peregrinerose

Oh, at this point... nothing is in writing... The DZ has no written lease with the airport. As a club, that seems to be a terrible way to go, nothing in writing. No discussion has taken place with airport at this time, waiting to see if this is even possible or not. There is no guarantee the airport will stay open. They have received state funding, which locks them in for some time to stay an airport, but I have heard anywhere from 2-5 years on that, nothing in writing on this either. No written lease on aircraft or gear at this time. DZO will have exclusive rigging rights on gear during lease to own time period. There are volunteer riggers willing to do the work at no charge, but it will be in gear lease that DZO is rigger for duration of lease/own. No Tandem Instructor at this time, which significantly limits income. Tandem rigs are privately owned and presently owners are paid per use ($25-35/jump). No written contracts there either as far as I know. I am trying now to get things in writing before the next club meeting as nothing can happen without written protection. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You might want to think through the cloud thing a little bit better as to why a cloud is not going to hurt keeping a heading. You need to look at the horizon... which is where ground/sky meet. Looking at ground only will cause lots of orbiting. My husband and I have tons of skydives as 50 jump wonders that we were orbiting each other, both blaming the other for going in circles That is, until an instructor worked with us on how to know we are holding a heading and not orbiting. Slighly odd reply - i dont 'orbit' or have a turn (according to other 1000+ jumpers), maybe they're wrong but when i keep a heading (without doing RW) i have to pick a place on the ground not the Sky, as close the horizon as possible. Am i wrong? It is easy to keep a heading/not orbit with someone with that many jumps. Put 2 50 jump wonders in the sky with no rock solid frame of reference in front of them, and let the fun ensue. My husband and I both did fine with a solid experienced jumper, but when we had to depend on ourselves to not orbit... well, let's just say we were wildly excited with that first dock

You guys brought up great points, I will be adding them to my notes for the next meeting! Thank you! Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I"m looking more for the red flags, things we need to look out for. Yes, it would be a non profit. No actual purchase of the business, but lease to own on all the equipment with DZO as only rigger for the gear (no others allowed), lease the plane from DZO ($150/tach hour plus fuel... what is standard lease?), take over rent payments to the airport ($650/month), pay our own slip/fall insurance ($2000/year). Since this is kind of an atypical way to set up a club, I just want to make sure that I'm not overlooking anything major. We have some financial gurus, a web person, etc, so the basics are covered. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

I've been a member of Maytown for years and jump there when we can around our work schedule, so do know the basics of club setup and how important it is to have plenty of people pulling their weight. I love Maytown, it's an amazing club and I love being a part of it. I'm just helping with the information gathering component for KSC current jumpers who are interested in converting a business to a club, which is a little different. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Wait til you have a license and are no longer are a student. Gender doesn't matter a whit here, it's a learning thing. You'll listen better to someone you are not going out with, that's just the way it is. It sets up an awkward vibe when a student (as in pre A license) is dating one of the staff. Consider it incentive to get your A quickly

here's a tangent an instructor I respect asked me this question... Why do we try to teach new students 3 things, that require sorting and prioritizing, when all three can be accomplished by just saying "pull at the correct altitude"? I agree with him. We're taking something very simple and needlessly making it complicated for someone that just doesn't need that complexity. this gives us the other two without trying: 1 - if we're below the correct altitude or just don't know, then pull anyway 2 - if we're above the correct altitude, then stable or not, we have time to work on it we only really have the one priority Pull at the correct altitude is great... until the student blows through said altitude, then what are they supposed to do? That is why the heirarchy of decision making, I think, to cover all possibilities in a fairly simple manner. Skydiving is all about decision making. If a student can't handle that kind of rather simplistic heirarchy, should they really be skydiving? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You might want to think through the cloud thing a little bit better as to why a cloud is not going to hurt keeping a heading. You need to look at the horizon... which is where ground/sky meet. Looking at ground only will cause lots of orbiting. My husband and I have tons of skydives as 50 jump wonders that we were orbiting each other, both blaming the other for going in circles That is, until an instructor worked with us on how to know we are holding a heading and not orbiting. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

They are a club, as is Maytown, but both started as a club. We're looking at the possibility of converting an existing dropzone business (ten years) into a club, so wondering what the pros/cons of that kind of transition is, as we are in the exploration/information gathering process now. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Any of you guys have experience with the conversion of an established DZ into a Club DZ? My home DZ has proposed this, as the DZOs want to get out of DZ management, and this is a way for the DZ to continue without them having to run it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be wonderful. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

You will never be able to keep a heading looking at the ground. You MUST look at the horizon. The 'oooh shiny' is not part of the skydiving dive flow, the priority is to pull, pull at the correct altitude, pull while stable, land safely in a clear open area with a level canopy. Enjoying the view is not a part of that. Focus on saving your life for now, grasshopper, and I bet the turning stops all by itself once you focus appropriately

