skydivr

Not the way I'd have pictured him going for sure. Larger than life... Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

The man, the myth, the legend. RIP Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

'As the DZ Turns'... Jeez, I hate crap like this. I avoid DZ politics like the plague; I just want a decent place to jump. I hope the new owners remain independent. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

Only if you are stupid enough to jump into a CAT 4 tornado.... Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

The entire reason for the rule change is so the AAD manufacturers can raise the firing altitude. Period. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

She sure was something... Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

I saw a couple walk across the tarmac naked in gear at the WFFC (about 96 I think) and board the Jet; after takeoff, she unbuckled and started blowing the guy (with plenty of camera's on her); at altitude she straddled him and out the door they went. I strongly suspect that it was over when that cold air hit his privates. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

The 'occupiers' are mad about something but they just aren't sure what it is. They have now been co-opted by the unions and moveon.org (who are good at organizing). The whole point is to blame the rich so that the current administration can vilify the 'rich' in order to raise taxes. I don't buy it. If we are going to raise taxes just to continue to fund Obama's spending debacle, then it doesn't solve anything. I'm ready and willing to pay more taxes, but I'm sick and tired of them being used to continue this crazy spending. Show me the spending cut FIRST, then I'll believe you are serious about lowering the debt and will be more willing to accept a reasonable tax increase. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

An honor to see your post sir. I was born the year you started, back when jumping WAS dangerous. On another subject, I had a chance to talk to a former Cdr of the Golden Knights about a week ago at a change of command at FTCKY; we had a nice talk reminiscing about the military clubs. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

Tunnel time WILL make a new jumper a better skydiver *althought it's not exactly the same*; it's an opportunity to deal with some minor issues (usually a pesky turn that you don't have time in a minute-long skydive to figure out and deal with). I've seen some Tunnel rats that could fly their ass off, but had never made a jump. If they did, they'd be awesome off the bat, but let's remember that a skydive is as much about getting the balls to jump out of a flying airplane as it is about the flying part. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

I had a 153; "fun fabric" no less (the blue one). Really like it, but it had a bad habit of surprising me on opening with an off-heading or line-twist. The only Reserve ride I have had (so far in 2500 jumps) was on it (opened in a twist/spin that I could not kick out of). Traded it in for a 50% off new Nitron. Still jumping it, never had a line twist....might open 90 off but has never put me in a twist. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

Compare the struggle in Isreal to that of Northern Ireland. They didn't get anywhere for 50 years, except to breed another generation of hater/killers, until the IRA renounced violence, gave up their weapons (or at least put them away) and agreed to work towards a POLITICAL solution. Now, while still some resentments exist, they are BOTH making progress and sharing in it TOGETHER. Hamas and the other radicals should take note (if they had any freaking sense): - Immediately recognize Isreal's right to exist - Immediately cease hostilities and all civilian targets - Agree to join the process to resolve politically. The response would be so overwhelming. Israel would be out of it's mind not to cooperate (and with pressure from it's allies, WOULD negociate); people would stop KILLING and start getting along. Palestinians would get all the help that is currently being kept out solely because of their leadships's relectuance to stop fighting and their standard of living would improve; the entire middle east would immediately be without it's primary excuse to fight each other (then the real reason why would come out - that they are trying to live in a 21st Century world with a 12th Century religion leading them) But they are just too backward and stupid to see it, and they continue to give Isreal the main reason to persecute them in the first place. What a damn shame they just keep killing each other. P.S. I'm not Jewish... Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

Both parties made mistakes: The Driver: - Was totally in the wrong place. Little doubt in my mind that he was an accessory to solicitation. - Carrying a gun while being an accessory to solicitation was pretty stupid. - Completely failed, once given the chance to speak to announce he was a permit holder and carrying. He went into some long-winded explanation of why he was there. The ONLY words out of his mouth should have been, "Officer, I have a carry permit, and I am armed" while not moving a muscle with hands clearly visible. The Officer (who is supposed to be the trained professional) - Completely lost control of the situation - Did not adequatlely separate/search the occupants BEFORE conducting investigation - Failed to follow police proceedure - Lost his temper (mostly because he realized he'd screwed up) - Did ALL of it within earshot/view a a POLICE VIDEO CAMERA. The Officer needs to make a public apology to the driver, and the driver needs to accept it. Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

I jumped at the Fort Campbell Sport Parachute Activity from1991 until it closed. I was on the last load that ever flew off Son DZ. I still live in the area, and I still have the SOP on my computer (was helping the DZO draft the re-write). Campbell died because A/C hours got scarce, and the AVN Bde Cdr was not hot on it. Truth was, the staff had to fly to get hours for flight pay, and it was more efficient to fly us jumpers than bore holes in the sky, but the AVN Bde Cdr didn't see it that way. Some didn't know how good we had it. I still jump with lifelong friends who were former members, including the first guy that touched me in freefall, 20 years ago this year. There was a LOT of history tied to the military jump clubs, it's a travesty how they went away and all their stuff was cut up and thrown away. The clubs were good for the sport, and they were good for the soldiers for multiple reasons: - On post, in a supervised environment - Getting good training that made them better soldiers (if you don't think learning to control your fear in a high-stress situation benefits soldiers, you'd be wrong). - a way to burn off steam in a controlled environment - a living recruiting poster for the spec ops guys Now, the Army's got problems with young soldiers buying sportbikes and killing themselves in record numbers, they are coming up with all these "adventure training" ideas to try and relieve all the battle stress in a controlled situation, and 2 inches in FRONT OF THEIR NOSE WAS THE ANSWER ALL THE TIME... Military Intelligence can sometimes truly be an oxymoron... Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"

Interesting essay, for which I can agree with. My previous post is my personal choice (concealed). I agree if you dress the part and look responsible, then you probably get less 'attention' than others. But there are some that open carry I am rightfully cautious about. Being retired military, I'm pretty cautious about gun safety; I don't hand a gun to someone I don't clear first, and even if I see then clear it, I clear it again once it's in my possession. I know others that are not gun safe, and I don't assume anyone is. We had a customer come into work one day to make a purchase; poorly dressed, unkempt and did not make me comfortable that he was carrying. I politely asked him if he was law enforcement, when he said no I asked him to take his gun back out into his truck, as he was on private property. He incredulously asked "but don't you feel safer that I've got a gun?" I said, "not really, since I don't know you or how you were trained, and the only person I want to see a gun on in this building is ME". Keith Abner D-17590 "Those who do, can't explain; those who don't, can't understand"