kkeenan

Nice.

The streamers are Survey Tape. It is very thin plastic about 1" wide that comes on a roll of about 350', and is used by land surveyors. The roll is pretty small, and fits inside the front of a jumpsuit until ready. You tie the end to your chest strap and throw the roll over your shoulder. On some jumps, we had different sections using certain colors, on other formations, it was random. The streamers are deployed together after the formation is completed. We all wore radio receivers, so that the formation pilot could give directions and coordinate a simultaneous streamer release. Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zCtlHvMu3o I'm sure that everyone is tired of hearing about the JetBlue flight attendant, but this is a song we can all relate to... Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Great photo by Bryan Scott of a 25-way at DeLand with colored streamers. Lots of CRW fun this weekend to honor Joe Kittinger and other inductees to the Skydiving Hall of Fame. Kevin K.

The favorite of low-pullers everywhere. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Your feet don't make the same "chirp" sound that airplane tires make. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

SportRx is very good. I use both clear and tinted. Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

In the pattern on its way to a different runway. Some airports have more than one runway, you know. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Funny how things come around. This is exactly what Pat Works pointed out one of his books in the 70s. Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Do some research on the name Ted Nelson. I'm not sure he coined the term Mad Skilz, but he did a lot to make the concept stick with us. You are right in a lot that you say about nicely explaining things to people. Believe me, that's by far the way most experienced folks relate to their newer bretheren. Sometimes, when niceness is returned with rudeness, or with the person doing even more wierd shit, just to prove they don't have to listen to anyone, then the approach needs to be amplified. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

You have a great attitude, and this is some of the best advise that a new jumper can hear. I think many people stunt their growth in skydiving by never leaving their "Home DZ". They become victims of ingrown thinking and the locals' sometimes narrow viewpoints. Traveling allows one to see new ways of doing things and new possibilities - plus there are many new friends to make along the way. Many who never venture away from home, don't even know what they are missing. They think they know about other places, but their only knowledge is based on someone elses' opinion. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

People, new or old, on this site are only perceived and judged by what they write. The post that you quoted was written by me in response to a discussion about a certain technique for clearing the air around yourself prior to deployment at the end of a group freefall. Hopefully, you took the time to read the entire thread and didn't just see the term, "Hundred Jump Wonder", and think all newbies were being picked on. I carefully worded that response to the original poster. He was trying to find a justification for a technique that has been discussed in extreme detail, through many, many posts, and declared worthless and unsafe by at least 90% of the people who discussed it. He proceeded to pick apart these explanations to try to find some justification for this technique or to find anyone who would agree with him. Many times in the early part of a person's jumping career, they will come across a way of doing things that seems to make sense to them, and since no one else is doing it, they feel that they have discovered something fabulous and new. Sometimes they have. More often, however, they have come across something that was tried and discarded long ago as worthless or dangerous. Usually, when told about this, the person understands the explanation and moves along. That was not the case with this poster. It is frustrating to try to give information to someone that is intended to save their lives and those of their friends and have it dismissed as just another "suggestion". People who have been doing this for a while have seen their friends die because of unforseen causes. Once these causes are understood, it's tough to watch others ignore the lessons and make the same mistakes again. If you need to be gently and softly talked into believing a message that is intended to save you from a violent a horrible death, maybe you're in the wrong sport. Kevin Keenan _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Skindivers

My sentiments exactly. I've always thought of this group as being made up of adults. Sadly, it looks like about half of the respondents to the poll feel otherwise. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Is it just my imagination, or has the cost of USPA dues gone up a dollar or two every year ? Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Sebastian, FL

See? We've been telling you that actually jumping is much more fun than writing about it. It also allows much less time to think about your crappy love life. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Incident from around '73-'74 involving One-Shots. A guy jumping a Thunderbow in a Piggyback with a ripcord stop (Some of you may have to research that item). After deployment, he had placed the ripcord handle over his right wrist, with the end of the ripcord cable still in the housing, secured by the ripcord stop. Somewhere along the line, the cable got behind the cover of the right-hand release. At about 300', the dude cranks a right turn, pulling the ripcord tight because the handle was around his wrist. The cable flips open the cover of the right One-Shot Capewell, releasing that riser. It was a fatal accident. Most people weren't crazy about One-Shots at the time anyway. That accident sure didn't help their cause. Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Mr. Ridestrong, In my opinion, you are completely full of crap with this concept. Over and over on this site we have to listen to Hundred-Jump Wonders who have discovered that something many people have been doing to successfully complete many jumps is completely wrong and they have a new and better way. Just because it's new, doesn't mean it's better. I realize, from your previous posts, that you are among the "Old people with experience are full of shit" club, so I don't expect anything from you but poor reception of my comments. That matters little to me. I hope that, if you jump with any group of people, you let them all know your intentions before the jump so that they can all make the decision as to whether to jump with you or not. People move forward and downward in a track. If everyone looks forward and downward and controls their flight path according to what they see there (low-man rule), things have a history of working out. If you are busy looking up at the sky when someone on a converging path below you pulls, you will be responsible for the resulting conflict. As I said above, if you carefully explain to all on your group that this is the plan that you, in your 160-jump wisdom, plan to follow, then go for it. Don't be surprised if anyone with an ounce of sense tells you to fuck off. Kevin Keenan Florida USA _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

No requirements that I know of. There are still folks using frap hats. I think it's mostly just a personal preference thing. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

What an incredibly Fucked-Up thing to say.

I'm sure he has no idea why his Mad Skilz as a driver don't translate to the obviously simple task of flying an airplane. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Some things are universal. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Has this become the canned script for Trolls ? The only thing missing is the mention of Mad Skillz. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Blue Skies, Johnny.