stratostar

First of all this post IS NOT A BASH! But if your numbers are correct in 9 years you have done 5.4 jumps a year, that would mean you have NEVER maintained your currency durring that time and there for that makes you a danger to yourself and a hazzard to others, you are just current enough to become another number! There for you got a long way to go before you even would need to worrie about a WL BSR and how it would "take away from you". When someone like you shows up to jump I refresh or retrain them and watch them like a hawk and put them out on a bigass canopy 288 or better unless your were a 97lbs girl then maybe a 220 or 190,MAYBE. Go get current and stay current that might lower your risk, some. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Jeff. Welcome back to the sky! As you will find out a LOT has changed in the last 10 or 15 years in this sport, it's just not like it was in the good ol days, some things are better now but other things suck, don't leave your stuff around (unless your looking to sue for fun and pratice) And look out for the hotshot zoomies of today. Pull low and sleep with your riggers wife and you'll be OK! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

That is good, cause I wouldn't sell it to you with the jump numbers you have right now, that would irrespondsible of me to do so. Or any other gear dealer to do so. All though some would, that don't make it the right thing to do! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

"Higher performance" canopies are more fun to fly and beginner-intermediate jumpers are permitted to have fun too, not just the skygods or self-appointed canopy police (some of whom have already made insane downsizing judgement calls I'd never make and bounced). (quote) Do you want to buy my stiletto 107 it's for sale cheap should be a lot of fun for you.... ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Really, I seem to remember some models of Raven reserves blowing up. Guess that's not defective in your opinion. My point is that if it's something for the rig/main/reserve to be better/prettier/etc then sure, buyer pays up. If it's a defective/danger issue then the manufacturer should pay up. Read it again. No I'm talking about the warning lable on your rig/canopies that says "we tested this and think we it will work ok, but it might not and if you use it you might get killed"! I do get your meaning, but it comes back to the orange lable. Yes I would if it was under warranty, however there is NO warranty with your rig, orange lable thing again. BTW I didn't intend to start a pissing contest or pick on Ian in anyway. Anytime something new hit's the market if you are one of the first to get it and use it you are a "TEST JUMPER" it may take years for something to show it's self with the product, just food for thought. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Hardly what I would call defective gear! More like a change in design that might help save your ass, why should they go broke because your cheap? Did you read the orange lable on the rig or in the front cover of the owners manual? You pay your money and take your chances it's really that simple with any rig. Unlike doing something knowingly to cut corners to make a buck like some DZO's have done and do with maintaince ect. The key word being knowingly, they built the rig it passed tso and then came to light there might be an issue that needs to be changed for safety, and knowing this info now it needs to be changed, shouldn't take a lot of work to do for a good master rigger.Nor cost a lot, how much is your safety worth? ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

OK so where are all the "you pay your money, take your chance's" people? that seems to be the idea with aircraft maintaince and dzo's cuting corners in safety. So you paid for the rig and now it needs fixed, you pay to fix it! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

I would have to agree with sparky. As I grew up on a dz and when I started jumping everyone looked up to the jumpers who had been in the sport for a long time, even if they only had a by todays standards low jump numbers, after all making 200 to 300 jumps a year on rounds was a lot and hard on your body, point is it was the years of experience that mattered not jump numbers. But today I see "the me generation" comming in to the sport with a know it all attitude and showing very little respect for someone like sparky and what he would have to say because he don't jump some pocket rocket and swoop a football field with no hands looking backwards or laying on his belly, and seeing how he don't fly that way or do freeflying then he's NOT COOL! I have a very good friend that has been jumping for 50 years and at age 70 now jumps just as hard or harder then most 25 year old's. (he can fly circles around them too) This guy is a master rigger,instructor for the last 30+ years, when someone like this tells the "new crowd" what their doing is wrong,(rigging or flying, canopy control, downsizing ect) they all blow him off and act as if he is just talking shit and telling them what to do, with this attitude being backed up by some of the newer hot shot crowd instructors. Back in the day when someone like a sparky came up and told you something you listened to what the hell they had to say and took it all in because it might save your ass, these guys have been there and seen most of all of it before. There is a reason guys like sparky have been able to stay in the sport for 30 years or longer and stay alive and keep walking up right. If Bill Booth walked up to you and pointed at your rig and said your fucking up and are going to die if you don't change your ways, you would change! But to blow off some because their not someone who is as well known as Bill Booth is just foolish! We've seen them come and seen them go (some leave in bodybags) with their rush to be joe cool hot shit of the sky. Maybe I'm just old school, but the ones I look up to and hope to be like are the guys like sparky and my 70 year old friend, I would like to have as many years in the sport as they do and to have done as many jumps as possable and live to tell the storys.There are a whole bunch of punk ass kids today who need to wake up before they wake up dead! There is no real reason anyone needs to jump at a high wingloading or needs to land as fast or faster then a cessna 182, it may be fun yes but what real need is there to do so with only a few hundred jumps other then to be cool! Do we really need a BSR or do people just need to pull their heads out of their ass? ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Gee we never thought of that...... LOL, just kidding. They are split up for the most part, be it seems the zoomie hot shit pilots have a problem with that because if they can't land right in front of everyone no one will see their joe cool 270 turn and swoop looking backwards with no hands or be able showoff for the girls out to do tandems and they have to walk much longer to get to the hanger. This seems to take away from their coolness and hey look at me I'm a badass pilot ego stroke so many of these guys seem to need. So instead they whine like crybabys to the dzo about having to land so far way, when someone is going to kick their ass or the s&ta wants to ground them for their dangerous flying in traffic habits. A lot of them have no respect for others (unless your one of them) And after all it's all about fashion and look at me, in todays sport! But your right having it split is the way to go as long as everyone will play by the rules, even if you don't like the rules! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

You would be correct on both points... ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Becasue you seem to be saying it is a bad thing. First of all it not! Unless it is done in the middle of the zoomies! However those skills need to be learned and learned while a student, if done the right way it teaches flat turns and brake turns and how to bleed of alt. all are good a thing to know how to do on the dz so when they find them selfs it a tight spot landing on or off they have to skills to do it without freaking out and doing something stupid. It can also be done while backing up in high winds. With all the talk on here about how we need to have better pilot skills I would think more younger and some experienced jumpers need to not only learn but to use those skills more offten instead of being in such a rush to become a zoomie and only learn how to fly a big L so you can do it and land where you want to great, it's not that hard of a skill to learn.(flying a big L) But learning how to do it backing up is harder. Most jumpers today come right off student stats, and only learn the bare min, of the parachute preformance envelope and then carry that with them for a long time and never learn anything more then how to hook to swoop. Can you land your canopy in a packed parking lot with out a runway? Or in a small back yard with fences and power lines around it? Can you fly a canopy backwards? (not backing up in wind) Yes I said backwards, my guess would be no because you don't jump a canopy that can and haven't in your jumping as of yet. My fury 220 can and will fly backwards it can also do a 360 to left and right as well going backwards, you may not see the need to know how to do that, but it is a great skill to learn and to use if commited to a tight place on out landing area like some of the demos and off dz landings I have done , why? because you don't have to do a turn if going long and you have to fly just under the stall point to get it to fly backwards. I think a lot of low 180 turns that hurt and killed younger jumpers wouldn't have happened had S-turns not become a "bad thing" students do the stupidest things when fear sets in, like "oh shit I going long towards" (what ever) and then turn hard to miss what ever and try to 360 back in to the wind. So knowing a safe way to bleed off with out doing a hard turn is not a bad thing to know sometimes doing a turn makes a bad thing worse,like turning away from a fence and hitting power lines. I have seen just about every stupid move you can make done by students, today the zoomie are showing me some more stupid moves most of us old timers never though of and there good at it.And yes I think guys like you missed alot in your rush to learn that joe cool 270! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

What part of hanging in deep brakes(sinking) are you not understanding? ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

First I don't know to many people who jump traditional accuracy that land in the main LZ, most pea pits aren't the main Lz and for some one to whine about some who is shooting the peas hanging deep breaks is kind of stupid that is how it is done. Why should some who is shooting traditional accuracy not be able to practice that part of the sport, that is what the pea gravel pit is for it is also very good skills to have for demos and landing off the dz, the need for those skills may not be something that todays hotdogs feel they need but for those of us who do use those skills and have spent a lot of time to hone them it is viewed as an inconsiderate practice to cut off and be bitched out by the hotshot pocket rocket pilots who shouldn't be in the peas in the first place seeing how most of them can't even stop in the center for a dead center landing. I jump and will continue to jump many different canopies that all fly very different and require different techniques to fly. I jump regularly a T-10,MK-1,jumbo MK-1,russian pc, fury 220, parafoil ,2-sabre 170's and a stiletto. I see no reason to quit jumping my choice of canopies or to cut off others who wish to fly what they care too, but you won't find me trying to land my T-10 or PC with a hook into the swoop lane but you will find me parked on top of the peas with a parafoil or PC sinking it in and if that is nowdays viewed as an inconsiderate practice, well I guess that is just tough shit then for those of you who think that way! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

