skykittykat

Very funny We can bag Dan out as much as we like as he is now on the road for the next 12 hours and he can't reply, he, he. By the way, he will not be swooping for the next 2 1/2 weeks as he left his rig in the hangar (which I am picking up for safekeeping tomorrow), his back may be a little out of sync (from sleeping on my couch), will be going around commando (left his boxer shorts in my dryer) and stinky (left his shower gel and shampoo in my bathroom)!!! Liz

I think it would suit him to a T and it would be fun to watch! Liz

But who would actually get that sick of flying in the tunnel? Quote yeah, who would WANT to get out??

Gotta hand it to Dan - he flew 45 mins last night, well 2 mins in and 1/2 min or 1 min out, doing 4-way with 3 Airspeed Members inc slot switches, etc, going full speed. He kept up and his flying was awesome. Kirk was well impressed - don't know about Thomas and Andy as I haven't spoken to them yet. It shows real physical and mental strength to do that... Now, before Dan gets even more cocky (and yes, Dan, I am going to burst your bubble - like the navigation thing), there was room for improvement I still beat his ass in hand tag - I win, I win, I win

I kicked his ass!!!!!! Oh, and by the way, I turn in place quicker! Dan is looking over my shoulder denying the fact.... Liz

Hi Steve, I have a Russian couple who are looking for some kick ass coaching from 20 - 23 April in the Bedford tunnel. Would you be available? If not, could you recommend someone else who can coach at your level? I would ask Rusty, but I think he is contracted to Skyventure Please reply ASAP. Liz

Totally. That's what blew me away when I first saw their score - Deland Fire is quality. Looking at the scores for Round 7 - the 37 by Sinapsi and the 35 by Fire were not too shabby either!!! Liz

I have a plan for Dan (no limerick intended!) in that we will have a work out for at least 4 mins at the end of our session playing a game which I will win... Dan and I have 20 mins booked for Tues (the cheeky sod wants to use me for a warm up before his one on one with Kirk) What he doesn't know is that I have asked Kirk to set a schedule for his warm up with me Liz

I take it you were in the USA when this happenned. Having jumped a lot in the UK where you know the only aircraft around are the jump planes (hence your noticing that the 2 jump planes were on the ground), in the States, private planes can come and go. There is a problem, especially in Florida, where the pilots of the private planes decide to go and "have a a look" at the parachutists. They are legally "supposed" to radio (and please correct me if I am wrong) their flight path, but as far as I know, they generally dont. Beware of complacency or ignorance - a lot of airfields are not skydiving planes only. I remember my AFF in New Zealand - we shared the airport with the city airport. The deal was that the skydiving centre had a small area at the end of the runway for parachutists to land and their plane could use the runway. Regarding the skydive plane using the runway, take-offs and landngs had to be between the national plane schedules. ALL parachutists had to have landed before the scheduled airline came into land or take off, otherwise, if there was a canopy still in the air, then the airline would have to circle until the canopy had landed. All of us students got into trouble if we did not exit on time or did not get to the ground quick enough!!! Luckily, my time in NZ made me aware of shared airports. Liz

That was bloody amazing!!! Glad to see Natasha is recovered from her injury and has come back in fighting form. Sinapsi are doing awesome, but howcome they got 42 points on that fast round - did they brainlock or did they get NJ's???? Kurt, we need to see the judgeing sheets It is great to see that in the top 3 teams, each team has a woman competitor. As a prelude to Germany, I think that in Gold, Silver and Bronze there will be a woman standing on each podium in the Open Class (USA, NORWAY, ITALY - in no particular order). Being Devil's Advocate.... If this happens, would this be the beginning of the end for the Women's Class? I've always had the view that if there was a kick ass all female team out there that chose to compete in the Open Class rather than the Women's Class, they could become the all out Champions. Rather than focusing on, say, an 18 point average to win the gold in the Women's class, why not aim for the 22+ average which will put you in contention to win the Open class at a World Meet - why limit your team because of gender? In fact, there is more motivation involved in becoming the first female only team (inc the camera flyer) to win the Gold at a World Meet in the Open Class. Just a thought..... Liz

To everyone out there, take advantage of being coached by some of the best skydivers and tunnel fliers in the world - it does not matter what experience you have, whether you are still a student or have over 1000 jumps, they will teach you skills according to your level. You will learn so much and not only that, but all 4 of them are awesome people and coaches. Take advantage of these guys whilst they are in the UK. Liz

I was not, you cheeky sod!!! Liz

Damn, you busted me It's like rugby - I support New Zealand and Scotland. I want them to win the games they play, however, if they play against each other, I just sit back and enjoy the match not caring who wins, knowing it will be a good match. OK, probably not the best example to use as Scotland usually sucks in rugby, but you get the point. Liz

