AndyMan

The otter was spooling on the grass runway, a good 80 yards away, as I would've expected. There was no immediate danger to anyone from the otter. The otter was not downwind, directly crosswind. I had my gear off, I was kneeling beside him encouraging him not to get up. He was complaining of back pain. I'm only trained in basic first aid, but my gut reaction was that this guy needed a spinal board - not being helped into the back of a golf cart. Again, I want to stress this - I was there. I was sitting beside him with my gear on the ground. I have the gravel stains all over it to show for it. I heard what Eric said when he showed up. As for Eric "rushing out", I had time to run a few hundred feet, talk to him for a few minutes before I even saw Eric on his way. I never said he was a student. Only that he was under student gear. I never complained about the canopy choice. He was a big boy, and he had a big canopy. I jump occaisionally at SDC. I was there this weekend, I'll be there next. I've had some bad experiences at SDC. I'll add this one to the list. I'm not "anti SDC". There's a bunch of them over in wreck dot. I'm not one of them. I do think there's something majorly wrong when a guy that just slams in is helped into a golf cart because the otter needed to pick up the next load. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

I showed up at SDC about 12:30, hooked up with Skymedic, and we went for our first jump. I was surprised to find a large amount of turbulence at about 70-80 feet when I was landing. Despite this, my landing was fine. I can't explain the turbluence. I was not downwind of any objects. As I'm collecting my canopy, a I see a guy hit the taxiway. Hard. He's under student gear. Anyways, he must've hit a downdraft in the same turblence. He flares, but he doesn' plane out. He just hits hard. He landed on hit butt, bounces up, lands on his feet, then falls over. I start running. Nobody else does. He's lieing on the taxiway. Strangely, no one else is running. I shout and wave to a bunch of jumpers near manifest, I keep running. I reach him. He's hurting. He thinks he's fine, but hurting. Not getting up, either. I help him out of his gear. Strangely, I'm still the only one out there. Shortly after the otter landed, Long haired manifest dude rolls up in the golf-cart. The words out of his mouth are not "are you ok?" or "can you walk?" or "there's an abulance on the way". His first words (and I think only words) "Gotta get up, the plane needs to pick up the next load". He proceeds to help up injured dude, puts him in the back of the golfcart, and brings him back to manifest. Injured dude later drives himself to the hospital, where he's informed he has a cracked vertibrae. Am I the only one that thinks there's something wrong here? _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Off topic, but I was naieve enough to ask skymedic why he wore a bullet-proof vest. Then he told me about the time he got shot trying to peel someone off the sidewalk. _Am (generally don't have reporters, but would hate to slag one in a thread memorialising a dead one) ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Is there a workaround I didn't see in the other thread? Despite what I saw in one post, messages don't seem to be getting through. It also doesn't seem to be affected by the recipient being in my contact list or not... _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Aerohio usualy does extensive ground training. All my pre-jump courses were usually at least half an hour. If they're still doing that, it makes the $75 a whole lot more reasonable. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Stilettos are made by a company you can actually get on the phone most days. When you leave a message at PD, they return your calls that day. With Cobalt, after leaving 3 voicemails on three different subjects, two of them were returned 5 days later. The third wasn't. I didn't buy a Crossfire because of the way that Icarus handled the recall. I didn't buy a Cobalt because of their complete lack of customer service. I couldn't even get someone on the phone to send me a demo. I never actually got a chance to jump the Cobalt, so I can't compare the two. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Yup! That was it! 13.8 says the protrack. Funny. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Yeah. He was in a freefly suit, I was in my cotton rw suit, and I still flowted inbetween grips. I thought I fell fast... Is this a record? A perfectly good thread hijacked on the first post? Sorry Grumpy Smuf. 100 jumps is a pretty cool milestone. Question: Did your 4 way start off as a 3 way, and you added a fourth in the plane? Was the 4th Will? I think we were on the same load... My 100th was a 10 way star that funnelled on exit. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Congrats. In other news, you missed the first SDC DZ.com rw jump. Myself and skymedic hooked up for a two way. Sunshine had to sit on the sidelines due to a head cold. Despite major fall rate issues (skymedic drops like a friggin SAFE), we scored 7 points. Average freefall speed, 125MPH. Next week at Winter Expo, we're putting togeather a 9 way to take the DZ.com record. I'm told a bunch are comming up from Archway, Chicagoland, Skydive Illinois, plus a few SDC regulars. Details to follow, I'm sure. Congrats on the 100 jumps. Let's make sure to hookup next weekend. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

From meriamwebster.com: One entry found for dork. Main Entry: dork Pronunciation: 'dork Function: noun Etymology: perhaps alteration of dick Date: 1967 slang : NERD; also : JERK 4 I've never used it was Jerk, always Nerd. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

If you look around, Southwest, ATA, etc. You should be able to find houston to midway for $200 or less each. Remember Southwest isn't on Travelocity or Orbitz. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Slappie, I think you would have no trouble finding people in Chicago (like me) willing to drive you from Chicago to the WFFC. I usually check my camping gear when I fly with it. Bring minimal stuff. Tent, sleeping bag, airmatress, clothes. Travel light. When you're here, you can buy a styrofoam cooler at Wallmart, for example. I usually carry my skydiving gear when I fly with it, because of the insurance limitations. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Awww. Is poor widdle mark insulted? _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

DUDE! SWEET! DUDE! SWEET! Sorry, gratuitous reference to the 'B' movie known as "Dude, where's my car?". _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Technically, no. The TLD, or Top Level Domain was the .com part. He devoted an entire second level domain, more commonly just called a domain. Which brings us back to your point. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

I found this "how-to". It seems like an excellent primer. Probably worth keeping handy... http://www.dqnt.com/acc.htm ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

I think it's great - skilled athletes from all over the world fighting for something noble. What sucks is Olympic basketball, where you've got pro's on one team and everyone else is amateur. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Grammar alert: To wank: verb He wank: verb He is a wanker: adverb ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Rantoul is about a two hours drive south of Chicago. It literally is smack in the middle of a triangle formed by Chicago, Indianapolis and St Louis. Major airports nearby are Chicago O'Hare and Midway. The nearest city is Champaigne-Urbana, home to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the guys who invented Mosiac, the old name for Netscape. Yeah, I'm a geek. A good map can be found here _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

I had an Aardvark in Nicaragua eating a Kiwi. Go figure. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Never mind what it does to the two grand worth of camera gear many jumpers have strapped to their head. If a pilot wants to screw his engines, that's his choice. All I ask for is warning. Mullins likes to do this. He calls it a seatbelt test. He gives warning. It's fun. Ask Roger about negative g's and a certain raft jump out of 10EA in upstate NY. Ask him how much the horizontal stabilizer repair cost... Fortunately, the skydiver that impacted it only needed minor "repair". _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

I asked a little birdie about the shower enhancement situation... this is the answer I got: Cool. ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Yup. Bosses kid got to "fly the plane". A great picture of the kid with one hand on the yoke and pushing assorted buttons with the other. And yes, the plane was on the ground. And yes, the capitan was supervising. It was a major airline, and this was since September 11. Cool _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

I suppose I was a little harsh. I went to great lengths to frame what I said in the context of my personal opinion. Not fact. Despite your very valid point, I can't imagine any point in my skydiving history where I would ask those many question. I remember the first time I showed up at a foreign DZ. It was Skydive Toronto, and I had 20 jumps. I didn't even have a USPA 'A'. I'll never forget Joe Chow calling up my instructor asking if he should let me jump. I'll say a lot of nasty things about Joe Chow, but I'll never hold that against him. I had Joe show me an overhead map, he showed me the outs, he explained to me turbulence caused by the barn, and that I should avoid landing on the runway. He then criticizedme for flaring late on his burnt out 20 year old Mantas. I thought it was a perfectly good landing... Maybe it's because that of all the DZ's I've jumped at (about 14, which I supose isn't that much), I've alway been fortunate to be at DZ's that have lots of good outs and big landing areas. I would agree that every one of those questions are good ones, although I can't possibly imagine myself ever asking every one of them. If I were to seriously spend the time to come up with a "Beginners guide to showing up a new DZ", I can't imagine coming up with a list this comprehensive. I don't mean to imply that these questions aren't important, just that the sheer number in the post was overkill. If that's the level of safety awareness that we expect of our new jumpers, then I must've seriously missed some training somehwere. Of course, that is just my (relatively newbie) opinion. _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

Why didn't you invite us? _Am ICQ: 5578907 MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999