tdog

I lived in L.A. for 4 years... You are talking Los Angles, right? I would say the studio tours are very touristy, but fun. Universal Studios, et. al. Here are some ideas that are less touristy: One Day: *Santa Monica Pier (Almost every movie of L.A. has the pier in it) *The Promenade mall in Santa Monica, both the indoor mall and the outdoor mall. *Walk or rollerblade the Venice Beach Boardwalk. Journey into a piercing parlor just to experience it. *Drive thru Santa Monica inland on the streets and see the architecture and style… So different than other parts of LA, art deco to modern. *Drive up to Malibu, perhaps a little farther, but the journey is the destination on that one. *If it is still there, just past (north) Malibu Canyon on PCH, Malibu Seafood is a great dive to get some fish (or chicken) and chips and sit outside. Another Day: Six Flags if you like amusement parks – some of the best coasters there. Another Day: *Drive Sunset Boulevard from the ocean in. Again, the journey is the destination – but you will get to see Beverly Hills close up. *Shop Rodeo Drive. *Chinese Grauman Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. *Hollywood Boulevard (Stars on the concrete) *Westwood (UCLA area) See a movie in one of the theatres. A lot of the theatres show ONE film, different than the mega-plexes elsewhere in the world. (Note – this is close to the Santa Monica stuff) If you are into art, the LA Museum of Modern Art is always got weird stuff. (Last time I was there they had a male and female Greek naked statue side by side… A video projector projected a spinning propeller on the female genitals and a banana was projected on the male. Ouch.) The Norton Simon museum has great collections of Dega’s ballet dancer statues and a piece from every artist you can think of. Good outing to Pasadena for a day. And the Getty museum is just incredible; both for J. Paul Getty himself and the art collection his money could buy. But – my favorite place in LA… Drive up to Griffith Park Observatory at the end of the day… See a show in the planetarium or something – but watch the sun set over the city… Way up on the mountain, the city (which can be ugly up close) is a beautiful thing… From hearing the sounds of the city miles away, to just seeing the expansiveness – it is beautiful. If you are into hiking – Malibu Canyon State park is cool. They have some walls to climb, but it also has a trail system… I spent many a weekend mountain biking thru there. A few miles in the relics from the MASH set still remain. They filmed MASH there. You can look up at the hills and see the opening sequence of MASH where the helicopter flies in. Fun déjà vu. If I was you, I would pick a hotel or something in the Santa Monica area… That way you are central to the beach, the city, the studios, Westwood, Hollywood Boulevard, etc.

So you just coming to visit for a while or something??? New to the DZ? If so, you can PM me for my contact info and I will introduce you to some of the people around the DZ and show ya around... Oh, to make you feel at home, we have a Cessna too if you want to use it. BTW... What altitude is your body used to, meaning how high do you live? The king air takes us to 12.5K - and add 5100 field elevation to that, and you have nearly 18,000 feet on jump run... Oxygen is available on the plane, but locals tend not to use it because they are used to it physically. But even then, I have felt hypoxic before - so know the signs and know oxygen is available if you need it!!! (I find slow deap breaths is all I need) And - canopy's fly fast at our altitude, so be careful on the landing.... I have come "home" from sea level three times and each time was shocked at the difference. Other than that, you will have a great time at Mile Hi... Nice people, great landing area, great views of the mountains, etc...

I will be there! I don't think the Otter will be running, but the king air is fast to altitude!

I have been doing a lot of 4way training, and on our training days, we "must" use packers (or else I would pack). My favorite packer replaced my loop without telling me... He replaced it at the exact same length and used great material... When I saw it changed the following weekend, I went up to him and asked, "did you change it?" He said, "ya, just looking out for ya... It would have lasted quite a while longer, but I thought I would give you a fresh one..." So awesome, I just wish he told me when he did it so I could tip him for the material costs... Then a new packer this weekend changed the length quite a bit on me... We are talking nearly an inch. Turns out we must have a different angle we like to place the d-bag or she might be much more efficient getting air out or something, because it is way too tight for my packing (and the way the rigger set up the rig when it was new too). So, my questions are: 1) When you hire "pros", what modifications/replacements should you expect them to make without telling you? (the only two things I can think of that they might change are the type/size/count of rubber bands and the closing loop, but this question is open ended.) I guess this question could also apply to riggers doing the reserve too... 2) If a packer has a different opinion on the length of the loop or even size of rubber bands, should they ask before changing it, tell after changing it, or change it and not make a point of mentioning it?

That made me laugh... I had many paraglider flights before skydiving... I remember my first paraglider flight and being scared shitless... And I even did a tandem paraglider flight first... I remember my first skydive and thinking, "now that this canopy is open, the rest is gonna be cake." On AFF1 I went into a spiral dive and did aggressive turns under the canopy just to get a feel for the wing... I think I am glad I did that before my instructors landed because they probably would have had a heart attack because I did not tell them I had flown a fabric wing before.

