crutch

Good vibes out of a cessna beats bad vibes out of a big helicopter any day of the week. blue skies, art

Damn, I hate these new skydiving rules nowadays, use to make the jumps after the afternoon rains more interesting! blue skies, art

Geez, you ought to drive one hour south to Palatka, I made six on Sunday. They were jumping their asses off in Deland Saturday, had an otter load take-off at 6:30 in the morning. Quit whining! blue skies, art

Yes, I would strongly believe so. Yes again, but I know a large number of strong tandem masters who use it as their primary, even when it is attached to the student harness. Yes again, and your guess is as good as mine. Although until the videoman gave him the ripcord, I think he had made up is mind to use the other one. Then again, that is just my opinon. blue skies, art

When it comes to this whole arguement, it reminds me of what my old swim coach use to tell me "opinons are like assholes, everyone has one." That being said, the only time I can ever remember in my 3000+ tandems being hit in the chin by a student...we had landed (standing up), but he leaned over with his hands on his knees like he was unsteady. I stepped around him put my arm around his shoulder to steady him....next thing I know he jumps up and starts dancing around, after of course either his shoulder or elbow got me under the chin. So should I wear a helmet....geez....hmmm....guess not! I have always given students a choice, only one has ever asked to wear one and he did. Not getting off the subject too much, but do you have your students where jumpsuits also? blue skies, art

What is this all about? And this is even more wrong! blue skies, art

Come down to Jax on the Fourth of July and you too can babysit Bobby. Give him an appletini and he is the life of the party. The best thing is you can tell him all kind of stories the next day and he will believe you! blue skies, art

Come on Bobby, I thought you were stone cold sober all night. Especially when you disappeared with that "hottie" in the women's bathroom for about ten minutes (Michael and I never told you about that part of the night did we?). Again, Michael has argued case in front of the Florida Supreme Court, why would he lie? Anyhow, word must be out that you are coming to town. Wild women are calling wanting to know where you are staying? I here John M. may be on his way back so you two can go out clubbing! On the real side, does your friend still want to jump on the beach? We haven't made any reservations yet, so she will be first in line. blue skies, art

Bobby, why did you change your avatar back, the girls weren't digging it or something? blue skies, art

This is where you and I may differ, I am doing a canopy transfer at 600', and trust me, it will be instinctive! blue skies, art

There is actually a nice picture of one of these hanging up in the building at Skydive Palatka. What made me mad about mine is that the canopy had just come back from the manufacturer after being rlined and to have a few holes patched. They also replaced the attachment point of the canopy fo the bridle. This is where mine seperated, when the drogue was released, it pulled the bag, off my bag, but then the bridle seperated from the canopy. To make matters worse, it was a brand new drogue and bridle. Luckily, everything worked out okay, but I still refuse to have the manufacturer do any work on my gear! blue skies, art

That is my point, not so sure that would have helped either! blue skies, art

Not to be a smart-ass or anything, but how would anything but a full-face helmet have helped here? I am not about to put on something with some vision restrictions (you can't tell me there aren't) to prevent an accident that was preventable in the first place. Maybe I am bragging, but if have never been hit in the chin by a paasenger. blue skies, art

When are you going to quit playing around with all my tax money and come jump with us? Maybe if I pass some of these pictures around at the beach we can get you hooked up on the fourth? Really though, great pictures as always, we are all looking forward to seeing you on the fourth! And Michael says if you can figure out how to count to a hundred by sevens, we can go to that "bar" blue skies, art

Try 280, 6'4", out of a cessna, that will make a man out of you. Hook them up with your back to the firewall, lean back, feet out in front of them, open the door, left foot out, right foot out and have fun! blue skies, art

Thank you Ron, I was going to put my two cents worth in, but you summed it up pretty nicely! blue skies, art

