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Dear DZ.commers I am sorry to have to bring this to your attention, but I feel compeled to clean up this sport. It has come to my attention that some of you are pulling your PUD in freefall. I truely can't understand this type of behavior in presence of your friends. I understand that its mostly the freeflyers who are PUD pullers, but some are even into RW (that means they're touching you) and some are even canopy swoopers. I heard just the other day a load of jumpers went out at 13,500 to do a cross country and someone on that load pulled his PUD. Or should I say someone pulled his PUD for that load? Anyway this discusting habit has just got to stop. Your giving our sport a bad name and think of the kiddies! Cum'on one guy was even on video pulling his PUD. Now that's just to much!! So you PUD pullers had better beware cause there is a group watching you. And I'll tell you another thing... wait a minute someone is trying to tell me something. A PUD is not what..... its a what...... OH!!! never mind!! Have some great jumps over the weekend. Bleau Skies

You bring up many interesting points. The same as most of those apposed to the death penalty. However the one you guys never seem to be in touch with is this. In this country many people who are convicted and senteced to death have their death sentence commuted to life. Case in point Charles Manson. Many people in this country who are sentenced to life have their sentence reduced to something less then. Like 20 yrs. I personaly arrested a man in Ponca City Ok for the shotgun execution of his wife. He recieved a life sentence and served just under 10 yrs. He is back on the street. Do you want these people living next to you? Your family? your kids? I truely hope your answer is no! You can't erraticate bleeding heart liberals, so you will never stop a large percentage of the prison population from getting out at some time. And no Charles Manson has not been released. However he has had parole hearings and could be released!! Where is going to go if that happens? Last but not least. The Governer or President have the authority to pardon prisoners. Its an unfortunate fact that this discresion has been abused. Look at the last days of Bill Clinton!! Well Hey its the weekend down here in the south the skies are blue the winds are right, and I'm outta here. Keep em flying. Bleau skies

Thanks PTiger I hope it was bananna creme I love that stuff. My wife said this forum was right up my Alley cause I'm such an opinionated bastard. But hey who cares what other people think.

April 19 1995 9:03am a bomb went off in the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Ok. Killing 168 people. Please don't forget these victims!!

Hey Moose you got it man. Looks great!!! Some fun eh!

Hey FFF I'm gonna have to have my dentist clip my toe nails. Man bring on them flame-proof jockies, cause I got a bad feelin, bout all this. Some fun eh!

Wow! Bitch away Sis!!! bitch away Some fun eh!

TOUCHE' 12,000 well that'll give me a lot of time to think about it.

Pammi you hit it on the head! Keys sorry but I have to say it. Buuuuuuuuuull Shiiiiiiiiiiit. There was lower production by OPEC. If not why would we need to even address any other oil producers? Russia could have just thrown their oil on the market. I'm really sorry your another one of those who believes Bill Clinton (who couldn't tell the truth to save his own ass) proof Monica. Wouldn't tell the truth untill DNA forced him to. He lied about the oil to. Buy in if you want to but I know the truth. I know where our oil comes from and how much we get. Like I said before the Oil companies are getting rich. The government is too. If you don't think the government has anything to do with it. Watch how the price of oil changes with the simple movement of US troops in certain parts of the world. As for record earnings you should see what the oil companies are going through to get there. Like buying sour crude at reduced cost. The stuff takes special equipment to refine. Also a new type of shit crude from Venizuala that until recently we didn't even have the technology to get out of the ground. As for enviromental. Yes it has a great effect, our refinery spent 40 million dollars on a new sewer system. It did nothing except protect the enviroment. No other use. Now I'm not here to defend the oil companies. Like I said they will make their 14% or more. But there is a lot more to it then that!!! Equitable Tax? I don't think so! 18 wheelers are destroying the roads at record rates, and they don't come close to paying for it. You buy a new car and you pay taxes on it at the tune of 8% or more. Why? road use. How much damage does my car due in a couple of years. If you buy a new car and own it for four (4) years you will pay about $10,000 is taxes. Even if you never drive it on a federal hwy. Where is the equity in that? Thats all taxes Gas, excise etc. You are right about one thing. Thank God you'll never see Bush doing the Things Clinton did. Did you ever hear Clinton once offer to reduce taxes to get through the period of high gas prices? Has Bush already in the 1st hundred days tried to reduce taxes. (and not just for the rich it will save my family $1600 a year and I'm a long way from rich) Wew now I feel better too. No offense was intended to anyone (except that lying bastard Bill Clinton) so I hope none was taken. If so such is life.... This is my last post on this subject, so slam me if ya want. I'm going back to day dreamin about skydiving. Ahhh bright blue skies, wind in my face, the smell of fuel burning uh.. oh.. not this again. Bye Some fun eh!

