FunBobby

A different view (

Hear, hear! Thanks to the Fastrax guys too - also, to the countless folks who helped out with all the little things, from feeding hungry skydivers and guests to cleaning up doggie poo that found its way to places it shouldn't have been. Art, had a great weekend. Thanks to all the collegiates who showed. Hopefully, all of you experienced many dynamic and fun aspects of this sport, and more importantly, the vibrant and energetic nature of the folks in its community - and I don't just mean jumpers. By the way, if anyone’s looking for one of the hundreds of photos I took this weekend, here you are... there are too many and they are way too big to post full size, so if you want anything you see here or any image you think might have been captured by my lens, email me. Photos… click - here - God Bless - FunBobby

Go Navy! Beat Army! FunBobby

Better luck next year! BTW, the flyover of the game by the Navy F/A-18C hornets was led by 2 LCDRs from a aquadron in my air wing. How ironic that both of the tailhook naval aviators (both TopGun grads, too!) are actually West Point graduates! They both owe me cigars now. Go Navy! Beat Army! (Attached photo taken several years ago during my tour with Air Wing 2 - still appropriate) FunBobby

Haha. Can always count on John to bring out the bright side. Yes, Ralph, it is. Trade stories when I see you.... soon. Bobby FunBobby

Hello Hog Floppers. I'm finally in a location where I can access dropzone.com, though it's a little hard to navigate the web because the menus are in Portugese. Have not had time to read the whole thread - regret that I missed the Boogie. I was in the Red Sea then, Al Asad (NW of Baghdad) the week before and S of Pakistan the week prior. Just have to cross the pond and will fly in but will be incommunicado until then. Look forward to seeing everyone. Cheers, B FunBobby

Heh heh. No kidding. More photos.... Hornet C armed to the teeth Rhino tanker - hauls gas and hauls a$$ Viking chucking a rock... Prowler hits the wires FunBobby

He chops it!!!! Haha, not so much. The emergency hydraulic thingee is the last resort in most aircraft, because if you use that, the gear is stuck down for good. If this happens, most procedures call for making an arrested landing, preferably at a field. If he has to come aboard the ship, sometimes, the ship will rig the barricade, a huge net to catch the aircraft. Here's a better picture from another angle that shows some complications - 3 live bombs hanging from the wings. The pilot, the XO of the squadron, apparently was unable to jettison the bombs, so he had to land with live ordnance and potentially bum gear. Ever seen an aircraft land with only 1 wheel down? Not pretty. More complications - with the gear hanging in the breeze and the unexpended bombs, the aircraft has a lot more drag and burns a lot more fuel a lot quicker. I think when I took this picture, the pilot got below the point of flying ashore and had to take on extra fuel just to be able to recover aboard the carrier. Thankfully, the ending was happy. He blew the gear down and all 3 wheels appeared. He had to call "unexpended" on the ball, and that always makes folks nervous when you've got live crap and your gear is suspect, so I think a lot of folks left the flight deck and the crash crews were on their toes. 10 minutes after he landed, I caught him as he was walking off the deck and showed him the pictures. He smiled and said "Yeah, that could've been a really bad day...." FunBobby

Hmmm. This guy was having a bad day with more potential for the day to get even worse. Ugh. FunBobby

Gia!!!! Great seeing you and the rest of the gang in San Diego. Either I've built up a mega tolerance or you gave me the unleaded jello shots 'cause no one seemed to be able to coax out FunBobby this time. Note to self... need more potent stuff. By the way, I took some great pictures too that night. I have to crunch them down to get them uploaded, but I thought I'd show a piece of one that people were screaming for me to put on the website. Heh heh heh. FunBobby

1:10:0 1 layover overnight, 5000 miles, 6 aircraft, and 5 days to get to and from Skydive San Diego to make 10 jumps and take part in all the cool things surrounding their awesome boogie. Nice meeting you, Evelyn. Sorry I never got in phase with you for any RW. Anyone know where my luggage is? FunBobby

I know I learned plenty this weekend, but more importantly, I was reminded of a lot of things. 1. Keep it new, keep it interesting. Sadly, after almost 800 jumps and 6 years, my enthusiasm for skydiving was beginning to wane, but events this weekend gave me a huge boost. I jumped with some very well known and esteemed folks in the industry and some less experienced skydivers too. All of them, though, challenged me and pushed me to get better, and their zeal and flying skills in the air (and their smiles on the ground) reminded me about what I love so much so much about this sport. The weekend was a much needed charge and the variety and energy level of skydives wereinvigorating. Thanks Jeff and Roberta, Ron and Kelly, Kelly F., Justin, Wyatt, Matt, Nick, and Katie. And a huge thanks to Andy for an awesome boogie at Skydive San Diego. 2. Always include a few toiletries, change of underwear and socks in your carry-on. 3. Few things are as precious as family and good friends. God Bless. FunBobby Edited for typo

Excellent! Hmmmm - I've been known to get loopy on energy drinks..... FunBobby

Might there be jello shots around after sunset?

Sure do, but I get a good reminder every summer during my yearly physical.... hmmm, come to think of it, we also have those scary "mass casualty" drills every now and then where they activate the "walking blood bank." FunBobby