LawnDart21

email got sent back, not bellsouth business related.......?

Damn I missed alot while I was at lunch. Good lunch though. Clay, I re sent that email to the bellsouth address. You guys were busy while I was gone. LOL Yup, this definitely wins the furtherest tangent from the original post award for today. But I think overall some good points were covers and the flaming was definitely at a minimum and even constructive at times. (Except when Remster accused me sleeping with cattle, that was hitting below the belt) "The old man said, 'I've been putting roofs on houses for 30 years, over 1000 roofs in my life time..do you think the town folk call me 'John The Roofer'? No. But I f--k one sheep........

hey clay check your email.

I'm a "post S/L era" skydiver LOL, my DZ hasn'yt done S/L in a few years, I did AFF so it's all I know. so all I know about S/L is what I have heard at bonfires, from the old timers, so when you said that coaches rating is the same as S/L I assumed you were classifying it as a "no brainer" endeavor, which, right or wrong, is how S/L was explained to me at the bonfire. No offense intended on the S/L rating! "I live to EFS" Tom

Post note, all my coaching references/posts were in regards to working with prelicensed jumpers just off AFF to do actual pass or fail ISP skills dives. Once a jumper gets their license, we have a club type deal set up for newbie A license jumpers to get "coached" by more experienced jumpers, like a mentor program, I'm not involved with that part, but it works pretty well from what I see, everyone pays their own slots though. I don't really have an opinion on post license coaching requirements. I just think good judgement should be used in any coaching scenario. Okay, I'm exhausted now, I'm off to lunch !!!! Good Flights to all, "I Live to EFS" Tom

Jeez, thanks Clay! here I am sticking up for ya, and you lay this out there "The coaches aren't doing any more or less." OUCH!! LOL!!!!! I'll have you know, coaches must be able to spell the alphabelt in greek, backwards, while holding a lit match, no wait a second, that's a fraternity thing, never mind that! For the record though, coach dives are serious, involved dives. Docking, fall rate control, forward/backward motion, orbiting, side sliding are all involved. I've heard the stories about the old time static line ratings where all you had to do was be able to push (the student out the door) to get the rating, and while the coaches rating isn't exactly saving the world, it is a wee bit more involved than a S/L coach.......LOL Besides like anything,coaching is what you make it, you get out of it what you put in. "I live to EFS" Tom

Now that I've had all my morning coffee.......ha ha ha One thing I think we should also discuss here is that alot of people look at the coaches rating as a "Mini-AFF rating", they feel the coach should have superior all around flying skills, the equivalent to that of an AFF instructor. But we all know that's not the case. USPA designed the coaches rating to help prequalify future AFF JM candidates with the necessary practice to become ready for AFF. I approach each of my coach jumps as a learning expeirence, each jump I am learning more and more about becoming an AFF instructor, as that is my ultimate goal. So, while everyone is (justifiably) going to have different air skill expectations of a coach, it's definitely needs to be acknowledge that just like the student, the coach learns on each jump too, how to be a better coach. I've learned alot from the students I coach. Am I a solid coach, absolutely, I'd put my coaching up against anyone's critique, but am I an AFF quality coach or flyer, unfortunetaley not yet, but I'm getting closer and closer each coach jump I make. And that is my overall goal. So while I can certainly see where a low jump number of a coach might raise an eyebrow (certainly a valid point you raised Skreamer among general concerns), I'd jst also look at the coach as a student as well, a student of teaching, learning to teach each jump he or she makes. I mean the course has prerequites and the air evaluation isn't an automatic pass, so, to use Clay as an example, if he meets the qualifying criteria and is able to pass the air evaluations then according to USPA, he's qualified to coach. I mean, there have been a ton of posts about expeirence versus jump numbers on here, and while it's a great barometer for general ability, we have to acknowledge the possibility that there may be a low jumper out there that has the skill to coach, and in this case, if Clay has teh skills and passed the course, I say it's okay. Just my coffee induced .02. "I live to EFS" Tom "I live to EFS"

I don't think the Cypres "cutter" would be a very big seller.

