wildfan75

High gas prices aren't just affecting us when we fill up our tanks in our cars/trucks. High gas prices are causing havoc in the industries. I work for a food broker. Food prices are rising like you wouldn't believe. If you're goal is to try putting less money in oil companies' pockets, plant your own garden, or visit local farmers markets. Buy your meats from a local butcher. I imagine that other industries are being equally as affected. Instead of going to the mall or a big box retailer, why not go to your local Goodwill or Savers. It kind of defeats the purpose of buying local if the cost of fuel that it took to get the item close to your home is tacked on to the product. Now would also be a great time to get to know your neighbors, if you haven't already done so. Take turns carpooling to the grocery store. Do you see each other when you pick the kids up from school? Why not carpool on that too? Instead of going to a movie or driving to Blockbuster to rent a movie, do a movie exchange with your neighbors. You'll not only save on gas money, but you'll also save on movie rental fees.

I was just going to chime in with if you go to Chicago, you could always drive a little further and hit Skydive Wissota (only open Wed & Fri evenings and all day on Sat. and Sun though). There is a Swiss guy running around the Ranch now packing that came and trained with us last fall (Stephan is his name). He'll give you an honest critic of Wissota. Crash for free at the clubhouse! I should put in a disclaimer that if you are a free flyer, I would not recommend Wissota. We are mostly belly flying dz and you'll have a hard time trying to find someone to jump with. But if you're all about the belly, their will be no shortage of people to jump with.

4k' & under $10 4001-6000' $11 7000' $12 8000' $13 9000' $14 10000 $15 We have 182s. We usually don't go higher than 10k' unless we are doing formation loads. Then its add a dollar for every 1000'.

Thread on S/L out of a Caravan with pictures: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3088252;search_string=static%20line%20caravan;#3088252 Thread on IAD out of a Caravan: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3041182;search_string=iad%20caravan;#3041182 Hope that helps.

We are talking about the USPA here. You're not necessarily dealing with a skydiver at USPA.

I see that your profile states that you're from Skydive Chicago. You should be some what used to jumping bigger planes like the Otter and having some canopies traffic in the air at the same time is not completely new. I would suggest talking with your instructors at the dz. Ask around to see if any of them are going to the boogie that you're thinking about going to and see what they think about you going and ask them if they'd be willing to do a jump or two with you while you're there. They can help make sure you don't get into anything over your head. You can also learn quite a bit at boogies without jumping. You'll meet people from all over the US and all over the world. If there are any gear manufacturers there, ask questions. Learning isn't just what takes place in your 60 seconds of freefall or 5 minute canopy ride. I come from a small 182 dz. We closed the dz one day during a holiday weekend to go to a nearby Otter dz. We brought a student with us. We also brought a student rig and our student radios. We wanted them to be familiar with the gear since we were introducing a new dz and a new jump plane at the same time. We had an extensive, indepth conversation regarding canopy traffic, right-of-ways, and collision scenerios on the drive over. We put a radio on them for all the "in case of this" situations. We had her jump with our instructors and basically "held her hand" the entire time. We were able to get her two jumps in and was all smiles on the way home.

We have someone at my dz with "Work!" on his reserve handle. So far that has "worked" three times for him.

I'll be sure that all the Wissota email list is notified. We have a s/l class scheduled that weekend and I think its the Saturday were we have 30 tandems scheduled so we'll have a lot of "staff" that need to be around for that. Have fun jumping the PAC!!! Lynn

Or Skydive Wissota www.skydivewissota.org If your family member ends up at Wissota, let me know ahead of time and I'll make sure he or she gets the free super special treatment package!

