tdog

I think it would be really funny if you wore the Tee shirt to the DZ this weekend and got pictures of yourself geeking all the thinks you disagree with... Post them in a gallery here... A big smile on your face (even my dog smiles every once in a while), while wearing the shirt, while sitting on the john.... This is a family show, so leave the pants on... You know they say a picture says a thousand words...

Nahh... I just want the cliff notes... I seemed to miss the drama myself too, and I even was on DZ.com while at work.

You probably will remember more tomorrow... I can still tell you a LOT about my first tandem 7 years ago. I remember everything from the color of the plane to what the JM looked like, and looking down at the ground and getting my head pulled back up in an arch. I don't think I remembered much of it until a few days later... Here is a trick... When you land, before you jump up and down and scream to your friends... Close your eyes and try to remember the jump... Start from the plane ride up, end at the landing... It will help the info stick in... Oh, and 300 jumps later I still sometimes don't remember all the details...

From http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=14339

You are right, I am wrong... I got my facts screwed up... It has been 10 years after all... I knew the death was untimely and I remembered wrong about it's origins... I thought it was AIDS that caused the sudden change in his body... But I got it mixed up with someone else I guess... God, but I have not been beat up this badly on a forum for a long, long, time for saying something wrong... What really got me about your post was that you assumed I implied that Mr. Larson was gay because he had aids... To dispel (check your spelling, you might have to go back to school on that one) any misinformation you have, I have many gay friends, people I know and respect, and it seems that they are not the ones with AIDS, so I never even assumed Jonathan was gay or straight, and quite frankly I really don't mind either way because he was clearly a great guy. So again, I apologize to the universe and dropzone.com community for being wrong... I WAS. So, lets call it even. I got the fact around Mr. Larson's death wrong. You misspelled Dispel. No one is perfect.

From personal experience, they are HELL OF A LOT OF FUN! They shovel the peas for the tandems, so when you look down from the plane all you see is white with a round circle... If the hangar roofs still have snow on them, everything blends in. The runway normally is visible, but if it is concrete, it is just another shade of white. Landing outside of the peas is great fun. Like riding a sled down a hill and not knowing if you are going to fall off at the end... I think I face planted last winter when I could not run in the snow... I actually think snow days, where the city is covered in white, is the most beautiful time to skydive. It looks all so clean and magical... Kind of like jumping over an ocean. I remember one day clearly where all you could see what white wonderland everywhere you looked... But then again, I love snow.

____________________________________ It is a chemical used to test for the presence of acid in Nylon mesh found on round parachutes. This all comes from a 'scare' during the 1980's, 1990's and to the present day. It primarily concerned the now defunct (in the U.S.): G.Q. Security co. of San Leandro, Calif. That company made pilot emergency parachutes and harness-containers. Chuck So being the creative mind I am, I must ask... Are we talking Acid, like the drug - or Acid, like a chemical with acidic properties... Because if it was the drug, your customers were wasting too much money on their skydiving habits if they are in the delusional state that they think giving their canopies acid will help their performance. But seriously, what was the scare that caused all this?

40 Degrees? That's like jumping in the summer If you're looking for warmer weather CrossKeys is not the place. But if you want to jump in the cold CK will have planes going up year round Last winter we were jumping on a blue sky sunny day with a nice 21 degree temperature on the ground. We were in denial what the jump run temp was, but who cares when you are having fun... These DZs that close down because of the cold... I just can't comprehend.

Luna, What is UP? I will tell my brother... He paid for his 2nd half of his college education playing poker and winning (which was an improvement from the pharmaceutical business he gave up that paid for the first two years.) he he he Travis

Radio Shack sells a decibel meter... But frequency plays a role too... To the original poster... I never have had problems hearing my audible with all the wind noise, but the best way to find out is to make a few jumps with it.

It'll teach them nothing about ethics. It will teach them that they cheated and got away with it, even though they may have had to work a little bit to recover from their cheating. Tolerance of the kind of behavior that leads to the Enrons of the world starts somewhere. The kind of people that end up running the business/government world with questionable to lousy ethics are also the kind of people who have "gotten away" with stuff their whole lives. You are right, if you think INSIDE the box...

If it was me, I would not nail anyone... Lesson is not learned, just a poor grade or worse depending on the school. No one wins (unless the school requires teachers to have a few poor grades, then the teacher earns his quota, like I know of one university that made a silly rule because the school wide average GPA was getting higher each year when they ignored the fact the SAT scores of the incoming freshman were higher too, and the professors were better trained.) I would bring them in and say, you failed. However you can make it up and pass. This is how. You failed as a team, now you can pass as a team, but you are going to have to work together, and work together hard. If one of you still fails, you all will still fail. And make the "this is how" difficult, much more difficult than the first test, but something achievable and something, if completed, will teach them a thing or two about the subject matter at hand, and about ethics too. If the students choose to do it, they care and they are good people who just screwed up a bit... The best teachers are the ones who really push students to learn and want to learn, despite the subject matter or previous wrong doings... I can name my best and worst teachers in college still to this day... The ones that were the best never thought in the box or followed any form of "it worked for this student, so it should work for that student too."