Young grasshopper, stick around the sport a while and open your eyes. I admit, as a young and naive jumper, I hung on every word my DZO spoke, idolized the DZO, praised the DZO to everyone that could hear. Time, experience, and critical thinking skills are crucial in this sport to survive. And that includes reserving judgement (both good and bad) on any DZ until you have a lot of experience on which to base that decision. I don't mean number of jumps. I mean the time spent silently watching what goes on behind the scenes and making your own observations, as well as visiting multiple dropzones and doing the same. This is not a rip on Cathy or the DZ, I've never been there, never met her, although I can say that my impression based on things such as the video above make me question her maturity (assuming she had something to do with the video, of course). Please don't take it as such. It is only to point out that young jumpers blindly following those that make the first impressions often years later smack themselves upside the head or realize just what a great start they had. It's not a rip on you at all. Just step back and watch for a while. Go to lots of DZs and do the same. Make your own educated decisions. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Fear Shyness Lack of awareness that 'normal' people can go learn to skydive (my reason before I was a jumper) Lack of money Physical reasons (as is my case at present) Lack of mental ability to do it (ie people who would be getting the bowling speech and know they just would not be good at it) Lack of interest (as in, I have no interest in persuing golf, others just have no interest in persuing skydiving) Lack of local dropzones Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Are you missing the 'legitamate rape' part, where the clear insinuation is that women lie about being raped? That's the worst part of it for me. Not his blatant lack of education in biology (which he did later admit to), but what his statement says about victims of violence.... which he later reinforced by saying that he meant 'forcible rape'....as opposed to any other kind? Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Do you think you would get different results if you poll were, "If a women consents to sex, has sex, stays in bed naked, passes out, and you are enough of a jerk to mount her again without getting explicit permission you are a rapist?" Wouldn't that depend on the relationship with the woman? If this was a one night stand kind of thing, where there is no actual relationship or knowledge of the person, that's a different scenario than if it's a couple that's been married for years and knows each other well. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Now he's saying that he misspoke. He didn't mean legitamate rape, he meant forcible rape. Yeah, that makes it better Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Ditto this. Racers are a lot easier to pack than many other containers. My first rig was a racer, and it was my only reserve ride, no problems. I am my own rigger, so that made the rigging thing easy

Dave is a good friend of mine, and I consulted with several other friends of his, and they confirmed he does not come here, and go ahead and post. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Apparently Dewolf does not frequent here, which is why I could get away with posting it, silly people. I already checked on that before posting. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Hi All, We are trying to keep this from Dave. His 80th birthday is this October. We are combining the Halloween party and his birthday for a bigger party than we usually throw. It will be at the club, but we are planning on putting up a party tent instead of using the hangers. The party will be on 10/27. More details to come. Jeannie Ping (Chuck McElwee’s wife) is putting together a couple of things for the party. Here is the information. Blue skies, Ann PHOTOS Firstly, I’m working on a slideshow to celebrate Handsome Dave’s many active years in skydiving. Soooooo… If you have a photo of Dave from years gone by, I’d like to include it in the montage. Photos of you with Dave would be great. Photos of Dave being Dave would be even better! (Surely,someone has a photo of Handsome Dave dressed in his toga standing in front of the Coke machine at the Herd Boogie!) 1. NOTE: Please be sure to include your name, approximate date of when, where, why the photo/video was taken, and any funny comment you may have about the circumstances surrounding the photo. 2. You can email it as an attachment to me at: [email protected]. 3. If it’s online, you can send me a link and permission to download it. (Sorry, I’m not on Facebook) 4. If you don’t have access to a scanner, you can mail acopy of the photo to me: PO Box 61050, Potomac, MD 20859-1050 5. Please plan on getting the photos to meby August 31, 2012. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RIGGER SEALS Secondly, we are also collecting rigger’s seals to create an objet d’art for Dave. If you are a parachute rigger and would like to include your seal in our tribute, please get out your rigger’s seal press and make two (2) seals with about a ½ inch loop of red thread attached to each. (The second seal is a backup in case I break the thread.) If you don’t have a seal press, let me know and we can work something out. I have seals and we can scratch your riggers number in it. Send them to PO Box 61050, Potomac, MD 20859-1050by August 31, 2012. Finally, please forward this email to other folks who might want to contribute in this venture – BUT, not to Dave DeWolf. This is kind of a covert operation, so we’d like to keep it a secret from Dave for as long as we can! Thanks so much for your help and participation! Blue skies and safe landings, Jennie Ping D-license holder and Senior Rigger Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Well, you can still be at the DZ with a bum leg. I had surgery on my knee in early June, and am grounded til November or so, but still go to the DZ regularly. You can learn a lot just by hanging out on the ground, and be helpful as a gopher. Give it a couple of weeks, and if not better, get an MRI. Joints are complicated and soft tissue injuries are not always quick to heal. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

So get a job as a packer. That solves both the too fat and too broke problems rather quickly in one shot

Did you see me quote the Freeh Report? No. I asked you to read it. To educate yourself about the actual findings rather than going with your visceral feelings. Given that we don't have all the data as outsiders, and the investigators for the report did have all the data and presented it in a remarkably easy to read format, why would you not read it? You never did answer the question about what sanctions if any you would find 'fair' given the extreme lack of oversight of the football program and culture in which that was allowed to happen. You also have not answered if a woman should not got to prison because her children will suffer? PSU fans are quite loyal, almost pathologically devoted beyond reason (as you have quite nicely demonstrated here for us all ). As a result, I doubt that the impact on local economy will be insurmountable. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

Would that make him a holy ghost writer? Those that know Christ know that Christ knows them. II Timothy 3: 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I realize this means nothing to you. However, a lurker may benefit. Meh, so many people over the course of time have claimed to be inspired by god to start some new organization, way of life, religion, etc. Funny enough, the 'inspiration' is always in line with their own personal agendas. The world would be a better place if we all just treated each other well as humans instead of fighting over trivialities of religion invented by man. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

General anesthesia. Playing tandem 'student' for any reason. Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda