billstap

i just purchased my first rig as well, jav ody J4 DOM 7/04, with brand new pd 176, cypress with 2 yrs left on it, the harness was completely replaced by sunpath to my exact measurements($400 include in price) and and the system itself has every option possible, and all foam was replaced and the main is a sabre 210 ---- $3400 us dollar for all cheers blue skies!!! billy:) hope this helps

it was simply a response someone made to an ad i posted in the classifieds, i have not demo'd one, nor have i ever seen or heard of one, the guy sellin it seems more than understanding so maybe i could get demo jump out of it but am not sure where he is from, etc etc, so far i like the price range he is in, the colors, and the fact that it is only like 2 yrs old, but do not like the fact that i know nothing about it, nor do the people i know who have been in the sport for a long time, cheers blue skies!!! billy:)

has anyone heard of this canopy, know anything about this canopy, i am looking into purchasing one but am not sure what the canopy is like, and there are no reviews on it in the gear section of DZ.com, blue skies!!! "the condemned convict climbs the highest peaks without fear"

i was wondering if anyone knew any good places to look for a used main canopy, i hawk dropzone.coms classifieds, and a couple other websites, but was wondering if anyone knew anything that is off the beaten path, and also if anyone knows about a used 210, let me know, i was hopin for a spectre, but am willing to expand my horizons if it is the right canopy for me blue skies!!! billy:)

ah to bad, my apologies well hope you have fun look for tom, he might have his nose in a medical journal tho blue skies!!! billy:)

malone parachute club is a great atmosphere but no AFF, but skydive adventures in west addison do have AFF and they are also a great group of guys --- made my first two jumps there and then most of my jumps at malone parachute club, either way you go they are both great DZ's

dont know how long you are in FL for but i will be at zhills sun 11th to wed 14th

heres my .02, i started my search back in '99 in rochester new york, found orvid or orville, down in the fingerlakes, i scheduled 3 diferent days and each time the weather was a no go, i heard of the place via a commercial at 230 in the moring usually when we were gettin back from the bar, when those opportunities fell through i just stopped lookin but still wanted to do it badly, a buddy of mine and i talked about doin it for yrs and then finally said we were going to do it instead of going to a jack johnson concert in central park, at this time i was in plattsburgh new york, out of my element so i resorted to the internet to find DZ's (this is way before i knew about DZ.com), so i searched vermont skydiving and got vermont skydiving adventures in west addison vermont, we went the following day made our jumps at sunset (amazing -- addicted after first jump) and then returned the next day to make another, honestly why did i go back to that dz or why did i go in the first place -- it was all i knew and i would have gone anywhere to make my 1st jump or any other ones after that. the following summer i found out about malone parachute club at clinton county airport (5 mintues from my house, vermont skydiving was 2 hrs from me) a small family oriented skydiving club, and oh man what a tight group of people, manifest on a white board and dry erase marker, very welcoming homey feeling, its too bad i have to leave when i get a job but i will forever remember that place and its amazing vibe/energy, and an incredible-knowledgeable staff, and i feel priviledged to have learned from them. blue skies!!! billy:)

if you think about it we are all a bunch of druggies in a way ---- people take drugs to release different chemicals in the brain to make them feel good ---- and that same chemical attacks the shit out of our brain from the moments we start putting our rig on, so i guess its either a huge rail, or a lift to 13,500, i know what i prefer! so who is replacing an old bad habit? only a couple days til my first skydive city experience -->SUPER STOKED

skydive south west florida in punta gorda, its about a half hour north of you, just go on dropzone.com go to dropzones --- north america --- florida --- skydive south west florida link and get directions blue skies!!! billy:) ps once you get to the florida link there are like 16 DZ's in FL so if punta gorda isnt good for you there are plenty more around

i know in my local area there is a group of guys (mostly firemen or retirees) that play bag pipes, and they are always up for practicing, or playing for a small fee (get the right ones that could be as simple as free beer and food), and are you in a location that is feasable for a demo jump, im sure you could get your local DZ to work something out for you, put those two together if you get the right prices and you have one hell of a talked about party that didnt cost you too much and no questions asked --- horseshoe and badmitten tournaments (do randomn team selection gets people hanging out and talking to someone they may not have otherwise) whatever you choose hope it goes well blue skies!!! billy:)

Well, Yes, Yes I do. If fact for a lot of years and lots of jumps at lots of DZ's. That’s been my mantra for many years. All I do is jump and stay more current in the air than on a keyboard. Wow! I am proud to have been attacked by someone having so much experience in the sport as listed in your profile. Proud indeed. Thank you for putting me in my place. it seems funny how you say 'than on a keyboard' what the hell are you doin right now smart ass, and i was not attacking you, maybe if you didnt think so much about yourself you would be able to see the true nature of the statement, what i was trying to say was a general statement not directed at you or anyone else in particualar, just simply to say everybody needs to stop worrying about everyone else, and take care of themselves, and if you are stupid enough to get high/drunk and jump out of a plane, well you will be meeting your demise real soon and hopefully they dont take any of us with them, i frimly believe in a nice cold beverage at the end of the day, and equally enjoy puttin something in the air (if you understand what i mean), but please dont think i was attacking you with any of those comments, i mean if someone is really putting someones life in danger well then by all means intervene but if not then leave them and everyone else the hell alone, and do your own damn thing, those people are like rich housewives, they have nothing else better to do but point the finger and cause drama where it does not need to be and yes i am on the computer right now becasue it is -30 wind chill, and i am waiting for the snow to head up to the mountain, so when you deal with seasons, sometimes you have to turn to the comp to get your fix until the weather moves on blue skies!!!

well unless you are irish, social drinker, or not an abuser-----> YES, hahaha blue skies!!! "I jump sober, do you?" "do what you do and leave everyone else the hell alone"

in order to understand the nature of your question i feel you need to understand the history, alcohol is legal because the goverment could not control the populace(alcohol rebellion), and marijuana is illegal because at first it was a way to control the mexican slaves we were using at that time history (black slaves were not the popular choice at this time, and we controlled them by stripping them of all knowledge, both education and family, but the mexicans we could not do this becasue they had such a large sense of family, but they drank and smoked reefer, now we know that we could not penalize them for alcohol but we could sure do it for pot), after this discovery the governor of texas who first started this trend to control his slaves he realized the economical possibilities of illegalizing marijuana, he wrote letters to all governors at that time and progressively marijuana becasme illegal to control a particualar part of our populace and for the greedy politicians to get some more money without taxation, i could go on for hours about this i have written many papers on it to inform the ignorant now as far as a correlation to the DZ, as far as i know there is no consumption of alcohol by anyone, skydiver or not, until the last load of the day goes up, and i believe that should be strictly enforced, and as far as after hours go, the alcoholic stays up all night causing ruckus, doing stupid things, coming up with bad ideas, while the pot head is sitting infront of the fire, 'chilin', and usually goes to bed much earlier then everyone else and wakes up without a splitting head ache, an overwhelming feeling of nausea, head to toe body ache, etc. everyone today has there own vice, who am i and who are you to tell someone what they can and cant do, and before you point the finger at someone for doing something illegal of which you have no idea the origination of the law, i would just sit down, relax and worry about self, you cant control what other people do but you sure can control what you do, and you should not tryin to cause any bad feelings here, just trying to inform "the people should not fear the power of the governement, the government should fear the power of the populace"

id be game, keep my profile to let me know if this goes through, half price tickets, yea right --- no need to ask me twice --- blue skies!!! billy:) things to have ---> beer and lots of it, wet tshirt contest, and some blow up dolls, hey we know how the numbers can be sometimes, gotta make it up somehow

i was just wondering if anyone has been to a skyfest (in texas) and let me know what they are like, i know j is runnin it and he is a great guy (sold me my rig at sunpath and he was way more then helpful, i would suggest him and sunpath to anyone) and also if anyone will be comin from the northeast and want to car pool/caravan. blue skies!!! billy:)

i just dropped a line about a handsome devil that told me in the plane that i did not need goggles and it was dick swanson, just thought i would let you know, he is a very smart and respectable human being, and i feel very pround to have learned at his establishment, he really is a prime example of a incredible part to the skydiving community, cheers blue skies!!! billy:)

i once forgot my goggles and didnt realize until plane was pulling away, i asked if i was going to be OK and the owner of the club i jump for said nah you dont need them i never wear them, well i forgot to realize the fact that he has been jumpin since '72, oh yea the good 'ol round days, well it was a helacious jump i flew most of the way on my back holding my altimeter about 2 inches from my eyes until it was finally over, but hey it was still a rush blue skies!!! billy:)

hey all, i will be heading to zhills to finish up with my a license certification jump and then the written test, i am posting this so that if anyone has any insight they can give me or a website to the sims catalogue considering i do not have enough time to buy one, get it mailed and study in time for the test, so please if anyone has recently takin the test, or maybe even administered a test --- help please--- i really want to get this license and if i do not succeed while i am in FL i will have to wait until the weather changes up here in the north country of new york, cheers all!!! Blue Skies!!! billy:)

thanx very much --- i am gettin so damn excited about this trip, between my new rig i will be pickin up, going to what seems one of the best DZ's around and makin a bunch of jumps i dont know what to be more excited about, i think i am driving my gf nuts, well no i mean i know i am driving her nuts, but neways cant wait to get there and my name is bill stapleton and i am sure i will be makin my way around every where there so i can soak in as much as possible, cheers blue skies!!! billly:)

thank you very much this is the information i am looking for, i def am not a fan of the whole swamp thing, and i have never been in anything larger then a 5 way, thats all the cessnas i have been in can hold, and believe me i will not lie about my experience level, this is a dangerous sport i have chosen and i respect its dangers and would not do anything that would increase this level, i would be more interested in finding a couple people to fly with maybe some that can help me with my free flyin skills, do you think i should then do two stays at zhills or will i be ok at lake wales, cheers blue skies!!! billy:)

thanx for the headz up, i actually enjoy wrestling alligators, i find it fun to do to pass the time

thanx for the insight that should be interesting blue skies!!! billy

hey all, so let me try this again, i am going to be visiting Z-hills and lake wales, i was wondering if anyone had any info, suggestions, things to look for, etc. at these places as i have never been, also i am new to the sport and am going to be attending my first boogie, therefore any insight is welcome, has anyone ever heard of or been to the stpatricks day boogie in lake wales, i have been searchin for info on it -- but nothing. my apologies if i waisted anyones time on posting a pointless poll before, i really dont know how these things work, for all i know i did this one wrong as well, blue skies billy

hey everyone i am actually the opposite of the SOS team (just got into the sport---40 jumps, and am hoping to recieve my 'A' license at Z-hills on march 11 and 12 just before the boogie, right now i am at 40 jumps and am hoping to make atleast 10 at zhills, weather?) I will be arriving at lake wales on thurs night or fri morning mar 15 or 16, i have never been to a boogie, and not sure what to expect, i am very excited to get some more planes in my log book ( can not wait for my first rear exit out of a casa), i feel i have chosen a great weekend because of the amount of experience all the jumpers will have i am bound to learn alot, so anyone who would like to reply please do as i am very ill informed, also does anyone know what to expect out of this st patties day boogie, i am very excited about this as i am very irish, well cant wait to jump with you guys. blue skies!!! billy:) "the condemned convict climbs the highest peaks without fear"