Airman1270

Perhaps the poll should have included "mostly" as an option. I've been wearing them for nearly 40 years. I do it because it's a good idea. At the same time, I am vehemently opposed to seat belt laws. Criminalizing people for failing to follow good advice runs contrary to the principles upon which this nation was founded. Sometimes there are times when I don't wear one. These include short trips on residential streets, making deliveries, etc. When the kids were younger, I told them they didn't have to wear seat belts to & from the babysitter's house, which was three tenths of a mile down the road. There was no main road to navigate, and no threat of a high-speed collision. They often chose to wear them anyway. Outside the subdivision, they are always worn. Meanwhile, repeal these stupid laws. Such laws lead to the kind of mind-set that believes mandatory AAD use is a good policy. If you support mandatory AAD use, but do not support a policy banning canopies that are smaller than 200 sq. ft., you are a hypocrite. (I suppose any ensuing arguments should be directed to Speakers' Corner?) Cheers, Jon S.

Vaguely related: After I got my first rig I was packing the main on the front lawn. My Mom, who had never seen me jump (but who did shuttle me to doctor appointments after my first-jump broken ankle) was watching. She was always one of those hyper fear-of-flying types. She reached down to touch the nylon and see what it feels like. I said "Are you trying to kill me?!" She jumped back and said "I'm sorry!" I laughed and said I was kidding, that it was okay, but it was few minutes before her heatbeat returned to its normal rate. Cheers, Jon S.

...I'm not sure that i would ever want to jump with you. Seems like you are possibly a hazard to those who are on the same jumprun as you... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Careful here. Nothing has been said yet to indicate he might be a hazard, only that he doesn't jump very often. According to the info presented here, he keeps his dives within the comfortable realm of his current skill set and doesn't take chances. I took a camera up once, in 1990, to capture my girlfriend's tandem. I had about 175 jumps in more than seven years and didn't fly very well. The dive was cleared with the instructor, who seemed at ease when I said I had no plans to get close. It was a hand-held instamatic-type camera, with the strap wrapped around my left wrist. I got a beautiful shot of their exit, then waited a few seconds and followed them out. Tried to get a couple of freefall shots, but every time I brought the camera to my face I went into a turn. Opened at 4000' (to allow extra time for EP's), took a few more shots under canopy, then got a nice one of their landing. But I digress... There have been times I was hesitant to accept advice from a few certain people. This was because their "advice" frequently consisted of stuff I already knew. I felt I was being talked down to because I didn't make many jumps in any given month. I would have had a much better attitude if these people had expressed interest in jumping with me at least once in a while and treated me like an equal, albeit one whose skills had not developed as quickly as theirs had. Cheers, Jon S.

...I had a nice approach set up for the empty lot, but due to my inexperience, I didn't allow for what was about to happen as I descended below the treeline. At that point I suddenly found myself surging... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Oh yeah... Same thing happened to me in '94. Bad spot, found a small field and did some S-turns as I approached the edge of the trees. Was set up nicely for the middle of the field when I fell below the treeline and surged forward, running nearly full speed into the trees just a few feet off the ground. Tore up my Star Trac a bit, but a rigger friend adopted the project as a personal hobby and fixed it up real nice. Cheers, Jon

Once. A little. In the mid 90's. I'd made a jump on a windy day. We were supposed to do a high-altitude load, but there was little interest and few names on the list. I decided I'd make the load if it was going, but otherwise I was done for the day. My friend invited me for a walk behind the hangar. At this point in my life I had not been a "regular" for several years, and spent only a brief moment participating in the safety meeting. However, that small puff or two had a noticable affect on me. We returned to learn that the load had filled and we were on a 20 minute call. On the ride up, I tried to calculate our altitude. My altimeter read 6000', to which I proceeded to add 12,000' so as to determine where we were. Happy to say I got the right answer, but I realized it was taking me much longer to compute than it should have. Exit was around 24,000'. We did a loose, no-contact 3-way. I opened at 3000' almost directly over the landing zone, and spent the descent crabbing a bit to the side and holding into the wind, coming nearly straight down to a tiptoe landing right on target. Wow. It was fun. No plans to do it again. Cheers, Jon S.