I was refering to traditional accuracy so you must not have done it or don't understand why people would hover in deep breaks over the peas or for that matter work the wind line before setting up to sink it in.Then again maybe you missed the part about it being old shcool and with your four years in the sport I wouldn't expect you know any better as to what I was talking about. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

yet their accuracy in traffic still sucks and they will yell at you if you have to avoid them because "i was low man i have right of way" (quote) If one is shooting for the peas, I see nothing wrong with working the wind line (before the sink) that may be to old school for some understand, so swoopers need to stay out of the peas. And what ever happend to the rule "low man has the right of way" I think it still apply's today, it you got some hotrod canopy go land some place else, I have seen more hotshots with there "joe cool moves" cut off, dive from above and behind and plane out right in front of the "lowman" some were students too.I can think of a well known dzo who was the "lowman" and now he is gone... Too many of "cool hot shots" have no respect for the slower people in the air who have just as much right to airspace and to land in the Lz as every one else! I don't give a ratt's ass that you fly a ground hungry wing that lands faster then a cessna 182, if you need to fly that kind of hot canopy then you need to land away from the lz instead of over taking everyone else so you can come screaming out of the sky for a hot shot swoop to look cool for the girls out to do tandems, the rest of us has already seen it and we don't care you can swoop a football field looking backwards with no hands, the main Lz is not the place to show off. Don't build your swoop lane next to the peas or student landing area, and for the folk who shoot accuracy stay the hell out of the swoop lane! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Yea, but in the good old days you could do that over night along with your wallet and it would all still be there in the morning. At least all you lost was a knife and not your whole rig. And today you have make sure that knife wasn't used on your rig where only a rigger will find it. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

See my sig line!

Would you take on an apprentice? Yes I would and do. would charge for your time training/supervising? Yes I would, my time is worth the money. what sort of experiance level do you consider appropriate. A willingness to learn and do things the right way without cutting corners and they wouldn't even need to be a jumper. Would you consider taking on someone if they said they would continue to work for you for a set period of time at an agreed rate? That is S.O.P. and just part of the deal for me to put in the time to train them. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

(quote) cases in the US of equipment tampering (QUOTE) Kirk Verners rig with the reserve riser cut, lucky for him he didn't jump it, bad for the dude that did and need to use plan B. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Yes that would a good place to start looking I got one from there two years ago a four ch. for 49 bucks works good. Or look on e-bay for one. As for monitors I use only two one for both the titler and MX-1 and the other for rec, I got two of the little combo's TV/VCR that way if the one I use for REC should fail I have a second if needed or for dubing something, hope that helps you out good luck. ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

I can only speak for the two I use for camera jumps and not for one that blew up. (age?) I will keep using mine for camera because I get great openings out of them both from the day I got them. With that said, there is a chance one of them could blow up and kill me, but that would apply to any canopy on the market as well, in this sport shit happends and people die for many reasons it is something you have to be willing to risk period. Do you think Chris Martin thought he would passout with line twist? I don't know wasn't there, but I do know he had at least think of all the what if's and was willing to take a risk jumping that canopy. We all do it every time we jump out of an aircraft! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

Ok, but I don't think your DPRE will let that slide. Anyway good luck and count your tools....

That was kind of my point, I met you both and known scotty for a number of years, most people love him, some hate him, but I have found you both to be nice and caring people who go out of your way to see that everyone has something to eat,drink and has a good time. I think you both would give the shirt off your back to help someone in need, so to think someone steal from you two shows indeed there are scumbags out there that don't care who they fuck over, more today then back in the day! P.S. hope you both are well.... ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

I've met some of the greatest people in the world and some of the biggest scumbags at dz's, seems to be more good folks around, but it only takes one scumbag to ruin a good day! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

It's still the same when it comes to videonics for the most part, however you can now get the MX-1 pro dv model it's not cheep but has firewire ports in and out. Search e-bay under post production editing ECT. You can use the Mx-1, MX-1 pro or MX-1 pro dv. But you need to not mess up because it in real time! ~ you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo