Ron

You feel like you have to police threads. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not in skydiving its the same thing...Which is my point about people not learning the culture. True, in fact I have no issue with her name...I have an issue with people not understanding the culture of something and expecting the culture to change for them, or expect to be treated differently "just because". Fact is you call yourself a God/Goddess in this sport it is seen as an ego thing...It does not matter what it is looked at in other places...HERE Skygod is an insult. And I understand Swoopys opinion...even if I don't agree with his approach, or even the fact that it was brought up at all. I mean I could not give a shit if you want to call yourself Goddess of all things Airborne!!! But if you wanna call yourself a God/Goddess, expect some flack. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Show me ONE place where I said that? But she (and everyone else) needs to understand that when you give yourself a name that people will use it. If you call yourself a God/Goddess people are going to think that you are full of yourself. Perfect example is the Wrongway thread. He made some mistakes and got a nickname...But he kept it and bitched that people would not take him seriously....Well DUH! If I call myself Fat, dumb, low guy. People will think that I am Fat, Dumb and that I go low...Add that to the fact that most here think Im a major Asshole and there you have it! People will get an opinion of me based off of my name. In fact Im 5'6" 150# I don't think I'm dumb and I have not gone low in several hundred jumps. But my name would make it seem that I do it all the time cause Im a fat boy. Fact or not, the screen name can say loads about the person.... And God/Goddess in skydiving shows a massive ego. And if you CHOOSE to call yourself that then you should be prepared to take some heat. Do you see anyone else calling themselves "Gods"? A quick search showed 48 results of users with God in their names...Of them only 6 have posts. FreeflyGoddess with 1088 and 117 jumps. BuddaGod with 2 posts and 340 jumps JumpGod with 124 posts and 250 jumps. SkybeerGodd with 78 posts and 2800 jumps. Skygod7777 with 1589 posts and 1,100 jumps To be honest the last two surprize me...But the rest are folks with less than 500 jumps. All I ever said was with a name like GOD/Goddess in this sport some folks are going to think you have a massive ego....Correct or not...Perception is reality to most people. And if you are going to call yourself something like that then you should expect that you will get flack for it. Does that mean you should change? Nope, but it also means you should not bitch when people label you based on your name. You choose it....Live with it, and that includes people giving you shit for it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep sorry didn't mean t come accross that way. But my point stands.. If you give yourself a name, you have to understand that some people (Even those with no tact and yes I include myself in that) will have an issue with it. And do you understand that: 1. I really didn't mean to attack anyone, just trying to point out something I see these days more than ever. 2. That new folks are coming in and not taking the time to learn the culture...And SOME of them don't care and can get very pissy when you try to help. And yes I understand that the approach can mean the difference. But even if you don't like the person or the way they say something, you should still listen...You might learn something. Medicine tastes bad but does good things "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yeah all that he said!!!! Why do you and Kallend always make me feel stupid when I come up with good examples...and then you guys get all technical on my ass? Geeze you are gonna give me a complex! Ok I feel better...I may not say it like "The flow around can produce a force component which has a vector pointing in the opposite direction of weight"...but at least ya got it! And I'll help anytime I can. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes I am saying that...You can gain lift without actually climbing. You instead will just use that lift to slow the descent rate..Think of a glider..It still has lift even though it can't on its own gain altitude. Hell think wingsuit. They gain lift, and you can't practice that in a tunnel. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If you read my post you will see I don't give a rats ass about her name....I DO care about how new skydivers don't take the time to learn the culture of the sport and expect it to change to suit them. And its quite clear you have never been on a DZ with me. I only preach saftey...since most people ignore it. I don't brag about myself. Again SKYGOD is an insult....And maybe you should listen to everyone? I ahve students that have told me things that have made me think...And ego filled A'holes have tought me things... Learn to listen for the content. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The person I replied to got pissed, and Swoopy was wrong in HOW he brought it up...All I tried to do was point out how people are going to have issues with names like that. FFG...Hell I don't know her, and I don't care if she calls herself that or any other thing...But If you call yourself something, expect people to react to it...Wrongway and his whole issue comes to mind. I also said (If you look at my first post) that it should have been handled via PM...But I also said that maybe he did and she ignored him....Its possible, hell I don't know. Again I could not care what anyone calls themselves...I used this to point out how folks are comming into this sport and not taking the time to learn the culture...And in some cases not carring to even try and expecting the culture to conform to them. If I went around and called myself "Skygod#1" then I would expect people to give me shit about it. FFG should expect the same thing, as well as others should understand how some are going to react badly to that kind of name. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

to get a "real" track you have to gain lift from your body....To do that you have to move fast horizontally....You can't do that in a tunnel. You can move forward, but you can't move forward fast enough to gain lift...so the only way to practice that is in the air. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

