Zennie

What was that one thing you posted a while back? "You know you're a Texan when... you switch between the air conditioner and heater several times in the same day." I've been doing that for the past 2 weeks! "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

For starters they could have been done on a non-USPA DZ, so th SIM wouldn't apply, just the FARs. Then of course they might have been done notwithstanding the SIM. Then again, I could get all lawyer-ese on ya... Section 6-4(B)(1) "Skydivers participating in night jumping should possess a currently valid USPA B or higher license." It doesn't say "shall" or "must", it says "should". I went back to the BSRs, and there appears to be a differentiation between "should" and "are to be". Note the difference in wording between the experience requirements for night jumps and those for Exhibition jumps (Section 7-1(C)). The requirements for demos is more clearly in the "shall" nature. So I think technically you could do night jumps without your B (or higher) and not run afoul of the SIM. Does it violate the spirit of it? Yeah, probably. Does it violate the letter of it? No. See why I got out of law? I'm feeling all slimy again. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Before I started skydiving, I had kind of gotten to the point where I felt I could really be myself no matter where I was. I just sort of reached a point where I decided that I wasn't going to live my life the way others wanted me to, I was going to be true to myself and if other people don't like it, oh well. Still, I find the DZ to be a particularly welcoming place. No matter what you look like, and to a certain degree no matter how you behave ("Oh that's just so&so, he/she's always like that."), people more or less accept you as you are. For many folks, I don't think they get that accepting attitude elsewhere and that's why the skydiving lifestyle is so attractive... it's the one place where they can totally be themselves without fear of repurcussions. To the extent that people are being really true to themselves, I'd say they're more "normal" than 90% of the rest of the population. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Just get the B. That would probably be the easiest. There's nothing that says you have to get the licenses sequentially, as long as you met the previous licenses' requirements (and can document it) and take the previous license's written test, you can getthe next one down the list. I know a few people who got their C, even D, never having gotten their A. I skipped the B and went for the C. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

And if I know Rabbitt he was probably helping y'all pack so he could go up and fly another load! Dave, you're going to *have* to make it down here for the record attempts. Like Paula said, super big-way is really something amazing to watch. I can't even fathom being in one. It was raining canopies. Everyone.... RW folks, freefliers, whuffos were going "Holy S#$%"! "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Pretty freaking amazing! The other things that struck me was the crackata-crackata-crackata-crackata of 40 canopies opening all at once. And the guys on the outer edge tracked what seemed like *forever*. The guys in the base had to be burning it down close to 1700. Now multiply that by 3 and you'll get what we'll be seeing for the Texas record attempts later on in the year. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Heh. Quite a while back when I was just dabbling in sitflying, I was up at Richmond and the owner's son John & I did a little impromptu 2-way (my first actually). I'm there in my sit and he flips over onto his head and flies up to me just laughing. I'm thinking "This is the freakiest thing I've ever seen.... I love it!" That pretty much sealed it for me.

Be nice. Paula ain't old and she's pretty darn sharp. I think phree probably hit it on the head. There are *many* more RW mentors available to hit up at the DZ than there are for freefly. I go to two big DZs and it's still amazing the shortage of qualified people to give good freefly advice. OTOH, there are lots of extremely experienced RW folks around to bounce questions off of and do jumps with. Now imagine if you're at a little Cessna DZ. You may be the *only* person around even interested in freefly, so about the only other place to turn (other than another DZ) is the Internet. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Amen to that. That was drilled into my head early on. Going to your belly in a FF situation can kill (well, not if you're solo, but don't do it there anyway). If you get unstable, get into the vRW stable position (knees up and tucked, arms out) or go into a relaxed backfly. Get in the habit early and it will become natural after a while. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Well there are levels of "crutchness". I got the advice from other freefliers, Espen's website and they all recommended the same thing... when first learning, wear loose pants, tight shirt for HD, loose shirt, tight pants (or shorts) for sit. I wouldn't recommend a sit-suit because that's too much of a crutch, but distributing drag with regular clothes to learn basic technique worked for me. I'd recommend wearing something loose enough that you have to work a little -- not so tight that you're flailing for scores of jumps and not so loose that you're just sort of hanging there under the clothes. I think learning in a FF suit makes sense, since that's what you're going to be flying in anyway. The only reason I can think of for holding off on a suit would be to wait until you figure out how fast you fall and then order a suit to match up your rate with everyone else. As far as wearing tight clothes go, I view that as more of a way of drilling in good technique *after* you have the fundamentals. If you do that learning, unless you have a coach by your side all the time you're just going to flail, get frustrated and not really learn. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

