tdog

You asked.... Here I deliver... Better late than never... I have all these in very high res, but for the website they were downsized a lot... Yep... They are both Phantoms... http://www.indigox.com/Travis'%20Photo%20Album/Skydive/wingsuitweb/index.html

he he he... I used to always say you can always tell a freeflyer in the tunnel because their shoe laces are always untied... Then... I looked down at my feet the first time I was on my back and saw MY shoe laces untied and laughed...

What he said. The best part of the course, to me was, the learning progression... On our second pre-course jump, Bram gave us the "full on" cat C. Tough exit - no count, dearched - non responsive to shaking or arch signal. Let him go after COA... Spin stops/blocking, followed by him falling out of the sky in a spinning backslide twice, followed by another spin. It actually, I think was the hardest jump of the course, the "lets see what they got" jump, at least for me. Upon landing, Alan and I were down because we were not happy about the jump, but Bram kept saying "very nice skydive." I got the feeling that we "passed a test" because the focus seemed to change. He said, "you guys have the flying skills, and as soon as you get the confidence you are ready for your eval dives." Bram told us at the end that he weeds out the people who need more skills in the pre-course so his rating course pass rate is very high... I think, my theory, is that we earned our rating on that jump, and then he used the rest of the course to refine our skills and see how well we could impliment his advice. I just really appreciated the attitude in the course, that we were there to "learn" and "progress" and "build confidence"... Even the three "hot dives" were really focused on learning and were very fun skydives... Not focusing the energy on the testing aspect, but instead focusing it on the learning aspect, allowed me to learn so much. Little details... Like, "if you would have done this, the student would have learned more because..." Or a time out in the ground work... "That was good, but try it this way and see if it works better." Just really great! I recommend Bram and Elly to everyone who wishes to get a rating.

Except for the shoes part - this sounds like his average 4way jump...

Dan, you be careful out there swoopn your big ass canopy... I remember that time at Eloy where you did not even see me on final and I turned away from your swoop... he he he Scared the shit out of me, Mr. Head NOT on a swivel. Trying to kill your own teammate...

he he he, and I thought I was the only one that "saw" that... It does make finding your grips a little interesting when they are twitching around.

Did you not promise me that we are going to do some back/belly RW work at the tunnel league events... Maybe I will be good enough on my back at the end of the season we can do both backs... Nah, I think it would be more fun to do some mix and match...

oops - I thought I even searched... Well, my post is SO THIS week. he he he

I thought I put VRW in the post... I think I named the file that, at least.

Alan, if this thread is not working, you could always just kidnap him... Or, give him this link to the weather where we be going:http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USFL0534?from=search_10day And, if all that does not work, Dillon (my dog) still needs a place to say back here in Colorado, and your roommate will be "assigned Dillon" if he chooses not to come...

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3592 I saw this skydiving commercial on TV and had to post it because it is funny, and truly is RW work - even though computer generated. Anyone wanna try to fly some of these positions.

I love how they speed up once they get the rhythm... Or at least that is what it looks like... Heck, the 10th time thru the pages they should have all the kinks worked out. Fun to watch.

I am with you... The video is real funny... And they probably had a great skydive too... Both groups. Heck, they could be great friends and both groups could have been a-ok with the "assist".... But, I would never want to be pushed out myself, even by a best friend... If someone has a problem with me continuously screwing up exits, talk to me on the ground, but don't risk me wasting my $$$ by having a skydive gone bad - because the exit sucked, because we were pushed out before we were ready... Or worse - like getting hurt because our grips were not correct (I know someone who waited to give an exit count because their hand was stuck around the grab-bar - and they got hurt because the rest of the group thought the exit count was forgotten) There is actually someone I used to respect a lot, a real great freeflier, who I saw push out a 4way team member on a very serious training jump... I lost all respect for him that moment... I will never jump with him... He wasted 4 people's money for his own amusement... I am not condemning your actions or criticising you or even comparing you to the guy who I saw give a push... Just kindly asking that you don't do it to me... (And since we never have met and probably won't be on the same plane - this request is one of those more broad to the community requests.)

And I thought my yearly membership for the gym was expensive... Wow, 90 minutes... That sounds like it was a "blast"...

You guys are awesome too.... The dry erase board thing can be integrated into the same panel that will have the new mirror on it too.

Thanks, tash... You are right... Two weeks ago we purchased an hour - and flew 30 each... We got tired... I was more mentally tired than physically... So this time we are still buying an hour, but splitting it up over two sessions - so we have some down, reset, and debrief time... Just like on my belly (see the other thread where I posted about a 15 minute continuous flight) - I am hoping with skills comes endurance too, as I won't be working so hard to just do basic things... But, we shall see - the good news being that I have so much to work on, that when one muscle group kills me, I can move onto a different skill that does not require that muscle. he he he I will let you know how it goes after the first session with our new time schedule...

I only met Don once when he helped out a course I was in and we jumped together as part of the evaluation... And, it still is hard to believe that Don is in that picture... But thanks for posting it... Don, if you are reading these forums, I still owe you one for spending a day with me one-on-one teaching me... I was planning on buying you a jump when you moved to Colorado like you told us you were going to do... So I will just have to pay it forward to someone else, but in your name, for you... T.

Matt... Jim and I are starting a twice per month freefly night... We are booking ahead, making it official training like... Like 30 minutes per person per visit... You want in our rotations? Anyone else interested? Jim and I are novices right now, but the goal is to improve enough to fly with others... You saw us last time, we are just bad enough to make it funny...

