chopchop

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The ride down under my PDR193 was lovely. Opening was quick, soft, and on heading. The sweet thing flew consevatively, but reliably, and a one stroke flare with my feet and knees together for good luck yielded a comfortable, if not perfect stand up landing on Perris' green strip landing zone.

I don't know why your Pilot went BOOM but I do remember a few nice rides I had under that particular PDR193.. one of them was even in Perris!

Good on ya, Tom!

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All that I can do now is pray that no one gets hurt do to ignorance or inexperience.

Or get your rating so the dzo doesn't have to break the rules and you can do the jumps.

Deuce at work..

and Deuce and Q out!

These are pretty small files in order to upload on dz.com.. if there was a place to email, I think the slideshow would end up with higher-res photos that will look better.

Deuce at play..

here's some of JP doing his favorite job ever..

and the last one is him and Q saying goodbye for the evening..

Here are some pics of JP playing.. most of them were from one very fun day a couple of summers ago when he had to take a day off and blow off some steam.. we talked about having another day like that a few months ago but never got around to it.. I wish we had.. it was a really good day.

JP, I don't know what could have been so bad.. I'll miss you buddy, your smile, commentary and your jokes.. your hugs.. YOU. YOU MATTERED, DAMMIT! I love you, man. Rest in peace.

My thoughts and prayers are with Corrinne and the twins as they learn to deal with the tragedy that has hit their family.

I've got 2 AADs.. one for each rig.. haven't needed either of them yet. I jump the same whether they are in my rigs or out for service. Somehow, though, I kind of like having them there. There are lots of ways to kill yourself skydiving.. this is just a safeguard against one of them. It's cheap (when factored in per jump) insurance against an unlikely but possible occurance so why not?

You may find some stuff on our site. www.skycamphotography.com

Click the pics to get to the galleries instead of the links as we are changing services from Shutterfly to Smugmug and all of our stuff is still on Shutterfly where the pics link to.

Enjoy!

Check with Deuce here on dropzone. He has 2 Spectre 150s in Byron in his rigs. He is pretty good about letting people jump them in Byron.

add plaything and I.. we'll be there.

Bonnie, from my perspective, the layout at SSD rocks. The swoop corridor is in a place that students would never land in anyway.. too close to a structure. It's not too wide which would make experienced straight in pilots feel put out because of a long walk back. The setup point is completely out of the way of a standard left hand pattern. It's absolutely perfect. I never felt more comfortable swooping at a dz I was visiting at than there. Of course it helps that the wind is consistently form one direction..

Swooopin Tommy D! I'm really gonna miss you buddy, messing with you on the plane, sharing your booze berries, hanging out in the hangar, just your presence.. I'll miss your warmth, your caring and your compassionate spirit. Love you, Tom. Fly free up there.

My old Pilot 140 swooping the pond in Byron..
One of my Mamba 132s..
and my other Mamba 132

My photographer rocks!

I participate in the ASI Program and it works well for me. Like a few others here, it was 50% when I started and I got 2 complete rigs. Icon, Pilot and Smart reserve. Since then, I have used credits and the 35% discount to upgrade to Mambas.

I am extremely happy with the gear and the deal I got on this gear. I've put about 900 jumps on this gear now and it looks and performs like new.

I'd say make the call, get with your DZO and local gear dealer and start showing the folks around your DZ the great products from Aerodyne.

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I'm done with AFF!

I passed level 8 on saturday and shortly there after did my first solo jump (flared high ). Much thanks to the staff and regulars at Byron. I'd especially like to thank my instructors Roy, Gareth, Vic, Randy, MadJohn, and Aaron.

It's awesome to finally be able to go solo, though I recognize that I have a TON of stuff to learn. It's a pretty sweet feeling to know that I'm at a point where I have tons of stuff to learn and get better at, and also the (admittedly small) skill set to get me on the path to learning it.

Hopefully the weather will stay decent enough that I'll be able to whittle away at my A license over the next few months.

Blue Skies!

You're welcome, Bryan! It was definitely our pleasure. And we all look forward to you being a fun new addition to our dz. Keep coming back and learning with the rest of us.

Blue skies and good grooming!

Amber lens Gatorz with an open face helmet.. comfy sunglasses that allow others to see my eyes.. and my face as I'm yapping to them about "ARCH".. or smiling an encouraging smile which sometimes is the best tool I got.

Lany's working on the pics from the competition.. in between massaging my sore ass..

The pics of Darren's crash are something to see.. much like Andy's 437 foot swoop but in a different way..

yup.. thanks Andy.. I had a blast.

But why does swooping hurt so much??

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For me the goal of the dive was to stay close to the group. The other three went out linked to help them stay together. I went out seperate to work on my ability to stay with them. which did end up being better than the previous jump. Vertically I stayed right with them, horizonally I got maybe 300-400' away.

I'd like to point out that it sounds as if you were backsliding which is quite common for beginner freefliers and you can slide a pretty good distance. During this period of your progression, I recommend facing perpendicular to jumprun such that you don't backslide into other groups. Just pick a landmark and face that. Get your group between you and the landmark if you are using them as a reference also.

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let me please add my praise for the mamba. if you are looking for a high performance canopy in the larger sizes then that is the one i would go with, i have had a 150 an now i have a 132 loaded at around 2:1. very good canopy, lots of flare, great swoops. demo the canopy if you get the chance, it will make you want to buy one right there. just my opinion

I agree.. about 200 jumps on Mamba 132s and I'm hooked. Nice openings, very responsive and great swoops! Try a mamba and see what you think.

That ain't me.. I don't jump Wings.

And the interiors of the jump-planes in Cal City will smell better for a few months..

Heal fast, Stinky Jim!

Fortunately, there's a skydiver that specializes in that!

I think it was just his ACL. Same on as last time.. he was all happy that they didn't have to drill new holes..