At my first "away from home" dz trip, they asked me how many jumps I had. I was with Mary Bauer, Bob Stumm, and Todd Jacobson at the time (approx. 30,000 jumps between the three of them). My reply was "I only have 30 some jumps". The person I was talking to said, "Only 30. That's a good atitude to have. Don't ever drop the "only" from your jump numbers" This weekend I was at Skydive Iowa and someone asked how many jumps I had. I replied with "Only 410ish". They were quick to point out my "only". I told them the above story. If you take away tunnel time, I would consider myself above average. I only had 17 freefalls before I was doing multi-point four ways. Last year my 4 way team took 4th in the nation for class A and I was the most current and the 2nd most jump numbers. I can do my job in a formation 182 load (8 or 12 way). But Otter exits and big ways (anything more than a 5 way) are a completely new thought processes for me. And doing a jump in January in something other than three layers of clothing is going to be foreign. Not everyone is willing to and can swing 411 jumps in 2 years (considering purchasing almost all new gear over that time period). And then again, there are some that would consider that a drop in the bucket. I thank the good Man above everyday that I started where I did. I would love to consider myself "above average" because I have taken advantage of every situation presented, but below average because there are people with ten times the natural ability and "the hand drawn to them". I vote average. Average is not bad, not excellent, but good....really good

For those that like the thin crust pizza and making your own, try using Flat Out Bread as the crust. You should be able to find it in your local big box grocers. Using Flat Out Orignal, my favorite is spinah/artichoke spread with mozz cheese topping. Or Frank's Buffalo Sandwich Sauce mixed with ranch dressing, topped with cubed chicken and mozz. If I'm ordering from a real pizza place: -Original crust, with cheese, pepperoni, green olives and onions. Mmmm....Pizza!

Congrats Andy!

Thank you to Sandy, Jim, Bruce, Gayle and EVERYONE else at Skydive Iowa for the great weekend. I know Mother Nature took a great big giant crap on us but the hospitality was superb!!! Todd and I were especially appreciative of being able to sleep in the hanger on Saturday night and not in a tent with heavy rain and 30mph winds!

Yeah!!! It's almost time! I have seven hours and 45 minutes of work left and then Todd and I will be hitting the road. This is my first Jump Start boogie/first jump at Skydive Iowa. Any recommendations for the type of beer I should show up with tonight?

Just one at a time??? Hmm...I guess that new jumpsuit he was sporting last weekend wasn't a Skimmer. But you have to give some credit to Mary. She's the one that keeps selling his jumpsuits to students that fit them for cheap. And of course, because the 50 jumpsuits in his corner aren't enough, he has to keep replacing each one sold by buying two more. And Remi--His head can't get too big. We only have 182s. It won't fit if it does. On second thought...maybe we should keep pumping his ego. Then he'll have to get an Otter.

It's Stumm...Bob Stumm. I have the priveledge and honor of jumping with Bob Stumm and Mary Bauer every weekend that they aren't off doing their big ways and commercials at other dzs. It was heart breaking to go to some other dzs and realize that every dz is not like Skydive Wissota, that the skydiving culture at Wissota is not like that everywhere. Now if I could just hit that darn lottery so I could buy Bob his Otter.

Windy. Very windy.

Try calling the manufacturer and/or a good rigger.

Attached is a picture of my inter thigh after a few jumps our our clubs only transition gear at the time. A cheaper and just as effective method to the biker's shorts is to wear oven mitts under your jumpsuit. They worked wonders for me!!! I recommend thumbs up if your a girl and thumbs down if your a guy. By the way it looks way worse than it actually felt. Openings were a bitch though.

Yes, I know her and no, she wouldn't mind. She'll be really excited that a "young'n" is interested in freestyle. She gets excited about working with students of all levels and all disciplines. Tell her that Lynn sent you. Also tell her that you heard that the most important part of the dive is making sure that you're face shield is down before exiting and ask her if that's true.* * She did one of my coach eval dives. I forgot to put the face shield down on the my Oxygn before the door. We got the door, we were a little long on the spot so I climbed out immediately on the step (182) and she was doing a door dive. I thought "She's a "student". I'll put my face shield down while I'm on the step and she's getting ready in the door." Well, she got set right away and so I went with it, gave the count and flew the exit mantis style to try to put my face shield down on the hill but yet still be able to watch her to give her a proper debrief. She was laughing pretty hard during the dive and during our debriefs. She wrote in my log book: "Is that my coach or a Pez dispenser?"

Same question here, and can we make reservations ahead of time?

Merriah's user name is kmfreefly. Try PM'ing her and I'm sure she'll get back to you with plenty of info.

I think you may be dating yourself by calling it a Trapper Keeper. Thanks for the info.