just a mini soap box rant.

[tunaplanet 0]

Here here Beerlight.

Forty-two

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Who here has actually seen first hand him actually doing unsafe things and not heard about them from a friend, PM, rumors, little birds or psychic visions?

Quite a few of the folks posting here and in his BASE thread in the BASE forum are from SD Houston (waller) and have seen him in form and have tried to help him.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skymama 35]

Quote

Now if TT was being dangerous to others around him, then fine, dump on him the right amount, show him his errors, but don't force him to leave the sport!

As far as I can tell, no one "forced" him to leave the sport. After all, he only got a one week grounding. Some people decide it's easier to quit rather than admit that they may have made some mistakes.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Zenister 0]

intentional cutaway with proper gear and notification = good idea

intentional cutaway with neither = damn ignorant thing to do.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[freefallfreak 0]

Well said, Zenmeister..

FFF

"Upon seeing the shadow of a pigeon, one must resist the urge to look up."

[mardigrasbob 0]

Quote

and yes, i did do an intentional at about 2,000 feet

-
If at first you don't succeed; Maybe skydiving is not the sport for you.
-Bob-
-
-

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Quote

Some people decide it's easier to quit rather than admit that they may have made some mistakes.

It's hard to imagine quitting (even after making mistakes). But I guess I'm addicted worse than others. Life for me at my DZ hasn't been all that pleasant in the last few weeks and I'm really the only one to blame. You see a few weekends ago I came close to taking out one of the DZs more talented freefliers while in freefall and ironically this fateful jump came right after I just successfully completed probably the best jump to date I've ever made with this person. But because I came close to taking him out and another one of the more experienced freefliers was also on the jump, this other person decided to spread the word to some of the good freefliers and guess who's been blacklisted from their jumps? Your's truly. So now I'm either jumping with people with less jumps than me or jumping solos (hey I've got specific dives plans for those solos, so hopefully they will pay off in the future). But I didn't quit just because someone decided to tell others about this jump gone wrong.

So if TT is reading this. Know that you are not the only one who gets into trouble. Many of us newer jumpers make mistakes as well and hopefully we learn from them. If that means getting blacklisted and not being invited on any of the good jumps, well I guess that's just what we are going to have to deal with.

The bottom line, is that I just love being in the air and it doesn't matter how I get up there and what I do while I'm there. Just as long as I'm there ... in the sky ...

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[flyangel2 2]

Steve, sorry to hear what happened to you on a jump. Just remember, we all fuck up. We are only as good as our last skydive. The karma comes around.

TT, I have met you and enjoyed our conversations. I thought you were a very nice, polite young man.

People, back off. We all make mistakes. I think that TT has learned. It didn't help that he lost his temper and came here and posted about it, but again, we all make mistakes. I'm sure he's learned when to walk away from the keyboard, and is learning more and more about a sport that can kill you.

Now I'm out of here, cause this post reminds me of a witch hunt.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[Beerlight 0]

Quote

Quote

Now if TT was being dangerous to others around him, then fine, dump on him the right amount, show him his errors, but don't force him to leave the sport!

As far as I can tell, no one "forced" him to leave the sport. After all, he only got a one week grounding. Some people decide it's easier to quit rather than admit that they may have made some mistakes.

Agree, no one is forcing him...that we know of..... It's all perception, HIS perception....on how things are evolving. Both "maybe" here in dot.com world and possibly @ his home DZ.

cheers,

Buck

[Dougiefresh 0]

Quote

Lots of negative comments about this guy.

Just answer one question for me.

Who here has actually seen first hand him actually doing unsafe things and not heard about them from a friend, PM, rumors, little birds or psychic visions?

