ccowden

Wow! Guess I won't be one of those "jackasses" and offer what I have learned!

We are back in business!! We have the greatest web biotch in the world! Thanks Sid!

Yeah- pretty cool, eh?! We have alot of Bandwidth too! Our kick-ass webmaster is working on it!

I HAVE to keep practicing. There are bigger pans at the store!

I tried it once when I had like 800 jumps and the other person had close to that. We were not too hurt, but.................. I WILL NEVER TRY ONE AGAIN!

I am both a Tandem master and a videographer, so I appreciate everything you have posted. I am disappointed to hear that you didn't like your video. If you come to my DZ to do a tandem, I will do the video for free and put the music that you want on it. Promise! All you have to do is come visit!

Thanks Johnny! De-throne Clint??? Are you kidding?! Have you seen the size of your swoop pond??!!

Awwww, Mel! That is quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone has ever referred to me as! Thank you!

"Pond skipping" Hmmmm...... Ian- We can talk sometime and I wil give you some tips. It WAS quite a challenge. My depth perception was a bit off, but considering the size of this pond, I was expecting it. SkyMonkey- I hear ya man! I still get a little teary eyed when I watch it!

Thank you everyone! It has taken so much hard work and dedication to get to this point in my swooping, but hearing these compliments makes it all worth it! I impressed Bettina, made Kolla proud....... Where can I go from here?!

We broke in our dropzone's new swoop pond in style this weekend. I had the distinction of taking the first official run at it. Fritz swooped over the pond before me but purposely left it untouched so I could have the official honor. And get this- I went Dirt- Water- Dirt and covered the entire length!! It was an amazing event, as you will clearly see on the video. Thanks to everyone who made it possible! Thank you Sid, for putting together this sweet video that so brilliantly captures the moment! Check out the video. I hope you like it! http://www.badfishfreefly.com/gallery/Family_album_gallery/swoop_pond.htm

We broke in our dropzone's new swoop pond in style this weekend. I had the distinction of taking the first official run at it. Fritz swooped over the pond before me but purposely left it untouched so I could have the official honor. And get this- I went Dirt- Water- Dirt and covered the entire length!! It was an amazing event, as you will clearly see on the video. Thanks to everyone who made it possible! Thank you Sid, for putting together this sweet video that so brilliantly captures the moment! Check out the video. I hope you like it! http://www.badfishfreefly.com/gallery/Family_album_gallery/swoop_pond.htm

"I made sure my links were on the same level and threw a big kick in the opposite direcion immediatly after I saw it happen." Exactly what I have done on two occasions since my cutaway. Neither resulted in a chop.

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If you are promising me that I get to see the front shot, then I just may have to make the trek! Awww shucks, it would be worth the trip just to get a hug!

I thought the same thing! Guess we will just have to make a trip to Carolina Sky Sports!

Teams Badfish is proud to sponsor the ladies of Fox Force Four. They are real sweethearts and are now officially Badfish Chicks! Check out their PICTURES here. We love our Foxy ladies!

Works great! They would have to be pretty bad line twists for me to not get out of them now I think. By 'pretty bad' I mean like 4! I also noticed that quite often, when the canopy is about 50% open it will sometimes turn 90 degrees off heading. To look at it you would be sure it was going all the way around. But if I just stay still and keep my shoulders and body on heading, she comes back around. If I even THINK about leaning towards the turn, which I might add is the natural thing to want to do, it gets ugly fast. All these little things I am learning with experience and advice from others sure make a difference.

Well, she may have gazed into his eyes, but she went home with you! Besides, Joe ain't got nothin' on you Jimmy! As for the picture of the line twists- Glad to know an old timer like you can still get himself out of that many! I would never see that many twists in my Velocity, because it would be long gone before that! Once she has two twists and you look "up" past the canopy, you see green!

Are you crazy?!! You let her go with Joe?! Congrats Jimmy! I bet it was a great experience. Hope to see you soon!

I jumped one a while ago and thought it was pretty amazing. Very light toggle pressure and awesome flare. I was told that they weren't very good in high winds and that they don't do well in turbulence, but I didn't experience that, so I can't say for sure. All in all, I was impressed with the canopy during the few jumps I did on it.

Stay strong - Fight hard - Get well soon, Todd!

I have looked up to many through the years, but the first true inspiration I had to become a better person in this sport came from Missy Nelson, Jen Key and Amy Chmelecki. They made me see that there was much, much more to this sport than just the jumps. It was there humble approach without even knowing they inspired me that touched me so much. Since then, I have been inspired by a number of others whom I have met along the way. I would try to list them, but I would hate to miss someone. You know who you are. Thank you!

According to the posting guidelines of this forum, it definitely Does belong here. "Incidents include: malfunctions, cutaways, wraps, collisions, crash landings etc. I trust everyone will use their good judgment before starting a thread or disposing of advice." That being said, yes the fact that line twist can turn into a malfunction really sucks, but there is some really good info here on how to minimize the frequency of them. If you are on the ball and put into action very quickly some of the things mentioned earlier, you can get out of line twists. YOU JUST CAN"T WAIT. You have to move fast. I have gotten out of lines twists about 3 times and had one turn into a malfunction. I actually had line twists start again this last weekend. As soon as I saw the first twist. I dropped in my harness to counter the pull and tried to even out the three rings. At the same time, I grabbed the risers and started to kick HARD in the opposite direction. I got the twists stopped and got out of them just as the canopy got to my level in a dive. One second longer in taking action and I think I would have had another cutaway. The other preventions I am now taking are being very careful when I pack to keep the risers and three rings even, leave about 18 inches of loose line, deploy as stable as possible, pull my feet and knees together so sas no to have my body get out of line, sit as still as I can during the snivel and don't try to counter any of the dancing, and the most important- I am ready to move fast if something starts going bad. It is alot to deal with on a jump to jump basis, and if you are not ready to do it then you shouldn't be jumping one. Some people may think it is a high price to pay to fly a crossbraced canopy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

There are different reasons to be a "team". The word "team" doesn't necessarily mean compete. Although it was the original goal of Badfish to move into the world of competition, we now have a different agenda. Things for us came to a different light when we lost Tommy last year. Now we are more about just having fun and trying to pass on what we know to others. Our goal as a team is to try to give back, and to be a positive influence on others. Being a team just gives ud a platform on which to do that. You can read here- http://www.badfishfreefly.com/aboutus/about_index.htm Teams like the Flyboyz do the same type of thing but on a bigger level. They travel all over the world as a "team" and pass along what they know and are a tremendous positive influence on our sport. I have had the pleasure of flying with them at one of their events and it was a terrific experience! Read here- http://www.badfishfreefly.com/gallery/fly_boyz_gallery_index.htm Other teams do both. They compete and go from event to event doing organizing and coaching in an effort to help others. I became a fan of one such team by not only watching them compete, but also seeing how they interacted with others and inspired people. The team I refer to is the Sugar Gliderz. I also had the pleasure of flying with them for a weekend and it totally changed how I looked at teams all together. Read here- http://www.badfishfreefly.com/gallery/gliderz_gallery_index.htm More pictures here- http://www.badfishfreefly.com/gallery/gliderz_2_gallery_index.htm Some teams choose to compete hardcore. Some on a lesser level. Some teams don't compete at all. Some do both. I think the word "team" encompasses so much more than just the idea of competition and can be viewed in many different ways. For us, it is just a group of guys with a common goal. The second definition in the dictionary I have is: Team - Two or more persons working together And I guess that about sums it up.