Aviatrr

I got home today from a CReW camp down in Sebastian, and all I can say is.....ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! I made 10 CReW jumps this weekend, and had a blast.. We had 6 students, 3 instructors, and 3 experienced CReW jumpers.. The 3 instructors are all members of the USA CRW Team.. Mark Gregory, Chris Gay, and Mike Paolin.. These guys are incredible.. Amazing canopy pilots, great teachers, and just all around cool guys.. I learned a tremendous amount in only 10 jumps, and I definitely plan to continue with CReW.. We started out with 2 way drill dives, then moved on to 3 ways, 4 ways, 5-6 ways, and finished off with an 11 way.. We attempted the 11 way three times - got 6 people in the first time, 9 in the second time, and 10 in the third time.. The last person was literally just a few feet from docking when we had to start the breakdown.. Damn close.. Our final attempt at the 11 way was weathered out.. We suffered a couple setbacks that slowed the pace of the camp - the twin otter toasted an engine(luckily on the ground), and the weather moved in every day as usual in Florida this time of year - but still accomplished quite a bit.. I'm definitely going to attend the intermediate/advanced camp that these guys give when I have some more small way CReW practice.. Anybody that is interested in getting into CReW should definitely contact these guys.. They are sponsored by Skydive Atlanta, Skydive Sebastian, and Skydive Cross Keys - so I'm sure they can be contacted through any of them.. I will soon have an e-mail for Mark Gregory, so if anybody is interested, drop me a line and I'll pass it on.. And another CReWDog is born..... Mike

No problems whatsoever, here.. I had LASIK back in Nov of '00.. I was planning on jumping 2 weeks after the surgery, but due to lousy weather on the weekends I had off, I ended up wating just over 4 weeks.. I know people that have been jumping within 5 days of surgery - and even one that put in 5 jumps the very next day.. I didn't convince my surgeon - after we talked about the reasons behind not being allowed to do certain things for a while, I told him I was going to jump 2 weeks after surgery if all went well.. He told me to be sure to wear 'protective eyewear' when I jump, since foreign objects hitting the eye at high speed is the concern.. He seemed to think that we normally jump with no eye protection.. I told him to stick his head out the car window at 120mph and see if he can see that semi coming at him and avoid it.. Anyways, my advice is just to use eye protection that does not come off or open easily.. If you wear a full face, make sure it has a very secure latch.. I have never used one - but I have heard that the older Oxygen helmets had a problem with the shield sometimes opening in freefall.. If you wear goggles, make sure you wear them tight.. Mike

Sounds to me like you did a 2 way tube.. Those can be pretty damn fun - especially when you get more than 2 people in 'em.. I've only done as large as 6, but I've seen people do 8 and 9 ways out of tailgates.. Mike

Congrats! Hey - now your a Master skydiver.......ahh, hell, nevermind.. Too predictable.. Mike

Anybody know if they have demo Oddysey's over in Z-Hills? I want to try it before too long, since I plan on ordering another rig soon.. Mike

Shortly after I got my RW suit, I had a "fruit bat" wing added.. It's a fairly small wing, and can be added aftermarket - but it's not removable.. It allows quite a bit of fall rate change, and if you don't need to fall slow - pull your arms in.. Works well for my needs.. Mike

As PhreeZone stated, there is no official Freefly Coach rating with the USPA.. I don't think it would be such a bad idea, because I've seen some people out there "teaching" freeflying that shouldn't be jumping with low timers.. If you want to become a good freefly coach, you need to establish a reputation at your DZ first.....and by that, I mean a GOOD reputation! At a couple of the DZ's in my area, there are freefly coaches that just became well known kick ass freeflyers, and started coaching.. Nobody hesitates to send anybody to 'em, because we know they are awesome freeflyers and coaches.. Just remember - just because somebody can fly their ass off doesn't mean they can teach worth a damn.. Mike

I wish.. B models.. Mike

Anybody that has been jumping for very long has either experienced or at least heard about the awesome Mikey Hawkes experience.. When I jumped out there - the one jump, I might add - the people were not very nice and the equipment was not in very good shape, IMO.. The airplane scared me.. Mikey Hawkes belittled one of his TM's right in front of a bunch of students.. Not very 'businesslike' conduct from somebody who runs a 'multi-million' dollar business.. Mike

Aw, hell....ya lost me on that one..Oh well... I'll have to find somebody else to share all my rigs with.. Mike

Uh, well....I'm not quite 18, but what if I AM the younger brother?! Mike

Hey - I didn't say I wouldn't treat ya right....I just said I'd be a professional bum.. Mike

I wonder how many posts it takes to get the title 'Whore' or 'BoardSlut'?

