Eiley

nothing to see here

You know, I really think you might have something here. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people I meet that claim there's no way they could ever have done their first jump (or nowdays, jumps) solo, or the number of people who have never jumped without a Cypres and will ground themselves if their Cypres is out of their rig. It's true these people seem to be a different breed from those who populated my local DZ's in the 80's. Ah, so you're saying its not the act that is foolish, but the actor. Who gets to decide who's cool enough to pull off a Mr Bill landing? What's the correct number of jumps? 1000? 1500? One more than you? Billvon, I thought your post was excellent, well thought-out and well written, but I have a problem with this bit: You can't tell me that someone who's done 100 jumps, which generally means they've been in the sport for a good year, doesn't understand the risks in radical downsizing/hooking/deliberately going low etc. They do understand - they just believe that they are willing to accept the possibility of death or permanent injury in exchange for the Cool factor (whether that be real or perceived). Some people do fuck up and hurt themselves badly and decide they were wrong, but that's different from not understanding the risks in the first place. Let's face it - by that time a 'high-risk' person has been told over and over that they are in danger of screwing up badly. When they tell you "I understand the risks and I don't care", you have to believe them, even if you think they are stupid. It's pure vanity to insist that someone doesn't understand something as well as you do just because they choose to manage the risk differently. Yeah, mine too. Because I might be in the hangar and miss it. I hate it when that happens. Randy and Piriya: Miss you guys too! I'm so jealous of my cohorts who are at Chicagoland at the moment. Sounds like WFFC was a bit down this year, so I didn't miss too much... hopefully next year, when I have a lot more annual leave up my sleeve! nothing to see here

Many of the idiots who had Cypres fires out of the chopper, the people who didn't track on chopper jumps (there was one canopy collision), Okay, let me get this straight.... Go-Low comps with Cypres's on??? Yeah. That's crazy. nothing to see here

This is one of my most favourite ever.

I've been a member of the Club that runs out of Tooradin for 14 years now. The DZ is beautiful, the social atmosphere awesome. If you are interested *only* in hardcore team jumping, then Tooradin is probably not the place for you, given that the turbine only runs on very busy days and the Cessna and Airvan generally only get 10,000 ft (although teams are most welcome!). However, if you are a fun jumper who wants to be welcomed to a new DZ, invited on jumps pretty much as soon as you arrive, and *never* bumped off a load for tandems, then you definitely need to check it out. Also, if you have a whuffo SO, there is the restaurant and bar, the aerobatic displays, Tiger Moth joyrides (yes, you can jump out of it too!) and the shipwreck to explore. There's also a playground for the kids. At the end of the day its great to sit on the balcony of the bar, drink in hand, watching the CRW Dogs! For those interested in a First Jump, you will receive professional instruction in a friendly atmosphere where you will not feel as though you are being pumped through in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Finally, most importantly, this is a CLUB run by a Board of Volunteers, where all profits go back to the CLUB.

Yeah, mostly I do too. nothing to see here

A Mr Bill is where you exit the plane holding on to each other. One jumper deploys (or is deployed out the door), the other holds on. You fly around together for a while and then the usual scenario is that as you get close to your hard deck, you step off and deploy your own parachute. Apparently a couple of jolly souls decided to dispense with that bit at WFFC and landed the thing instead. A bandit jump is just a jump where you don't necessarily follow all the rules and regualtions, eg a jump into a friend's backyard, your local park or even an event, without first acquiring the approvals, or a drunk night time takeoff etc. Ah, now see? That's okay by me. I would never perform a hook turn because I don't think I have the skill or discipline to consistently pull it off. For some people, that's enough that they insist therefore that nobody should hook turn. I disagree. I hope those that can continue to do so and continue to push the limits. Yes. I can have fun doing a crossword or watching TV. Don't want to do either all the time though. Why shouldn't he advocate it to others? Plenty of people advocate hook turns to me. I still choose not to. Because I'm a grown-up. Who is able to make choices and understand consequences of those choices. And that's perfectly cool. nothing to see here

Well, here goes: I think well-executed hook turns and long swoops look cool. Mr Bills, wagon wheels and raft jumps are a rite of passage for novices. I love it when people do outrageous stunts for my entertainment. Most bounce jokes are funny. Bandit jumps rock - and the more rules you break, the more fun they are. If you break a bone, you accept that people will laugh about it and you will probably wind up on the bloopers tape. Yes, I think taking a mouthful of avgas so you can join the fire-breathing competition is a good idea. So are blindfolded pissed packing comps where you have to jump the rig the next day. And avgas-soaked-dunny-roll-soccer. Hooking up an old roundie to the battery cart on a windy day was an idea with a lot of merit (notwithstanding the consequences). Now I read a thread where a couple of guys landed a Mr Bill. "Wow, how cool" I think. I would have been cheering them as they landed. But no, it seems I'm wrong, according to half the responses in the thread these guys are idiots, bad for the sport. It doesn't matter that they landed it without incident - think about what might have happened! I read an incident thread, straight from the horse's mouth, where the owner of a mangled leg makes a joke about it. And gets flamed for joking about his own injury. I read people calling for MORE regulation, for banning hook turns, for grounding those who do bandit jumps, for somehow assigning responsibility for a 100-jump wonder on a VX to the person who sold them the canopy. There are people who seem to want to make the sport about as extreme as macrame. No, I don't want people killing themselves nor am I advocating putting students on 1:5 wingloadings. But I'd hate to see people - grown-ups who are responsible for their own actions - stop trying to get as close to that edge as possible. Skydivers used to have more fun than people. Just my .02 for today. YMMV.

Oooh, I voted 'not superstitious', but this reminded me of my own fortune cookie story. When my SO and I were travelling around the US, we used to go to those 'all you can eat' Chinese places at least twice a week and always looked forward to our fortune cookies. We'd try to make the fortunes fit into what we were doing at the time. One night we got our cookies, I can't remember what mine said, but his was empty. He grumped about being ripped off, we joked about how he had no future then forgot about it. Less than two days later he went in. I'm still not superstitious, but you've got to admit that's a spooky coincidence! nothing to see here

Hi Squeak, None of the main Florida DZs make you do the video thing, but waivers at all DZs in the US are full-on booklets and generally you have to initial every paragraph. In Titusville you have to copy out a para in your own handwriting stating that you understand the risks. As for what they say.. well, you are basically absolving them of any responsibility including but not limited to gross negligence, usually acknowledging that the DZ is uninsured etc etc etc. Sometimes you are even agreeing that if you sue they can counter-sue you or you will pay up a specified amount first. So, if you simply acknowledge that you will have NO rights if injured, you don't really need to read what you're signing. Just make sure you clearly set out the full contact details of your next of kin, that you have travel insurance that covers skydiving, that you jump at a USPA DZ and if you are involved in a comp that you word up Manifest to say you were simply doing a fun jump if you get injured and you'll be right. nothing to see here

To all my friends at Chicagoland Skydiving Center, my love and thoughts, as always, are with you. You will always be my other 'Home'. To Ed's family, my deepest sympathies. Love and Blue Skies Eiley (and Paul in spirit)

Three of us travelled to US ex-Melbourne in 2002 (Japan Airlines). We put our rigs in our regular luggage. We had a bit of a stress about them going missing en-route, but they arrived without any problems. My bags were x-rayed and when they queried it I told them it was a sport parachute and they let it go without any problems. nothing to see here

Well, I wasn't, but I would like more details regarding this 'Booze Luge' please. One can never know too many drinking games. nothing to see here

Hmmm.... "Photographer = Yes" A really good way to make friends here would be to go to the Women's Forum and tell them all just what types of videos you're best known for amongst your friends... nothing to see here

Well, yeah, it is kind of funny, especially when you discuss aforementioned fairy tale with people who actually think it's non-fiction (yup, they're out there!) Yes, I'll admit, this is a somewhat troll-like post.... nothing to see here

Agreed. This is probably the best thread I've read to truly explain the reasoning behind keeping all BASE sites a secret. I was one of the people who never really understood the thinking behind censoring the names of the well-known locations, but base689's post (among others) was an excellent explanation. nothing to see here

Damn, I thought you meant wait a little longer before locking/deleting the highly contentious threads! nothing to see here

Not that I would ask that question, but how are us mere mortals supposed to know you don't cook it on there? . I know I am no pizza wizard. So much for the "customer oriented place" you work at eh? Okay, I've had a few drinks and I might be completely wrong, but I think I've finally figured out what's going on and why what seems like a perfectly reasonable question is a stupid question... What CT failed to mention is he sells prepackaged pizzas that you take home and cook yourself. So customer wasn't asking whether CT cooked a pizza with pineapple on it or added the pineapple later, he was wondering whether he, the customer, was supposed to take it home and remove the pineapple before cooking it. That's also why CT suggestively sells cookie dough - coz the oven's on and they might want to cook cookies for dessert. Is that right? nothing to see here

I agree with you Eiley!!!!! I miss you and Porno. Heather You scopin' mah man, beeatch??? I miss you too, but am still on track for a visit for Rantoul! Expect MASSIVE hugs... and I expect to be thoroughly entertained for the week. Bring on the jelly shots! By the way, my friend Hayley will be a packer at Hinckley this year and I need you Hinckley Hotties to look after her a bit... and make sure she gets her butt to the WFFC.

Bzzzzt!! Sexiest guy I ever knew was a Packing CRW Dawg!!! nothing to see here

I'm so sorry. nothing to see here

Yeah? Could've sworn I met him at Hinckley in 2002... even put him on a load or 80... nothing to see here

I have no idea where you got such fanciful information from, but this statement is just wrong. Not only did SDC lose heaps of business when these reports were being run, so did the other operators in the area. I was working in the office in one of SDC's competitors and we had the tandems cancelling in droves after each newspaper article. Explaining that the articles referred to a different DZ, or that the deceased persons were all highly experienced jumpers who personally screwed up did not help much at all, as to the potential tandems the articles just generally proved that this was an activity that could kill you, as opposed to it being one of those abstract dangers, like when you go on a carnival ride. nothing to see here

Survivor All-Stars.

Hi, I didn't read this thread, but it made me think of something.... If anyone decides to chat in here about Survivor, can you please please please please not give anything away in the thread title and mention that there's spoilers inside? We Aussies are 10 days behind the US for the first half of the series, then have a double to catch up to only 3 days behind towards the end. I'm so embarrassed that I had to come out as a closet Survivor fan... Thanks.