cptnstratn

It was great to meet you this weekend, Sebazz. Glad you got to make at least a couple of jumps with us. As for making you feel guilty, we'll only do that if you leave ever leave at 6,5 again!

Give it up now! Names! Man, I knew I was leaving too early. I missed all the really good stuff.

He he, I sure have, but I'll have my son in the car, so I gotta take it easy. Nothing more than 85. [grin]

I'm so happy it's already Friday! I'll be there! It may be a little after 8:00, to account for my two hour drive, but I'll be there for sure!

So, in your other post you were saying you owe beer? >> 0:12:1 ??? Or was that for the beer you were drinking? Hee hee. Hopefully, my next beer owed will be in about six weeks.

1:12:0 Gotta echo you Lori, it was a fantastic weekend! Great weather, great jumps! Man I love Southern California!

Good vibes a plenty coming from me. Not any news I wanted to read today. I sure hope it's not as serious as it sounds.

Aahh, it's just through the exit we need someone holding onto Albie! After that, he'll be doing just fine.

Hey, cool Paul! Looks like you better update your background info on their site though, it says your only 43! [grin] Happy Birthday, also!!! Blue Skies, Steve

Hi Lisa! I'll be there, and I checked - I have a whopping 15 posts! So, I'm qualified, yahoo! Looking forward to it. This is going to be so much FUN!! Blue Skies, Steve

Also interested in why he said no to a Safire? I have one, brand new a couple of months ago, and absolutely love it. Awesome flair power. Great speed and responsiveness without being too twitchy. I have it loaded at about 1.4:1. It's a 149.

Hey! I was on that plane, too! I was part of a three-way, exiting right after you. I had an open-face pro-tec on. And, I agree! IT HURT! My face stung for about two hours afterwards. I had to lay my chute out in the hotel to dry off in front of the heater, also. Had a long canopy flight back to the DZ. Sorry I missed ya! It would have been fun to hook up. Let me know when you're coming back! Blue Skies, Steve

I didn't have to think about it too hard. First mal was a line-over, after deploying on my side (checking above me after a funnel at break-off). Fairly low speed. Open at 3,000', hmmm, something doesn't feel right. Look up to see the left end cells closed and looking a little weird. I was in a slow left hand turn, and remember thinking "what happens if I release the breaks?" So, I tried it, and when I felt/saw my feet going horizontal, and the turn increasing to a spin, I knew I wasn't going to land it. Procedures and training kicked in, I pulled the handles, and whew, a nice reserve parachute is over my head. At the time, it was smaller than my main, so I was worried about landing it, but I actually had a better landing than normal. Afterwards, when I had time to think about it, I still didn't get too freaked out. Everything happened the way it was supposed to. The only thing I was told, was I should have followed the main and free-bag down. At that time I was concentrating on landing, and never even thought about where my gear was coming down. Fortunately, my friends on the load followed it down for me. Even though it was pretty low-speed, everything happened so fast I didn't have time to panic. Practicing the emergency procedure over and over ingrains it enough that when the time comes you do what you need to. Before it happened, I wondered how I'd handle it, just like you. Remain calm during your practice, and hopefully, you'll remain calm during the real thing. Blue Skies, Steve

Thanks for the post Paul. Nice to know a little bit more behind the man. Blue Skies Gerry! Steve

Sweet, Fonz! Thanks for that. I've been looking for something like this for a while. Blue Skies, Steve

Pammi, In my experience, it's really hard to see just how fast your closing on the formation if you're flying level with it. One of the things that helped me: slow down the fall rate to get above the formation again, then move to your spot, then drop down into the right slot. This way you can see better how fast your closing on your slot. Try to get a three-way or four-way jump together with the intention of exiting about four seconds after the base. Practice, practice, practice. Now get theeself to the dropzone! Blue Skies, Steve

Like everyone else, not enough! But, since you asked, 270 (still a newbie!). Hope to pass 300 before the end of the year. Woohoo!

Hey Carl! Good to hear your busy at work. Nice photos. Pic # 26, left side is me, Steve, not Parduhn. Just fyi. WHAT A NIGHT! What a weekend. Too bad the fly-by pics didn't really show how close the planes were. CYA! Steve

WAAHOOO! It was a great weekend. That 35 way on Sunday afternoon was great. I watched the video from that one. Kate and Tony do a great job teaching. It was great to meet everyone I did, even though I'm sure I missed meeting a few of you. Good vibes all weekend! Can't wait to do it again! Blue Skies, Steve

The best site by far that I have found is http://www.avsig.com There's a $20 a year membership fee, which is well worth it. It used to be a compuserve forum, really the first forum on the web, and the first aviation forum created. The members read like a who's who of flying, with an incredible wealth of information about everything related to flying. You can browse some of the sections without the membership, so check it out and see what you think. When I was training, I got a lot of really good information. Blue Skies, Steve

Oh no, couldn't insinuate anything like that at all. I haven't met all of you yet. Just the skydivers I already know. :)

Well, if Zennie and Screamer have enough time to be veterans, we all know they're bored. And every skydiver I know is a slut, so my vote has to be Board Slut. Bwaaaahaaaa. Blue Skies, Steve

OK, I'll definitely be there Saturday night. Jumping all day Sunday and Monday!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! This is gonna be fun! The only problem is going to be getting through the rest of today. Sure not going to get much done at work. Gotta get my knees in the breeze. Blue Skies, Steve

Hi Michele, Hey, I gotta say I love your stories. I've read them, remembering the feelings I had from my first few jumps. Thanks for the reminders. Now, on to meeting times. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it on Saturday, but at this point I'm planning on being out both Sunday and Monday. If at all possible, I may come out on Saturday evening. I'll have to see how my day goes Saturday. I'm sure Ed could point you out to me also, so if I see him, I'll check. Blue Skies, Steve

Well, for a first post I thought I'd ask who's going to Perris this weekend? This will be the first time in six years since I've been to Perris (that's beer, right?) and it would be great to meet people from this board, if anyone is going to be there. Some more info on me: 260 jumps, mostly a long time ago. 10 or 12 since jumping again on the Fourth of July (Ceremonial for me) after this six year hiatus (WHAT WAS I THINKING!!). My new gear should be arriving at the end of next month, I can't wait. Looking forward to seeing some old friends, and sadly toasting some no longer with us. Blue Skies, Steve