patrickweldon

Damn. I haven't talked to Orly in years, or been able to jump with him in a long time. Life moves on, years go by, and then, hell, its too late. But for a moment he was one of my best friends. Playing with our new super improved state of the art camera helmets, that now, in retrospect seem huge, silly, enormous! We filmed using VHS tapes, which I guess most jumpers these days have never even seen. Ha! Taping the eject button down in the plane so it wouldn't come out in free fall. Orly was a natural, at just about everything. And in those late 80s and 90s when "the Cameraman" was still capitalized, and you passed the hat to buy your Cameraman a jump ticket, he was always the most in demand. From Memphis to the WFFC. Cant remember ever seeing him ugly, rude, condescending. Can I borrow an old movie line: I haven't seen him in years, but tonight, I miss him terribly. Blue Skies Orly. Fly Free. Patrick Weldon WFFC LO Flying The Camera.

Goodness. I think you misread and /or misunderstood my whole post. I like, respect, admire Jeb. I certainly acknowledge the HUGE accomplishments he has made to our sport, not only BASE, but wing suit, skydiving... Heck, the guy is a phenom. But ( yes, there is a but...slow down, relax, breathe deep...), his love for grandiose self- promotion is a big negative! Granted, I'm a different generation, ( I'm only 44, but have been jumping for 25 years.) And I grew up understanding the public (ie. the government) will never view skydiving, BASE, etc, as anything but a crazy death wish. We should never put ourselves above our sport! Come on, how do you in any way excuse his stupid Empire State Building stunt ? How did that do anything good ??? I don't fault him for jumping, and wish him a crazy fast recovery! But when you BASE, You owe it to others, to keep it quiet. Not immediately flood the Internet with videos of you bouncing! All he had to do, was hide the cameras, call the paramedics, and say he fell rock climbing! Problem solved!! Yeah, been there. Done that. But now a very popular, local spot for jumping has been closed down. Same as El Cap. Same as Space Needle. (see previous post) Rock climbers scale El Cap and Half Dome everyday...for one reason, they don't cover themselves in cameras and post bounce videos on You Tube. And- climbers fall and die a heck of a lot more than BASE jumpers. No, it ain't fair. But it is what it s. This isn't a "hater" post, it's a "I love the sport more than I love plastering my face on YouTube" post. Get well Jeb. Jump again soon, but leave all 37 video cameras at home.

Sad and pretty pathetic. The massive ego and self promotion that the pseudo-base jumper exhibits. Its not about You Tube, or getting your face on TV, or even on Good Morning America. Its about the love of the jump, not trying to jump of the Empire State Building on TV. This story is no differnt than the idiot who managed to have a free jump off the Seattle Space Needle, and let his inexperienced girlfriend jump so she could be on TV. Of course, she flipped over, deployed on her back, and smashed in with a line over. No more "legal" base in Washington. Then the famous Tom Sanders fiasco, letting his inexperienced wife jump of El Cap. She couldnt find her handles and bounced. Thanks! And BASE remains illegal in the US for another 20 years! Jeb may be a great skydiver, and a great wingsuit, and a great BASE.... etc etc etc. But, he pissed off the locals, and ended some great free, legal base jumping for them. BASE, like surfing, or marathon running, or so many other passions, is about the sport, the love, the life.. not grandious "Look at ME! " . If you love the sport, do it, but come on, NINE CAMERAS for one jump! Seriously ??? And you need to strap five more to your body ?? At what point is this not about the sport but about self promoting and an apparent endless ego ? There is an antenna in the south, almost 2000 feet, with an elevator. Perfect for jumping. Rule one, be invited, rule two, NO VIDEOS, NO PICTURES, PERIOD! You come, you jump, you smile. If Jeb, or anyone else (remember he was a foreigner when he clipped the rock and ruined there base spot) showed up, and ruined my local spot, I would be beyond pissed. Jeb, I hope you heal up. But your injury is more than YOU, its our whole sport and a whole lot of others that are now grounded. Lastly, its a free world. Jump, Base, Climb Mountains, do drugs, whatever... but your rights to freedom end when they begin to put a negative impact on others. Think people. Our lives are already being ruled by a govenment hell bent on limiting everything we do. Lets not offer them 15 video angles of why they should continue to ground us.

I have found the best response is to lower the top of my pants until the top curve of my nutsack rests dangling off the rim of my jeans. Then I lean back and push them up as I parade around showing the boys off! Sometimes i pull up my shirt. Othertimes I wear really tight spandex pants. Of course, I then constantly yell at women, "Hey, My Eyes Are Up Here !" Then I roll my eyes, and mumble "geez, what an a-hole" as I walk off, pointing my perched nuts at someone else. But thats just me.

Many of us in the South will be raising our glasses and remembering the good times we had with Todd. He had extended WFFC family at West Tennessee Skydiving in Memphis, and here at Gold Coast Skydivers in Mississippi. Please keep us updated on plans for his ash dive or any future plans or tributes.

Hey Brother... I haven't seen you since our last jump in Rantoul. That photo of our jump still hangs on my wall. Yeah, been a few years, but now I miss you terribly. Blue Skies, Todd, may we meet again in that dropzone in the sky....

Parachute was examined by Coopers' rigger, who packed it when it was used in the high jacking. "Not it." Mystery continues....

