ChasingBlueSky

I joined AOPA a couple years back, shortly after I first signed up for flight lessons. I haven't had the chance to finish my flight school yet due to steady decline of the IT market. I'm hoping now that I am out of IT I can finally make it back to school when I apply for school loans. I've maintained my membership for the very informative Flight Training magazine and to help fund an organization that has done fantastic work on the Hill with their lobbiest. AOPA was key in getting GA back in the air after 9/11 - which in turned allowed skydiving to get back in the air. AOPA continues to be one of the best advocates of private pilots every time the government tries to shut down access to the sky. Also, the information in the "members only" section on their webpage has some great information. I thought that the insurance offered to pilots would be the best way to cover myself with skydiving as well - but the policy that AOPA sent me specifically listed "have you skydived in the last 2 years or do you plan to in the next 6 months" as a way to void out the coverage. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Or maybe they should be taught early on to always check their PC so it becomes a natural part of their gear check routine or packing routine. A student will learn a good gear check from their JM - if they see the JM checking their PC on every jump, the student will realize this is an important part of mal prevention. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

As did I under my old Sabre 230. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Usually a canopy that big is flat packed. You will have better control of the lines and the material. I have seen some people pro-pack some old EZ tandem canopies that were roughly the same size and they seemed to have more issues on openings (line twists and line overs). I've been to DZ's where hooks are used to help pro-pack a canopy of that size, and that seems to work quite well. The largest student canopy that I have pro-packed is a Safire 260 and have yet to pack a mal on it. There is a lot of material to control, and you must really pay attention to where the lines are or you will get material in the line set which could produce line burn. The good thing about a canopy that big is the bag is HUGE. I do not use the typical S-Fold to manage that much material, I use a backwards S-Fold (no, I won't try to explain that to a student - see if you can find someone on the DZ to show you). I'll be in the same category as you soon - I am moving back to the ranks of staff packer this season and will be taught how to pack the Sigma tandems over the next few weeks. Should be interesting! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

We use only VoIP at work, with all Cisco products and our own personal direct connection to the Bell network. Even with all high end products we still get digital static as well as a digital echo on oen out of every 5 calls - usually during a high call volume period. Usually the party on the other end of the line doesn't hear any of it. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Hmmm....anyone notice the few extra trailers we have sitting around the dropzone??? So, two twin otters, a tailgate, and this? Good Times! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Tandem? I have purchased cigars thru his company. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

My job just laid two people off today - we are looking to replace them. It is sales in a high pressure environment. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

From what I've heard it will be less of an FAA thing and more of a DMV thing. LOL! Oh yea, Missy said there will be a tailgate there and that isn't the jumpship they are talking about :) :) :) I can't wait to see that bad boy "fly" _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Now that you have a helmet, it's confusing.

Exactly - I'm trying to see who put what spin on this and why. There are a lot of details lacking in this email, and I want to let the person who sent it out know the rest of the facts. I posted here in the Corner since I know there are plenty of people here that could get to researching this before I could. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

While I know Heather and would love to, I doubt it. First off, I can't jump for another week or two due to the removal of my wisdom teeth this past Saturday. But the nature of the trip is to go see two of my whuffo friends getting married just south of Beauregard, MS (gotta love that town name!). _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

piss-ant???? Is that a personal attack??? And, no, this is in FL where they have ultra-goofy rules and laws there. FL residents need to jump thru hoops to get a rental. I will be taking it to MS down I-10. It also doesn't help that Sun N Fun is going on this weekend, prices are jacked up across most of the Tampa/Lakeland/Orlando area. Bytch - Thanks for the Hertz and Budget pointers, I'll look at the fine print for them again - at least with Hertz I have the USPA discount! _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Doesn't matter - seems all of them are like that. I've looked at Hertz, Enterprise, and EZ Rental. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Actually, it is a hassle. You get unlimited miles if you stay instate, but once you cross an imaginary line (into a state that has better insurance laws), you only get 150miles/day and about $.20/mile over that. I can't afford that. Unless you know a rental company that allows free out of state travel. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

If you tell them that you are going to stay in state, but happen to go out of state with it, can they tell? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I tend not to believe chain letters - they are usually sent out by people trying to stir up trouble, lie, etc... I want to respond back to the person that sent this to me but do not have the time to research if any of this is true since I will be at work quite late tonight - could someone that has some freetime please look this up? Thanks: Subject: How they vote in UN Below are the actual voting records of various Arabic/Islamic States which are recorded in both the US State Department and United Nations records: Kuwait votes against the United States 67% of the time. Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time. Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time. United Arab Emirates votes against the U. S. 70% of the time. Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time. Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time. Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time. Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time. Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time. Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time. Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time. Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time. Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time. Egypt votes against the United States 79% of the time. Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time. India votes against the United States 81% of the time. Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time. Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time. US Foreign Aid to those that hate us: Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid. Jordan votes 71% against the United States and receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid. Pakistan votes 75% against the United States receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid. India votes 81% against the United States receives $143,699,000 annually _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

so, is there a web page with updates? Or do we have to just wait word of mouth? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Rainbo, I've lost count of how many long conversations you and I have had since I first met you...somehow it always seems that a skydiving talk worked its way into a discussion about life. You have lived a very full life so far, more than most at twice you age - you have told me lots of good and bad that has happened to you, yet you are one of the most balanced people I know. You try to keep a positive mind (even when Henry and Roger passed away), and you always put being a Dad first and foremost (despite how hard some people make that on you). In those kids alone I think you know the true definition of love and sacrifice. Life, just like skydiving, is always at the learning stage...we are forever students. Take what you have learned so far with the pain you now have and find the lesson to be learned. Just from talking to you last weekend I know you are willing to take the time to be single and heal...and to get comfortable with being yourself again. It would be a massive mistake to rush into anything, going from relationship to relationship without hitting the reset button. If you didn't take this break, who you are would get lost along the way and any relationship you entered into would only fall apart without the full strength of your own personality. On top of that, you have your kids - be a good role model to them and show them the correct way to handle loss, and to show them its ok to be happy and single. They will take your lead later in life, and the better you handle this now, the easier it will be for them to find love later in life. They already know what it means to be loved from you - now show them how to give your love to someone else....so wait and find the right person.....or never find that person and still be happy. You have your kids, and you have your friends. In my book that makes you a very loved man. I'm glad to have you as a friend. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I get what you mean - looking up to the "icons" in the sport - those that people aspire to be like, but probably will never have that skill level. Just like every kid on the basketball court thinks he is Jordan. However, the kids on the court, and the kids in the air usually can recognize that they can't reach that level today, which is usually where they are focusing on. They tell themselves "maybe in a year or two I can get to be that good"....so they pick a target on the DZ, a jumper that is closer to them in experience (hey, that guy only has 600 more jumps than me, thats not that much) and tries to emulate them (if he isn't grounded during this weather, then I shouldn't be, he only has 4 more years of experience than me). Yea, I have heard some newbies say the stuff above. Sometimes showing the newbie how safety aware you are will then have a direct influence on those insane thoughts that will get him or someone else hurt. Leading by example won't stop all the idiots, but it will help out some. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Two of the best freeflyers that I know - Rook and Missy Nelson - both preach this. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Curious - I've yet to see someone fire their reserve while back to earth - can you post the video anytime soon? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Usually a DZ lawyer will let the insurance company know the DZ has no assests, (the smart DZ has everything set up into different companies) will offere a very small settlment (ie$1000) and will then file a counter suit against what was agreed upon in the waiver. I've seen it done a few times, and it usually is a good deterent. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Roger Nelson. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

try this one: Text Twist or these: http://www.coffeebreakarcade.com/classic.htm _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....