His final response told me everything I need to know about him. Instead of doing the mature and responsible thing, which would be accepting that he fucked up multiple times and asking for help in an effort to correct the mistakes and become a better skydiver, he threw insults around and stormed out. "I quit!" Off he goes to pout about how everyone is against him. That makes him a childish punk in my book. The sport, (any sport! the world!) is better off without dangerous people who are so immature that they can't accept that something might be their problem and not the problem of those around them. If he acts half as childish in real life as he does on the forums, he's no one any of us should want around, no matter how good a skydiver. Which evidence suggests wasn't that good to begin with. Good skydivers have good attitudes, end of story. Again, good riddance.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[tunaplanet 0]

I'll take that as a no as well. Hmmm, lots of concrete opinions about a man's style of skydiving for have never seen videos nor him in person.

Interesting.

Forty-two

[flyingarab 0]

I have jumped with him, I have hung out with him, hell he even chilled at my house so that we could ride to the DZ together.

However, I still think that the other people that posted have read his posts and made their decision about him based on information he posted all on his own. No one made shit up and no one here is intending to do so.

If someone gets on here and tells me he is going to take a gun and shoot himself in the head, I do not think I need to meet him in order to realize that he has problems. Same theory applies here.

Sincerely,

FlyingArab
www.flyingarab.com

[gjhdiver 0]

Quote

this is my LAST post on dropzone.com, and as tarek (flyingarab.com) knows, when i say something, unlike the vast majority of people i know, i do it. So, hey, have a ball ripping me to pieces, i know the people at my dz love to do it. good bye.

edited for personal attack.

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

At least you'll be a statistic in the offroading community, not ours.

[flypunk 0]

Ok guys, he said his last words, let it rest at that.

For those of us who did know him, this was a try to keep him alive and the rest of us safe issue, but now that he has chosen to step out of the sport, there is no need to keep beating a dead horse, specially if there is nothing that you are contributing.

Blue Skies

...

[freeflynick 0]

Wise words, Holey One!!

(Fancy a beer tonight? Give me a call......)

.

Hobbes: "How come we play 'War' and not 'Peace'?"
Calvin: "Too few role models."

[brits17 0]

Quote

Did you cut away intentionally at 1500 feet?

Yes, and for that, 2 bottles of Captain Morgan better be waiting when I get back.

_______________________
aerialkinetics.com

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

its been nice knowing some of you. this is my LAST post on dropzone.com, and as tarek (flyingarab.com) knows, when i say something, unlike the vast majority of people i know, i do it.

Quote

Humm..

Is a PM considered a post?

I got a rather interesting one from you this morning.

As I replied to you there...

If this sport is a passion for you,
you'll work to overcome the rough spots.

If it's not, than you won't...


Good luck to you EITHER way!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[heims 0]

Quote

Who here has actually seen first hand him actually doing unsafe things and not heard about them from a friend, PM, rumors, little birds or psychic visions?

I have. I jump at SDH pretty much every weekend. I also work manifest there during the week. I was there for the intentional cutaway (which was the straw that broke the camel's back). I also had him freefall in between me and my camera man at pull time (and yes we tried to talk to him about it afterwards). And there's plenty more, but not worth discussing anymore.

Please understand that we don't expect people to be perfect. I don't think there is a single person out there who hasn't screwed up at some time in their jumping career. All we want to see is a willingness to admit that you screwed up and learn from it.

Have other's had accidents or made mistakes before? Sure, I don't think anyone has ever said otherwise, but the difference is they have taken a step back, listened to the feedback from those around them with more experience, and learned valuable lessons that have helped them to become better, safer skydivers. If we had seen that kind of response from him, this discussion would not be happening.

I wish him the best, but honestly, if he's not willing to listen and learn, I would rather him not jump at the same DZ as I. I value my life and health too much.

[Snowflake 0]

Quote

I'll take that as a no as well. Hmmm, lots of concrete opinions about a man's style of skydiving for have never seen videos nor him in person.

I would think that safety would be a much more important point then how well he flies ie intentional cutaway without tertiary rig or notification. I also notice he mentioned intentional cutaways on the baseboard last week.