GQ_Jumper and I flew in Colorado a few nights ago... Ok, last night I guess... Somehow he (Dan) purchased a 15 minute block without sharing with others, so none of that rotate in stuff you normally do... So, what are two people going to do with 15 minutes??? The challenge was even more interesting when Dan, due to work, showed up at 7:10 for a 7:15 flight... 5 minutes to gear up and dirt dive 15 minutes of flying. So we put on a dry-erase board various drills with numbers by them. Pretty aggressive 4way stuff, like turning piece partners on cats and sidebodies, burble hoping from one sidebody to the other, etc... Also some quick random work like compressed left, compressed right, sidebody, sidebody (other), 360... Lots of outfacing stuff too, and lots of 360s, because they are, well, fun. When we got board, both of us would fly down to the dry erase board and study it like a menu at a restaurant and sign a number... Note, Dan's handwriting was small, so it must have looked funny to see both of us with our nose on the glass inches off the net. (Yes, the tunnel needs something to hold the boards) If the other agreed, drill started... If not, a quick negotiation occurred... I always wondered what my limit in length of time is... Except for some tiredness in my arms, which I covered by playing with flying with my hands under my chin, and brainlocking on some sidebody-270-360-weirdness that Dan threw my way with out time for me to absorb, I have not found my limit yet... I was just getting going, and surprised when the time ran out... Dan flew the last minute alone, on his request, to play with some drills. Sometime I want to go for an hour... 60 skydives without stopping... I wish I threw in a DVD, because we were going quick, and probably a bit sloppy too, but we had fun... I actually think I improved my skills, because I could feel things going quicker without the "pressure to perform in 2 minutes". Our levels were easy, grips were there, and it just felt - good... Anyway - so what is the longest continuous flight you have? Belly, VRW, Freefly. What were you doing? What did you do to mix it up? How did you dirt dive it?

I am auctioning off video of GQ's ass... We were flying tonight and his jumpsuit ripped pretty good on his ass... And, in the question of "Boxers" or "Briefs" - I think he opted for "Neither". The older wuffo ladies stuck around to watch the "skydivers" - what an image GQ gave them... Dan had plenty of people 30 years his senior asking for his number. Now, I have to admit, cross referencing was pretty hard with that much white skin showing on a black jumpsuit... Oh, and what makes it even better, it is a "Retired" Airspeed suit formally worn by Neil... Now, if Neil only knew... Anyway... So, let the auction begin... It can go either way... You either pay NOT to have the pictures posted - or pay to see the pictures posted... I strongly recommend you pay for the NOT option... (Moderators, I am just kidding, I don't want any money for this, this is not a commercial transaction.) T.

When I signed on to this site, not too long ago, I knew that there were all kinds of people out there... I payed close attention and put together a list of "people to pay attention to." I always read your username as "mo-jo-sparky" - and if you asked me, who I payed attention to for the last two years, I would have said "Mo Jo" in the top 5... It appears without a single reply - that you are already holding to your word of not posting... THAT SUCKS... You don't have to jump out of planes (anymore) to be a skydiver, and your are always invited to participate in any DZ conversation even if you opt to let your reserve go out of date.... Thanks for teaching... I sure still hope that we get to meet some day. T.

My ears have been wide open, learning as much as I can... I don't think anyone has accused me of ignoring what people have been teaching (if you heard the skydivingradio.com interview of Bill Booth, about an hour of the Q&A questions were mine.) I guess some of the "seasoned jumpers" just did not care to share this one. I have audited or participated in FJC with 3 different instructors, and I have been part of 20 or so people's A licence progression. The only way "newer jumpers" get info is to learn it from those who know it or invent it - and in this case, it just never was taught to me by the seasoned jumpers... So, who is to blame? Just kidding, on the blame part! I don't want to start an arguement. Actually - it would be super cool if there was an online repository for skydiving knowledge that people could blog or post to... Not a forum like this where needles are stuck in haystacks, but some sort of organized database approved and organized by moderators.... Like a knowledge-base... Everything from 4way exits, to plan "C" and "D" emergency skills... A reference guide more complete than the SIM... Something that would trancend the geographic bubbles of knowledge that seem to have boarders (one DZ's instructors have different knowledge than another - combine both and you win) Maybe I will make one, if the "oldtimers" would be interested in posting to it so the "newtimers" could learn.

I saw one person do that and severly burn her hands; so when you are going to slide down along a bunch of nylon strings, be sure to wear gloves. I know of another person doing that and ending up INSIDE his round reserve....

So, I was watching some survival show on the Discovery Channel.... The plot... The guy parachutes into the middle of nowhere, where he was "dropped off" by a pilot... He has 5 days to get out, with no map, no phones, no anything... Anyway... He landed in a tree... And pulled out a bag of tricks that I had never thought of... He was hanging in his harness too high to jump, and no branches to grab to climb down... So, he deployed his reserve, got out of his harness, and slipped down the reserve lines, then slipped down the canopy, and got 15 feet closer to the ground, from which point he could jump... Now, with a hook knife, I suppose you could cut half your reserve lines and get even closer to the ground... Now, I know the "standard" tree landing is wait for help... But, I thought I would share this "alternate" method...

Dan, While you were off running some far fetched terrorist plot... I worked last night with some Air Force cadets... And, god, they are getting good... One guy, with 50 jumps and zero tunnel time was doing 2ways (in a perfect mantis might I add) on minutes 6-8, and wall tag on minutes 8-10... They are ready for the tunnel league! I guess that is what happens when they actually come to the tunnel and fly - while you are off doing Army things, huh (Yes Liz, I know this is "cold", but I gotta poke a little fun at Dan for putting WORK before FUN, even if he is property of the State and his was ordered to do it.)