bclark

I went on an IPA kick for quite a while. Some of my faves: Blue Point Hoptical Illusion (previously mentioned, Long Island, NY.) Opa Opa IPA (Mass.) Saint Arnold's Elissa IPA (Named for the Texas Tall Ship, Houston, TX) Edited too add: Squatter's HOP rising out of UTAH (of all places) Lagunitas IPA (CA) These are all nice IPA's and I like them all equally for different reasons.

The mural was still there when we had the airplane in Utah for a couple of seasons. I think this was probably in the 2000-2002 time frame. I have heard it is no longer there.

I disagree with the policy, particularly for people who are out of town visitors and may never come back to use their rainchecks. However, there IS a large banner right behind the manifest counter where all waivers are turned in and all payments are taken that says, "NO REFUNDS, NO EXCEPTIONS". I don't see how you could miss it. It is also in the waiver. (Yeah, I know. You didn't read it, just signed it.) It's on the website too. So even if you don't agree with the policy, (which I don't) you can't honestly claim that it is not clearly stated. I worked there for almost 8 years. During that time Spaceland never sold jump tickets. Experienced jumpers put money on an account which, although nonrefundable, never loses value or expires.

I disagree with the policy, particularly for people who are out of town visitors and may never come back to use their rainchecks. However, there IS a large banner right behind the manifest counter where all waivers are turned in and all payments are taken that says, "NO REFUNDS, NO EXCEPTIONS". I don't see how you could miss it. It is also in the waiver. (Yeah, I know. You didn't read it, just signed it.) It's on the website too. So even if you don't agree with the policy, (which I don't) you can't honestly claim that it is not clearly stated.

Here is why it is important to look out of the airplane on the climb to altitude. Judging from your video, winds were honking from the NW. (Familiar with the area.) Your first clue should have been the fact that the airplane was crawling across the ground on jump run. You would have then known to hold the spot and not exit until well upwind. P.S. Trying to sit fly in an old Talon is probably not the best idea. (Not you, the chick in the pink and black rig you were jumping with.)

Hey Scooter, Hope yer doin good! Anyhow, after I quit tandem whoring for a living I went to work for a company that does a lot of work in refineries and such. OSHA requires them to have us take an annual hearing test. Turns out that all that freefall noise, airplane noise, rock concerts, gunshots etc really screwed up my hearing. Can't say that I notice it in day to day life too much, but Nathalie always gets mad at me for watching TV with the volume up too high, and if I am laying on the couch with my right ear on a pillow I notice my left is much worse. (they called it moderate / severe hearing loss on the left side). I remember sitting across from DJ in the otter on many occasions and getting pissed off at him for how loud he was (he always wore earplugs and therefore was a very loud talker). In retrospect he was a good example, even if he did piss of the load with his yelling and smelly ass.

WOW! I can't believe 10 years have gone by. We lost a great bunch of people that day. Johnny was my first jump AFF instructor. Nathan was my "mentor", the really down to earth cool guy on the DZ who I looked up to. I think about those guys every day.

Wow, I haven't posted on this site in a long time. But this topic caught my eye, both as a skydiver and an (ex)jump pilot. (Caravan, Otter). It is true that many jumpers do not have understanding or practice in spotting that they used to. Often with larger turbine airplanes, and at busy DZs the responsibility for spotting the airplane has been transferred to the pilot. The main reason for this is efficiency. Without fail, put a jumper in charge of spotting the load and they will select the exit point based on where THEY want to exit, without consideration for the rest of the load. This results in lots of go arounds, wasted money and time. (And fewer loads at the end of the day). When you are trying to put 23 jumpers out in one pass, the first people out are going to end up a little short and downwind having to fly in to the wind to make it back. The last people are going to exit pretty long and far upwind having to run the whole way. The guys in the middle should be happy campers and hopefully everyone makes it. Yes, there are some conditions (no wind days at altitude with fast groundspeeds, etc.) where maybe you can't do it in one pass. Obviously, when the green light comes on you should not blindly exit. You should check for traffic and other hazards, but trust that the pilot is spotting for the LOAD. Sometimes you may have to get out a little short or long and take one for the team and the greater good. Maybe you have to pull a little higher to get back... (strange concept, I know). If the pilot f's up and screws the spot, which every one does, kindly talk to him after you land and offer constructive feedback on what you feel needs to change.

Happy Birthday Dennis!

Saw it tonight. It had potential, but in the end pretty much sucked ass.

Dennis was a truly rare human being. In my time working alongside him I was impressed most by his ability to seemingly ignore all the B.S. and keep a smile on his face. I can count the number of times I ever saw him angry on one hand. At work I was always amazed by Dennis. At 60+ this guy would put most of us youngsters to shame. He would never shy away from a heavy tandem, or that basketcase AFF student that no one else wanted to work with. Some of my best memories of Dennis were: His stories. There were hundreds of them. And no matter how many time he told the same story I never (really) got tired of listening to them. Every morning he would pick up the DZ mail and bring it into the office and say, "Oh Boy, the Mail's Here!" We did some really fun demos together. He was an awesome Santa Claus. I have attached a few pictures. He was never afraid to go out and shoot practice approaches in actual IMC with me. He would take me out in his T-Craft and let me pound it into the earth. I remember him asking me if I wanted to spin in the Taylorcraft. I said "sure". He then instructed me to climb up to 5000 ft directly over the LZ so he could keep up his "crazy old guy" image. He showed me how you had to hold the T-craft in a deep stall or it would recover from the spin on it's own. This guy had 40+ years of jumping under his belt and still loved it. He was one of the few people left these days who would help you out just because and never complain. My condolences to his family, and to my friends at Spaceland. Dennis is definitely gonna be missed.

I prefer STBDMF. (Soon to be Dead Mother Fucker)

Move there! There is tons of stuff to do. I left there 7 years ago and miss it every day. The mormons are nice, normal people for the most part.

Sweet! Now I know of 2 Dz's still running Twin Beeches. This one and Siloam Springs, AR. I shall put them on the places to visit list.

Loved that one! Al Bundy. Great leader of men.

Thanks for sharing. I got to take an old guy up for a couple of rides in the Otter last weekend. He flew P-47 in WW2. Had not been in the cockpit for 30 years. Neat guy.

I am laughing my fucking ass off visualizing this in my mind. Thank you. Thank you very much.

I flew the Caravan for a weekend at Gold Coast last spring. Mike and Leanne made me feel very welcome. I am sorry to hear of his passing and wish my condolences to the jumpers and staff at Gold Coast.

I definitely think that we should send Obama to space.

I have done tandems with and without frap hats on my students. In roughly 5000 tandems my personal experience is: I have never been headbutted or knocked in the teeth by my student. I have had my chin come down vertically onto the top of my students head on landing. (Didn't hurt the student, but I bit my tongue hard enough to make me bleed.) I think an unprotected students head is nearly as hard as a hard helmet. Under normal circumstances, I think helmets for tandem students (or anyone else for that matter) are unnecessary. However, the reason that I now wear a helmet on every jump is for the abnormal circumstances. (no one ever plans on crashing, right?) I wonder how many of those low turn tandem passenger fatalities would have had different outcomes if the student were wearing a helmet? That being said, I would PREFER not to have a big bulky helmet in front of my face. However I can see the potential safety benefits for the student. But where do we draw the line? Should I make passengers in my car wear a helmet in case I crash? I agree with your statement about not making skydiving into a "Nerf World". Hell, why don't we ALL wear helmets ALL THE TIME? Because you never know when that anvil or piano is going to fall on your head!

I have jumped 2 DC-3's Southern Cross and Blue Streak. I was able to fly on the AA Flagship Detroit from Mena, Arkansas to Little Rock a few years ago. We dropped off one of our Otters at the paint shop there and were able to arrange a flight on the Douglas. I believe it cost us $100.00 per person to join the Flagship Detroit foundation. We were able to fly in the cockpit on an IFR trip. What a memory. Your dad may have been one of the pilots. I will try to attach some pics.

Got to know Peter at last years Mustang Beach Boogie. Stayed with him and 3 other guys in an RV. Was fortunate enough to get to spend his last few days with him. What a chill guy. No ego, no drama. I liked talking to Peter, he had a great way of expressing himself and his ideas about life, people and jumping. I am sad that I won't have the chance to get to know him more. My condolences to his family and friends. A picture of Peter and I after he flew in the right seat of the Otter with me 3 days ago.

I have seen them (with my own eyes) cut reserve ripcord pins clean through.

I've had a great time flying this boogie. The beach is really nice, although a little flooded today. Lots of cool people here from the Ranch, Arkansas, Jersey. Definately been a fun time.

"Am I gonna die?" Yes, but probably not today. "What's the worst thing that has ever happened to you?" I was killed. (It was only a minor case of death, and I fully recovered.)