When she moved the website was taken down. She is working on getting a new site up and running. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Not if you want to learn head down. In fact you want just the opposite.... baggy pants tight top. I did the same thing... sweats & sweatshirts (actually, Army surplus fatigues works great for pants) until I could scrape up enough money for a suit. But if you can swing it, a suit makes a *huge* difference. Especially when you're still learning (like me). The balance is just better and sits, stands & headdowns require much less effort. You might try to pick up a used one if someone is close to your size. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Nope. They're still in business, and Emily's still making darn fine suits. You are correct, the business location has moved. Right now, until Emily gets the website & new contact info up, I've been giving folks interested in buying a suit her home phone. I'll warn you in advance, she's very busy on suits so she's kind of hard to get hold of. But if you keep at it you'll get through. And the suit is well worth the small inconvenience IMHO. If you want to contact her, drop me an email (private messaging is still broken I believe). "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

It's cool to do drill dives to work on skills. But at the same time, you only learn by doing (and screwing up a few times along the way -- God knows I have). Nobody worth jumping with will give you a hard time if you go low or miss a dock. The may give you pointers, but they shouldn't criticise you. Hell you're learning. But if you want to do RW, the best way to learn is to just get in there & do it (I think I got my SCR on like jump 30 or something). Same with freefly. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Sorry, just got to this thread now. If you want to do some 2-way sitflying or play around with some 2-way hybrid I'll be more than happy to jump with you. Just grab me. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Nope it's not illegal per se. They get charged with trespassing, reckless endangerment or, if you're in a national park "Illegal Aerial Delivery". "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

I didn't notice that you needed to lose weight. Sheesh why do all women think they need to lose ten pounds? Typical conversation in my household: Liz: I've been working out for the past 3 months and I haven't lost a pound. Ted: Of course not, you put on muscle and lost fat. If anything you'll gain weight. Liz: AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!! I need to lose 10 pounds!!!! Ted: But you've toned up & look great. It's not the weight that matters it's the conditioning & body fat percentage that matters. Liz: AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!! I need to lose 10 pounds!!!! Ted: *sigh* "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Heh. Looks like she'd be pretty comfy on the couch... on the floor... on the... Oop. That's right, I'm taken. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

LOL. I was goofing around with my digital camera, saw that and just about died laughing. I just had to keep it. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Here's me (it's also the one on my main homepage). "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

I may have to bop on over there and ask. I'm sure I'm not the first to go through this either. Hell, they prolly have a whole dang Howto manual on the subject. I just don't like asking questions like that on Blic cuz some folks get kinda testy. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Hehehe... OK here was what I had in mind. It's something I've been toying with in my noodle for a wihle... I've wanted to do BASE. Problem is, if I get caught by my wife -- especially if it's a call from jail -- I'm toast. So I got to thinking, what if I just did a heli/balloon jump but got out low (like 500 feet) with a BASE rig on? Sort of "practice" BASE if you will. My main reason for askingthe question was that if it were legal, I could probably do it any weekend they had a balloon or heli out and not worry about getting busted. Since it isn't legal (which is what I suspected) if I stap a BASE rig on, it may as well be for real. And yeah no way I'd do it out of a plane. One, you're not getting the straight down fall, and two the opening would be a bitch! I was even a little iffy about a heli, cuz I'm not sure what effect the prop wash would have. Thanks all!

Legally? I thought you had to have a TSO'd reserve in your rig. But I've had one person tell me that there's nothing that prohibits it. And yes I have something in mind. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Started when I was 35. Now I'm 36. "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

Wuufff wuufff... I invented Freeflying... wuufff wuufff... "Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."