Just heard on breaking news. Kids in the woods in Seattle found a parachute, believed now to be "perhaps" the remains of D B Cooper. Interesting. Wonder how this one will turn out. ???

Imagine that.... A skydiver who runs around like a three year old shouting " LOOK AT ME.. LOOK AT ME.."' wait, that's me. oh hell, thats all of us. WWFD What Would Fonzy Do?

Belize next month. But for my summer... no plans yet. I need my annual family reunion in Illinios. I agree with the "build it and they will come" plans. It may be smaller but stil fun. Hey Don, if you are reading this.. How about a 5 or 6 day event, maybe Wednesday to Sunday ? Would cut your overall cost down, and funnel all the jumpers into the same few days. Just my two cents.

January has come and gone... still no word on WFFC. I, like many others, need a good bit of notice to clear ten days from my schedule. I am afraind that even if it happens, attendance will too low -as so many will be nervous over getting their vacation time screwed again. Is their anyone out there who can add some info to this....? Perhaps the next WFFC post should be in the memorials forum. "It was a good boogie...." But it cant be over.. say it aint so....

I am considering putting a mosquito misting system in my back yard. Does anyone have experience with these, or with any of the other mosquito systems - such as the propane CO2 tanks, etc. I live on the water in Mississippi, about a 2 acre back yard. Mosquitos limit the fun close to sunset.

Somewhere in Heaven, a voice on the PA says: "Welcome to Heaven, MUFF MUFF MUFF..." We'll miss you at the LO tent, but if you had to go... well, you went on your terms. Blue Ones Johnny.

'sitting by the open door at 300 feet" and "fortunate we're not reading about a jump plane crash with multiple fatalities. " Bottom line, this event turned out okay, but only by the grace of God and sheer unadulterated luck ! Geez, guys, dont be soooo stupid! Shut the door, buckle up, and sit still. For all the additions to this Incident column, the initial plane ride can be the most danerous part !

Luckily no skydivers were injured, as they were not allowed on the plane. They were forced to stand at the end of the parking lot under the "We Only Do Tandems" sign.

You cant argue facts with any of these left-winged whacko types who hate America and blaim George Bush for their own personal failures. Despite a biased lying media (Dan Rather, Jason Blair, NY Times, and even photo fraud), the left is clearly wrong on every aspect, and fools like the ACLU, john kerry, and al gore, only hurt our great country. The biggest problem with these looney left losers is that they are all utter failures, and they need someone to blaim. I say this, of course, knowing some unemployed turd will attack me personally for having views opposed to theirs. I await with a grin.

But of course, none were "Flying the Camera" quality.

I vote no. The photograph is poor quality, needs more center flash, less background light, and a higher speed capture. It is dark, fuzzy, and utterly dull. It has nothing to do with skydiving, and is apparently only a reference to 10 year old cheezy Swayze flick. Boring boring boring. I saw 100 plus pictures last week by the famous Karen Lewis that were all infinitely better and would have made better covers.

Has anyone else noticed the correlation between the low number of years in the sport by the poster, and the general lack of respect, manners, and common sense ?

Intriguing run of comments. Sad, though, that most of the pro-BASE jump replies completely miss the boat. My thoughts... 1) Gary is 100% correct. It is illegal. Period. Move on. 2) One should not try to rationalize, excuse, or condone the attempted jump at WFFC, regardless of safety, quality of gear, experience of the jumper, or personal thoughts on skydiving, base jumping, etc. Again, see number one. 3) Had the unthinkable happened, or even a botched landing, and the jumper injured, the entire skydiving community would suffer, including the possiblity of closing the WFFC. The pilot could have lost his license. What would happen to the base community ? Not a thing. When one has nothing to lose, ones self-protective "Base is safer than pond swooping" argument rings hollow. 4) In the absence of people like Gary, our sport would be controlled by others, a true disaster. 5) Finally, his comments to Dixie, a familiar, fair, and skydiver oriented official from the FAA was not (in any way) turning in a jumper. It was simply asking someone with a title to repremand someone for attempting to peform an illegal, and yes, very stupid, stunt. I enjoy skydiving. I enjoy Base jumping. I am active in both. I do however, realize that my behavior, activities, and jumps - even base jumps, can have repercussions that extend beyond my desire for a thrill. just my two cents.

At 10am this morning (tuesday) the FAA signed off on the Perris Jet, officially allowing skydiving from it the WFFC. woo woo.

Blue Skies Coombsey. Fly free. Please visit: http://www.funnyfarm.com.au./ If you have a few bucks, consider donating. It's just to get him home. patrick weldon

A young skydiver (edited by chuck) was arrested in the Load Organizing tent (LO#1) in Rantoul this year after being observed stealing from jumpers gear bags. I have followed the thread in the Spanish forum, but not noticed it here. I have posted a few pictures of him and some of his stolen merchandise. He later confessed to stealing from other dropzones. Does anyone have an update, or what became of this person (another edit by chuck to clean it up a bit, but allow the gist of the post to remain)

One more checking in. My family came through okay. Trees down, some damage, but certainly cant complain after seeing the surrounding area. We have power, ac, phone and cable back on... so on the way to normal. I have a house full, many friends and relatives in beds, couches, and floors, but can accomodate more. (Jackson, Miss.) Email as needed if you need to share my roof. Ongoing prayers for those who are still suffering.