Ron

The only one here acting like the know it all ... is you. To put it into perspective... The difference between us is you are claiming that your chosen discipline is harder than anyone else's.... And my point is that they all have different areas of difficulty.... I have more experience than you in each of them, and I don't have a chip on my shoulder. I can comprehend it.... I just think it is crap. You don't seem able to grasp that people with more experience than you might actually know more than you. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It is, and he is correct saying you don't know enough to know what you don't know. To try and claim RW is not as difficult is not supported when you look at teams like Airspeed, Fury, XL ect that train all year in it and still think they can improve. To try and claim that VRW people are only out to flop around is not supported when you see teams like Standard. What is supported is that some people don't have enough experience to know the other aspect as well as people with more experience. People who have the experience to know, know better than to try and make BS claims to make "their" discipline look cooler. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

My Google foo is clearly weak. Anyone know of an Ultralight field near Fort Lauderdale? The only one I find near here is "UL71" and it was last updated 2006. And an email has not been returned. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I wrote an article about the experience in Skydiving mag back in 1999. Maybe you can find a copy it will explain everything you are going to do... I'll look to see if I have it in Word somewhere and send it to you if I find it. Week one: PLF's Week two: PLF's Week three: 5 jumps. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It is a decent canopy. Not ideal for fun jumpers, but one of the best for Demos. Still a good canopy for Demos and accuracy. The GK's still jump them and I dare you to find a more professional demo team. To the OP... I have maybe 1k jumps on Sharpchuters and Trac I's. Do you have specific questions? If I were doing a Demo, I'd rather have the Trac I than anything else. It can open harder than most people are ready for, but you can honestly back them up even with really light winds, and you can stall them all day long and they inflate again on heading. They can be used for CRW, Demos, beginner accuracy, and freefall. The life of the canopy matters... F111 does not last as long as ZP and performance suffers. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If done correctly... yes. If nothing else, it will give more confidence in the gear. Too many people are afraid of a malfunction, yet claim they will be able to handle it when it happens. Accident analysis shows this is not always true. Any more stupid than riding a mal till impact, or riding it so long that when you do finally cutaway your hit before the reserve opens? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, well if I didn't have to be a member, I would not be. They are about worthless as an organization. Unrelated. 12 hours of freefall does not mean you have met the requirements for a license. But yes, most have long known that the USPA is just in it for the money and not really interested in doing things that make the sport safer/better. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

From my post: "I have a hard time blaming the DZ for any of the above" And: "Now if you could prove the DZ knew the pilot had a habit of not checking things, or was likely to feather the wrong prop, or was unqualified.... I would agree you might have a valid beef with the DZ. " And it is almost worthless to check your tanks right after they have been filled... The water has to settle before you can remove it. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well, I wish you would be a little more excited about having a cutaway as opposed to being even a little afraid of it. Hesitation is a bad thing....And cutaways can really be fun. And as opposed to night jumps, this is actually a life saving skill. I just don't understand how we can grant our highest license without having performed a basic life saving procedure, EVER. I also think that to get a "D" a candidate should have shown proficiency in more than one type of skydiving. A guy with 500 freefly jumps is not as well rounded as a guy with 250 freefly jumps, 100 RW jumps, 50 CRW jumps, 50 coach jumps, and 50 wingsuit jumps...ect. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Most in a week: 107 104 8 way jumps 2 fun jumps 1 Tandem Most in a day 24 packing for myself. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I think a cutaway should be required for a "D". Done in the right environment, it can be done very safely. Done incorrectly, it can easily lead to a fatality. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Not a big deal Stored fuel often accumulates water. Fuel trucks often have water in them. Yep, and good pilots make mistakes. Good pilots often make mistakes. I have a hard time blaming the DZ for any of the above. Now if you could prove the DZ knew the pilot had a habit of not checking things, or was likely to feather the wrong prop, or was unqualified.... I would agree you might have a valid beef with the DZ. Like others have said... Ask Dan. Since Dan personally lost many friends, and now WORKS at the DZ... I don't think he personally blames the owners. And he would have the most reasons. And I don't see Dan being a guy that would sell out either. But if you have a question... Ask him. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Depends. As an AFFI and a guy that teaches a bunch in the tunnel..... Yes, I do things differently if *I* know their performance in the tunnel. With a military group I worked with we gave each person an hour of tunnel and started with AFFL4. But that group ended the camp with two hours tunnel and over 50 jumps before they were out from under our supervision. With a civilian, I would not skip levels (Liability issues). I do however ADD objectives to each level. Once the student performs all of the required maneuvers I let them add more maneuvers. For example an AFFL2 might do forward movement to docking. If an exp tunnel flier can fly in the mantis.... I let them. Basically they have to prove they can do what they claim they can do, then I let them. One thing that will catch you is that tunnel folks when trying to flip over off their backs don't follow the same procedure a jumper does. We teach jumpers to arch and flip an arm in.... Works great in the air, but it could be dangerous in the tunnel where they might pop up and slam into a wall. So in the tunnel people often just use their legs to roll over (more like a cat). Safe and works great in the tunnel, but in the air, they will SPEED up quickly. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

