ianmdrennan

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Everything posted by ianmdrennan

  1. ianmdrennan
    I will - the second beer's on me! Looking forward to it. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  2. ianmdrennan
    Me too. I worry about them regardless of the rules. However new competitors need to respect their limits and fly appropriately. That means spending appropriate time before a meet practicing and becoming familiar with what they need to do to compete safely. Not a bad idea - suggest it to the IPC. I'm sure we're going to see some rule changes/revisions after running a few meets under these rules. Correct. See my comment about bad decision making. Incorrect. I can only assume you've not done any runs on the new rules yet? If you try to do what you're proposing you WILL either lose so much energy trying to keep the wing from climbing OR vertical. The angles and energy (under today's parachutes) just don't allow this approach to work. There are a lot of assumptions in that statement. Almost all of them wrong Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  3. ianmdrennan
    Hi Gerard, First, I have to say that I believe we'll see modifications to these rules, just like we have in other events over the years. I don't believe these are "set in stone" for anything other than this year. Not a bad idea. I'd post that on the IPC page if you haven't already. Tough subject. Many of us here in the US travel regularly to get swoop pond training. Even in Deland, where the majority of the team jumps, there is no water to train on. The closest is a 2 hr drive to Zhills. *My opinion* is that if people are serious about training and competing then they'll travel. We have MANY visitors from the NY area in the Florida comps - some people even travel from Hawaii!! They would definitely get wet in zone accuracy then and get a zero. I'm answering these two together because I believe they go hand in hand. No rule (besides not jumping
  4. ianmdrennan
    Hmm - Holiday Inn should be about the same distance as Econo Lodge, just in the other direction (it's my preferred choice when I get a hotel out there). As Mark says Holiday Inn or Econo Lodge are both nice. I would stay FAR away from the Days Inn..... Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  5. ianmdrennan
    The event has been tested with and without the water drag. Without the water drag pilots were still able to climb significantly because they were much tighter on the entry gate and were able to stay below the last gate with a lot of energy still left in the system, and still climb. With the added water drag it made it impossible to climb too high, regardless of power, and stay below the last gate. I've got about 30 jumps now on the new rules (in strong head/down/crosswind conditions), and I can honestly say I felt no increased risk in safety. The new rules significantly limited EVERYONE's distance at our last training camp. We'd have been going much, much farther otherwise. Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  6. ianmdrennan
    Wow - those are some crappy openings! I can't believe he kept jumping that thing. That had to hurt..... Performance Designs Factory Team
  7. ianmdrennan
    High likelihood I'll be there
  8. ianmdrennan
    A word from the competition committee https://www.facebook.com/groups/167555170013808/permalink/178360618933263/ Performance Designs Factory Team
  9. ianmdrennan
    IMO, Yes. If race plays into your voting decision, in any way, I believe it is. Racism shows it's ugly ahead in many ways. No group, that I've seen, is exempt from it though (sadly). It's a people problem I suspect is based in our tribal roots somewhere (clan wars, etc). Performance Designs Factory Team
  10. ianmdrennan
    I dunno. I didn't write the rules, and had nothing whatsoever to do with the process. I suspect though that the answer lies in my response to the 2nd part of your statement below. Honestly, after throwing myself into distance for the last 2 days. I don't believe it does reduce safety in any way. In fact, I find myself forced to make a smoother more controller approach than when I power down on the gate. Now, as far as I know speed rules are the same as they used to be (I *think* the new ones were rejected) so us competitors will still have plenty of opportunity to bomb at the gates
  11. ianmdrennan
    Very simple. The 5 foot gates don't provide a "safety margin". If you think competitors aren't hitting the tip tops, and almost skimming the water 50 feet afterwards then you're mistaken. The safety margin, IMO, come's from the fact that distance is no longer about who's willing to pop 35 feet in the air and come thundering in to the ground. There's a lot of noise by people who haven't even tried the new rules yet (there are, of course some people who have and just don't like them) Lastly, there have been a LOT of meets over the years that have been run with dragging rules at high speed (last big splash, various pst events, ranch pond meets, etc). Not a single competitor screamed safety then....... Personally, I have no dog in this race. New rules, old rules, doesn't make a difference to me in that I will always fly as hard as I can in competition. These are MY opinions. Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  12. ianmdrennan
    Got to train distance for the first time today. So far I like the rule change, and I like the new challenges it brings. At the moment I do NOT feel like it increases the likelihood of injury - quite the opposite in fact since we can't pop up the way we used to. This, of course, is only an opinion based off a very limited amount of jumps. I think I'll have a better feel by the end of this week. Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  13. ianmdrennan
    Or holding the NRA national convention in Denver right after Columbine. Many were offended by that. I wonder what your stance was on that subject... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2234351;search_string=columbine%20nra;#2234351 There you go. Performance Designs Factory Team
  14. ianmdrennan
    Hit up a friend of mine, Stewart Meacock - he's a CCI out there and I'm sure he'll help with any questions you may have. Also, be warned, they are STICKLERS for rules/log books, etc - so make sure your paperwork is in order. Even being on the team, I still had to provide a good amount of info and documents before I could jump. https://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Meacock/784699329 Blues, Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  15. ianmdrennan
    I think it's more of a sad statement on the current Republican message. If a message of hope, optimism and unity is automatically associated with Democrats then it speaks volumes about what message is currently associated with the Republicans. Regardless of political party, I would *hope* that both groups would want a positive uplifting message associated with them. The "Party of No" is starting to feel the repercussions of their actions of late IMO. Ian Performance Designs Factory Team
  16. ianmdrennan
    Don't care either way. Performance Designs Factory Team
  17. ianmdrennan
    Ok, that makes more sense (that it's live) - and that I don't have a problem with since students can interact with the instructor. Live is good, it's more the "here, sit and watch this video" I have a problem with. Performance Designs Factory Team
  18. ianmdrennan
    Jim Slaton tried that too. I can't speak to BG's course, but I don't like the idea of people trying to learn canopy control, or take a canopy course online. Performance Designs Factory Team
  19. ianmdrennan
    By fine upstanding Christian folk....... Performance Designs Factory Team
  20. ianmdrennan
    Looks like he's lying. There are some other links in that story that are making his claims not quite add up. Performance Designs Factory Team
  21. ianmdrennan
    Weclome
  22. ianmdrennan
    Sorry to hear that. Haven't seen her in years, but she was a SDA staple. Performance Designs Factory Team
  23. ianmdrennan
    Actually, it does help people who don't pack carefully enough to keep their slider in place - and you'd be surprised how many of those there are. So, maybe it DOES work for them Performance Designs Factory Team
  24. ianmdrennan
    Now there's a Republican candidate that would have a high likelihood of my vote (Colin Powell) Performance Designs Factory Team
  25. ianmdrennan
    On the Competition Velocity, yes. I don't know if the regular ones now have them too Performance Designs Factory Team