He said you should send them to my attention. I'll PM you with my address. And WTF is a tacking derby? It is one of those events where you dress up in your sunday finest, big white hats for the ladies, and bet on which horse can go the farthest... Kind of like the Kentucky derby without the horses...

You know the only person I have ever jumped with who chopped, was my AFFI on my level 6... Spun up his velocity, or perhaps it spun up on him. (Ok, that is a lie, a 4way teammate chopped once, but if I admit that, it ruins the story) Our level 6 debrief was him finding his parts and pieces and borrowing another. My level 7 instructions came as we walked to the plane, "lets both try NOT to chop on this one, and oh, do some back flips, and get stable again, be altitude aware, and you pass." But I clearly remember him calling his main all sorts of names as he stuffed it in his friends container... I explained to him that calling the canopy names might be a contributing factor to his cutaway. He explained to me that as a AFF student I knew nothing about angry canopies, and Velocities can be very, very angry, and you have to let them know who is boss... Apparently they like to be called names as they are hit in the container. Thus, I try to treat my canopy like a dog... Never hurt it, never hit it, but tough love and positive reinforcement when it comes to things like running into a street without being told OK first...

Did you specify working as a team was not allowed???

Next you are going to promote the UntamedDOG boogie, where for $50 entrance fee, no planes are guaranteed to be there, but the restrooms will well stocked, well lit, and feature Brazilian cherry doors and Italian marble floors. Just kidding... I have learned to laugh at (or maybe with) you.

Carl, I remember when you were struggling with your AFF with uncontrollable spins... You fought and fought hard and made it thru with style and determination and earned the respect of all the instructors. I think if you find that energy, you will make it thru this. Why don't you e-mail eloy and explain where you are and ask what they will expect for you to finish it up. They have a different training program (some might say better) and they should tell you how they would finish you up. I am pretty sure my coach rating would be useless down there (as I am not on their staff), otherwise I would pay my own slot and finish you up (you can always ask, but I bet they will say no). You have invested so much so far into getting your rating! Once you get your licence, let's do a jump. BBarnhouse who posts here is a staff member of Eloy. I met her briefly last time I was down there and I am sure she will hook you up. Travis P.S. Just for a chuckle... I have seen a lot of AFF students come thru the program, and I don't meet them all or talk with them all... But I knew I had to meet you when Ron landed next to me, on one of your first AFF dives, and he said, "now I know what a quarter back sees the moment before he is sacked" in reference to him choosing to jump in and stopping the spin. Anyone that makes Ron work for his money earns my respect. (note to the world, the Ron in question I have never seen post here).

Ahh, jeezzzz - I never believe Alan, but now that you say this, I am even more jealous and upset I decided to stay home... You guys going to be at the DZ this weekend???

So you taking bets now??? You would be best served picking whoever I don't pick because I have bad luck... Therefore I will not make a choice because you might lose money...

Have you ever understood Robin Williams??? That is what makes it absurd - he is so absurd, it is funny... He said it in an interview while making fun of another association...

I saw Robin Williams use this line, and I had to make it my signature for a while:

That is not what the owners manual shows, they are attached per the manual's drawings. EDIT: ADD COPY AND PASTE IMAGE FROM MANUAL.

You wanna jump some time??? Not that we are in the same city or anything... I am 210 pounds and 6'3" and I can fall at that rate easy, even with a slick suit on... My range is 98 to 145 right now. 111 is not that bad, 114-120 is where our 4 way team was at all this year. Give me 120 and I am really happy... I had a hard time going fast too when I had 20-30 jumps... First, where is your arch comming from? I have seen a lot of guys arch with their chest.... That was my problem. I think it is more about wearing one of those huge Texas belt buckles and then in freefall pushing that belt buckle to the ground and pulling up your head and chest... Make the arch come from "down there", if you know what I mean... Since the air is holding your body, it is not so much about forcing the arch, but thinking about lifting your chin, dropping your belt buckle, and lifting your knees... Second, look at your arms and hands... Believe it or not, just making a fist with your hands can make a huge difference, a tunnel coach taught me that. You can tuck in your arms a bit too, but then we start talking about flying mantis, which I don't think you can learn on a forum very easy. ;-) Third... When you are falling slow and you look down to your friend below you, you are actually ruining your arch by tilting your head down... Do the opposite... Look up way high, chin to the sky, then tilt just your eyeballs down (leaving your head up) to see what is below you... If all else fails, you might need to dive down to your friend. A little freefly action head down, if you know what I mean... It is actually not that hard if you just poke your nose where you want to go and move your arms and legs as if you are tracking, and go for a dive... But slow down way early because you might overshoot.... Also, you can try grabbing your ankles with your hands... That is pretty fast too. Hope that helps.

Sure, rub it in, since I could not go down there with you guys.... (Ok I could go, but I just got back from Eloy, and our 4way team has 3 hours of tunnel coaching scheduled in December, so I want to keep some money in the bank... Oops, too late). Sounds like you had fun... Travis

At least I asked the question and learned the answer from the 'old guy', so I won't be part of the problem.