arlo

welcome to the crackhouse. arlo

okay. i have several used protec helmets that skyventure had offered to give to elsinore. since elsinore is good on helmets, i have them in my trunk looking for a home. i will be emailing your dzo to let them know i will send them to your dz. i'm guessing this will replenish what you had. i'm sure that skyventure will be equally as pleased to see them go to use at your dz. i'm terribly sorry about the loss of the dz and the doggies. i'm glad no one was hurt. arlo

really?

biggie bling bling in the house...

(this was the email kate sent out...also on perriscam) ======================== Subject: Thailand Day 17 Jump day 11 NEW WORLD RECORD!!! Wow. What a day. If this were a Hollywood script it would have been turned down for being too drama filled. First--to keep from torturing you--I'm proud to announce that World Team '04 set a new World Record in Formation Skydiving today. A 357 way held for over 6 seconds. Now--how we got there.... First, skip back to last night. Went out for dinner in town. The heavens opened and yet another deluge drowned korat. Electricity out all over town, including the restaurant we chose. Dinner by candlelight and a soggy rush back to the hotel. No stars. No moon. just rain. Woke up to grey soggy skies. The message board told us that we wouldn't even head out to the DZ until 8;00 instead of our normal 6:45. What's the rush. My shoulder had been bothering me, so I went with Larry Henderson to the local hospital to get some x-rays done. 360 baht (less than $10) for two x-rays. It would have cost an additional 100 baht to have them read by a doctor. I saved my $2.50 since there were doctors back at the hotel. On the way back Larry got a phone call. Change of plans. Change of venue. Pal Bergan and Roger Ponce were en route to Tok-li, an Airforce base 100 km west of Korat in the BT 26 (DC-3) on rumor of blue skies and large fields. We were to assemble the team post haste at the airport and prepare to move the show to the new airport. 400 jumpers, packers, accompanying personnel, judges, children and me. All needed to be transported to Tok Li if the scouting party reported back positively. We go to grips at the airport to make sure everyone is there. 357 people. The formation drawing is recorded and signed off by judges. We wait for the call under surprisingly cold and grey skies. We wait. Eat. Play catch. Too cold for ice cream today. Too cold for massage. X-rays show no break in shoulder--all good news. The discomfort I've been experiencing is no doubt do to 18 hour days on my feet and lack of tequila. The call comes. The field is open, safe and the skies are blue. We're cleared to move. The RTAF (Royal Thai Air Force) is supporting our event and once again they have bent over backwards to help WT 04 achieve it's goal. We load 5 Hercules with jumpers and support crew and taxi out. I climb on board plane Bravo and head up to "first class" to find AVN Bounchoy already seated--he's joining us to cheer us on. He sees me scrambling up the stairs and summarily boots a flight crew member out of a seat so I can set by him. Note this is not the same thing as him offering me his seat--he offered me someone elses seat. It's good to be a general. At the field by 12:30 pm. Skies are blue, field is large. Thanks to American cookie cutter base designs Korat and Tok-Li are virtually identical--from hangar configuration to runway access. It's safe to drop 400 people here. The load assembles for one last dirt dive at the new airfield. Cypreses are turned on, Altimeters zeroed, and the wind and landing directions are pointed out and the planes are loaded (for the third time) for World record attempt #7. At approximately 1:45 pm the exit came from 23,900 feet above Tok Li. The dive was easy to spot and built quickly and uniformly. White was the last sector to close and even from the ground it was easy to see the last dockers. The dive was perfect. We were screaming and yelling from the ground and soon were joined by landing jumpers sharing elation. One dive. That's all it took. The videos are rushed to the judges--due to rush to the new airport we don't even have tv screens, and dives are dubbed onto laptops and scored. 357 sets of grips are meticulously checked by the judges. There is a broken grip in Sector 9. A fumbled dock in Sector 3. Each time the clocks are reset and breathes are held. The BT 26 flies in with the local 4 star general to share the good news. TV crews show up. People kiss, cry, hug, pace, worry and share. Beer vendors miraculously appear and we try and keep jumpers from visiting them before the decisions are official. The decision is made to go up again. The judging process is taking too long, and we can't sacrifice our window for our second (and last jump) assuming we have the record only to find out there is a problem--the alphas--those who were not on the record for various reasons are asked to come to the dirtdive. If we find out the record is valid, then they will join us. The record was held for exactly 6 seconds--well in excess of the new FAI mandate of "showing the picture" and legal by the old 3 and older 5 second rules. We lifted 366 people for the second load of the day. One of the planes had an oxgen supply issue and the dive did not build as cleanly, but all landed safely. We load up the 6 planes again for the return to Korat. I cannot describe the mood of the team. From darkest despair--no apparent chance of a record to wild success and a new World Record in less than 24 hours. A story book ending indeed. Directly after landing at the field in Korat we were bussed to a nearby hangar on the airbase (under still cloudy skies) and were treated to a wonderful going away feast worthy of champions. i just got back to the hotel--people are heading out for a well deserved night on the town and what will most likely be an all night celebration. What a day What a story What a team 400 way anyone? bluest of skies kate

