NickDG

Good on you! I'm sure there are more like you too. But I suppose it would be to much to expect for the FAA to put out the call for all employees with skydiving experience to step up. That would make too much sense. Instead they'll re-invent the wheel and the wheels will come off . . . NickD

It's funny how we do it now as early military riggers always used contrasting color thread to easier inspect repairs they'd made over time. When I blew a center cell seam out of BASE canopy in the early days I did the same thing for the same reason as I had to check that repair prior to every jump. You could make the argument for still doing so today but vanity won't allow for ugly repairs and not many modern jumpers actually inspect their gear anyway . . . NickD

I first came to Elsinore in 1975 with about 100 jumps I'd made in Hawaii. Larry Fatino was there and Gary Douris plus Carl Boenish and others. Gary runs Free Flight a canopy manufacturering firm in Elsinore and he still jumps. His website is here: http://www.freeflightent.com NickD

That's very cool, Al . . . NickD

If interested this is a new book out just this month that's worth a read . . . The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran By Hooman Majd Published by Doubleday, 2008 ISBN 0385523343, 9780385523349 256 pages Available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Ayatollah-Begs-Differ-Paradox-Modern/dp/0385523343/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222714365&sr=1-1 The author is an Iranian who grew up here in the States. You can listen to a NPR radio interview he did here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95029424 NickD

>>All a DZ needs is a 3-ring binder with copies of all the official certifications in it