They can and do find out. I just got a letter from the FAA saying they need more info on the kidney stone I had at Nationals last year. *I* didn't remember a kidney stone being a problem for a medical. So, I didn't disclose it to the FAA.... But I sure got a letter from them. So they can and do find out things you don't disclose. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Thanks.... But like I said, I am not sure the DZ near me is set up... I don't even know if it has creepers. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Where you want to jump, your goals, and your budget help narrow down peoples suggestions. Coaches can range from 200 bucks a day to 500 a day. And that can depend on which DZ. For example, when I coach at a DZ that I have a sponsorship with ... I charge 150 a day. When I go to a DZ that I don't have a relationship, I charge 250-300 a day plus expenses. As for locations: DeLand has World Champs all over the place. Solly, Ian, Shannon...ect. And is close to the tunnel. Sebastian has Rhythm and those folks just did a 17.5 at the Shamrock. ZHills has Sally Hathaway and she has done a 19.0 and is close to the tunnel. But right now DeLand has a better AC situation than ZHills..... So I'd use Rhythm or DeLand. Not going to even try to pimp myself out.... The DZ near my house in FL is not set up for team training. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yawn!!!!! You just keep getting worse. I do wish you were honorable enough to keep your word. "I just ignore Ron posts"--georgerussia Cause it is clear you are unable to admit you are wrong and don't know what you are talking about. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, YOU started the whole lame provide your proof argument. I just played it against you since you were unable to provide any, yet you demanded it from others. I guess you thought all laws just stopped right at some date prior to WW2? If you can't see how laws that prevented Jews from owning guns prior to be rounded up like cattle are not related..... WOW you are obtuse. Your getting even lamer. Except your "facts" don't actually exist except in your mind. Funny, I think the exact same thought about you.... Except I don't lie. Of course you don't know what an Olive Garden is yet you seem to think you are an expert on everything else. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yes, you claiming you have proven anything is naive. Yet, you have more gun crime in Europe than baseball bat crime.... And Guns are supposed to be hard to get and baseball bats are easy.... So, your own position is getting weaker and weaker. Gee, that's just what I said about you.... Funny, you can't even come up with an original retort. It's like debating a 3rd grader talking to you. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You have not once admitted you were wrong... you just try to change what you said. The facts are here for all to see. I have ignored them... Since it is irrelevant and just a lame attempt to try and weasel out of your obvious mistake. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yet that little factoid of yours has not stopped you from making claims that are not backed and you can't provided data to support. Yet you have made the claim that it would not help.... and that is a claim you cannot back.... Yet you keep making it. Wrong again: "A concentration camp (Konzentrationslager, KL or KZ) was a camp which was designed to exploit the labor of prisoners, rather than to exterminate them, although the majority of prisoners eventually died from execution, starvation, disease or exhaustion. In Germany before 1939, concentration camps mainly housed Jews and political enemies of the Nazi regime" Notice the 1939 date in there? BTW thats the same year Germany passed the laws forbidding Jews from firearm ownership..... You fail again. Your attempting to ban gun crime by banning the item is like you trying to ban drunk driving by banning cars... It IS relevant, you are just unable to argue your way out of it without looking foolish so you decree that it is irrelevant. Sorry, your arguments are just getting worse. Got proof to back that up? Or are you just trying to change reality to fit YOUR view? Again, you can't argue a position so you just claim it is not important. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You asked a stupid question and I AGAIN answered in a way that proves your position is weak... Don't blame me. And I can only guess you don't have drive through "baseballings" in Europe since Baseball is not that big in Europe. Been provided OVER AND OVER AND OVER... You just ignore them. I have provided more than you.... And mine have proven every idea and comment of yours wrong. But you don't seem to let facts influence your opinion. Go fish "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Maybe you should admit that you screwed up instead of lame attempts to back up? It seems your English needs work. Sure you are.... And not very well. Yet you are not either and you hurl stones all over the place, and your accuracy is not very good. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Actually... I don't hunt. So you have killed more than I have. I have punched lots of holes in paper and blasted lots of clays.... It seems only you have killed with a firearm. What I am saying is either: A. You lied to make it seem way to easy to buy a gun in the US. B. You participated in a federal crime. Now, since you have claimed you only have guns to hunt... and that you have changed your story at least once (First you said you used a credit card, now you say you used cash).... I think it is "A". What is moronic is blaming an item for the acts of it's owner. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Yep... And in every single case the weapon didn't do the shooting. I do find this funny from a person who admits to breaking Federal Law and completing a straw purchase in Florida in the 2000 "I bought a hand gun in Fort Lauderdale in '00 by just by showing my credit card"--christelsabine No matter that the law requiring paperwork has been in place since 1968, and a MANDATORY 3day wait has been in place in FL since May 5, 1991. Then of course you just changed your story: "The guy in the Fort Lauderdale shop just asked me if I have cash, no need for a credit card." So you either: A. Lied B. Participated in an illegal transaction. So which is it? And why did you buy a gun in the US if you only need them for hunting? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334