livendive

Do you think the public knows the details of part 135 or has any way of knowing whether their 737 pilot is properly trained? It's my guess part 119/121 ops have taken more lives over the last decade than part 105. You mean besides that whole watch & ask thing, right? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

As I said in the other thread, you could prevent ALL skydiving related deaths by increasing the jump ticket prices enough. In weighing the risks, some of us find our current exposure per dollars paid sufficient. Who are you to say otherwise? This I mostly agree with, though in most cases I'd prefer people leave the DZ en masse rather than call the feds, just because I'm no particular fan of snitches. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Agreed. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So jumpers flying in a jump plane is fine, and a jump plane ferrying to an event is fine, but by god, if those two things happen simultaneously, death and destruction are guaran-fucking-teed. Please explain how a normal cross country is made dramatically riskier when carrying jumpers. Let me guess, you'd prefer the jumpers be paying passengers in your 737. Pardon me if I'm not already reaching for my wallet. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I haven't gotten the impression they are unregulated. Rather, I've gotten the impression that *some* operate outside of the regulations. I advocate people deciding whether they want to support such dropzones...if they're unsafe and all the instructors leave as a result, the dropzone will shut down. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

When the government sticks its nose into things, the additional costs typically outweigh the gains. I'd like to think the USPA is the right entity, but not as long as they're the whipping boys of the group members. So that leaves us, the jumpers. You vote with your wallet and I'll vote with mine, and neither of us should try to extort money from the other. My family knows that *I* am assuming the risks when I climb into a jump plane, and that it is my fervent wish that they not try to sue anyone should my choice turn out to be poor. I hope that doesn't happen, but events in the last year have kept me honest about the possibility. I find my current risk exposure to be preferable to no exposure at all (due to the sport becoming unaffordable). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well you could do away with ALL incidents if you did away with all dropzones. It sounds like that's something you would endorse. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So I'm updating my student program to better mimic the ISP and am coming up with several questions. For starters, between the suggested diveflows in the ISP and the sign-offs on the 4-page A-card, it appears that the second jump in Category E is supposed to be their first solo ("unsupervised freefall") and should also involve disorienting maneuvers (suggested diveflow is backloops & frontloops, barrel rolls having been the first jump in Cat E). Is that how people are actually doing it in the field? I normally have the first solo be something pretty benign...e.g. turns & frequent altitude checks. Also, though the text says that the choice between barrel rolls, backloops, and frontloops is instructor's discretion and the same one may be performed twice to meet the passing criteria of stability within five seconds, the A-card has a sign-off for each of the three, suggesting all three are required prior to advancement to Category F. True? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I try to explain it to them when encouraging that they develop some minimal competence (as opposed to expertise) on their bellies before branching off into FF. I'm sure some get it, some humor me, and some blow me off, but I can't really say how many are in each camp. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Which is what I asked in my original question, i.e. whether children were subject to constitutional protections. (or at least that's what I meant to ask...I haven't gone back to see how I worded it). Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hello...I saw what happened when a picture of you in a speedo found its way on to the internet, and in any case, I'm shy. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hmm...I thought they needed probable cause related to a crime, not just "due process", but this is your arena, not mine. Blues, Dave The children aren't suspects, so probably all that's required is the consent of whoever currently has custody of them, in this case CPS. Under the Texas code, CPS can bring an action to "adjudicate parentage", and then the court can order DNA tests as evidence. So the children aren't suspects, but they're subject to the search and seizure. I guess I just don't understand how it works. If the cops came to me and told me I wasn't suspected of any crimes but that I was subject to mandatory DNA testing anyhow, I'd call foul, and I'd at least have the opportunity to resist in court. It doesn't sound like these children have that option...the cops say give us some of your DNA and they have to even if they know who their parents are (or at least as much as they want to). Meh, I think the whole thing is whacked. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

What he said. Breakoff is one of my favorite parts of most skydives, perhaps second only to launches which are more 3D. Pick a smart line and then beat feet...track like everyone else is trying to kill you. If you find yourself being out-tracked by others, get some practice in and work harder at it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Hmm...I thought they needed probable cause related to a crime, not just "due process", but this is your arena, not mine. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Geez, I make two posts in the thread and am already boring you. How can I make your web browsing experience more entertaining Mad John? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Which one...the one on which the bust in the lounge is based?

Just out of curiousity, do children not enjoy constitutional rights? It would seem to me that mandatory DNA testing would meet the test of a search and seizure requiring probable cause. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

I'm not convinced belly flying skills make people "better" freeflyers, but they do make them safer freeflyers. What I tell people is that they should get competent enough on their bellies that they can fly any slot on a several point 4 way and any slot on a 1 or 2 point (freeflown) 8 way. I assume that in developing the skills to do those things, they'll see a few zoo loads, expand their sphere of awareness, develop a respect for moderate closing speeds, and come to recognize their own fallibility. Tunnel rats do present a unique scenario. I'm no expert, but I don't think they can build much of a head of steam in a tunnel, nor learn how to track for their lives when surrounded by idiots. I'm guessing they'll accomplish the above belly tasks much sooner than a non tunnel rat, and still gain some valuable insight in the process. Basically I just want people to have enough experience that they know to be scared when invited on a head-down 6-way with 5-mountain dew types, two of whom have "a couple bad-ass solo sits(!)" under their belt. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

So I was reading the ISP this weekend, over and over, and it took until this morning for the meaning of something to sink in. According to the ISP, Category G is where students learn group skydiving skills. These include controlled forward motion (previously in AFF L. 4), intentional backslides, and fall rate control. Paragraph 1 in the Introduction to Category G reads as follows: Does the fact that I don't advocate teaching students to freefly make me an old fuddy-duddy? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Jeez, sounds terrible. And I was just asking...there was no need to get all pissy about it. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Error . . . cannot parse. Selecting the cuts of meat is absolutely within the man's domain. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

What is this Lost Prairie you speak of? Any fun? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

What she said. Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Because polygamy is illegal, they weren't legally married to anyone but their first spouse. If the subsequent marriages are not legally recognized, did the "crime" of polygamy actually occur? Also, I could someone making the argument that it was the legislators themselves who broke the (Constitutional) law, and that the burden is thus on them to fight it out in court. I'm not prepared to make that argument, but on a simple gut check, it rings true to me. If I pass a law stating that all black people must be in their homes by 8 PM, is it up to the black people to challenge my law or is it up to me to try and enforce it? Blues, Dave "I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew)

Well, I got the new trailer last week and we were cooking, watching a movie, and sleeping in it the same night, a hundred miles from home. Dry weight is 5600 (towing capacity 10,300) and I can definitely feel it back there more than the last one, but not bad. Current trips aren't far and it'll be mostly parked at the new DZ anyhow, but I just might grab a WD hitch before Prairie. FWIW - the trailer ROCKS. Exterior trim is kinda ghey, but all the options are very cool. enclosed underbelly w/ heated tanks & double insulation, flatscreen HDTV plumbed into 6 decent speakers plus a powered sub...gets HD over the regular antenna at the DZ and the ipod jack is handy. My generator arrived Tuesday and is sufficient to fire up the AC and a few other things or the microwave and everything else. External black tank flushing system, real couch (hide-a-bed) rather than jack-knife sofa, walkaround bed, and lots of cabinet space. It's been a week, I've towed it a couple hundred miles and spent a couple nights in it, and I still have a silly smile on my face w/ no buyer's remorse. Oh, and ladydyver and drdive bought my previous trailer (and I still need to deliver it to them), so it's not going completely away, just moving a slot or two away in the ghetto at the new DZ.