gemini

As of Monday night Tommy Thompson has been stable, but without improvement. He has not regained conciousness. He and his family needs your prayers and good vibes. Godspeed Tommy! Blue skies, Jim

Ok let's skip over the moderator part and learn from this. Does another diver on the load who is not part of your group ever have the right to spot for you or your group? What if you are jumping for the first time at a DZ? At the Ranch one fall with all the leaves changing color I could never find the landing zone until I was under canopy. I asked (even though we were going to be first out) local jumpers several times to spot for us which they never minded doing. What if another jumper thinks he saw something and holds you up? I have been on several loads where the guy sitting on the bench next to the door spots an aircraft below the jump plane after the first group has left. I think that would be justified. And then there is the situation where the red light comes on and the group in the door doesn't see it. I like to be told when the pilot has signaled to stop exiting...who knows what he has seen or heard from ATC? In the case at hand, a jumper thought the spot might be long and tried to help out all remaining jumpers on the plane by taking a quick look. I agree it probably slowed your exit a little, but what would you have done if he had immediately requested a go-around? I have done this a few times when jumping solo and the people left on the plane with me are low timers and recent grads. I always try to tell them what I am doing and why 'cause someday it will be their turn. What would really piss me off is if he would have pushed his way to the door and exited before me or my group because that would have been a serious safety issue if we were in the correct exit order for the dz. Blues, Blue skies, Jim

Kris: I started on a 210 as a student with an exit weight of 190 for a wingloading of .90. On my 20th jump the DZ moved me to a 190 (WL 1.0) and I ended up buying a Tri 175 (WL1.09) with around 30 jumps. At about 630 jumps I went to a Sabre2 150 (WL 1.27) and have over 700 jumps on it. Your progression is very similar to mine in that you will be at 1.0 with around 33 jumps which should be fine for you. IMO the winds gusts were the problem the day you were injured, not your wingloading. Landing backward can be a challenge to anyone. I agree that you should do a few jumps on the 230 or 210 to get current again, but I would not hesitate to rejump the 190 if my landings were all good under the larger canopy. See you soon. Blues, Blue skies, Jim

Call your state employment commission and explain that you worked the 80 hours and were never paid. They will investigate very quickly and collect from the employer and pay you. In effect, they make the employer prove you were paid which will be very hard for them to do in your case. In Texas the employment commission is very responsive to ex-employee claims and usually has the money in less than two weeks. Blue skies, Jim

If you get to the Exclusions section it looks like "parachute jumps" within 25 miles of take-off/landing point are excluded. Blue skies, Jim

There is actually a Skyventure tunnel going in near Space Center Houston in Clear Lake. With the deposit being made shortly after nationals, I expect the tunnel to be open 15-16 months from now. Blue skies, Jim

Boy I feel honored to be in the same group with Jay and Chuck even if we are getting on in years! Blue skies, Jim

Got maced and CS'd in the military. I thought the riot gas was worse. Every little sratch and nick on my face from shaving lit up like fire. The puke factor was fun too! Blue skies, Jim

Great pics! Reminds me of a few jumps with you when I was a new jumper! Hope to see both of you soon and Herc too. Blues, Blue skies, Jim

At the big way camp last June, Perris asked me for my logbook and would not accept the Protrac in lieu of the logbook. I had to have my home dz fax a copy of the last page of my jumps from JUmpRun which Perris did accept. As a D jumper, I had been negligent in logging my jumps for quite a while. I am now logging them again. Blue skies, Jim

Thanks for the post Quade. I saw them looking at the guys foot on the ground and thought it was a landing incident. Part of the problem may be that the correct RW exit for a diver is head down (relative to the ground) and to get big in the head down position in order to use the forward speed of the aircraft to launch you toward the base. With the normal pitch up of the tail and his concentration on going head down early, I can see how he may have caught the hook. Thing that worries me is that with all my Skyvan jumps, I have never even noticed the hook! Wonder what else I may be missing.... Blue skies, Jim

Kate wants $500. It was well worth it this year. Weather doesn't look the best right now. Hope for blue skies!!!

