tristansdad

they have 20 likes. not much enthusiasm there.

Olav is the God of Everything. If he was dentist before why does his teeth look so bad. Because he smokes like a chimney

there is absolutly nothing wrong with the Stiletto. that guy just wanted the attention. "look at meeeee I just had a cut away"!!

Being a 182 DZ they may have not have liked seeing the days profits float away to who knows where.

This is a very interesting debate and one that deserves further investigation. Remember the CYPRESS add that showed the guy wearing the baggy hoodie? I thought it was very ironic to say the least. But in the end this sport requires everyone to take responsibility for themselves and if they choose to do something that someone else might think is stupid so be it. Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t most of the rules and recommendations written in blood? Someone will have to get hurt or killed before we say “damn he shouldn’t have been wearing that hoodie”. It’s a shame that it has to that way but humans have been operating like this for a very long time. How many people smashed their grills into a steering wheel or were thrown from a vehicle before we thought seatbelts were a good idea? I don’t think it’s wrong to wear a hoodie while jumping, it’s a personal choice. I wouldn’t wear one myself but I don’t look down at anyone who does.

Did you read the part of my profile that says US Military? Afghanistan and Iraq didn’t have any dropzones. But since I’ve been back in the states since 2010 I did manage to log over 200 jumps a year. I know it doesn’t compare to the 1200 you have but I am trying.

With over 15,000 post on DZ.com, do you really think these guys have time to go to the dropzone?

Its totally pathetic I know. I dont have many jumps so I must be careful. Dont want to have more posts than jumps.

Dropzone.com

I will bet my life that the Navy will not pay for that airport to be moved and St Mary's does not have the money to do it. I will however bet that the airport will be demolished and developed into condos or what ever real estate development the city wants to pursue. Because thats what this whole thing is about. And thats why they need to just get out of there. If they stayed all their efforts would be focused on surviving as a business instead of growing. From what I understand they are looking at moving into Statesboro. Alot of my last post was a round about way of questioning the timing of the Navy's statements. Why did they wait until seven and not make the demand at lets say the 5th?

Well it’s not so much an observation risk. I can get satellite photos from Google maps. And since the no fly zone is below 3000 feet I could still get some very good photos from 4 grand. Terrorism; maybe. If Al Qaida had a vested interest in blowing anything up on that base they would have done so by now. Plus our worst terrorist attack on a military installation(stateside) came from one of our so called own in Ft Hood. Plus who’s to say I couldnt take off from Amelia Island fly to five grand and then crash into the base. And no, of all the time I’ve spent on the base I’ve yet to see anything that resembles anti aircraft weaponry. Either by dry-dock or where they keep the warheads. Oh and unless they are armed you could drop them from the top of a skyscraper and they wont explode. For the life of me I don’t even know why they even have a base in Kings Bay. The Subs have to go something like 11 miles off shore before they could submerge deep enough to launch. Not like in Bremerton where they can untie in the harbor submerge just off the dock and unload their birds. I’m sure the Russians in all their infinite wisdom maintains a few fast attack s off the coast of Georgia and Florida to destroy anything coming out of the St Mary’s river. Oh and speaking of the St Marys river the ASF guys that have to patrol the water leading into the port would have to stay awake long enough to stop anything coming up the river. I seem to remember a few occasions when their boats floated into one of the boomers because the crew was fast asleep. The list goes on and on. Oh and then there was that time when the wives of the Tennessee crew where running a prostitution ring while the boat was at sea. The XO’s wife was the Madam. That was a while ago but still. On top of all this we have military moral in a complete freefall because of downsizing and increased deployments. And now you pesky skydivers want to land on the Submarine Base and add to all this crazyness? I’d get out of there while you still can!!!!

Have you ever served?

I really wish you knew what you were talking about.

What else is new? Every other week the board is making up new reasons for shutting the place down. This week it’s because Jay Stanford the board president thinks the DZ is too close to a military installation. First off it’s Submarines and not the military. I just finished my 20 years so I'm entitled to say that. Anyway the place has been there since 2006 and they just now came up with that conclusion? Last week wasn’t the first time skydivers landed on the "high security" base. They landed on the softball fields next to the gym, next to the commissary next to the McDonalds. I hardly doubt national security was at risk. In fact the security guys on base were happy to have something to do besides drive around and harass the sailors who double parked their car in front of the barracks. It’s a pissing match between both parties and this is just the latest in a series of thrown punches between the two. I say take the tax revenue some else and hope the BRAC shuts down Kings Bay so St Mary’s as a town will cease to exist.

Not that the "ribbon-ish" sound isnt great, I think the change in the prop sounds on the turbines as they taxi are the best!

Right on Jeff!! 17 grand is alot of effing posts. Anyway if I wasnt in Virginia I would have made that jump. How do you like your new gear by the way?

