rendezvous

Does anyone know if the 727 or whichever jet that was is going to be there this time or is being worked on. I don't see it in the current fleet available on the web and there seems to be no sales pitch around it.

I think the hardest was the waiting period after the AFF1 briefing and before the jump itself. After that and all through the course every plane ride to altitude was anxiety driven. I think all through my AFF I was more relaxed out of the door than inside it.

Thanks. That would be helpful.

How does one get to Rantoul from Urbana-Champaign airport ( CMI ). Is there any shuttle service that the WFFC runs ?

Just to add to your point. A week back I travelled out of Newark airport on a higly reputed airline ( not to mention names ). I was issued a boarding pass with a wrong first name on it. I noticed it a bit late and not wanting to go through the hassel of having it corrected I decided to see how far I could go with it before someone noticed it. At the point where you enter the shoot my boarding card showed me as not having checked in. They took me aside and checked me in based on my last name. Inside the plane I seemed to have been double booked so they took my boarding pass again and made a correction the seat. 10 min before take off someone came to my seat with a walky talky and checked my boarding pass again. The seat allocation confirmed me to be the one on it but once again not checked in, so they checked me in for the third time. In all this process no one paid heed to the fact that the first name on boarding pass was not the same as the name of the person ( me ) carrying the pass. As for TSA, well, inspite of having me do the remove your shoes routine and making me empty my bags and running everything through the X-ray, they could not find a pair of steel scissors in my shaving kit that they hand checked after the X-ray. To make a long story short, after 3 check ins, 2 X-rays and being hand searched, I was on a plane with a sharp metallic scissor and a wrong name.

what I find funny is the "believe it or not bit" I mean if TSA is going to go out of it's way to damage the rig then what does it mean by "believe it or not", put in that kind of effort and anything will get damaged.

Are there any DZs close to London ( U.K ) ?

Here's what they'll probably have to say about it: TSA Tips to Help with Summer Travel New tips from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will help get travelers on their way this Memorial Day weekend and throughout the summer. The new travel tips for summer vacationers will help speed travelers and their gear through airport security procedures. Here are a few new tips to help summer travelers: ... ... Sporting Goods - Summer is also a great time to go scuba diving, catch some fish or go camping. Scuba tanks are not allowed on commercial airlines for safety reasons. Ship scuba tanks or consider renting a tank at your destination. Fishing tackle and sports gear - such as bats and lacrosse sticks - must be checked. Campers traveling with gas containers for grills or stoves must find another way to ship the containers separately, because they cannot be checked or carried onto a plane for safety reasons. Believe it or not, parachutes are another item that can be damaged as part of the security screening process. Consider other means of shipping or at the very least, please check parachutes closely before using.

Oh ! well ! I guess USPA should be reading this coz they are working with TSA on this and clearly, TSA doesn't seem to be getting it. Once or twice on my way out of Newark airport I happen to ask the TSA guys as to what they feel about Skydiving gear and they always seem to be clueless about how to tackle that one. Looks like the TSA training to help them understand skydiving equipment isn't getting through. According to them no one had ever talked to them about parachute screenig.

Just wanted to see what people feel about doing a HALO at WFFC for $350. Sounds a bit steep but is it worth doing it once. After all a Tandem with the video cost the same and that was definitely worth the experience.

My regular canopy which is a Triathlon 175 loaded at 1:1

Well some people say go for a better suit and some say use weights. It's a personal choice I guess. If a faster suit can help you with your fall rate then there's no need for a belt but I don't recommend shying away from using a belt if you feel it's going to help you. You can develop bad habits with or without one. Just because you are being able to keep up with others with a faster suit doesn't necessarily mean you are doing the right thing. Same applies with the belt. My DZO who also happens to be quite an accomplished skydiver asked me to go with the belt. I did and I think I'm getting more value out of my jumps than I was earlier. Like I said, it's a personal choice, though I do recommend going with the belt instead of the vest if you do choose weights. While doing formation skydiving ( belley ) you want the weight to act through the center of your belley. By using a vest your your Center of Cravity is moved up and you have to compensate for it. Again all these are minor adjustments and it's more to do with how you get use to them. But then again why not just keep all the weight where it needs to be.