As I was sifting through the "Family Planning" section of the local drug store, looking at all the different types of condoms available, I had a thought: "If Zero P fabric is so strong that even air can't get through it, why don't they make condoms out of this stuff?" Think about it, this would TOTALLY solve the downsizing too early problem..........the smaller your canopy condom, the less likely you'll be to get a date. People will be upsizing, not downsizing! "I live to EFS" Tom

Oh, and I almost forgot..... I am a shot hot skydiver!! Yahoo!!! And modest too!!!!!! In all seriosness though Remster, I get what your saying, and afetr rereading yoru post,I see it wasn't aimed at me. For the record though, I did a lot of coach jumps without video at first, so I know what I'm doing, and everyone, including my AFF level jumpmasters would tell you, I have an unusual knack for in flight recall during debriefs. From altitude of movement execution, to whether or not their shoe laces are single knotted or double knotted, I have a photographic memory when it comes to stuff like that on skydives. I freaked out my AFF Level 1 JM when I debrief the jump with her and said to her (after my first jump ever mind you......) "At 6400ft you winked at me with your left eye, twice." It's just a gift I have. LOL!!! "I live to EFS" Tom

What can I say, you caught me before I had my coffee this morning......LOL No harm, no foul Remster!

I am 6'0", 190lbs and I jump a tight Pit suit, here's my .02 cents. I fly a super baggy freefly suit and ocasionally I end up on a chaos RW load organized in the plane, so I get on with y freefly suit intending to freefly and then fly RW with teh freefly suit. A baggy suit will help slow your fall rate, but it alos takes away from your controlabilty in the air. A quick turn in a Pit suit becomes a lumpy turn and tracking tends to be slower in a baggy suit. With that said, it is possible to lean to control your fall rate, and you will as your jump numbers increase. I can match a fall rate with a 110lb girl without her wearing weights, both of us in Pit suits. It can be done, it just takes practice. So, for me, I would go with a Pit suit for optimizing performance in the air, but that is just me. I'm sure tehre a ton of good reasons to go for the a baggier swoop suit, just get as much info as you can. Good luck! "I live to EFS" Tom

Its a vengeance 120. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "I live to EFS" Tom

RE: "OK...reality check...." My decision to fly coach jumps with video was based on one single criteria. "Will it benefit the student if I get video?" The answer is yes, so I do it. I do it for free, I don't ask for any money, and I A) Checked with the DZ Safety Advisor to ask their advise and they approved it. and B) I asked the other paid videographers if they minded me doing it because in essence I could have been taking money away from them by offering to do a video for free. They too said it was totally okay. With that said, I only have 420 jumps, I'm not a skygod, but I am a damn solid coach, I fly my ass off and can stay with light jumpers as well as heavy jumpers. I'm also a videoflyer. Now as for your "the video should not be the basis for coaching" comment.......Your right is shouldn't be the "basis" andit's not, it's a "compliment" to the coaching. I can debrief a student all I want, telling him his right leg is pitched outward causing a minor spin, but then to actually be able to sit him or her down and show them the specific body posture in the air, it's an invaluable training tool. I understand your concern and your comments, but I definitely disagree with your post. As for what a coach can or can't do, according to USPA, the coach may not touch the parachute container at any point during the skydive, but allowing teh student to dock on you or you docking on them is definitely allowed. It may be different for you in Canada, not being able to dock, but that's not the case here. And another thing at what point did I ever say that I "relied on my camera" for my coaching. You've never jumped with me, so don't comment on my coaching, calling me lazy because I use video as an added tool is just plain ignorant. Nor did I ever mention it being a requirement. And yes, the coachee is spending the money for the jump ticket, so in my mind they should get the best coaching possible for their money, and if video can add a benefit for them, which in most cases it does, then they are getting more for their money. So, while you "STRONGLY recommend against jumping with a camera", I STRONGLY recommend each jumper make an individual informed decision instead of making a generalized statement based on limited information. As for me, I evaluate each student on the ground before we jump to decide whether or not to bring video. If I feel the student will fixate on the video and not focus on the dive, then I won't bring it. If it's a questionable case, I simply ask the student saying "Look, a video might help you understand your debrief, but I'm concerned you might focus to much on the video and not the dive. Can you still concentrate on the dive if I film it?" If they say yes, I'll bring it, if they question it or say no, I'll leave it on the ground. Enough said. "I live to EFS" Tom

yeah the 1,000,000 post id will look something like this: Freeflir29 (Clay) "I live to EFS" Tom