If you have the attention span of a lightning bolt, equate American foreign policy to a football game, or believe the U.S. has some kind of divine manifest destiny stop reading please. If you believe nation states have the right to determine their own destinies in the bounds of peaceful pursuits, can see history as the one and only truth of things, and can empathizes with your fellow human beings, then see if you agree with me on the following. If I was an Iranian citizen I'd be one pissed off son of a bitch . . . Let me preface by saying I spent a lot of time with young Saudis, Iranians, and Iraqis while attending a University with a large Middle Eastern student body. But this isn’t about there's okay people in every culture. Nor is this about Anglo-American bashing as we have the ability to put the past into perspective and turn things around on a dime. But only if we have the knowledge and the will to do so. I'm also pro-military. And I served in the Marines during that other conflict in the South East Asia when no one, and I mean no one, gave a hang about the troops. The world's problems not just now, but over all times, can be laid directly on the door step of misunderstanding, greed, and jingoism. These are not insurmountable problems if we only gave a damn. Misunderstanding can be cured through education, Non-greed you learned in kindergarten when you were taught to share, and jingoism is fine when it's being proud of your nation, but not so much when that pride turns to cracking heads for murky reasons. That all being said our chickens are coming home to roost. One problem we humans have is a short memory. And I don't mean forgetting the lessons of ones own lifetime I mean forgetting the lessons of history. And that isn’t so much a flaw in our character - it's a flaw in our genetics. If only our DNA carried these lessons over from generation to generation think how much better off we'd be. We do carry over some basic survival lessons as crawling infants have been proven to fear heights, loud noises, and so on, but not much anything else. So you only have 70 or so years to get hip to the world. Some people struggle to gain that insight all their lives and some sadly never begin the journey at all. We were once very good at passing these life lessons from one generation to the next. When elder black woman gathered their young on the porch in the late 19th century in the American south and told the life stories of their aunts, uncles, grand mothers and grand fathers, it wasn't to pass the time; it wasn't about pride, or even continuing a culture. It was simply equipping the next generation for the pitfalls and problems ahead of them. Most cultures did this until our lives became so inundated with information, most of it noise, and our biggest failing became a staple of American life, a disdain for things old. We are a forward looking people by nature now. And that would be okay if we aren't so forward looking we forgot how we got were we are. We talk about our rights all the time, but not enough about our duties. You have a duty to educate yourself to the world, and you have a duty to pass that trait onto your offspring. I'm not too much a proponent of the global village idea, as I already hate the fact here in America every town looks like every other town. And I'd loath to see our varied cultures dissolve into some kind of homogeneous goop, but I do believe we are all earthlings with a common goal. So before accepting being spoon fed the current view of others please take an afternoon, even if it means a day away from the DZ, to sit in a library and read. Even a few hours spent reading the modern history of Iran will open your eyes to the real issues. This isn't about assessing blame. No one reading this is directly responsible for what happened in Iran anymore than anyone reading this is directly responsible for black slavery in this country. This is about fixing things and not repeating the same mistakes. If an afternoon with you nose in a musty book is beyond you, pick up this months issue (December 2008) of the Smithsonian and read the article "Inside Iran's Fury." It'll take you all of a half hour. I'm old enough to remember the Iran Hostage crisis and wondering why they did that. I'm curious enough to have looked into it and learned how first the Russians and Brits than Americans installed by subterfuge and by force favorable regimes in Iran and exploited their resources. The Russians and Brits both treated Iran as a colony until the Russians pulled out too consumed with their own eternal problems. In 1891 the Brits nationalized the Iran tobacco industry and used their oil up to the 1940s to fuel their naval fleets. This triggered a revolution in Iran and a man named Mohammad Mossedegh came to power. He wanted to take back Iran's oil industry for the good of his own people who were by now living in poverty for the most part. Naturally the Brits objected, pulled out their oil technicians, and actually blockaded their ports. The Brits even went to the UN and pleaded their case to steal another countries resources. This is when Mossedegh came to the U.N. himself and stood up to object to imperial power. And it was pretty much the first time any lesser power did that. Time Magazine made him the man of year in 1951 for his show of balls. In 1953 when President Eisenhower took office the current crisis was communism. The still pissed off Brits told Ike that Mossedegh was taking Iran toward communism, which was a big fat lie, and Ike sent the CIA into Iran to overthrow him. Using bribery the CIA organized protests, than mobs and from the basement of the American Embassy managed to create the impression that Iran was about to implode. Led by a CIA backed mob the police and military surrounded the home of Mossedegh and he barley escaped the country and into exile. It was the end of democratic rule in Iran and we, America, did it. We brought in Reza Shah, known to most Americans, and who I knew growing up as the Shah of Iran. I always figured he was the ruler of Iran by virtue of his own people and it wasn't until the hostage crisis of the 1980s did I learn that we installed him. He brought in the secret police and squashed any dissidence with an iron hand. He was an American puppet and his power was backed by our power. So essentially we took over Iran in the 1953. The hostage crisis of the 1980s when Iranians overran our Embassy and took American hostages they eventually held for 444 days was them taking back their own country. Their turning to religious fundamentalism was their only avenue to ensure a new ruler wouldn't again sell out to foreign interests. And even now misunderstanding is again taking us down the wrong road. When Iranians chant "death to America" it's not a literal translation. It's their way of saying "down with American interference." The average Iranian doesn't really want to see Americans die or our country collapse. The average Iranian actually likes America. And when the Iranian President recently came to the UN and said about gays, "We have no similar problem in Iran" we all laughed but again we misunderstood. There is a thriving underground gay community in Iran. In fact the majority there also drink and party as hearty as we do with only one big difference. They do it in their homes and not in the streets. But what the Iranian President meant is they have no open gay rights movement in Iran. That was the "problem" we have that they don't and what he was talking about. And he was also trying to be humorous about it but we are so anti-middle eastern the joke went right over our heads. So why did I take the time to write all this down and post it here. In a day or two it will get buried, and most skydivers won't have even read it. If you're the America right or wrong type you'll wave me off with a who cares? If you don't sometimes wonder why my brother Marines are kicking in doors in Iraq, and maybe someday soon also in Iran, you won't care and maybe even call me a kook. But I write these things for myself. I write these things to educate myself not you. The fact I post them somewhere makes me more careful about what I say. I write these things down because as an American I have a duty to not repeat the mistakes of the past . . . NickD

I've got mine still . . . And it never needs damn batteries . . . NickD

Robert "Bobbie" Norman? He was a jumper at Perris around the mid-1980s. I was at Elsinore around that time, but I work with his daughter now and she's trying to learn more about him. He died (not jumping) around 1986 when she was four years old. Any photos would be great if you have them . . . NickD

