ChasingBlueSky

haha...funny...but nope. I don't like most that present themselves as reporters these days. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Commentary's that are given the medium and bandwidth are still a form of reporting. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Have seen him report for many years. Also have worked in the media and know those who have worked along side him. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I don't have time right now - got too much going on. However, if you can't realize that this is a fluff news piece, it won't matter anyhow. Most list format reporting like this is a way to avoid the details that true reporting requires. It caters to the short-attention span individuals that want their information and opinions spoon fed to them. It amuses me that people feel this is 'news' just because it has a dissenting opinion from some popular cultural beliefs. I've seen better news reporting in Readers Digest than this drivel. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

This is terrible news reporting. He refutes strongly held myths with no facts. For instance the one about forests....he gives a number of how much we had years ago and then says "but we have more now" and never backs it up. With just a short bit of research several of his baseless claims could be refuted. Stossel doesn't report anything - he strives to be contrary to piss people off. It gets them to listen and gets him the ratings he wants. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I'm too lazy to type in either version! Besides, I feel once you hit 15, you shouldn't be speaking l33t anyhow And to answer your question - yes, we have talked about this before....a few times. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

hahah - I sent that to a few people I know. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Appleton's is one of my favorite Rums....it is well worth it to get the Reserve and Dark versions as well. Back in college someone found an Appleton 151 version that is only sold outside the US. Damn good and with one hell of a kick. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Had a friend that couldn't release one toggle. She fought with it for too long, pulled too hard and collapsed one side of her canopy. It took her nearly 2 years to fully recover from her massive injuries. Just like anything else in this sport. Evaluate it quickly based upon your training and act now....and don't be afraid to act because someone may tease you about a chop for what may be an "easy" malfunction. Slow malfunctions and issues you don't practice for on each jump can often be the most deadly. I know a few people that have chopped due to a misfire on a toggle during deployement. I tend to shake their hands afterwards and pat them on the back for a job well done. If it is a low number jumper then I recommend they talk the mal over with one of the instructors to learn from it. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I know a few jumpers that make plenty of, um, interesting choices to afford jumps. Me? I've jumped with and without insurance. I could have picked up private coverage during my unemployed times, however it's easier for them to deny coverage for extreme activites. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

A more tepid post would have received a few less reactive posts. However, the day this hit the news there were over a dozen threads on this topic. Each topic pre-judged her for what GMA et al said. Then the local prop-turns drama entered into a few of the threads and it went downhill from there. Her reaction to the roasting she was getting from people almost fully ignorant of the situation is understandable. Was it the best way to handle a mob? Nope. The fact is many jumpers make stupid choices about this sport on a daily basis. I doubt that will ever stop. The whole "should have, would have, might have and why didn't you" arguments usually get us no where. The only positive is the hope that one or two people walk away educated. However, this topic seems to have shown more of the ugly side of how this sport will go out of it's way to eat its young to prove they are right. She made her choices. She got lucky on a good bounce with bad injuries (could have been worse). She made additional choices afterwards. Hopefully she has learned from this and will grow. Do I agree/disagree with any of her choices? That doesn't matter. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

That was my point. People paint this subculture as special and close. It isn't at all. It's exactly like every other part of life. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Pretty much. Don't ever be fooled into thinking that everyone in this sport cares about you....is your brother...or any of that other junk. Keep your friends close. Everyone else in this sport is just someone you know. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Her choice. Nothing any of us can do about it. Guess I didn't read it that way. The original post was done in a strong ranting, pissed off tone. Not sure I can blame her for the reaction - a large portion of our community judged her, her decisions, her actions, etc....all without knowing her and the extent of the details. I'd be pissed as well and think I understand where she is coming from. Anything beyond that or any excuse shouldn't factor into this. Why? From what I have read no FAA violations happened. Shit happens in this sport, and she fell face first into it. Again, in her pissed off rant it seemed like she was going to ask for help. Her choice, and making the wild assumption that she feels others MUST pay for her seems a bit uneducated. I don't know the full details so I am bound to give her the benefit of the doubt. Plus, I wouldn't take anything the media presented to you as fact. We all have seen what they can do even with the facts handed to them on paper. There has been FAR worse things about this sport that made it to the news (I'm certain you can give even more examples than the ones I have). Despite all that negative press in the past we are still here. On top of that, I doubt most could care about what whuffos think about us. And to be honest, I didn't think you cared that much about what our perceived image was either. This thread on top of the dozen other threads is just beating a dead horse into the ground. The bottom line: She made two choices people don't agree with. So what? This is just more about jumpers looking to create drama where there really isn't a need for it. If you don't want to help, don't....and move on. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Am I the only one that doesn't understand why people are making such a huge ordeal over this topic? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Uh, wasnt the whole DZ that im pretty sure of I can think of at least two where the entire DZ got into the donation act. Also, during the 2000 record attempt, many jumpers donated their money from the canceled jumps to help out the injured jumper. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

We have had that happen here at home more than once. Each time the entire DZ has come together to raise money for that jumper. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Bert and Ernie from "It's a Wonderful Life" were painted that way??? _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

1457 best try into Stage 5 _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

When I started there 6 years ago we had just transitioned from the original Sabre to the Safire as the student canopy. Now they have been using the Sabre 2 for several years and the largest size is 260. Roger and his top instructors (and some local jumpers) gave feedback to PD on the creation of the Sabre 2 for it to work as a Student Canopy when they sent us the prototypes. I'm not an instructor there, nor have I been out there in a year so I can't speak to how the program is currently running (nor would I try). I heard Roger speak on this topic many times in the years I knew him. The idea of AFP and the canopies we learned on were to encourage positive muscle memory and an easier transition to personal gear. This lead to typical cutaway systems for students and BOC's (remember how much of an outrage that topic made??). As a student of that program, I promise you that the amount of instruction for canopy progression was just as strong as the 20 freefall jumps I had to make. I've gone to the canopy pilot sessions by Germain, LeBlanc, etc over the years and the majority of it was just a refresh of what I learned from all of my AFP instructors (like learning half break turns on jump 6/20 for example). The amount of respect and education I learned in that program is beyond what I used to see at other DZs. This is why I asked if there will be anything BEYOND a simple spreadsheet that doesn't factor in most dynamic variables related to skydiving. Without good pilot education these new rules will not change a thing. Having things on paper is one thing, having things in practice is another. IMHO, education is the only thing that will change the culture surrounding the "Go fast/small/hook as soon as possible" trend. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

I read it the same way - seemed odd to me. I've jumped a ST190 at 1.5wl and it isn't fast, nor is it twitchy (it doesn't fly anything like a ST150 IMHO). _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Brian - will there be more than just the chart released? I'm of the opinion that some changes need to happen - but it has to be a total culture change on the issue. In other words, I don't feel much will change if the same lack of training/education is being passed around. That just gets us ignorant pilots under larger canopies and not much else. Larger canopies will only make those with more jumps feel comfortable about what the 'kids' are doing, but it doesn't make them any less likely to screw themselves in. I've seen some very small women (90-100 lbs) start AFP on a 135 and fly it smart and safe due to the extensive education they received. Meanwhile, I watched someone pound in under a 260 that had much less instruction. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

Plus full time CRW folk tend to have a ton more canopy time than freefallers - accounting for more experience at a quicker pace. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

By far the most disgusting soft drink ever. Blame Colorado for that one - it was test marketed there and got good reviews. The Crystal Gravy rip-off skit from SNL is still one of the best they have ever done. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....

We had a long time, old-school jumper choose that solution a year ago due to a medical condition. I still don't understand her choice even thou I know what the reasons were. _________________________________________ you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me.... I WILL fly again.....