diablopilot

You haven't met crashtested eh? He's got "Madskillz". ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Oh. Like Guantanamo Bay. Right? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Look up the term "under duress". ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

FAR = Federal Aviation Regulations: The Federal laws that govern aeronautical activities in the US, including skydiving. S&TA = Safety & Training Advisor: A position appointed by the USPA (United States Parachute Association) to aid in the promotion of safe skydiving among it's members. HElps with education and compliance with the BSR's. BSR's = Basic Safety Requirements: A set of best practice regulations from the USPA and often referenced by the FAA to self regulate and govern skydiving in the US in an effort to keep the Federal Government out of the day to day regulation of skydiving. Also a very good set of rules to keep you alive.

I'm just wondering when he's going to get the Federal Government slapped with a libel suit. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Obviously the article has a bias, I haven't seen anyone in this thread really jumping on that band wagon yet. I will blame the White House, and Congress on this one.....but it started before this administration. The Patriot act, the increase in powers allowed to LE without oversight, seizure laws. There are some simple truths when dealing with humans. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Always. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Kudos to you sir. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

You're one of those people that thinks the Minority Report had a great idea in it, eh? Here you have no proof, evidence, or even motive to commit a crime, much less any crime committed to begin with. EVERY LEO involved in this raid needs to be striped of their badge, and duties, and face charges for rights violations. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

What home DZ? What death rate? You have knowledge of deaths vs jumps at multiple DZ's? Gary: I'd suggest you have no idea where I jump. Mara: I AM (not was) an S&TA. At-large. That means I have a responsibility that is secondary to the DZ S&TA. It is a DZ's S&TA's responsibility to file such reports, and considering in your region who it's required to be submitted to, I can't blame them for wanting to keep the information confidential. I however did submit a report of the incident you assume to know something about to the appropriate individual at USPA HQ. In person. Verbally. Check your facts kids, or this is going to be a long day for ya'll. Back to the point. When will either of you stand up and refuse to put up with gross violations of FAR's at Lodi? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Shoot it and put it out of it's misery. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

You have proof of your accusation? Mara, I've been to Lodi, I've seen first hand what goes on there, and I've talked to Bill. You and I have never met, so I'm pretty sure you have no idea what you're talking about. And if you're using your husband as a reference to figure out how the USPA works, don't. He hasn't a clue. Edit: Good grief....you're not even a USPA member? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

3 hours south of Lodi puts you not that far from Taft. Give them a shot, tell Alex I said hi. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Now what good would that do anyone? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I can see that the Congressman perpetrated a Battery, not in defense of himself even after he was under no threat of attack and had been asked by the cameraman to cease physical contact. The cameraman may have been annoying, but the Congressman really should have smiled and kept walking. You would crucify Britney, Paris, Lindsey, or any other star fro reacting to paparazzi in the same way. Stop making an exception just because it matches your political point. Edit:You wanna re-read what you just wrote? You think it wasn't the Congresman's fault that the kid dropped his cell phone when the Congressman slapped him? And in answer to your last question, yeah I would ignore it. Physical contact like that is never appropriate. I've been toe to toe with people having them throw every insult in the book at me, and it's still not justification to cross the line into Assault or Battery. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

How are you going to justify the physical contact? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Errr.... I'd say it falls more under a Criminal Battery charge. No matter what the student/interviewer said, the Congressman stepped on his own crank when he touched the cameraman. Smartest thing to do would have been to smile and keep walking. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

If you have the HC5 up top then putting the stills up top will not make much difference in respect to moving about the aircraft. From a comfort perspective I have been much happier with my stills on top after about 1000 video jumps in both configuration. Having all the weight in line with my spine is far more comfortable. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Used it this weekend. I felt bad. I scared one of the prettiest packers on the DZ. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I cannot in good conscience recommend you do learn to skydive there. To many risks associated with poorly maintained and operated aircraft. A weak safety culture. An owner who has a history of very poor decision making. That said there are some GREAT people who jump there. If you HAD to learn there, I would highly recommend Ed Pawlowski. His web address is elsewhere on this thread. He operates independently, and simply uses the aircraft there. Ed will show you not only how to skydive, but show you how to be a safe skydiver. The number of deaths isn't really a good indicator of the risk of Lodi. The were mostly experience jumpers either making a mistake or running into uncontrollable situations (i.e. medical issues). What is an indicator are the near misses that many people hush up. The aircraft accidents that are never reported. The low time jumpers that show poor judgement because they were never taught differently as students. Non rated skydivers doing AFF jumps. The shame of it is that notable people in this sport will overlook, ignore, or simply hush up violations all to save a buck or two. I'll be blasted for this post, mostly by the worst offenders. It doesn't bother me. When I can hear, without asking, of the violations and incidents at Lodi from more than 2000 to 3000 miles away...... well that says something to me. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

The aircraft were shut down for major MX and log discrepancies. They have since been allowed to fly again. Time will show if history will repeat it's self. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

I see Blue and Annie.....

That's going to be true of just about any DZ. If you gave 100 skydivers a shiney new corvette; there would be mixed reviews. Even one of the busiest/best DZ's on the planet (Eloy) has a couple of "thumbs down" reviews. So, yes, it's that simple. Yes, true enough, but very few DZ's have had their entire fleet of aircraft grounded by the FAA for 4 months. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

If you're in NY already, I'd say the Ranch. If you wanna see beautiful southern Texas, Spaceland is pretty cool. ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Inspired by every incident and a conversation between a friend who doesn't post here..... The best excuses you've come up with, or heard: I'll start: 1) "The Sun was in my eyes" 2) "I got burbled." 3) "Side Gust." 4) "I forgot my competition goggles." 5) "I had an extra helping of weak-sauce last night." 6) "Diablopilot cut me off." ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

Where are you and how far are you willing to travel? ---------------------------------------------- You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.