mofo554

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=642434;search_string=mofo554%20diversity;#642434

For anybody that knows a bit about the history of this Website, I need a bit of help... For my final paper in a political modeling/complex systems class, I am examining the direction of Internet content. Essentially, the paper addresses whether or not the Internet has evolved into a medium which affects our culture in a positive or negative fashion (i.e. will people discuss environmentalism or Bob Ross) What I am wondering is how this site developed...particularly how these forums developed. Was there initially only a single forum, like a general skydiving forum? When and why did other forums (Bonfire, etc.) develop? Were there moderators present at the beginning, or were they created to keep content on topic? How did the site evolve as far as membership? In your opinion, has content on this site gone up qualitatively or have most substantive topics been discussed leaving us to debate who the most attractive freeflyer is? I appreciate any help you can give me with this.... Thanks!

I'm having a hard time believing that this wasn't covered in your FJC...or shortly thereafter.

My tandem master appreciation goes out to Rod at Skydive Tecumseh. In 2001, we jumped from a 182 with the former owner, Mark, flying. One of the things that stuck with me was the smile on his face as he watched us leave off the strut. Anyway, Rod was incredibly nice to both my friend and I. We were there to write an article for our high school newspaper, and Rod patiently smoked and answered our lame questions.

Clicky http://www.skydivecreatures.com

Just a question.... How does the act of doing a tandem or going into the wind tunnel make you a "natural flyer"?

I couldn't agree more. So many people on here seem to be against discussing negative opinions and some negative factual aspects of this sport...it never ceases to amaze me. To all who refused to comment, or told the original poster that they might ask their question in a different way: If you went to a restaurant and got horrible service and/or terrible/dirty food, would you tell others to stay away? To me, at least, this seems like such a simple concept - if you go somewhere where the service and/or goods provided are subpar, you let others know so that they don't make the mistake of going there. Why wouldn't you? Skydiving operations, like any other businesses, are not immune to problems which would cause others to speak poorly of them. I think peopel should encourage such discussion, provided, of course, that it is reported in a fair manner.

It's been a while since I've posted, and even longer since I've jumped - damn Michigan weather.... Anyways, I was thinking the other day about people who have personally inspired me to excel in the sport of skydiving. Specifically, I would like to thank Mike Reed at Skydive Tecumseh, who, after a few bad jumps gave me some simple, yet perfect, advice. He pulled me aside and said, "Not every jump will go as planned, and that's okay. Learn from every mistake, every success, and every jump. Above all, remember why you're doing this - for fun!" There are a number of others (Marty, Ron and Brenda at Napoleon, to name a few) who have inspired me as well, but Mike's quote has really stuck in my head. Anyways, who has inspired you? Why? How? YEEEEE!

At Al Meyers Airport, where Skydive Tecumseh is located, all students have to land across the runway from the operations buildings. Thus, they must cross the runway when walking back. However, experienced jumpers land on the opposite side, right next to the buildings.

Disclaimer to all respondents to this post: The following is not intended to hijack the original thread, nor is it intended to be taken as anything more than my opinion on what has been said in the original post and subsequent postings. I am very new to this sport compared to many people here, having been in it for only a few years. Anyways, after reading billvon's post, I disagreed with a few issues he presented... In this case, if the DZO knew the reserve was out of date, or that the prop was faulty, these are clear cases of negligence. How is anybody going to know that the reserve card on their rented rig hasn't been altered to make it appear up to date? They can't know this. To act as if DZOs shouldn't be held legally responsible for such disregard for human life is, in my opinion, ludacris. People who brazenly and blatantly do such things undeniably deserve to be punished. If five people die in a Cessna 182 crash, and the DZO admits (for whatever reason) that he knew the plane was unsafe, how can anybody conscientiously say he shouldn't be held responsible? There is a reason this country has such regulatory agencies as the FAA, FDA, etc. If the FAA didn't exist, who would be ensuring you that the flight you take to Europe is on an airplane which has been properly maintained? If the FDA didn't exist, who would ensure your beef doesn't contain mad cow disease or was packaged in unsanitary conditions? How would your health and safety be ensured if not for such government agencies? The simple answer: it wouldn't be. Government agencies, along with the right we have to sue negligent people/companies is what keeps things in check. People and companies are held responsible in civil courts every day across our nation. When a drunk person negligently drives down a road and kills somebody, they are often rightfully held responsible in both criminal and civil courts for their negligence. Yet, along your line of thought, such a person shouldn't be held accountable because it was the deceased person's choice to risk their life driving down the street. Again, I find this line of thinking ludacris. It simply makes no sense to me. If somebody's negligence causes harm to another human being, that person should be held responsible - no matter what. I see no reason why DZOs would let reserves go out of date, or fly skydivers in airplanes that are unsafe. If fixing these and other problems means they can't afford to stay in business, then so be it. As long as they take proper precautions, then I find absolutely no reason for a DZO to ever worry about civil litigation. Once they stray into the realm of becoming negligent, however, they are operating their business with no respect for human life.

