debussyschild

And I JUST answered my own question. Found them. Never mind :) "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Just a quick question: where can I find the published minutes for USPA BOD meetings? Our organization is public, every USPA member should be privy to said minutes. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Every drop zone does things a little differently. Including training. And the people that skydive their regularly are going to be different from DZ to DZ. The best way to get to know what's going on is just to go there, hang out, drink beer, and ask lots of questions. It's impossible to know how a particular DZ operates unless you go there and experience it yourself. One guarantee: you will spend lots of money and you will make lots of new friends and drink lots of beer. Oh, and you'll have fun too. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Congratulations on your first AFF jump! A fellow skydiver (and C-license holder and competitor) told me when I started jumping that getting good at skydiving takes a lot of patience and a good attitude... and inevitably quite a few hiccups along the way. Every AFFI and well respected skydiver I've met has reiterated those words (or something to the same effect) to me since I started. We're not born knowing how to do this. You're not good at it yet because you're NEW. Believe me, I'm still doing my AFF. I completely understand. You'll get it, though. I'm sure your instructors have faith in you, and so should you. Just keep jumping!!! Blue skies P.s. Unless you got the bowling speech (which it's apparent that you didn't), you have nothing to worry about :) "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I'm looking for anyone sort of coming from the south-western parts of VA (near Blacksburg, Roanoke, Lynchburg area) who is heading out to Raeford to fly in the tunnel at Paraclete. I'm not looking to fly in the tunnel (or I might be...), but if you're heading out there, I'm looking to tag along to get a ride out that way. This can be on any given weekend. I'm not looking to spend a week in Raeford, just a few weekends. Ideal departure times: leave VA Friday evening, head back to VA Sunday night. Departure times are ball park because they're negotiable. I figure there can only be a handful of skydivers living out in the boondocks of SW Virginia (most of whom I already know), but if you're one of them and you're itching to fly in the tunnel, let me tag along with you. If you have questions, please PM me. This thread is more of an 'ad' rather than an ongoing discussion. Save everyone's time and just PM me. Oh, and compensation for gas is definitely included... Post-trip beer is also negotiable. Thanks.

Folks are definitely jumping at West Point (Skydive the Point) this weekend. www.skydivethepoint.com Very easy to get to from Quantico. Take 95 south, get on 295 south, take exit for 64 east, then get on route 33 (exit #220) toward west point. Make a right on Airport Road to go to Middle Peninsula Airport. They're scheduling a night jump, too, Saturday night... if interested (and QUALIFIED) contact the DZO. Warning: it is COLD. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

3 words to describe my category B jump that I made on 12/6/08: PIECE OF CAKE. The King Air is the coolest freaking airplane to jump out of. Onward march to cat C. :-D "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I've been weathered out 5 weekends in a row... I might have to repeat Cat A at this point. Not too excited about that, but what can you do?? "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Do you also think that a penny dropped from the Empire State Building will kill someone? Seriously? A filled water balloon has a lot more mass than a penny. People seem to always forget just how heavy water is. You should try getting one of those water balloon launchers and fire one straight up in the air and see what happens when it comes back down I dunno about a crater but it will definately hurt and leave a dent in whatever it hits. I know of a case where someone tossed a water balloon at the windshield on a moving school bus..... shattered the window Water can do some damage Water can do damage... here's a wikiquote (yes, this is reliable information) "Water sticks to itself. Water has a high surface tension caused by the strong cohesion between water molecules because it is polar. The apparent elasticity caused by surface tension drives the capillary waves." This is why landing in the water at Bridge Day, for example, will hurt like hell if you pick up speed. This is also why water will make such an impact at high speeds. This is how water forms droplets and such. Surface tension is what it's all about ;) "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

That is an AWESOME action shot of the tandem... for a second I thought his man legs were hers... then I looked a little closer. Oh, and you look a lot like a professor of mine. LOL. It's all good! "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Purple Mike: So, did you see how great I flew? Do you dig my wingsuit colors? Did you know I lead the flock... blah blah blah Girl: (thinking to herself) I think I'll let him keep running his mouth, that way he can't hear it when I fart... yeah... then I can just smile and nod, and then walk away. Perfect. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Order the 2009-2010 Skydiver's Information Manual. You can do this at www.uspa.org It's a little over $30, but it is the definitive authority in the US about skydiving. I've read Dan Poynter's Skydiving Handbook, but it's really dated and I've had to sort out a LOT of misleading information that I got from it by talking to my instructors. Until someone writes and up to date version of Dan Poynter's book, I'm putting all my money on what I read in the SIM and what my instructors tell me. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

hey, yeah, i had some trouble getting it into the D-Bag with some of the student rigs at our DZ. a couple of the people at the DZ showed me some tricks: after you make your first s-fold, put your knee on the warning label and bring the rest of the fabric that hasn't been folded up to your chest. roll it under and get some of the air out, then make your next s-fold. after you make that second s-fold, you kinda have to press on the canopy from all sides. i keep my right knee on the top, and i use my left leg to kind of keep it from billowing out to the side. then i slide the d-back underneath the canopy, get 2 corners in and then work the rest in. once you've got your first line stow you can relax. Henrick and Brett really helped me out A LOT with packing. i'd ask those awesome dudes, too, for help. this is just what i've discovered that works for me. hope i see you at west point soon! edited to add: and if you see Jimmy Crouch around the DZ, he's the best person to ask. there's a particular way he likes the student rigs to be packed, as Brett told me. the biggest thing to remember with packing the student rigs is don't roll or do anything with the nose... "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

