slotperfect

[warning] davelepka & chris-ottawa - PAs are against the forum rules. [/warning] Arrive Safely John

Cabron Fibre! Arrive Safely John

See below. I got this malware warning several times while navigating the forums this morning. Arrive Safely John

Please put all Tandem related posts in the new Tandem Forum. All of the old posts from this forum that were Tandem related have been moved there. Thanks! Arrive Safely John

Feel free to point out any specific threads that led you to this conclusion so we can look at them and move/remove them as necessary. Arrive Safely John

Tom also likes honest people, long walks on the beach, and puppies. Welcome aboard, my good friend. Arrive Safely John

Discussions about guns and politics belong in SC. Please get the thread back on topic and refrain from GPR discussions outside of SC. Arrive Safely John

I have a few points of friendly advice for you: -Complete your profile and add your real name and position in the company to your signature line. It will lend credibility to your posts here and increase the overall comfort level of the readers. Speaking for myself, if I am risking money by pledging it to you I want to know who is talking. -Post photo copyrights on your website photos if you own them; if you don't, be sure they are being used with permission and add a photo credit to each one. There are a lot of professional photographers in this online community that have had their intellectual property stolen and used for someone else's gain. -Update your website to include details for frequent tunnel flyers and/or skydivers. Right now the information there is oriented 90/10 recreation/training or fun flyer/skydiver. The lack of details for this audience have quite fairly been called "vague." Among us are tunnel staff, professional skydivers, competitors, and others with a great deal of tunnel experience and knowledge of various tunnels already available and the companies that build/run them. I personally have flown in six tunnels and train/coach regularly in two of them. The information provided tells me little or nothing about the size, power, general planned location or features. Based upon the information provided I would not risk $250 if I lived in your area, even though I can afford to. -Check out other new tunnel threads in thus forum to see what information thus audience is used to seeing when such announcements are made. Your business plan is yours do do with as you choose - I don't expect you to post it here - but I think people are fair in their assessment that more details are warranted if you expect a favorable response and want to avoid being constantly defensive here. Good luck with your effort. Arrive Safely John

We normally frown on DZ politics here. On occasion it is beneficial to warn all skydivers of an individual or business entity that has a history of dishonest business practices to prevent further pain, but in this case that purpose is not served because the business is now closed. The fundamental point made about skydiving instructors being paid what they are worth is a good one, so the thread stays. Both sides of this issue have had a chance to chime in here, so we are going to call it a conversation and lock the thread. Arrive Safely John

Locked while I do some homework. There is a no advertising rulle in the forums; if this is simply a solicitation to find potential investors it likely qualifies as an ad. More to follow . . . Arrive Safely John

Variety (seven). Arrive Safely John

Let's keep this thread going: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4173532;search_string=virginia%20beach;#4173532 Arrive Safely John

+1 A round or two of EP practice in the wind tunnel is a great investment. Arrive Safely John

It counts. Arrive Safely John

Aircrew (7) Arrive Safely John

My first jump on a high aspect ratio elliptical, a Katana 150. I downsized from a Stiletto 170 about three years ago, conscious of my taking two steps at a time (one step down in size and one step across design types). I had over 4000 jumps, and had a ton of recent CP coaching under my belt. I had a funky bag launch and a weird "trap door" kind of opening, and it spun up putting me on my back. I could not recover from it and cut it away. My first step onto the swooping trail had resulted in a cutaway. I learned a lot about the way to put the bag into my V3, and about how to handle line twists on canopies like that. I have had twists more recently but have used a technique I initially got from Phreezone to recover from them. The coaching and downsizing continued . . . I downsized my body as well, and I am now jumping a Velo 111 and Velo 103. Arrive Safely John

Yes. If it has a serial number I have it written down in my cloud based note program. Arrive Safely John

Right now it's very common to use the Events & Places to Jump Forum for that. Arrive Safely John

In 28 years I have had 3 emergency exits and 5 emergency landings - all uneventful. 2 of the emergency exits were tandems from 4000 FT. Emergency landings - UH-60 Blackhawk (chip light), Cessna 206 (engine lost power), U-21 (engine out), C-31 (master caution light), Twin Otter (engine shut down due to prop problems). If you stay in the sport long enough, you will likely experience an aircraft emergency. My advice: -Remember that take-off is the most dangerous part of any airplane flight -Board the aircraft with your equipment (and your Tandem Student's) ready to exit at a moment's notice -Wear a seatbelt -Pay attention on takeoff, especially through 1000 FT AGL -Don't sleep -Know how you will handle an emergency if the need arises . . . that is the subject for another thread . . . Arrive Safely John

Wow, that's a tough question to answer! I would have to choose from: -The nearly completely blind gent who got to fly in the clear blue sky next to his son (who also made a tandem) -The terminally ill ten year old boy who was maximizing his life experiences during the last few weeks on Earth -My sister who permanently overcame a deeply rooted fear of heights she had since she was a small child -The widow of an Aviator (who perished when his aircraft crashed) that overcame her acute fear of flying -The World War II Paratrooper who jumped in his "jump boots" and wore his khaki uniform with all awards and decorations (under his jumpsuit) -Each of my children who had been around skydiving since they were infants -The wheelchair-bound young man with cerebral palsy who has made seven jumps with me -My 76 year old mother (her age at the time) -And the countless Students whose first ride in an airplane resulted in jumpin out of it I just can't choose, but I consider that a nice problem to have. It explains why I love doing tandems so much. Arrive Safely John

TK - I would suggest creating a slide or photo using Google Earth imagery showing the fence line. For those of us who have been there, it is very easy to understand just by description. For those who haven't been in a long time, or haven't been at all, it would provide clear understanding of the impact to Skydive City. Arrive Safely John

Already posted this morning - stuck to the top of the forum. Arrive Safely John

THe short answer is yes, but we are talking about wind conditions that provide a useful tailwind that can be harnessed. A very light or nonexistent wind does not provide a condition that allows for use of either technique. In that case, normal use of flight modes applies and you may have to pick an alternate for landing. Arrive Safely John

A news article on the subject: http://www2.tbo.com/news/travel/2012/may/03/1/panewso1-skydive-city-manager-opposes-airport-fenc-ar-399253/ Arrive Safely John

Skydive City (ZHills) is faced with a potential Airport Access issue . . . the City of Zephyrhills wants to fence off the airport (at extreme hardship to the dropzone). DZO David "TK" Hayes has posted a Change.org online petition, and is garnering support from all skydivers for this Airport Access cause. Read about the issue using the following link . . . a link to the petition is on the page. http://www.icontact-archive.com/fflnwWREJqFsINFoTaLsoaf9Nc-lxwNX?w=2 Spread the word . . . stop the madness. Arrive Safely John