Jeth

Happy Birthday!!

Thanks!

We did it!! It was a blast, and made for a great video. I held the head and I had 3 people trying to put pieces in. 2 people made it, and the eyes stayed in all the way down! If anyone needs an idea for their 100th, I highly recommend this. It was really fun and you get lots of confused looks when you load the plane holding the empty potato head. Thanks everybody who gave me advice and who was on it with me!

0 : 8 : 4 What an awesome time at Summerfest!!

. . . oh do fill me in . . . is it what it sounds like ?? Are you actually putting together a Mr.Potato Head in freefall?? Yep, thats the idea. Easier said than done, but we should have a blast trying.

I'm going to attempt a Mr Potato Head for my 100th. We'll see how it turns out... "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Thanks for the tips! Building the line first and then going to a round sounds like a good plan. Did you have her holding the head because you figured that would be easier? I'm thinking maybe I'd want a very good stable flyer for the base since they will have to hold onto that thing as well as stay stable while people are crashing into them. (Knowing me I'd drop it! ) And it sounds like she got rid of it at pull time? Any way an experienced jumper could keep it? So did you guys get all the pieces in before pull time? Thanks! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Hi, I'm thinking I'd like to attempt a Mr Potato Head for my 100th. I was thinking it could be a 6-way or 8-way. But I'm just wondering the best way to go about it. Is one person the base and they hold the head, and then the others come in and put pieces? And then what do they do after they've put their piece? Just lurk, or dock on the base? And then can the base person land with the head or do you ditch it? I have heard about doing this since last year and it sounds like a blast. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Yep, same here. I just don't want to have to worry about it, so it stays at home when I'm at the dz. (Whether I wear gloves or not.) "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

This weekend on the plane I noticed several guys who had on wedding bands. I have never worn my wedding ring while jumping because it's an expensive diamond and I don't want to risk it coming off and/or catching something/someone in freefall. (Not to mention I don't want to thrash it while packing.) I was just curious if any women wear their diamond rings? If you just have a band, do you wear that? (guys or ladies) I saw some pretty nice diamond bands on some hands. I think I'd be paranoid about losing it/trashing it so I still wouldn't wear that if I had one. Just curious about people who do. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

It was major major fun, thanks Sunny!!

1 : 5 : 1 5 sweet jumps on Saturday, woo-hoo!! Finally after a month of crappy weekend weather, I got back in the air. Did 4 5-ways and 1 6-way. I have no idea why, but for some reason instead of being floaty as I have in the past, I was the one dropping out after the first point. But I got some good tips and held my position on the last one! (That is until Steve slid under me...) Beer owed for my 1st (and 2nd) ride in a Caravan. Can't say I like the longer climb to altitude, but it was kinda nice to be sitting on benches instead of the floor. Shout out to Sara, thanks for the ride out there and some fun dives!

1:0:0 Damn weather! I rented a car, booked a hotel, and put the dogs in the kennel in hopes of getting in a bunch of jumps this weekend with the SDC Furies. What I got was 2 LONG days of sitting around waiting for the rain to stop and the clouds to go away. It never happened. But all was not lost cuz I did get some great advice and info from Tom Falzone from the GKs. Too bad I didn't get to jump with him, but I will at Summerfest!! And at least my husband was there with me so I got laid. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Congrats, Dude! I am getting there myself and can't wait to celebrate! Looks like U had a ball, thats awesome!

Yea! I'm glad U got your ass in the air this weekend! I had a blast with the SDC Furies this weekend!

Thanks for the tips, everybody. I will definitely have to read the manual for my gps and try this out!

Wow, sounds like I can get a lot out of this! So if I just leave it on for several jumps, will Paralog be able to discern which data is for which jump? (Or do I need to start a new track for each jump?) This sounds great, I can't wait to try it! Thanks for the info!

I was just wondering about this myself. I have a small wrist-mount GPS and was thinking of trying it. Is it true that Paralog can figure out exit alti, open alti and freefall speed from the gps data? Also, do you start the gps track before loading, or do you need to wait to turn it on till right before you exit? I was thinking if it was logging on the ground and on the way up you'd get wierd results. Thanks! "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Congrats!! It sure feels great, don't it?!

0 : 5 : 1 Woo-hoo!! Lotsa fun jumps at SDC on Saturday!! It was great to get back in the swing of things after weeks of crappy midwest spring weather! Did a few fun 6-ways (or should I say 6-way attempts) with Terry, thanks for the coaching!

1: 3: 1 Woo-hoo! After 6 months off, the season is finally underway!! Had a great time at SDC's spring expo this weekend. Learned some good stuff in a couple seminars, caught up with my buddies, and had some great jumps!

Kathleen, thats awesome!! Congrats and welcome to the land of licensed jumpers!!

YES! There should be a lot more training on it!! In my FJC, it was not even MENTIONED to us. Only because I'd read it in a book, I asked my instructor about it. She just said, "you just tuck and roll". We only practiced it because I specifically asked if we could. And even then she never demoed it or drilled it with us. We did it from a standing position exactly 1 time. On jump #10 I had screwed up my pattern so I was coming in downwind the wrong way. I was scared and knew I didn't want to land on my butt (how I usually did), but I didn't know how to set myself up for a PLF. I basically plowed in face-first with my knees apart. I tore my MCL and was out for 8 months. When I recovered, I had some more experienced people show me the proper PLF. I practiced it over and over again at home, and again at the dz. I jumped off tables, rocks, whatever. About a month later I screwed up my pattern again and was coming in on the runway. I said to myself "shit, this is gonna hurt." But I put my feet and knees together and as soon as I touched down I just instinctively tucked and went hips, shoulder, back, and rolled all the way around. I didn't have a scratch on me.

A friend of mine had a cutaway with 30-ish jumps from an unstowed toggle. Yes, it's something that she potentially could've fixed. But she felt she needed to get rid of it. That's what we were taught. And I don't think anyone came down on her for it. "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site

Ok, I have seen this said over and over and I just have to point out again -- THERE ARE WELL-RESPECTED DZ'S AND INSTRUCTORS THAT PUT STUDENTS ON ZP 170'S EVERY DAY. I was trained at SDC and they use Sabre2's, and put most students out on their first jump at just under 1:1. I was on a 190, and I had fellow students on 170's, and 150's for the smaller girls. I don't feel that this was an unsafe thing to do, or put me at an undue high risk. Yes, I was going faster than if I was under some huge boat. But I think the benefit of learning to fly a "real" canopy from the beginning outweighted any increased risk. We were taught how to fly and flare it properly, and the instructors were very concious of the winds and grounded us often. As far as this accident -- from the reports I have seen, it does seem like Shayna has been very positive about the sport. Ok, maybe she mentioned that she thought the reserve was the "guaranteed backup". C'mon! She has 9 jumps!! I have seen her express her love for the sport and I saw her speaking highly of her dz and her instructors. Ya, she fucked up. She didn't react in the way she was supposed to. But many people have fucked up (me included). Everything is a learning experience. She's damn lucky that she is still here to learn from this one. I think she knows that. And I did hear her say it was her fault. I don't see where you people are saying she's not taking responsiblity. Ok, yes, she should've been insured. And while we're being judgemental, she shouldn't have gotten knocked up without a job or health insurance either. But people do that every day. And c'mon, she's 21! Many young people do many stupid things! I can't believe the wrath she's taking for this. It's like as if she is on tv saying how the sport is terribly dangerous, her instructors were idiots, the plane was unsafe, and all her gear failed. BUT SHE ISN'T!! So why is she being treated like this? I don't get it. I completely agree with taking responsibility for oneself. And although her post does sound like she thinks she's entitled, I don't think she does. She was upset when she wrote it. She knows she fucked up, doesn't blame anyone for it, still loves the sport, but now she's hoping for some help. What is so terrible with that? Geez people! Now if she ends up driving some new sports car from her "donations", then I'll be pissed. But I think she just wants some new teeth. Who wouldn't? "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site