...Now the rest is just silliness. My parents were great. They encouraged exploration and trying new things. They also knew that kids will fall down and somtimes get hurt. That is part of life... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ THANK YOU for a dose of common sense. As my kids are growing up, getting an occasional cut or scrape, etc., I always try to play down the event. Yes, I'm there and I care and I'm ready to help if needed, but I have so little patience for these parents who react with that damn "GASP!", followed by "OHH my baby, are you all right?..."delivered in that wimply panic voice. My kid falls off her bike. I ask quietly "Are you okay?" She says something like "Yeah, but I think I cut my knee. Can I have a band-aid?" No panic. No freaking out. We fix it and she's back on the bike. A couple of years ago, when Audrey was about four, she used to watch me shave and put shaving cream on her face. One day I left the bathroom for a moment and came back to find her standing there with the razor in her hand, two thin red parallel lines on her cheek, and a perplexed expression on her face. I calmly said "Oh, did you cut yourself?" She said "Yeah." I began to wash her face gently and asked "Does it sting?" "Yeah, a little." So we fixed it. She was fine. I went into the kitchen and told my wife what had happened, emphasizing that she's okay and is not upset about it. When Nancy saw her face she did that damn gasping freak-out I was trying to avoid. Now Audrey is on the verge of tears, in response to Mom's reaction. Sigh. Love your kids, punish them when necessary, don't be afraid of an occasional spank, and don't allow them to believe they're better than the other kids. They'll turn out just fine. One lesson I learned from my Mom is to make sure that you spend time in conversation that does not include giving non-stop advice, criticism, etc. There will be times when this is required, but don't condition them to anticipate that every interaction with you involves being told that they're wrong about (insert subject du jour here.) Gotta go. We played frisbee and bouncy ball this afternoon. Now she wants to go home and ride bikes. Soon the day will come when she doesn't want to hang out with me, so I better enjoy it. Cheers, Jon S.

...So this was your demo huh...... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The funny part: We were asked to gather in front of the stage. The organizer took the mike and made the requisite "don't do drugs" comments, and said we'd all say a few words. (We hadn't talked about this.) The other guy told the crowd that he's never done illegal drugs, and that to skydive you must be at the top of your game, adding that any skydiver under the influence of anything would be kicked off the DZ. I looked at him... I don't know if he's done "drugs" but he enjoys his beer after hours. Furthermore, it's been my observation that any jumper who gets wasted will, at most, be grounded for the day. He'll still be encouraged to hang out and party after hours. Anyway, he handed me the mike. I graduated from high school in the mid-1970's and had done drugs a few times, but didn't think this was the time & place to go into detail, so I avoided the subject and thanked everyone for coming out and handed back the mike. I had worked at a radio station in this town for over four years and was somewhat well-known. (My listeners had heard me talk about skydiving on several occasions.) However, on my political show I had been critical of some of the things I'd seen while reading police reports, especially the habits of the K-9 guys who apparently don't think your Constitutional rights are particularly valuable when they want to search your car while you're passing through town with out-of-state tags. While I had kept it theoretical and not personal, I'm sure they didn't appreciate my comments. So here I am, at an anti-meth event sponsired by the cops, complete with K-9 demonstrations, etc. In fact, we were greeted by a Captain I had interviewed on several occasions. I tried to keep a low profile, and I think it worked. Anyway, a good time had by all. Cheers, Jon

Three weeks ago I landed on the stage of a beauty contest. I had roughly 1/3 the size of a flatbed trailer as a target... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Good point. Invitation or not, I would not have attempted such a jump, even though I can almost always land that close to a target. Also, I told the organizer I would not make the jump if the winds were blowing much more than 10mph. (At the DZ, this would not be an issue.) I don't know the official requirements, but I trust the organizer and am certain he would not have placed me into a situation I was not "officially" qualified to handle. While it was pretty much a piece of cake, the ass-pucker factor was much more than I'm used to. One surprise was the bumpy air all the way down, which I assume was due to thermals coming up from the residential areas, roads, buildings, and parking lots underneath. I made about 15 jumps last year, took four months off, then made five more about a month ago. The demo was my first dive in five weeks. The one skill I've been able to polish over the years has been canopy control. Thank God for those T-10 student jumps. I'm glad it turned out to be much less dramatic than my last invite... In 1997 I was invited on a demo at an air show, but couldn't make it due to a prior commitment. The following week I had a streamer malfunction & (round) reserve ride. That was the pack job I would have jumped at the air show... Cheers, Jon

...This past Saturday. The occasion was one of those "Don't do Drugs" events sponsored by the Bartow County Sheriff's Office. We jumped into a ball field inside the quarter-mile track at a park in Cartersville, GA. I landed within 20' of the "X", closer than the other guys. Somebody please remind me why I need a "D" license or a PRO rating to do this? Cheers, Jon S.

Memories coming back... A bunch of years back, when I was jumping my old rig, I'd frequently be given "advice" that consisted of stuff I already knew, and had known for several years before the advisee made his first jump. It wasn't bad advice either, but he was making assumptions about my abilities because of the way I looked while walking to the airplane. As a sporadic jumper, I didn't need to hear the advice as much as I needed the chance to put it into practice. However, this guy was part of a group of very talented people who (mostly) only jumped with each other, leaving the lower-experienced folks to teach each other how to fly. Many of my jumps were either solos or small-ways with recent graduates and other low-timers. I was always willing to jump with these guys, but, in return, rarely had a chance to be the least experienced guy on the load. As a result, my learning curve was real slow. The others noticed that, as time went on, I didn't seem to be getting any better, so they were even less interested in having me on the load. The cycle continued... I finally found another DZ and my flying began to improve at a much faster rate. There were times when someone would ask my experience, then plan a dive based on the assumption I was capable, at (fill in the blank - 150, 500, etc.) jumps that I could handle the workload. I would always be honest, explaining that I did not fly well enough to make this dive, but would be happy to give it a shot if they still wanted me on the load. They appreciated my candor. I've never been able to understand why anyone would misrepresent his abilities, experience, etc. But then, there are people who wonder why I'm not afraid to jump a belly band or a round reserve. Oh, well... Cheers, Jon S.

The serious points you make can be addressed in most neighborhoods, HOA's or not. It was my understanding that most local governments have mechanisms to deal with such violations. But whose life, property values, etc. are at risk because the neighbor is working on his car, in his driveway, on Saturday afternoon? How is your life affected if I hang a sheet over my living room window, allow guests to park in the street, or paint my mailbox a different color than yours? If I wish to park an unused car on my property, why is this perfectly okay if I maintain registration & insurance, but an "eyesore" if I don't? Regarding lawns: It seems sometimes that the guy who turns his lawn into a passionate hobby, constantly raking, mowing, etc. is the unofficial standard to which the rest of us are expected to strive; and, if we dont, are considered "irresponsible." I don't play that game. I clean up my yard once or twice a year and cut the grass several times each season. It gets tall, I cut it. It gets tall again, I eventually cut it. It never gets out of hand, unless you describe tall grass as "out of hand." Neither is it ignored for months at a time. I suppose a HOA might get its panties in a wad, but nobody else is affected. NWFlyer was right. Perhaps this should have been in SC. I had no idea that might be the case. Live & learn... Cheers, Jon

I've "met" several so far, but I haven't told them because that might ruin it. However, at least I haven't been rejected yet. (Remember that George Carlin line, back when he used to be funny and not obsessed with trashing the church? He said he "fantasized" about girls in the neighborhood, rather than movie stars, etc., because "Hey, this can happen!") Cheers, Jon S.

Frankly, I think many video folks try too hard to make their films "interesting." It's one thing to compile a bunch of stuff geared for experienced jumpers, but when we're talking about preparing a video for students, etc. I have a suggestion: Just give them a recording of the event. No music, no fancy gee-whiz camera crap, etc. Shoot the people gathering around during the gear-up & aircraft boarding. Aim out the door and get a long shot of the takeoff. Shoot several chunks of aircraft time, especially a long look out the door, at the airplane wing, the clouds, maybe a long shot of the DZ if possible. Keep the camera rolling during the climb-out, the jump, and the canopy ride, all the way to the ground. But don't stop here. Capture the event: the jumpers landing, a slow pan of the DZ, the post-jump comments. And, please, aside from asking a student "What did you think?" don't ask the same stupid question you ask everybody else. It's funny the first time. They're going to be watching this many times and showing it to their friends. It's already plenty entertaining. There will be other moments to show off your tight editing and other production skills. Why not send them home with an exciting, accurate depiction of what happens on a skydive, rather than a collection of quick "action" shots set to music that some people might enjoy? Cheers, Jon S.

The thread about new construction reminded me... Every time I see new housing construction, it's always one of these cookie-cutter neighborhoods with the restrictive covenants and the busybody homeowners associations goose stepping over their neighbors' property rights, trying to micro-manage the color of the mailboxes, whether you can change your spark plugs while parked in your driveway, demanding permission before you cut down a tree, etc. You know the drill. My question: Why do people want to live like this? In my lowly life as pizza guy scum, I see many of these homes, built very close to each other, and always with these "covenant" signs posted at the entrance to the community. Meanwhile, for a fraction of the price, I have a nice house in a nice neighborhood, built about 30 years ago, with plenty of trees and ample space between homes, near the interstate, with NO homeowners association trying to make our lives a living hell. Yet, I'm sure the people I'm delivering to will tell you that their homes are more valuable, more desirable, etc. What is the attraction? And if you support this concept, what part of your life is so fragile that you'll unravel at the seams if your neighbor installs a bright blue mailbox, or parks an unused car on the side of his garage for months at a time? And, part of the original question, why is there not a corresponding boom in new housing construction that does NOT require covenants, etc.? Your thoughts? Cheers, Jon S.

Triathalon 220, solid neon yellow. Got it two years ago and had been planning this for a long time. I wanted a yellow main to ensure high visibility and minimize the potential for one of those ugly low-altitude collisions. Also, to make recovery easier after a cutaway. There is NO naturally ocurring bright yellow terrain (at least not in Georgia.) My Strato Cloud is a rainbow pattern on bottom, white on top. About 20 years ago in Arcade, NY I saw a guy with the most ug... er, interesting color scheme. Every panel, every rib was a different color, with no apparent pattern. He said he sat down with the manufacturer's paperwork for selecting colors, then chose a color for each unit by playing some sort of drinking game and allowing the results to dictate the final colors. Imagine the look on the face of the employee whose assignment that day was to complete this order. Cheers, Jon S.

...I started so long ago that I have jumped some pretty amazingly bad gear, including belly wart reserves, and I have over 50 jumps on round canopies!... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ What's wrong with those belly warts? One of them saved my life on my 14th jump when I couldn't locate my ripcord on a 10-second delay. I knew I was taking too long trying to get the main out so I fired the reserve around 1200'. Yeah, it would have been nice to be able to steer, instead of just oscillating down into the trees, but what's the point of complaining about it now? My first reserve ride, terminal opening, and tree landing. Off I went to the beer store. But I was a bit perplexed by everybody congratulating me for pulling the reserve. I mean, it seemed like a good idea at the time, why would it be newsworthy? Cheers, Jon S.

In Duanesburg, NY in the early '80's the student DZ was a collection of fields a few miles from the airport. On my 13th jump (T-10) I got a bad spot and landed on farmer McNasty's land. He had a reputation for taking photos of errant jumpers, to be used as evidence in his ongoing attempts to close the DZ. The guy stopped his work and ran past me into the house, saying "You know you're trespassing?" I said "Yes, I know, I'm sorry" with a big smile because I had just jumped out of an airplane and it was so cool. The ground crew pulled up outside the gate, and used the megaphone to tell me that he was going to take my picture. As the guy aimed the camera I posed for him with a huge grin, then apologized once more before picking up the main and heading toward the van. Shortly after that, when I had "graduated" to jumping the airport, I landed a PC in a neighbor's backyard a short distance up the road. As I walked back a young lady, who worked at the store across the street from the DZ, drove past me and called out "Case of beer!..." One of my most ass-puckering moments came over Ellijay, GA in the mid-'90's. A real bad spot had us trying to fly upwind over a bunch of trees to make the highway, with the airport another half-mile upwind from that. With trees and a power company right-of-way beneath & behind us, I could see I wouldn't make the highway and my only option was a small rectangular yard behind a home below me. I rode my brakes to descend straight down, and began to relax as I drifted below the 100+' treeline. YES! I'll be okay. Suddenly I heard a dog begin barking loudly... I landed just outside the rear sliding glass door, looking into the dining room. But nobody was home, and I walked down the long driveway to meet the other guys, who had landed on the roadside. I never did see the dog. Cheers, Jon S.

That picture of the guy chopping his main a short distance above the water on the reader response page - It's an old rainbow Strato Cloud, just like mine. Apparently, he decided not to get his "good" gear wet so he used the old rig for this dive. And I thought I was the only one who still had one of those in service. Nice photo. Cheers, Jon S.

...How about "A" lic. 5490?... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Got me beat by a few years. Mine's in the mid-9000's. Cheers, Jon

Hee hee... An observation I made last year after watching the reactions of other jumpers when I jumped my "hog" for the first time at the Farm (after my Strato-Cloud had been packed inside for nine months): When you jump an old rig as an occasional novelty, people think it's kinda neat. When it's your only rig, they think you're an asshole. I had been using this rig since the mid '80's, back when they weren't all that unusual. As time went by, I kept jumping it, while the sport around me moved onto better things and every year I was noticing more and more raised eyebrows, curious comments, and even the occasional "Holy crap, you're actually going to jump that?!" I got my new gear in 2004, days before my trip to New York. Part of the trip was a stay at the Ranch. It was so neat walking around among several hundred jumpers without being noticed. This experience had been a long-held fantasy, and I savored every moment of it. Cheers, Jon

