FallingILweenie

Then we asked for a camera to, uh, make a video from the ground about the club....got rejected there too. For Marc and the other falling Illini to go in the future, you will probably have to foot the bill yourselves. blue skies Tomas

"Do you think the doc will get amused if you jump with it?" doc: i don't understand it. every weekend, about 10 times a weekend your heartrate jumps off the charts for 60 seconds at a time...

We tried to go last year...asked for funding from the school (cuz every other freakin club gets it) but the communists said we did something that was too dangerous. and we didn't even mention the partying that goes on at dz's after dark!!! blue skies Tomas

hey Joe, Dont know what you are talking about...sunday was great! hehehe. I gotta admit that my dives were a little sloppy sunday thanks to the partying..... congrats on the gear by the way. it's sposed to be in the 50's at archway sat, and i have a fucking final exam with no conflict date....fuckityfuckfuckshitfuck. blue skies Tomas

test the theory of whether cats could land on their feet.....

A good exit to a head-down is to get out and float facing the rear of the plane. then step off the plane (dont rotate yourself) and watch the tail of the plane as it goes over you. then when you come over the hill and start to go vertical look at the horizon. as far as actually flying headdown i am just learning myself, so i can't help you there. blue skies Tomas

Back tracking to the formation is also great if you are either passing a camera guy or being passed by one...gives you optimal geekage opportunity on an RW dive. blue skies Tomas

I saw a thing on one of those believe it or not type shows that had a guy who goes everywhere with his dog (a little poodle piece of crap...i dont like the small whiny dogs, i have a german shepherd)...scuba diving...and even skydiving. he has a tandem harness for his dog that he uses. the funny part is the dog running on the wind. blue skies Tomas

I thought nice clothes were a new freefly suit or possibly a pair of Da Kine pants. blue skies Tomas

I will be in Chile, far away from the cold. I even found a dz....

how bout not doing it on the fly? convert the mp3's to cda tracks, make a disk image, then copy the cd from the disc image. blue skies Tomas

BOB ROSS RULES!

"C-172 for 2.4 hours: $167 Instructor for 2.4 hrs: $60 (Thanks for the hook up Dutchboy!) New FAR/AIM, AFD, E6-B Computer: $46 2 jumps at SD Atl: $38 Beer and pizza: $20" feeling the wind in your hair at 170 mph head down...priceless

I laughed when i saw it. I dont think anyone in their right mind really thinks a skydiver will put laundry into their container. That commercial reminds me of the far-side cartoon where a skydiver has an open container with his lines on his main leading to a piano and the lines on his reserve leading to an anvil and the caption sez something like "larry really didn't panic until he went for his reserve". blue skies Tomas

Very slow year for me (bout 90)...but 50 since late august. Up to 253. Best jumps: my 200th--8 way sit at Archway, the 6 way freefly that was launched as a 4 way line head-down that went perfectly and the 11-turned-13 way from a couple weekends ago that was hilarious. next year i hope to get a new rig, a freefly suit, camera, helmet for said camera, and a crapload of skydives. I should be in the LA area by feb or march so I will be checkin out Perris and Elsinore for those of you that jump there! blue skies Tomas

I was taught the same thing about turning your side to look up. I was told that when you look up you move your head and spill the air you'd normally be catching. It's important on those bigger ways cuz they tend to float more than, say, a 4 way. blue skies Tomas ps. Joe, you feeling any better? :)

Hey Joe, WHen I learned, what I was told is to first get comfortable in the "recliner" position (which is essentially on your back). Then just push down with my feet. you'll probably over-rotate a few times and go to your belly...it takes getting used to. It's important to relax your back or else you'll lose it. also, getting your arms out and back is important, like others have been suggesting. I know it's cold as fuck right now so you can't do this, but something that really helped me was when it warms up jump with a baggy shirt and shorts. Down at archway there are a bunch of people that you can talk to (especially now that the winter is setting in you can get more personalized instruction) that can help a lot. Jeremy and Audrey are both really good freeflyers. If Chris or Orion are ever there they are great to talk to as well but i haven't seen either of them in over a month. I'm not on any level resembling them but i'll help you with what i can when you see me down there (late jan. will probably be the next time). Marc is going through the same thing...he's been working at it and he's getting better. The thing to remember is that it does take a little time and just don't lose your patience with it. blue skies Tomas

I think Willing to Fly is also on DVD. Didn't norman kent also just make a compilation of some of his early work on dvd? blue skies Tomas

another way to avoid the wind in your face is to sitfly or fly head-down.....of course it doesn't help you when you track. Word of advice...don't geek people when it's that cold out...if you get saliva on your face it is really friggin cold. not that i know. blue skies Tomas

Nice!!! any video or pics from that???? Freeflying does indeed kick ass. blue skies Tomas

My biggest problem is my hands...they get cold fast so good gloves are a must. Over the weekend we were jumping when it was about 45 on the ground and i was wearing several layers and some thick gloves. the gloves were great for keeping the cold out but they were so thick that they caught more air than i was used to...the sitflying was easy as hell because of it but flying head-down was hard work! we shall see when it snows.... blue skies Tomas

Nothing makes me warm, tingly, and fills me with the Christmas spirit quite like Robocop. blue skies (or dreamin thereof while studying for finals after an absolutely kickass weekend....thanks to Anne for convincing us to stay!) Tomas

17,500 ft....drooooooooollll.....

red room red room, over there over there.

Nightmare before Christmas...good call!