debussyschild

Hmm...... I could see how sacrificing simple logic for unabated and unadulterated adventure would be damn exciting........let's just keep that philosophy far, far away from skydiving "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."

Quite a lot of the time, that's a perfectly valid question I should think that if you can't see the ground, there might be a problem... "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."

Off topic: cutest puppy ever!!!! "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."

Now now now, that's jumping to a conclusion if I ever saw it. Don't be foolish to immediately write people's quarks off as strategic battle maneuvers. And vice versa. If you just started dating this girl, you're going to be put in your place SOOO fast if you try to have a sit down with her best friend. Putting her best friend in her place is not your job... yet. Talk to the g/f FIRST. She's the one who is responsible for talking to her best friend, not you. If she does talk to her and it STILL hasn't worked, then you can ask your g/f if it's ok for you to have a one-on-one with the best friend. If you want to start a WAR, by all means, go ahead and bypass your g/f (who knows her best friend better than you do) and try to remedy the situation yourself. This is just asking for trouble. "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."

Hahaha, that's hilarious. Obviously, not from where you're standing. Hmm... as a girl I'll say kudos to you for keeping your mouth shut. IMHO the VERY LAST thing you should do is tell your g/f that you hate her best friend. That's asking for the boot, not to mention she'll be very hurt by that (somethings are better left unsaid, right?). Buuuuuuuuut, if you just started dating her and you're ALREADY turned off by who she hangs out with, maybe now would be the time to politely peace out. If you can't stand the bff now and you aren't 100% enthralled by your girlfriend, odds are it's going to continue to annoy the crap out of you and you'd be better off dating someone else. I don't know what the situation looks like between you and your g/f, but I can guarantee you one thing: a girl lives and dies by her best friends (usually). If she's really close with them, she will undoubtedly choose them over you. Plain and simple. It is rare when a girl chooses her man over her best friends... those are usually times when something has gone seriously wrong in the relationship, like abuse. I digress...So, ask yourself if it's worth it to stick it out, but try not to let it get personal if that friend becomes really annoying. It's in your best interest to be a gentleman, always "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, any way to make that attachment Mac friendly? The file extension is *.kmz . I have NO idea what that is. Could you possibly post it as a PDF file? I'm sure it's a great layout of your home DZ and I wouldn't want to miss it. Danke schon Wooooow I feel like a dork now. All the files posted to this thread have file extension .kmz (or at least that is the way my stupid ass Mac is interpreting them... if you all see PDF's and JPG's and I don't, clearly it's my computer that's screwing up) Help??? "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, any way to make that attachment Mac friendly? The file extension is *.kmz . I have NO idea what that is. Could you possibly post it as a PDF file? I'm sure it's a great layout of your home DZ and I wouldn't want to miss it. Danke schon "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."

Yup, I'm pretty sure I'm talking about you Lonnie. Kick ass jump!!! Probably the best one of the day. "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."

On second thought, there are no AFF jumps, only tandems. Meh, maybe I'll come for the party... "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 think I'll tentatively RSVP. I'd LOVE to go, but it depends on how $$ pans out. Brittany "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."

Ok, to not say that rig looks tight as shit would be a crime. I Love it! Don't worry, I won't be getting a rig for a long while. I'm sure I'll come up with something nice and dandy for myself by then, but that design is definitely awesome. Doesn't the white look like a lightning bolt? Cool effect

I'm diggin the asymmetrical color scheme. "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 would almost go so far as to say that the student owes a case of beer. Granted, that's AFF training, but STILL. A case of beer is not too much to give up for someone saving your ass. "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."

Velcro would have worked pretty well. Or really strong magnets. Now, would you have time to whip out your scrabble dictionary to contest the spelling of a word in free fall?? "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."

Now that's just fuckin funny as shit. HAHAHAHAHAHA "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 jaw is on the floor. There are no words. Thank God the instructors had the wherewithal to keep this student from being choked by the bridle. When they say "PULL!!" they mean pull and THROW the damn pilot chute. That's a scary video. "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."

We knew what you meant. Blues, Dave EXACTLY. Good and cheap in this context are synonymous. Spoken like a true collegiate mind. I love it. "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."

So did ya do Cat B? Ugggggggghhhhhhhhh NOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... I'm trying not to complain too much about it, but it is definitely a buzz kill when you're all hyped up about jumping only to find you can't. It was the damn weather's fault. I got to the DZ super early and slept for a little bit. After the first load of the day went up, the wind picked up and the clouds came in. Winds were 22 mph from NE. Max winds aloft for AFFs are 14 mph. No jump for me. Meh, c'est la vie. HOWEVER, it was not a complete loss, as I got the chance to learn how to pack a canopy and actually got to pack one 3 times in full with some help. The last time I packed it I did it all by myself (I'm proud of that) and it actually looked NEAT, albeit my line stowing was not pretty. I've realized that the hardest part is not flaking, it's FOLDING and getting your canopy into the friggin d-bag without screwing up your nicely flaked canopy (or giving yourself a line over). All in all, even though I didn't get to jump, I still learned a lot and--believe it or not--I enjoy packing (although I'm sure my opinion will change once I'm packing my own after every jump). I was very sore and exhausted from packing but it was worth it.

Only the most awesome plane to jump out of EVER!! I made my first jump out of a CASA. All I did was approach the tailgate with my two instructors (and after exit procedures were done) just hopped off the back of the plane. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I've been spoiled "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."

Good point. Yeah, I guess you wouldn't have your head screwed on nice and tight if jumping out of an airplane didn't scare you a little bit. "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."

Listen up, they know what they're talking 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."

Are you kidding?!?! Umm... 2 words.... POKEY STIX!!!!!!!!!! Yes, their pizza is fabulous. I've had it on plenty of occasions. Needless to say, I live in a college town (Blacksburg) and I'm a college student, so when I say it's good pizza, that's because it really is. Their store here is open until 3 am most week nights to accommodate those late night hunger pains generally associated with lots of drinking. Eat up! "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."

Are you saying that at this particular dropzone (Orange) they are mere passengers? I see you live in Alexandria. Is this your home dropzone and you know this is the attitude or management? That would seem strange to me. After all this is the home of the USPA ISP. I think all beginners in skydiving, whether they plan on doing one tandem for fun or they plan on getting their license, they have to be aware that they do play an active role in their safety and the safety of their instructor. I don't think it's acceptable to just presume that you are absolved of all responsibilities during a jump if you're attached to someone behind you. Tandem jumpers are students: they are learning to jump attached to someone. They should know what to do and what to expect. It's not much to ask and it could save their life if they are willing to help out in flight to a degree that is appropriate for a student. The rest is up to the TI. Since when does tandem jumping allow for some slack in overall safety awareness? "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 wouldn't be so quick to judge. All that is involved in flaring is pulling the toggles down. On huge canopies like the ones used for tandem jumps, it's understandable that a little extra help with flaring on part of the student can be expected. With good instruction prior and during the jump, the student should be able to get some experience in steering/flaring. This is important if they want to do another tandem or if they want to progress to being able to fly their own canopy. I'm sure if the TI felt that the student was too nervous to carry out canopy steering procedures and keep the canopy under control, he/she would use his best judgment and resume full control over the task. I don't think TI's let the students steer/flare solely so that they won't become fatigued. That would be a careless choice. "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."

Glad he didn't get hurt... that's too damn funny!!!! "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."