aphid

Brits, Scots, Irish, Kiwi's, Aussies, Canuck's et al... If you're old (like me) If you enjoy a sense of heritage and freedom (like me) I'd like to invite you to view the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7S7uO-7beQ I've done so many jumps, filmed so many skydives, edited/produced so many videos, sometimes I just get weary. But, it's jumps like these, and videos like these that make my heart swell. THANK YOU to Larry Hill. Thank you Skydive Arizona for the special second-pass just for us. Thank you pilot Doug for helping us make it happen. Thank you to Joe and Selena for their skydiving help. And especially, thank you Stephanie for inviting me along on your special jump. It's so nice to be part of something meaningful. John

arrrrr Matey. Dammit Rich. After all 4 years in a row, I was gonna go ridin' my Harley's with blonde hotties on the bitch-pads thru the Arizona desert in February. (Well, maybe just through the Bent Prop) But after talking to Lyal today... (sigh)... do ya want me to mail you my registration cheque or can I just give you the money at the Canadian Invasion? This Boogie is just too damned much fun... and my liver HATES you! John

Could somebody from Deguello please contact me privately by email at: [email protected] Thank you. John

CONGRATULATIONS! Obviously though, you weren't jilted.

The World's Shortest Fairy Tale Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl 'Will you marry me?' The girl said, 'NO!' And the guy lived happily ever after and saved half his net-worth and went skydiving a lot and rode Harley's and flew planes and drank scotch and left the toilet seat up and farted whenever he wanted. The End (feel free to paraphrase to match your particular situation)

At Eloy - 11/24/08 I checked with the loft, the store, and manifest. Everybody remembers somebody chopping one a very short while ago and didn't find it, but nobody had a name or number to contact. (Can't believe the owner wouldn't at least put some effort into posting a note on a bulletin board at the DZ.) Regardless, if you think it's yours, provide conclusive identification and I'll do what I can to get it back to you. Positive ID would include colours, manufacturer, model and size. Better yet, of course, the serial number of said main canopy. You can reach me privately at: [email protected] John

It's called the Parabatic grip. You can see more at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1VMUZw8W0A John

Here are a few of ours... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRpW12Ra50o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_zNikyWefI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1VMUZw8W0A John

Ummm. It's called "geography" - you know, the Southern Hemisphere, where winter is on it's way.

For her friends - these were from last years CDN Nationals in St. Catherine, ON

Using SeaTac as a starting point: Skydive Snohomish (Snohomish, WA) is 39 miles, approx 46 min driving time. (Caravan summer season, 182's and 206 off-season) Skydive Kapowsin (Shelton, WA) is 71 miles, approx. 1:15 driving time. (Otter/Caravan year-round) Plenty of good people at both places. Consistent weather? It's the Pacific NorthWest :) J

Hi Peter, > why the heck one would need to contact ATC for a > hop and pop from 3000' (assuming it is class G) on > a one-off basis. One-off jumps (Demo's excepted) have not required an OC, a commercial aircraft, or even a commercial pilot. You simply get on a friends plane, open the door, and land at your (or your folks) cottage. I've checked with my TC inspector, and he assures me this is the case provided there is no money changing hands (beyond fuel & very limited expense-share). I believe the NPA is to cover active, licensed DropZones, with additional emphasis on the student activity. My earlier comments were all in response to the complaints raised by the McJumpers to that point. Nobody had brought up the student activities, yet. Now that they have, I'll be studying those portions a bit more. Although from a purely selfish motive - I don't run a DZ or own a school - I just have an OC and an aircraft so the folks at the local DZ have a bit of lifting-power, so this is the area where I would expect the DZO's to weigh-in strongly. Odd we still haven't heard from any of them. John Oh, I almost forgot... our OC indicates we must contact Vancouver Centre only as we break through 4000' MSL, and once again one minute prior to the exits at points above that altitude. Vernon is a busy little airport, and even ATC could care less about low-level activity here whether we interfere with each other or not. We do maintain a "listen" to Centre's frequency with the second COM in case they want to give us further information in the climb. And one last thing - on our first flight of the day, they quite often issue us one transponder code for the entire day. They do the same with the Glider tow-plane as well. J

> but if it's uncontrolled and not for a huge crowd or > built-up area, it's uncontrolled to my mind. Rob... you jump in Ontario & probably occasionally in Quebec. If you ever leave "the centre of the known universe", you'll realize that most on-and-off-airport DZ's in the rest of Canada are in "uncontrolled airspace". We talk to ATC so that IFR traffic in-bound can be alerted and possibly re-routed, and also so that Centre can assist us with "unidentified VFR traffic" transiting through our areas. We've done it for years, and believe me, it is a tremendous benefit and has saved our asses on more than a few occasions. John PS: Why don't we take this back to the CSPA-chat list where it really belongs? (Not here on FaceBookMcJumpersDeeZee.com) J