dude you don't know diddly about what happened in Afganistan then. Afganistan would have been a happy and prosperous country had the Soviets and us not made it our playing fields to see who could screw whom better. Let me enlighten you with the facts without too much detail: In 1973 Afganistan, a very normal country at that time, need funds for development and modernization. The goverment of Afganistan approached the US and the Soviets for help but was turned down because of the US and Pakistan alliance. Afganistan and Pakistan were at the time and until the Taliban came into power opposed to each other due to territorial disputes. The Afgan goverment however was received possitively by the Soviets. The Soviet Union had been looking for this opportunity and immediately agreed to provide financial and infrastructure support. Foreign aid soon became foreign intervention. Once Daoud realized the gamble that he had made, it was too late. The Soviets became entrenched in Afghanistan, initially in the unsuccessful propping up of the minority Afghan communist parties, and finally with the official invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. US could not afford the growth Soviet influence in the region and specailly Afganistan which was too strategically placed to be overlooked. Result,America responded by throwing $2 to $3 billion into the Afghan war against the Soviets, relying on Pakistan to help shape the U.S. strategy. Because of its territorial disputes with Afghanistan, Pakistan has never been a proponent of Afghan nationalism. Instead, Pakistan encouraged an Islamic fundamentalist approach to mobilizing against the Soviets. Harnessing the anger of the Muslim world over the invasion, the United States and Pakistan supported an Islamic war against the Soviet Union. The CIA went all out to promote Islamic Jihad. It enticed the Afgans to bocome Mujahids and fight for their faith. The war that lasted 10 years as a result of the US-Soviet enimity left 1.5 million Afgans dead, 5 million refugees, the exodus or death of its intellectual community, more than a million landmines, 500,000 widows, hundreds of thousands of orphans, and extremist Islamic groups in Afghanistan armed with some of the deadliest American weapons. As the soviet union fell the interest the US and the west lost interest in the region leaving behind a mess and a political vacuum for the next 10 years. And you my friend say, we helped them and they don't like us. Do you even understand what loosing 1.5 million people means in a country that made the mistake of seeking foreign aid so that it could also become modern and prosperous. For you Afgans are the Turban clad guys on CNN. Do you even know any Afgans. I suggest go find some and then speak to them about what they've been through due to our Cold War and 10 years after that.

How come you do not hear the Muslim leaders speaking out against the "radical" Muslims ___________________________________________________________ Because the issue over the past century and more so in the last couple of decades has evolved into much more than just being a religious battle. No doubt there are supports for radical behaviour in the Muslim world, but then there are supports for it in the Christian and the Jeswish communities too. How extreme any of them gets really depends on the prevailing conditions. At the time of the proclamation of the state of Israel there were three jewish extremist groups operating in the region. This was way before the existance of any Palestinian radicalism as know today. The Jewish groups at the time targeted the Bristish and the Arabs in the region and only stopped or were rather dissolved after the creation of the state of Israel. They were no less violent than Hamas today. The point being, the cause behind the Islamic radicalism that we are seeing today goes far beyond the borders of religion. The primary cause is the politics that has played out in the region and in other Islamic regions. Let's look at another one, Iran. In todays world when Iran is fighting an internal battle to reform itself into a more tolerant society, the US goes and declares it to be part of the so called Axis of Evil. When a country like Iran is precariously placed in it's reforming which largely depends on the people of Iran demanding it from the theocrats, how can those people after being insulted ( Axis of Evil ) by the US be willing to look up to it as a role model. Iranians are good people, most of them want changes in their country, some of them back there are taking risks that you and I wouldn't dream off in this day and age, and in the midst of that we go ahead and call them Evil. That with us is fine but if we are called sons of satan that is offensive to our American identity. Does the common man on the streets of Iran not value his identity. Go talk to them and they'll tell you about the richness of their culture and values, and the pride they have in what we love to insult. Now take the case of Palestine. We talk a whole lot about suicide bombers being mad men, lunatics etc but have you ever thought about what compells hundreds of men and women to blow themselves up. It's not the thought of going to paradise, it's the feeling of a total loss of hope, and dignity and a sense of helplessness. No doubt Israel has to face a lot of hardships but have you ever noticed the difference in living standards between Israel and the gaza strip. The US gives Israel 3 billion dollars in developmental aid, 2 billion is millitary aid and what do Palestinians get out of it, a false promise to a life that will never be delivered. Let alone money, when Senator Hilliary Clinton on her visit to the region showed soladarity to the people she had to come back and apologise for it for the fear of loosing the Jewish lobby. You tell me what kind of a message that sends out to the world. The muslim world does not hate us because we are christians it hates us because we go in with a promise and come out on the side were our national interest is served the best. We the biggest proponents of democracy together with a bunch of other western powers have time and again proved to the world that our own interests come above any and everything and if that involves scuttling democracy in certain regions or taking lives in others under whatever pretext, then so be it. The purpose of my writing this is not to debate who is right and who isn't but to touch upon the fact that it's easy to sit here, shielded from the rest of the world and pass sweeping statements above matters that we have very little knowledge off. Our media in the war against Iraq went out of the way to show us that our democracy is sponsored by our cooperate lobby and we hear what they want us too. It's a lobby that has smart enough businessmen in there to understand that if you label something as "Americanly Patriotic" we'll suck it up and give it shelf life until the next elections. It is sad to see that in our media which is suppose to be the bastion of our most basic democratic value, out right to information, money does not just talk it laughs. A result of which is that some of us here feel that every muslim in the world is out to get us and that Islam stands for terrorism. We are paying the price today for what we did all through the era of the 1st and 2nd World War followed by the Cold War and through the period of our world supremacy as the only super power. We have done to people around the world what we wouldn't want to do to our own and it's time we understood our responsibility in this. May be we did it for the good of our own people or what we stand for or may be even for the good of the world in some holistic way but the fact remains we have the cheapest oil in the world and the largest cars, and there's a reason for it ...

My first jump ever. It also happened to tbe AFP 1. The door was open and we were about to step out when we were called back due to the Winds picking up.

Read in this months (June) Parachutist that there are going to be federal regulations that deny Skydiving and some other sports medical coverage. Does anyone know about this issue and were it stands.

With all the changes involving PISA and Aerodyne is it still a good idea to buy a second hand Hornet. Is it's maintainance still going to be supported ?

thanks guys for your input. It definitely helps to put things into perspective hearing opinions from those who've been there and done that. I'm going to continue to balance the two. May be change a bit of focus here and there but I think I want to be able to fly and not just belly fly or free fly. If it takes longer to master them, then so be it. Just another challenge. Your insights definitely make it easier to understand what I'm trying to do.

Ok so here's my issue. I seem to like both belly flying and Free flying. I'm still only at 130 jumps and at this stage I don't want to give up one over the other. I want to develop a decent level of skills in both before I choose one over the other. At the moment I'm working on RW skills but trying to get myself to sit too. I would love to hear your thoughts on trying to do both specially from those who do so. Can you be a good belly flier and a free flier before you take on one over the other.

Now that is something I'd want too. Just need to figure out how to get there.

Hey ! welcome to the totally awesome world of Skydiving. It's going to be all fun from here on.

When I was at 25 jumps my instructor told me that 7 or 9 cell doesn't really matter at that skill level. You won't be mastering the performance range of either anytime soon. As long as you keep your wing loading withen your experience level it shouldn't matter. You'll have enough to learn out of both.

very impressive and informative. Would you happen to know any books that cover such topics and the dynamics of flying through them in the detail you have.

Oh ! I sleep very well once I've jumped. It's when I haven't that I have problems.

One of the schools of thought and the one I normally like to follow is to keep your canopy flying full flight. Slight toggle pressure may help a bit but if the air is turbulent there's not much you can do but to wait to get out of it. To keep it simple, make slight corrections if and when required but otherwise just wait to get out of it in full flight. Be piloting the canopy at all times. Even if you are facing turbulence be aware of what the canopy is doing and be in control of things, atleast mentally. If you are tempted to make corrections to the flight using toggles do not fall prey to huge toggle input. In turbulence your toggle input may not respond like you expect it too. If you are in the process of giving a large amount of input and your canopy happens to get out of turbulence it's going to react. Close to the ground that could put you into a lot of trouble. Always try and keep piloting your canopy. In other words always be evaluating the situation and be ready to act. I don't have a ton of experience to back this but given the situation this is how I plan to react or have once or twice when some unpredictable stuff has happened.