That nice person was probably atsaubrey. You could try PMing him to see if he can hook you up.

Which video?

Definitely agree here. Long rides to altitude not only suck because they permit fewer jumps, but they inherently suck because you have to sit in the plane for longer periods of time doing nothing. I think most jumpers would gladly pay a few extra bucks (read $1-$3) for a faster jump plane any day.

Check it out: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=642419;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

THE WOLVERINES ARE ROSE BOWL BOUND!!!!!!! see ya buckeyes PEACE!

Show me where I bashed Mike Mullins. Show me where I encouraged anyone to bash Mike Mullins. Like others have said, this isn't the first time this topic has come up. This is a forum for discussion. The original post promoted discussion, not bashing.

Reading over the replies again, I have more to say. What I wrote originally, and what the replies have been do not coincide. I asked questions for people's opinions and most replies follow along these lines: "Who cares what happened in the past?" "Mike Mullins is one hell of a pilot." "I have known Mike for years and think he is a great guy." "Mike Mulllins has a fast airplane." Mike Mullins probably is one hell of a pilot, and I think many people love his plane. However, I didn't ask what anyone thought of his skills as a pilot or his airplane. If you can't even reply to the questions....and dance around the bush with your opinions about Mike (good or bad)....for whatever reason you choose to do so....well, as one said "a waste of bandwidth."

I have no beef with Mike. I have never met the guy. The purpose of this post has, I believe, been misconstrued. It was simply asking for the public's (skydiving public, mostly) reaction to the events that took place years ago. Working my way towards a legal career, possibly in criminal defense, I find it very interesting the way that criminals and those who have been acquitted of all charges are treated by society. I could speculate that if I had asked similar questions about OJ Simpson (who, in similar circumstances was acquitted of murdering of his ex(?) wife after a trial in which he himself spent a small fortune for legal representation, and was the subject of intense media scrutiny) in Talkback that the reaction wouldn't have been this bad. Obviously, there are many people here who know Mike to some degree. So, to them, I say this was not meant as a personal attack on Mike Mullins. I personally believe it is a totally legitimate post. Nothing, that I am aware of in the original post, was untrue, slander, misleading, etc. If any of it was, I would like to know. Other than that, I stand by what I wrote. Peace

Ok...so is this skydiving's dirtiest little secret? Well, to be more correct, it isn't exactly a secret. Many (perhaps only some) know that Mike Mullins was put on trial, and eventually acquitted, for the murder of his wife. The circumstances surrounding the case were extremely fishy. If I recall correctly, Mullins spent a small fortune on his legal team, and the case attracted a great deal of media attention. My question is along these lines. Are there people out there who refuse to jump, work, associate, etc. with Mullins because of his "shady" past? To anybody that knows him or has met him, have you ever seen this come up in conversation around him? How was it dealt with at the time of the investigation, trial, and immediately following the verdict? Further, to anybody that knows anything about the incident, do you think he is guilty? He may have been found not guilty in a court of law, but the court of public opinion is another matter.

I, like you, struggled with S/L training. However, after switching over to AFF, everything suddenly clicked. I don't necessarily regret the time I spent doing S/L, but if I had to choose between S/L or AFF, AFF would get my vote every single time. Like you said, your sensory overload disappeared after a few seconds during your tandem jump. AFF jumps allow you time to adjust to your surroundings, and to learn way more about freefall than the initial S/L jumps. Knowing what I know now, if I were you, I wouldn't jump S/L again until you've done at least two AFF jumps...

Been done before..... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=530613;#530613

Clicky http://www.islandflightadventures.com

(____)(____)=====================D suck it.

hmm....skydiving related discussion i see... cough hypocrit cough cough

I have noticed that a lot of threads seem to deviate from their beginnings. This makes it more difficult, though by no means impossible (duh), for a user to read about what they clicked on the thread for in the first place. Anyways, I was thinking, maybe the powers that be at DZ.com could make it possible to create "sub-threads". Basically, the idea is that when a wholly seperate topic starts being discussed in a thread, one is able to break it off into a "sub-thread" in order to discuss that issue. What do you think? Am I just being stupid?