Thanks Brandon, much apprecaited. Now, if I could just figure out how to add a picture to my profile I'l be all set......LOL I'm sure I'l figure it out someday. You know when I did my coaches course evaluation jumps, my instructor "Suzy" weighed 115 lbs soaking wet. I changed out of my tight RW suit and put on that bl;ue freefly suit before our eval dives and she said "whatare you doing?" I said "dressing to match your fall rate". She said "put your rw suit back on, Ill keep up with you (now i out weighed her by atleast 60lbs) and she was right, we both had tight suits on and we flew relative the whole dive, she punched it out and I dearched like a madman but it worked fine. She wore no weights. It was impressive, she really showed me what controled bodyflight was all about on that dive. So it can be done, it just takes practice. She too used the flexxing technique to increase her fall rate to keep up with me. Here's a pic from Quincy............ I gota bunch of pics on my site www.geocities.com/skysurfer4288/index.html let me know what you think, "I live to EFS" Tom

For a "Pro Post" Rating doesn' t that require that you have 10 "accurate" posts in a row, verified by a posting S/TA on the web at the time of the posts?

Jay-Z ain't the only one big pimpin' these days!! LOL As for being a vidiot, everyone has a different jump number for starting to jump with a camera. I say, just like anything else, if you feel your ready, your ready. You'll know when the time comes. From your 4 billion other posts on here......it seems like you have your head on straight and have the right attitude, so I'm sure yo'll do fine, whenever you decide to jump a camera. Just make sure (especially if it's a make shift set up) that you have a single point release system, so if things go bad, you only have one extar release to deal with, instead of fumbling for a button attachment on each side as an example. And of course practice, practice, practice your new emergency procedures with the helmet. (I only say that last part becuase I knew a jumper that went in last year due to a camera helment/suspension line entanglement. He had a football style chin cup with two buttons on each side. That's not to say a two button system won't work, but hey, the quikcer it comes off the more time you have to deal with the mal, right? It's a distant picture, but you can kind of see the bonehead camera set up i jump. "I live to EFS" Tom

Okay, so when someone first starts posting, they are dubbed a "newbie" under thier IDs, and as the post numbers increase, IDs become enthusiasts, etc, etc, old hand, etc, and eventually they lead to the Clay status of "Carpal Tunnel" Two questions: 1) What is the post number for each title and 2) Is there any water training required? "I live to EFS" Tom

If you sit fly with ski pants, it'll take you three days to get down to the ground! The visual is too much......... we had a DZ "70's party this past fall and I was shopping in a second hand thrift store and I found this Leopard print pimp suit. Fake alligator fabric, baggy pants and a matching shirt. It made a great pimp outfit, and Its great for free flying. so i wear it on the DZ to jump in sometimes. The tandem students get a kick out of it. The whole suit cost 20 dollars. "I live to EFS" Tom

If your looking to save money on the camera, look online at [url] www.etronics.com [url] I bought a sony pc-9 that retails most places for $1200 for $999 at etronics. I never charge my students for the video, I do it as a courtesy, even dubbing it onto a tape if they have one, I always say "no money, it;s on me", and they inevitably end up offering to cover a pack job or two which I can't seem to turn down for some reason........LOL pant legs inflating? Duh, where were you when we went over "The poor man's skydiving plan?" Sit flying is in shorts and someone ELSE'S long sleeve t-shirt. (someone else's cause when you do enough jumps with it, the seems tear under the armpits and you don't want to f--k up your own clothes......LOL). Poor man head down is an old pair of jeans and a wife beater, er, um "tank top"......LOL I took the plunge and finally ponied up the dough for a decent jump suit, glad i did. I was working in Hawaii last year so I stopped by Da Kine Rags shop and Chuck hooked me up huge with a custom flame design. I fly the same with it, no better, no worse, just better fall rate control. "I live to EFS" Tom