A perfect example of what I was talking about. Just because it is OK, Cool, or even expected in some areas, it is not always that way in another area. Cool, and in that forum being called a "Goddess" may not have the same meaning as being called that at a DZ...You just kinda proved my point about people that don't know about the culture of sport making mistakes since they don't know and in some cases don't listen to advice. On a DZ IT DOES MEAN THAT!!. Again you just keep proving my point. And if you read my post I said that "I had the same question"...then later I say "It should have been done via PM"...Then I say"To be honest we don't know if he did try and she ignored him". At no point did I attack her. I used this a spring board to point out a very clear trend I see... People comming into the sport, and not learning the cultrue. Then not listening when people try to help. I think people comming into a sport and not learning the culture, then getting pissed when someone tries to point it out that they are making an error is GROSSLY inappropriate. I bet if I started hanging out in your Medieval Weaponry forum, and I didn't know jack shit about medieval weaponry or took the time to learn and ignored attempts to assist me. But called myself THOR GOD of ALL BROADSWORDS!!! I bet I get atleast one post like this. Even if a name, saying or other piece of cultre is accepted in one sport/hobby ect that does not mean it fits in another... And my whole point was today that people don't take the time to learn the culture, and ignore advice...Sometimes to the point where I have someone with 12 jumps telling me what is OK on a DZ. Or a guy with 100 telling me he should be allowed to fly a Velocity 96 at 2 to 1 and I should just "Fuck off and leave him alone..He knows what he is doing". "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I have to admit I had the same question. I didn't post it since I know how people on here can get. And I also didn't post it since most here think Im an asshole anyway. But it does show that some of the people here really don't have the entire scope of the sport. Being called a "Skygod" is a bad thing...an insult. And calling yourself a God, or Goddess is asking for it. It should have been brought up via PM....But we don't know if it has been already, or if she ignored well intended advice till it got to the point that he blew. I have had people do the same to me...Here and on the DZ...A hell of a lot more times on these forums. When I started skydiving, and a guy with many times more jumps told me something, I listened...I still do. Not the case these days...I have guys with 50 jumps telling me that they know what they are doing and to fuck off. Kind of the problem with AFF. And these forums. People advance quickly, and they get support from places like this and they don't take advice. Ok, Im off my soap box. He should not have gone off, but like I said I had the same question. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Mine. SCUBA, Sky, Muff Dive "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

She was my best friend..I had known her for well over a year, and never thought of her any other way. One day I asked her out to eat and a movie. I picked her up about 6 PM. Went and ate sushi and went to see a movie. I have no idea where the courage came from, but I leaned in to kiss her. I spent most of the rest of that movie leaning in to kiss her. We went back to her place and didn't leave the house for 2 days. We ordered in food, and we both called in sick to work and school. We didn't have sex, but we talked, held and kissed for two days. Finaly we went back to normal lives on Thursday. The best first date I ever had. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

This friday will be the Turkey Boogie 8way comp. Turkey boogie is the start or "The Season" Expect several otters flying all day. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Even if he never served...He has a valid point. If you enlist you had better know that one day you might be called to actually go do it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I put them on right at the boarding area and I take them off before I land...I have a suit with 1,000 jumps on it...And I don't have a single bit of shoe goo on it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Notice I said *I know*. That knowledge comes with 3,000 jumps. And thats not a bad thing....Altimeters break, audibles fail, not everyone can "eyeball" the altitude. So an amount of "Gee this seems like a longer than normal skydive" feeling is a good thing to try and build. And so is an internal clock. You forget that you can have different internal clocks for different types of dives. But the base is still the same...Building into yourself the feeling of being on a longer than normal skydive can save your ass. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

At least there is a progression, not just Student canopies, and then a Stiletto. Which today is a few jumps on a Sabre, then a Velocity. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

When I was on the 82nd team we did a few competitions...But most military teams have just the demo team. You don't see many of the Competion GK's doing demos, or the Demo guys competing...Yes, it does happen but they have seperate Demo and comp teams. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

There is a cost difference, but its not that much when you look at the sport as a whole. Maybe the cost of an altimeter. But the pace and per jump cost makes it better if you don't have a large wad of cash to drop at once for AFF. Plus you can jump when the weather is not great with S/L...you can always go do a Hop n Pop if there are low clouds. Many times I have seen AFF students sitting on the ground while we would let the S/L students go do a few Hop n Pops. There is nothing wrong with AFF....The problem happens AFTER AFF. Once the person finishes his 7 jumps he is ignored. Most times he never learns to spot, never learns to pack, and the lowest he has exited the plane at is 5 grand or higher. So if the DZ has a program that teaches to pack spot and makes you actually exit low then AFF is great. The problem is that rarely happens. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If you are really moving you don't have time to look at an altimeter, you can "glance" at it....Which is why I don't like digitals. You have to read a digital, with an analog you might be able to look at your teammates and see how close the arm is to the colored section. So you are right there, but I don't bother looking for one, I don't have the time. We don't wear them on our wrists since we have to be able to have a grip taken there...We don't have time to fumble for a grip if we accidently grab the altimeter. Most times I already know how long a skydive is...Also you can tell altitude from not only looking at the ground, but by the horizon. And we all wear audibles. The leg strap placement is good since if you have a mal...you can look down and see : 1. The ground 2. Your handles 3. The altimeter But every mal I have had I never looked at the damn thing anyway. I looked at the ground. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Demo team...not likley they will go to the nationals. The 82nd has had a team for 30 years, I can't ever remember them or the 101st team going to the nationals. FWIW. Mulford was on the GK team as a demo jumper. Stiffler was on the 82nd team Rene Jewett was the XO for the GK's (I had a really cool canopy wrap with him.) Rodney Cruze is a fantastic jumper, and Won the Advanced medal in 2002 with Nemesis. Ken, Tony and the rest are very good guys. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I never knocked it...I think if you do the program in 100 jumps you will be a better all around jumper than an AFF "Otter baby". I like the S/L program. Most times you learn to spot. You are not afraid to exit an airplane low. The first jumps are all about canopy control. Most times it takes longer to go through the program so you have more "DZ time". Most S/L students actually know how to pack when they grt done. However if you *have* to get off student status in 3 days AFF wins here. (And other than a very few cases I can't think why most people would *have* to get off student status in a few days.) But like I said in 100 of the correct jumps...No one should be able to tell how you learned. That means that the AFF trained jumpers needs to learn to spot, and do low exits. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I agree, And thats all I need to read to know what I would buy. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I don't talk to students that are not mine. And I don't want you talking to my students. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334