BaumsAway

The forecast is looking great for this weekend! I can't wait to get back in the air, as this winter has been way too long! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Yeah, the goons are a pretty cool group of people. I hope the weather cooperates a bit better this year. Last year, I got to watch the Otter fly all day while I sat grounded due to the winds. Nonetheless, I still had a blast and am looking forwards to this year's boogie!

Anyone know the story behind this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egg8NIBV2HI It didn't look like there was much weight on the tail (except for the camera guy). Are Islanders more stall-prone that other jump-planes out there? I also can't believe that the camera guy was able to hold on that long.

The St. Louis Skydiving Center (Bowling Green, MO) and Archway Skydiving Center (Vandalia, IL) are both about the same distance from St. Louis (a little over an hour). SLSC is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and Archway is open Saturday and Sunday. The St. Louis Skydiving Center is currently flying a Beech 99 (SUPERFAST 21-place turbine) and Archway is currently flying two Cessna 206's. Check them out at: http://www.skydivestlouis.com http://www.archwayskydiving.com

The St. Louis Skydiving Center (Bowling Green, MO) and Archway Skydiving Center (Vandalia, IL) are both about the same distance from St. Louis (a little over an hour). I know that both are open on select weekdays, but I'm not sure about Mondays. The St. Louis Skydiving Center is currently flying a Beech 99 (SUPERFAST 21-place turbine) and Archway is currently flying two Cessna 206's. Check them out at: http://www.skydivestlouis.com http://www.archwayskydiving.com

I'll be there! I'm really looking forward to this boogie! 4 days and counting!

4 Days to go!

Yeah, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of jumping this plane, you'd better be ready for one awesome ride!

OH, HELL YEAH!!! I was debating whether to spend the money and go to Sturgis again this year (I had a friggin blast last year), and that settled it! I'll be there! 11 days and counting!

The 99 kicks ass! That's awesome to hear that it will be flying at the boogie! Count me in.

Count me in for all day Monday!

Sweet!!! I can't wait. One week to go! I know I'm nowhere close to being able to even think about doing big-ways, but I can't wait to watch them.

That's what I like to hear! Can anyone recommend a good, cheap hotel in the area or is the campground "the place to be"?

18 days to go

Well, even if it rains all weekend, I'll be sure to bring twice as much liquor and we'll still have just as much fun!

I'll be bringing a couple bottles of Cabo Wabo that I've been saving in addition to some fresh Cohibas. P.S. Sorry, but I'm out of available seats in my van. There are plenty of people coming from KC, so if anyone else from that area is looking to carpool, you shouldn't have a problem finding a ride.

It's on my calendar! Will there be instructors available to do a refresher? Also, do you have rental gear available? By the way, if there is anyone from Kansas City interested in carpooling with me, let me know. I've got 5 seats available in my van. I'll be heading out there on Friday around noon and coming back Sunday evening. I can't wait!

That's great to hear! I'll have to get out there soon to jump with you all again. If this is the same Paul and Jo that I'm thinking of (from KC?) then I know that you have two dedicated, hard-working people backing this dropzone. I'm looking forward to 2007!

I don't know if you can do it with the rig you're using, but I saw a video of some jumpers doing what's called a "horny gorilla". None of them were freeflyers, but they pulled it off pretty well. They locked their legs together while standing on the step of the Cessna, facging together, and then jumped together. Using their arms, they started spinning in different directions while keeping thier legs locked. It looked like a lot of fun.

So, the investigation that fireballgrl referred to is against MRVS? That makes a little more sense. I was wondering how there could be an investigation against KCSC if it was MRVS that took the tandems up after they had been drinking. Was it KCSC or Skydive KC that opened the investigation on MRVS for this violation?

OMG!!! Get a life, man! Did the jumpers do any damage to the field they landed in? Were they rude to the landowner after they landed there? Probably not. Also, parachutes don't steer any different with wind. Pull left, turn left. Pull right, turn right. Same as a car.

I received this e-mail from KCSC yesterday. I removed the names from it, as I'm not sure if it's okay to repost them online. Subject: The Kansas City Skydiving Center Weekly Update (CLOSED THIS WEEKEND - PLEASE READ) This weekly update contains some good news and some not-so-good news, so I will start with the good news first. Things have been progressing well at the dropzone. We have erected several hurricane-proof packing tents at the DZ, with more in the works. We have built two awesome picnic tables, with enough seating for twenty people, and we will be building shade tents for those as well. # has been landscaping around the dropzone, both mowing and planting all sorts of cool shrubbery. We are also in the process of leveling out the ditch on the south side of the landing area, as well as building an access road and parking lot on the DZ (thanks #). We have got a lot of other cool things in the works and we appreciate all of the help that we have received. Many thanks go out to #, #, #, # and everyone else who has volunteered their time! Now, on to the bad news. We spoke yesterday afternoon with Skydive Greensburg, who was supplying our Caravan. Unfortunately, their Beech 99 sustained significant damage during a landing accident, leaving them with no aircraft until their Super Otter arrives at the end of the month. Without any aircraft, they understandably were forced to take their Caravan back. We had a backup aircraft arranged to come from Skydive Cross Keys and we spoke with the DZO yesterday who said they would be able to send one of their aircraft here until our Caravan arrives. Skydive Cross Keys phoned us this morning to inform us that the aircraft they were sending us is down for maintenance after a hydraulic pump failure yesterday and it may be a couple of weeks until it is repaired. We have been on the phone all morning to almost every turbine DZ around the country, from Colorado to Florida to Arizona to New York, and we even managed to track down Mike Mullins. Unfortunately, no one has an aircraft to spare. Several other dropzone are also in the same situation as us, so turbine aircraft are spread thin throughout the country. We are working hard to get another aircraft out here as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we will be closed. I just spoke with #, who is going to head over to Sullivan for the weekend, along with a couple of other jumpers. They have the Otter right now, and he thinks that their camping area is ready to go, so if you are looking for some quality turbine jumps, I would highly recommend checking them out. If you know of anyone who was planning on coming out to KCSC this weekend, and may not be subscribed to our mailing list, please pass this information along. If anyone has any questions, or would just like to follow-up on what is going on around the DZ, please don’t hesitate to e-mail or call us at 816-569-3931. Once again, we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and we look forward to getting you to 14,000 feet again soon. Blue Skies, Paul and Joanna The Kansas City Skydiving Center

Yeah, It's been too windy for me to jump all weekend and I've been craving to get back in the air!

So are you saying that the DZO was lying when he posted this: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2115948;#2115948? If so, can you please post proof of this as I think people are getting tired of hearing the "he said/she said" and actually want facts.

I second that! Everybody there is just having a blast and can't stop talking about how great this place is now and how much better it's going to get. The owners keep asking the fun-jumpers what they can do to make it better for them. That's too cool! If you guys need help building anything, just let me know.