My MOM actually uses the word like more frequently than I do. When I write, I hardly ever use it. In conversation, yeah, I do, but I try not to. But when did my MOM become so proficient at using that damn word?! Granted, she's not that old (41) and she's definitely a 'girly girl,' but the phrase "it's like, I dunno" can't POSSIBLY be used to describe every feeling you have. I think it's ok to use 'like' occasionally in every day conversation, but avoid it like the plague when you're actually going for credibility... like, whoa. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I go back and edit my posts for grammar and punctuation mistakes... There - refers to a direction or location Their - possessive article They're - contraction of 'they are' (3rd person singular... they ALL are is actually plural) I figured this out by third grade... "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I'm trying to decide if yours is a serious and honest post. Your profile is nearly empty. How many jumps do you (really) have? Have you really "almost gone in" more times than you can remember? Do your instructors / fellow jumpers not recognize this? If you really think you're "guna kill yourself" jumping, then you shouldn't jump. If you want medical advice about ADD, sit down and have a comprehensive session with a physician or psychotherapist. A skydiving blog site is no place to get medical advice. And I do have to agree with these other two posts. Some people like to throw the term ADD around frivolously as something to describe a particular behavior, like being stupid or careless. If you are trying to self-diagnose, you are more than likely to be wrong. There is a very stringent diagnostic process that has to take place over at least a years time and involves a lot of people and time (teachers, parents, doctors, family, the patient, etc.), not to mention that the symptoms are very, very specific. If you are simply trying to say that sometimes you become inattentive or lazy about preparing your gear (and your MIND) to skydive, please refrain from labeling your particular behavior as 'ADD.' This is not to bash you or anything, but throwing the term around loosely does make it very difficult for those that have ADD to retain any credibility or understanding for their disability. Not to mention the medication they are prescribed gets abused by everyone under the sun (a gov't controlled substance, no less) and this forces legitimate patients to go through hoops each time they need medication. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I've got ADHD. I was diagnosed by about 10 years of age, no, I wasn't misdiagnosed. I've seen a lot of people who have been, however, or who try to diagnose themselves... irritating to say the least. Anyways, I didn't have a problem on my first skydive at all with being distracted. In fact, I was quite the opposite in free fall. I was SUPER focused. Granted, I take medication and I have learned over the years how to manage myself and be self-disciplined. IMO, you can completely skydive with ADD. There are plenty of people out there that don't have it and make stupid blunders because they were careless. It's called Darwinism. Take your time when preping. Double check everything. Have someone else double check. You'll get to skydive, but--as with all other things in life--if you rush, you're bound to make careless mistakes. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Dude, you spent entirely WAY to much time on that little program. HAHAHA "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

You have figuratively found the fathoms of failure, my friend. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Let lyrics that lilt and linger lull your luscious leopard lady lightly toward a lowly lighted lair of lusty luxury... "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I'm going to expand on this a little: I have two close friends who are both about as gay as you can imagine... but not so much notice on the surface. They married not long after graduating from Annapolis. Him continuing on the become an aviator in the US Navy (Hornet pilot) amd her going on to commit most of her career in the USMC working to make joint CSAR a reality. They used both the tax benefits they realized as "married" to help afford their real, homosexual relationships and to afford raising the children they had (yeah folks... being gay does not make you sterile) Do these two people deserve to be marginalized? Are they stealing your tax dollars? They are two decorated veterans, a man and a woman, who have deceived you. Should they be punished? Jeez..... Ah ha, well, the law isn't bullet proof and the loophole your friends found is certainly evidence of just that: a loophole. But is it really a loophole solely because they didn't marry "in good faith?" Straight couples do this all the time, the typical outcome of such a marriage is called divorce. If you don't want people jumping through hoops and evading the law, change the damn law. Marriage (not matrimony) is a legal financial agreement. Period. Religious beliefs aside, if two people want to get married, I say the more power to them regardless of their sexual preference. All it is is a piece of paper which grants you certain privileges and tax breaks as a couple. Church and state do not mix, end of story. I say keep religious ideals where they belong: in the church, not on the house or senate floor. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

After 6 attempts at trying to coordinate the runners legs, I managed to get a whopping .6 meters. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Done. I'll try to get some of the VT (VPI & SU... it's in the US) Skydiving club to do it, too. Good luck! Sounds like an awesome thing to win. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

I'm surprised that in some areas they still use paper ballots. Well, I also live in a big college town with lots of money to dish out for electronic voting systems. Screw up your vote on those babies and that's it. No re-dos. I like it that way better. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Haha, I agree. Here's something interesting to note about student gear... my brother and I both jumped the same student rig at the same drop zone. He's about 5'11". I'm 5'2". We weigh almost exactly the same (only I look like I weigh ~35 lbs less than he does...thanks, mom, for muscles) so obviously we needed similar canopy sizes (Sabre 240). What is interesting is that I didn't have any trouble with the container being big on me. I expected to have some difficulty, especially when going for the steering toggles, but... nothing. No problems. Except that hackey did feel pretty low on my butt, but I'm sure that's normal. "For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you will long to return."