Indeed but can everyone also please spare a thought for those members of the team who weren't on the jump for reasons such as injury or whatever... good point, craig. whenever i congratulate a team for a job well done, it is for the ENTIRE team. in my mind, the entire team includes all the folks that were there wearing the suits and colors. inevitably, there will be those out for injury, sickness, bad day, whatever. no, their name will not be on the record page per se. but without the team in its entirety, they would not be where they are. i feel for kate and val as well, but they know the meaning of "team" enough to be so very proud of their teammates whether they were or weren't on the record dive. my most sincere congratulations go out to the entire world team 2004!!! you guys rock!! you guys just made the biggest thing that has ever fallen out of the sky. :) now, time to celebrate a phenomenal job well done. arlo elaine...pour me a glass, would ya?

thanks for conveying the thoughts i have unsuccessfully tried to post. you are spot on with this, nathan. arlo

first, i'm not a dude (but you really have no way of knowing that). okay, now that that is cleared up, you said: i never said that gear sales people should be responsible. and my point is that if the folks at the gear store knowingly sold a canopy that was too small to someone, shame on them. that is bad business in my opinion. if i feel that someone makes an unsafe product (h/c, canopy, altimeter, whatever) i will not relinquish responsibility because i just 'sell gear.' i will say something because of my moral obligation (YMMV)...not because i'm forced to. so giving an opinion on a gear store that will knowingly sell something to someone that really shouldn't have it is justified. i have no problem with it. conversely, giving an opinion on a gear store that exhibits good moral decisions and judgement will be commented on as well. arlo

jeff- umm, what's with the "american" thing right off the bat? i guess you're amused because we actually give a shit about other folks. don't compare me or my attitude to anyone. it's mine. don't dilute it. and you asked if i was telling you that if someone bought a ferrari....blah blah. uh, no. i never mentioned cars. i'm talking about canopies here. if you can't distinguish between the two, you may be too affected by the cold, or in the wrong sport. that aside... i don't pass the buck...jeff. and would you actually recognize a 79 canopy in the hands of someone with 50 jumps? if you think the people that are dying are only experienced ones, you should try a little more reading comprehension. if you think that my argument is that gear sales persons are responsible for folks that get hurt, you're comprehension is lacking yet again. it is ultimately the skydivers responsibility. but that does not mean the responsibility can't be shared. we're not talking binary here....jeff. i said that it is collectively our responsibility to help educate people on what they are buying. people are always learning in this sport. if customers are unsure of something or make a bad decision, i will not idly stand by and not give them advice. but maybe that's not what you're getting. maybe you're not getting good advice. i wouldn't sell someone a 218 reserve if they were jumping a tjn, either. i wouldn't sell someone a 97 sq ft canopy if they had 100 jumps and weighed 200 lbs, either. it really disheartens me to see people like yourself who think they know everything babble about shit they know very little about. it's not about gear stores being responsible for accidents. it's about the moral obligation to other skydivers to give them good information. again, i hope you're out of that loop. arlo edited to remove a shitty comment i made out of disgust. i'm sorry if i offended anyone with it.

