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SkymonkeyONE

The Ranch Pond Swoop Meet

By SkymonkeyONE, in Swooping and Canopy Control

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SkymonkeyONE    3

SkymonkeyONE
Crossposting and I really don't care right now:

Is there ANYONE driving north to the meet from anywhere south of North Carolina who would let me ride with them tomorrow (Wednesday)? I am going up to the meet, but am REALLY not interested in driving all that way by myself. Rantoul was a really long haul. If I don't hear back from anyone tonight, I will be leaving here tomorrow by lunch. I have already called everyone I know in Deland and Z-hills, so if you are going, gimme a holla!

Chuck

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rtroup    1

rtroup
Don't think there is going to be a dvd this year. Or atleast i haven't heard of one. Marcus has not been around. And when he did do the other ones he was always around a couple weeks before the event to start taping. I think its to much work for very little pay off.
(insert philosophical quote here)

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AggieDave    6

AggieDave
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I think its to much work for very little pay off.



That sucks...I love those videos, this past one was definately the best one.

Maybe someone will atleast produce an "underground" VHS of the meet. *fingers crossed*
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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rtroup    1

rtroup
Some people are talking about putting something together. they want it to be a parody and a pond swoop documentry. I think the current title is "Apondalypse Now". But i think the production of what we want to do is a little past our means. there will be plenty of video out there during the meet. So maybe some body will release raw footage. Ill see what the word is when i am up there this weekend.
(insert philosophical quote here)

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AggieDave    6

AggieDave
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Ill see what the word is when i am up there this weekend.



Please do, both of those ideas sound really damn cool..especially the parady (as long as it has hot swoops and the SM1 doing crazy tricks over the pond).:P
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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SkymonkeyONE    3

SkymonkeyONE
This was a very fitful meet for me. The drive up sucked, the weather sucked completely, the vibe was very different than the last time I was there for the meet, and attendance was way down (only 44 entrants). I still found ways to entertain myself, but ultimately the aircraft fiasco on Sunday made me have to leave early after only completing five of eight rounds. We did one round (water targets) out of the Otter first thing Sunday morning, but then got relegated to flying all the rest of the rounds (at least until I had to leave) out of a C-182. The school and the fun jumpers had full priority on the remaining otter after the total weather wash on Saturday, so that was that. The other regularly scheduled otter was out of commision as someone taxied it into a tree damaging the wing following some scheduled maintenance. Ugh. There were a bazillion people standing around in the mud waiting to skydive on Sunday.

I was incredibly disappointed during my drive home yesterday afternoon evening. I was tied for 21st with Brett Willard and Sonic going into Sunday's rounds. It was WAY too long a drive for me to have stuck around for 33 Cessna loads though, so I had to book. I have not checked to see how the meet came out, but Jeffro had a nice lead when I left. There was a LOT of chowing going on at this year's meet. I butt-surfed out onto the grass one time, but otherwise stayed dry. Most people I saw got totally submerged at least once.

As a plus, the meet only cost $200 this year, including jumps! Hopefully, next year the weather will cooperate better and we will have first priority as competitors. People came from as far away as Brazil, Florida, California, Washington, and Hawaii for this meet and it absolutely sucked to get stuck in that Cessna.

Peace,

Chuckie

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freeflydrew    0

freeflydrew
Billy flew his helicopter for the a while, so the meet picked up speed, but it was back to the cessna for the raft round. There were a lot of spectators out there on Sunday, and the raft round was well worth the wait.

Jeffro won (5000 bucks)

The school has priority, not the fun jumpers... We had 4 hours in between loads, but hey, it's been a tough couple of years and the dz, school, and instructors need the money. Most fun jumpers left for the day and went to other dropzones.

The vibe at the awards ceremony was fantastic.

Sorry you were dissappointed.

(The pilot who was in the otter when it was damaged was uninjured)

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Nullified    0

Nullified
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As a plus, the meet only cost $200 this year, including jumps! Hopefully, next year the weather will cooperate better and we will have first priority as competitors. People came from as far away as Brazil, Florida, California, Washington, and Hawaii for this meet and it absolutely sucked to get stuck in that Cessna.



I understand that Sunday was a difficult day for the competitors, and you've got every right to express that.
Before I go any further, I'm going to insert one of these...:)
Though some of this has already been pointed out...
The Tandems and students received priority.
Like a lot of DZ's, The Ranch suffered a miserable season last year due to weather and the economy. The students, and particularly the Tandems, represent the income that keeps three Otters and other various aircraft available and running for everyone. And let's not forget all of the Tandem and AFF instructors and video guys and girls who rely on Tandems and AFFs for food and rent money. After an extended slow spell and a washout Saturday, I can't hold it against the club or the school for giving the students priority. There were over 95 Tandems booked, plenty of AFF and the usual walk-ins.

One of our Otters was offline for scheduled maintenance and the other had been damaged the week prior to the meet. This wasn't poor planning, it was poor timing and bad luck.

Everyone did the best they could.

Billy cut short his vacation and flew back so that he could fly chopper loads.

Kenny spent the entire day without a break flying the Cessna for the competitors and later for the fun jumpers.

Despite the bad weather Saturday and the bad luck with the Otters, on Sunday over 95 tandem jumps were made, lots of AFF students progressed, ALL of the comp rounds were completed and a handful of fun jumpers had some awesome skydives.

When you...or at least I...stop to consider all of this, I don't see it as having sucked. I see it as having overcome adversity.

And I think it was closer to 11 Cessna loads for the comp, not 33.

Again man, not bustin' your balls, just putting forth a different perspective of the event.

Congrats to all the competitors, and thank you all for not getting hurt:)
Stay safe,
Mike

If you're gonna' be stupid, well, then you're most likely stupid.

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SkymonkeyONE    3

SkymonkeyONE
Don't get me wrong; I make my living as an AFF and tandem instructor as do MANY of the pro competitors and I was up there spending money instead of earning. I never said the dropzone didn't have cause to make money on a busy weekend. What I said was that it sucked that the aircraft issue made it such that the meet had to run longer than it had to. That concerns the competition itself, not the dropzone's day-to-day business. FWIW, there were at least 20 Cessna loads: round 6 and round 8 for sure. My (and at least several others, including Fruitcake) reason for leaving early was simply a result of needing to get home at a reasonable hour Sunday night/Monday morning. It was a 12 hour drive for me.

The Ranch is an incredibly cool dropzone and the PSN has always been a favorite meet of mine. I will absolutely be back next year, but really hope that we have more favorable weather and a better aircraft contingency plan.

Chuck Blue
D-12501

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MRSLLAMA    0

MRSLLAMA
Chuck,
first off: I'm glad you made it, it was great to see you.

2nd, I rarely get involved in type with people on these forums However I feel it is necessary now to state one simple fact: SUNDAY WAS THE WEATHER DAY, it's that simple ! Sure flying 11 cessna loads to complete a round sucks, but it sure is better then not flying anything. As already stated by other Ranch Hands Billy did bust out the Chopper and the meet on Sunday was completed by 5PM. That is the bottom line. The awards Ceremony kicked off around 7:30 - 8 ish, all with in a reasonable amount of time. Weather days are included in meet schedules to be used as needed. And as it turned out we needed it. Saturdays weather had nothing to do with aircraft capacity.

FYI: Fruitcake was always leaving Saturday night, and he knew going into this if we had bad weather on Sat he would still be leaving for a paid demo. If we had 4 otters available Fruitcake would of still left.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon,

Donna
Head Jackass

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