xsniper

As soon as they say "lets go HOME", and they start showing a relaxing movie.....I am headed outa there.

The Lighting need to end this thing tonight or next game and not end up in a game 7 again.

It'd be about the same as flying through a 90-way round formation on their belly when you're in a head-down dive, in theory. (the math behind this claim is based on a 10,000sqft surface area, which has a circumference of approximately 354 feet. If we're very generous and say the average skydiver has a 4 foot armspan in a stable belly to earth position, that puts us at around 90 people. Then if you figure around a 120mph fall rate vs the 200-ish that any experienced jumper can presumably hit, you get a delta of 80mph. Still 50% lower than Aikins will be doing if he doesn't have any sort of high-drag suit on, but it's at least a sort of thing a jumper can IMAGINE. Well, that gives me some perspective .

That is a given, no matter what side you are on.......... No Doubt!!

The "Greatest Generation" is slipping away. Her image was a true inspiration.

Thanks for that explanation. Defiantly another tool.

Thanks so much for the thought process. I will defiantly have this in my "tool box". So very sorry for your (our) loss.

I am not doubting those statistics, but I would not think one months stats makes it commonplace.

Can't help but say...I hope it continues. Go Lighting (thanks for giving us Stevie Y.)

Back in the day at Circle M in Mississippi, beacon rides and electric stars where classic. But I think I have left those memories behind now.

If in fact that is true, I guess I belong among the less intelligent. If I am on a drive or a long bicycle ride, I will be listening to talk radio or tunes. For me it seems to make me more aware of my surroundings. I would kind of drift off into a blur without that stimulus. Hmmm...maybe if I was smarter!!

I've seen those but MAN they're expensive - The medium size is over $600!... can it really be worth that? I've cooked some pretty good food over a homemade brick bbq. It really is worth it. That is what I have, the medium. I talked myself out of it for two years and then finally decided to go for it. I have not regretted it at all. I put lump charcoal in and a pork shoulder when I go to bed...get up the next morning and wrap it in foil. a few more hours and it is really, really good. It just sits at the same temp all night. Then you get the heat up to around 700 and sear incredible steaks.

My good buddy had one, I did not like it at all. I just would not trade my Big Green Egg.

Broad stroke statement without any support by facts. Perhaps you can actually take the time to state specifically who was bought and what they were paid? I can only speak for myself: Not a single person asked me to do what I did. That is to bring 3 requests to S&T committee that passed S&T and then passed the full board voting process. I did what I did because: 1) I'm tired of investigating tandem turns over 90 degrees gone wrong that lead to grave injuries and fatalities under perfectly functioning parachutes. 2) I'm tired of investigating tandem AAD fires that start with the explanation "I couldn't find the handles". 3) I'm tired of being told when pointing out reckless/dangerous behavior that "unless its a BSR we do not have to follow any regulations". 4) If every end user of tandem systems used the gear in the manner and procedures it was intended, these BSRs wouldnt be necessary. BTW, (everything I did, I could have done without being on the board) The irony here is that it is I that asked the manufacturers (all of them) for their support as I brought it to the board, not the other way around. I even asked 2 manufacturers and some industry experts (not on the board) to weigh in during the meetings to support my statements, and in the end, the board made the right decisions and voted these two BSRs into place. Since then, every tandem examiner I have been in direct contact with (over 50) have said it was the right thing to do and "they should have happened 20 years ago." Of a population of 179 tandem examiners (subject matter experts) that have now been informed, not a single one raised an objection, and to the contrary, the BSRs have been embraced by practically everyone that has been informed. "Now we have a means to improve safety on our DZs" i s the repeated statement. When I was finished advocating for the safety of our tandem students in BOD meetings, I then volunteered my time to address the DZO conference, over 200 industry professionals in attendance on how to improve the operational safety of their tandem programs. When I finished that presentation, I went on to give a PIA record 10 seminars (5 seminars, twice) at PIA that reached over 1000 people: - Sigma Standard and Emergency Operating Procedures - Tandem Canopy Flight - Tandem Exit Techniques - AADs in Modern Skydiving Scenarios - Safety Day Seminar Selections All of which I wrote and presented on my own time. No fee, no cost. When all of that was over, I gave up 2 days off to present 16 hours of tandem examiner educational seminars with Jay Stokes and Jim Crouch to a room of over 50 tandem examiners. Again, on my own time, not my company's time. Through all of that, I also managed to find time to write two safety articles for Blue Skies Mag on AADs and Making Good Canopy Choices. Suffice to say, if I'm "bought and paid for", then whoever bought me got a serious bargain because I do all I do in this area on my own time, and everything I do, I do because I only want to see a safer landscape on our DZs. No ulterior motives. I may be a mouthpiece, but I'm a mouthpiece for safety, nothing more. In the last ten years that I have been trying to contribute the betterment of our sport, I have come to realize that no amount of effort or work will ever stop "top dockers" from making false broad stroke statements about people and situations they know nothing about. That rolls off like water. What I would genuinely be interested in though is what Craig has done in the last year for the membership to improve safety and what specific information Craig has about who has been bought and what they have been paid. I don't expect we will see that though, because from my perspective, that info doesnt exist. Have at me, I may or may not respond as I am replying to all of the emails thanking me for the seminars and BSRs and sending out my power points to one and all that ask for them so they can share the info at their own DZs. Thanks Tom

Happy Easter Ron.

I do understand your angle and your point. A balance is necessary and the equipment should supplement the skill and the knowledge. I am not trying to prolong my point, but I certainly learned that there are no "do-overs" and unlike a video game you do not have five lives to learn the correct process.

What if it really isn't that the police officer is "terrified of his own job" but really wants to be able to do his job properly for the betterment of the society he serves. What if he wants to make sure he has the necessary equipment so he can save those he is sworn to protect or maybe even deter those who intend harm. What if he knows and teaches his upcoming officers that you are not a complete police officer unless you can offer up as much compassion as needed violence. What if the "sheepdog mentality" was really a way of showing invested caring and loyalty. You know, that dog loves each of his sheep, but has his eyes open for the potential wolf. I gotta get over to Deland and met ya sometime. I bet it would be a blast. Take good care.

Very Cool. There must have been different covers used as it was reprinted, cause I just looked at my very old copy and it is different.

Love those swooping laughs...

WOW, what a guy. Thanks for the info. It could not have been said better and with more respect. Just lost my father in hospice. Those are some wonderful people.

And they were having so much fun>>>>

I was doing a demo into a minor league baseball game in the early '80s. Put the game ball inside my jumpsuit. It rotated over my left collarbone. Riser slap on opening made my left arm completely numb and useless. I could only make right turns. I aborted going into the stadium at the last minute and landed in the parking lot just outside the fence. Then I had to throw the game ball over the fence to the waiting pitcher. Is my red face still showing ???? Plus, a very young boy walking into the game with his dad witnessed my landing and said "whoa dad, that was so cool...ya think he is gonna get up". AUUGH

Sounds like a remarkable woman who will be missed.

Anyone that tells you skydiving is safe is either trying to sell you something or a fool. Skydiving is not safe. You can do everything right and still die. What skydiving is in reality is mitigated risk. We start on big docile gear and pull high. We have a back up parachute. If we are unable to pull for ourselves, we have a safety device that might save our life. But even with all this, we are throwing ourselves out of a plane for fun. So don't kid yourself thinking this is safe. Educate yourself about your gear, canopy flight and make your emergency procedures so ingrained in muscle memory you do it in your dreams. And have fun.

+1 I really think this is the case.