thrillseek

Don't you mean the "Holy Handgrenade/ball o' shit", Dave?? Awesome getting to jump with you guys on that one, even if it was as ugly a skydive as i have ever participated in! I have GOT to try another one of those at my home dz....ugly skydives are fun!!

What gives Hol??? I thought you'd tell us yours if we told you ours?? Are you ashamed of yourself?

But Timmy failed to realize that the monkey lips were on the wrong end...

The intent of my post wasn't to trash anyone's reputation, and as far as I was concerned, whatever ride situation that went wrong was totally between you and Lisa. My point was merely that we are a cool group of individuals that do things such as letting one another use our cars and etc. even though we have never actually "met" one another before. As far as the security lines at the airport, I cannot say, however, there were tons of people in front of the airport.....probably something to do with the busy holiday travel season. I think that's why people want to show up very early. Just my estimation. A.T.

Ok, so here's the story: I was at Eloy the other day sitting around one of the "bonfires" when Lisa (whom i had never met), was saying that her ride to the airport had bailed on her, and she was in jeopardy of missing her flight. I think i was the only sober one there aside from Lisa, so I said that if i had a car, I would have taken her to the airport (45 min away--Keep in mind that for all intents and purposes, this is a complete stranger, someone i have never seen in person). Well, Wingnut, (whom i had also never met -- i.e. complete stranger) says that i can take his car so that Lisa didn't miss her flight. I always knew we were a cool bunch, but it never really sank in till i was on my way back from the airport basically lost and driving someone's car that didn't know me until 2 hours ago. Wow. Wingnut, you rock man. And Lisa, I'm glad you got to the airport on time. And to the guy who was supposed to take her to the airport and couldn't be bothered, weak...totally weak performance. Blue skies, A.T.

Rantoul - End of the active runway. Some guys on a golf cart caught some chick and I. Funny stuff. THEN, a week ago, at marana, i introduced myself to some guy, and he was like " A.T. Clinger??? You're the guy my friends and i caught screwing on the runway at rantoul!!!" The moral of this story is that you can't get away with anything in this community. God I love this sport!

don't feel bad....we had a guy at my DZ that had to come out 5 weekends before he could do a tandem! The weather just didn't allow for it i'm afraid. A lot of students go through what you are experiencing...You'll get there....just enjoy your jumps and be patient...soon you'll probably be a head-down freak living life in the fast lane. Until then, be safe and remember that you are doing this to have fun. If the only way i could jump from a plane was to do a static line, i'd still do it!

The question first started at Rantoul this year when an Icarus rep told me that my Omega 160 was actually much smaller in square footage than 160. It was re-visited this evening at my DZ when we were all talking about wingloadings and etc... Anyone know whether ICARUS actually has a different scale that they measure square footage by?? If so, I am curious what the actual square footage of my 169 is.

Thanks Tom. It means a lot to me to hear that you were willing to do that. I'm sure i speak for all the would-be collegiate competitors when i say we appreciate that kind of support. I hope the USPA will see that we just want to be able to compete at reasonable costs...it's a hell of a drive just to get to Arizona for a lot of us, and we sure could do without those extravagant costs. FYI, I e-mailed the competition committee this evening asking if there's a way that the USPA can subsidize costs for non-military academy college students....we'll just have to see what happens in DC....maybe they'll realize there are a LOT of upset members and do something. If not, i am still working on organizing the first un-official non-USPA collegiate nationals this year at Marana, just in case. A.T.

After a lot of thought and talk with other collegiates from around the country, i think we are going to have a sport accuracy meet in leiu of collegiate nationals....This meet is open to all collegiates, and should be fun as well as easier to organize than a whole meet. Anyone willing to help should contact me soonest, so that we can figure out details. Either way, Eloy's costs are EXTREMELY prohibitive for the majority of us out there that don't have schools that pay for costs. Many of us will be driving ourselves across country, or even hitchhiking just to get there in the first place...we just want to have fun and if in the process we can compete against one another this year, cool. And so you all know what i am giving up by doing this alternative collegiate nationals... I took 3rd at US Nationals this year in sport accuracy as the competitor with the fewest jumps and fully expected and wanted to win collegiates this year, my last in college. I am not going though, because i feel the event has become a "dog and pony" show for the academies who can afford whatever is charged for entry fees. That is SOOOOO not what collegiate skydiving is about....they make up maybe 8% of all the college skydivers nationwide... That's like suggesting that people are flying their pilot chutes and that big mass of material is just there for looks.

I'll be there along with a lot of college jumpers looking for a great deal and a great boogie....hope to see you there! Just ask for A.T.

Aircraft: rocket 100 (fast, and holds 18 jumpers) there is no catch. I spoke with the DZO on the phone the other day. hey have a number of different plans ranging from $250 for 5 days of unlimited jumping to a plan for one single day. They have hot showers and all the facilities we'd need...they are familiar with collegiate nationals as well, since they have held it there before.

Ok, if we're going to have our own nationals this year we'll need some organizing going on and we'll need it fast. What i see us needing: 3 or 4 dedicated judges, someone to keep track of the scores, and all of us to chip in for beer after each day's competition (kegs). We'll keep this simple, save money, and most importantly, have a great time! Let me know if anyone is willing to help with this...we'll need people who know something about judging events. If nothing else, i think a collegiate-wide sport accuracy event would be fun as well as easy to judge. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Criticisms?

What i was getting at is that jumps will be in the ball park of $5.....tough to beat. i'd like to meet you too though

i contacted the whole board of directors, as well as hearing "hey, if i were in your guy's shoes, i'd do the same thing" from one regional director, which i think it wise not to mention [his/her] name

well, if we're going to go to have fun, let's all do it at marana at a HUGE discount... I mean, we're going all that way anyway... $13 a jump with a $25 boogie entry fee, or 5 days of unlimited jumping for $250...i'm not an economics major, but DAMN!!! that's a good deal

----- Forwarded Message ----- From: MSU skydiving Club To: fullboard Subject: collegiate nationals Expensive. Outrageously overpriced. A disgusting way of fleecing the poorest group of jumpers. Disgusting. An outrage. These are some of the many comments I am hearing from college students across the country regarding this year's collegiate nationals. There is talk of many of the jumpers that would have competed at Eloy meeting up in Marana, where during the same time peroid they will be having an "all you can jump for 5 days for $250" event. I have a funny feeling that unless someone steps in and looks out for the little guy, the little guys are going to hold their own nationals somewhere else with no USPA affiliation. This may seem like a small issue to those of you on the board, but to those of us that are considered "the future of the sport" it represents a trend in which the USPA sits by and lets the Big dropzones treat the USPA as their own private business organization. I may only be a college student with the ink barely dry on my D-license, but i can't imagine this being what the founders of the organization had in mind. I'm all for business and capitolism in general, but let's be realistic here folks. It is obvious when you open up the parachutist magazine and look at the names of the people running this organization and realize that a majority are owners of large dropzones that there is a serious conflict of interest happening here. With all of this going on, I proposed an organization designed specifically to prevent cost issues and upset college skydivers -- The National Collegiate Skydiving Association. Ideally, this would be a part of the USPA, so that there would be a clear liaison for collegiates. The idea was met with a lot of enthusiasm, however, nothing has been done in time to prevent Skydive Arizona from increasing the entry fee from last year's already expensive $100. No one even asked a single college student where THEY wanted the nationals to be, not to mention what the cost should be. I seem to remember being able to compete in this year's US Nationals and only having to pay $40. Common sense dictates that if there isn't some remedial action taken to help out the collegiates, two things will happen: 1. We'll all go to another dropzone where it is more affordable, and 2. We'll hold our own nationals there. We all want to participate, and enjoy being members of the USPA, but enough is enough. So, like your magazine says..."Hey USPA, what have you done for me lately?" Sincerely, A.T. Clinger Founder, National Collegiate Skydiving Assoc. ______________________________ ******MSU Skydivers****** "Defying gravity since 2001" _____________________________ http://campus.murraystate.edu/skydive

OK all, here's the deal: Entry fees are up to $120 now PER COMPETITOR for collegiates, and everyone i've talked to about it is disgusted. Does your school's club have $480 just for entering a 4-way competition?? Skydive Marana is 20 miles down the road from Eloy, and they're offering deals that equal +/- $5 A JUMP!!!! I don't want to be "that guy", but here it is: SCREW ELOY FOR NATIONALS -- LET'S ALL GO TO MARANA AND HAVE OUR OWN COMPETITION SANS USPA. They haven't looked out for the little guy on this one. Period. End of story. This isn't going to get any better for us if we don't make a statement. We'll all have a great time at Marana and get TONS more jumps than we would at Eloy. Since it's so close, we won't have to change travel plans that much....A Good number of collegiates are already planning on going to marana, so....WHO'S WITH ME? A.T. Clinger Founder, National Collegiate Skydiving Association

OK all, here's the deal: Entry fees are up to $120 now PER COMPETITOR for collegiates, and everyone i've talked to about it is disgusted. Does your school's club have $480 just for entering a 4-way competition?? Skydive Marana is 20 miles down the road from Eloy, and they're offering deals that equal +/- $5 A JUMP!!!! I don't want to be "that guy", but here it is: SCREW ELOY FOR NATIONALS -- LET'S ALL GO TO MARANA AND HAVE OUR OWN COMPETITION SANS USPA. They haven't looked out for the little guy on this one. Period. End of story. This isn't going to get any better for us if we don't make a statement. We'll all have a great time at Marana and get TONS more jumps than we would at Eloy. Since it's so close, we won't have to change travel plans that much....A Good number of collegiates are already planning on going to marana, so....WHO'S WITH ME? A.T. Clinger Founder, National Collegiate Skydiving Association

he he he sorry...somebody had to do it eventually!

here's one.....

I wouldn't say i would be sad about him dying, but i will say this: If he is alive, may god have mercy on his soul.... Cause if i ever found that scrawny little SOB, i sure as hell wouldn't have any mercy

Great post! I'm heading there for the sport accuracy event tomorrow. As long as i have fun and don't come in last place, i'll be happy!

Landing on rear risers is a sensitive manuver when you are used to using toggles all the time--not to mention a nerve-racking experience. Depending on what you are flying and at what wing loading, it can be an exercise in moderation. Mine was under an eliptical canopy loaded at 1.31 and it didn't take as much as i remembered needing on my old canopy that was 1:1. Just remember that this is a situation that calls for level-headedness and NOT panic. Practice, Practice, Practice!!

This past week at WFFC i broke a steering line on deployment. With a little effort and care, the canopy was landable. If not for practicing this manuever before and hearing about it only a night before in a seminar, i might have cutaway. Flying the controlable canopy you already have is a smart choice, but it requires practice. Next jump you do, regardless of how many jumps you have, do one of these at altitude with your canopy. It'll pay off in the long run.