tbrown

I knew I was forgettin' somethin' ! Die, evil kitties !! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

They just identified the TB patient who's under Fed'l quarantine, he's a 31 year old lawyer named Andrew Speaker, from Atlanta. The scary thing is not so much him, but the way modern jet travel can spread anything; TB, bird flu, Ebola, smallpox, everywhere in the world so quickly. One person gets on a jet, which is nothing more than a glorified tin can for several hours, with a couple hundred people. And several hours later all those people fan out, many catching connecting flights elsewhere. No telling how far they've spread themselves and perhaps a deadly didease, before the first victim even shows up at a local ER. Scary indeed. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I welcome Brian's article and specific proposals AND I especially appreciate dropzone.com giving his article front page attention and sparking further discussion of the issue. As I see it, this debate is entering a necessary "second phase". The first phase having been the crisis created by the unfortunate string of fatalities a few months back. There was a sense of urgency and a lot of anger at the time and a sense that something simply had to be done. Now it's time to move into the phase of calmer debate and seek out the lasting solutions. Though I do not swoop myself, I think swooping's a beautiful thing and I don't see how we can ban it and still call ourselves a progressive or innovative sport. I certainly don't profess to have the answers, or even the experience to fully evaluate the different proposals. But I believe something can now be done. In my own limited experience I still side with physical seperation of high performance swoops from the main pattern. I have seen this work very well at Elsinore, where it's been the rule for as long as I've been around the last four years anyway. At Elsinore, if you want to make more than a 90 degree diving turn, you must go west of the runway, end of story. But there's a nice pond there if you want it and the rest of us have been warned to stay the hell out of there. I think something like that is going to be necessary for the people who really want to crank it over, we need seperate playgrounds and we need to respect each other's areas. Swooping is NOT a crime. Just do it away from sunday divers like me and I'm more than willing to show you the repect of staying away from you too. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Do they have a Flintstone exhibit ? Fred used to operate a dinosaur crane at the rock pit, I should think that would prove people co-existing with dinosaurs beyond reasonable doubt. You guys are just too cynical ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My own experience with Aerodyne was very good. I chose to have my Pilot relined by a local master rigger, so ordered a new line set online through the Aerodyne website. I had some questions about placing the order and what it included and my questions were answered promptly and accurately by a number of Aerodyne contacts, includeing KAerodyne, who I PM'ed through these Forums. My order was filled and shipped within a very reasonable time and I was kept informed by email of shipping info and tracing numbers. They even threw in an extra set of soft links at no extra charge. Sooner or later every business screws up an order, that falls under the "shit happens" rule. what matters then is what they will do to correct the problem. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Maybe there should be a new law in the US where only people living in very isolated areas may own guns! New Orleans is not an isolated location. It's a major US city where the social fabric disintegrated. The police were overwhelmed, especially after so many of their own cops either deserted or else took part in the looting. The only people who could protect their homes were the ones who sat out on their front porches brandishing firearms. I don't own a gun. Where we live, we don't feel we need one. My wife doesn't want one in the house and I'm not sure I really want one either. But those are personal choices that are our right to make. If we lived in a crappy part of town, or way out in the sticks, or in a place like Montana or Alaska with elk and grizzly bears, we'd probably own an appropriate range of firearms. If we wanted to own a gun, or several guns, nobody should tell us we can't. Cities like San Francisco who think they can "protect" their law abiding citizens by taking away their guns are in complete denial of the fact that the criminal element will never be disarmed. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was gonna be a smartass and ask if you hadn't seen the memo about next Tuesday. But I don't know if the general attitude is ever going to change. We are basically a jock culture, with a lot of ego wrapped up in a lot more adrenaline. I mean the bottom line premise of the sport is we have fun doing something that 99% of the population thinks is utterly nuts in the first place. We also tend to have strongly anti-authoritarian streaks, not always in the wisest ways either. Safety attitudes come and go. Somebody hooks in, there's a collision, somebody bounces because they set their AAD at a different location & field elevation, there's a BIG emphasis for a month or two. Then complacency sets back in. "Nobody's died around here in a while, so lighten up", if not "What, are you some kind of Safety Nazi ?!". I'm not defending any of that, just saying it's human nature. You are unfortunately asking when human nature will change and the answer to that is never. This is just part of the equation we each have to consider in our personal decision to play in this sport. Sometimes it tips the equation into "time to hang it up" - I've been there and done that too. For now I'm back in the game and want to keep playing. But anything could change that at any time. I've never seen a fatality yet where somebody else didn't quit. No easy answer, just the one you arrive at for yourself. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Tough question. On the one hand I readily see how important the training and practice is for pilots. On the other hand thoughI'm not comfortable with the idea of assuming any extra risk, no matter how beneficial the experience is for others, or even for my potential safety in a future situation. I have been on three flights that had to come back fully loaded for weather or a developing engine problem (twice on a DC-3, once in a 180 Cessna). All three landings were fine, but I didn't like being on any of them. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, I haven't been mugged, but ditto for all the rest - especially after what happened to New Orleans after Katrina. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Very disappointed with this flimsy story, and especially with the Howard girl. She was really great in "The Village", but here she just mopes around in a shower stall keeping her skin wet. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Now THAT'S what I'd call First Lady material !! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