After the Perris incident it was clear to everyone we needed a better seat belt system. And the answer is simple. You're already wearing a terrific restraint system, your harness. All that needs to be done is have some way to hook that harness into a strong point(s) on the airplane. Several people came up with reasonable means of attachment including Sandy @ Rigging Innovations. But fear of liability from the original harness manufacturer and the attachment part manufacturer plus the ridiculous and expensive testing process demanded by the FAA precluded it. Just think how much better even the simplest system would be. Instead of regular seat beats attached to the floor to be buckled around you, there'd be two straps with quick ejectors snaps (or similar) that you snapped to both articulation rings (or lower lats) on your harness. You'd still move but not go flying . . . NickD

"Hey man, you got de brake on?" If you've never seen Cheech and Chong live here's your chance. One warning though if you pee test for your job don't go. Even if you don't partake just being in the hall will probably pop you . . . NickD >Cheech and Chong @ The Roxy, Sept. 17 With glass pipes billowing pot smoke as they're passed around, and a room full of rowdy anxious stoners and stoner-comedy-lovers, Cheech and Chong delilvered the goods at the Roxy in West Hollywood last Wednesday with their new tour Cheech and Chong Light Up America. They started with the bit now made famous as the first scene in their film Up in Smoke, and then two hours of all their classic bits, and a surprise opening by Chong's wife and co-star in several of the Cheech and Chong classics, Shelby Chong. The Roxy was very hospitable, Cheech and Chong were just as funny as they ever were, and to that dude who sat behind me: Thanks for passing the pipe my way so many times, but then again... i was the one with the lighter. This is a chance of a lifetime to see two living legends! Figure out a way to see Cheech and Chong Light Up America!

>>Your right about Dick Pedley. He filmed the tandem of the local news caster Artimesa and died two weeks later downtown LA. He was a great guy.

I recognize almost everyone in the first photo but not the event. In the last photo on the left, with the camera, is my good friend Dick Pedley, RIP . . . NickD

Andy's right . . . Anyone who advertises any form of student skydiving as safe is an idiot. If it applies to you, you can tout professionalism, experience, modern gear, or whatever else, but don't ever say it's safe because that's an outright lie. Ever wonder why no one particular airline advertises flying with them is safer? They used to do it during the early days of commercial aviation. But eventually one after another they all had fatal accidents. And now in aviation it's considered bad luck to advertise safety. They are very content for the PAX to worry more about lost bags and blown schedules rather than even think about safety. Passenger flight, hang gliding, paragliding, skydiving, or anything else aviation related, when people fly - people die. It's always been that way and it always will . . . NickD

Bump . . .

Tonight, I think I'll get "Comfortably Numb." (What I always thought the lyric "Comfortably Known" was). NickD

>>than make a long winded beautiful essay with less than necessary wording.

Damn, nobody can give a simple answer anymore? Pack up per normal. Lay the rig face down on the ground with the bridle and PC in your hand. While standing pull up very slowly on the bridle until you encounter the pin. Keep pulling gently and the rig should begin to rise ever so slightly before you hear an audible pop and the main container opens. If you can pick the container anywhere near clean off the ground the loop is too tight. If the rig doesn't move at all and the pin just slides out of the loop with no pop at all (no resistance) it's too loose . . . NickD

It was your "Finest Hour." Good show, chaps . . . NickD

I always look for the secret "Mickeys" at Disneyland! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Mickey NickD

>>It's a concise list of skydiving rules, not a novel. I sure hope we're not at the point where it has to look like Maxim magazine to have anyone at all read it.

In 300 years some some archaeologist will dig up a tattered old wingsuit and proclaim humans must have once had the ability to fly . . . NickD

The bottom line to all that is the longer you can stay in the air the more ground you can cover . . . NickD

I don't wear contacts so didn't consider that. But I do wear reading glasses now and it's the biggest hassle of my life. But in the OPs case what's worse, a hassle on the ground, or if his contacts pop out, a hassle in the air? (Gee, i haven't said hassle that many times since the Hippie 1970s) NickD

There was company that made prescription goggles at one time. I think they were called "Sky Eyes" or something like that. They were spendy but a neat solution. In fact I saw a friend wearing a pair on demo I went to about three weeks ago. And I can't believe with all the adventure sports these days someone isn't making some that could work in skydiving. And if not jump on it yourself! When Helmut Cloth realized the need, and nothing was available, he invented the Cypres - and now he lives in big fancy house! NickD