DontPanic

I was out there jumping yesterday (11/13/2005). I hadn't seen the article before I went, but I heard some talk about the aiport authority's new offensive. Naturally, Mike is going to try and counter this latest move by the airport authority. I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned.

I jumped there yesterday (11/13/05). Everything was business as usual (for now). I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned to see how things play out.

I can't believe none of the Wing Loading nazis have chimed in yet. It seems clear you just don't have enough sq. ft. here.

It sounds like there are more things going on at Emerald Coast this weekend, but Gold Coast is much closer to Bayou LaBatre. Gold Coast is about 15 miles out of the way on the way back to Mobile from Bayou LaBatre, but Emerald Coast is on the other side of the bay (~70 minutes from Bayou LaBatre). On the other hand, your crew may enjoy going to the Air Show while you jump at Emerald Coast. If you go to Gold Coast, I'm sure I could give you a ride back into Mobile. Let me know what you think you will try to do.

There is one brewery downtown on Dauphin Street called Jim Cannon's Brew Pub. Alabama has some funky restrictions on MIcrobreweries, so that's about it for the Brew-Pubs in Mobile, although Cannon's is alright. In terms of what seafood places are open in Bayou La Batre, I'm not sure where they stand. Pretty much everyplace down in Bayou La Batre got tore up in Katrina, and may not be open yet. There used to be some pretty good seafood in Bayou La Batre, and I'm sure there will be again, but I'm just not sure about whats re-opened right now. If you want to catch up for a beer one night, let me know.

Most of the initial storm chaos has subsided. Compared to the weeks after the storm hit, quite a bit is back up and running. But there is still considerable damage directly on the coast, especially south of I-10. In Wiggins, you should be able to find most of the necessities. There are enough stores and gas stations running now that you shouldn't have too much trouble finding most of the basics that were really hard to come by in the first weeks after the storm. In general, the closer you get to the Louisianna / Mississippi state line (closer to Waveland), the more extensive the damage. But everywhere along coastal Mississippi that was exposed to the storm surge saw extensive damage. If you are planning on camping, bring some warm gear. The temperatures are warm right now, but it would not be unusual to see nights in the 40s this time of year. I know several jumpers from Gold Coast that live along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Let me know if you would llike to try and contact some of the local jumpers.

Just modify your equations to take into account Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, and I think that'll fix ya right up (or is it his Special Theory of Relativity?). It's got something to do with the speed of light.

I wonder if it would be safe to skydive in that costume?

Be careful what you say in this thread. The press is probably poring over this thread for inside information on this guy's accident.

To dive into the minutia even deeper..... If we have Hurricane Alpha this year, and run out of names again next year, do we pick up at Beta, or what?

Congratulations! Are the names Rita or Katrina on your list if it's a girl? Maybe Ivan if it's a boy.

It looks like we're closed for at least one more weekend. The weather is probably going to suck anyways. I got the following e-mail from Mike Igo:

I've been using gtk-gnutella (a gnutella agent for linux). I just make sure and turn off sharing. Limewire should be very similar. But I really like Bittorrent for big downloads (such as for downloading open-source linux cds).

I wouldn't hesitate to call the dropzone to get the final word. I called yesterday (Thursday, 9/16) and talked to Mike Igo. He wasn't expecting to be running this weekend, but he was hoping to be open starting the weekend of Sept 24th. Stay tuned, because things are constantly changing.

I'm glad I went ahead and got my B. I didn't want to wait around until jump 200+ signing off log book entries with just an A number.

A couple of things to keep in mind: Many people that travel with their rigs carry them on instead of checking them through. If you check your equipment through, you just don't know what inspections may have been done on your reserve, whereas if you carry the rig on, at least you will be present whenever they need to inspect your rig. I don't know what size canopy you are expecting to jump, but a newbie container is typically bigger and bulkier than the rigs people have after having progressed through some downsizing. I could see some occasional problems if I tried to constantly travel with my Wings container with my 190 main and 210 reserve, if I carried it on all the time. It might make sense to consider renting for a while longer.

I think it's really cool you're putting this together. A friend of mine was thinking about trying to take a pickup truck load of stuff into Mississippi next weekend also. But we weren't too sure about what kinds of things were needed or exactly where to take them. If you can, keep me updated on what your plans are this weekend. Since you'll probably be stopping in Mobile, maybe we can combine our efforts somehow. And let me know if you need any extra manpower for the last leg. I'm sure I can get some people together.

GD is an older skydiver in his 70s who jumps with us a good bit. I can't even remember his real name, but he prefers to go by his nickname, Gunga Din, or GD for short.

The gas lines in Mobile have pretty much cleared up. I hear there are still lines as you get closer to Mississippi, but once you fully into Mobile, there aren't the lines there were last week. I know that doesn't tell you anything about Laurel, Hattisburg, or Meridian, but if things are still messed up on the direct route from Tennesse to N.O., you can consider Mobile as an "out".

Has anybody heard from Craig? I was trying to look up his last name in my logbook, but his handwritting is terrible . It looks like "Craig A. Cim". On a lighter note, did anybody else notice if their Neptune automatically turned on during Katrina. When I got up Monday morning, I noticed my Neptune was on, and I was wondering if it hadn't shut itself off since Saturday. Then I realized that the pressure drop from the Hurricane had confused my Neptune into thinking I was trying to go skydiving. I was pretty much on the edge of the storm, but my Neptune still indicated 800 feet MSL at the peak of the storm (normally it reads about 130 ft at my house).

After Katrina came through, I'm not sure when Laurel will get a chance to get online. I did see William at the dropzone without his neck brace last week. So that's a good sign.

The local paper had a short write-up on Tony's accident. It gives alittle background on Tony, and includes some sentiments from the people at our dz. http://www.gulflive.com/news/mississippipress/index.ssf?/base/news/112384170994590.xml

I'm like Heidi. I just use my power tool to get broken stows off. I've never regreted the money I spent on my power tool.

I have a Pilot 188. A few weeks back, I had an opening so hard I saw stars, and my neck and back were sore for a week. This was very likely a packing error, but I'm not sure exactly. I think you are right in warning about drawing too many conclusions from anecdotal evidence. My impression (or possibly misimpression ) is that Sabre IIs outnumber the Pilots and Safire 2s considerably, so it is hard to separate how much their popularity is contributing to the more frequent hard openings as opossed to some charactistic of the canopy itself. I like my Pilot, but I have educated myself the hard way that hard openings are a possibility even with a Pilot.

You also may want to browse through some of the threads dealing with people that had trouble with a certain AFF level. A typical title might be: "I had trouble with AFF Level blah". Lot's of people have had trouble at one level or another. I did static line myself, and think it is a fine way to learn to skydive. So if switching to static line keeps you moving forward, don't let me discourage you. But if after reading through a couple of those threads you find your problem wasn't so unusual, you may decide to keep with AFF, and keep the progress you've made so far.