freakyrat

The funniest thing about any rodeo is the fun event such as when the kids compete in the calf scramble. One little guy in Houston several years ago got his jeans ripped off by one of the calves. the audience was just in a roar of laughter. One of the IGRA events is when a guy and a gal chase after a sheep to put a pair of underwear on the sheep. It is funny as hell. Other than that fun event it is pretty much a real rodeo with saddle bronc riding, calf ropin etc.

St. Elsewhere Dynasty Miami Vice

Never had a problem with Ontario. They just swabbed it down and it passed. They gave it back to me and let me go to my gate. Chris

Also You might add this benefit for those that are Federal Govt. Employees. One of their survivors benefits is a tax free passage of their Thrift Savings Plan to their spouse. In a gay relationship or with the transfer of this fund to another survivor, their is a 10% TAX penalty. Chris

Bonnie. Merry Christmas. That is so cool. I bet your daughter was delighted with it. Chris. P.S. I really liked that custom Christmas Card

If you take Greyhound. The main bus station is at the Berri Uqum Subway stop on either the green or orange Metro Lines. The green line Metro is the main subway line under Montreal. Chris

Not at all. Great openings on my 124. Chris

I still can remember my "ferris wheel" dive with Bill at one of the Freakbrother Conventions in Freeport, Il. Bill got a little bloody nose from it but was still happy and cheerful afterwards. Blue Skies Bill Chris

Blue Skies Don. You accomplished a lot in your life and made a lot of lasting contributions to this sport. Chris

Antonov 72. Large tailgate STOL jet. Chris

Squeak Nice adding color to your little mouse logo. Chris

Walt Conroe Here. We just got Power back. My rig is going to be out of date but I'm working several weekends and I think I find some time to get it repacked. Glad you are safe and sound. Chris

Here is a link to the discussion of Ophelia http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/072030.shtml Chris

I found the the best rubber bands come from Performance Designs. They will sell you a large bag of them and ship them to you on Fedex. I've used them for a number of years and I'm on my second bag of them. They are resonably priced also. Give them a call. Chris

I was told that the manufacturing process for the stainless hardware is better for the environment.

The Super Connie had a fire in the right inboard engine and it damaged the paint job on the right side of the plane. The people from the Save a Connie foundation think that without a lot of donations that the plane is history. Chris

Yes. Pro-rating the registration fee somehow for those just staying a few days would help. On the aircraft subject, skydivers can jump the usual fleet of turbines at a lot of dropzones so an unusual airplane such as the Russian Antonov72 jet. (STOL aircraft with big tailgate exits) that is used at the Espace boogie in France might wet our appetites. I know that that may pose some certification problems here in the US as these aircraft presently operate in the us under some special experimental category but new FAA rules coming out in the future might make this kind of operation easier to approve. The aircraft manifest girls were constantly calling for jumpers to fill aircraft. One Otter load I was on took off with about nine of us on board, that's WEAK. On the subject of equipment vendors, Mirage Systems raffled off a custom Mirage and proposed to sell 100 tickets at 20 dollars apiece. Now that made the odds pretty good. They sold about 70 some tickets through the end of the drawing on Thursday night. You would think that 30 more people out of 1100 skydivers could of bought a chance. What a bunch of "Cheap Charlies" On the bright side the Staff did a tremendous job to pull this off with the turnout that they had. Scotty and Tammy kept us fed including Tammy's bitchin meatloaf that we dined on Thursday evening during the light show from a severe thunderstorm. After all, it wouldn't be the WFFC if we weren't entertained by Mother Nature would it? Speaking of entertainment, Bringing a major Classic Rock band like Roger did for the Convention when he was alive would be an improvement. Anything else you folks want to add have at it and put your suggestions in to Don and Beth. Chris

I demoed a PD126R (which is my current reserve) at Quincy several years ago. It was in the heat and a light wind condition. I found the canopy handled like a reserve should, totally excellent. My gear dealer would not sell the canopy to me unless he was completely confident that I could handle it. After flying this canopy I have total confidence in it. I just don't want a rude awakening if I ever had to use my reserve regardless of size. I've had several discusssions with PD about their reserves and they express the same things you did. They wonder why jumpers won't come up to them at boogies etc. and ask to demo a reserve. You did the right thing by demoeing the reserve canopy. More skydivers should take advantage of it when it's available. Blue Skies and Safe Landings. Chris

