freakyrat

Saw this election comment on another media outlet. "Liberals must acknowledge that if our rantings about Bush are correct, the majority of Americans truly DO want a filthy rich, fear-fanning, warmongering, homophobic, misogynistic, born-again Texas frat boy running things"..... Not my views as I actually believe that President Bush is a decent individual. While I agree with some of his policy's I disagree with others. That's what makes our country great is our freedom of expression. As far as the "moral values" thing goes. Evangelical voters (who are one-in five of all voters) already were going to vote for Bush anyway. These were Karl Rove's turnout targets from day one anyway. As far as the gay marriage issue goes, exit polls of voters that said that moral issues were important showed that 60% of those polled favored some form of legal protections etc for same-sex couples. 50% of these voters voted for George Bush. As far as the constitutional amendments passed in the 10 of the 11 states banning same-sex marriage it was already illegal in those states and the right wing just used these measures to gain an advantage. There was no attempt by the gay community in any of these states except Oregon to legalize gay marriage. This issue played a role, but not really a decisive one. Personally I believe voters stuck with Bush because of what he was saying on the campaign trail. "You know what you got with me. I say what I'm going to do and I keep my word" Also with us in war etc. people were just reluctant to make a change. In Conclusion: I have a little experience as a grass-roots lobbyist, all I have to say is Sen Kerry, although he may have had some good ideas, he never articulated any solutions and just Didn't Make The Sale. 51% percent of those voting thought the same. Chris

This whole issue reminds me of those folks up in the Woodlands, TX There is this open air shopping center with a venetian design called Portofino. In keeping with the venetian design they have these naked sculptures above the store entrances and also at the entrance drives (placed up high) . Well this wacko group from Cut N Shoot, Tx and other parts of Montgomery County who had probably never been to Europe or to a museum for that matter freaked out after this center had been open for almost a year. The wanted the sculptures covered up or some removed and actually succeeded in forcing their standards on everyone else. They just couldn't see art for art. They also didn't like some of the paintings in Buco de Peppo Italian restaurant in this same center and got them to take some of the art they considered offensive removed. This shopping center actually looks a little naked with some of these sculptures removed. When will this political correctness by some of these do-gooders ever end? Just some thoughts. Chris

I've had a heck of a time here collecting my thoughts and just getting away from the computer several times cause I just find it hard to believe that Chris is gone. His smile and enthusiasm for the sport that he loved and contributed so much to will be sorely missed. I remember how Chris let me demo the Nitron at the WFFC this past year and made sure everything was right and let me put as many jumps on it as I wanted to do. He wanted me to get the feel for the canopy that just one flight would not do. That was Chris. My heartfelt condolences go out to Chris's family and friends. Calen C. Chrzan Skydive Houston

Mike Sorry for your experience. I personally have taken my rig through Boston as a carry-on on AIRTRAN with no problems. Heres what you can do based on an experience I had at Palm Springs about two years ago. Besides giving USPA's Ed Scott all your information you posted here. Each Airport has a TSA Federal Security Director. Boston Logan's is Mr. George Naccara. Give him a phone call Monday and also follow up with a letter. Mine to Palm Springs, for example totalled 16 pages. I had pictures of my gear, my USPA info, and Cypres Info. I made mention of the fact in the letter that Mr. John Andrus, Safety Director for Southwest Airlines worked with SSK and the FAA to get the Cypres declared non-dangerous goods. Also on the USPA's website and I think TSA's it make's mention of the numbered paragraph in the TSA Ops manual which references parachutes. I would make mention in my letter that the screeners were not following proper procedures and they didn't seem interested in doing the proper thing. Also the manual cleary states that they are supposed to swab down the rig if they have any questions and obviously in your case they did it but failed to follow up properly. The Chapter and Section of the TSA Operations manual that deals with Parachutes is Chapter Section 17.2 of Version 4.0 of the Screening Checkpoint Operating Procedure. Oh incidently, with my experience at Palm Springs the TSA Director there took steps to see that the screeners were properly trained. Hope this helps. Chris If you got any questions email me at biggierat2001@yahoo.com

I've got a ton of spam (Rolex) messages like this to. Are these clods targeting Texas or something? Chris Skydive Houston

Since it's in a wind tunnel How about ASTROGLIDE. As far as WET Goes, Platinum is the best, It's pretty slippery and heats up good. I'm having some real good chuckles over these posts. Chris

I just read about the aircraft accident on FoxNews and the incident forum. I just want to express my condolences to Nancy's family and friends at the Beaver Valley Skydivers. Best wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured in this unfortunate accident. From my experiences jumping with you folks during various POP's meets, I have to say you folks are the greatest. Chris Skydive Houston

Rip John. Just to let you folks in on another radio legend. When I was in chicago a couple of months ago I heard that former WLS DJ Dick Biondi is still doing a radio show on the ARROW from Navy Peer on Saturday nights. The guy must be at least 80 already. Chris

There are some very MEAN people out there who would dump such adorable little animals as these pup's . Happy that you found these pup's good homes. Chris

Hey wait a minute, what about Illinois Republican candidate for US Senate Alan Keyes calling Mary Cheney a "Selfish Hedonist". Chris

Hey folks go to the blog site www.enjoythedraft.com and have a good laugh. Chris

Take Quades advice in an earlier post. Secondly I assume your flying Northwest out of MN. It's fine I've flown with my rig on Northwest with no problems. You can check other posts on this subject. The USPA, The airlines, SSK and TSA have all taken care of this item for us. I even checked one rig to the WFFC this summer using Delta to Champaign with NO Problems. TSA even let me lock the bag it was in here in Houston after they ran it through the machine. Chris

Jump 1540, unrecoverable line twists and a Stiletto totally out of control. Chris

Jeffrey Last January I was doubling over with abdominal pain like I had appendicitis or something. I had a colonoscopy done along with a cat scan. My Doc took out a 10mm polyp near my appendix and also 2 small ones on the other side. All could have caused colon cancer. Cancer runs in my family so I was glad he took them out. I was at Perris the weekend before I had this done and after making one jump I just didn't feel like jumping because of the problems I was having. If it was any consolation to me, the night before my colonoscopy and subsequent surgery I won 1,000 dollars on the Texas Cash5 lottery so that made me feel better also. I have to have another folow-up Colonoscopy in January. Take Care Chris Skydive Houston

Hey Conway My thoughts and prayers are with you. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. My cousin in Michigan just made a recovery from colon cancer etc and cancer runs in our family so I'm always on my guard. Chris Skydive Houston

I heard that the documents were looked over by several sources and found to be printed at a Washington area Kinko's.

I got the same screener at ONT in January. They did the wipedown of my gearbag and he handed it back to me when it passed. Incidently, when I was flying back to BOS from Provincetown yesterday morning the TSA had some 6 screeners for flight operated by Cape Air in 8 passenger C402 aircraft. Each passenger darn near had their own personal screener. They do a thorough wipedown of all checked bags etc. Chris

I got the same guy at ONT last year and all he did was do the wipedown of my gearbag and then hand it to me after it passed inspection. Incidently at Provincetown, MA yesterday they had (get this) No less than 6 screeners for Cape Air Flights to BOS which are operated by 8-passenger C402 aircraft. They did the wipe test on all checked bags as required but they open them and do all the pockets etc. Gotta love it, each passenger gets his or her own personal screener. Chris

Hey Brian Welcome Back. I had my vacation for WFFC and Market Days. Got to party at Hydrate and saw Pansy Division perform some raunchy punk rock on the Addison Stage at Market Days. Got to jump at WFFC. Life Is Good. Chris

I demoed my PD126R reserve at the WFFC in Quincy a couple years back and found out how nice it was. It pays to take advantage of PD's reserve demos therefore there will be no suprises when you may have to use one. I did not demo the PD143R in my other rig and had to use it but it flew and landed me very well just like a reserve should. I demoed several main canopies at WFFC convention this year and bought the Pilot124 and will also probably buy a Samurai next year also as I really liked it also. The Samurai really treated me well in the high wind condition that I jumped it in on Wednesday of the WFFC. I bought the Pilot cause I wanted a more standard canopy ands it also did everything well from the opening, flight, and landing. Last weekend I did a jump in no-winds on the Pilot (loaded at 1.5-1.6) and was really amazed at the stopping power of the flare with no running. Chris

Maybe a teeny weenie one. Just a laugh. Mostly small rigs can be taken on board or larger ones that are pretty thin in pack volume. Chris

Everytime I've flown with my gear in the past three months TSA has been totally nice and cooperative. I guess they finally know what these rigs look like. I flew to the WFFC on DELTA and Delta Connection Carriers ACA and Chatauqua. My little Mirage G3 MT size fit in the overheads on the 737-200 on Delta as well as the Fairchild-Dornier 328 Jet on Atlantic Coast Airlines and the Embraer145 on Chatauqua. The other rig I checked in a small Travelpro Rollerboard case in Houston, I put the rig in its kitbag and laid the TSA letter on top of the kitbag. TSA did open the bag and swab it after it went through the EDS equipment but that was it. They even locked up the case for me. On the return flight at Champaign-Urbana they just swabbed down my checked bags and also allowed me to lock the bag that had my other rig in it. By the way on the flight to Champaign from CVG on the FRJ, Tim from Fort Lauderdale and "Muff Brother" Johnny Gates plus myself all had our rigs in the overhead and they fit just fine. To sum up just take the TSA documentation with you with your rig or rigs, get to the airport early and be cool. In my experience and others who have posted here TSA has their act together on this now. Chris

It's not a first. Roger Nelson's last WFFC in Quincy had no major incidents and as I recall he made an announcement about it at the closing night of the Convention.

They had to much to drink the night before. I was on mostly light loads and was sitting in the copilots seat but I was also on a full load and it was no problem. It was better than sitting on the floor in some airplanes with your leg squashed up against the side of the fuselage. Some people are just Otter spoiled. This aircraft will make a welcome addition to DZ's that can't afford an Otter but would like a great aircraft with low operating cost's.

Just got back from the WFFC where I jumped this plane the last days I was there. Some gave the aircraft mixed reviews. The aircraft had a good climb rate, excellent view of everything out of those windows. The ceiling was a little low but the assist bars made getting up easy. The straddle bench seats were great and no one seemed uncomfortable like sitting on the floor in a KingAir. The built in spotting lights were great also. The floater bars inside and out and the step were also a plus. The airplane gets off the ground in a very short takeoff roll. The location of the horizontal stabilizer as some people have mentioned wasn't a problem at all. During the Convention, the pilots experimented with the nose down steepness during jumprun and seemed to need less and less as the Convention wore on. The spots from this aircraft were the best of any aircraft I jumped during this event. For freeflying I had excellent speed and stability out the door. The relative wind being right by the door as opposed to above at as in the Otters. It was very similar to the Caravan's. The aircraft is also very fuel efficient. In summary, a great jump aircraft. Thank you Don Kirlin, Ray Ferrell, Philip Esdaile and the nice gal that did the manifesting out at the boarding tent who help make all this possible. Chris Skydive Houston