L.O.

for weeks I have had plans with my new 4-way team (Wissota shockers) to make it down to Skydive Chicagos opening weekend. We did it, we made the 6 hour drive, we booked the hotel, we were at the DZ before anyone else. one of our team members was sick but we had a sub on hand. We made the first load and the dive went well. we were the first to jump and the spot was way short so we landed off. Things were great until I saw the airplane land and he was not able to use his steering. the Otter had no steering accuator. The weekend was over. No spare parts, no way to use it. The weather was without flaw ( for the upper mid-west). Light winds, blue skies, nice temps all just right. I just wanted to cry and vent a little. I have never seen this exact same thing happen before and I understand that is was no ones fault. I have seen every problem under the sun for a Cessna but not a DHC-6, I thought they were indestructible. Anyone else have a great weekend of jumping? I am a snivelling bitch. I shouldn't complain, I already have 50+ skydives this year. Life is good, I just hate it when I am the recipient of the random freak occurrence. The staff was great and they tryed to do what they could. But what a bummer. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

It's Gang Green(I'm tail). It is Robert W Stumm. I've heard he will let anyone pack for him on the road. At home, it's only me. I am glad to see he is treated right and no one has packed him a mal since 4/98. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Out of 4500 I would say I have jumped other peoples pack jobs about 20 times. This number includes the jumps made before I knew how to pack, and a few since. I jump super fast scary stuff and I am a very careful packer. I have packed about 15000 for others. Bob Stumm has about 6000 since his last reserve ride. I started packing for him because he had two in 30 days. he is the only one I pack for normally, besides myself. I pack for anyone who needs to make a load. and I do a lot for free to get people in the air. This is going to sound very strange, but I like to pack parachutes. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

To kill is such A final solution. The current train of thought is forgiveness for everything under the sun. F-that. I think the death penalty for a lot of things would cut crime. If you know that when or if you get caught you die, you will definitely think again before committing the act. I realize that this is not realistic with the way our liberal government operates but it is simply what I would support. We need some population control anyway so kill them all. (Evil laughter echoes in the back ground.) HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

I'm 100% with Ron. I know it's easy to say when you are super current, all the time, but it's experience talking. As a 15 yr vet (in May) I have seen them come and go. The ones that make you grit your teeth are the uncurent ones, it's scary. If you can stick to your training even with these long breaks more power to ya. But it is not easy to remember some of this stuff. When your not current you are a random. Randoms are not that easy to deal with in this sport. I spend a lot of time with this type of skydiver, because I don't like to put others, with lesser skills with them. I love to see people go on a skydive and learning a ton each time. but when they learn the same ton ofstuff every two or three mo it gets kind of sad. You will never advance in the sport if you make 15 or 20 jumps a year you will continue to learn the same lessons over and over forever. I try to help the low timer as much as I can but when they come out one weekend every two months it is hard to commit your time and money for them. I don't want to short anyone so I jump with them anyway but I just do it hoping that this will be the turning point and they will become a hardcore skydiver after this jump. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

In 2000 I bought a new Chrysler T@C + a new Grand Am GT. I said to my wife, "we are not going to ever do that again". What can I say we were in the dealership again and he offered us more then blue book for both cars and we bought two more new ones(2005). I am not going to do that again. I think you did well my friend. Now you will have more money for skydiving. To make my 400+ a year I have to pack, rig and video my ass off. If I had chosen as you did, my cars would be payed off and I would have another several hundred $ a month to play with. If you can live without a new car why get it. Don't sweat it dude, it's all good. Relax and have fun with the money you would have spent on the car. Now you can buy another transportation device..., an new rig. Yahoo!! HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

To go without is something I have never done(kinda). I have gone 4 weeks twice in 15 years. I spent sixteen mos. off because I couldn't walk, but I don't count that because I was at the DZ two or three times every week. My first jump back was intoxicating like a good drug. never take it for granted that you can skydive. It could be taken away so easily. It has been almost thirteen hours since my last. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Hey Joe, welcome to the world of skydiving. It is awesome here all the time, more fun then most can handle. I have not made a jump without a pair of glove on since I had about 100 jumps. They have saved my hands many times jumpmastering, doing CRW and a few landings. You can also find a sharp edge on the aircraft from time to time. I love to come here and read the posts from new people like you. I can almost feel your fire through the internet. I could probably feel it, if my dial up connection speed was above 19.2 k. A good PLF does look kinda geeky, but if it keeps your body in tact, what the hell. So besides the knuckle incident how did the rest of the skydive go? What A/C did you jump from? I would love to here about your experience. Again welcome. Yahoo HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Sounds like you have started in the right direction. Skydiving in a country with bad weather all the time must suck. I live in a part of the US that is almost to cold to jump for 6 mos out of the year, so I feel your pain. You will grow to despise Mother Nature. But it helps you appreciate the good stuff more then anyone else. Welcome to the world of Skydiving HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Night jumps are a lot of fun. It is normal to be tense on your first one and you should be a little uptight. Try to relax, be calm, jump the correct gear. Plan out what your going to do, listen closely to the briefing and talk to others who have done this. If you have the right set up and you took the time to figure things out, it's a piece of cake. Have fun, party on. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Take off to the great white north, take off it's a beauty way to go, take off you hose-head. Welcome, I am not from the great white north but about as close as you get. Winter sucks, but it's almost over. Get ready for some hot skydives. Yahoo HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Nice analogy, almost prophetic I have two. I make 400 pr yr. Work 50. Rigger. Pilot. Still have a wife. On the verge of collapse 100% of the time. This is not boring. EVER FROM TIME TO TIME I WISH IT WAS. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

I am married now to the only girl I ever shared with another Girl. It was a great selling point. Besides the incredible money management magic and the fact that she graduated from college with a double major in Bio and Chem (at 19). I needed to reproduce with this one, just imagine the offspring. I now have two freakishly intelligent children with my great looks, physical abilities plus her brains. Life is good. I love my Mini-Van HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

I love my mini-van. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

That doesn't happen very often, but thanks for the reminder. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

It was awesome I need to keep this towards the top of the list in hopes that they will see this. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Thats right, I did my first three way on Sunday. I am a representative of the Hardcore. The most committed non pro belly fly'n skydivers. On Sunday I signed up for a Cessna load (4 max). already on the load was Joe, doing a test jump on a base canopy I had helped him rig up. The other two ended up being a couple of the best freeflyers in the world. Merriah and Karl Eakins. Merriah is the current freestyle champ and Karl is her video guy. we decided to do a freefly jump. We launched a flower, then a funnel shaped thing with our legs out in a round, still head down. We proceeded to flip over do a couple donuts then to a sit. I moved a little to fast jumping the key. I flipped back to belly and we finished the skydive with a bunch of random belly points. I did a stand up to signify break off. The dive was great and to feel like a student again was awesome. Merriah said "now you know how I feel belly flying with you". That made my head expand a bit because I had really felt like nothing compared to these two. I would like to take this chance to publicly thank Karl and Merriah for their help. I will see them again this weekend and hope to do another freefly jump. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Since you are a veteran skydiver, you do have the ability to redeem yourself..., You can purge your life, Destroy or in some way (burn, car crusher,..., Ect) get rid of all that is not pure. Dedicate the destruction to the sport. This may restore your name. Perhaps driving your golf cart fully loaded with non skydiving stuff off a cliff while wearing your camera helmet. Before you deploy you curse that which is not skydiving. Give it a try your friends may find this to be enough. All you can do is try. Good luck blasphemer. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

I don't live on the Mississippi anymore, but when I did you could see 50 or 60 a day during the winter near open water. The top of the food chain is almost always the coolest, birds, animals, fish,mammals, you name it they are awesome. Since we spend a lot of our time in the air and know how hard it is to be graceful and controlled in flight. These omnipotent birds mean more to us then most. I love those birds. That hood of the car story was the best. That had to be the most incredible experience. WOW HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Ride a motorcycle and park it under that same tree. Then, to get your vehicle, they have to show some real skill, as they're going in. lol HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

Hey Rhett, welcome to your new world. I hope this sport becomes a big part of your life like it has for so many of us. Because, it only gets better. One day you will get over the fear and tension that you feel on every jump. Those feeling are replaced with even better ones. Happiness, peace, joy ,almost orgasmic. It's awesome stick with it and good luck. I forgot the original Q. The USPA regulates affiliated DZs so the AFF program should be very similar everywhere you go. That said, there are still a lot of variants. It would be best to do it in one place simply because of those 1.382 billion differences. Party on Rhett!! HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

To be honest if I go more then two weeks without jumping I worry about my canopy. If I go three weeks I will repack my main. If I make it to four weeks..., oh wait I've never made it to four weeks, forget it. What your feeling is normal just do what you can to relax, cover all the safety stuff, figure out the dive. what ever it takes. Your going to be nervous, you should be. Taking that much time off, must be tough. Be safe, have fun. HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

There is no way to tell people what it's like. I tried hard for a lot of years. It can't be compared to anything. It can't be described in a way that makes it real. Have your fiend go and make one. Only then can he know what it's like. Sorry I can't help more but thats the truth. There is simply no way. But if you keep telling him how great it was he will probable make one. If you go with,it will make it even better. What is the exact date that you can get out and make one. Oh and what's your name by the way? It would be nice if you could fill out your profile. Thanks. good luck HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.

You have to draw the line. If your children cross it and continue to cross it, you have to carry through You must stop it. They wont send them to jail first thing and if they continue to that point, suffer. That is callous, but you must draw the line, period. I have not experienced this myself so I probably would cave some, but I am very discipline based and would carry through. Even if They had to suffer a lot in the short term it's better in the long run. I have kids. 2. Perfect.

Velocities and my x-mode FX 89 open so slow it's scary. If you pack correctly and delpoy correctly most work well. Crossfires are slow hurricains also HPDBs, I hate those guys. AFB, charter member.