steve1

Beer would be quite nice I wish I had a cold one Work today is slow I need a jump bad But the weather is shitty And Spring is far off So right here I sit with nothing better to do Than type my key board. Steve1 (the poet)

This is my favorite exit postition. Listen to your instructors. You may not have to tuck your legs much. If your arms are in to much and legs out to far you could go over on your back though. On exiting the otter I'm still learning the fine pts. on this. At Eloy I was chewed out by a girl for slamming her into the side of the door and for taking up too much room when I dived out. We had four floaters out, then a row of three people taking grips on the floaters, then this girl and I both diving, with people behind us. I was taught to throw myself out side ways to the wind rather than head down, to allow her more room on exit. I'm learning. Steve1

Congratulations. Too bad about the weather. I went to Arizona the week before and it was supposed to have been the worst weather in 15 years, for Eloy. I wonder what's up with the weather? Steve1

I'm looking into buying a friends para-commander and B-12 container. I'd love to make a round jump again, even a 28 ft. (7-TU) would be fun. I'd have to dig out my old french jump boots though. Steve1

School counselor, part-time taxidermist. Actually I support my skydiving habit by mounting heads and a few birds. It's so damn cold here that you can't jump in the winter anyhow, so I spend most of my free-time, this time of year down in the basement, stuffing critters. I had to clean most of my bank account out last week to go to Arizona. Steve1

Happy birthday, Marc! I remember way back when, when I turned 29. I think? Steve1

Uh...I live in Florida! If you live in Florida, you ought to catch a flight up with Greg to Stevensville. He's a great guy and I'll bet he wouldn't charge you a thing. He owns the DZ at Titusville.......Steve1

I once wanted to immigrate to Canada (because I once was really into hunting and fishing), but now I'm way more into jumping and sick of the cold, so my pick would be Texas. I'd fit right in down there, and the jumping would be great, and I could legally bring all my guns, and legally pack most of them. Steve1

Jimmytavino, Hope to meet you soon. You're right, "time to live a little"....... Steve1

Western Montana is nice in June. You can see Glacier and Yellowstone Parks. The main jump places are Lost Prairie, Stevensville, and Billings. It might mean jumping a Cessna though. All are kind of small scale with Lost Prairie being the biggest. There is one boogie at the end of June at Chico Hot Springs (near Yellowstone Park). I think the boogie at Starr, Idaho is the same weekend. Both will have turbine aircraft. Gregg Nardi has been bringing his king Air to Stevensville (one weekend a month) during the summer. He flies it up from Florida to visit his daughter in Missoula. If you get to Stevensville look me up. I hope to be there in June. Steve1

Rhino, I know what you mean. I went to Eloy last week and it was one of the high lights of my life. I need to get out more often. What fun!.......Steve1

I forgot DC-3, Twin Beech, and 206. I guess the (edit) isn't working today. Steve1

I've got two, both in college now. One is 19 the other 21. The wife and I kind of have the empty nest syndrome right now. But there's always Grandkids to look forward to. Steve1

I made it to Skydive Pennsylvania earlier this winter. The weather was windy so we couldn't jump. I did like the looks of their operation though. The owner was very friendly and they jump a turbine on a regular basis. I'll have to go back some day. Steve1

C-141 C-119 C-130 Cessna 180 Cessna 172 Cessna 185 (I think that was it's name) caravan porter otter sky van travel air H-34 helicopter UH-1d helicopter

The first four years that I jumped, in the olden days, I never bothered to get any license. You really didn't need one back then. If you wanted to jump someplace else all you had to do was manifest up and get on a load. If you wanted to make a demo, you just did it. Things are different now. I went to another drop zone ( a few years back,when I started jumping again), hoping to jump, and it was almost impossible to get on a load. It took about a half a day of making phone calls and begging the DZ manager to let me jump. Finally he alowed me to jump with him on a check-out jump. So I realized I had to get a license. I now have a D-license but have never had the others. It might be good to have this for demo purposes as was mentioned earlier. As far as being a safer jumper, just because a person has a D license, I have my doubts on that one. Steve1

Thanks for the input on this. Somehow it is easier to accept being cut, knowing that others have been in the same boat. It's reassuring to know that a 100 way organizer was once cut. I guess the key is doing your best and not getting discouraged when it does happen. It's amazing how much the sport has changed in 30 years. I've only made a couple hundred jumps, since being out of it for 25 years, so I'm learning plenty. Steve1

I've been getting on some loads recently where there is a possibility of getting cut if you mess up. Recently, at Eloy, our load organizer Phillip (don't call him Phil unless you want a reprimand) kept harping about how he might have to make some cuts. I mean this was before every load. If you were the one who screwed up badly enough, you would be axed. Now, I know I don't really have the skills of most of these folks and I was hesitant about jumping with them, but I figure what the hell. The only way to learn is to jump in and do my best. Most of the time I was flying an outer slot, that again was probably beyond my skill level, but I did okay most every jump. So far I've never been cut, and I was just wondering if any people out there have experienced being cut from a load. I understand the reasoning for this, but I don't relish the day it happens to me. So, is there anyone out there who has experienced being kicked off a load? Am I the only one who worries about this sort of thing? I know you're supposed to think happy thoughts like, "I was lucky just to participate" right after being told to "hit the road Jack." But I'll bet it would still be a pretty depressing thing to deal with, and maybe that is one reason freeflying is becoming so popular. I mean jumping is supposed to be fun, right? I know many jumpers who won't get on a bigger RW load for fear of messing up. Any thoughts on this issue?.......Steve1

I have a Hornet 170 that packs nicely in my Javelin J-2. Hornet's pack up somewhat smaller than most 170's. Steve1

I really enjoyed your story. It's surprising how many people out there are feeling the same stuff inside, but never talk about it. Your story reminded me somewhat of another one that I heard a college counseling class. Our professor was also a clinical Psychologist. Actually this story is hundreds of years old, but is still just as accurate today. It deals with dysfunction in a family. Anyway, once there was a group of people who lived in a deep dark cave. These people were chained to a wall and life was cold and dark and terrible. Life went on endlessly for them untill they finally died. Once in a while they would get a fleeting glance at the outside light and the world outside, but all they really knew was the darkness inside the cave. One day, with a great deal of courage, one of the people broke his chains and went outside the cave into the light. But he wasn't used to the brightness of the light, and it hurt like hell. After a while his eyes began to adjust to the light and he saw the world anew. In the valley below him was a beautiful village with happy people doing good things for each other. He could hear laughter and see smiling people. The fields were green and the Mountains were beautiful. A while later he returned to the inside of his cave and told his friends of the wonderful world outside. He told them to break their chains and escape with him to the outside. But instead they chose to remain chained to the wall and tried to get him to stay with them chained to the same wall. He said no, that he could no longer do that, and left never to return again. This story fits my family to a tee, and it pretty much tells what many people go through to recover from the effects of a troubled childhood. Many things that happened way back when still haunt me today, and it's hard to look into the light and see the good things around me, or to even let those good things into my world. But I'm learning and there's no way I'm going back into the cave. Steve1

Bob gave me this same letter and some other interesting stories including one printed in Argosy Magazine. If I ever get my scanner figured out, I'll post them. Steve 1

Skycat, You know I saw that article, but have yet to read it. I watched the Lost Prairie video last night, for the first time. I'll have to see if I can find you in it. I'm sure you're in the part where all the state record women introduced themselves. Kallend, I've never been on a tracking dive. Sounds like fun, and it would be a good way to learn to track properly. Steve1

I really think most of this is the type of sensationalism that newspapers thrive on. I was a middle school and elementary teacher for 17 years (now a guidance counselor) and I agree there are some insensitive crappy teachers out there, but by far the vast majority are caring people who put the best interest of their students first. I agree that anyone who works in a school, should be considerate enough not to trash a young person's feelings by saying that kid's parents are wrong for going to war, particularly in an elementary school. It is good for older kids to hear conflicting opinions, but this would be a touchy subject area that would have to be handled carefully. I sure wouldn't want to be a teacher telling any kid that his parent is wrong. As far as most teachers being lefties, their may be some truth to this. I know the National Education Association seems to lean in this direction. One reason I quit this organization is that I didn't agree with many of their political beliefs. But then again I didn't vote for Bush and disagree with many of his ideas. I just feel there is enough teacher bashing going on in the U.S. I used to bash teachers myself, until I became one. Now I have the highest respect for the job they do. My own daughter wanted to become a teacher, but I've done my best to talk her out of it. One of the big reasons is that teachers in the U.S. have such little respect, and because it's such a draining profession. There's lot's of easier ways to make a whole lot more money. I agree that unless you've walked a mile in a teacher's shoes it's hard to understand..... Steve1

Just got home from Eloy. What a great place to Jump! The weather was kind of crappy, but we still got in lot's of jumps. The first day we were going to 16,000 for $16.50. I made four or five jumps with Mike Mcgowan flying camera. It was really cool to see many of the big names in skydiving, and to actually be able to BS with them. Dan Brodsky went out of his way to show us the correct way to pull a four way out of a Porter (in our dirt dive). He's coaching a Swiss National team this year. Neil Houston even jumped with us on one load, and then went out of his way to shake our hands and thank us for the jump. I don't think he knew I am a mere 500 jump dip stick. On the last day we went over to Coolage. We just had time to get our gear on and fill out the paper work before getting on the King Air. I would have liked to have spent more time at Coolage. It's out in the middle of the desert, with a down home atmosphere, and loads of experienced jumpers. If you've never jumped in Arizona, you've got to go!..............What a blast!............Steve1

I saw Allistair at Eloy. Everyone had a lot of respect for him. I was just wondering who the other guy from England was, that was jumping with him, without lower legs. I have to admit that at first sight, it did catch me off guard, to see them both walking into the hangar on stubs. I really admire people who have the courage to overcome such big set backs in their life. Steve1