AndyMan

And crazy things happening are not all that rare. Look, I've got over $2000 worth of camera equipment bolted to the top of my helmet. If any of that were to be damaged because some hot-dog pilot thought he was cool by not warning us beforehand, trust me that the repair bills will be coming from his paycheck, or the plane owner, or the DZO. Zero g's can be fun under the right circumstances. Doing it without a clear verbal warning is irresponsible and neglegent. (the following not directed at Dave, he knows these things...) Aircraft piloting is one thing I consider to be of paramount importance to a "good dropzone". I will not jump at a DZ where the pilots endanger ourselves or the aircraft. Go take a look through the incidents forum, in the last 3 monthes there's been 4 turbine plane crashes that may very well have been caused by pilot error. 3 Otters and a Porter. That's HUGE. One of those crashes killed a jumper. Take this shit seriously. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

There's an old pilot addage that I'll repeat here. Superior pilots Use superior judgement To avoid using superior skill. Landing 5-10 feet from an obstacle is a feat that usually involves skill and/or luck, especially when the situation gets more complicated by things like crosswinds and turbulence. By 1000 feet you should have picked a suitable landing area that you're able to reach. According to the USPA SIM, a suitable landing area for someone with an 'A' license is one where you're able to be at least 100 meters from the nearest obstacle. See the BSR's, section 2-1(h). So, by 1000 feet you should have picked a field big enough so that you can safely land 100 meters from the nearest obstacle. Good job on the tight landing area. It's definately wise to avoid that in the future, though. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Better put me in there, too. Andy at 6'0 250# w/gear. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

In the US you don't need benches, but you do need seatbelts. Skydive Chicago has gymnasium-style mats on the floor of their otter and it works OK. The seatbelts are anchored to the wall and are short enough to pass through the harness. There was talk of side benches or straddle benches, I'm not sure which way they went. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The story as I've heard it is unimpressive - it was pulled from a junkyard last fall. Missing parts including wings and engines were located and the work began. As for how much it costs... far more than I care to imagine. I'm amazed at how clean it looks inside. I'm sure once we start jumping it, that will change quickly. When I first saw the pictures of the instrument panel I was confused. I thought the instruments were supposed to have "INOP" stickers on them... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The closest thing to a new Otter has just flown to Skydive Arizona for paint and jump mods before it returns to its new home at Chicagoland Skydiving Center. Pictures tell the whole story: http://www.skyteam-aviation.com/timeline1.php _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Dude, licenses are not commodities that you 'buy' to get status. They're priveleges that you earn. Nobody with 200 jumps and a 'D' license ever got their AFF rating. Most AFF rating holders had 1000 jumps before they even THOUGHT about getting that rating. It's ironic that you brought up AFF jumps, because with the new requirements it's actually conceivable that a newly minted 'D' license holder might have the skills necesary to be an AFFI. Nobody gives a rats ass what license you have. I could have gotten mine when I had 200 jumps. I didn't. I got mine when I had 500, because it really isn't that important. I wanted people to know I was a good skydiver because of the skills I exhibited, not because of some silly card they gave me. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This might help you: http://www.aerodyne-int.com/download/Tempo.PDF _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I voted for the Halo. Ideally, I'd like a free bomber jump, thanks! PM me for my mailing address. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've never had a problem Sony's image stabilization - "Steady-Shot". I've only heard of image stabilzation problems when people were mis-diagnosing the "floating iris" problem with older 3-chip Sony TRV cameras. I always use Sony Steady-Shot with good results. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I agree. However, to bring this back on track, canopy control at Rantoul is a hell of a lot better than it was at Quincy because the main landing area is so much larger, and the secondary landing areas are bigger have a shorter walk to get back from. Crappy canopy control at the convention is hardly a new thing, and I don't think for a minute that its getting worse. Personally I think its a hell of a lot better now that there's only 2-3000 jumpers there. Anyone remember when 5000 was common? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

How does the AFF concession take responsibility for their students? It's not rocket science. If they can do AFF jumps at the convention, then an appropriate coach can do coach jumps. It's that simple. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Good job, welcome back! See you at the convention! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Gary, how does one become a WFFC coach? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've had far more codec troubles the assorted quicktime formats than I've ever had with Windows Media. It is quite simply, the easiest to use for both creator and most viewers. I do hope an open source codec eventually makes it big, but until then I suspect WMV will be the way to go. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You're suggesting that the Commander in Cheif, the highest ranking officer in the US military didn't sell wars to congress? Has congress ever pushed the commander in chief into a war he didn't support? Clearly, the military - through its highest officer, decides where and when it goes. It only then has to make the case to congress for support. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That was my plan, but it's hard to get your ratings as a weekend warrier. So instead I do photography. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I see it going the other way. As it is right now, with a very unpopular war having a major effect on recruitment, well - that tells the leaders that sending the military into an unpopular war will have negative impacts on the military. A smart commander in cheif will limit the military's involvement to important wars. I don't think vietname would have ever happened had the US not had the draft. Vietnam COULD not have happened had the US not had the draft. By making the military suffer for unpopular wars (as is happening right now), the military will learn to avoid unpopular wars. Of course this begs the question if there is such a thing as an popular war. If my memory serves correct, Gulf War Episode I was far more popular than the sequel... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

People with less than 50 jumps have always been able to get in, it just required the breaking of rules. Now at least they can do it under supervision. I remember a few years ago even well known DZ.com'ers with fewer than 50 jumps showed up, got a visitor wrist band, tucked it under their jumpsuit and jumped the entire convention. I've also seen people show up at registration, get sent to the AFF tent where they quickly disapeared, only to be seen a few hours later jumping with their friends. I'm glad that now there's a way for these people to jump under supervision without breaking the rules. Now those same people will hopefully jump under the direct supervision of coaches. That's a good thing. I think you're right, nobody ever checks wristbands. This begs the question, what's the point of the wristband at all? I've seen "visitors" and "AFF students" jumping with friends. I'd much prefer they to be under supervision of a coach. This really doesn't change anything - people at the loading tents have always been the last line of checking wristbands. It's unfortunate that it was of so little priority. It has always struck me as absurd that somebody with 45 jumps could show up and be turned away or issued a visitors band, while somebody without any jumps at all could do AFF. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Start here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=52 Then come back and ask more questions. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would love to make my living skydiving, but I also would love to live in a nice house, with my beautiful wife, and raise a family. Making a living entirely from skydiving is a big choice with big consequences. Notable, it's unlikely that you'll be able to live in that nice house, and raising a family will be very dificult. It's possible, there are certainly some people who pull it off, but those are the exceptions. The only people that I see do half decently at living off skydiving are owners. This means plane owners, DZ owners, tandem rig owners, rigging loft owners, video concession owners. All the workers I see usually live in trailers. Sometimes very nice trailers, but generally - owners live in houses and workers live in trailers. Again, obviously there are exceptions to my generalizations. I'm not being judgemental, either. Some people love living in trailers behind the hangar. I'd prefer a nice house, though. To each his own. If you are going to be a DZ worker, get all your ratings. Tandem/AFF and especially your riggers rating. Riggers are the only people who have work when it's crappy weather. My advice? Find a happy medium. Find a way that you can work that safe steady 5 day per week job, and turn your weekends into fun. I fly camera on the weekends, but usually for myself, for 4 way groups, and big ways. Occaisionally I get pulled in on tandems, but thats rare. I "work" at the DZ by selling the photos I take and having fun jumpers pay my slot and a bit extra. It helps pay for some of the expensive gear I keep buying, but it's also like working for myself. I don't get sucked into the DZ life as much as the people living on the DZ trying to leach a living from the student operation. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Chicagoland Skydiving Center, not Skydive Chicago has historically had the AFF concession. It's easy to be confused, but it's kinda like confusing Perris and Elsinore. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This is great news. I never understood why someone can go through an entire AFF progression at the convention but couldn't walk in through registration with 35 jumps and find some way to make it work. Am I correct in assuming the coaches are operating through the AFF concession? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Just get it over with, give her the friggin ring, and then have her add it to your homeowners policy. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Must..... resist...... commenting..... Tell me about it!!! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.