Jason, With the size of this pond - here is what I want to do... Lets build a 50' pole that can hold a long rope... Right as you swoop by the pole, you can hook the rope and tie it off to ya... I will be on the other end of the rope on my wakeboard, and you can pull me across the pond.... Call it a reverse para-sail. I like to wakeboard at 20 MPH, but I have gone 60 MPH... So you pick the speed.... I will let go in time for your flare. But seriously, congrats on the pond!

That picture I guess is the "fat lady singing" or "pigs flying!" Proof is in the pudding... Ok I am done with those stupid sayings.

This is the link to the download: http://www.headcornparachuteclub.co.uk/downloads/2ways.pdf

Nah, that is not messed up, it allows for more of a zen thing... If you are 30, do you feel like you are an old or young 30??? Me... I was 29... I was gonna have a midlife crisis when I turned 30, I knew it.... Had to do something to prevent it.... Wait, how old am I again???

Which DZ - and do you have any overhead photos??? Every DZ I have been to (4) we have landed "next to the runway"... Depends on what "next to" really means I guess.

the laws of physics? they probably don't want it sinking into the runway again Smartass! That was cool to watch though So did it sink in parked on a hot summer day, or did it make rutts as it landed? Please do tell.... I have seen it parked out there and can't wait.

When they have their first reserve ride they will have to fight off the karma of the other 10+ they should-a had, and I bet their mal will be a good one.

Either way, you have a lot of chop-free jumps!!! Congrats on that... I know people who average 250 jumps between chops, you got thousands.

Traffic lights: Yellow happens before Red. Jump plane lights: Yellow happens before green. -and- or as my wuffo friend pointed out - a 4way in sex is often considered a bigway, but in skydiving you need many more to be a bigway.

Since you prefaced this comment with "sport" - how many of those 3200 jumps were sport jumps???? If you made it nearly 3200 jumps without chopping, you might have a record there... I will let you pack for me any day, (not that you are a packer between all the other stuff ya do. )

I looked at the tape right after it happened… The perks of being the video operator/judge… I think he would have moved... But, when someone is coming in so quickly on a hook turn and at the very last second moves into the line of path of the judge, he did not have time to move... This was a 50 MPH event, not a slow student canopy coming in... Moving could have made things worse, we will never know… Judges don't stand near the noodles and competitors, don’t yell to the judges to hold the noodles. Other people changed course real quickly when they hit the noodles with their lines, so even if a judge is watching the vector of travel, direction can change too quickly to manage too. Anyway, no hard feelings...

I jump neither, but I was real impressed with both... How about that for an answer... (From the perspective of someone who was in your shoes a few months ago.) Reasons why I would say Infinity... #1 - Price. #2 - turn around time. #3 - Kelly's customer service... I think all three, from my research, were better with Infinity... Infinity was my 2nd choice on my list, Mirage was my 3rd... Good luck with your decision, I remember being in your shoes.

From watching the whole thing happen from the video position, Garrett was told to grab the noodle the previous competitor broke. He did not have time to fix the broken wood dowel, so he held it at the entry gate keeping his body well on the outside of the course. A competitor brushed him very fast with a foot… That competitor apologized profusely and took 100% of the blame. Garrett said he did not hit the deck because he rather take the blow on the side of his torso instead of the face, and lowering his body would have put his jaw in the line of fire. I think it is incredibly rude to blame Garrett for not being in the proper position when he was doing what he was told to do by someone else and he is not a trained expert, nor am I, just a volunteer. I even viewed the tape between rounds to see what happened, and it happened so fast it looked like he was hit with a bullet, not a human. The tape is Hollywood in nature, you don’t see the impact, just the aftermath. I thought the competitor who hit him did the most professional thing I saw all day, and ran back to Garrett, dragging his canopy in the dirt, pulling up weeds with his canopy nose, apologizing and making sure he was OK. Then he publicly told everyone what he learned and how he almost hurt himself and someone else real bad. That impressed me… In this world of egos (and I mean world wide, not just skydivers) everyone screws up once in a while, owning up to your mistakes is real noble. Kudos to the competitor who has gone out of his way to tell others how he should have taken zero unharmed than take zero and hit a judge. That is an awesome attitude in my opinion. I wish the person (and I really don’t know who it is) – who took out more than one noodle on the pass before would have realized how he started a chain reaction by not being in control. In retrospect, the course should have been closed… No one should tell a judge to hold a noodle at the entrance gate (or in this case, multiple noodles). But with only seconds between competitors, I can’t blame anyone for it happening so fast. Since more than one noodle was broken, no one had time to analyze the situation… So, I would beg that that rules be changed for the next event… No noodle holding – if you can’t fix it, the course is closed until it is fixed. From the vantage point of video where I was able to see the wide screen view - that round was scary. As they say in 4way, "it was over the line". After seeing the whole CPC 1 and 2 from the same viewpoint (the video position where I get to see the big picture) – I would say we had more than one lucky competitor not to get hurt on that round… It was the only time thus far I thought, “this is getting out of hand.” This is just coming from someone who is having fun watching you guys, and even likes hanging out with you guys… But, dude, there were four people to blame for this incident. #1 the competitor who hit the judge. #2 the person who told Garrett to hold the noodle. #3 the competitor who took out multiple noodles seconds before. #4 the rules themselves for not addressing this safety issue. And of course, Garrett for putting himself in harm's way for you guys. Just my two cents. I would not have said anything if you did not spin it the way you did. Perhaps I am just edgy tonight, so I apologize in advance for being defensive… But, I am glad this came up because the whole procedure did have me a little concerned for next time around…

