tdog

I never paid for my "A". I just sent it in stapled to by "B"... Jury is out on the "C".... I could have it, the card is filled out, but should I pay the $$$ just for a letter????

Ya, I invented a self packing parachute last week... No pictures because the patent is not filed yet... But as you flare it all goes back in the container ready for the next jump... I have the same problem as you mentioned about touching the handles for practice, except it is when you do practice flare at 1000 feet you have to redeploy... Once I get that figured out, I will sell ya all the rig.

Why was I thinking the same thing??? I have a lotus demo (well actually my friend does, and I promised to pay half of the demo fee if I can fly it) coming this weekend that should actually FIT my container... I hope to cut my packing time down...

You are right... How in the hell could I forget about NORM and his fan!!!!!

A very smart person once told me "don't put your dirty laundry out in public for everyone to see." For those paying attention that are not from around here... There are plenty of positive things going on in Colorado too. You can come visit us any time, we will leave the light on for ya... Lets see... A few weeks ago a world record swoop was performed at a national comp... Last winter I was able to jump almost every weekend, 2.5 times more jumpable days than my friends in Southern California. A DZ just finished one of the most expensive and thorough rebuild of an Otter yet, completely new electrical and instruments, et al... The worlds largest swoop pond... This weekend there is great base jumping to watch/participate in at the worlds highest suspension bridge http://www.royalgorgebridge.com/html/adventure-travelers/gofast-energy-drink.html If you like ground launching or paragliding, we have some of the worlds best here too. I wish all the DZs great success in our state... It is too bad some of the laundry everyone gets to see is dirty... So, I hope the positive stuff I just presented can turn this thread upside down...

God, I could get both the Falcon and Eagle.... But they want $15 each for those... That, plus my yearly membership renewal, plus my yearly coach renewal fees, plus my B and C licence fees this year, just does not make sense financially for such an easy accomplishment to achieve.... I guess I know why these awards are losing popularity and getting canceled... You need a better paying job if those things put you in a financial bind.

Ok dude... You have a "negativity problem." You need to start thinking positive before everyone else will be positive... Example... Positive side... That shows a great sign of awareness, to me... You made a decision to be extra safe, and as long as you knew where you were at and knew you had that little margin of time, you made a decision like the ones you will have to make on every jump once you start jumping with friends... Most AFF students have no awareness like this and just pull regardless of where their instructors are and the events that lead to the pull... My lowest pull altitude is a fixed number I have decided on... A few dives back I went 500 feet below that because I knew I had the margin and I was not comfortable with pulling where I was at. Did I beat myself up for pulling low? No, but I asked myself, why was I so close to my friends and how not to do it again... Positive... Anyway, I don't know if the instructors changed to be so negative because they were trying a new angle of teaching if the previous did not work... I don't know if they were as frustrated as you... But, it clearly is against the advice of the IRM, the manual which outlines teaching, which says focus on the positive, ignore the bad if it gets fixed, and only find a few bad things that are most important to give solutions to fix... If I were ya, I guess I would find the head instructor at the current DZ and have a heart-to-heart talk with him/her... Or, find a new DZ... OR, get some tunnel time... I know someone else who was struggling with AFF and got 30 minutes of tunnel and passed right away... "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Something has to change for you to pass, now you need to find it....

Perhaps this could be a new thread... Rules... 1 post per day, first come first serve. If you wake up early, you get to have the whole day as your quote! Anyone in?(But don't post till tomorrow... You will have to remember, because without it being a sticky, it will be buried by then.) TODAY: Movie, Two for the money. (Al Pachino) "There might be other business where you can make more than two million dollars in a weekend, but where else are you going to have this much fun?"

God, I could get both the Falcon and Eagle.... But they want $15 each for those... That, plus my yearly membership renewal, plus my yearly coach renewal fees, plus my B and C licence fees this year, just does not make sense financially for such an easy accomplishment to achieve.... I guess I know why these awards are losing popularity and getting canceled... Thanks for the info and sorry for the hijack. Slowfaller... If you want to kill two birds with one stone, you can take the written test for the B and C at the same time... (Most instructors arn't going to complain that you learned more and were ready for your C early... Keep both applications and mark off the requirements as they apply to both... Then when you get 200 jumps, that formality will be done and you can send it in... I wish I did that... It would have been easier....

Dude, I feel sorry for ya. They sent me a survey form two months ago and a copy of a previous mag.. Wanted me to critique it... I sent a few page letter ripping the magazine, in a constructive and creative way, apart... But reading what I wrote, one would believe the mag has a lot of work to do... Everything from the predictability and lack of originality of the cover photo to the graphic standards to the fact the listing of new licence holders in the back was so out of date, congratulating your friends on their achievements based upon what you read was embarrassing because they would reply, "B"... No, I now have a "C"... I even sent them this thread that proves people really enjoyed this picture as an example of how they could break the mold on the front cover every once in a while... I think I even said something to the effect of, the fonts and graphics standards were stuck in the 90's - which when I found a 8 year old copy in the DZ restroom, after I sent the letter, I laughed because I thought it was current... I encouraged them to put a contest out for the best advertisement, because the paid for space in the mag is often done with poor quality graphics art work... Give some incentive for great graphics art work and kick out the bottom 20% and make them start over... I pointed out some good ads and some bad ones... The ads flavor the mag so much... I thought for sure they threw away my document... But a few weeks later I got a nice hand written thank you card... So, I feel sorry that you will have to deal with people like me... As I said, it has a lot of potentiol and a great base... Now, someone needs to take it 20% farther.

Two months later, you still agree with what you posted back then???

Whatcha do to rack up one of those??? Being the owner of my company, my credit card gets a lot of charges for work, and the company writes the check directly to the card... I think I once purchased a truck on my credit card. I have an REI (Outdoor membership clothing store) dividend VISA card... I get 1% cash back on everything I spend, 10% if it is REI, with no annual fees, etc... My dividend two years ago was one of the largest in REI, the biggest the store employees ever saw... So, it is not how much you spend, but how much you get to keep. Funniest thing I saw... Remember the movie Airplane where they swipe the credit card for gas... It really happened... I was on a commercial flight, a small 50 seat jet. We got diverted to a city without gates for that airline due to weather and fuel. It was one of those small airlines that the bigger ones hire for puddle jumps... The gas guy comes on board and says, "I don't have an account for your airline. Cash, Check or Credit Card?". I was in the front seat and could hear the pilot calling his ops center and saying, "So you will pay me back for this, right?" He purchased $6,000 of fuel on his personal card... Old fashioned credit card machine and all.

Can your tool work on this little probem I have with my "screen"...

So, speaking from the perspective of the 4way guy who often gets out first, how is the spot of the first out??? I often see RW groups screwing the rest of the load by not believing the pilot's interpretation of winds, not asking for an accurate climb out, or waiting until the spot looks perfect before climb out... The first out should not have a perfect spot, but a spot in which they can get back safely... The middle out should have the perfect spot... I kind of have proof... I watch every person who lands out, and it seems to always be the last out, where the first out has time to play over the peas (which at home is closer to the end of jump run)... I have seen the guys who only do RW seem to be more of "spot hogs" than the guys who have been the freeflier or AFF instructor and know what it is like to be the last out... Perhaps if you put the large way RW guys out last for one weekend and the freefliers became spot hogs, they would change their habits??? I myself, try to not be the problem when I am out first...

Very good point... My point exactly. I wish I said it... I enjoy the tunnel very much too... I don't think I would give up the skydiving part to just fly the tunnel, but it proves flying your body is fun regardless of the risk level.

So given the option of a high end flight simulator, how long would they be happy with it? No risk there. I think it's hard to divorce from the job of flying that we humans aren't supposed to be there. Any sport that involves speed or height has to include danger. And many of us seek out those attributes. I think if general aviation pilots could make flying 10X safer, they would. If skydivers could make skydivng 10X safer they would. I think general aviation pilots like flying the real thing because it is the real thing... Seeing the country side, going new places, meeting new people, learning new things... If you are into skydiving because you enjoy or get rewards from the danger, I am not going to knock you or think your goals are wrong... But they are not my goals, and therefore I am simply arguing that if skydiving was "safe" (as maybe driving a car or flying a plane), I would still do it... Nothing, including waking up in the morning and making a cup of coffee is without risk, so lets not kid ourselves there. You are right, it would not be the same sport and some of the challenges would be gone, but I still would do it...

I disagree... Ok, skydiving is intense and requires a lot of skill and quick thinking, and that is rewarding and challenging, but the danger and death, especially from outside forces (collisions, air craft issues) are not appealing to me at all... If I could pay money to remove all the "did everything right and still died" risk, I would... The rest is like flying a plane or driving a car, if you run it into a brick wall at high speed, you are going to die. That risk is much more manageable by simply learning... People all the time ask me, "but in skydiving if you don't deploy, you are going to die." I say, "if I drive my car fast down the road and don't use the brake at the stoplight, I will die just as easy... That risk is acceptable... It is the random acts of bad luck or collisions with others or plane mechanical problems that really suck." Flying your body thru space is awesome... I love doing it... I love doing it so much I am willing to risk the chance I do everything right and still die... Not the other way around. And for the record, I have been parasailing twice. Once in Jamaica and once in the Keys... Both times were awesome. I got to see thousands of jelly fish from above and got to fly over great views in Jamaica... Like a helicopter tour but cheaper and quieter... It would not have been as much fun in lake in Nebraska, but in Jamaica it was AWESOME... Flying next to the hills, over the white sand beach, seeing water splash as the waves came in... That was fun, and I did not need extra risk to make it even more fun. The original quote was "But if it [sky diving] was safe, nobody would do it"... I think there is some rewards with the risk, I kid myself not... But, it is not the reason I do it, especially now that I have learned how much fun it is to fly... Go tell some general aviation pilot "no one would fly hobby flights in Cessna's if there was no risk." He would laugh, because he probably hates the risk as much as I, but loves to fly...

N/A

Been there, done that. I flew a paraglider and the "ride to altitude" cost me 500 calories each flight, or perhaps a few quarts of gas for the car ride if we had a drive up launch. I know the hang gliding/paragliding statistics, and I would not say it is safer, perhaps the same, but not safer...

I read an Associated Press article this morning http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME=KUSA&IKOBJECTID=bbc691ab-0abe-421a-01bb-66627ceda2c8&TEMPLATEID=0c76dce6-ac1f-02d8-0047-c589c01ca7bf that talks about new words in the Merriam-Webster dictionary... When I looked up skydive - I found nothing. Skydiving is: the sport of jumping from an airplane at a moderate altitude (as 6000 feet) and executing various body maneuvers before pulling the rip cord of a parachute. Skydiver links to skydiving. Parachute - I found the definition is of the "old rounds" and does not consider the ram-air airfoil design at all: a device for slowing the descent of a person or object through the air that consists of a usually hemispherical fabric canopy beneath which the person or object is suspended dropzone: the area in which troops, supplies, or equipment are to be air-dropped; also : the target on which a skydiver lands ripcord: Function: noun 1 : a cord by which the gasbag of a balloon may be ripped open for a limited distance to release the gas quickly and so cause immediate descent 2 : a cord or wire pulled in making a descent to release the pilot parachute which lifts the main parachute out of its container freefall: Function: noun 1 : the condition of unrestrained motion in a gravitational field; also : such motion 2 a : the part of a parachute jump before the parachute opens b : a rapid and continuing drop or decline - free-fall intransitive verb It seems rounds, ripcords, and such are not current technology... Many kids doing reports in school use dictionaries, so why not make them accurate for our sport. If you were going to send a recommendation to Merriam Webster to modernize the definitions for the general use skydiving words like the following, what would you send: Skydiver Skydive Dropzone Parachute If you guys send me good quality definitions, I will send them off to Merriam Webster for consideration on their next update. They might blow me off, but oh well...

You really think the danger element attracts us.... For me, it was doing something I had never done before, and experiencing life to it's fullest... Then it was the joy of flight...

Re-read what I wrote:

That paddy (edit for spelling) wagon you rode in looks like the ones they use locally to pick up the drunk and homeless to return them to the nearest safe spot so they don't endanger themselves... Normally these rides are not "optional", but "required." How much partying did ya do... The cops might have sold you on the fact they were doing you a favor when in reality they were getting ya off the streets despite your wishes...

Dude, long time, no talk... First, I want to thank you for getting some heat of of me for being the DZ post whore.... Someone the other day said you have posted more than Steve and I....So, I guess he still thinks you are one of the locals... Anyway, you said, They are trying to prove that YOU can overcome the greatest challenges and succeed... They are teaching ya... I learned something in school myself... Teachers want to see ya win, not fail... So, if you are taking a disproportionate time in completing one assignment, go ask the instructor for help... "I have spent 4 hours on this... Am I going the right direction?" True story... I suck as learning foreign languages... I went to my college Spanish teacher and asked for help often, proving that I was trying, and explaining first hand why I was not succeeding... I scored Bs on homework assignments and I am sure something much less on the final... I still got an A in the class, and I did not find out until the report card came... In the hall, after the holiday break, the instructor came up to me and said, "the grade was not an mistake. You earned it." The same thing went for Piano class, an elective I took... For the final we had to play a little song. I chose "when the saints go marching in" because it was the hardest... I showed up for my appointment and the instructor said, "you don't need to play, you already got an "A". I saw you the other night practice for three hours from midnight to 3 am thru the glass window on the lab. It is about the journey, not the destination... Now, lets talk about what you learned along the way." So, all I guess I am saying is.... The instructors are giving you a journey (or they suck ass and just want to see you in pain.) T.

In a news paper article about the Deland crash, I found the following quote... I for one disagree... I skydive despite the risk because I love to fly... The risk is the biggest turnoff, not turn on, to me... My heart goes pitter-patter before a jump, not because I am saying "yippie, I am risking my life", but because I know I am about ready to do what birds and few other creatures can do - and that is fly... Sure, maybe my first jump or two or twenty the risk made the adrenaline flow and that might have had some chemical turn on... But it was not the reason I started, in fact it took years before I got over the "risk is not worth it" mentality and tried it... But, now it is about pushing my limits in 4way, or learning how to sit fly, or seeing my friends play in the sky, or doing a high pull and looking at our beautiful world in a way few others do, or seeing a 30 jump skydiver make a dock or two in some new way and upon landing say "I have never done that before, thank you." I just posted to the bonfire a post about my first wingsuit flight - and again, the joy this brings to my life is so great - I just wish it was risk free, but am able to justify the risk because of my love of flight. And I show up on cloudy windy days because some of my best friends are the ones I have made in the last year skydiving. I don't want to bash this guy, Deland has been thru a lot this year and he might have not meant what he said or the newspaper might have misquoted... Lets not argue those points... But, god, I just hate to think that people believe skydivers jump because it is dangerous. And I hate it is in the press for everyone to see...