kkeenan

Congratulations. Good job !!

USPA website, http://www.uspa.org/dz/states/KS.htm shows: Air Capital Drop Zone, 10 miles southeast of Wichita Kansas State University Parachute Club, 30 miles west of Topeka Skydive Kansas, 30 miles south of Topeka Skydive Suppesville, 23 miles southeast of Wichita _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Care to explain why you feel this way ? Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

...and "dot" being "." ?

Have you ever known any software developer to not promise all this ??? Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Last year, we did a 25-way Night CRW formation at Perris. That was the scariest jump I had been involved with since the Night 16-way CRW formation done the previous year. I'm just hoping that no one suggests a Night 36-way... The biggest pisser about the 25-way was that after we landed alive (miraculously) on the DZ (miraculously), we found out that the rat bastard video guy had no video, no photos, nothing. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I always wondered about the Para Dactyl, which was funky enough as a main, but which was used for a while as a reserve. The smallest, lightest assembly ever was the Para Dactyl main and reserve, called "Double-Dactyl Death". I'd be interested to know the TSO status of that thing. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I know I'm behind the times, but I just started listening to Skydive Radio, and I think it's great. It's an internet podcast. They do one show a week, and all of the past shows are archived on their website for download. They started making the shows last year. I've started listening to the old ones and I'm trying to catch up to the present. The one I listened to recently was the interview with Bill Booth. It was interesting to hear about the evolution of gear back in the old days and how he solved some of the design problems. Having jumped through all of the years of Capewells, MA-1 pilotchutes, etc. and being in DeLand when a lot of his development work was happening, it was cool to hear his perspective on the work. SD Radio has also had interviews with Ted Strong and some other pioneers in the sport. The shows are kind of funky, but this talk show fills a niche in the skydiving world and really helps to spread the culture of jumping by educating younger folks about their skydiving heritage, as well as keeping everyone up to the minute with current stuff. Just my two cents. Go to http://www.skydiveradio.com/ if you need help listening, just check the forums, there's plenty of info. Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Spaceland didn't start until about '73 or so. I made my first jump at Doc's place in League City in '71, jumpmastered by Jesse Hall. As a matter of fact, today is my 35th anniversary of that jump. Woo Hoo.

That's a good idea, especially for noobs renting gear. They can add the pads to the rig and take them back when they're done or using a different rig. Those Aggies are smart. NASA has one fixing stuff on the Space Station right now. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

It sounds like the 170 is in a rig with crappy leg straps. Ether the pads are very narrow or worn out or both. Talk with the DZ management to see if that canopy could be put into a different rig for you. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

This is very sad. What a shock. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

So are the ticks, if they decide to attach at that location kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

How about that blue helmet and those two left shoes you got in Thailand ?? _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

So, who gets the bill for something like that ? The student, or the guy with the radio ? Talking students in is fun - kind of like flying radio-controlled planes. Maybe with that SUV it was more like a Predator Attack Drone. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Just look at Mark's hair. You can tell he was pretty shook up. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

You can't really do CRW by yourself, and teaching yourself and your friends can be pretty tough (and hazardous ). "Traveling" doesn't have to mean flying to ZHills or Perris Valley. You can line up an instructor at a relatively close DZ, pile some of your friends into the car and make a road trip. Yes, it will cost a little money, but it would be minimal. The bottom line is that if you want it bad enough, you will pull it off. Most of the folks who do CRW successfully have had to go extra miles to get their experience. CRWDogs are few and far between. You've made a good first step by communicating with some people on DZ.com. Find someone who is willing to work with you and figure out how to hook up with them. The cool things that await you in CRW make it well worth the effort. Good luck. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Actually, I thought that the article had a lot of thought-provoking ideas. It's pretty common for a thread to get sidetracked by discussion of someone's personal feelings about an author. I think the article brought up a lot of points that could be discussed here. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

They are also very strong, with reinforcement added to withstand all of the pulling and yanking on them that occurrs in some formations. Just a few weeks ago, we had a "Downplane Fest" at SD Temple in Texas. Normal downplanes were the tamest thing done there. There were triple downplanes (using straps), dragplanes, and some stunts that we don't even have names for. It was CRW at its best.

It's certainly an interesting concept. Have you been able to do anything other than center docks ? I'd love to see a diamond or some other offset formation built with HP ellips. The Canopy Formation competition at the Nationals was changed to add a 2-way event to encourage high-performance canopy pilots to enter and show their expertise. After talking quite a bit about said expertise, sadly none entered the competition. It seems that flying within sight of each other and kicking an occasional pilot chute was what they considered "CRW". Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

(cross-posted from the AAD thread.) I was a young USAF airman in 1974 jumping with an Army club in Thailand. We had an Army 2-star jumping with us who wanted to do RW. Since he was pretty skinny and I was too, I was the one picked to fly with him. The general didn't have many jumps, and there always seemed to be a crowd of colonels following him around checking his gear. So, when one of them was "checking" the general's Sentinel on the way to altitude in the C-130 that day, I didn't pay much attention. We exited, and I pinned the general, and we flew the 2-way. At around 3500 ft., I checked my altimeter, which was in a clear plastic pocket on my upper arm. As I looked back, the general's belly-mount reserve was on its way out of the container. He didn't see it, as it was coming out to the side and he was looking at me. That thing moved at what looked like the speed of light, and the next thing I saw was a blue blur where the general had been. I was still laying there in freefall, with one glove hanging by a finger, the other glove gone, and the general nowhere in sight. Yes, that colonel had succeeded in resetting the Sentinal. I'm just lucky I wasn't above him when it fired. There were many stories of Sentinals firing at inappropriate altitudes back then. Many big RW loads would not allow them, just because of the chance of firing early. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I was a young USAF airman in 1974 jumping with an Army club in Thailand. We had an Army 2-star jumping with us who wanted to do RW. Since he was pretty skinny and I was too, I was the one picked to fly with him. The general didn't have many jumps, and there always seemed to be a crowd of colonels following him around checking his gear. So, when one of them was "checking" the general's Sentinel on the way to altitude in the C-130 that day, I didn't pay much attention. We exited, and I pinned the general, and we flew the 2-way. At around 3500 ft., I checked my altimeter, which was in a clear plastic pocket on my upper arm. As I looked back, the general's belly-mount reserve was on its way out of the container. He didn't see it, as it was coming out to the side and he was looking at me. That thing moved at what looked like the speed of light, and the next thing I saw was a blue blur where the general had been. I was still laying there in freefall, with one glove hanging by a finger, the other glove gone, and the general nowhere in sight. Yes, that colonel had succeeded in resetting the Sentinal. I'm just lucky I wasn't above him when it fired. There were many stories of Sentinals firing at inappropriate altitudes back then. Many big RW loads would not allow them, just because of the chance of firing early. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Here's a photo of a single tail D-18, but I'd like to see one of those triple-tails, too. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

DZs still have parking lots, don't they ?? Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

That's why you should avoid it at all costs... Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?