Well, I have owned a few businesses in my short life. Currently, one business has about 250 employees... So I have been there, done that... And I have never written a business plan, and I have never ever, ever, ever, used software to plug and chug some boilerplate document out… Ok, well that is a lie... My business plans are for me. I research the hell out of stuff. I write down my plans, my vision, my goals for growth, the stuff I will need. I put together budgets both with depreciating assets, and with expensing assets when purchased. Both perspectives give you ideas on what cash flow might look like and what todays on paper profit versus actual in the pocket profit might be.... The documents will look like a mess to someone else, but to me, it is just crunching data. When it is time to deal with the banks, that business plan looks 100% different. I am trying to SELL MYSELF to the bank as a good risk... That is a marketing document, not a business plan. ;-) My internal business plans are much more pessimistic, "how much can I lose if I f*** this up?" "How many customers need to walk thru the door to break even?" "What are my fixed expenses and what are my dynamic per unit sold expenses?" “Who is my competition?” “Do I need to steal customers from my competition, or are their new customers to be had?” If you put something together, PM me for my e-mail address and I can give you my two cents.... I have done this for many friends who have started businesses too. Not to say I am an expert, just someone who has been there before. The first document I have always started with is a cash basis P&L… Can this business make money? Once the answer is yes, then, “How do I find the cash to start it” is document number two.

I purchased it thru a skydiving dealer (I don’t think Amazon would carry it). Pick your favorite, they will have it. Since you might not have a favorite yet, I found three online vendors using google to keep it unbiased. www.skykat.com has it for $25, square1.com for $29.99, www.gravitygear.com for $25.... And Brian sells it on his site for $29.99. As Remster said, don’t get intimidated or overwhelmed by the books… They can make it much more intimidating than it really is... But, learning the concepts and basic vocabulary before my first jump course made the course less intimidating and I think I retained more since I had a basic understanding of the concepts before the class.

Before someone else says, "Do a search, it has been discussed before", I will quickly tell ya what I read... I read a few years before ever skydiving: "Parachuting, The Skydiver's Handbook." by Poynter and Turoff. Then the week before the first jump course I purchased and read: Tom Buchanan’s, "Jump! Skydiving made fun and easy". He posts a lot on this site, so you can even ask him questions if ya want. Then during AFF I read: The "SIM" (Skydiver’s Information Manual) USPA reference downloadable from uspa.org http://www.uspa.org/publications/manuals.pdf/SIM2005.pdf and "The Parachute and its Pilot" by Brian Germain. Both of those are good reading too.

As it was said before... Yep, that about sums it up. I think this part will go away some once you know the gear better... You can bend statistics any way you want, but total gear malfunctions are not even close to the leading cause of injury (or worse) in this sport. And once you know how to get stable, you will enjoy intentional unstability too. My last jump today I curled up into a ball and tumbled randomly while laughing my butt off.

I am not a canopy expert by any means.... But I will say I was part of a lively discussion about what to do in turbulence as part of a canopy class. Here is what the instructor taught. Option A. Half brakes. May momentarily fill the canopy up with air as you pump it, but this is not a continuous effect. Brings canopy closer to stall point. Brings less forward speed, thus, less pressurization of the “ram air” cells. Causes you to stay in rough air longer as you are going slower. Option B. Full Flight. Farthest from stall. Travel quickest thru turbulent spot. Has most amount of wind pushing into the cells, thus the highest pressurization, thus the strongest wing. Hence - Option B is what we were taught to do. In reading Parachute and it’s Pilot by Brian Germain, it seems Brian also prefers full flight to pressurize the canopy, and he even discusses using coordinated turns to increase airspeed beyond full flight (Page 46) But I am no instructor, so let the debate begin. This is just what I have been told…

I don't know if I want to know the answer to this... What happened to the pilot???? Also - made me think... In skydiving aircraft the pilots wear a bail out rig... What about the rules for Balloon pilots... (If I was a balloon pilot, and I had the intention of landing with the balloon every time, I think I would still take my rig just incase... I guess the customers who are going for a nice romantic evening wine and cheese ride would freak out. )

I drove by it today - I think.... Anyone got an address or perhaps a hint to which peice of dirt it actually will be on???