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D22369

so what is the nicest thing anyone on the dz has done for you?

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Years ago I was at my first boogie and my gear was 3rd hand gutter gear with a bazillion jumps on it, I had been saving for months to be able to jump my butt off.

the day started off awesome! totally clear skies, no wind, my home dz - tons of people and my first big airplane!! oh this is gonna be fun!!

first jump.... first 6 way ever:)
it tore another 6"....

so there I sit at my first boogie, Friday afternoon - I am done, as I figure it will tear nose to tail sooner rather than later.

to say I was a bit depressed would be an understatement - hell.... I was trying not to cry[:/] consoling myself with the fact that I got two jumps in wasn't working...

I go to turn in my tickets and one of the guys from the star dz I had jumped with asks why I am turning in tickets on the first day - I explain why, he then makes the most generous offer - he has only Friday to jump and has to go to work so I can use his rig for the weekend.... AAD equipped, brand new everything...

I was stunned at the offer, I only knew him from the two jumps we had made together.

I turned down the offer but thanked him repeatedly for it.

somehow his generous offer evaporated my depression and even though I didn't jump again that weekend I stayed and packed for others and had a great first boogie.

his incredible generosity made that weekend a great one.
Roy
They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

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I've had two. One was someone buying me an airline ticket to a boogie I really wanted to go to (no, he wasn't hoping to get into my pants). Just to be nice. That was 30+ years ago.

The other was a friend giving me her new Pilot and rig when she thought she had to quit the sport. I was thrilled to give it back when, a year later, her doctor basically said "fuck it, I give up, you can jump" :D. That was about 5 years ago.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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When I made my first freefall I was on the same plane with a girl also doing her first freefall. Because I was the big guy, the JM decided to switch the exit order when we got in the Cessna. The girls boyfriend had already gone to the landing area and ended up taking pictures of me by mistake. He still had the photos developed and gave them to me the next weekend! I still have those photos of me under a T10 and a shot in the landing area with the ripcord displayed. I have them in the "I Love Me" book along with my first jump certificate.

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Guy was having issues with his computer (he takes pics around the dz and sells them to whoever wants them).

I looked at it, and it was just all kinds of jacked up. Last Friday I went to the store, got him a new motherboard, processor and power supply and gave it back to him yesterday.

It works better now. B| He's a good guy, so I figure why not?

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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I'll share two that came to mind quickly:

1) A few years ago I was laid off from my job at a startup on a Friday afternoon. My boyfriend (we were then living in different cities) talked me through it that night, and asked if I was still planning to jump the next day. I said yes. When I went to settle my account at the end of the day, I said "How much do I owe ya?" and the DZO said "Nothing" with a big smile. I said "What?" He said that "a little bird called an had some money put on your account." :)
2) The other was after a pretty scary experience/water landing at Emerald Coast. A local that I'd just barely met invited me to come back to her house to shower, wash my clothes, use her hose/yard to wash and lay out my gear, and relax in air conditioned comfort for the afternoon to get back my equilibrium. She was basically a stranger, but I'll always remember that kindness.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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When I had all of about 35 jumps at the end of my original club DZ's boogie, one of the guys in the club won a 50% off certificate for a new Infinity. He already had gear, and since I was the only club member renting he donated it to me. Still jumpin' that Infinity 8 years later :)

A DZ.com member donated a Cypres to me that had about a year left on it.

At the Eloy Holiday Boogie in '05 people started to notice that the only thing I was eating were PBJ sandwiches (with single-serve PB and single-serve J that I had stolen from my uni cafeteria) and started giving me charity burgers :D

A couple of good friends gave me some tunnel time to start my addiction to that, too :ph34r:

I've been blessed with good friends and people in this sport, and definitely pay it forward whenever I can :)

cavete terrae.

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With 43 jumps under my belt in 1972 John Mincher said "Rick can make the eighth, he was in a 6 man last weekend". John loaded me into the Cessna with him and two others and we chased another Cessna to 10,500 and I got my SCR and SCS on my 44th jump thanks to John vouching for me and also beating me into the star. I went 3rd from the chase plane and he followed me out. It did cost a case of beer (yes, in the old days we didn't waste a lot of beer and only bought one case, besides there weren't that many people on the DZ with an SCR to participate in the ceremony) We did have two cherries on the load, as Spiderman got his SCR coming in sixth. So that did make two cases of beer.

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grue


At the Eloy Holiday Boogie in '05 people started to notice that the only thing I was eating were PBJ sandwiches (with single-serve PB and single-serve J that I had stolen from my uni cafeteria) and started giving me charity burgers :D



Yeah, no more of that shit. Especially your dance moves in the mexican restaurant.

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wildcard451

***
At the Eloy Holiday Boogie in '05 people started to notice that the only thing I was eating were PBJ sandwiches (with single-serve PB and single-serve J that I had stolen from my uni cafeteria) and started giving me charity burgers :D



Yeah, no more of that shit. Especially your dance moves in the mexican restaurant.

Listen, I can dance if I want to. I can leave my friends behind.
cavete terrae.

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grue


Listen, I can dance if I want to. I can leave my friends behind.



Your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine.:P
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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SCS292

SCR and SCS



Sorry for asking, but I am unfamiliar with these acronyms.
What are SCR and SCS?
Thanks in advance! :)
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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My first cutaway on jump 51 I dropped both my handles. It was the sunset load on the second day of a boogie, and my first jump on my new (to me) container that I had gotten the reserve repacked into the evening before . Got my canopy and freebag back the next day, and J Scrimsher gave me a D ring reserve handle and my rigger Danny Hall gave me a cutaway handle and repacked my reserve so I could get back in the air. Thanks guys! :)


As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

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SCR is Star Crest Recipient and SCS is Star Crest Soloist. The SCR is an 8 way or larger round that has to be freeflown on exit (no grips) and held for (I think) a minimum of 5 seconds. The SCS is awarded for docking 8th or later - someone please correct me if I am wrong....

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

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The list is long. From friends spontaneously crowdfunding my competition training, to being offered a lift down to florida via private plane, to riggers helping me out with custom work...

But the single most spectacular surprise ever...

It'd been a long career in wingsuit flight. I'd never been much for competing or competitive sports... but at the suggestion of family and friends I gave it a try. First year, did ok, didn't win but learned what it was gonna take to do so, and started a training campaign intended to develop an unbeatable technique.
It worked.
Second year, took home 1st place in the world's biggest wingsuit competition in Hungary. Most epic, triumphant experience of my life.

The people in Hungary throw an event that redefines "world class". I ended up on a podium, in front of a cheering crowd of hundreds, fireworks going off behind me while the DJ booth blazes away an Iron Maiden tune somebody must have noticed had some significance for me. "Wasted Years"... ascended the podium right about the time the big guitar solo hits...

Simply the ultimate rockstar champion experience of a lifetime.

When I got home I was beat up, tired, sore but happy... bearing half my own weight in gear through customs coming home, I'd arranged a ride with a close friend. Up till the last second, I expected about another 5-10 minutes of hiking to find his car and just go home.
I had no idea how many friends I had... real friends. The kind that are there for you at your lowest lows, and the highest highs of your life.
Cleared customs, came through the doorway to the main hall at Logan and walked right into an ambush.

A small army of jumpers from my home DZ organized by Rick Hough my closest brother in flight were waiting, making a huge scene in the middle of the airport, bearing colorful signs, some wearing wingsuits, and they all exploded into cheering the moment they saw me.
I was absolutely FLOORED. Speechless.
They weren't done with me yet.
They take my gear off of me and escort me out of the airport hugged so hard I don't think my feet ever actually touched the floor. And then on the way out to the car somebody jokes about the limo.
They weren't joking.

Floored AGAIN... they had a freakin' stretch limo stocked with my favorite beer out in the parking lot.
After a few minutes to collect myself, we all pile into the limo. On the way home, they put a laptop into my hands. On the laptop is a video assembled of pieces shot by the best of my friends from all over the world, some of them putting the camera up in front of their own entire dropzone and relaying massive howling skydiver-style congratulations from everywhere. Others with personal messages to let me know they knew I could do it and they'd been rooting for me from the start.

The experience was like being group-hugged by everyone you care about on a global scale. More of my worldwide wingsuit crew present either digitally or in person than you could fit in ten limos.
They gave me beer, hugged me all the way home, took me home dropped me off on my doorstep and sent me to bed.

I had no idea, human beings could be that awesome. I had no idea that many people really cared.
I will never, ever forget this.
Rick, I owe you one.

Even by skydiver standards this was so over-the-top there's just no way to ever pay it back so all I can do is pay it forward and try to take care of people as well as I've been taken care of.

Everyone else who had anything to do with it, I hug you back.
You people made an already awesome experience into the single brightest most incredible memory a bird could ever possibly have.
To this day I plot revenge. When they least expect it and need it most, I will be there, for my friends, waiting in ambush to give them a smile they'll never forget or support them when things are at their roughest. Sooner or later, I'll get my chance.
:)-B

Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

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crotalus01

SCR is Star Crest Recipient and SCS is Star Crest Soloist. The SCR is an 8 way or larger round that has to be freeflown on exit (no grips) and held for (I think) a minimum of 5 seconds. The SCS is awarded for docking 8th or later - someone please correct me if I am wrong....



Thanks for the explanation. makes sense! :)
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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And in 1972 when that happened, an SCR was a pretty big deal.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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Yeah, I can imagine, when plane were small and formations were harder to build, now the whole story makes a lot of sense.
I'm standing on the edge
With a vision in my head
My body screams release me
My dreams they must be fed... You're in flight.

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Five years of jumping at GSCPC in Bardstown, KY from number 1 to close to 1000. In all that time (once I was signed off to "self jumpmaster"), for all I learned from all those jumps, nobody ever asked me to pay for a coach jump, or pay for them to fly camera for me, or ask for anything as an organizer. It was just "hey, wanna jump? What are you working on, what sounds like a good plan?"



They say you never forget your first love, I guess the same is with your first DZ.

Elvisio "thanks, everyone" Rodriguez

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Confidence is the greatest gift. You know, when somebody of experience gives you a chance. A chance to jump with him and friends. This is why a lot of people are quitting the sport, too many little closed groups which only jump together. Another great gift is encouragement to work harder and not giving up when times are difficult like being a beginner and being unstable in free fall, or tumbling at exit repeatedly or any other problem related with skydiving.
Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

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There have been so many great people that have helped me along.

What stands out the most was when I was really struggling learning to pack and didn't have my own rig yet two people from the DZ took time one night to come out and sit with me in the packing shed all by ourselves and patiently helped me through it. They were awesome.

I've also had long-time jumpers just come up to me and include me in a 3, 4, 5, whatever way and it's always appreciated. They know I'm a beginner but are willing to share their knowledge and air time with me.

Skydivers are a special breed.

Blue skies guys.
Chance favors the prepared mind.

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I had the best sky parents ever...

I was a 19 year old punk who showed up for an IAD by myself and had no idea what I was getting into...the DZO's (at the time still married) took me under their wing and made me feel like a son...

They helped me so much not only in the sky, but as a kid...they gave me a packing job, helped with gas $ to get back and forth from the DZ, and even jumped my shitty pack jobs (Sorry Mark)...

I love you, Mark and Ashley...and everyone from FFS...everyone was so influential to me and made a huge impact... :)

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wmw999

And in 1972 when that happened, an SCR was a pretty big deal.

Wendy P.



Yes Wendy, it was a BFD in those days if like me and most of my skydiving friends, all you thought about was RW. No EFS on our minds then, just RW. The two X's over Texas was the next milestone but an 18 man was the best I ever got to before I moved on to sailboats and travelling. The fact that only 6 of the guys on the DZ had an 8-man and we were just 20 miles from Houston is telling in how rare it was in those days. All those guys SCR numbers were in three digits. Bill Newell said I had the fewest jumps for the SCS at the time. This was pre wind tunnel but I did hang out the sunroof of my buddies VW squareback on frequent trips to Valley Mills just to get the feel of the air.

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I started jumping a mid to large size DZ. I was very intimdated (still am a little) because I was a fresh off my A license. I had enough tunnel time to start sit flying, but I was doing solos.

One of the cool kids put a jump together with all the other cool kids. (little did I know, the plan was for me to fly base and let them carve around me lol). I was so nervous, that I forgot all sit skills I had learned and the jump turned into the flocking 'chase the newbie'. Which lead to me landing off.

The jumper that set this jump up actually turned a 180 from the DZ under canopy and bleed altitude too land off with me. I couldn't believe it. As a newbie, that felt awesome.

The second nicest thing was after getting my A signed off in deland, I was siting outside drinking a beer by myself. (thats not my home DZ) I am a shy guy, and had no one to talk to. This guy named John LeBlanc came up and bought me a beer. Turns out he kinda a big deal at PD. He talked to me about canopy flight for over an hour. Being a newbie, I didn't understand a thing he said (way over my head), but I keep nodding. He also offered to give him a tour of PD during a time they don't give tours because it was the only way it would fit my schedule (did do it, and kicking myself for it). And thats why there is a PD sticker on the back of my car!

3rd is all the packing tips, I have received. I have lots of people to thank for that.

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