Trae

in reply to 'constantly negative person who never stops complaining about everyone else's behavior, but never looks at his own. ' I agree those people suck I'm not just talking about any sort of people here, I'm talking about 'skydivers' whose negative energies actually kill and injure people through their negligent and careless behaviour....not just annoy them a little . Sort of like letting a rabid dog run the place . Don't go shootin' the messenger now that WOULD be negative.

Skydivers that don’t deserve respect. The following is an attempt at a list of irresponsible and unnecessarily dangerous behaviour from skydivers that inhabit some of the darker regions of our sport. Feel free to add to it if the desire takes hold. This is from personal experience.(ah apologise for any inadequacies in my use of language ) And yes I’ve heard that “it takes one to know one”. WARNING----This may be describing you or some-one you care about. Will you recognise IT if it comes your way or if YOU start going it’s way?? -Alcoholics and other substance abuse addicts. These types leave a trail of bodies and injured innocents in their circular wake. To them alcohol and other indulgences (sometimes including the systematic abuse of women ) have taken precedence over the sport itself. Skydiving has just become a tool for their continued bad behaviour... a place where due to their experience levels and a constant flow of new victims their true nature can be hidden. -Incompetents in positions of power & influence. These incompetents often only have one trick--and they stole that from some-one else. These ‘obstacle men’ can’t handle any-one more skilled or more experienced than themselves being in charge because it exposes their deficiencies. They can take many forms from the loud mouth put-down in public artist to the back-stabbing libelist ( remember it’s not libel if it’s true). They can take many forms and are dangerous when they spread wrong or incomplete information... Eg some-one who has stolen some-one else’s jump-suit design and presented it as their own........Some of the probs thus created ..eg .these people sell boosters to novices and other low experience jumpers / students causing mayhem in the sky for novices who have to learn to fly their boosters rather than their bodies. -Bullies who don’t allow people to progress past their own limited level of ability. These ones are real beauties .They’ll go out of their way to make sure others don’t show them up. These ones can be easy to recognise as they have very limited mentalities and will some times suck up to you if they think you’re getting close to seeing them for what they are. Don’t believe them ...they’ll suck up just to knock you down. These include some top of the pile tandem masters who will smoke it down with their innocent passengers just so they can get on the ground quicker to get extra work. Practising and learning at the expense of others is often their speciality. -Woosy ‘grandfather of the sport’ types . These can allow the bad behaviour of others to fester and grow under their weak leadership. Respect your elders? OK if they deserve it ...otherwise they need putting out to pasture or reminding that they can’t simply rest on their laurels ...not when they aren’t doing their job...and people are being hurt as a result. Eg why are so many low jump people killing themselves on HP canopies? ,....because no-one big enough is providing the correct guidance? . This looks like official negligence to me. -Big headed safety officers who don’t do their job due to their swelled heads. These types often only got the job because they would allow the bad behaviour to continue . Whenever they turn up their ego’s are flattered and fed so that everything can continue as ‘normal’. These guys slowly turn into apologists for the baddies as they end up having to cover up for their own inadequacies as well. Sometimes the fall guy is nicely prepped to take any hits. Eg after a fatality where negligent behaviour is obvious to the coroner. The ‘gun’ on the DZ may end up wearing it while those really responsible get away with it again & again. -Newbies that are highly skilled. This can occur in any aspect of skydiving but especially in the parts that have relatively recently become popular eg head-down, swooping. Due to their high skill levels these types have influence otherwise not available to them. The trouble is they tend to have huge gaps in their knowledge as they only kicked off a year or three ago and haven’t seen one cycle let alone several. When these types get in charge or open a DZ of their own... stand back out of the way cause there’s gonna be trouble of the bouncing kind and a fair bit of it from what I’ve seen. Of course it’s always some-one else’s fault. Some of these types really deserve to be held back in my op. These issues I’ve raised here are not pleasant for me or anyone who has watched loved ones hurt or killed because of this type of irresponsible behaviour. Inconsideration in our sport is deadly and kills people. Hopefully any readers will take this I the spirit it is meant......ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Are you part of this problem or part of the solution? Recognising such as a problem may be the first step to changing things for the better. If you aren’t face with such problems don’t pretend they don’t exist as I haven’t made this stuff up.....experience just talks. Anyone else out there realise why our insurance premiums have gone though the roof? My guess is it’s in part due to the undesirable behaviour listed above. Clear air awaits us if we can rid our sport of such aberrations. Cheers its been real .I look forward to any of your replies . The gods look different when you stand amongst them rather than bowing down before them.

I don't want to sound like teetotaller ...or too hypocritical as I still enjoy a cold beer after a long hot day. Happy travels

in rep 2--'Just out of curiousity, where are you going with the hydrogen stuff in a valley?' I wish we could be using LH2 instead of petroleum products. The rest of the "black gold" could be used more wisely over a longer period of time if we replace it's use in cars with liquid hydrogen. Apparently there are places in the USA where this is already happening. I'd like to hear more as it sounds very good. Aliens or not

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yo Gleb, You won't regret your beer v's skydiving

Allrite Candy,

If you put in the right request to the right people anything is possible. .

If you're just starting skydiving ???? and you want to fly wingsuits ????. There is a lot you can do to get to where you want in as safe and expeditious a manner as possible. First off there are heaps of people out there to give you first hand personal info on this subject. Any reasonably large DZ will have some very good wing-suit flyers . Wingsuiting has attracted some of the most experienced skydivers around. My hint would be to avoid the noisy type that expect you to get in line behind them. Most will be glad to show you the way. In my experience I've found that progression is enhanced by doing blocks of skydives rather than just one here and there. ie save up and do a bunch at a time.... without overdoing it. I like doing about 3 or 4 a day for about 3 days in a row ...usually mid-week when you can avoid the weekend madness. There's no rush and each flight can be savoured if you don't hurry. Don't let any-one hurry you up. You've got to do this stuff at your own pace. You're better off learning basic skydiving skills first rather than during your wing-suit flights. This is because most of your bodies movement can cause exaggerated effects when in a wing-suit. Tracking dives if done with skill development in mind (as opposed to just having a lark which is fun too) & with the good guys/gals can be a very good preparation for wing-suiting and flocking . Edumacate yourself as much as poss. through the wingsuit sites (here at DZ.com ,at Flybirdman.com or even the official Birdman site.) Wingsuiting is a whole heap of hot fun. Take it easy and you'll keep loving it for ages. Flying around those cloud canyons is just indescribable. Cheers Trae

OK ....getting a bit carried away perhaps . I haven't kept up with PD's larger Katana attempts. 1.8 would be a bit high ..ta for the reminder.

...aw shucks....

Anyone who doesn't believe in aliens hasn't sat up late around a fire in a remote region and looked up.. Some of the visitors you'll get are NOT human.or like any terrestrials I've seen so far. Driving along late at night where you don't even see a light or other vehichle for hours you get to see some funny things. Cute little purple dinosaurs & blue eyed aliens turning into cows are just not from around here. (as far as I know no-one has lsd'd the water supply ) Multiple sightings of aircraft that just can't move like that also get convincing over time. A while ago I saw on the late news a report of a formation a extremely fast flying objects which where filmed passing over one coastline and then a minute ot two later filmed passing over the other side of the continent. (not satelites) They showed the footage .The news reader looked like she was wetting herself with excitement. next day nothing to report ..zero info. Keep us stupid= keeping us under control..

Sack the camera bod ....they couldn't aim the camera properly . perhaps get a 4th person to take the shot.

inreply to:"Others out there with an interest will understand what I mean when I say that everything in life is just a system, once you can recognize a system you look for ways that people would exploit it, then you look for ways to defend against that exploit." Do the people who set up sites such as DZ.com ever use the information for deviousness such as potential victim recognition? or touchy info spreading? like as in extortion? like as in how much will it cost to shut me up about such & such? I was told recently that some of these sites have secret access points that unlock special features. I've seen such "special features" popping up on rental DVD's as well .(I just love freeze frame and slo-mo) I found a series of only slightly hiddden icons in a movie ( background stuff on a single frame) which when played on a computer gave access to a new page asking for a password and giving me several thread choices. I couldn't guess the password and it locked me out from further access. The movie was a bit wobbly and I thought the secret access point may have opened up a "snuff" type bonus special features for those in the know . Any clues?

Self digest til brekky. Feel the pain?.. that's your stomach lining eating itself. unsolved riddle. You know when you're so hungry that you start gnawing on parts of your own body ..wellll what 's the last part you eat?

re: "Pro-Bushies, start your engines! ------------------------------------------------------------" At what point I wonder do you just say and do something like the following :- "OK every-one that wants to fight this war ..Go To Point A (down-wind) Everyone who wants to build a new democratic Iraq go to point B. (up-wind) Clear the area between the two,, stand back a decent distance and nuke the livin' bejesus out of point A.(they did want to fight after all) Then don't go anywhere near the place for about 100years or so. Cerazy thought no2 "What would happen if enough nukes detonated the oil and gas in the ground?" Would the world explode.? ?? on a cosmic level this might be on a par with the recent bit of comet shooting. Blow up a bit and see what happens. cave man mentality? geta bigger rock.

Ta for the info . Can get better odds if I pick the type of bounce. The time limit could expire on me though. If you were a REALLY helpful guy you'd do it tomorrow for me. So get on with it ! we're waiting. Trae (I'm the one in the tree watching them whistle past.)

If you had to choose between a 50 jump trip to a major US DZ or Kerag in Norway what would you pick? Please don't say both.

Is it possible to access some-one elses computer while it is switched off but still connected at the switched on power point. ?(this is if the computer has no infra -red capabilities..and not permanently conected to the web ) Does this sort of thing happen a lot around the place? I'd feel honoured if some-one would/could access my graphics station which is different to this lap-top I'm using now as the GS has no direct web link but is often left on at the switch but turned off at the computer.. Is this possible anyone?

Thread killers?? I am the new master at this TKing sport. ...and we're all still caught in the middle of mediocrity.

I repeat somewhat ...I heard there were liquid hydrogen bowsers in the USA in a high- tech silicon- think- tank type valley. Do any viewers use liquid hydrogen in their cars? The rest of this was edited cause I'm yet to find the correct forum for serious alien technology access. apparently ...

Every one at first followed slowly by being take over by other skilled thread killers. now I've recognised my competition and am developing tactics. I strike while you sleep. PS you're all invited to the wake which follows. PPS SHHHHH ...Don't wake the dead!!!!!! the following is a list of visiting thread killing dignitaries....read on

Words can't describe.

Thanks for such intelligent and considered answers.(especially Evillurker and Kelpdiver ) And Zenister has summed up a common stance as well. I feel I've really learnt something here not simply re-inforced held positions. OK so I've got a leaning towards military type training...I've seen such methods work very well with extreme safety records compared to some civil training methods. Of course a lot of civi's are ex-mil so it'd be unfair to pick on the civi's in any generalised form....... just high-lighting some perceived deficiencies. I'm supposing the next step after recognising this potential threat to our overall safety standards is to devise some way of recognising and dealing with the people who need extra guidance....not just by relying on AAD's. Some type of skydiving aptitude test could help here. I'm not suggesting over doing it with too high a standard (who sets the level?) We all (?) are capable of learning from our mistakes and no skydiver (experienced or student ) I've met likes being told they can't skydive. In martial arts the Sensai is often an extremely perceptive individual. When a few of these teachers put their heads together they can be almost 100% right in their judgements..and still accept that they may be wrong sometimes. Perhaps if skydiving is going to rise above the "cowboys of aviation" tag we could learn something from such physical arts....as in suitable progression tables geared towards safety as a seprate issue to the current performance oriented tables.(as long as it doesn't mean paying more to any greedy big-headed bull-shit artists) Aikido lays some reasonable claims to being the highest form of martial art. The Aikido doctrine of non-aggression and healing through conflict avoidance could provide something for us to to aim for. Again Cheers for the informative chat in reply to "Hey, are you in Melbourne? My wife's from there." Nope but a female (or two) of our species I like a lot is.