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V111pilot

Rantoul WFFC 2006!

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OK, looking everywhere for comments on 2006 WFFC, So lets get it going. I was there , yes, slower than usual but a really good vibe. No BS from the town or Police, the town is VERY receptive to skydivers. Let me know what you thought. Also, I keep hearing (from local VA jumpers as well as IL jumpers... "WFFC it's crazy dangerous"). My reply- have you been there? "No but I heard" BS! I'm throwing the BS flag- WFFC IS NO MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOUR LOCAL DZ. Yes, people get injured or killed, but much like Oshkosh, allot of people show up uncurrent and proceed to do stupid things. There's a ton of landing area other than the main LZ. Not to mention great aircraft, sh*T hot pilot's and all the beer you can drink.
So, let's not let the premier Boogie go away. We've gotta JET for God's sake!
Lemmeno your thoughts! Peace.

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The Rantoul Police are great, real friendly helpful.. and they don't bother you either...no Quincy police that's another story...



I sat right next to a Rantoul cop on the jet. He was cool. Very understanding.



Peace,
-Dawson.
http://www.SansSuit.com
The Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving

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Didn’t you get the memo?? Bashing the convention is the "In" thing and has been for a while.;)

There was a long drawn out Thread over in General Skydiving that just ended up getting locked.

I have been the past three years and agree with you, But there are many here that HAVENT been in years still trying to convince everyone of how horrible it is.

The convention was great this year. Some bad weather towards the end but I was gone by then anyway.:P

People wanted the Jet Back.. Its Back.

People wanted the registration lowered.. Its Lowered.

The convention is a lot of fun if you go with a good attitude.

The convention is now a smaller and more sane place than it used to be.. And that is a good thing in many ways.

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I was there in 2004. I didn't get to meet as many .commers as i would have liked but i had a REALLY good time. I hung out with Skymonkeys, did the RB initiation, jumped loads, drank loads, partied loads. It was the shit.

I wouldn't say that it's crazy dangerous but you definately have to keep your head on a swivel, the same as any other big boogie.

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

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but the steak house sucks the big one





So skip that and go across the street to the Mexican place. It's good. ;) I have now been there in 2002, 2004, and 2006. Keeping up my unintentional every other year tradition. :D Only thing disappointing for me was the fact that SO many people I normally only see there didn't bother showing up this year. >:( That was OK..........having things happen like getting my very own skyvan for a Karnage Krew 7 way made up for it. Never gotten my own plane before. B| I had a damn good time and I'll go back.

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Yup my first and I had a blast. The weather towards the end put a damper(pun intended) on some stuff, but I was amazed at the company that put up all the big tents. They were there each day to put up replacement tents for the ones that needed it or put up the blown down ones.
I'm pretty low as far as jump numbers go and never once, not once, was I in the air going this is too much. I can mention another boogie that was worse but I won't because you keep your head on a swivel, look before you turn and land where you feel comfortable.
I also found the town was accepting. Talked with a few cops and they were cool.
I will however mention one thing that I was not happy about because I think it was pretty crappy. A friend and I went to load organizing tent 1 and asked to get organized into some rw loads. We sat there for at least an hour and more than once asked the organizer what was going on. His response was just wait around and something will start happening. Well after already waiting an hour and watching loads leave we figured nothing was happening and left. From what we could see if you didn't know the people jumping at that tent you weren't getting organized into their jump. We found a much more accepting group though than tent 1.
My advice to tent 1 would be go back to how it used to be where people signed up and you go from there. I never thought in a million years I'd have a problem being organized into a jump in an organizing tent. Ok nuff of that.

I agree don't let this event fizzle out. Free beer, entertainment every night, more lift power than you could ever want, good facilities, and lets not forget the JET!!!
Skymama's #2 stalker -

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...but the steak house sucks the big one...


You need to go to Alexanders in Champiagn. Way cool steak house. Not bad prices either.:)
Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

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For some reason, there has been a huge amount of negative vibe toward WFFC on this site in recent years. I can only conclude, after having been there for the last four years, that this is the result of a smear campaign designed to draw people to other boogies. I have never seen safety issues there that were any worse than any other large boogie or even a large DZ at peak season for that matter.

That being said, there were some serious problems with the event organizers this year. With virtually all the vendors, and the seminar presenters that normally accompany them, boycotting the event this year, attendance was WAY down. I can't imagine that anyone on the aircraft side of this was happy with then planes flying less loads. The jet was announced way too late for it to make any significant difference ( BUT WAS WAY COOL!!!!:)).

But instead of trashing the event, lets' talk about what the event could do better. I think they should start by getting the vendors to come back, having more seminars and guest speakers and reaching out to the media for press coverage that is not associated with an accident.

Just my $.02
Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

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But instead of trashing the event, lets' talk about what the event could do better



Instead of turning this into another rant thread on the WFFC, I think a good deal of the problems and what could be done better were addressed in this post.
"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

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I've been there, for going on 13 years now (missed this one.)

It's a great boogie. I've had a great time there, and met a lot of really cool people. I'll be going back, and I hope I see a lot of DZ.commers there again.

It's not the only boogie out there. There are many others that have their own vibe. Choose whichever one you like.

It's a lot more dangerous than your home DZ. Thinking it _is_ just like your home DZ can get you injured or killed. Someone dies there pretty much every year. It's not hard to stay safe, you just have to make the effort. Choose landing areas wisely, make only one change at a time, watch for drunk/drugged up skydivers, know who you are jumping with etc.

There's a lot of drinking/partying going on. Partake if you want to. Be aware other people do as well - and they are often jumping a few hours later.

So, all in all, the WFFC has some good points and bad points, depending on who you are and what you want out of it. The bad points don't make it a bad boogie, and the good points don't make it the best place in the world to jump. It's just one of many boogies.

I hope the WFFC doesn't go away. If it does, we'll survive, and another boogie - different, but just as good in the end - will take its place. Has the WFFC's time come and gone? I have no idea. Things change in this sport, and will continue to change. We'll all change with it.

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but the steak house sucks the big one :D


So skip that and go across the street to the Mexican place. It's good.



Yep - the Mexican place was pretty good.

The last time we went to the steak house some dude go so pissed he stood up in the middle of the restaurant and at the top of his lungs he shouted at the manager "This is the worst fucking steak house in the city of Rantoul, the food sucks, the drinks suck, and the service sucks!!!! " It was pretty funny.

Nearly everyone in the restaurant got their meals for free. My girl took her steak home in a doggie bag but when she gave it to the dog, she just looked up at us, turned, and walked away :D:D:D

Peace,
Z






Action©Sports

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