ZoneRat

There's a cuttaway at our DZ that reads: "WWJD" Which is sort of a head scratcher... (NOT to hijack this into a religious thread...but) One friend postulated that if Jesus had a mal, he would die... 'cause hey, that's what happened the last time). “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

then what kind of post is it? other than a little pointless... I don't think it's pointless. I think it's interesting. I don't want to die. I especially don't want to die skydiving... bad for the sport. But if it happens, I would be bothered in those last seconds mostly by the idea that I made my friends and family have to go through the grieving process. Grieving processes suck. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Never hurts to study up and pass a test here and there. Just to refresh yourself on stuff. Nor does it hurt to keep track of, and focus on, your accuracy. (Accuracy is a survival skill after all). Kinda nice to have that b, c, or d in your pocket just in case situations change and you find yourself hankerin' for a coach rating or fillin' in at nationals or somethin'. Otherwise... Naw, not really. It sounds like the A is workin' out fine for ya. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Here's something that helped me when I was starting out. It's a variation to what Hookit said. On a solo, make a note of your heading. Then assume the Pull Position. One arm over head, the other palming your hackey/ pud. Hold that for 5 seconds while monitoring your heading. If there's a change, see if you can correct it/ hold it without leaving the Pull Position. Then back to neutral for 5 seconds. Did it stay on-heading? This should tell you if you're inducing the spin while going to pull or while going back to neutral after the pull, or both. Rinse/ repeat the exercise, slowly decreasing the hold time until you can move from neutral to pull to neutral again with no change in heading. As with all advice, run it by an instructor first. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Kinda like chasin' and huggin' a cute lil' ol rattlesnake. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

ok. I'll try my hand at proving ya wrong.

Pah. Failing L4 twice is chicken feed! I know folk that failed it over half a dozen times! But... they eventually got it... and you will too.

Christ....man, that's just....whoa. I've been there. Had to be chauffered by her for a weekend when I totalled my car coming to TX to visit her and do some jumps at SSM. My therapist says I have a good shot at a full recovery. *twitch...twitch* (I am soooo going to get my ass kicked now) Shit dude. You too? A whole weekend? Yeah...I'd only been in the sport a few months. A total newbie. She was like this SKYGODESS with over a HUNDRED jumps... she said it would be ok and I naively believed her. The 7-11 was, after all, only a few short blocks away... At SDD you must be 21 and have a C licence or equiv to ride with Jess. Plus attend a one-hour briefing. Of course I didn;t know that at the time That beer was the best beer of my life right there. I will say this... The Drive gave me a whole new outlook on life. The skies have looked bluer, the grass greener and I thank gawd for each and every precious breath I'm still able to take. I know it's borrowed time and I intend to make the most of it. *twitch...twitchtwictch* “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

a doctor is what you need.... please seek help.... never do it again.. expesialy in light of her recent transgresions twards a suv....... Hey I'm not proud of it... but we were OUT_OF_BEER. The 7-11 was just a few blocks away. I really thought skydivers would understand... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

There's no need to learn the intricacies of chess. You probably had him at QP to Q4. If not at hello. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Rode shotgun in Jessica's truck one time. I know, I know..but hey. We were outa beer. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

The creation of a standardized, inexpensive, regularly available curriculum of canopy instruction is the only way I see to reduce those numbers. Those that want to learn high performance landings have precious few readily available avenues to safely, and systematically do so. The Scott Millers, Laidlaw's and Brian Germain's of the sport have made a good start, but it's not enough. Only after a standardized program has been established, undergone longitudinal study, and appropriate ammendment, will these numbers truly decline. ********************** Until then, here's what YOU can do RIGHT NOW: Until you are able to study high performance landings under a trained profesional canopy coach, Make the personal commitment: "I WILL NOT be the next one to die or break because of a low turn." Here's how: 1. Fly a conservative pattern. 2. Don't turn low for fun. 3. Don't put yourself in a postion where you are tempted to turn low to avoid an obstacle. 4. Learn this stuff whether you intend to downsize or not. 5. Respect strong or gusty winds. Unfortunately, most lack the maturity and humility to stick to such a commitment. Some will end up broken or dead upon the lawn. Hopefully it won't be me. Hopefully it won't be you. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

all the drama and people talking shit about everybody else, and people getting hurt? Skydiving is a community. People will talk trash, create drama, get hurt or die in that community. The same things happen in other communities as well. I've known several co-workers that have died throughout the years. Heart attacks. Motorcycle accidents. suicide. etc. The longer I live, the longer the list. Pretty much anyone in their 30's and on have experienced the same types of things. And odds are you will too. It's always sad when it happens. But the only way to avoid it is to live in a cave. And then your favorite bat will die. It sucks, but it's life. If it's time to take a break from the air, take it. It's not a crime. If you need to edit that drama out of your life for a while, bank a little circus money, that's really ok. Blue skies'll be there when you're ready for 'em again. I'm glad your friends are ok. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

We used to sit around and dream up ways we could take her ventilator up on a tandem, even joking about how the wind rush alone should inflate her lungs sufficiently. Quote That is the kind of gentle love and kindness that made her time her a little sweeter. I'd guess that being able to joke and even laugh about the unkind situation at hand like that... provides hope. Distraction. I'm not sure it matters that she never got to skydive here on earth. Sometimes, maybe, managing hope and laughter is both gift and accomplishment enough. Nicely done. Both of you. Nicely done. I'm sorry for your families loss. I'm sorry that your heart is crying. And you're right. No one should ever have to bury their child. That just has to be the worst. My condolences to you and yours. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Maybe a dozen times or so. Frightened one of my low jump number friends doing it a couple weeks ago doing it where he could see it under canopy. I can't seem to get the nerve to ride a stall for any real legnth of time though. I git skeered. I'm finding that my canopy gets easier/ quicker to stall these days now that it has about 300 jumps on it. Has anyone else noticed this? Possibly do to shrinking break lines? Or do canopies just stall easier from use? Both? “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Might get some more input first. I've heard it said that a non-collapsable PC can be detrimental to the landing characteristics of a canopy. Not just talking longer surfs, but meaningful plane-out and flare. Whether it's true of a lightly loaded Spectre I personally have no idea... but someone around here will know. or... it might not hurt to email PD and ask them. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Had an amazing brainlock just last weekend. 4-way team jump. Couldn't for the life of me remember the next point. 15 seconds... 15 seconds I stared at the rest of my team, with that "What are all these people doing here?" look... they pointed me... pointed at the grips I was supposed to take... nope. Nothing registered. Eventually they quit pointing and just sorta hovered about laughing at me. After 3000' of this the light clicked on... and we built a most beautiful hook.... right before breakoff... happens. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

A friend of mine is a set designer and portrait artist. Occasionally he'll drop by to visit, crashing at my place for a month or two. I came home from work one evening to find one of my skydiving mentors posing nude on my couch... Nude, under canopy. She's a good person and a good friend... and without a doubt the most beautiful thing I've seen under canopy. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Lets assume for a second you are on a 4 way team and are jumping 2 rigs so you can get 12-15 jumps in per day. How much do you think is a fair price for someone to pack for you? Ahhhh... heaven. Yep. If I could afford a 900+ jump training season, I would damn well afford 5.00-6.00/ pack jobs to make it happen... and bunch of brews at the end of the day. As it is, I have to settle for a 200 training jump season, 8 jumps a day, 1 rig and I pack it myself. eh... Not exactly hell.

I chose to buy a medium performace canopy with soft openings. Very glad I did. I've trash packed that thing so sloppy and fast at times it'd make ya cringe... but I've never experienced worse than the occasional line twist, which, as it's medium performance, has always been easy to kick out of. Havent used a packer in 400 jumps, but I would use any paker on any DZ in a heartbeat, and not think twice about it. That's the forgiveness and trust a non-elliptical, soft opening canopy can give ya... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Two best beers? The first one and the last one. ...It'd be extra nice if they both happened to be Chimay. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Auugh! I'm so sorry that happened to ya. Damn Gopher holes is right. A friend of mine snapped his tibia in a hole visiting Sabastion several months back. Right on the LZ, too. Like 30' from the peas if I remember right. He's sportin hardware now. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

By the same token, you are not the same person he married since you started skydiving either. He didn't know he was marrying a spouse that would be gone every weekend. My ST&A said that at the PIA conferance statistics were given that showed the average skydiving career to be 5 years. Should one sacrifice a (theoretically) life long marriage for something that typically lasts 5 years? “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Djibouti, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand (not recently). Others. I'd like to see Thailand and Sri Lanka again. England too. Always wanted to see China. Pretty soon it wont really be China anymore. I'm from Lubbock Texas. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Yeah. Don't do the troll thing. That was poor advice. You'll get crucified for that... and rightfully so. You did ask a question I would like to address. What it was like being a Scholarship recipient. Last year, the recip's were choosen by our AFFI's and staff. I'd busted my ass all year. There were many that had. They could have chosen several others, and no one would've batted an eye. When my name was called to go up and receive my plaque, it was one of the more rewarding moments this sport has afforded me. Very proud... vindicating, maybe. The award wasn't a huge sum, it'd been spread out over about a half dozen recip's over several DZ's. But WAS enough to make the difference between taking a coach course or not. I wouldn't have taken it had I not had that money to apply. What was really interesting to me though... and I don't think I ever told you this.. was how people reacted to the scholarship winners. Those that had never known your father offered quick, textbook congrats. In their mind, it seemed like they felt I'd won a raffle or something. Those that had known your father reacted very differently. It really meant something to them. I could see it in their eyes. Several crossed the hanger to shake my hand and tell me how your dad had made a difference to them in some way. It was important to them that I understand that he was the kind of man that for decades would kinda gather all the little A licenced ducklings together and teach them, slowly and carefully bring them up to speed and into the fold. One of the Jerry's Kids called me about a week later just to talk about him. What she said suprised me. "Jerry wasn't loved and respected because he was a great skydiver. He wasn't. At least, not by today's standards. There's a bunch of folk around here that could fly circles around him. He was loved because he never tired of teaching and giving and helping young skydivers love and understand the sport. He did it for decades, and never tired of giving just a little bit more the next day." That was the reason I applied the Scholarship towards the coach rating rather than, say, tunnel time. I felt it honored the spirit of the man for whom the scholarship commemorates. A man I never met. Who still managed to help me through the actions and comments of those whom he'd taught. It seemed that he not only spent a lot of time helping out the new jumpers, but he sorta set a tone of giving-back that others emulated in kind. There's no doubt in my mind that some of those that have, and continue to help me, are doing so in order to pay-forward what Jerry had done for them. I'll follow Skyfest wherever you want to take it J. Partially because it's a great boogie, partially because you're a good person and I catagorically like to support the efforts of good people, but also because I like the idea of embracing a boogie whose profits fund a scholarship that commemerates the memory of a man who was not known for winning medals, but for honest act of giving back to the people that loved the sport. Your dad's been gone several years now, but every few months I'll still hear someone mention his name. He touched a lot of people at SDD. There's a lot to be said for that. Anyway. I'd been meaning to mention that to you for months, but as you keep moving your silly ass back and forth to Florida, I never seemed to get around to it. I hope this has brightened your day just a little bit, and answered your question of hat it felt like to get the scholarship... And I'll see ya in Houston. Robin “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”