When I was a kid in grade school in the sixties I was enthralled with books about the space program. NASA was into the Gemini program by then and Apollo was on the drawing boards as we were seriously on track for putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Which we did by the way, for you younger kids out there. These same books also predicted that by the 1990's we would have permanent lunar colonies. In "2001: A Space Odyssey" the guy flies to the moon (on a Pan Am spaceship...sigh...), and encounters the black monolith that made the apes bonk each other on the head with bones. I believed ALL of it, just like I knew that someday I would skydive. I am so disappointed that none of it has ever happened. Everybody lost interest in space after we reached the moon, that the Apollo program got scrubbed with even one complete Saturn V assembled and ready to go. What a waste. Bush told one of his bullshit lies about returning to the moon and going on to Mars, but it won't happen under his inspired leadership. He's screwed the pooch and the money's not there. Maybe someday we will return, maybe with a permanent colony. I'd still like to go, even if I have to wait 'til I'm ninety. Hell, I'd go just to sweep the fucking floors up there, long as I can get to go outside for walks. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, historically in the U.S. we used to have a 60 day cycle (an old rule dating from the days of natural silk canopy fabric). In 1978 the FAA finally signed off on the 120 day cycle and as I recall the price of a repack doubled overnight from $5 to $10. That's not to take a position for or against a price increase, I want a rigger who will look after my whole rig the way a pediatrician looks after my kids. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Well, apparently they could have ruined the picture for the other people on the ride who have probably saved for years and years to come to Universal so they could have one of those ride pictures where they are freaked out. I understand their point, but they didn't need to go to the extreme of calling in the guards. They are three, very respectful boys who were just being silly. He just called me from home and I answered by asking, "what'd you do now?". He answered, "robbed a bank" without missing a beat. I say sue the bastards. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I only met JP two times, both at Perris. The first time I was grounded, on crutches and he was down to help on the JFTC Calendar shoot. He was just the nicest happiest guy. Having two daughters of my own, I feel so much for his wife and their girls. God bless and keep them, they're going to need it. Nothing else to say that would matter, except let's all love each other while we have each other. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

A new suit is going to cost you a real bundle, so you want to take the time to do it right. I'd recommend placing your order through a dealer. You can talk to them about what kind of jumping you want to do; RW, freefly, camera, etc. They'll place your order with any of the major jumpsuit makers and their placing the order for you might get faster service because the suit makers do a lot of their business through the dealers and might just move your suit up in the line (I was told my suit would take 4 - 6 weeks and then got it in just 2 weeks). Unless you're a tailor or a seamstress, don't try to measure yourself. Let the dealer do it, they've done it many times and know how to take them and your measurements are really critical to a good fit. They can also show you fabric and color samples. Then when your suit arrives, a dealer will call you in for a fitting. They'll have you put the thing on and ask you to do this and do that, bend over, stick out your leg and so on to make sure everything's okay. And once again, because of the volume of business they do with the suit makers, the dealers will have a lot more pull getting any problems taken care of quickly. Online you're just another schmuck with a credit card. You won't get a suit for cheap, so you might as well get one that works. I've been extremely happy with the suit I bought through a dealer last year. At Cross Keys, go talk to the people at Square 3. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It's $160 for the service (minimum two weeks at SSK), $75 for new battery, $50 for shipping (there and back via FedEx or UPS with $1300 insurance). You can definitely ship it there yourself, turnaround time is the same, but usually jumpers use their personal riggers to take the unit out, ship it and then reinstall/repack their reserve. Cost will be about the same through all U.S. riggers. Riggers charge for removing and reinstalling an AAD as well, so you'll want to ask your rigger and figure that into your budget as well. Airtek also has a program to rent a replacement Cypres if you want one while yours is in the shop. Obviously you'll want to arrange for this in advance. But even if you choose to go without the AAD, you'll still pay fees for removing it, re-closing the container, re-installation and reclosing again (if not a full repack). When I had my 4 year done my wife had such a tizzy about me jumping without the thing I just said the hell with it and had my rigger give the whole rig a bath. Got it back all bright and shiny. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Aren't you just dying to know who else was a client... But Jeanne, the man said there was no sex involved..... And hey, how about that Wolfy ?! Paul the Wolf is going to resign as President of the World Bank. Talk about paying for sex, the guy gives his girlfriend a big promotion and raise and then stonewalls about it for months. Thank God he's a Republican and has a special dispensation to pull that kind of shit. I mean he EVEN made her go away somewhere else in the time honored and godly tradition of godly and upright men. If I'd given you the promotion, we'd have both been fired, but good. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I agree, but to put a number on it, I figured 15 is more than one a month. That's busy enough to possibly qualify. That or they're just generous and loving people.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Fortunately I haven't witnessed a fatality this time around, since returning to the sport 4 years ago. But back thirty years ago I was pretty used to seeing one or two fatalities a year. Back then it was more often simply bouncing, there was no question that the person was dead, they'd just fallen out of the sky. Nowadays it's so much more often people who fly a canopy into the ground, or have a collison just a few hundred feet up. some of them live and some don't and it's not unusual to take a few days for the outcome to play out. Most of the people I saw go in were strangers, but a few were friends I'd even jumped with earlier that day. At the smaller dropzones operations would shut down for the rest of the day. At the bigger outfits, especially with a boogie going on, things kept right on rolling and we would just make ourselves get on the next possible load. I know I used to deal with some terrible thoughts and questions about "why am I doing this ?" on the way back up. But stepping out into the sky helps a lot, it's a familiar feeling and your normal reactions kick in. Doesn't make the pain go away, especially if you've lost a friend, but it does help to sort out the fear issues a lot. I might add that in those days if you went to a big boogie, you pretty much expected somebody would go in before it was over. and unfortunately, somebody usually did. I think things have improved from those days. But skydiving is a choice we all make. And we all constantly re-evaluate that choice. things happen around us, there are accidents, we get married, kids are born, we get or lose jobs, move across the country, get religion, get pissed off or burned out with it, all kind of things happen. The equation of whether or not it's worth it keeps changing all the time and nobody's got the right answer except what's right for them. I used to notice that everytime somebody bounced, somebody else would quit. I think it still happens and it's completely understandable. If you don't want to jump, it's completely okay. It might even take ten or twenty years before you know you just have to do it again. Or you may never need or want to. Only you can decide and whatever you decide is okay. Because it's your life and only you can decide what to do with it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've seen and handled the stuff at Boeing. It's used in commercial airliners as a counterweight for wing flaps. The parts I saw were shaped and painted with the usual green primer coat. They were INCREDIBLY heavy for their size. The high density makes it ideal for the job, because a lot of weight is needed in as small a space as possible. Only saw the stuff once or twice, no after effects to tell of, other that two healthy children, an active libido and this strange desire to jump out of airplanes. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Hey, I did it ! Just changed jobs and got one half the distance from home as the old one (pure luck actually). I now use less than half a tank a week for my commute. And I'd take a bus if I could, but there's no bus line available, especially not as I start (by choice) at 5:30am. But a few years back I used to take a bus to work at Boeing up in the Seattle area - and it was great. I could settle in, read, listen to music on headphones, even go back to sleep, and was dropped off right outside my building. Same for the trip home in the afternoon. But people "don't like" buses or trains, they think they're "low class", or "expensive". They'd rather sit in the middle of miles of free parking on the freeway, inching their way home at 3 mph, usually all by themselves. People in Europe are paying something like $7 a gallon, but they sure as hell have smaller cars and some of the best train service in the world. And I won't even get into the question of whether or not skydiving is a "frivolous" use of jet fuel.... Of course it it, but how else are we going to jump ? I'm really not into BASE. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The Forums are private property. I was recently asked to drop a political sig line on my posts, or else be restricted to Speakers' Corner only. So I dropped the sig line and started a SC thread along the same lines. Everybody's happy and I'm still expressing my (controversial) point of view. Freedom of speech is totally misunderstood. It's not the right to say anything anywhere. It is the guarantee that THE GOVERNMENT cannot arrest, imprison, torture, or execute you for expressing your views about the government and its policies. And that is all, the rest is just window dressing. Hence, Linda Ronstadt could - and was - fired and evicted from a Las Vegas hotel where she made some political comments about Bush and Michael Moore in the middle of a performance. She was not arrested, prosecuted, jailed, tortured, or executed for her remarks, just fired and evicted by a contract employer who owns the hotel she was performing at. No 1st Amendment issue was involved. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

A monkey can whack off with its foot, while it hangs by his tail and drinks a beer held in it's hand. Actually sounds kinda fun if you think about it. Is that what you had in mind ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Looks more to me like the Savior just cut a Silent But Deadly one. And Peter's saying, "Jesus, was that you ?!?". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !