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PaulsProudSis

The Kansas City Skydiving Center

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I have been sitting back and watching in utter disbelief for too long now regarding the antics surrounding the birth of my brother’s drop zone.

Let me go back a ways and tell you all what an amazing person my brother is.

Even though he is my little brother, he has always looked after and protected me in anyway that he could.

This is his nature. He is like this with everyone he comes into contact with.

If you know him, or have had the pleasure of meeting him, then you know exactly what I am talking about.

Another thing that my brother is - is more passionate than anyone I have ever met.

This passion blossomed when he discovered skydiving. I have never witnessed someone take to something the way he took to this sport.

It completely took a hold of every fiber of his being.

He focused virtually all of his time and energy in learning every aspect of this sport.

In what seemed like overnight his new found passion turned into a growing career.

He began learning the skills needed to be a videographer, packed up his bags leaving the place he grew up, Kansas City, and moved to New Jersey landing a job at Skydive Cross Keys.

Within months he was filming skydiving footage for CNN, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, National Geographic Channel, and The David Letterman Show.

I was absolutely amazed and so proud of what my little brother had accomplished.

During this time period, he had also relocated during the winters to work at a drop zone in Las Vegas where he learned to fly airplanes.

It was also at Cross Keys where he met someone as driven and passionate as him, his wife Joanna.

With the two of them as a team, and skydiving as one of their deepest bonds, they naturally wanted to take it to the next level.

For them, they wanted to see the birth of their own child, in this case being a drop zone that they created together.

They both decided to come back to where my brother truly called home to open their drop zone. They found the perfect location in Harrisonville.

They had wonderful encounters with James, the manager of the airport where they are currently located.

James was very excited about the prospect of Paul and Jo opening their drop zone there. He wanted to lease them the main hangar at the airport.

Everything seemed to be going great for them.

Then out of courtesy, Paul contacted some of the surrounding drop zones to let them know that he was planning on opening a drop zone in Harrisonville and that he wanted to work with them so that everyone would benefit.

Some drop zones gave Paul and Jo their blessings and were happy to work in harmony with them, while others took another path.

Instead of getting back the same courteous gesture that Paul had put forth, these people began to show the worst in humanity that I have personally witnessed.

People from a select few other drop zones sabotaged the new dropzone's image by going door to door in Harrisonville, posing as concerned citizens distributing pamphlets about the sport of skydiving that made it seem like a sport for only the lowest degenerates of society.

They even had the nerve to put flyers on people’s cars while they attended a funeral.

I learned this from one of the alderman addressing the man who calls himself jumper410 as he ripped apart my brother and the sport of skydiving at a city council meeting.

That meeting was recorded so I encourage anyone interested to obtain a copy of what was said.

At this meeting, I watched Tommy Dolphin and Chris Hall, both dropzone owners in the KC area;
completely rip apart the safety of skydiving.

Chris Hall told the alderman that about 15-20 percent of his jumpers land off the airport, and that the city could expect higher numbers at Paul's drop zone due to the "small" landing area.

Mr. Dolphin told the council that he, like virtually all drop zone owners, had no insurance so even if someone tripped on the ground he could not be held liable.

They then went on about a horrific skydiving accident in Independence, Missouri that claimed the lives of skydivers, and that the same thing would happen in Harrisonville if my brother were allowed to open a drop zone there.

He very strongly encouraged the city of Harrisonville to add an insurance requirement to their lease that he knew was unobtainable.

What these people said through their words and the pamphlets to the citizens of Harrisonville gave them a morbidly distorted perception of the sport of skydiving and completely freaked them out.

These despicable antics worked for now and Paul was denied the lease to the hangar at the airport due to the pleas from Mr. Dolphin and Mr. Hall.

This by the way is the facility that was described on my brother’s website, which was created when the hangar was virtually guaranteed to them.

This brings me to some of the most disgraceful aspects in human nature possible.

This guy, Jumper 410, who has tried everything to sabotage my brother’s dream, has the nerve to than talk about ethics in Kansas City and the falsities on my brother’s website when he was one of the main players in preventing the lease to go through.

Within weeks of my brother opening his drop zone, he was denied the lease to the hangar, had to purchase his own land so he could still operate, book a new plane because an “anonymous” source called and told the original plane owner that his plane would be compromised if it was leased to my brother,

then find a new plane, completely restructure how he would be able to setup the drop zone, buy a tent, RV, and place of operations all within weeks of opening day.

On top of this, during this period, we lost our grandfather and spent nearly a week in Iowa mourning with our family.

Well despite all of these obstacles, he managed to get his operations off the ground in such a short amount of time.
After all of this who can blame him for not having the time to get his website updated?

The bottom line is Jumper 410 and his cronies are in the truest sense evil, and have put a dark cloud over and completely smeared the sport of skydiving.

Everyone involved with that should be ashamed!!

Enough is enough!!!

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I guess there is no rest over this whatsoever. Since my name has been mentioned here multiple times, clarification and rebuttal must be made.

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People from a select few other drop zones sabotaged the new dropzone's image by going door to door in Harrisonville, posing as concerned citizens distributing pamphlets about the sport of skydiving that made it seem like a sport for only the lowest degenerates of society.

They even had the nerve to put flyers on people’s cars while they attended a funeral.

I learned this from one of the alderman addressing the man who calls himself jumper410 as he ripped apart my brother and the sport of skydiving at a city council meeting.



This wasn’t me. I had nothing to do with flyers anywhere. The only thing I have done in this was attend ONE council meeting. No letters, no phone calls, one meeting and I will back everything I said In my four minutes allotted. I have never anywhere personally attacked your brother, only his actions. I did not “tear” anyone’s ass. I spoke of why I thought this was a bad idea and referenced what happened in the area in the past and its dramatic, lasting effects. I also refuted the most unbelievable line shit that came from Ed Scott, our paid USPA representative, I have ever witnessed. I addressed some things he said in my presentation because it was USPA that stood idly by and let the DZ in Independence continue with their horrible actions despite multiple complaints for three years and they did nothing even though they witnessed themselves all the violations of BSR’s and FAR’s at an AFF Cert. course they had once. I might also note that DZO never got his AFF rating either. Then Ed Scott is standing at the meeting telling the council how one way they could improve the new DZ’s situation and control over them operating safely was to require USPA membership. He said that if BSR’s were broken that USPA would do something about it. That’s BS. That’s when I looked over to Ed Scott and called him out on the carpet over them not doing anything about Independence. We ARE supposed to LEARN from history and NOT make the same stupid mistakes. My argument was and still is that I felt the new DZO’s needed more experience and ratings to pull this off safely. Don’t make me out to be “evil” for that. Also despite their family loss, that sucks, I had two over the holidays, that doesn’t change the way the DZ promoted itself.

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his guy, Jumper 410, who has tried everything to sabotage my brother’s dream, has the nerve to than talk about ethics in Kansas City and the falsities on my brother’s website when he was one of the main players in preventing the lease to go through.



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Within weeks of my brother opening his drop zone, he was denied the lease to the hangar, had to purchase his own land so he could still operate, book a new plane because an “anonymous” source called and told the original plane owner that his plane would be compromised if it was leased to my brother,



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The bottom line is Jumper 410 and his cronies are in the truest sense evil, and have put a dark cloud over and completely smeared the sport of skydiving.



I’m not “his guy.” Don’t tell everyone “I did everything” to “sabotage” your brother dream. I did not. I laid everything I had out on the table here and that was all I did. You are doing the same smearing me in the mud saying I dogged skydivers and skydiving. I am a skydiver and I have given a lot to the sport by giving people the best times of their lives and creating new skydivers and having a great time with a lot of great people all over the country. I don’t appreciate this slanted view and personal attack on me when I never attacked your brother. Just the way they went about what they did.

BTW: I didn’t see any other video cameras in the meeting, but I had one and a tape recorder. I also I have most of it on tape. I had no way to know that the meeting was going to be so long or what was coming up next in it so I had to make choices on the fly about when to start and stop recording. I only had one DV tape and one micro-cassette. In some areas, I switched from camera and went to audio cassette and back again to just try and best use the limited resources I had with me.

Me and my “cronies” never “smeared” skydiving and skydivers. We presented facts about it. And I am one person, not all of MRVS. We have a great group of people at this DZ and I am not representing their views. We did have a great turnout for our events the past three weekends and everyone had fun. And guess what, the conversations around the campfire weren’t about Harrisonville but about the fun everyone had and the great BBQ and telling old fun jump stories. Anyone saying they don’t want to come here now is making a mistake and missing out on meeting a bunch of good people. Don’t judge everyone else here just because you dis-agree with me and if you do, that’s your narrow mindedness.

Your brother didn’t do a very good job looking into this. Harrisonville is not a prime location. With the proximities and Life Flight Eagle there and the already previous history with the City and skydiving (throwing the previous DZ off for not having the unattainable insurance before) why would he pick that airport is beyond me? Maybe Dolphin did you all favor by forcing you to buy that other property so they can’t pull the rug out from under you later like they did Dana (former owner of Horizon Skydiving Center) ten years ago. Consider that.

Don’t portray all of MRVS and the Hall’s as evil. They are not! Tom has done a huge, HUGE amount for skydivers and skydiving. He has a legitimate stake in this and legitimate reasons for bringing into the picture valid points to be considered.

Your brother really should have, in my opinion, continue his dream by getting that DZ experience and the appropriate ratings and some experience with them before jumping into opening a large DZ operation. Camera jumps just aren’t enough.

Great dream, nice story. But get clear facts and understand or hear the other side.

I am NOT an enemy of the sport I do love. I knew the people with the exception of the tandem passenger that died on that fateful flight in Independence. My sister was manifested on the next load before the crash too.

Look, your brother simply did not come into this big venture really prepared. It takes a lot more than a big airplane and a landing area to make a big DZ. Where was the comprehensive plan at addressing this. I talked to 5 members of the Life Flight operation in person, firsthand. They were there the opening day and they said “it was a circus.” No crowd control, kids riding bicycles on the taxi-ways, no spectator control and the Otter was dominating the airport taking off downwind, dis-obeying that airports common procedures, blocking that only taxi-way for other pilots to taxi out the whole time. This is an example of not having things under control or a plan to deal with this. Kids should not have been riding bikes around the airport. And there really is no insurance to cover general liability for skydiving, that was true. That’s why MRVS owns the whole airport.

You are now being evil for making one-sided accusations about things that you don’t have all the info on. Were you at the meeting I was at or….?

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Enough is enough!!!



YOU GOT IT!!

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Welcome to skydiving, you will meet some of the greatest people in the world, as well as some of the lowest of the low lifes.

To everyone on both sides,

While we do teach people to face in to the wind,
doing so while pissing, is not recommended.

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Everyone involved with that should be ashamed!!

Enough is enough!!!



Your right, live and let live, let these people play at their place and those who don't want to join in, stay out of that sand box, take your bat and ball and go home.

I hope this thread get's locked too, I think everyone else is tired of the public pissing contest.
I am.

~
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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I think everyone else is tired of the public pissing contest. I am.

~



I know I am. Unfortuantely it doesn't matter what you say, truth or "half-truths" people who are against seeing this dzo suceed will believe the bs they want to hear about him and the activities about. I hope Paul and Jo make it. I have got to know them a little bit this past month and I think they are wonderful people who are working very hard against an uphill battle of people who won't shut up and let them give it a try. They are marketing to a fun jumper community. Fun jumpers don't jump in masses at the other dz's anyway, they drive hours to avoid all this shit and I understand so very well now why. It is fun to jump at KCSC. It is a wonderful atmosphere and a great place to jump with people of all skill levels. It is a learning environment and like many dz's in this country... amenities are in the works. I too hope to see all the surrounding dz employees who are so outspoken let things be as you have all made your points and we have all made our judgements.

I do have a valid question as a young skydiver. Why does Paul "need" to have more ratings. So what if he has an AFF, what is is going to do with it? Employ himself to make an instructional jump. Being a DZO is a businessman from my understanding. You hire a manifest, you hire employees to teach your students, etc... Why is it so imparative to have experience instructing? Honestly, Paul has more jump numbers than most of the people in this area and I'd rather learn from his experiences in that sense than a 100 jump wonder coach. Please I would like to hear an answer to this because it has baffled me from the first day I heard this statement.
I love my husband!

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Why does Paul "need" to have more ratings



He needs nothing other then a bank account with money in it.
There are other DZO's in the USA that have no ratings and are not even jumpers.
The DZO of SWC has half a dozen jumps, a few AFF's and tandems, and don't jump has no ratings and is not a pilot.
The fact that she grew up as a dzo's kid and learned the biz gives her the experiance to run a dz and run one of the biggest boogies in the country.
So it can be done.

~
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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Why does Paul "need" to have more ratings



He needs nothing other then a bank account with money in it.
There are other DZO's in the USA that have no ratings and are not even jumpers.
The DZO of SWC has half a dozen jumps, a few AFF's and tandems, and don't jump has no ratings and is not a pilot.
The fact that she grew up as a dzo's kid and learned the biz gives her the experiance to run a dz and run one of the biggest boogies in the country.
So it can be done.
~



agreed. i build houses for a living. do i know how to frame? no. do i know how to wire the house? no. but i do know to hire the right people, get the right inspections, and produce a quality product, even better i have been told than other builders. i would say that if you (jumper410) are afraid of the competition, running a business is no business of yours. this is not an insult, merely insight. go somewhere where you have no competition. perhaps when you started your DZ you should have gone to all the surrounding airports, cities, counties ect. and gotten a "noncompetition agreement."


________________________________
Where is Darwin when you need him?

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Paul shot the video for my 1000th jump. Jo was a fellow student (and hotel roommate) during my rigger class. They are both outstanding idividuals. I wish them all the best.
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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I only have a few more things to say about this and then I’m done.

First of all, being a school teacher I have seen far less immaturity from any of my students then I have from the people trying to tear down my brother and his dream.

As far as what you have to say, Jumper410, you have a great skill for manipulating and twisting words around to fit your current agenda.

Someone could tell you that the grass is green and the sky is blue and you would find someway to argue otherwise.

I heard this firsthand at the council meeting and have seen this over and over again through your posts.

I am sure you will do that again with this post.

You have chosen to be a part of and affiliate yourself with the group of people who have sabotaged my brother in such a disgraceful manner.

I don’t think even you can argue that one.

As you brought up the city council meeting, I was in the second row sitting almost directly behind you with my supportive parents.

For anyone interested, the meeting was recorded, in its entirety, by the city council itself.

I am not sure exactly how to go about obtaining a copy, but I am sure that if you contacted the City of Harrisonville they could assist you.

All of that is a matter of public record, so hopefully it should be fairly easy to get.

If anyone out there is skilled enough, and has enough time on their hands, to put together a website on their own it would be great to post the written and oral transcripts for others to see.

That may have to be checked with the city to make sure it is all kosher.

Lastly, I had the pleasure of meeting many skydivers at Paul’s opening.

It was my first time attending a skydiving event.

From what I saw the people in the skydiving community are a million times more positive, talented, and intelligent then the picture painted by the pamphlets, city council meetings, and posts.

I really hope that more people who are not skydivers, but have heard of what is happening surrounding KCSC, are able to get a fresh perspective of the sport and wash away the completely negative and utterly false images that have been presented to them.

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Another imposter poster to bolster the cause for the new DZ.

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That meeting was recorded so I encourage anyone interested to obtain a copy of what was said.

Yes! Please contact them and find out the truth! (816) 380-8900, Fax(816) 380-8906, or E-mail
[email protected]. Seems as if these posters wanted you to know the truth they would offer the contact info?

At this meeting, I watched Tommy Dolphin and Chris Hall, both dropzone owners in the KC area;
completely rip apart the safety of skydiving.

And you base your knowledge of skydiving safety as offered from who? your alledged brother?

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Mr. Dolphin told the council that he, like virtually all drop zone owners, had no insurance so even if someone tripped on the ground he could not be held liable.

And what did I say that is not true? Please educate us all, and offer confirmation of "any" DZ that has General Liability Insurance to cover skydivers, in the process of the sport, and I will Kiss your ass at high noon on main street of Harrisonville, MO. and give you 2 weeks to advertise and draw a crowd! USPA member insurance doesn't count it's a given and I'm sorry won't cover shit in event of a real accident.

He very strongly encouraged the city of Harrisonville to add an insurance requirement to their lease that he knew was unobtainable.

Not True! If anyone would like I have a copy of the "original" dated contract offered your so called brother, which has the insurance, requirement, I will gladely send it to "anyone" who wants to know the truth!
I only asked the counsel how they planned to bind this contract, "because" this insurance is not obtainable,
I also stated that if they could bind this contact that in my opinion they "should accept" the contract agreement! Your "brother" needs to become a little more educated in understanding contractual agreements, and your memory so become a little less selective!

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This by the way is the facility that was described on my brother’s website, which was created when the hangar was virtually guaranteed to them.

Guarantee? on the word of who? Had the counsel been approached yet? "NO" Sorry your "brother" choose to place the wagon in front of the horse! a mistake on his part, of course in your opinion, the fault of Mr. Hall and myself

This guy, Jumper 410, who has tried everything to sabotage my brother’s dream, has the nerve to than talk about ethics.

Yes! Let's speak of ethics! BTW Who the fuck are you?

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Within weeks of my brother opening his drop zone, he was denied the lease to the hangar, had to purchase his own land so he could still operate, book a new plane because an “anonymous” source called and told the original plane owner that his plane would be compromised if it was leased to my brother,

Your "brother" stated at the "February" counsel meeting that he was aquiring land for a landing area, because the inspection of the airport by the Missouri Department of Transportation found it to not pass the Object Free Area requirements of the State to be allowed to land parachutes.
Funny "NO ONE" that I know can confirm whom the new DZ is aquiring the caravan from, and your "brother" has not offered and explaination. So it makes it very "easy" for you to blame an anonymous source on his problems. more BS.

After all of this who can blame him for not having the time to get his website updated?

"He" is the DZO, it's "HIS" store! It's "HIS" resonsibility! It's call operating a business, of course it is much easier to "blame" anything. and everyone else! Hey it's the american way! Right?

***Everyone involved with that should be ashamed!!

"NO" shame, I was asked by many parties involved to offer my opinion, "I DID" I did not pursue this on my own behalf. I only spoke the truth and pointed out facts that were relavent to the process, and my knowledge of the sport. If you are to make excuses for your "brother" than you should address the responsible party! Ultimately wheather you wish to accept it or not! Mr. Paul E. is the person whom is responsible for the situation as it is today! Blame is an easy game to play, and unforntunately used by too many persons for any and all things!
If your "brother" wishes to be a DZO he better learn very quickly that "any and all" things that occur at his facility are "his" responsibility! I'm sure he would have no problem in excepting the credit, if something goes his way! and in my opinion his "allowing" his supposed sister to pled his inability to provide the advertised facility and aircraft are proof positive, of what has been spoken. Your "brother" should grow some "stones" and learn to do his own dirty work.
I'm sorry for those whom feel that my post is very unsensitive, to all with opinions or involved, but this is the real world, and this is a real business, so if you want to cry about getting sand inyour eyes, than you should get out of the fucking sandbox!

I will one up all of the BULL SHITTERS and posters on this subject! I "will" and "can" provide any info or proof that you request.
Now if any of you want to know the "truth" of my involvement or what I have stated or done, wish to have copies of documents pertaining to any part of the process, want phone numbers or names, of parties involved, Please contact me!
I like so many, have become sick and tired of the entire process, and wish to hear no more on the subject.

Put up or Shut up!

Tom Dolphin, SkydiveMRVS

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I guess I hit a nerve there. I give you credit as well for the following:

"As far as what you have to say, Jumper410, you have a great skill for manipulating and twisting words around to fit your current agenda."

As far as emposters, it seems like they are all coming from you and your friends.

Like it or not, I am Paul's sister.

I have been since the day my mother gave birth to him.

I am sure that a mutual acquaintance of ours, who jumps at your drop zone "JW", who once worked with one of my closest friends mentioned to you that he knew me and through this Paul.

I hope that makes it clear that I am who I say I am.

I finally responded on my own accord, because I am sick of people bashing and lying about my brother and painting such a negative view of your beloved sport.

Anyone paying attention to all of this has seen that clearly.

Do you expect anyone to believe that everything you and your friends have said regarding the opening of my brother's drop zone is out of care for the sport and not what you see as a threat to you and your business?

Look, between everything said and done in the city of Harrisonville, the council meeting, and on these posts, the truth of your motives are easily seen.

You know, after the council meeting, I asked Ed Scott if this was usual for these kind of antics to surround someone trying to open a drop zone.

He said he had been doing this for years, and had never witnessed anything like this in his career.

He was shocked with what was happening here.

Paul did not contribute to any of this negativity.

My brother tried to reach out and work with you all.

All he has been trying to do is begin a business while you and the others keep trying to bring him down, even if that meant bringing down the reputation of sky diving.

He has not done any kind of "dirty work." Amazingly, he has kept his head held high and gracefully jumped over every obstacle that you people have helped to create.

I have not heard him say one negative thing about you or anyone else involved with tearing him down in any of the council meetings or on any of these posts.

That should say something about his character.

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They found the perfect location in Harrisonville.



Going to a town that has already run off one dz is not what I would call the "perfect location" to try to start another dz, in fact it should have been the last one on the list.
Due to the history with that city it should be no big surprise to have an uphill battle with them.
This is one thing that would make me think they didn't plan ahead very well or do there homework.

While I have stated very clear, he has a right to give it a try and I can respect someone wanting to follow there dream, I can't understand why he would have picked that city, when there are far better locations in the area without the history of banning a dz.

If you really want to support your brother, go hand out flyers at the mall, bring a big group of tandems out,
make a bunch of sandwitches get some cold drinks and pass them out, buy the jumpers some cases of cold beer, run manifest, cut grass, learn to pack parachutes, learn to edit video, pick up trash, pay the porta pottys for a month, buy a hundred jump tickets and hand them out to visiting jumpers, answer the phone, get some hot chicks to wash the jumpers cars topless, buy 3000 gallons of fuel for the plane, go pick up jumpers when they land off, ECT,ECT,ECTThis would be a way better way to support your brother, then keeping this finger pointing he said she said crap going,
YOU ARE PISSING INTO THE WIND!

~
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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My interest in this thread (and similar ones): you guys in KC battle it out any way you want, but don't drag down Tommy or MRVS just for entertainment.

Tommy has done more for the sport than almost any poster on dz.com . "Skydiving is about jumping out of airplanes. Everything else is politics!"

P.S.: I went thru Tommy's Sr. Riggers boot-camp, and so did my wife.



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Don’t portray all of MRVS and the Hall’s as evil. They are not! Tom has done a huge, HUGE amount for skydivers and skydiving. He has a legitimate stake in this and legitimate reasons for bringing into the picture valid points to be considered.

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Not True! If anyone would like I have a copy of the "original" dated contract offered your so called brother, which has the insurance, requirement, I will gladely send it to "anyone" who wants to know the truth!



So are you saying that the DZO was lying when he posted this: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2115948;#2115948? If so, can you please post proof of this as I think people are getting tired of hearing the "he said/she said" and actually want facts.

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Fuck it, if you are minding your own business in the sandbox and some kid thinks he is king shit of Sandville and chucks sand in your face what you do is go home, work out, get big, and come back and punch king shit in the face and take HIS shovel.

Good luck with your business.

--------------------------------------------------
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

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I have been a KC jumper for more than 20 years, but i align myself with no particular DZ for the reasons of KC ego's and KC politics. But i have a few questions on both sides of this story. See below...

First i would like to know what having a rating has to do with it as long as they are the DZO's and not the ones teaching a class?

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I have been sitting back and watching in utter disbelief for too long now regarding the antics surrounding the birth of my brother’s drop zone.
Let me go back a ways and tell you all what an amazing person my brother is.

Even though he is my little brother, he has always looked after and protected me in anyway that he could.
This is his nature. He is like this with everyone he comes into contact with.

If you know him, or have had the pleasure of meeting him, then you know exactly what I am talking about.

This has nothing to do with it. I have always taken care of my sister also....thats just a given, but i admire him for that.

Another thing that my brother is - is more passionate than anyone I have ever met.

Again...see above.

This passion blossomed when he discovered skydiving. I have never witnessed someone take to something the way he took to this sport.

It completely took a hold of every fiber of his being.

He focused virtually all of his time and energy in learning every aspect of this sport.

In what seemed like overnight his new found passion turned into a growing career.

He began learning the skills needed to be a videographer, packed up his bags leaving the place he grew up, Kansas City, and moved to New Jersey landing a job at Skydive Cross Keys.

Maybe he should have focused on the skills needed to own and run a drop zone in a area that had already forced the previous drop zone out.

Within months he was filming skydiving footage for CNN, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, National Geographic Channel, and The David Letterman Show.

Again, very admirable and i applaud him for that.

I was absolutely amazed and so proud of what my little brother had accomplished.

As you should be.

During this time period, he had also relocated during the winters to work at a drop zone in Las Vegas where he learned to fly airplanes.

It was also at Cross Keys where he met someone as driven and passionate as him, his wife Joanna.

With the two of them as a team, and skydiving as one of their deepest bonds, they naturally wanted to take it to the next level.

For them, they wanted to see the birth of their own child, in this case being a drop zone that they created together.

They both decided to come back to where my brother truly called home to open their drop zone. They found the perfect location in Harrisonville.

I question this being the "Perfect" place because of what this city did with the previous DZ.

They had wonderful encounters with James, the manager of the airport where they are currently located.

James was very excited about the prospect of Paul and Jo opening their drop zone there. He wanted to lease them the main hangar at the airport.

Everything seemed to be going great for them.

Then out of courtesy, Paul contacted some of the surrounding drop zones to let them know that he was planning on opening a drop zone in Harrisonville and that he wanted to work with them so that everyone would benefit.

I would be interested in hearing what he said to them if you don't mind sharing.

Some drop zones gave Paul and Jo their blessings and were happy to work in harmony with them, while others took another path.

Can you state which ones approved and which ones did'nt?

Instead of getting back the same courteous gesture that Paul had put forth, these people began to show the worst in humanity that I have personally witnessed.

People from a select few other drop zones sabotaged the new dropzone's image by going door to door in Harrisonville, posing as concerned citizens distributing pamphlets about the sport of skydiving that made it seem like a sport for only the lowest degenerates of society.

They even had the nerve to put flyers on people’s cars while they attended a funeral.

I learned this from one of the alderman addressing the man who calls himself jumper410 as he ripped apart my brother and the sport of skydiving at a city council meeting.

That meeting was recorded so I encourage anyone interested to obtain a copy of what was said.

At this meeting, I watched Tommy Dolphin and Chris Hall, both dropzone owners in the KC area;
completely rip apart the safety of skydiving.

Chris Hall told the alderman that about 15-20 percent of his jumpers land off the airport, and that the city could expect higher numbers at Paul's drop zone due to the "small" landing area.

I have questions about the landing area also as that is where i jumped when i had just started jumping and i found it to be a very bad area for students to land in. Unless it has changed, which by the pictures i don't see any changes, it is indeed a scary area for students...not experianced jumpers. It had a row of trees on the East side, a very steep hill on the North side, a pond on the West side, and a Very Big Ditch on the South side that i have landed in myself when i first started jumping causing injury.

Mr. Dolphin told the council that he, like virtually all drop zone owners, had no insurance so even if someone tripped on the ground he could not be held liable.

They then went on about a horrific skydiving accident in Independence, Missouri that claimed the lives of skydivers, and that the same thing would happen in Harrisonville if my brother were allowed to open a drop zone there.

He very strongly encouraged the city of Harrisonville to add an insurance requirement to their lease that he knew was unobtainable.

This i simply do not believe since i know the owner of the previous DZ and know for a fact that this is what the city used to force them out, so i know this rule was already in affect.

What these people said through their words and the pamphlets to the citizens of Harrisonville gave them a morbidly distorted perception of the sport of skydiving and completely freaked them out.

These people were already freaked out because of the guy splattering all over the ground next to 71 HWY back in 95.

These despicable antics worked for now and Paul was denied the lease to the hangar at the airport due to the pleas from Mr. Dolphin and Mr. Hall.

This by the way is the facility that was described on my brother’s website, which was created when the hangar was virtually guaranteed to them.

It's never gauranteed until the name in on the dotted line.


This brings me to some of the most disgraceful aspects in human nature possible.

This guy, Jumper 410, who has tried everything to sabotage my brother’s dream, has the nerve to than talk about ethics in Kansas City and the falsities on my brother’s website when he was one of the main players in preventing the lease to go through.

Within weeks of my brother opening his drop zone, he was denied the lease to the hangar, had to purchase his own land so he could still operate, book a new plane because an “anonymous” source called and told the original plane owner that his plane would be compromised if it was leased to my brother,

then find a new plane, completely restructure how he would be able to setup the drop zone, buy a tent, RV, and place of operations all within weeks of opening day.

On top of this, during this period, we lost our grandfather and spent nearly a week in Iowa mourning with our family.

Sorry to hear that as i lost my father recently also, my sympathies to your entire family.


Well despite all of these obstacles, he managed to get his operations off the ground in such a short amount of time.
After all of this who can blame him for not having the time to get his website updated?

Again, he had the time to make it....i can't remember all the times i have been to the WFFC when they had advertized the Jet and it didn't show up. Now, mind you, it was a little different with me because i live so close and go every year anyway, and have had the opportunity to jump it 15 times anyway,but i can imagine how people from other countries and the East, or West coast think when they make their plans and spend their money to go and the Jet not be there. And then the conv, always had some excuse as to why it did'nt make it, but i remember reading a post made by the Company that owned the Jet (AmeriJet) stating that they had notified the WFFC months ahead that they would NOT be attending.

The bottom line is Jumper 410 and his cronies are in the truest sense evil, and have put a dark cloud over and completely smeared the sport of skydiving.

Everyone involved with that should be ashamed!!

Enough is enough!!!



I also have reservations as to if you are who you say you are, and i'll tell you why.
Actually for just a couple of reasons, and i may be totally wrong, but it is only what makes me wonder.

One of your post you stated that you were a teacher, but yet you spelled "Imposter" as "Emposter" and i don't think thats a mistake that a teacher would make.
Also in one post you referred to it as Sky Diving when every other time you have referred to it as Skydiving.
I would understand the mistake since you say you are not yourself a jumper if you had not capialized the "D". Otherwize i would have thought you accidentally hit the space bar in between sky and diver.

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As far as emposters, it seems like they are all coming from you and your friends.

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I can say the same about you and your friends, and this solves what?



I am sure that a mutual acquaintance of ours, who jumps at your drop zone "JW", who once worked with one of my closest friends mentioned to you that he knew me and through this Paul.

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Hell! I know many people who know somebody, that knows somebody, means nothing to me, but if the person whom you speak of is a Jeff W. than would you like for me to quote some of the statements he (your alleged brother) has made in private to his confidants, high school buddies, and family that were relayed to me?



I finally responded on my own accord, because I am sick of people bashing and lying about my brother and painting such a negative view of your beloved sport.

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The truth is some times an ugly thing!



Anyone paying attention to all of this has seen that clearly.

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Not everyone on this site buys all the Bull Shit that is freely distributed, if you believe that they do, you are sadly mistaken.



Do you expect anyone to believe that everything you and your friends have said regarding the opening of my brother's drop zone is out of care for the sport and not what you see as a threat to you and your business?

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I do not expect anything from anyone! Do you? If so you are in for a great disappointment, I provided my opinion out of my responsibility to the sport as a DZO, Rigger, Jumper, and individual requested by persons with little or no knowledge of the sport. Again with the competitor and or threat Bull Shit, I am sorry to say that KC skydiving is not now, and will never be a threat to my operation.



Look, between everything said and done in the city of Harrisonville, the council meeting, and on these posts, the truth of your motives are easily seen.

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Really! Huuummm! I have done “nothing” in the city of Harrisonville, only provided requested information and knowledge to the city counsel, and asked a question for clarification in the contract, and I have posted on this site, no more than 12 times in 4 years, and through this you have some how selectively exhumed my motives? Amazing!!!!



You know, after the council meeting, I asked Ed Scott if this was usual for these kind of antics to surround someone trying to open a drop zone.
He said he had been doing this for years, and had never witnessed anything like this in his career.
He was shocked with what was happening here.

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Sounds like a standard answer you would give a person who has absolutely no knowledge of what is going on.



Paul did not contribute to any of this negativity.

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Really! He opens a DZ in a town that kicked a DZ off of the airfield 10 years earlier, and he expects the people to greet him with open arms? And wasn’t it Paul whom stood in defiance, in front of the city counsel and stated, quote: (we are opening on April 1st with or without city approval) and also stated, quote: (we can operate and use your runway because of the equal use provision, supported by the FAA and you cannot stop us) I think also in there somewhere was the veiled threat to complain to the FAA if he was not allowed his way, that would jeopardize the cities government grant agreement. Sure this is the perfect way to win and influence all of the locals, and not place yourself in a negative light. Are you on crack?



My brother tried to reach out and work with you all.

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When? Where? How? Never seen or heard from your supposed brother, only heard of his contacts with staff from other DZ’s in the attempt to hire their employees. I even sent word to him (again your supposed brother) that if he was so inclined to piss away money, to contact me and I would sell him MRVS, Lock/Stock/ and Barrel, and walk away.



All he has been trying to do is begin a business while you and the others keep trying to bring him down, even if that meant bringing down the reputation of sky diving.

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Yes! It is difficult to sell lemonade to the public in the middle of a mine field.



He has not done any kind of "dirty work." Amazingly, he has kept his head held high and gracefully jumped over every obstacle that you people have helped to create.

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Sorry, but I plead to differ with your assumption of his innocence.



I have not heard him say one negative thing about you or anyone else involved with tearing him down in any of the council meetings or on any of these posts.

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Really! You should see the doctor for your hearing problem, and also get your eyes checked! He said many times at the counsel meetings things in an effort to discredit myself and Mr. Hall, and wasn’t it (your alleged brother) whom offered all of the stories to skydiving Magazine in an attempt to discredit and berate Mr. Hall and myself? Are you SURE? your not on crack?



That should say something about his character.

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Yes! It does all whom have had to deal with him are very knowledgeable that he is a character.



The last Time! I am finished with this Huge Monstrous crock of shit pissing contest about this new DZ, Read my lips! I DON”T GIVE A FUCK! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? Leave my name, and my operation out of your future needs to vent your frustration.

Tom Dolphin, SkydiveMRVS

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Not True! If anyone would like I have a copy of the "original" dated contract offered your so called brother, which has the insurance, requirement, I will gladely send it to "anyone" who wants to know the truth!



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So are you saying that the DZO was lying when he posted this: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2115948;#2115948? If so, can you please post proof of this as I think people are getting tired of hearing the "he said/she said" and actually want facts.



