skybytch

Does the club own gear? If so, there's a danger of being involved in a huge lawsuit. Does the club offer any kind of ground instruction? If so, there's a danger of being involved in a huge lawsuit. Does the club offer/sponsor/advertise any skydiving activities at all (ie group trips to the dz, etc)? If so, there's a danger of being involved in a huge lawsuit. A plantiff's attorney will list anybody who may have possibly had anything at all to do with the dead or injured person jumping out of an airplane on the lawsuit - no matter how slight the possibility of those persons/clubs/etc involvement might be. Know how much it costs to get your name off that list, even if you had no direct involvement in the injury/death? Something to think about...

Good questions. I've been out of gear sales for a couple of years now so things may have changed, but I never used, nor did I ever hear anyone use, the terms "upper and lower tier."

Happy b-day, ya sexy Dutch boy. How many times do we get to spank you this weekend?

First off, sorry to everyone for not posting this sooner. I've been trying to find other places where we can camp out without having to pay money but I've had no luck at all. So... those who are planning to arrive in Paso on Friday will be on their own for lodging. In addition, since we can't use Star Farms on Friday, there won't be any jumping going on until Saturday morning. The Cessna will still be arriving on Friday though, so it will be available to jump as soon as we have enough people registered/manifested on Saturday morning. There are a couple of bars in Paso. If anyone is interested in goin' drinkin' Friday night, lets try to arrange that here. Whoever keeps sticking pins in the Star Farms Boogie voodoo doll can knock it off anytime now... On another subject - here's a short list of what you may want to bring with you. - Your gear with a in date reserve. Rigging services will NOT be available on site; if you're jumping, your rig needs to be in date when you arrive. If your gear is not in date, you won't be jumping. - Your current USPA membership card. We won't have access to USPA's website to verify your membership and they don't answer their phones on the weekends. Without the card, we have to assume that your membership is not valid. Without valid membership, you can't jump. You are of course still welcome to hang out and party with us. - Camping equipment. - Food. The closest restaurants are in town, approximately 10 miles away. - Bathing suit. The pond is not swoopable but it is definitely swimmable. - Shower stuff. There are two showers on site. - Whatever non-beer alcohol you want to drink on Saturday night and whatever beer or other alcohol you want to drink prior to the kegs being tapped (at sunset on Saturday). - CASH. We can't accept credit cards and we'd prefer not to take checks. The closest ATM's are in town. - Show up ready to have fun! We'll be bringing a slackline that we hope to set up if anyone is interested in giving it a try. Hoping to set it up over the pond so the falls will be less scary. Saturday night's party will include a Lancaster Bomber Reenactment if enough people want to participate. If you've never seen Lancaster Bomber, you're in for a treat. If you have seen or participated in Lancaster Bomber in the past, please STFU. See ya all there!!

It could be. Besides making packing a pain in the ass, overstuffing a container puts stress on the closing flaps and the grommets.

I doubt I'll have time to jump. I've designated Muffin as a substitute JoeMamma though, so no worries, you can still blow Joe.

Did he go somewhere?

Eight days. Since the likelihood of me jumping at my own boogie this weekend is pretty slim, I think I'll get one in tomorrow.

That shows how little you know me.

I won't do that. The details do not need to be discussed on a public forum. Suffice it to say that the aircraft owner made the best decision he could for his business - likely any of us would have made the same decision if they were him. I will not badmouth him here or anyplace else. Am I happy about this situation? Not even close to happy, but again, I'll get over it. Am I a bit upset with the people who won't be coming simply because there won't be a turbine available for the entire event? Yeah, I am, but I'll get over that too. Am I going to let that all that keep me from having a kick ass time this weekend? Absolutely not. I really hope others feel the same way...

Woke up to the radio announcing the first hit. Drove to work and posted on dz.com for most of the morning since the phones weren't ringing. We all got sent home before 1 pm. IIRC, I spent the afternoon posting on dz.com. Didn't have a TV at the time; I didn't see any of the video until the next day.

Partying with the Blue's is a great way to forget about the shit that life sometimes hands you.

Are you coming from southern California? If you are, you can drive to Lompoc on Saturday, jump there in the morning and hitch a ride up with the Caravan in the afternoon, jump and hang with us Sat. afternoon/night and then fly back down to Lompoc Sunday morning. Cost will be around $35 for the flight.

Holy crap, they threw a quiz at you already!?! My first quiz in algebra isn't until this Friday; hell I haven't even bought the book yet!!

The container is not freefly safe and it's 13 years old; it's worth $400 tops. The main is all F111 and 13 years old; it's nothing like the Sabre or Spectre you've jumped. Don't load it above 1.0 (i.e. 190 exit weight). It's worth about $200 tops. The reserve is 13 years old and an older design; don't load it above 1.0 (i.e. 175 exit weight). It's worth about $300. The Cypres becomes a doorstop in 3 years; it's worth about $300. If the canopy sizes are not too small for you, you aren't planning to start freeflying anytime soon and you can't afford newer equipment, I'd offer them $1200 and see what they say. If the canopies are too small for you, you want to start freeflying now or if you can afford to spend more, I'd pass on it and keep looking.

More aircraft update! The 206 we'll be jumping is being provided by Dave Hughes from Skydive Santa Barbara (Lompoc). I just got off the phone with him and there's a very good possibility that after they are done with tandems down there he can bring a load of people up in his Caravan and we can have that to jump Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Also, the 206 will be arriving in Paso on Friday afternoon, so those who are planning to arrive Friday can get a jump or two in before sunset.

Some of the info in this article might be helpful. The Hornet is a 9 cell semi elliptical zp canopy - will fly much the same as a Pilot or Sabre2. While it is no longer being produced, Aerodyne will provide support if needed.

GI Joe knows how to get there... you can figure it out too.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!! We are sorry to have to inform you all that the PAC is not available for us to jump this weekend. We've tried to get another turbine aircraft, but the only ones that are available are expensive. We could raise the registration fee to help cover the cost but we don't want to do that. So, we got a Cessna 206. This is good in that the registration fee will stay at $25 and jump prices will go down to $20. I know, I know, who wants to travel all that way to jump a Cessna... Well, we think this weekend will be worth it regardless of whether there's a turbine or not - this event is more about hanging out and partying with friends in a new and different place with the side benefit of making a skydive or three instead of banging out a crapload of jumps. But we'll understand if you feel otherwise. We may call you a turbine snob and make fun of you both online and behind your back for missing what's going to be one of the best parties this year, but really, we'll understand. I swear.

It's a good thing I'm already good at PLF's. More pics - 023 - look ma, no hands! 032 - sitting on the line 033 - starting to lay back 034 - 10 milliseconds before the crash

It is a Z1. I sold one to the game company a few years ago when I was selling gear and they were developing the game.

Nearest place to eat is in town. Bring food.

LMFAO!!!! Hey Kris, I'd be all over that ticket if they were launching it from someplace other than Hurrica... err, I mean Florida.

Noice!!!! Welcome home, Max. Thanks for making me smile today.

Being able to jump a variety of containers will help you decide which container brand fits your body the best. Being able to jump a variety of different canopies will help you decide which one you like the best. And being able to downsize slowly from student canopies to what you'll be happy with for a couple hundred jumps is priceless. If you can afford to buy a new rig, the Square One demo program is the way to go.