I'll say this for the guys at SDH they took a skydiver whose attitude seemed to be like TT's when he was jumping at our DZ (I wouldn't jump with him anymore and I know a number of others who felt the same way).He started jumping down there and they turned him around......go figure I didn't think it was possible

I think a lot of it had to do with a change of venue. After a while people learn to respond negatively to certain stimulus from people, and then have a hard time moving past that negativity. That works both ways. The old hands groan when Mr 100 jump wonder struts in and Mr 100 groans as soon as one of the old hands starts quizzing him about what he's doing. This turns into an ugly cycle that gets hard to break because as hard as both sides might try to be objective negative feelings start to color all their dialouge.

TT if you do happen to come back and read this. Don't let your ego ruin your fun. Sit back and look at your actions objectivly then try and I mean really try to see it through other peoples eyes. Then if you feel that you might have been making an ass of yourself suck it up swallow your pride apoligize where you have too. Change your behaviour so you never end up in a situation like this again and get back in the air, or not

Just my .02

[Ron 7]

Quote

and yes, i did do an intentional at about 2,000 feet

Then you are increadably stupid.

Quote

I sold my rig with the intent to downsize, but now instead i am just going to get back into offroading

Good...you will live longer, and we don't have to deal with your ego.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Brains 2]

Quote

I'll say this for the guys at SDH they took a skydiver whose attitude seemed to be like TT's when he was jumping at our DZ (I wouldn't jump with him anymore and I know a number of others who felt the same way).He started jumping down there and they turned him around......go figure I didn't think it was possible

Excellent point John, i wouldn't have jumped with him anymore either. I have heard that he is completely different and even a pretty damn good coach now. Hey TT, try somewhere different, hell, i'll jump with ya.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[happythoughts 0]

This is starting to remind me of the scene from Airplane where a seated woman is in hysterics. An older woman stands up and says "Let me handle this" and then slaps her. The seated woman calms down and says "thanks". Then, the older woman steps aside and another person slaps her and you notice that a line has formed.

Recap:
- Person A has done things that are potentially dangerous to the level of fatal (for their self and others).
- Person A has been repeatedly warned, resents it, and refuses to change.
- Everyone else agrees on the safety issues and repeatedly posts their agreement and some mild abuse.

We are at the point of (a) coming up with new information or (b) stepping to the rear of the line to smite the horse regardless that it is deceased.

(With apologies) "Neigh... whap... whap"

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

Quote

We are at the point of (a) coming up with new information or (b) stepping to the rear of the line to smite the horse regardless that it is deceased.

(With apologies) "Neigh... whap... whap"

Lol!

Btw, the personal attack that was edited from TT's final post was from TT towards me, believe it or not. It's interesting how people choose to channel their displaced hostility...wtf?

[DrunkMonkey 0]

It would seem that TT is trying too hard to be a skygod, as shown in his childish attitude towards RW jumpers, his sense of immortality, and his unwillingness to learn. He's probably alienated a lot of his fellow jumpers.

However, some jumpers will socially shun a jumper (in the hopes of chasing him off) instead of trying to help him. Since this is only a web board, we will probably never really know the full story...

If he decides to stay in the sport, he'll hopefully start learning before he turns himself into a divot.

[lawrocket 3]

Whether we like it or not, this is a sport that DEMANDS attention to rules. It DEMANDS a healthy respect towards danger. It DEMANDS a healthy respect towards instructions and everyone in the air.

It's funny. On the last jump I made, the door was open on the second run and I looked out the side opposite the door to see some air traffic below heading right for the jump run. Some lower time guys doing a four way didn't listen when I yelled "AIR TRAFFIC BELOW" and motioned them from the door. They went anyway.

Lob, the S&TA, listened and my instructor verified it.

You know, the guys with all the ratings will listen to a 17 jump chump if he thinks he sees something wrong. The more experienced seem to listen to EVERYBODY about ANYTHING and will make reasoned decisions.

Be like the guys with all the championships - pay attention.

My wife is hotter than your wife.