Geez, never thought I would be on a thread about shaving my legs, but after doing it for a few months (shaving my legs that is) this info is really interesting. Right now I am using a Mach 3 and shaving cream, twice a week. But, I must say ladies, I give you more respect than ever for the effort ya'll go through for us guys. By the way the "v" stuff is call veet and doesn't work very well on my thick stubble, but then Nair was a waste of money too. blue skies, art

My father and grand-parents were in a civilian POW camp outside of Manila. They were to be capitulated later in the year. When my dad got back to the states, he was darfted within a month (this after 3 yeras in a POW camp). My grandmother had to get hold of Ike's wife (my grand-parents and them had played a lot of bridge together when he was stationed in the Phillipines in the mid-thirties) to get my father a somewhat easy assignment (ended up in the Army Air Corps) so he could finish regaining his strength back. blue skies, art

Maybe this thread is getting sidetracked here, but part of me taking people is that they are instructed as to what that waiver actually says. What is basically says (this is summed up pretty much, but is how the judge explained it in the court case I happen to witness) no one guarenteed that the person signing the waiver wouldn't get hurt/killed. There is that chance and if you are unwilling to take that chance, don't sign the paper or pay your money...the bowling alley is down the street. We have also sidetracked into exits here and geez, the one guy is getting hammered for exitiing the skyvan funny, what's up? Hell, he has even owned up to the fact he made a mistake and will do it different next time...let's let it go and get back to talking about helmets on students/passengers. blue skies, art

There are so many factors that go into this decision that I can't vote with a clear conscience. So much emphasis is put on wing loading these days (too many desk jockeys with too much time and not enough jumps). Nobody has mentioned anything about the drop zone, such how much landing area , outs (are they tight), etc. Other factors include what kind of experience does this person have outside of skydiving. Is this person wreckless or consevative...? So... that being said, I would have had to make a spot decision based on a whole lot more info than can be listed in this forum. So, I also cannot condemn (the person loaning the rig) someone for this act either. blue skies, art

Are you talking about the tandem passenger harnass? blue skies, art

Either/or the only people I think it makes a difference to are lawyers and those of us who need to feel our roll is bigger than it really is. Older Tandem Msters/Instructors go by the former, the later was changed later on. To me it is kinda like the AOD/AAD thing. The lawyers asked that it be cahnged from openning to activation because the AOD/AAD didn't guarntee a reserve openning. blue skies, art

On this issue, my wife and I have probalbly made well over 1800 jumps together. We have a nine year-old daughter who has grown up on the DZ. Has this ever been an issue, not that I can remember! Although I have never met anyone/couple with the issuses of this thread, I am not sure I could fully comprend giving up doing anything with my wife because I thought one or both of us may be killed. We lead a very active life and because of such, we have always had a plan in place in case of a castrophe. But, worry about such a scenario would definitely detract from the enjoyment we gain from participating in activities together. blue skies, art

I am having a great week, how about you? I am just tired of people pushing their views when they don't have any really facts to back them up! Almost all of the student should be wearing a helmet issuses brought up fall back on the tandem "intructor" not doing/being unable to take care of the student that has entrusted themselves into their care. If you need to put a helmet on a student because you jump in high winds, think about it, maybe you shouldn't have gotten on the load in the first place. When someone makes comments like this, they definitely will not be taking any students of mine. Safety is at the forefront of every jump I make. If you need back-up because you think you may make a mistake? I spend a lot of time in critique of every jump I make, how to improve exits, get the student in a better position for the camera shot, make better landings, how to make it more fun, etc. Someone saying that i am unsafe because I don't have my students wear a helmet, give me a break! Just me rambling peek, hope you don't mind, but I got into this sport to have fun. I would venture to say anyone who skydives with me on a regular basis will tell you that. By the same token, if you are in the sport for the wrong reasons (because of how the whuffos look at you, to make money etc.), I will be the first to tell you to take up bowling! The day I consider doing tandems a job, you will see a Sigma posted for sale at a very low price! blue skies, art

Hey Bobby, you forget the picture, but as the admiral said "you were not very good-looking to begin with" blue skies, art