you OBVIOUSLY don't have a clue what you're talking about. the difference between people that will sell high performance gear to someone too inexperienced to fly it and people that won't is a fucking CONSCIENCE. if you for a second think that she would sell gear to someone if it cost her the power being turned off, you are SADLY mistaken. if that's what they do where you jump, then they are doing you a disservice. so before you start spewing forth about the berlin wall and other shit, you remember that the folks at the gear store don't have to sell a goddamn thing to anyone....period. as you said, that gear store has every right to sell to whoever the fuck they want, but we also have every right to put it out there how unsafe an attitude that is and let the consumer decide. it's good to see you guys actually give a shit about anyone other than yourselves. but then again, i guess it takes all types. wtf. arlo

are you SERIOUS? you would sell a 79 velocity to someone you knew had 50 jumps? i question why some people are in this sport sometimes. please do the skydiving community a service by staying the hell away from the employee side of any gearstore or putting yourself in a position (read that as "instructor") directly influencing any up and coming skydiver. it's refreshing to see such concern for fellow skydivers. it's not always about the money. i really feel sorry for the folks that think they'll actually learn something from your "experience." what the fuck. arlo

BWAHAHAHA!! OMG i am pissing myself! bill.......you'd better run as fast as you ever have in your life. i would NOT wanna be on mar's bad side (if that's possible ).

was she wearing a cypres? well wishes to your mom.

no disrespect intended, but it's in no more bad taste than having a currently running mirage ad featuring john matthews flying on it. he hasn't jumped since his accident in november of 2000....(sorry justin). also, there are pics of the 300-way from last year up all over the place with the big sponsors (RWS, PD) on there. i'm sure not all of these 300 folks jump vectors and/or PD canopies. when manufacturers post pics of the top 3 people that win anything and advertise they win the gold and silver, would a podium shot be wrong? arlo

my love for chocolate (reputation for, anyway) preceeds me. i would probably fall over at first sight. but then i think i'd just strip down naked and wallow in it for a bit. then i'd eat my way through it until i went into a diabetic coma and died...with a smile on my face.

shhhhhhh!! our little secret. anyway, you forgot about abg#1. that is eternal.

just got this one... a edited to add the latest score.

the fundraiser has been postponed due to shitty weather. we'll try it again soon... arlo

that's exactly what i mean, though. it LOOKS alot easier than it IS. running across the tunnel floor isn't easy...seriously.

well that's cool that you at least got to try it in there.:) (generally speaking) i know that you guys are really antsy to have someone spot headdown, but PLEASE keep in mind that the instructor's job is not as easy as folks may think it is. things happen super quick in the tunnel and the instructor has to be even quicker to spot for people. please be patient with the progress of stuff in perris. the reason they are there is for YOUR safety, so try to keep that in mind. i can tell ya that i'll be quite pissed at the first person that goes in the tunnel cocky as hell thinking they don't need no stinkin' spotting. that's the person that will end up breaking their neck and it'll cost alot of people a nice toy to play in. you think PMS is bad.... our guys in orlando have months and years of almost daily experience, so you can't expect the perris folks to be there just yet.

you know...i'll make it a special point to keep my eye on you next time i'm there. waittttttt a minute. i think YOU'VE 'accidentally' done some shit FFing in the tunnel as well (now that i think about it...). a

how do you "accidently" do a backflip in the tunnel?

kate's one tough mf and will show the rest of the team what being a teammate is all about.

"i love you... you love me.... let's hang barney from a tree. with a kick and a punch..." oh wait, wrong song... xoxo OK, arlo