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From now on, we will travel in TUBES!!! ..get the scientists working on the tube technology, immediately... Nice to know that Tenacious D has been calling this for awhile.

Jesse, That is great feedback, thank you. Every little tweak to our operations helps out. I'll work with Hixxx better in advance next year to thin the evening giveaways to 1-2 things from each vendor, then do drawings out of the manifest trailer throughout the day for other goodies. Thanks for watching out for my voice!!! Yeah we TOTALLY lucked out on weather, yet again. Fingers are crossed for next year!

we've kicked it around, but it's not looking likely at this point. we did the $1 hop/pops for the 25th anniv, and it cost us several several thousands of dollars. hope is not all lost though...we're going to see if any vendors would be interested in sponsoring $1 jumps to help subsidize the cost. i hope you had a great time at the boogie! if you have any other feedback on how we did in 2009, please let me know so that i can put it into the notebook for next year. :)

is there a lot of interest for high altitude jumps next year? just let me know and we can plan for it. usually just one jump ticket + $10 for extra extra high. Glad to see everyone out there, please add any feedback to the forum or PM me if you want any changes considered for 2010. cheers, b

haha yeah the boogie is a good place to do big even numbers, and a great place for pie-ing folks or getting pied. i've had my 300th, 500th, 1100th, and 1300th all at the boogie, and probably a couple others in there too anybody got any good load names figured out for this year? "jimbob for 2" is about as boring of a load to be on as it is for us to announce. i'll be stuck on the mic thursday, so please bring your creative load names and beers to the window

We're excited to get KLB back too! They're getting pretty popular so it was a happy day when I heard that we were able to get them booked this year. Be sure to thank Hobbs for staying in touch with them and pleading for them to come back. See you there. I am jealous you get to nap till landing on the ramp at FOD, i get to do that loooong drive from KC up there that you know all too well.

Folks, We've been giving our website a new look these past couple weeks! Sorry it had to be right before boogie time when the old one went kaput. Anyhow, go to www.couchfreaks.com and check out all the new menu items under "Dollar Daze". Advanced apologies if it is a big sluggish, we're getting on a faster server very soon. If there is any other info you would like me to put up there, please ask me! We've been bustin butt boogie planning, so haven't been on Facebook or dz.com lately I will put up a link to the facebook page "i'm going to couch freaks 2009"! cheers, bill o

here is the better answer - during jump operations (sunrise to sunset), runway 30/12 is closed. a 3 mile straight in approach is required for landing 6/24 during jump operations

i asked around and didn't sound like there was any special procedures. announce yourself on CTAF 122.95. jump planes take off on runway 30 and land on 12. i do see GA planes on 30/12 during the boogie occassionally, but they might ask you to stick to 6/24.

yep, balloons will be there. as usual, space will be limited and they will probably be flying at some early hour of the morning that i have never been awake to witness :)

the attempts are going to be saturday afternoon at 2, 4, and 6. have you gotten with tom and larry yet? there has been pre-registration going on for it. www.bigways.com they'll be there starting thursday morning starting to check people out to fill up the remaining slots on the dive, so head to the load organizer area as soon as you get there.

"This one time, at the beer truck, I ...[reply with favorite story here]"

you are doing exactly what you're 'sposed to. just be sure to take out enough student loan $ for boogie jumps and some new gear if you haven't already!

low and fast! i'll be sure to get it on the schedule of events. looking forward to seeing you there! b

Thursday, August 28 through Monday, September 1 Gates open at noon on Wednesday, August 27th, so be sure to come early for our hog roast and sweet corn feed! Also, get here early if you want an electrical outlet! Always that chance of an early load or two on Wednesday. $50 registration gets you all this and more • Private showers • Camping • Electric hookups for a small fee (while they last- first come first served) • Numerous celebrities: Midwest Freefly Legend Jimmy Coiner, Zoomie, The Man Who Saved Couch Freaks, and MORE Aircraft • 2 or 3 Super Twin Otters • 1 or 2 Super Skyvan • Pitts Special Biplane • Helicopter • Prices for the specialty aircraft to be announced Organizers • Tom Schroder, Larry Clapp, and Mandy Shaeffer will be organizing a 3 plane state record attempt (66 way). Sequential formation loads Thursday thru Saturday • Freefly organizer tba • John Storrie will be heading up the Wingsuit Flocking State Record Dive • Additional organizers will be available for 8 to 12 way skydives Entertainment • Friday: DJ • Saturday: tba • Sunday: tba Food (included with paid registration) • Beer flows 24/7 • Hog roast and Iowa Sweet corn feed Wednesday night • Iowa Pork Chop Dinner Saturday night • World Famous Roadkill Chili Sunday night • Food vendors will be onsite throughout the entire boogie (bring additional $ for this) Parties/Contests • Every night! • Best Dressed contest/Polyester Party Saturday • Swoop N Chug contest • Chicken Pooper raffle • Keg pyramid building contest future updates to be announced in this thread and on http://www.couchfreaks.com/

