jimmytavino

so then,,, you've been jumping for more than 66 % of your life.. congratulations!!! not a lot of people who can make that claim...!!! i'm closing in on it. sept 16, 1972 # 1 airplane ride # 1 parachute jump i had just turned 19. 25 jumps or so on cheapos, just a few on PC's and the American Papillon and then, over 900 jumps on a variety of French Papillon Canopies and made # 1,000 on that type of canopy,, ('79) Had a few dozen jumps on clouds by that point, but never owned a ram air canopy til i had over a grand.... hey !!! you couldda BOUGHT a ram air canopy back then, for UNDER a Grand!!! in the 70's i had 2 reserve rides on rounds ,, one a 26 ft navy conical the other a 26 foot Strong lopo...both stand ups..

problems with co workers????? either work for Family or become self employed

i'm an observer of human behavior and have always liked 'watchin' TV'.. so i checked out this show. back when all the buzz was buzzing.... i think i have it right... This man on the "touristy" boardwalk of a place near the Atl. Ocean, owns a tee shirt store, and at least One house , which has a few bedrooms, and a hot tub on the roof,, and i bet it was vacant So he wrangles some sorta deal ( or is approached by "producers" ) concerning a reality show about,,, "Young Singles" sharing a house, 24/7.. working at the tee shirt Store,, ( which didn't ever seem to be very busy) , a few hours a day,, and then Carousing well into the night and early morning hours at the House,,, in twin beds....and of course at Bars, Clubs, and dance places most of which are within walking,, ( stumbling ) distance of the "pad".. The various places all share the common denominator of BOOZE... and I'm not noticing anyone nursin' a beer, but rather , slamming shots, and well drinks... Things then usually devolve into either some 'lusty' exchange, or fanciful whispers and grins between housemates, about some anticipated lusty exchange..... they ARE after all self proclaimed, and encouraged by the producers,, the best of the best.... hahahah. Then we have further evidence of our social decline in general,,, as usually there will be some sort of physical altercation. Either a drink thrown on someone, or a slap of some kind, or girls pulling hair!! or downright Brawls when a verbal "dis", has been hurled.... I don't think ANy of the cast are FROM N J , and i have no real impression about the state, one way or another.. But if this is the mirror of what 20 somethings and 30 somethings are doing... then i'm disappointed... Seems like it's all about "them SELVES".. who can "look" the hottest !!. Who's belt line is properly hitched low on the hips. whos' enhanced or unenhanced breasts are suitably exploited, by choice of "fashion",, which by the way, is suitable for Old Times Square /42nd street..and in my mind, Not a restaurant, or place of business and for sure!!. not a court house... So then the Stars... continue to cultivate the whole silly sad concept, and keep on doin, what they're doin'... and the cameras roll.... Any reason WHY a "crew person" sound tech or camera guy.. wouldn't think to diffuse, and calm down those idiodic fights, which brew and brew and escalate from dirty looks to sneers and then verbal assaults,, and then pushing and shoving,,,, Men AND women,,,, ( I'll call them women,,"but they're NO Ladies"...)and then..Finally !! POW.. the 'hero' slugs the interloper...... all the while with encouraging yahoos,,, one the sidelines, cheering it on.. Sad sad Statement of not only where Some people ARE.. in their behavior.. But how , so MANY people can be enticed into making that.....part of their television viewing..... Marketing marketing marketing... How Many national newspapers just ran a Half page picture and idiotic story about one inebriated reality star, nicole pollizzi (sp) , falling down drunk on some beach, and causing a disturbance?? and mobilizing the police and emergency crews,,,, alll while the cameras roll.. That girls old country italian Grandma(s) must be wondering WTF???? Man,, you can't BUY that kind of publicity... what a world...... and don't even get me started on the narcissism !!!!

i jumped for quite a few years without a helmet.. then began to think better of it... i had a couple of pairs of eyeglasses fly away,, and did not wanna have that happen, with someone Above me... who was diving down to the formation... and MY glasses are flying UP past them... Yikes!!!.. anyway switched back to a helmet when i started video ( '95) and have worn one ever since... Where ELSE would i stow my Pro Track ????? ... today i think of it as sensible , for protection, from take-off through a safe landing... ( Old skydivers,, Bold skydivers sorta thing ) jmy A 3914 D 12122

a little over 200... some are family

best part.... that often uttered quote!!.... "oh shit, thought i was gonna die!!" jt A 3914 D 12122

bravo !! good post. jt

well yes then..... i agree...3 should be more than enough... save some firsts for the next trip. jt

definitely all three...... if you're out of ATL, simply run 75 South to Z hills,,, easy drive.. then go to Sebastian, ( can be done in the time it can take a 'weather hold' to clear... ) then head north on 95 and find your way to DeLand... simple and easy.. 1200 miles of driving, isn't THAT much,, when you're bound for a dropzone..... Do most of the driving at night, when it's cooler, and maybe less traffic... and so that you can change locations at a time when you're NOT missing any jumping hours... P S. there are many other DZ's besides these 3. Parachutist lists 12 of them,,, PLUS the Tunnel.. ( bring a copy of that Mag. with you... very helpful for phone numbers and locations...) have FUN... jmy

Excellent!!!.. hahahaha manifest should have replied... "sure thing, only there's a bit of a waiting line.... Please write us an "Extra Large" deposit check, be patient and we'll see what we can DO " !!!! as crazy as the world of real jumpers can be, the world of wanna-be jumpers is Crazier!!( and Oh Yeah... they will also be making B A S E jumps, ASAP,!!! as well....) jt o[:-)

very Nice.... Nice post Nice article Nice Guy !!! Nice Job!!! (Psycho Bobs' FAA position) My brother Tom, works the tower @ Dulles.... and I have ALWAYS admired those folks.. they keep the 'flying public' safe but more importantly they keep all my skydiving friends SAFE !! jmy

Re: "the hand cams"... + 1 jmy o[:-)

it sure DOES sound weird.... i mean the part where he talks about Himself,,, instead of about You... my Doc. is a real good guy... a few years older than me, and i've been going to him for 30 years now... I learned early that my willingness to extend my hand in greeting, when he finally

hmmmmm let's see... there's Fayard enterprises Casas Rampart Aviations Otter Mullins King Air K. McColes otters SD Arizonas Super otter Roger Nelsons' Otters Spacelands' Otters That nice King Air @ Titusville. Sky's the Limits', K Air and Caravan Steve Stewarts Otter The FrankenOtter 37 Charlie ( C 180 ) 89 X-Ray ( C 180) The blue Dick C182...(a Looong time ago..) Howie's radial engine Beaver.. A Helio stallion which was "passing through" The 727 Jet at Quincy Jim Barons Westwind Beech The Twin Bonanza, flown by Schmuck.. The fleet from Freefall Express !!! ( my favorites ) The Herds' Skyvans Kingers Queen Air Brians' Piper Cub Marks Hot Air Balloon Reafords' PAC 750 Someone's Tri Pacer flown by Gene Whiting a bunch of 180s, 182's 172s' a 185 a C210 a few Beech 18s A couple of Hueys Many of the venerable DC 3's of the skydiving community and ONE time... i flew Delta, to jacksonville.. jmy

"yeah Dude...For Sure" !!! jmy

would be interested in what you might have to say the "package price deal" can work, as has been proven at LARGER dzs... a problem might start when a smaller place, aspiring to be a bigger place, figures the way to do it is to copy what the bigger places are doing... however depending on lift capacity, staff weather etc. sometimes the smaller places get overwhelmed. a 182 has to fly 20 loads , just to make 80 jumps total.. , for the day .. turn that into " eighty slots" and factor in TMs and their students,, and suddenly it could become difficult for the DZ and staff to "honor" the deal...as they should... much of it depends on the size of the particular skydiving operation.. As has been pointed out,, it DOES work in some cases... still, i dunno,...... i went one step at a time... buying jumps as i went, then working for jumps, then buying again, then working,,,,, by not having Pre-Paid for anything...( especially not any 2,500 dollars!!) i've never felt "i HAVE to go jumping"... it always been< " I want to go jumping." jt nscr 1817 4 stack 940

not sure i ever understood the sense of "paying Up front" for a whole bunch of training skydives... Maaaybe for AFF only... and if it's a 20 % or MORE discount.... but never for a deal that carries,,,,, until 'you're licensed.' What if you find that the sport does NOT apeal to you, ?? or that you're NOT gonna be able to continue,, for one of many reasons,,, financial,, or injury, related to jumping or not..or "domestic" issues, plain old fear,, or plain old "lack of the needed attributes to continue on".. in this sport. or your employment or living situation changes.... It always bugged me to see dzo's grabbing that big payment and then caring less, whether the person "makes it " or not.. Not everyone is cut out for this sport, and the natuiral selection process has a way of finding that out...sometimes in 2 jumps , sometimes in 20 All the enthusiasm in the world,, sometimes isn't enough to see one through the process to becoming a regular jumper.. I admire and appreciate your persistence and am not trying to dissuade you... Either (cordially) request some consideration, or request a refund,, ( if you CAN ) (any 'fine print' to any of the details which you may have agreed to, when first signing up )?? Could be the fee is non refundable,, in which case that w ould really burn me up.... since once a place has your$$$ , they actually have an incentive,,,,, NOt to service you,, and to dance around it, with " Oh NEXT time" or "sure thing, come back Next weekend", etc etc until a person simply says 'the hell with it' and gives up... Better to "pay as you go" and only if you're happy and feel like you're progressing... good luck.. keep working at it. let us know when and If you get that License.. jmy A 3914 D 12122

i wish you the best for your new venture. the last part of your post says " The area can easily support a focused skydiving business" yet earlier you claim to have witnessed , for the past ten years,, a "local skydiving outfit, change ownership and struggle to keep alive" .... even WHILE doing a thousand tandems... so... which is it??? Will gateway Air Services be charging Rent to Amanda Aviation??? or No??? that'll make a difference,, and of course having some planes certainly will help...>

a big part of the fun when eating " PeaNuts ,,, peanuts here!!!! get your hot roasted Peanuts !!! "" while at a baseball game,,, or the circus,,, or ANYwhere for that matter,,,,, is to be able to throw the shells on the floor....

the last one generally trusting but keep some reserve...... and if someone betrays that....the 'reserve' gives 'em ONE LAst Chance.... doing it again,,, and we're done.....not a total cutaway...( since sometimes we HAVE to continue to interact ) but never the same... i like skyriders point that those who feel others are untrustworthy, are usually themselves untrustworthy... jmy

invite one or two of your original instructors, who may have been particularly important to you, during those early training jumps to share # 100 with you... they can fly circles around YOU or you can fly circles around THEM... either way.. there should be huge smiles,,,, all around jimmytavino

5 cell strato-star... in it's orginal "lunch box sized" container,,, with R3's for the releases.. ( I had one of those suckers Disconnect!!! as i did a stand up landing under my papillon ) and a chest mounted 24 foot, flat cheapo... Mounted on the UPPER D rings,, so that the damn thing was in your face,,,, and the altimeter/stopwatch plate smashed you in the nose,,, when you opened.. disclaimer to add..... while MANY loved the Strato Star.. ,, and at the time,, it WAS ok for the lightweight types.... the ONe time i jumped one... I'm glad i got to the pea gravel, cause that canopy pretty much stalled out... on touchdown....so for ME... i vowed to never jump one, again... jmy A 3914 nscr 1817

i call bullshit.... WHo the hell is gonna stand at the edge of what they Believe is a bungee launch point.. blindfolded??? and how the hell did the guy even GET to that place.... No climb??? no approach to the launch point?/ did they have the guy blindfolded for a half an HOUR!??? in order to "bring him to the purported exit point"... hahaha i dunno..,.,. just a silly video contrived by a bunch of silly drunks... hey!!! but at least the video quality was a bad as the stunt...and it sure didn't NEED the first 30 seconds of footage... but..... keep 'em coming.. it was good for a small laugh jmytavino

Eustis...... ParaGators... i don't recall that Jimmy Godwin was ever in titusville,, but i could be wrong about that.. jimmytavino