He was not truthful! Any person who wants a copy of the contract first offered with the insurance requirement, please contact me and I will spend my money to send you one in the mail. You ask why doesn't he just post it here on the site? this is a contract, you need to understand the requirements or, (my recommendation) take it to an attorney for his enterpretation, this way you can eliminate the, he said, they said, it means, Yada Yada, bull shit. The truth is Black and White, Paul doesn't get the privaliage to blame me because he fucked up!

This is my "Last Response" to this crap!

Tom Dolphin, SkydiveMRVS

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Then out of courtesy, Paul contacted some of the surrounding drop zones to let them know that he was planning on opening a drop zone in Harrisonville and that he wanted to work with them so that everyone would benefit.

Some drop zones gave Paul and Jo their blessings and were happy to work in harmony with them, while others took another path.



Really? I know for a fact that neither dropzone was ever contacted. We learned about it from the chief pilot of Lifeflight a week before Paul launched his website.

I would like to hear from those drop zones that were contacted (besides Crosskeys)
I highly doubt he has any blessings of any dzo within 200 miles, as he has contacted staff members from all 3 KC area dropzones in an "attempt" to get them to work for his dz. All this after claiming he was bringing in his own staff.

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He very strongly encouraged the city of Harrisonville to add an insurance requirement to their lease that he knew was unobtainable.



This insurance was required of the previous dropzone before Paul was even old enough to jump, so I don't think "add" is the word you meant, unless you are trying to mislead your audience.

This is a well known, non-disputed fact around KC so I would think you as natives would have known this. The city attorney himself stated in that meeting (that was recorded) that it was required as it had been since '95 and was included in the original lease agreement with the Eriksmoens. I wonder how they intended to sign the lease and attain this required insurance policy...

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These despicable antics worked for now and Paul was denied the lease to the hangar at the airport due to the pleas from Mr. Dolphin and Mr. Hall.

This by the way is the facility that was described on my brother’s website, which was created when the hangar was virtually guaranteed to them.



I believe if you were to ask any of the alderman on the board why they voted to not lease the space, it was for the simple reason that the Eriksmoen's could not adhere to the lease agreement no matter how badly they wanted to. The required 3rd party insurance was on the original lease agreement and the board was now aware that Paul and Joanna had known this all along and intended to sign it anyway and hope it slid by without being noticed. I am sure they intended to get slip and fall and pass this off as "the 3rd party liability" insurance.

Did the board of alderman know that the hangar "was virtually guaranteed" to the skydivers? Why did they even take it to a vote then...seems like a waste of time to me if their votes don't matter. Why do we need government if the city administrator can work a deal under the table?

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As far as emposters, it seems like they are all coming from you and your friends.



Who is JavaJunkie? Has anyone read their past posts (crosskeys, kc and rigger related posts only) and their join date of Oct 05 (the same month in which the web domain was acquired)? USPA (without a license #) was originally listed as their licensing organization but was quickly changed to APF after my inquiry of their "true" identity after noticing uspa didnt know of them. Funny, though APF says they have never had a member under that name either.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to fit the pieces together.

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Paul did not contribute to any of this negativity.

My brother tried to reach out and work with you all. He has not done any kind of "dirty work." Amazingly, he has kept his head held high and gracefully jumped over every obstacle that you people have helped to create.



False. Inga, you are being fed a line of BS...ask your brother for the facts. See above...

BTW, I am glad to hear he is only marketing to experienced skydivers b/c of the CONFUSION he will be causing with students with the similarities in name with our established dropzone. I am sure that was a well planned idea to ride on our coat tails and garner our word of mouth, track record and established business.

I believe, there was an identical case of this with Skydive Arizona and another wanna be dropzone trying to open as The Arizona Skydiving Center. Larry Hill soundly won this case and established case law for others to follow suit.

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You know, after the council meeting, I asked Ed Scott if this was usual for these kind of antics to surround someone trying to open a drop zone.

He said he had been doing this for years, and had never witnessed anything like this in his career.



Never in the history of USPA, has a representive flown out to represent a non-group member. No one was there to represent Dana when he was being thrown off for not being able to acquire 3rd party liablilty. I might also add, KCSC is still not a group member, even after receiving help from the association all the other KC area dz's pay our yearly group member fees to! >:( Talk about a joke!

Inga, I would advise you to let your brother speak for himself. You should stick to doing what you do best ~ painting your beautiful paintings and staying out of this drama...

p.s. kudos for all your skydiving knowledge, considering your first experience with a dropzone was two weeks ago.

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WOW. I dont jump in Kansas and from the sound of it I really dont need to. I go to a dropzone to get away from the politics and bitching about everything. The only thing I want need to know is where is manifest and who want to crank some points. Hope you guys figure out how to handle things before it gets any more hostile.
If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

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I would be interested in seeing what really was said at the harrison meeting. If anyone gets a transcript could they please post it?

I did talk to someone who was there, and they were pretty disgusted with some of the stuff being said by experienced jumpers there.

I'm sure if anyone has a copy of a video of the meeting, someone on here would let you upload it somewhere so we could all see it.

MB 3528, RB 1182

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