peregrinerose

We've pushed him ahead of the shirtless tool now. Now we just need to keep him ahead of the shirtless tool!!! Keep voting

Newport , PA, Perry County or Newport, PA, Lawarance County... a bit different. Perry County Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Good! He was waaaay behind this morning, so he needs lots of votes to keep his lead Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

They are both really good guys. I have a couple of nice pics that Terry took of me. He's a talented photographer and hell of a nice guy. Alan's great too. Thanks for helping them out, and vote every day

Actually, it's not tips I'll donate. Any fun jumper that I pack for will be entirely in exchange for donations for the walk, I won't make anything at all. Basically, Sue, Alex and I will do whatever we can to procure donations

I know, the text makes me crazy too. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

http://www.wtpafm.com/contests_vitaminwater.shtml Could you all take a minute or two to help my friends Alan and Terry win this photo contest? I know the guy they are up against is nice to look at and all, but can you really beat a nice CRW shot? You can actually re-vote daily and right now Alan's behind. Thanks! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I wish!!! There's an airport not too far from here, and I'll happily pick up anyone that wants to fly in

This Sunday, like the 15th? Of course I'll be there. If it's Sunday, August 17th, I have every intention of being hung over But you're welcome to come out to the party Alex! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

When I had my chop, Brenthutch on here drove around with me and he was the one that spotted both my freebag and chopped main. I tried to buy him a jump ticket or a bottle, he refused and told me to just repay the favor to someone else some time. The funny part is that the week before I landed out, following someone else's main and landed beside the corn field it was in. It took my husband and I 1/2 hr to find the canopy and free bag, but we got it and the jumper was very appreciative (he was too frazzled from chopping to follow his gear). Try finding a green and yellow canopy in 8 foot tall corn!! Hutch told me he was just Karma paying me back.

If any of you are in the PA area, or are interested in travelling a bit.... On Saturday August 16, 2008 beginning at 3pm and ending when the last person leaves, Chad and I are holding our official Barn Warming Bash!! (For those of you that don't know, we bought our dream home, a renovated barn, a couple of months ago) In honor of the occasion, a pig wll be roasted, a keg will be procured, and plenty of both alcoholic and non alcoholic food and beverages will be provided. There will be horseshoes as well as whatever other forms of entertainment we come up with, a fire pit, and great company (after all, we will be there, what more could you want? :-) Please help us get our new life in the barn started the right way... with friends and fun! Drunk driving home will not be tolerated, however, anyone is welcome to stay... bring a tent and camp out for the weekend, or should indoor lodging suit your needs better, our home is open for any floor space you can find, so bring an air mattress and sleeping bag!! Bring your friends, your kids, your sense of adventure, and some form of side dish and plan for the fun. All we ask is that you RSVP as soon as possible, so we can order the properly sized piggy for the event!!! Let us know if you can make it or not and how many you're bringing with you :-) The location is Newport, PA, I'll provide address and directions to anyone that's interested. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Scott, you know I like and respect you a lot, but differ with you on this one. If someone wants to do a job, any job, they need to look into the qualifications and meet the qualifications in order to perform the duties of that job. In this case specifically, he did not have the qualifications from both the commercial license and the updated medical. It doesn't mean he's unsafe, but it does mean that he is too lazy/cheap/rebellious/unqualified/unhealthy/whatever to persue doing his job legally, and any one of those reasons can affect his piloting skills and judgement. The rules are in place, not a secret, aren't unreasonable in nature, there's no reason not to follow them. We really do need to take care of each other, keep each other in line, and evaluate ourselves so that things like the FAA coming down on the head of a pilot/DZO/jumper don't happen. This situation makes all of us as jumpers (and even moreso for DZOs) look bad. You know that the most dangerous people out there in any field are the ones that don't know what they don't know. At least following the rules (via commercial rating or whatever) proves some degree of competency and knowledge base. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

As a jumper, unless the pilot who was busted both volunteers that information and what the penalty for it was, how would we know that it ever even happened? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You have to have 200 jumps to get your C license. So there is one. If you do all jumps from 13,500, that is about 360 or so to get 6 hours of free fall so there is a second. That's kinda stretching it a little. The requirements are C license and 6 hours, not specifically 200 jumps or 360 jumps or whatever. If all you do is CRW, it'll take forever to get 6 hours, if all you do is wingsuit, it could be quicker. Strato, I don't know when you checked the requirements, but at least last year when I took the course, there was no specific jump requirement, just the other things (time, license, prereq. card filled out) Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I'm still a newbie. When I had 1 jump, I thought at 10 I wouldn't feel like a newbie any more. Then at 10, I thought 100 might be the magic number. At 100, I realize I didnt know shit, so maybe at 500 I wouldn't be a newbie any more. Now I'm wondering if maybe 1000 jumps would make me no longer a newbie, but given my track record, I'm thinking maybe I should just realize that no matter how long I'm in this sport and no matter what ratings I have, I'll always have far more to learn than I have already learned. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You are reading right, no jump requirement (tandem requires 500 jumps and 3 years in the sport, that's probalby what you're thinking of) Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I have 3 seasons as a packer behind me at a busy DZ, so craploads of pack jobs, and saying that 'using a weight to pack shows ignorance' is a bit on the harsh side. I can pack fine without a weight, but being short, it's a lot easier with one when I'm flacking the canopy. I tend to have the canopy as high on my shoulder as possible, stand on tiptoe, and lean forward a bit to flake to get a bit better reach. A weight keeps things from moving around and I can flake a bit faster. Without the weight, I hold the lines on my shoulder with one hand, flake with the other, so my lines are still neat, taut, and even, but it takes an extra couple of seconds. If I'm packing on grass or carpet with no weight, I don't slide forward at all, if on a slippery tarp, I eat up an extra foot or so, but that's it. If a newer jumper and new packer feels like life is easier with a weight, then fine, use one, it won't hurt, it's one less thing for them to worry about, and as their packing skills improve their 'need' for a weight will eventually dissappear too. Same with risers... yes, tying them together will keep them even, but eventually with more experience and pack jobs, the OP will find that even that isn't necessary. Other than when I'm doing reserve repacks, I never have the risers tied or weighted, and they are always perfectly even, beginning to end of pack job.... but I started out tying them together or using a weight on them to keep them that way until I had the mad packing skilz to do so without it. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Me too... where can I get a crapload of those things? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I see it more like 'wishing you well' than a greeting or goodbye. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

"blue skies" is my vote. But we were in Myrtle Beach a few years ago, top off the jeep, enjoying the weather, and a couple of guys must have seen the skydiving bumper sticker, they screamed 'blue skies' at us in unison

Dave is back at Trudy's. His hole plugging procedure was only 50% successful, so he'll be back in Phila for chest X rays and procedure #2 on Monday, June 9. He's on oxygen at the moment as a precautionary measure. Doc says prognosis for procedure #2 is good. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

LOL! Chad looks scary on the Kutztown site picture, doesn't he? Gerry can attest to me already abusing him

Gerry, you left 1/2 hr too soon Right after you left, the winds died and clouds all went away. First rule of skydiving, you can't jump if you aren't at the DZ!

Hi Gerry.. if you show up early, 830 am or so, we can bump a crapload of things off of your A license progression card. - remember to look up cloud clearances - I'll have to do a full gear check (including cypres use and show me how an RSL works) - Teach you how to change out a closing loop (very easy) That should get 4-5 things signed off on the card, so be prepared

If anyone lives in/near Philly and wants to visit Dave, he'll be in the UPenn hospital on Monday for his hole plugging procedure. Not sure how long he'll be there. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda