bigairnut

Remster hit the nail closer than anyone. People who have not jumped out of an airplane simply cannot relate. I love the X-games because I admire what the athletes can do and wish I could do it. Even though I've never tried BMX Vert I can appreciate how diffucult it is and I think most people can as well. Non-jumpers cannot appreciate how difficult fighting a 120mph relative wind is. So nobody watches it and as a consequence no sponsor is interested.

Here is the link. http://www.eteamskydivers.com/images/GML%20Flag3_1.jpg

This is an awesome video. I went to the eteamskydivers website and in the gallery section there is a photo of this flag during a jump that is now my desktop wallpaper. Sweet!

airtwardo, one point of clarification to your post. crawls walks flies slithers or swims...kill it with a big ass gun, then "Q" it!

Right on airtwardo, fire it up!

J, from my point of view, you are not evil. Wildlife dies, its the way of things. There are predators and there are prey. More often than not an animal is BOTH. It hunts some and is hunted by others. It's kinda like that old saying that every day the lion wakes up and knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve, and the gazelle wakes up knowing that it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be lunch. While that may not be precisely analagous to your situation, the point is that animals eat other animals. That gator is gonna eat something...it might as well eat that dead baby deer. What else are you gonna do with it, dig a grave and put up a headstone? It's not your dog Spot that died. Of course you know all this, you just need affirmation. Consider this my approval to feed the gator!

Icon, you have a dirty mind. What makes you think I meant anything other than what you said? As for the question, still not entirely correct. You cannot simply "reverse" it and have it be correct.

I started out with some Red Bull's and vodka at the DZ bar this afternoon and am on my second at home. missg8tor, jack and sprite is number one...but I'm out of jack...dammit.

Why wait till winter...Racheal is ready now.

Icon, I'm very glad that your friends think so highly of you that you ended up with the handle of Icon. But I'm talking about the question you must ask the computer to live.

I hope you bought it on sale...cause dammit, now I've gotta go get it too.

Didn't want to post the whole song... We were parked out by the tracks We’re sitting in the back And we just started getting busy When she whispered “what was that?” The wind, I think ‘cause no one else knows where we are And that was when she started screamin’ “That’s my dad outside the car!” Oh please, the keys, they’re not in the ignition Must have wound up on the floor while we were switching our positions I guess they knew that she was missing As I tried to tell her dad it was her mouth that I was kissing

Icon, what's the question?

Oops, bad math on my part. It leaves $25-$30 for coach and DZ to split...even more reasonable.

I've done some freefly coach jumps at Skydive AZ (as student). It was awhile back so I can't recall if it was $70 or $75, but something like that. That includes my slot, coach's slot, and coach's pack job. That totals $45, leaving $30-$35. DZ gets part of that for providing the facilities for prejump planning and video debrief. Coach gets the rest. Seems reasonable to me.

Icon, you're on the right track, but that's not quite right. Your question would actually lead you out the wrong door. For example, if you asked the computer that tells the truth your question, and if the right hand door were in fact the door to life, the computer you asked would tell you the other computer would say no. Therefore you'd pick the left door and die. Think about it.

You're in a room with two computers. One computer programmed to lie and the other to tell the truth. Two doors out of this room, one leads to life, the other to death. You are allowed to ask one question of one computer in an effort to figure out which door leads to life. You don't know which computer lies and which tells the truth. There is one question you can ask that regardless of which computer you ask, you will choose the correct door. What is the question?

Airtwardo, thanks, glad to be back. And I too hope that I still trust my pilots 10 years from now. I just checked your bio and notice you're from Houston. Do you know Chuck Akers? I did several of my AFF jumps with him and we were good friends till we lost touch after I moved to FL. Did you ever jump at Skydive USA in Wharton?

Ok Nick, step up. If you can open up a DZ, figure out how to pay your AFFIs and Pilots $40K each while still charging prices for jump tickets that will keep the DZ humming with activity, go for it. I will gladly jump at your DZ till the cows come home and the other DZ down the street will have to either step up or go out of business. Your comment about how DZOs should be "made" to invest in their staff or get out of the way is just plain ignorant. We do not live in a socialistic society. Competition is the name of the game and the market will decide.

Ron, again I will try to clarify. I am not talking about choosing skydiving over braces, college, whatever. I am talking about the cost of skydiving relative to other leisure pursuits. For most of us who are not independently wealthy, income is a finite resource and therefore priorities must be set. I am simply saying that, all else being equal, I know of nobody who quits due solely to cost. If jump tickets went to $50 per, it might be a different story.

Airtwardo, I don't believe that my experience is very relevant in this discussion given that the arguments being made in this topic are mostly about free market forces, not skydiving specifically. Anyway, I have nothing to hide and since you asked I have about 400 jumps and have been in the sport for about 10 years with a couple of fairly lengthy absences. I have recently gotten back into jumping and have made about 100 jumps in the last 6 months. I'm glad to be back and having a blast!

Ron, let me clarify my statement. I'm talking about leisure time priorty, not priority over job, family, house, etc. If my job or family were the issue, I don't care if the gear was free and someone paid me to jump, that would not elevate it above job and family. I'm simply refuting the opinion that many stop jumping SOLELY because of the cost.

CMiller, what do you want them to do? Go over the dive and then sit around and shoot the bull with you? They have a JOB to do. Their job is to take care of ALL the customers. I don't know what you do for a living, but my guess is that you don't just hang out for the hell of it. If you want to chit chat with your JM, it can be done when they are off the clock. In my experience most are willing to do that after the last load takes off and the beer light is on. Having said that, if your JM doesn't adequately debrief you and provide adequate feedback, then that is indeed another story and not acceptable.

airtimebabe, I hate to do this to you but you left yourself open and being the smartass that I am, I must point out that in your profile you spelled "of" incorrectly. At least Chris mispelled a somewhat more difficult word. Chris, I agree, I don't know a single person who would quit jumping due to $3 more per ticket. Similarly most DZ's are somewhat far from metro areas and therefore many jumpers drive a good distance to the DZ and I've not heard anyone say high gas prices are causing them to quit jumping. I don't buy the argument that people are jumping less because it's too expensive. Yes it's not a cheap sport to get into, but other than the initial equipment cost (and we all know you can buy good used gear reasonably priced) it's not any more expensive than golf, wakeboarding, snowboarding, etc. At the end of the day it's a matter of priorities and for those whose priority is skydiving there is no cost concern as far as I can tell.

Airtwardo, pardon my ignorance, but I do not know what happened in April 1992. But my guess is it involves an airplane accident. Assuming that's the case, I doubt the accident was caused by low pay. More likely it was caused by an inexperienced pilot who shouldn't have been flying regardless of what he was being paid. Chris, thanks for the comments. I am all for pilots trying their damndest to get paid better. If pilots demand more money and the DZO's agree and it causes an increase in jump ticket prices, we'll see what the market will bear. I, for one, would be happy to pay a little more, but that's because I can afford it and safety is important to me. I can't speak for everyone. And btw, I'm glad you would not burn the flag.