Way to go John, welcome to the sport. Don't worry about being 50 either, it's not the age in this sport, it's the milage.....if your odometer hasn't turned over yet, your fine!! seriously though, I jump/work at Skydive Pepperell just up the road a ways from Bostonn Providence and we had 4 students over 50 years old this past season, and they are all doing GREAT. There are also a large number of "Over 50" skydivers in the area, between BosProv, Pepperell, Orange and Skydive New England, your in a hot spot for "Over 50" jumpers, all of whom are some of the funnest people to jump with. They all have good stories too! Best of luck to you, your gonna do great and you'll be thankful you decided to take the plunge. If you have any questions, or need any help, my work email is tnoonan@citistreetonline.com feel free to buzz me anytime. See you in the sky! "I live to EFS" Tom

I figured that was the case, but better safe than sorry, right? As for the coaches syllabus, here's the deal, as to what we were taught. As a coach you are not, at any time, allowed to make contact with the students rig. Even if you think the student is gonna be a no pull and you want to dump him or her out, the coaches rating allows zero contact with the rig in the air. (Every coach and AFF instructor that I have ever talked with, has said they'd f--k the rules and try to save the student if it were a life and death situation, so take that part for what it's worth). Deployments are great to observe and huge learning asset. I jump my vidiot gear with coach jumps to film the students specifically to catch thier deployments. It really helps them to see the process first hand. The only problem I have found when I do that is that if they go low, I tend to go low with them. Typically, if they open at say 4000ft, I'm open by 3300, but if they go lower, like say 3500ft, I'm opening at 2700ft, which is a little lower than i prefer. The good part about video is that I base a huge part of their pass or fail weight on altitude awareness, so I'll say, "pick an altitude to open at", let's say they pick 4000ft. Then when i video them I stick my altimeter in front of the camera duriing their deployment so I can show them exactly what altitude they pulled at. One student was like, "I dumped at 4200ft definitely." On the video, he was throwing out at 3300ft. Busted! "I live to EFS" Tom

But the tailgate would also be closed so they could fish bowl........... "I live to EFS" Tom

"I guess I can still get a second or two of HD at break off", I'm only replying to this because your going for your coaches rating and this may be some useful info to pass on to others. Going head down, or stand flying, or sit flying at break off, if even for only a few seconds, is a way, way, way bad idea. If your in an RW group and start freeflying at break off, you will drop below the others, they can and will then lose sight of you, what that means for the others you jump with is that they have to now worry abot where you are and if you are gonna open up into them. I was on an 8 way a few months ago, and a visiting jumper went into a stand fly at break off, dropped 500 feet on the rest of us and I basically had to keep him in my sights and wait until he decided to track away so I could then go in another direction. With as much restraint as I could muster, I explained to him the situation and told him it was a bad idea, and if he really needed to freefly, then cool, just to not to do it on RW jumps at break off. He gave me attitude saying (with all of his 67 jumps) "Hey, I tracked away". I asked him if he was absolutely sure that he tracked away from everyone else, and he couldn't answer me, becuase he had no clue in what directions we all went because he went low at break off and we were all above him. so, the moral of the story is do not, ever, ever, ever, intentionally go low by freeflying at the end of an RW formation, you put everyone else in danger above you. Most people that do it will say, I can still see the people above me I'm fine, but the more important question is, can they see you, and the answer is 99 percent of the time no. Wow, I am exhausted.......LOL Enough preaching for me today. I'm getting off the soap box. In all serious though, I;m sure you were just kidding around in that post abot head down for a couple of seconds at break off, I just wanted to get it out on the board, because there really are people out there that do that and put others lives in danger. Cheers and Beers, Tom