(Copied from the CSPA mail list) 6 months ago, at the beginning of the "movement" to defeat the NPA, I publicly inquired here for a list of the actual amendments that were "about to destroy skydiving in Canada as we know it". It seemed a good course of action, to take the debate from the emotional and theoretical to a more practical and intellectual level. To make that brief but painful story short, I was pilloried by a member of CSPA's executive for being too ignorant (actually, I think he called me "naive") to recognize the problems - had my words thrown back in my face - and was summarily dismissed as a nuisance to his "voluntary efforts" on behalf of all the jumpers in Canada. Finally the NPA has been published and we can discuss item-by-item what these "changes" are and potentially mean. So far, in all the chest-beating about TC's Notice of Proposed Amendment, we have only heard from ONE DZO... (Sorry TK, you don't count 'cause you're in the States running a USPA dropzone). I find it curious we haven't heard from the DZO's weighing in here. Perhaps here is why... Every legitimate DZ in Canada runs on the benefit of an Operating Certificate granted, audited and policed by TC. It encompasses more than just the Para-Ops, and extends to the aircraft, maintenance, pilot licensing, pilot training, flight schedules, Safety Management System(s), Accountable Executive, and much, much more. And yes, Al was quite correct in his observation that "some" TC officials can be heavy-handed, ignorant and arrogant. I've had my share of those, but I have also encountered others who are fortunately quite the opposite. I suppose it depends on the luck-of-the-draw which one is going to show up at your operation. Speaking directly to all the quibbles posted here by rec-jumpers (anybody who has not thoroughly read the OC for their DZ), from the requirement to contact ATC in uncontrolled airspace, the WDI procedure, land-owners consent, etc. etc. etc... I open my OC - and... SURPRISE! Each and every item I hear all the complaints about is ALREADY in there (and so much more, BTW). And they've all been there ever since they issued it to me back in 1997. In case you don't understand the ramification of that - it means that we've been required to have done these all along (and have done so). I'd go so far as to wager that every OC currently authorized in Canada carries essentially the same requirements. So, until somebody with a current OC (the document that allows you to legally jump, folks!) shows me that the new proposals are more stringent than what they are currently having to operate by in their OC, I'm sorry, I still don't see the issue. Do I support additional paperwork? Hell no. Do I support more regulation. Hell, Hell no. Do I see (yet) that the NPA has us all closing up shop, or like Chicken Little's running for our umbrella's 'cause the sky is falling? Nope. Let the flames begin! John

Great info. Thank you. J

Accommodations? Would you recommend staying in Apeldoorn? Ideally, I'm likely looking for a mid-range hotel with restaurant and pub facility. Any suggestions? (Unfortunately I don't speak/read Dutch and most of the local tourism information websites aren't translated) Dank u zeer John (we can take this private if you'd prefer)

Thank you. J

Does anybody monitoring this forum know which DZ in the Netherlands will be hosting the World's? John

The IPC announced yesterday the award of the '08 CF World Meet to the Netherlands. However, they didn't bother to mention which dropzone will be hosting. Anybody here any wiser? Feel free to reply privately. Thanks, John

This one is up and flying at Skydive Arizona... see attached. John

Yup, 16th annual... If you happen to be in Eloy during the Event, and are in the mood to "compete" for some free tunnel-time, see attached for an associated but "unsanctioned" event during the Invasion. John

Hey Zing, I got a call from Eloy this afternoon about this. Knew it was just a matter of time... but still... sad news. If there's anything I can do to assist for arrangements for Tom in terms of funeral expenses, emergency family expenses, or the like... please let me know, I'd like to help as much as I can. I'll be back on the 3rd. I already sent a note to this effect to manifest & Betsy. (They have my contact info if you need it). Sad to see another true "character" and a man of strong personal intregrity has departed, they are becoming fewer by the year. I'll miss his annual guitar serenades at the Invasion hotdog event, saying "good morning" to him as we sat outside at 7:30am chuckling at the jumpers stretching inside, offering him a light (or bumming one from him as the case may have been), listening to him growl/snarl at the slackers and "lazy bastards", commisserating about the new "stars", buying him the first Busch of his day after work on occasion, and especially - enjoying the fine Scotch that he bought for me in honour of our lost mutual friend. Oh yeah... for those who didn't know, among MANY other things, he played on stage at a few small venues in AZ with both Roy Orbison and Willy Nelson back before they became famous, and he also served in combat in Korea with the USMC. From one crusty old bugger to another - semper fi, Tom John

Cameron, my apologies... must've have had my buddy Matt's (White) name in my brain as I typed... John

Matt, Congratulations on a concise, chronological, and thoughtful post. The concept of cumulative circumstances can easily translate to any skydive. It need not be a first jump of the day, a night jump, or any other specific type of jump. I think you did well in showing cause and potential effect. And I think you did a fine job in presenting the W5's (who, what, when, etc.) of your situation. (one of your "resonders" wrote:) > I'll let you in on the most powerful safety advice > ever. System redundency. That statement is so generic and unspecific it doesn't warrant a response other than, (in the spirit of the season), humbug. (and he went on to say:) > Clearly something you didn't understand on that > jump Matt, with your number of jumps, I think you made some pretty good decisions based on your situation... perhaps there may have been some "better" but hey, after all, it was YOU in the situation. You may wish to further educate yourself now, with a new understanding, by talking to the most respected and senior jumpers around you. And finally, even though I wasn't there, I'll defend Matt's decision(s)... > you need to understand that rear risers at night in > a lighted landing area is a hell of alot safer than a > reserve deployment and landing into a dark > unknown Well, I would care to suggest that is NOT "always" better. There are many other possible variables to make it not always the best solution, and they are too complex/convoluted to debate here after-the-fact. That decision was up to Matt... period. For those, (including you Matt), who are curious what those variables might be, talk to your DZ S&TA, (or in Canada, your Safety Officer)

During the final round: Russia (BBC) 13 Canada (Plaid Jackets) 12 USA (Redline) 11