The girls though my solid red Paradactyl looked like a giant valenetine. Joe, knocking on the door in the morning: "Harry, are you up yet?" Female voice from under the covers: "Not yet, but I'm working on it." Blue Skies! Harry " If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Hi Jerry Quote -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canopies got more cells, so they cost more.... They're smaller and more fidgety to make, so there' more labor involved.... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I disagree. I have built more than just one sport harness/container. I have also built one ( yup, just one ) canopy. ________________________________________________ No argument here. I was alluding to the fact that when a 7-cell Pegasus, cloud, titan, whatever, for example, was replaced by a 9-cell, or even a 21-cell, then the cells got smaller, airlocks were added in, etc., so now we have canopies on the market in the mid $2000-2500 range or more. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Back in the old days you could get a new 7-cell main like a pegasus for about $800, and rigs, like a new wonderhog or up here an innovator, for $295 to $375. Then there was an article in Skydiving Magazine that Bill Booth had hired a marketing firm to look over his operation and make suggestions. Their suggestion? Bill would never get rich until he started charging the same amount for a container as the canopy companies were making for their parachutes. Within a year that happened. And the cost has gone up ever since. Canopies got more cells, so they cost more.... They're smaller and more fidgety to make, so there' more labor involved.... Hell, a jumpsuit now costs as much as a rig used to. I've heard the argument that the other reason the cost went up was to help cover the risks of lawsuits involved. The solution? Until you're experienced to get a sponsor who may give you a deep discount on a rig.... Buy used. They're easier to pack, too. Of course, this is written by a cheapskate who spent over 25 years packing his own chute before ever paying someone else to pack it for him.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

So as far as the guy's wife is concerned, the world championships, the world records, the fact he made his living this way for years, and all the thousands of good jumps he made where he didn't die, don't mean squat.... That's a fairly sad statement as well. I mean, none of us 'want' to die, and I'm sure he would have wished he'd turned on the Cypres, but I also think he probably figured that it was a fair trade in the end.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Hey, if your getting a free jump you have no room to bitch! Well, I still don't think he enjoyed it. He was actually booked to jump out of the plane again in Vancouver the following month, but he never showed up. The official story, I think, was that he was sick. Organizers had to find a replacement. Turned out a smoke jumper was performing not to far away, so Charles Saunders became the first person to jump out of a plane in Canada. If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

I doubt he would have gotten beer for anyone. He was pretty pissed off that people were more interested in talking to the pilot of the plane than in watching him land or helping him get his parachute down. Not to mention the fact that the pilot had aborted his first takeoff, slamming on the brakes, and Morton ended up on his ass on the beach (there was no seat or seatbelt for him on the plane, he was sitting on a plank on the wing. And he couldn't hold himself there because he was holding the parachute in a ball on his lap.... If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

Ok, 1912. Only one person has ever jumped from an airplane. Only a fraction of the US has electric power delivered by hydro lines, let alone the whole world. And what happens to Grant Morton when he becomes the second person to jump from a plane by parachute? If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead. Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone