ChangoLanzao

My prediction is that most people will not go to another boogie unless it is close, and the numbers will not be large. Sure, people south and southwest may go to SkyFest, people in the Chicago area may go to SummerFest, people in the mideast may go to Richmond-The Boogie, people in the east may go to a Ranch or Cross Keys event, people in the northwest may go to Lost Prairie, people in the west may go to Perris Valley to jump the jet if they have never done so, but... Not in huge numbers. Mainly people will stick close to home (since many of their local DZ's have turbine aircraft anyway.) It has already started, DZ's are planning "local" boogies around that time. What are gas prices going to be this summer? (rhetorical question) Hey Gary! There is a brand new DZ in your region!! John and Lianne (the DZO's) are getting married! You're invited! :-D Bring your friends too. We're close to your home.

Well, for us (The Locals), the alternative will be a nice small boogie with a PAC 750XL to celebrate the marriage of the DZO's of our brand new DZ (PRIVATE air strip!) that is just 4.5 miles from Rantoul (Flatville, IL)! The WFFC may be toast for this year, but we are still going to be jumping from a turbine within sight of Rantoul this summer. It's the Flatville FreeFall Convention (FFFC), August 10,11,12, 2007! We only need a couple dozen jumpers to get the plane doing loads for a few days before and after this weekend!

Other ... I went with a co-worker of mine who was a skydiver ... HERE's the story.

What a genious ... I've read almost all of his books. It's time to read them all again. Is this his last poem?

This just in: John and Lianne have just announced that they are getting married Saturday, August 11 at their new home (which is also our new DZ). They have contracted to have a PAC750XL here for Saturday and Sunday, August 11-12, 2007. If there are enough jumpers committed to be here on Friday, August 10 we will have the PAC doing loads on the 10th also. It would be great if you could join us to celebrate their wedding! Since they will be busy getting married during the boogie, I am sure they could use your help with logistics Edit: FYI ... John and Lianne were planning on getting married during the 2007 WFFC over Rantoul. Now that they've made alternate arrangements, they will still be able to get married over Rantoul this summer!!

Like Phreezone said, it depends on where in Indiana you live. My home DZ is 4.5 miles from Rantoul, IL, so if you live near Crawfordsville it's within our 90 minute drive-time zone

Wow! Nice job man!! I'm not sure if anyone mentioned it, but it would be more realistic if you could change the pilot's line of sight. I should be able to control my canopy and see where I'm going even if I'm looking at my feet. Maybe let the arrow keys on the keyboard control that? Edit: ... when will the multi-user version be available?

There are 'Skydivers' out there that WON'T JUMP without an ADD!!! Removing an RSL 'all by yer $tupid $elf' makes one of the most popular rigs today...'UNjumpable'! .... It makes you commit to something you have to take the time to LEARN to do the right way...just like flaring a downwind, stall turns, entering 10th and spotting for a head down... Yeah ... THAT's what I've been trying to say! Instead of removing the night jump requirement, we should instead be adding a requirement to do at least ten intentional RW jumps without an AAD on your rig, no helmet, no goggles (waiverable), and no altimeter.

I don't believe all of that. Used to be D needs 200 jumps. Now it's 500 as of oh, about mid-2003. Focus has been on training...better training makes better skydivers which makes it easier to achieve the licenses. I would definitely agree that better training makes better skydivers. I would also say that the focus has definitely been on MORE training. What we all want is BETTER traing, not necessarily more training. This is why I think NickDG's hit this issue right on the head; because what is happening over the years is that we are making it easier for there to be MORE skydivers in the sport who are neither BETTER nor safer. I think the night jump requirement should stay based on my belief that having to voluntarily do it is likely to make one a better skydiver for many reasons (which others have already given). I don't like doing intentional night jumps either, but I feel that the [training] benefits of going through the process of fulfilling the requirement outweigh the risks.

And this is different from requiring somebody to do night jumps that never plans to do night jumps because.........????? Well, at least one person here got Billvon's point!

So that you will learn why you don't need to make a low hook turn in order to miss your own shadow

Unfortunately those numbers don't mean a lot unless we know how many active jumpers are in each category. And we can infer nothing about jump numbers. Even if we knew how many active jumpers are in each category, the numbers wouldn't mean much. What is most meaningful is that each of us can think about the circumstances surrounding each incident and try to better understand how we can minimize the risks on every jump we make. Depicting these statistics with pie charts and bar graphs is just silly because it encourages people to make unsubstantiated inferences. Here's what I infer after reading all of last years incidents: 1. Do everything possible to ensure that you can and will LAND your canopy safely on every jump. Obviously, this is a very important part of every skydive, right? There's a lot to think about here whether you have 6 jumps or 6000. 2. AVOID CANOPY COLLISIONS - this shouldn't be a difficult thing to do regardless of jump numbers; if you think it is, then there is something wrong with the rules at your particular DZ. Hmmm ... That takes care of more than half of the incidents the rest were low pulls, malfunctions, and reserve problems. Scary.

Come to Rantoul!! We will be jumping and partying and you can RELAX with us during the last week in July for a change. We will cheer you up for sure

Hi Beth, You've made a lot of friends from all over the world through your association with the WFFC, and that includes US, right here at The Center Of The Universe, which is very close to Rantoul . We missed you (and Dean, and The Tall Slut) Saturday at the giant hottub party; now I know why. I have an idea ... this year you and the Streaker could relax and actually spend a few days on vacation in Rantoul and party with us at our new DZ - we should be in full swing before too long! Although the airfield at Rantoul will be a ghost town the last week of July 2007, the airfield in Flatville will be hoppin'!!! and we will still be jumping over Rantoul.

Just did it about a month ago and it was a blast. The birdsunderwater people are cool! We did the Devil's Den on our own though. CLICKY

Obviously by wuffos / for wuffos "Free Falling"

I was at Z-Hills for a couple of weeks over the holidays and had the opportunity to spend a few moments with Johnny and a few of his friends, watching the sunset load land. As we sat there, Elly rode by and said. "hello gentlemen" all of us immediately looked over our shoulders to see who she might have been talking to and then she immediately shouted, "OH! I'm sorry ... Hey Assholes!!" ... well, you had to be there, it was pretty funny. I got THIS picture that day. It's not the best but it's one of the last. HERE is another one you might be able to use.

I use my own pics ... here's my current favorite. Clicky

I'm not moving until you take all of this crap off my neck, dammit!

I dunno ... it sure sounds like bigway's been doing some kickass good drugs tonight!

Here's Illinois Skydiving Center. It's our very new dropzone ... after the Paxton, IL city council banned skydiving at the Paxton Airport, we had to move - a fortunate turn of events led to the procurement of our very own PRIVATE airstrip only 4.5 miles from Rantoul. Here's the Google Earth kmz.

Figuring out how to maximize time spent skydiving and minimize the time spent at work. I finally overcame this challenge on January 1, 2006, when I officially retired from my job! Now I'm just livin' that dream, baby!

Considering a couple of my most recent bad spots, that mat would have to be atleast four miles square. I'd definitely want to protect that handle while on the way up to altitude in our fully-loaded C182!

yes, so we now have a 'perfectly safe' but non existent blood supply. That's EXACTLY right! Edit: Well, not ecactly, but very close. Perfect safety is impossible, so the ratchet will just keep on turning until the lawyers have their way.

My guess would be that they haven't been sued yet in the U.S.