LawnDart21

The greatest sticker I have ever seen, (which I can't find anywhere to buy for myself), is "My other ride is a RESERVE" "I live to EFS" Tom

Well despite the nasty weather we've been having up here in Boston recently, I was finally able to break 500 jumps this weekend. We finally had a perfect weatehr day on Saturday and after borrowing a rig for the day to do back to back loads for aff cert practice, I ended the day with 12 jumps, 3 away from 500. Sunday started with some rain (no surpise up here these days), but the sky cleared around 11:00am and a few jumps later, I hit 500 and then ended the day with jump number 501. I could have sworn that 500 jumps was not a pie-able offense, but apparently my DZ has no ruling, as I was pie'd unmercifully at the end of the day. 501 jumps in 22 months of fun jumping, I am exhausted and broke..........lol "I live to EFS" Tom

Under normal wind conditions, it would fly normally, even with normal toggle input, but once you started to use riser input or hard toggle turns, you'd notice significant buffetting, and if it were flown through choppy air, you'd experience buffetting as well. Liken it to a car driving with all flat tires. If you drive slow enough, the car will still turn and stop, etc, but if you pick up speed or drive over bumpy terrain, the car will lose it's control proportionately to the increase in speed and or bumps in the road. Just curious, do you suspect that your lines are too short? "I live to EFS" Tom

Oops, here she is.

My girlfriend.

Me.

Are either of you shooting video?

Yup! I remember that.......lol.......

Hi Rhonda, yup, that was me! What a great experience. The only thing that bummed me out was that I wanted to do some fun jumps too while I was tehre, but never got around to doing any, spent the whole weekend getting coached. But I'll be back to fun jump again in the fall!!! "I live to EFS" Tom

Congrats on the camera! You'll be surprised at how many new friends you'll have at the DZ.....LOL....everybody loves the vidiots!! A few things I've noticed learned with cameras. 1) Get either a D-Box or a camera condom for it. Moisture from clouds can really do a number on the inside of the camera, I saw one jumper's camera just die after going through a big nasty cloud. (D-Boxes, although expensive, are a good investment as they also keep the camera safe when you are coaching students and they inadvertently crash into you. If you have home owners insurance or renters insurance, put the camera and your helmet and anything else attached to it (like a $120 Newton eye piece for example) put that all on your policy, it might translate to an extra $15 to $20 a month, but hey, if you chop it and it breaks, you get brand new stuff. Oh, and last but not least, start a sole proprietorship, call it "Clay's Skydiving Video Service", get an EIN number from the IRS for your new business and then everything you buy for the business (including the camera) is essentially a tax deduction. (The only downside there is that you have to declare income, like say if someone pays you $20 for a coach dive, it "should" be declared as income........ Anyways, congrats and good luck!! (The chin cup is a great idea, in addition to keeping things more stable, the rachet releases on them are way easy to get off in a jam.) "I live to EFS" Tom

There is a difference between being"cocky" and "cock sure"..........LOL I'm not the best skydiver at my DZ by any stretch, but I am 6'1", with long arms and long legs, tall and lanky and weigh 195lbs. I was told by my AFF instructor two years ago that I was aerodynamically designed to track well.....LOL My point was simply that if people track correctly (which alot of jumpers don't), they will gain alot of seperation. ie, out run the enemy (other canopies) and they become less of a factor. And of course, I always check above me before I deploy, I just feel that a head glance each way is effective as opposed to a barrel role. No biggie. As I said, it could be argued either way, my personal preference is not to barrel role. I think it's safer to just track correctly (fast and straight, perpendicular to the DZ) and get as much seperation as you can from others, as the farther and faster you go, the less likely you will have to deal with someone under you or over you. "I live to EFS!" Tom

My .02, it could be argued either way, barrell roll or no barrell roll while tracking. My personal opinion is that a barrell role is unnecessary for me, because 1) I can out track anyone I jump with, so if I pay attention at break off to the directions everyone else is going and then turn and track like my life depends on it (which it does essentially), there will be no one above me when I deploy. no one can keep up with me. My only concern is someone below me, which I can deal with during my track. Lastly, before deploying, a quick head swivel can check the air above me, doesn't take as long as a barrell role. 2) Most people don't know this (because there is no real point of reference) but that when most jumpers barrell role, they change their trajectory, even if only by a few degrees, but those few degrees, may be enough to put you over someone else. Any one that says, I can role straight without changing directory, I would say, unless you have a friend flying video behind you in a straight line and they video your barrell role showing zero degrees of variance in your track, then no one can argue emphatically that they do not change course in thier track from a barrel role. 3) Icarus has two '69 and 1/2" square foot crossfire canopies at their office that were sent out as one 139 sq ft crossfire demo. The reason they now have two canopies instead of one, is that a jumper with 300+ jumps decided that a barrell role was the best way to check his airspace above him and when he turned back over on his belly and deployed, he tore right through the center cell of another jumper who mysteriously ended up below him....... Both jumpers walked away from the accident, but it could have killed them both. Tore the canopy right down the center cell nose to tail. Okay, that's my soap box preaching, right or wrong, yes, or no, if you choose to do a barrell role, cool, just be aware ofthe added risks and consequences and stay safe up there. "I live to EFS" Tom

My bad, yer right, there are a handful of B-17s still in the air. I watched the video again, and the Collings foundation has the last B-24 that is still airworthy, not B-17. Blue Skies! "I live to EFS" Tom

The B-17 is maintained by the Collings Foundation located in Stowe, MA. It is the only B-17 left that can still fly. (I saw an awesome video recently (my girlfriend did some volunteer work with the foundation this summer and was given the videos) and the amount of time and effort to restore the plane is amazing. It has a current operating cost of $3000 an hour, so to raise money for the maitenence, they send the plane around the country on a tour of local airports, they sell t-shirts, stickers, etc, but the main thing is they offer rides in the plane for $600 per person. That helps to offset the costs of maintaining the plane. It's the same plane (seeing as there is only one left) that is at Quincy each year. They cut us a break and only charge $350 per person to jump out of it, becuase the ride is shorter. I jumped it last year and it is a kick ass plane. It's ashame there aren't more left. If anyone ever ends up in Massachusetts, I highly recommend visiting the Collings Foundation, they have alot of different antique planes and cars, etc, but the B-17 and B-24 are the prize possessions. The tour at the foundation is really hands on. None of the tour stops allow skydiving from the bomb bay though, you have to go to Quincy (now Rantoul) if you want to become an official "Meat Bomb" as they call it. Probably the coolest jump I have ever made.......... 'I live to EFS" Tom www.collingsfoundation.org

Thanks Jessica, I'm still flyin' high from the course.....I went there consistantly able to surf 30+ yards, and thought I was doing just about everything right with my swoops. Now thanks to the coahing and fine tuning they provided me, my swoops are now in the 50-60 yard range. It's like all these little adjustments that I never thought to make before, and now it's like flying a new canopy. Go for it, you'll be glad you did!!! "I live to EFS" Tom

I just got back from Perris and spent the weekend taking the Evolution Canopy Flight School. I am currently jumping a Vengeance 120 loaded 1.83, and this course was amazing. It was the best money I have ever spent on skydiving. We had a class size of 3 students, and we had 2 instructors, Jim Slaton and Clint Clawson. After a 3 hour ground school, where we covered everything from basic aerodynamics to the best and worst ways to approach a swoop, we then spent the rest of the weekend jumping with two of the best canopy pilots in the world. Jim and Clint jumped with us, and we basically did a bunch of canopy "dive drills" with them right beside us under canopy to evaluate us. They then spiralled down adn landed first and filmed our landings and then debriefed us on each jump afterwards. I made a total of 9 jumps with them and I learned more in those 9 jumps than I did in my last 200 jumps on my own. I can't recommend the course enough. Whether you ahve 100 jumps or 1000 jumps, they will tailor the course to your needs. If you have any specific questions about the course, feel free to IM me. "I live to EFS" Tom

I too, am a turbine slut, however I have developed quite an appreciation for jumping out of Cessnas lately. Swooping has become my thing these days, and driving to the DZ with a 5000 ft ceiling, I know the Otter will stay shut down until we see 10,000ft, so if it weren't for the Cessna going to 5000ft on overcast days, I wouldn't get in all those extra swoops, long live the Cessna!!! It keeps you in the air when the turbine's won't go up!!! (The only sketchy part for me is take off......never liked that in the Cessna) "I live to EFS" Tom

Thanks for all the info, Cinco De Mayo boogie? That's cool. Timing is everything.......lol.......I talked with Jim Slaton about the Evolution Flight School, so I will be doing that on Saturday, can't wait. I'll definitely look for the blue Infinity, I'll even dust off my RW suit and bring it with me if you'll let me tag along on a few jumps.......Thanks again! "I live to EFS!" Tom

I'm jumping there this weekend (from Boston) and wanted to find outr about hotels, if camping is allowed, etc, etc, any info would be much appreciated. Thanks! Tom

All the rigger's in the area are great, but if you have the time and transporation, you should bring your rig to The Parachute Shop at Skydive Pepperell, the rigger Don Mayer is the only FAA certified Rigger/Examiner in New England. www.skyjump.com "I live to EFS" Tom

Thanks, Tom

Okay, so it's super slow today at work, and a whuffo co worker is claiming that Dan Aykroyd hosted a show in January called "Out There" where one of the stories was about a skydiver who had a total mal, main and reserve and lived. Apparently this paranormal event was that the jumper was able to decellerate his or her body to a stop, just prior to impact. Okay, so it's WAY out there.......but did anyone happen to catch the show? "I love to EFS" Tom

"You know Bill, a few of our SOS jumpers up north seem to have revised "EFS" to mean EAT FART SLEEP..............." And unfortunately for the rest of us, it's usually all in the plane.........ha ha ha ha

You know Bill, a few of our SOS jumpers up north seem to have revised "EFS" to mean EAT FART SLEEP............... "I live to EFS" Tom

Re: "For a first rig, you want a 1:1 or a 1.1:1 loading." Just an observation, but there isn't anything wrong with jumping a canopy under a 1.1 wingloading for beginners, it's actually considered safer by most if the instructors I know. I'm not an expert, I only have 475 jumps (all made in the last 20 months), but I have jumped everything from a student 300sq ft canopy loaded 0.75, to my current canopy loaded 1.875. Not trying to be a flame, but I don't think a jumper with 70 jumps should be making a blanket statement about wingloading recommendations for beginners, especially a statement that is not accurate. 1.1 loaded canopy can maim you just as easily as a 1.7 loaded canopy. "I live to EFS" Tom