...Mine is the opposite, I qualified for my D about the same time Tom did, but didn't actually send in for it until years later when the PRO rating came out. I 'could' have a 6000 series number, but instead have one in the 13,000 range, THAT gets an occasional quizzical look....30 years in the sport and it took ya 10 to get a D license?... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Same story here. After graduation I jumped at a few DZ's where the subject of a license never came up. A few years later, while traveling from Georgia to New York, I visited a DZ at Hartwood, Virginia. Even though I had about 120 jumps and was current, they made me do a supervised solo because I had no license. So in late 1987 I filled out the paperwork and purchased my "A" license, which I still hold today. I qualified for a "D" many years ago, and will buy one if I ever need one. Meanwhile, it was funny when I visited the Ranch a few years ago, watching the manifest staff acting almost impressed by my "low" "A" number. Then came the gear check, as I lifted my Wonderhog onto the counter and watched their eyes get big... Cheers, Jon S.

QuoteThere's nothing wrong with static line... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Ditto Steve. AFF doesn't necessarily suck, but the static-line program is just fine. An added bonus is that, after you've graduated and are becoming more experienced you won't start to freak out because you're at 5000' and haven't begun the break-off yet. You'll be able to do hop 'n' pops on low ceiling days while the AFF grads stay on the ground. Cheers, Jon S.

Open when in use, closed when not in use. Seat & lid both. I trained my wife years ago to close the lid. (Used up my one free "Okay, I'll do it your way" privilege...) The kids also live by this method; they've never known any other way. Of course, while camping at the DZ I showed my son that it's cool to pee outdoors, as long as you make some effort to avoid public display and keep it away from common walking areas. He thought it was a boatload of fun. Cheers, Jon S.

Okay, let's flush out the Taylor players. Been playing my 314 (I think) for nearly seven years, after 25 years on the cheap stuff. It still smells fresh when I open the case. Gotta go - band practice tonight. Cheers, Jon S.

Years ago I, too, was one of the people who thought of jury service as something to get out of. I changed my mind a long time ago after witnessing too many of those "I can't believe it; what were they thinking?" verdicts. I decided that if I ever got called, I'd do my best to get on the case. Unfortunately, this means reserving some irrelevant information as private. They don't need to know that I listen to Rush, watch O'Reilly, and have worked in radio news. The least said about these things, the better my chances of being picked. Also, they don't need to know I'm a skydiver. This may work against me in one of those silly civil cases where someone gets hurt and blames some "deep pocket" individual, corporation, organization, etc. for failing to prevent the incident from happening. I would challenge the legal purists to explain why this sort of irrelevant information should disqualify me from service, as would surely be the case in many instances. I am insulted and offended that members of the litigation lobby would claim I cannot judge a case impartially because I happen to keep abreast of current events. Last year I finally got on a jury. The case involved a NY moving company being sued for apparently losing and/or damaging a retired couples' belongings in their move to Georgia. The company appeared to be guilty of some of the accusations. But I took note that the main testimony came from the wife, who was an avid collector of precious ceramic art pieces. She documented the value of many of the items, demonstrating her long-held expertise in this field... But what got me is that the movers were expected to pack everything. The agreement was that they would wrap things up, box them , etc. WAIT A MINUTE! If you're a passionate collector of delicate items, you don't just let a bunch of burly New York moving company employees enter your home, with the expectation they would handle your stuff with the same level of care you yourself would employ. You would pack it away with bubble wrap, etc. in the weeks preceding the move. The movers are there to help you move your large furniture, appliances, and boxes. Why are they expected to remove the pictures from the walls? These guys are probably motivated to get the job done as quickly as possible, and frankly resent having to waste time doing things the customer should have already taken care of. The defense lawyer, one of three sitting there presented a pathetic case. His only tactic was to challenge the wife as to her credibility regarding the claimed value of the lost/damaged stuff. At the end of the day I had no idea how I'd vote. But I did have some questions, such as "Did the company ever offer a settlement prior to this case proceeding? If so, why wasn't it accepted?" I arrived the next day, eager to get on with it, only to learn the case had been settled. I wonder whether the company had planned to settle all along, but let it go to trial as a way of providing courtroom practice for a young law school graduate. I believe it would be wise to look upon that jury notice as an opportunity, rather than as an annoyance. The system would benefit from the influx of more common sense and fewer people who allow themselves to be intimidated into verdicts they don't think are right. Cheers, Jon S.