A little word of advice. Dont ever come to these forums and ask for advice on anything.

I totally agree with you. Issues like that need to be brought forward so everyone knows about it, but there is a difference between having an intelligent conversation and taking verbal jabs just to get under someone else’s’ skin. What happened in the past had nothing to do with what the original post was about. It was about an out of control airport authority board. Has anyone ever heard of a runway being considered an obstacle? The FAA doesn’t and neither does the USPA, but low and behold the genius’s on the St Mary’s airport authority board do. I know firsthand Cathy isn’t perfect, but neither am I or anyone else. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take every time I get into her plane or anyone else’s for that matter. The FAA has been at that DZ a few times and so has Jim Crouch and neither of them have ever showed any concern over the lack of obstacle free landing area. The chair of the board is the son of Jeff Stanford the one who sells fuel on the field that none of the pilots buy because it’s over priced. The engineer that did the study that the board used to site the lack of obstacle free landing area is the same engineer who was hired to move the airfield. It’s a big mess brought upon by people who only car about their own pocketbook. And yes Cathy was named in one of the ealier posts.

why anybody would call out someone by name in this forum is beyond me.

We were jumping all weekend. the board tried to over step thier bounds. the faa told them different. runways arnt obsticals. cathey isnt perfect but then who is? jeff stanford the guy who sells gas on the airfield has a son on the authority board. a blatant conflict of intrest. they have a vendetta against cathey, nothing more. they want to shut down the airport and develope the land because most of them would make a fortune. its an assualt on skydivers and our way of life.

i've learned that there are people here with a shit ton of posts.

You seriously picked the wrong place to get advice about downsizing. Most, if not all these people don’t know you from Adam. You jump at three different DZ’s so I’m sure there’s plenty of experienced and qualified folks on those DZ’s who know you and can help you make the right choice. I don’t have many jumps but I choose to wait till I had 500 before I moved over to fully elliptical. Even then I stayed at the same size. I plan to make somewhat of a living in this sport and beating up my body would seriously impede those plans. Also when you’re looking to go with something more high performance you have to take in account for the unexpected like line twist that will spin you up much faster as I found out on the Stiletto when compared to the Sabre 2. You may land off or you may have to take emergency evasive maneuvers to avoid another jumper while only 5 0r 600 feet of the ground. I chose the Stiletto over the Katana because the Katana is much more aggressive and ground hungry and my DZ is surrounded by swamp, trees, residential areas, power lines, rivers and a Nuclear Submarine Base. A stiletto has a much flatter glide and a smaller recovery arch and will get me back from a long spots. Plus I didn’t feel my canopy skills were good enough to fly a beast like a Katana. Anyway good luck be safe and please don’t become a just another stat.

I only have about 50 jumps on my 150 loading it at 1.4 and Im very happy with it. I just need to learn the fine art of flying through the openings. I transitioned over from the Sabre 2 150. I found that the stiletto can be as docile or as radical as you want. Rear riser turns are very fast compaired to the Sabre. Im no swooper so I've been doing front risers up high and i find that as soon as I let up the recovery is very shallow and I can feel the canopy actually gain altitude. At the bottom end the fair is very powerful. This canopy is easy as hell to land. The more speed I get the better the two stage flair is and this wing actually makes it look like I know what I'm doing. The thing I need to work out is the bad habits I developed putting over four hundred jumps on a Sabre. The Stiletto will let me know when I have bad body position on opening. I do get some great openings when I fly it right but if I get a little lazy it will let me know. The openings are faster than the Sabre but they are not hard. Over all I think its going to be a great tool to introduce me into the world of high performance canopies.

Art Shaffer in Palatka did around 40 trying to get to 50 for his birthday. But that was with experienced jumpers.

it was my first trip to the invasion boogie and it couldn't have been better. four planes running all day and not shutting down. very organized and safe. landing patterns were enforced and the airplane pilots were top notch. these guys love skydiving and it showed. this place was loaded with talent in just about every discipline of the sport. no wonder jumpers from all over the country and the world go there. the view is one of the best. right on the florida coast line. if you need anything there is a walmart and a publix within 15 minutes of the dz. also plenty of good places to go eat and drink up and down highway 1. Simply put a skydiving resort. my girlfriend and I camped on the dropzone just 100 feet from the bonfire. I was always able to get a hot shower and breakfast before starting our day of jumping. the staff was very friendly even while getting more than 80 jumpers at a time manifested and organized. I've been to zhills and deland. they are great places as well but I could really make sebastian a home dz and my girlfriend would agree. I did some great jumps during my four day stay and I just want to thank skydive sebastian for some of the most cherished memories of my skydiving career. you guys really set the bar.....