Turns out she has previous arrests for assaults and prostitution. Not exactly a model citizen to start with. Maximum time could have been 20 yrs for assault with an auto. With good time she could be out in 3 yrs, but I wouldn't bet on the good time. The woman trampled in the Walmart shopping episode has 11 or so previous lawsuits against Walmart and other retailers for things like slipping on a wet floor, tripping, etc. Another model citizen being protected by a upstanding legal beagle from the corporate pirates and theives. Blues, Blue skies, Jim

Renee: Sounds like you turned something bad into a lot of fun! Sometimes things happen, but in the long term end of being the beginning of something better. Be persistent in the search and don't settle for the first thing that comes along unless it is just what you want.....you know, 3 day weekends and lots of paid time off to jump.

Anyone other than RDESILETS and me going to Perris on 12/10 for the Big Way Camp? Lisa is not there this camp and we will miss her!!! Blue skies, Jim

Ontario is the one I use when going to Perris. The only other one I can think of would be John Wayne, but I think it is between Ontario and LAX. Blue skies, Jim

I agree with Bill, PhoenixLpr and SDUCoach. Someone with 16 jumps needs to be learning everything the current canopy can do and become proficient in their canopy skills period. Downsizing should not even be considered at this level and should be discouraged by the DZO. I have seen many novice jumpers rapidly downsize even with everyone around them telling them they are not ready. I really don't want to go to anymore jumper funerals or be told by EMS to pull and keep pressure on the jumpers leg. I will not sell a canopy to a jumper who is not ready for it. He may go out and buy it from someone else, but at least I tried. And don't forget that even if you have the canopy skills, you need a good measure of common sense to figure out early that you may be in trouble and need to land off instead of running back to the dz. In answer to the question that started this thread, the jumper probably just needs to buy his own gear so he doesn't have to share with other jumpers. Downsizing at 16 jumps should not even be a consideration, but could be planned for. For example get a container that will hold the 260 or 240, but will also hold a 230 or 210. Then when he is ready to downsize, it is just a canopy switch. Blue skies, Jim

Yep, PRO rated. Blue skies, Jim

Nope not you. It was guys from Spaceland. Looks like we need a new Santa suit AGAIN! Blue skies, Jim

107 sec from 21 thou at Eloy wearing RW suit. 87 sec from 13.5 at Spaceland tracking in RW suit. Blue skies, Jim

Crap! That explains why Trent and I never get along. I ski he snowboards. I do RW he freeflys. What's next??? Blue skies, Jim

:11:0 What a great weekend! I had written it off since weatherman was forecasting 30-80% chances of rain Sat & Sun. He was correct in H Town, but at the DZ we only had enough of a shower to keep the dust down, blue skies, puffy clouds, big holes!!! Blue skies, Jim

Damn, your education wasn't very good was it? That can't power it's way out of a brown paper bag. Let's see you left out Vietnamese, Czech, German, French, Polish, Italian, Russian for us and counted multiple dialects for Cali. Good send all of them on over. You gona' get left with a huge ball of shit then. No you're pretty damn godless. When you slid off into the Pacific it won't be to soon. You do the crime.... And last time I heard you've got more crematoriums than we do. Surely you don't think we burn them too as a punishment? And I'll lay you even odds Cali's got more criminals than TX. Their just on the streets instead of behind bars. You touch our flag.... Don't let the state line hit you in the ass when you leave. Just stay out their in La La land where everything is just perfect. Bet you believe the only intelligent folks are on the West and East coasts too! Typical liberal. Blue skies, Jim

boy are you off base today. It's LOUISIANA that has the woman vs indian for governor. Just like your other facts ... Blue skies, Jim

Great looking kid Rob. Enjoy it and don't blink! They seem to be little forever and think you know everything, then one day they want the car keys and think you know nothing .... Blue skies, Jim