Travis, Dan is a very easy target I thought you were rather kind about him Liz

You can defintely do that mission According to the Fox Arizona Morning news when the Eloy tunnel was first opened, the skydiver correspondent said along the lines of "the tunnel is an important tool for the fight against terrorism" or something similar. Basically, it was put out onto the airwaves that the American Special Forces were using it for training. It did garner a huge laugh - what are the Special Forces going to do in the tunnel, umm, fly up/down/side to side/ turn a few points...... I understand that their indentities have to be kept a secret, but when the tunnel is a no go area.... we know that they are in there, Any terrorist could now turn up in Eloy, wait for the tunnel to be blacked out and bomb it. It isn't rocket science Anyway, to snatch Kirk, you would have to get past his wife and kids, and no, you cannot use my back yard as access!!!! Liz

Please, do not take this the wrong way as I don't know you or your situation... Do you HAVE to fly in the tunnel at that specific time - I am sure if you explained the circumstances, the tunnel peeps would understand and postopone your time. Life is not fair and sometimes things happen - your son is 11 years old and no matter if he will throw a tantrum, etc, your word goes. He should understand that. If you really want to fly in the tunnel, then get a babysitter to look after your son so he can play with his friends. Leaving your 11 year old son at home for a couple of hours is not a good idea - safety and responisbility aside, if there are police crawling around - the next thing you know, your child has been taken by CPS coz the police knocked at your door to speak to an adult and there was no adult on the premises. Liz

Of course I am in your corner as well - that goes without saying!! Liz

I hope you told him it was LAWN bowling Dan had taken up Well, if you will go tramping off in the snow with guns and stuff... you can't have everything Liz

What about Yes and Tipped 'em???? Liz

Disneyland is only good if you like Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, etc. I went when I was 10 and only liked the Pirates and the Haunted House rides. All the staff there have strict appearance codes - men are not allowed to have facial hair (it frightens kids apparently) and no piercings or visible tattoos and head hair a certain length. Women have to have their hair styled in a certain way, hemlines are set at a certain length and no unsightly piercings/make-up/visible tattoos. Everything is controlled down to the last detail. Universal Studios rocks, especially as the Warner Bros/Nickolodean cartoon characters kick ass! I suppose Disney v Warner Bros is like Barbie v Sindy.... Obviously I was a Sindy girl as a child!!! Liz

It's a shame that there will not be a show down between them and the French girls at the World Meet. I wish all the Synchronicity girls the very best in their future endeavours and hope that they have a blast at the Malevsky Meet. As I consider myself a nomad, there is not one specific country that I support, so (and no boo, hisses, please and apologies to John L) from last year's World Cup, I am in the French girl's corner. When they have a good competition day they are outstanding and they are very friendly as a team (hey, they put up with my rusty French spoken in a Swiss accent although recent conversations have reverted back to English!!!!). Big Oops - I said to Mark Kirkby a couple of months ago "I heard you have joined Fastrax Select" I meant Fastrax, but Fastrax Select came out of my mouth for some bizarre reason. Liz

A World record was achieved and no matter what the photo looked like (yeah, I admit that the ground below the formation distracted from the formation), but it was history in the making and was awesome to see that photo.. Parachutist is the mag that represents skydiving in the US and there were a lot of Americans on that record jump, plus all media/publications go down in history. Maybe Parachutist should have put a pic on the front cover showing some guys freeflying out of a plane with goofy looks on their faces, just coz the pic looks better. (I am not slagging off freefliers at all). As people have mentioned, sometimes photos from a big way taken from above do not look the greatest, but maybe next time, the organisers should make a special effort to do the record over water/green fields/desert so that the photo taken from above comes out visually aesthetic for front page publication for skydiving mags.... I am sure there would have been a lot more complaints if the pic hadn't made the front cover. Liz

That was hilarious Definitely one for the Airspeed fridge! Liz

I don't know Sean (although I may have met him at the Orlando tunnel or Lake Wales), but don't rule out Steve Blincoe. I met him 4 years ago and then got freefly coaching off him in the Orlando tunnel a year later. He was an awesome coach and my only experience of coaches at that time were Airspeed and Stefan Lipp. Steve represented the US in snowboarding or Aerials, or such like in the Winter Olympics, so as an athlete, he is tops. I enjoyed his coaching style and I am sure that over the past 3 years he has improved. Maybe try out both coaches - it is a very individualistic thing the coach/student relationship - we all relate differently to different styles of coaching. Liz

Take your log book with you, plus a video showing you can do a 4 point 4-way (UK FS1), Make sure you are signed off for FS1 by a recognised international coach before you turn up to a British dz. There are peeps in Perris that know the UK system, eg Dan BC (otherwise youw will only do solos after paying for a jump with an instructor and then having to pay for and do the FS1 course) UK rules state that you have to wear a hook knife on every jump, so buy one before you go. Liz