Jeth

None for me. Freakin cold & windy on Sat, gorgeous blue sky, but 24mph winds on Sunday. But I definitely owe some for my 1st weekend spent in the campground. Lots of fun conversations and met many cool people!! Thanks a bunch, Drew, for hooking me up!!

Ok, thanks.

That's crap. It's one of the safest parts of Chicago. Ya, its on Belmont, that's not the hood. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Wow, I'm impressed!!

Ya, that does sound pricey for a ladybug!! My husband went there to get a gekko and they quoted him like $150! He ended up getting it in CA for $60. I can't believe everyone goes to Jade Dragon! There seems to be quite a few tat shops in the city, hasn't anyone gone somewhere else?? C'mon, someone's gotta have some great, unknown shop that does awesome work!! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Ha!! Well actually, I have one on my boob now, but I made sure it will only be enhanced by gravitational forces. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Ya, well it would be up by my shoulder, not on the bicep. I was first thinking on my shoulder blade, but I already have one between the shoulder blades, so thats probably too close together. I could also do the lower back. Ah, decisions, decisions...

Who was the person who did yours? How much was it? "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Ya, I've always been charged based on the design. I'm still deciding between something with a closing pin, or Pinky (WB cartoon) under canopy. Not super huge. Probably on my upper arm or hip. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I have heard of it. Have you actually had work done there? "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

So as my graduation present to myself, I am getting a new tattoo when I finish AFP. Hopefully that will be pretty soon, so I gotta find a place to get it done. I got all my current tattoo's before I moved here, so I don't have a place here. The couple places I checked out were really overpriced and I didn't like the vibe I got there. Can anyone recommend someone who has personally done some work on you? All my tattoos have cost around $100 or less, so any place that tells me it'll be $200, I'm not interested. Got any recommendations for me?? Thanx. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

French & English. Studied French for 12 years, lived in Europe/Africa, but haven't used it in awhile. I wanna learn Italian before our trip back there in 2007. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

I definitely wouldn't jump when the temp was in the 20's! But I have heard several ppl say that 30's is still damn cold under canopy. I remember a day when it was 50 on the ground and I was cold under canopy. But if the sun is out and I bundle up, I might give it a shot. At least then I'll know how I feel about it. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

About an hour and a half depending on traffic. I know its not as bad a drive as some ppl have, but I have to rent a car to get there, so its more of an expense for me. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Whats the feeling on jumping when its 43 degrees on the ground? Thats gotta be in the 30's at altitude. Walking to work this morning felt pretty darn cold and that was 45! I'm thinking I'm gonna need a scarf, gloves and sweats under my jumpsuit. I hope my face doesn't freeze! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Yep, I was thinking I could at least do the packing class. (If Betsy can do it.) Maybe I'll go on Sat, see if the forecast was right, and then decide if I'll be staying overnight or not. Gee, it sure would be nice if the DZ was only 20 minutes away! Well everyone keep your fingers crossed for that slice of blue sky over SDC!!

Thanks! I am always having a blast!!

Ok, Accuweather says Sat cloudy, hi 43, winds 18mph. Weather.com says cloudy, hi 50, winds 28mph. Weatherbug says cloudy, hi 45, winds 17mph. Then for Sunday the forecast's range from 49 - 53, with winds 11-17mph. So its probably going to be pretty chilly, cloudy, and either sort of windy or very windy. Its not looking good for jumping. I have rented a car and booked a hotel so I can go to the DZ and stay for the weekend. That would really suck if I spent the $100+ on this and didn't get to jump. Maybe I should not go and take my chances on next weekend. But its been 2 weeks and I really wanna jump!! So what should I do? Take my chances that the clouds will clear and the wind will die down? Or cancel the car and hotel and try again next weekend? Aaaaarrrrg! I hate having to plan ahead like this! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Yep. When the plane's packed theres no where to go until that first group exits. So they go, and that gives us enough room to come out of the hole. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Chris, Thanks for that very informative explanation of SDC's planes. I am usually the 2nd group out when I'm in the hole. The group by the door goes, then I go after them. When I read that explanation of the 175lb average I had doubts about that, too. But I also have doubts about the 30lb rig figure. For the record, my 190 rig weighs 23 lbs. But I am guessing that my instructors 105 rig weighs less. And most people at the DZ have smaller rigs than mine, so I don't know if 30lbs is accurate for a general average. Then of course the tandem rigs are freakin huge and weigh a ton. Also, some of those TM's are big guys, so I have no doubt that they are weighing in at more than 175lbs each. I was on a load once with all tandems, plus me and my instructor. The plane was packed, with a tandem in the co-pilot seat, and me/instructor in the hole. I have a feeling that load was overweight. But I guess we have great pilots cuz the plane has always been held steady every load I've been on.

FWIW, my DZ uses that area often, whenver the load is full. They said the weight limit is 500 lbs for that area. They put 2 ppl back there. I have been in the hole a few times. Its great for roominess, but I don't like that I can't see anything in the plane or out the windows. Heres what they say about it: "I don’t want to get too technical with weight and balances but we must take this into consideration. A Twin Otter has a useful load of 5,205 lbs. This means that it can carry 5,205 lbs pounds safety when properly loaded. When we fuel the otter we put about 1000 lbs of fuel. Now 5,205 lbs minus 1000 pounds of fuel equals 4,205. Now we take 4,205 and divide it by 24 (23 plus pilot) it equals 175 lbs. Which is about right when you consider Dawn who weights 90 pounds after getting out of the shower and Little Paul who isn’t little at all. So we know that 23 people can fit in the plane now how can we load this so it is the safest? Most all lift produced by the otter comes from the wings (duh) so we can load the most weight under the wings. If we load the otter with two rows of ten this allows us to put most of the weight under the wings. If you load too much in the aft or rear of the aircraft in an emergency, the aircraft could lose control due to the aft CG (center of gravity). The same exists if you load the aircraft too much forward. This really doesn’t happen too much because we board the plane from the rear. The ‘hole’ is designed to carry 500 lbs of weight although we don’t want to test this theory, this is what the placards and POH tells us. It is best that if it isn’t a full load that nobody sits in the ‘hole’. This keeps the weight forward which helps in an emergency. SDC will no longer allow three across the back. This put to much weight aft of the CG. The plane will not move until we load properly. " "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Right on with #1! I had that problem last weekend. My instructor kept telling me to slow down, think about what I was going to do, then do it. But I was feeling rushed cuz I had to do 4 turns, a dock and a track all in 50 seconds! But this weekend I am going to try to take that advice and get it right.

Definitely get back up there!!

Congrats on saving your ass!

Congrats!!