Leaderboard

I feel like I'll do it till the day comes I can't do it anymore, for what reason whatsoever. However, you'll never know what life throws at you. I did a tandem 20 years ago and I liked it so much that I wanted to do AFF, but my job consisted out of working 3 of the 4 weekends so it would have been difficult to get the jumps in. Plus I was too young back then and didn't have the money to spent, so I let it go and started to collect modeltrains and do martial arts. But I told myself 'someday...'. 10 years later I got a tandem jump as a gift from my wife because she knew I did it once before and that I liked it so much. Then the whole 'I want more' feeling came back, but I had a little girl who was 5 years old at the time and I decided to not pursue it. Again I told myself 'someday...'. 2 years ago I told my wife I wanted to buy a motorcycle but bounced on an immediate and very convincing 'NO'. I said, 'then I want to go skydiving'. 'Fine' she said. A week later I booked a skydiving vacation to get AFF and now I'm almost at 200 jumps. I try to go as much as I possibly can but we have two girls of which my youngest is now 5 (ironic). My wife supports me but I have to keep the family/skydive balance even. I did 103 jumps in 2019 and that's my goal for 2020 too. At least 100 jumps. I don't think I'll ever stop doing this. My oldest daughter is almost 15 and wants to do a tandem, so who knows she's next

I ask again, what do you have to gain by pretending to be so stupid? The precedent is, this is the exact same thing that happens any time that government documents of historical significance are signed, and it is the same thing that happened the last time a President was impeached. Although on that occasion they had to be taken back because the Republican party didn't know how to spell the name of the country. What indication is there that Pelosi isn't taking the high road?

First you have to pretend the Hypocratic Oath dosn't exist in a hospital, specifically "First, do no harm." 5 dead. One simply can't be admitted to the hospital under the risk of being harvested for other patients.

But Hillary Clinton is responsible for Benghazi.

For me it isn't the same. I believe I now do have a moral obligation to act and will sacrifice the 5 or 10 or 20 or whatever to save my child.

Oh come on. Do a LITTLE research. Its tradition form both parties for important documents. Cheesy, I admit. But to lambast Pelosi for it specifically AND to make out that it makes her worse than Trump is simply rediculous.

I have come to realise that there is some kind of perception bias when it comes to Tuttle and Trump. A false equivalence, if a dem slapped a child and Trump molested one, it would be ‘see they both abuse children, they are no different’. On that note, I will not be surprised if Trump wins a second term. I think Trump appeals to a fairly large segment of the population and gives a voice to those with prejudice. They are too scared to own their views but are happy to allow Trump to be their voice.

Obviously not, it's clearly both worse and a uniquely Trumpian thing to do, whereas your one example of Pelosi is simply her following standard practice and established precedent. Which is why it is utterly bizarre that you have decided that one thing she did makes her just as bad as Trump, for whom we have example after example after example of crassness and lack of decorum - not to mention criminality. Which (call me crazy) I tend to think of as more important than the use of too many pens.

Something I intensely dislike about the USA is the way they try and circumvent international law by ‘inventing’ new classes of enemy. Bush did it with Iraq and Afghanistan and the same goes for designating an arm of Iran’s security forces as terrorists and ordering a hit on the leader. Was he a bad man? Certainly he was, Trump did something that was questionable in terms of strategy and legality and owns the consequences. No he did not shoot down the airliner, but he triggered the events leading to it happening.

Everyone is in the middle of their own thought/political/whatever path. It takes a little acceptance of complexity and respect for others' right to their own experience and judgment to see that one's path might not actually define "the road." Wendy P.

"Clowns to the left of me jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle"

It’s standard practice for any important documents. The Rs did the same thing with Bill. By the way, nice to see you’re taking the subject of your own thread so seriously. Way to stay on topic.

That's a very real side effect of the two party system. Pick a side, any side.

Hi airdvr, 'Those Who Bet Against Elon Musk And Tesla Are Paying A Big Price' https://www.npr.org/2020/01/16/796328145/electric-burn-those-who-bet-against-elon-musk-and-tesla-are-paying-a-big-price Jerry Baumchen

Hi Wendy, 30 yrs ago, when my daughter first started driving, our insurance agent talked to her. I went with her. One of the things that he said/told her ( using your terms ) was to hit the squirrel. Jerry Baumchen

Nope, especially not the Republican leaders who have said they will conduct the entire trial in concert with the defence team of the person they are trying. Im surprised the thread wasn’t asking whether they should recuse themselves, but whatever. Because there needs to be some way of holding political leadership to account. Even if the system you currently have is godawful, how do you demonstrate that and maybe provoke change except by going through the system and proving that it is ludicrously unfit for purpose? Already this process with Trump has had judicial courts re-evaluating the assumed immunity of a sitting president. And it’s definitely not about creating a black mark. Trump has created his own black mark by doing illegal things. Why should he both get away with it and get away with it not being officially recorded?

Of the candidates left - I am leaning toward Amy the most.

"Ignore" doesn't only happen with a button. I'd always wondered about that quote about wrestling with pigs, and it turns out George Bernard Shaw (one of my favorite playwrights) popularized it: Wendy P.

So true. As I said to skybytch separately: "... giving salutes to the new senior jumpers for doing the right things from people like you could easily be the most sport strengthening things you ever said." We're not completely F'n useless :)

That's what they're developing for use in airplanes. It's in one of the articles above.

HIPPI CHONKER ADVARNING Oof. This is a big topic. Hits me right in the chonkeratøs. When I was in my 30's I decided to tell the "fuck offs" to a well paid and "highly respectable" career path, went back to college, sold my city apartment and moved my shit back to my parents house. Wish there was some kind of training on this. There isn't. You want advice on how to determine the future. You can't have it. You won't know. You might do 100's more. You might do 1000's. Who cares. Just exit the fucking plane. Do what you enjoy. Feel it. Appreciate the sensation, the people you meet, the places you visit, and those you connect with. Tell them. Accept what you cannot control but take charge of what you can. And if you ever get caught up in a waterboarding situation, good luck with that.

I made my first jump in 1980. still not sure if I like, so I better keep trying.

I drove down to DeLand last week to get some time under the WW84 since it's not really part of the demo program (yet?), and got 14 jumps in. I Absolutely loved it!!! Scott took my order as I was packing in between jumps! SN # 28! Waiting 10-11 weeks is only less painful cause it's so damn cold in MD now! I was flying @ 2.86 WL, and it seemed to really shine! I was floored by the range of the wing. For a wing that's trimmed steeper for XRW, you can get it pretty flat in brakes and ride back a long spot. The Full FT30 is awesome, easy stand up landings at 2.86. Harness response is PERFECT, I had thought the AW was a bit too de-tuned for my taste, the VK had a lot of harness response, but didn't feel as connected to the wing (almost twitchy), the WW just feels like an extension of myself! I've never felt so connected to a wing in such a great way! Roll response was definitely up a couple notches too from the AW, spot on, easy to flick, and easy to slow your roll and stretch out that dive. I was able to up my TMA by ~125 feet from AW and keep it in a dive longer, (270's from 825 ft @ DeLand, so basically sea level, YMMV at other altitudes & WL's). I really loved the longer roll out, so much easier to keep in a dive and adjust it with minor harness inputs than the AW was. Just a tiny bit of brakes and I was easily flocking with a buddy on a Helix @ 2.4 WL. And lastly, If you plan to use the WW for XRW, a fun tidbit: my Dekunu recorded the canopy flight as wingsuit freefall time!!

What they all said, and better than I could have. So please keep posting, skybytch! Wendy P.

Yup. Hey lady, not unlike you; I'm getting a little long in the tooth. Couple of major surgeries and a back and knees that has just crumbled into pieces from years of military jumping. Many of us dinosaurs contributed countless articles on safety, training, etc. to this site in its infancy to help the young'uns. Not unlike you, I don't tread in the skydiving community too often anymore and when I do it's relevant no matter what the timeframe. EP's target fixation, etc. I think the information given here would be more focused from dinosaurs who've been there, done that - than what they'll get from the land of facebook. Respect, Keith

I don't think this has to be a binary thing: shut up or don't shut up. I think, instead, you can just qualify your responses. Someone asking a gear question you think you might know the answer to, but aren't sure? "I've only jumped twice in the past six years, and haven't worked on gear since _____. But, from my experience, you might want to think about ________." Then whoever is asking (and reading the thread) can get the benefit of your knowledge, while at the same time take into account that your knowledge might not be the most current. At the same time, you've made clear the potential limitations of your advice and have couched your opinion as a suggestion rather than an absolute dictate, so you need not worry that you're misleading some young jumper. Besides, on this site, if you give advice that is even slightly wrong, I'm sure someone will be along to correct you shortly

The average skydiver only remains active for 7 years so a lot of times we "reinvent the wheel" because there is no history of what has already been done experimentally. I see and hear novices all the time using and doing things that they were told is the most modern technique without any clue of the actual mechanics involved. It is important to keep that information available. I no longer do any rigging or instructing (beyond a little impromptu coaching) but I when I see a novice struggling with something simply because they are trying to keep up with "what's cool" I am happy to point out any known solution that might already exist. Sometimes thats amusing, such as the time a fellow instructor asked to use my unpacked rig to demonstrate some things to his FJC class. My SOS, no RSL, bungee pilot chute, B12 snaps, equipped rig didn't quite fit the bill for what he needed to teach and he himself was confused with some of those features. For info this occurred in '99. There is a post on here right now, talking about lubricating the soft loop of the 3 ring to prevent hard cutaways. Ever since mini rings and risers came out, hard cutaways have been a topic of discussion. My last new rig, they called to make sure I actually wanted standard rings and risers and not the "cool" mini's. For a new gear buyer, I could see them accepting what their gear dealer recommends and not what is best for them in the moment. We are seeing it all the time now with jumpers flying canopies that they cannot land and the community response has been mandatory canopy training. Go out and watch a big-way land during no-wind conditions and you'll see from the circus carnage that that hasn't worked! But it keeps the jumpsuit repair people in a job. I recently had an old-time jumper, that was returning to jumping, ask me what happened to the days when you pulled down the toggles and the canopy stopped. He referred to it as the "golden age of parachute landings" and he was referring to the mid to late '80's when grass stained, dirty jumpsuits weren't the norm. I see novices with fall rate and tracking problems because they didn't learn the basic body positions before throwing in mega-booties, weight belts, and competition grips. I got my AFF rating without booties and am still one of the few at my DZ that does FS, up to 40 ways, without them. Yes! Keep offering your advice and opinions even if some may think they are outdated. If nothing else it will keep the "skygods" grounded in reality and points out the differences of what really works and what is the latest faddish technique. Sorry, long post. Rant over!

If skybytch shuts up, then I also have to shut up. I did not jump in 2019, because of a disagreement with the local DZO about seat-belts.

The best way to keep things fresh is trying to learn a new skill every year. I only made 4 static-line jumps my first year. Over that winter I earned a private pilot license. The next summer I flew a bit and only made two jumps. The third summer I made 60 jumps and earned my A license. The fourth summer, I did about 50 fun jumps. The fifth year, I passed the army static-line course and tried out for the Canadian Army parachute display team. The sixth year, I earned a static-line jump-master rating. The seventh year, I did another 50 fun jumps, plus a stack of exhibition jumps. The eighth year, I earned a rigger rating and started flying jumpers. The ninth year, I flew more jumpers and learned how to drop IAD students (1985). The tenth year, I earned an Instructor B rating and tandem instructor rating and did a couple of BASE jumps. I did not jump much while at university, but worked full-time in the skydiving industry for 18 years afterwards. Every year I tried to add a new rating or renew an old rating: Master Rigger, PFF instructor, Cypres installation rating, PIA Symposia, lecturing at PIA Symposia, wing-suit, Rigger Instructor, Rigger Examiner, Tandem Examiner Rating, etc. Eventually, I had to take a year off for knee surgery and cut back to only doing tandems on weekends. I finally quit jumping after the local CSPA DZ shut down and I disagreed with a non-CSPA DZO about seat-belts. If you try to learn something new every year, you will never get bored skydiving.

Some people don't finish AFF. Some people never get their license. Some people get their license and drift away soon after. Some people jump for a year or two and then disappear. Some do it until they decide to become 'responsible' and quit. That may be their own decision or they may have 'help' with it. Some jump until they realize how much time & money it takes to stay current and reasonably safe, or to progress beyond 'sorta good'. Some jump until they get hurt, or see someone they know get hurt or killed. The danger isn't 'real' until then. So they quit. Some become Tandem Instructors (or packers or even DZOs), then get burned out by the grind. Of course, some of us keep on despite all of the above and refuse to quit.

Well thanks! I rarely ventured into SC back in the day except by accident! Nice to see you! I found some pics of RevJim on my computer and made me think of everyone else.