Well I know I'm gonna open myself up to the flame throwers now but here go's anyway. I work for an oil company. NOt in the upper level executive slots. I'm just the bottom of the food chain lowly refinery unit operator, turn crude into gasoline type. I don't know a lot but I do know this. First the cost of fuel is dictated by OPEC more then anyone else in the world. They decide how much oil they will export and at what price. The oil companies are going to make their profit no matter. They expect a minimum of 14% return. Supply and demand is a factor, however if you buy less every oil company will raise prices. Why? because the 14% profit figure. Now at some point you could boycott enough to make a difference but it would have to be A........LOT. And this may come as a shock to you all but the single most profit made on a gallon of gas in made by the government. They tax the hell out of gas. If you look in the UK I think they pay almost $4 a Gal. and the government tax is like 80%. Here the tax is right at 20%. Look at the fine print on the gas pump it will tell you how much tax your paying. The worst thing is the government has no investment. It cost them nothing to make that much, and they still want to rip your paycheck apart. Anyway thats another subject. Back last summer in the US the gas prices went way up. Everyone blamed the oil companies. The truth!!!! Bill Clinton asked OPEC to cut production, so that Russia could sell some of their oil. Because their economy was hurting so bad. OPEC did, they didn't mind cutting production but they were not going to loose profit. So more per barrel. Thats exactly what happened and the price skyrocketed because when you sell less you still have to make that 14%. Well enough rambling. I'm not saying the oil companies are not getting rich. I'm simply saying there's a lot more to it then that. The government wants you to focus on all the other aspects so you won't see how much taxes your paying. Zennie lemon, lime. What's the dif as long as it kills the taste of that nasty S it Some fun eh!

I own a Reflex also. So I wanted to bump this thread and see if anyone else has heard anything. I had no Idea Fliteline was going under. So if anyone has any info It would appreciated. Bleau skies Some fun eh!

Well they didn't send it out to us 46 yr old, over the hill ex-Marine skydivers. But then again no Marine would join the army even to skydive!! But I'm still insulted!! Ok 8-10 free jumps everyday!! Hey it might be worth it.Where can I get one of those? Some fun eh!

A true man of honor. I have to respect that. I don't agree with it. But I do respect him. Mountainman you and I are going to have to be carefull or we'll be starting an international incident!!Ha Ha with all the guns and the politics. Some fun eh!

So what your really saying is we need to get rid of the cell phones in cars!!! Some fun eh!

Thank You Skeamer, I stand corrected. I was thinking richest individual not company. My Bad Frank Right on both counts, but hey no fear I've never fired a shot in anger.... well except for the two times.. lets not go there right now

Well I knew I was going to start a land slide. However humble Frank GM is not #1 in America. Microsoft is Yeah Bill Gates. As for the rest. The most used word in this thread is I. As said before there are a lot of people out there that don't see any need for skydiving. Its a recreational sport and we use a lot of fuel. Now you may say we plane pool. But the fact is there is no reason to be there in the first place other then pure amusement. Now I'll use the I word. I sure as hell hope that some vegetarian, bicycle riding, save the world, grow what you consume, consume what you grow, bimbo/bimbet can't dictate what the rest of do. Or we'll all be on the beach on Sundays trying to shove some dumb ass whale back in the water cause he chased a squid in to close. Or for you inlanders you'll be out watching some bald Eagle fly around shoving it in your face that your stuck on the ground. Live and let live. As for them affecting the rest of us. Well we all effect each other daily. Your plane ride, your ride to the DZ. Pollutes the air and uses so called precious fuel. Which by the way we have plenty of. It just cost more to get it out of the ground in the US then we can buy it for from the Arabs. And isn't that what this threads all about cost? Preach what you live and live what you preach. I'm done. Except I know this weekend I'm gonna burn as much fuel as I can and love every moment of it. Sorry some times I can be a bit an ass (but of course I enjoy doing it) George W and Dick C I'm proud to say got my vote. Let the Games begin Some fun eh!

Guys Guys Guys I can't believe I'm hearing skydivers say these things. Who needs an SUV? Who needs that big V8? They probably don't need the room or that veh. For what to get around town to look cool. Well who needs swimming pools? Who needs two cars? Who needs guns? Who needs boats? Who needs motorcycles? Who needs fishing, hunting, snow skiing, scuba diving and most important WHO NEEDS SKYDIVING? by your standards no one if you don't! The beauty of a FREE COUNTRY is. You don't have to need it, you only have to be willing to work for it and you can have nearly anything you want. Your gonna have some yippie in a small BMW saying who needs a jump plane burning all that fuel just to go straight up throw some people out and come right back down to the same place. Just so some skydivers can look cool. Lets get real they have the same need for their SUV we have for altitude. They want it. let em have it! I want the jump plane let me have it! See it works great isn't this a great country!! If we start basing what we can have on needs, then we are no longer a free nation. And as skydivers we're minority and we will loose. So lets let others enjoy the freedoms of their choice and we can have ours. As for the oil companies. I just hope they keep making aviation fuel for them thar jumps planes and I'm happy... Bleau Skies Some fun eh!

This subject is really ammazing. I started jumping in 1975 and then quit for a long time, so I don't have a lot of jumps. But I do span several generations. The same arguments were going on 25 yrs ago, just different subjects. The guys who wore tandem rigs (the kind where the reserve was mounted on the back instead of a chest mount). Man they were nuts what if they had a cone lock they couldn't reach their reserve. Then there was the guys who jumped squares they were nuts too, and a bad influence jumping them radical rigs was gonna get people killed. Then the ones who went to the throw out. Were they crazy they needed to get them ripcords back and get that pilot chute out of their hands. This was gonna cause all kinds of pilot chutes in tow. and those nuts with the big jump suits what was wrong with them? Then the wing suits you better have hundreds of jumps before you try that! Them things are so dangerous. You might feel like your falling so slow you forget to pull. Then no jumps boots! Then no helments! Then the whole AAD thing. The list go's on. Skydiving is an adult sport. If you see somebody doing something and you try it without knowing your own ability then you get what you deserve. All those extreme guys have been whats made this sport what it is today. The reason we have the canopies and equipment we have. With out them we would still be on static lines jumping rounds and doing plf's, if jumping at all. you can't idiot proof the world. So hook it in if you have the need! What are people going to say about the first guy who tries to land a wing suit? Some fun eh!

Hey Ramon When were you there on Thursday? I got in two myself. I was on the first two Otter loads. I have to work this weekend, so I decided to drive the 165 miles to Spaceland and make a couple. I left kinda early so I could make the drive back. It was my first time there. What a great setup, I had a super time. I think there were 7 tandems there also. For anyone thinking about Spaceland its a great DZ. They made me feel welcome and made things easy, and man can that Otter climb! Larry Some fun eh!

Froggie I don't think anyone mentioned, but we all ZZZZZZZ out from time to time. No one wants to admitt it but hey it happens everyday. I have 110 jumps and just today I went out at 14,500 from an otter thought I'd do a little free flyin. Next thing I know I'm all over the sky. Good arch and back in control so no worries. As for the money I feel for ya. We can all relate, anyway skydiving is about fun not being perfect. so have fun hope you get back in the sky soon. I quit for a short period, 22 years later I jumped again! Please don't make my mistake!!! Some fun eh!

Hey Kirils I had an issue with Fliteline also. They really do seem to be indifferent to their customer needs. I wrote an e-mail to David Burrows e-mail address flitelin@ix.netcom.com. I told him how I felt about the lack of communication. He replied within one day and was very helpfull, so give him a try if you haven't. I don't know why they can't seem to get back to you in a reasonable time frame. I told them if they didn't answer my questions ( see thread on risers ) that I would never buy another reflex. Anyway I had some problems with line twists also but found as said earlier if I left about 18" of lines unstowed it cured the problem. Some fun eh!

We're very proud of your Dad too!!! What an inspriation to the younger generation of skydivers comming. Wow and what appriciation we have for him and the others like him, paving the way for the rest of us. If I ever find myself in the Tuskeegee area I would most certainly stop in and make some jumps. Sounds like a great party I think you've done him proud. Anyway thanks for sharing. Its always great to hear about the folks that got us here! Some fun eh!

Welcome to the sport, now get back up there as soon as you can. Cause it just gets better from here. Congrats!

Maybe the easy way to do this would be to just limit your survey to skydivers. What percent of skydivers are injured (killed) jumping, compared to what percent of skydivers are involved in an auto accident. I think we would find driving a lot more likely to cause injury or death. Some fun eh!

We don't cotton to that kinda thing down here in Louisiana. Ya just don't mess with a guys girlfriend! Some fun eh!