JohnMitchell

When you live that fast and that hard, natural causes sure come early. I'm super freakin' about that news.

See, ya ought to get back into it.

Sorry, it's a shameless attempt on my part at stirring the pot. We teach the other way, and I practice what I teach. I feel anything that slows down getting the reserve out can be harmful. You've been in this sport long enough to know what I mean. One-size-fits-all procedures are usually a compromise, not the best way of doing things. With that said, our DZ has SOS systems for students, so our emergency procedures are very simple.

Tips are nice and always welcome, but not encouraged. The gesture more than the amount can make a difference. Saturday I received a $2 tip from a college girl which was really cool. Not having a lot of money she'd saved all summer to do a tandem. (Bought a GoFast with it.) Did you check to see if her phone # was written on one of the bills? Like I said earlier, the thought is the really cool part, that you gave 'em such a good time. Doesn't matter if it's a buck or a 20. A six pack of green bottles is cool, too.

Our DZ has a small sign next to the video waiver TV saying that tips are not required, but always appreciated. I'd say 20% of my passengers tip $10 to $20. To me, the thought counts as much as the dough, that I gave them such a good skydive they felt like tipping. My last tandem cutaway passenger tipped me $20. I think he was so glad to be alive.

Nope, I'm too low on the totem pole to get that changed at my DZ. I start introducing the two stage flare to new jumpers off student status that are still having trouble landing their canopies.

Does he say that for a total malfunction? If so, he's wrong.

Ya mean He-Hooters?

Highest 18,500 with no oxygen, and yeah, we were feeeling it. Lowest several from 1000 from a C-182 on a cloudy day or two. Any base jumper should be able to put that bottom one to shame.

Actually, I can and have taught firearm safety to children without a firearm present. It's the NRA's "Eddie the Eagle" program that teaches children to not touch firearms, to leave the area of a firearm, and to tell an adult. Now, to teach firearm handling, with which all my children are familiar, it helps to be packing some heat. Children with no training, though, are a real hazard around firearms. All children should be trained what not to do, even if their parents don't own guns.

I agree with a 2 stage flare, and I've used the "batons" method to land students, but if you reread my earlier post, you'll see that I lament that my DZ has not adopted it. I work at a large DZ where you must teach what the management decides for the syllabus. To not do that will confuse the students. We occasionally change it around, but every instructor has to be told.

I feel it's a situation similar to having children around water or street traffic or any other potential hazard. The hazard has to be managed or contained, the children have to be watched, and at an early age, the children need to be educated about safe behaviour. Since we are talking about an airport, I hope to God no one lets their toddler just roam. A gun isn't the only hazard to a child at an airport. The shooting area needs to be defined and contained. Every responsible shooter knows not only his target, but what's behind it. Every parent I know teaches their kids about traffic safety and fire safety and water safety. Why do so many ignore gun safety? Just because I don't own a car doesn't mean my kid doesn't need to learn to cross the street safely. Teaching gun safety is not teaching them how to use a gun or how to bea "blood thirsty" animal hunter, anymore than teaching them to watch for cars is a driving lesson. It's teaching them how to be safe around firearms, which are a fact of life in the free world. I know a few people that are not comfortable around dogs, especially large dogs, especially if those dogs are being walked. Should these people have the right to keep my dogs out of public place, even if I'm there with those dogs legally and responsibly? In my experience, children are pretty rare at municipal airports, though more common on DZ's. I think the politician was just making the cheap "family values, do it for the children" plea, one of the first refuges of the scoundrel. Onec again, I don't know the Colorado situation first hand. I seen guns used responsibly, I've seen them used carelessly. I'm all for the former, and I never condone the latter.

I would say that is more the platform, than the ammo... I have hit targets at 500m with a short barreled (11.5 in) AR-15... I shot competatively with M16A1s out to 400m (and got about 90% of them in the x-ring)... The .223 is very sensitive to the twist rate. If you use heavier, hence longer, bullets, the twist rate in the barrel riflings needs to go up, as much as 1 twist in 8 inches, I think. Less than that and the longer bullets will tumble.

Let's call up Mr.Stoner and have him send us a bunch of his AR-10's, in glorious .308.

I don't care if he's smaller than me. A baseball bat is a deadly weapon. If I fear for my life, I'm shooting.

I've never been to this DZ, so I don't know the physical layout, but it is very easy to shoot shotguns safely. The shot doesn't travel very far compared to even a .22 bullet. Are they being safe and responsible with their firearms? Or are they firing towards buildings, cows, property, whatever? I jumped for years in Cedar Valley, Utah, where there was open sage brush desert in almosat every direction. We shot a lot of everything during weather holds. We never put a bullet hole in an airplane or person. I wasn't surprised by the local politician's comment about the shooting sports destroying the family atmosphere of the airport. Most shooters I know are responsible and very family oreinted. Shooting sports are one of many things our whole family participates in. I'm sure the politician is simply anti-gun.

The change in outside air pressure, less than 15 psi from sea level to outer space, is negligible compared the air pressure inside that bottle. It's not a problem. As far as a safety device, okay, but I'd rather have a floation device than a bottle of air.

#1 The only thing better than a free skydive is getting paid to skydive. #2 Ground instucting doesn't pay enough at my DZ. #3 I enjoy meeting people and taking them on a skydive. It is an amazing thing to get to share with them. That said, the "high maintenance" whiny passengers are not much fun, but that's all part of the game.

Thanks for the explanations. I used to JM students in the round days, in fact, I was wearing a round, too, so the wind was a huge factor. But I was lucky, we had a huge DZ in the desert.

No they don't. It just seems like time is moving slowly when you're married.

Car like that you need a way to get out of tickets. One of my friends says his Purple Heart plates get him out of a lot of tickets.

Well, you learned from that one, and your attitude is in the right place,so keep going. You're going to make a great instructor. A couple of questions. How well did the rig fit that little girl? Also, should she have been the first out, since she was so floaty? At our DZ we go heavy first, light last, so the ground controller has an easier time. Also, little people fit better in the back of the plane. Our DZ also has a few rigs for lighter students, samller harnesses with smaller mains. It's not easy to spot for a student who's going to be backing up. That's a tough spot to put a new instructor in. Don't know how experienced your pilot was, but he should have had some better input for you, too. Our's are so good I can't remember the last correction I had to give. Keep the faith, man.

Then how ´bout my 4 in 580 jumps ?! Beat that! (trembling, scared voice) B-b-but I don't want to beat that!

Once a jumper packed my rig while I was up doing a tandem. Next load, my canopy slammed open, busting about five or six lines. Chop. Find out the guy who packed my rig had 10 mals in 1000 jumps! His comment was "I guess you're not going to pay me for the pack job." Well, at least we are all really good at our emergency procedures.

Women, brag all you want.