It always makes me wonder when the tandem instructors tell the students to "get on your knees.....ok, now sit on my lap".. Mike

Uh, just 2....and the exit SUCKS! Mike

Cool man, you'll love it.. I've never been in an F16(well, not in the air, anyways), but I've got....uh, a few hours in an F15..

I got out of a Cessna 210 once....the gear was up, and I didn't even think about it.. No gear, no strut, and a regular door.. I pushed the door open, started reaching for the step on the gear with my leg(couldn't see where my foot was, though)...figured I'd inch out until I found it.. I was 50ft below the airplane before I realized what happened.. DOH! Mike

Well, no - it wasn't 1k...but I was under a fully inflated canopy, stowing my slider at 1900ft when he went sailing by in freefall.. Pitched about 2 seconds later...and video doesn't lie.. IMO, this is dangerously close to Cypres territory.. Mike

Out of curiousity, has anyone ever been able to talk a pilot into 'dropping you off' in a place other then a DZ? Well, the only legal requirements are that the pilot file a NOTAM and notify ATC when the jump occurs.. I don't recommend trying this from a non-skydiving equipped airplane.....especially by somebody of low experience.. How exactly would you plan to exit? Exiting a Cessna with a regular door can be interesting - and cause some dangers.. You won't have a nice, big platform on the wheel to step on, so make sure you dive out, miss the gear, and don't dive straight back or you could hit the tail.. Is it really worth it? Depends on the circumstances.. If you land on an airport, you could be arrested for trespassing, or even much worse.. If you land on an airport with airline service, and you land inside the SIDA(area off limits to everybody but airline and support personnel), you could be arrested for that and face federal charges.. I believe the maximum fine for violating the SIDA - if that's all you are charged with - is $10,000 and/or 5 years in prison.. Plus, they would confiscate your rig.. Mike

WHOA! Can I come live with you, and become a deadbeat? This work-every-other-week thing is not cool.....I spend too much time away from the dz! I'll quit my job, and become a professional bum...oh, wait..I already am.. OK, I'll become a professional UNEMPLOYED bum! What was your address again? Mike

Most student rigs and tandem rigs that I've seen don't have closing loops as tight as I keep mine.. I can just BARELY get the closing pin in my rig.. If I put a cable in it, I'm sure it would be pulled down into the grommet.. I'll experiment with it next weekend.. I'm not going to jump it that way - but I'll be swapping out mains several times over the weekend, so I'll just try it when I do that.. BTW, I have a different way of preventing a horseshoe.....it's called a Pull-out.. ok, ok....we won't go down that road again.. Mike

There are two reasons that I jump with a Cypres.. The first is in case something like Dove's accident happens to me, and I am unable to pull for whatever reason.. The second is if I just completely lose altitude awareness, and don't pull - the Cypres MAY save my ass and allow me to take up a new, safer sport.. I know - everybody says they will always pull.. So do I.. But a lot of people that are dead thought the same.. Oh, and if you do get a Cypres - get used to pulling a bit higher.. That jump you went sailing by me in freefall when I was under canopy could've easily caused a two out situation.. Mike

Glad to hear you're ok.. Freefly collisions can be pretty serious.. I've had one, but luckily I was in a stand and not head down.. The guy flew below me and corked - my feet hit his container(he was belly to earth), my legs collapsed, and it sent me tumbling.. He was hurting from the impact to his back(much of it absorbed by the rig), and my legs were bruised quite bad.. If I had been head down - I could've broken my neck.. This is a damn good example as to why you shouldn't do anything but 1 on 1 freefly jumps with somebody that you don't know their skills.. Mike

That's nothing.. Last week, I saw probably 100 sharks within a couple hundred feet.. I got face to face with one of 'em - about a foot apart.. I saw a lot of different kinds of sharks, but mostly bull sharks, tiger sharks, makos, and hammerheads.. It was pretty cool.. Oh, wait a second.....you weren't talking about aquariums, were you? Nevermind.. BTW - Shark Reef at that hotel in Vegas(i forget which hotel it is - next to Luxor) is pretty cool.. Mike

But we got some good video of it..