freeflyfrog

Yes, he is a FORMER staff member of Skydive Hastings. And so am I. In fact, most of the staff of SDH are "FORMER"... What's up, Sunman? How's Key West?

Join the club! I guess it's slightly better than unemployment...

I'm not sure what resolution digital cameras are set to, but I am quite certain that you won't get an image at 1024 x 768 quality out of it. There's just not enough "info" there for you to blow it up that large...

The Art Institute is a good bet... and free admission on Tuesdays. And don't forget to visit Chicagoland Skydiving!

Well, you can't spell "creative" without my initials: C. Rea! I'm just having problems finding an airline that will let me fly with my folding massage table... If I don't make it this weekend, I'll owe you one! Ciao!

Busily checking flight schedules out of O'Hare... taking mental inventory of things I can sell to buy plane ticket... stocking up on scented massage oils...

Alright! I made the cut! So, when would you like your first massage?

Personal Massage Therapist to Empress of the Universe or, barring that, Lord High Ruler of Magrathea

The cutaway handle is pulled after you have opened your main, stowed your slider, etc. This releases the tension on the binding at your ankle (depends on the type of binding) but leaves the front of your foot in the toe loop. Then you fly with your toes loosely set in the loops, allowing you to kick the board off as you land. Looks easier than it is!

I did my second in Eloy with Burner. We got to go to 10,000' because there was a tandem pair in there!! I wouldn't have wanted to be that TM, trying to climb out of the basket with his passenger. We also had a base jumper who got out at 300'... damn that looked low! I did RW with some guy I had just met. Great fun. The only drawback: We landed MILES from the DZ and it took 30 minutes or so before we found a ride back... Still... one of my most memorable jumps!

As long as you are comfortable in your ability to recover from any initial instability as your speed builds, you will be fine. Most balloon jumps at boogies take you to between 4 and 5000', so that leaves plenty of time to get to terminal so it feels like a "real" skydive. Go for it... you have plenty of jumps and you'll LOVE it! Ciao!

Amazing... the only time I jumped in snow I had several layers and my hands throbbed for an hour afterwards. Maybe the key is to be naked when jumping in snow!! Ciao!

Naked in the middle of Winter? You are a brave woman! How long did it take before you could feel your extemities again?

Balloon jumps are AWESOME! The silence just before you go is amazing, and feeling your speed increase from zero to terminal in a matter of seconds is thrilling. Here's what to expect: 1. Most balloon jumps happen from 5000' or less. My first was from 2200'... that was the lowest I had ever gotten out... let alone taken a delay from. But it was great. Depending on the size of the balloon and the skill of its pilot, you may only be able to leave one at a time. Watch for the other jumpers as you will NOT have much horizontal separation between exits. 2. Unlike a jump from a plane, where you are already going 80mph or whatever as you leave the door, a balloon exit starts at ZERO. This can be quite a strange feeling your first time. Hearing the people in the balloon talking as you fall away is weird! Remember that the body position you leave in will be the position you are likely to remain in until you have built up enough speed to begin to use the relative wind to "fly" your body. On my first balloon jump, I made the mistake of just rolling off the edge of the basket (I was standing) which immediately caused me to go head low as there was no relative wind to stop my forward motion. But I held my arch and eventually ended up on my belly where I could deploy. I was just under 1900' at that point. A better exit is to concentrate on leaving head high so that you stay that way until deployment time. Ask a local BASE jumper about a good exit technique... they're used to it! Actually, the most nerve-wracking part for me was climbing up onto the edge of the basket... I must have been afraid to fall off or something!

You ROCK for posting Homestar's System is Down page...

Snopes to the rescue!!! POW!

I say take off 10", donate it to Locks for Love and be happy knowing that you have made someone else happy with your donation.

If you were REALLY a redneck, you'd have written: "we rednecks ain't that dum..."

Nice one...

And in Italian, it's "come si dice?" So you're already halfway there! Although I have known people to get confused and start speaking some crazy SpItalian!

Italian... definitely Italian. I've been studying it formally and informally for several years now. Yup... Italian. That's the way to go. And I'm sure you can find more than just a "pizza guy" to talk to...

What's your favorite color?

See what happens when you try to impress the tandem cuties?

Those girls ROCK! I was Jen's static line JM in Marana... it's nice to see someone you helped out at the beginning going on to do such great things... I hope to fly with her again one of these days... she can teach me a thing or ten about freeflying

After doing jump #1000 naked with 9 of my closest friends... all male ... I swore to never again jump naked until I could do it with an equal or GREATER number of naked women! BTW, rear rear float (i.e. first out) SUCKS when you are naked... and it is a sunset jump at the end of October!