I've also gate checked my rigbag on the RJ on Comair with no problems. Chris

I have a Mirage MT sized with a Stiletto 120 and a PD126R reserve. My rig in its small kitbag fits in the overhead in the CRJ and also fits under the seat sideways. I use one of the Aero-Tech Products kitbags and all my other stuff is in the little front bag which zips off. My rig also fits under the seat or in the overhead on Saab-340 Turboprops and on the Embraer RJ's Chris

I own a Pilot 124 (loaded 1.5) that I have about 15 jumps on. I have never had a problem with the openings on the canopy and I have opened it a little head low. I just don't have a rig to put it in yet as I would like to be able to jump it more. In packing my Pilot, I use a standard propack and just leave the nose open and quarter the slider. Aubrey from Aerodyne gave you some of the best tips on how to solve your problem if any problem exists at all. Hope this helps. Chris

http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/hotfares4.html How's this link? just copy and paste. Chris

Southwest Airlines just put out special fares to Chicago Midway for use from August 1-17th. (Last Minute Fares just in time for WFFC) These have to be purchased today thru August 1st. I've included them below. These are for the following select cities and are good either direction. Chicago Midway, IL $49 one-way, to/from Albany, NY $79 one-way, to/from Austin, TX $49 one-way, to/from Baltimore, MD (BWI) $59 one-way, to/from Birmingham, AL $29 one-way, to/from Cleveland, OH $109 one-way, to/from Harlingen/South Padre Island, TX $49 one-way, to/from Hartford, CT (BDL) $79 one-way, to/from Houston Hobby, TX $59 one-way, to/from Jackson, MS $39 one-way, to/from Kansas City, MO $59 one-way, to/from Little Rock, AR $49 one-way, to/from Long Island/Islip, NY $29 one-way, to/from Louisville, KY $49 one-way, to/from Manchester, NH $39 one-way, to/from Nashville, TN $59 one-way, to/from New Orleans, LA $59 one-way, to/from Oklahoma City, OK $29 one-way, to/from Omaha, NE $49 one-way, to/from Philadelphia, PA $49 one-way, to/from Providence, RI $49 one-way, to/from Raleigh-Durham, NC $49 one-way, to/from Tampa Bay, FL Thought the folks that are procrastinating might like this. Chris

Southwest Airlines just put out special fares to Chicago Midway for use from August 1-17th. (Last Minute Fares just in time for WFFC) These have to be purchased today thru August 1st. I've included them below. These are for the following select cities and are good either direction. Chicago Midway, IL $49 one-way, to/from Albany, NY $79 one-way, to/from Austin, TX $49 one-way, to/from Baltimore, MD (BWI) $59 one-way, to/from Birmingham, AL $29 one-way, to/from Cleveland, OH $109 one-way, to/from Harlingen/South Padre Island, TX $49 one-way, to/from Hartford, CT (BDL) $79 one-way, to/from Houston Hobby, TX $59 one-way, to/from Jackson, MS $39 one-way, to/from Kansas City, MO $59 one-way, to/from Little Rock, AR $49 one-way, to/from Long Island/Islip, NY $29 one-way, to/from Louisville, KY $49 one-way, to/from Manchester, NH $39 one-way, to/from Nashville, TN $59 one-way, to/from New Orleans, LA $59 one-way, to/from Oklahoma City, OK $29 one-way, to/from Omaha, NE $49 one-way, to/from Philadelphia, PA $49 one-way, to/from Providence, RI $49 one-way, to/from Raleigh-Durham, NC $49 one-way, to/from Tampa Bay, FL Thought the folks that are procrastinating might like this. Chris

Only airport I was asked to run my rig separately from the kitbag was at Jacsonville, Fl and I just put it in one of those grey trays and ran it seperately through the machine. That and a wipedown and I was on my way to the gate with minimal delay. The thing that sometimes freaks them out is the reserve pilot chute spring. I carry pictures of the reserve pilot chute unpacked just in case. Chris