Jimmy who? We all know that Jimmy Coiner is the real DB Cooper.

this is the most unthinkable news i could have heard today. truly sorry to all friends and family for the loss. tonight, all drinks are for him. here's another one from dublin, glad to remember him laughing and not much else. cheers, b

holy crap. the news you miss out on when you don't surf the forums much anymore. learning about a death from the back page of parachutist is a sinking feeling. i hope his family is doing well. he was a nice guy when we met and i always enjoyed reading his opinions in the camera forum. and he had the coolest avatar ever. here was a shot from the eloy xmas 2002 cd he made...it is a shame we never got that big-way built so that he could get a picture of it (20 was the goal for a new dz.com record at the time, i think?) blue skies, save some beer for me..... b

I'll echo other comments...1600 ISO is definitely overkill. I don't go there unless it is after sunset and w/o a flash and desperate to get any light possible, fully accepting that the picture is going to be noisy and that I wouldn't want to ever see it blown up or close up. My basic formula for freefall shooting is Tv 1/500, ISO 100 with fast lens (aperture-wise and AF-wise). I tweak the exposure setting up a stop or so on bright days that have lots of haze and clouds. I'll steal stops from shutter or ISO only when all else fails. This is a happy range to be in and you will get a ton of DOF to play with around here. :)

The Des Moines Skydivers (aka Couch Freaks) will be hosting a boogie at our home DZ with the KCSC Beech 99, October 13-15, 2006. That's right, Friday the 13th! Tickets will be $22 to 14,000 No registration fee Free food Saturday night (hog roast likely) Saturday night costume contest Pumpkin drop competitions all weekend long Walking under ladders, black cats, Stevie Wonder, etc. Get fired up, get jump horny, get horny, get your party groove on, but most of all get yourself to Winterset Oct. 13, 14 and 15! The plane arrives Friday AM and leaves Sunday after dark. See you all there!

i've attached one of the proposed FSM-ways that we're looking to organize at the boogie. the meatballs will be two 4-way donuts flown by midgits (must be in the neighborhood of 5'2" or less) and then the noodles will be a mix of cat and diamond grips. midgits cannot be noodle fliers, and all noodle fliers must be wearing full pirate regalia.

Paul George drew the short straw on pool duty. You may recognize him as the 2005 chicken man. I think he has a pool at his house, or used to work in the pool industry, or something. He has done a good job with our pool in Winterset this summer, so it ought to be pretty friggin sweet at Ft. Dodge!

awesome! I can't wait for some FSM-blessed jumps. If the jump doesn't go so well, it's just because FSM wanted it that way. WWFSMD, b

Mom, let me tell you a few things about Labor Day boogies. There are certain things that are explicitly tied to registration fees that you’ll get anywhere, such as; showers, trash cleanup, sound systems, load organizers, Otters, King Airs, etc. We’ve got all those, as do other boogies. Let me tell you about a few things that differentiate us from THE other boogies that you might be considering this year: • Free beer from the moment the boogie opens to when it closes. 24/6. No waiting for the beer light if you want to take the day off. • Bands. We’ve got 4 nights of bands in the party hangar already booked. We’re not talking local chumps here, these are acts from across the nation. • Swimming pool. NEW FOR 2006! Do you remember the hot tub antics in 2000? No? We do. This year the airport has allowed us to bring a large body of water back to the boogie. This won’t be your regular boogie Petri dish, this year the chemical levels will be maintained by one of your professional neighborhood Couch Freaks. • Couches. We offer the most comfortable loading tent in the country stocked with couches to hang out in while you wait. • Toilets. Sure, we have the standard issue port-a-potties, but if you want some serious down time to reflect on the unexpected guest in your tent last night, or to get something down on paper, we also offer luxury climate-controlled toilets. • Boogie bags/mugs. We offer fully stocked boogie bags to everyone through the gate, whether you arrive first thing Wednesday or Sunday evening. Beer cups and koozies for all! • Power to the people. Last year we added a ton more electrical service for RV’s. I don’t recall how much, but my fingertips are still sore from putting them in. • Free food. MMMM free food. We feed boogie attendees not one, not two, but THREE nights! Wed/Fri/Sat you will feast like an Iowa hog. (or on Wednesday, feast on an Iowa hog) • Hundreds of free jello shots. Our very own shellybellyfly will be bringing out jello shots during the evening festivities. Could she be Jello-J’s long lost Midwest twin? • Skyvan. Hot air balloons. Pitts acrobatic biplane. Helicopter. Don’t worry, we’ve got all that, too. The boogie is staffed/ran by members of the Des Moines Skydivers, a small club that normally jumps Cessnas out of Winterset, IA. This all-volunteer staff works their butt off so that you can have the best Labor Day boogie possible!!! Come out for our 26th year in operation. You’ll only be a stranger once. Need more info? Check out www.couchfreaks.com See ya there, b

Who likes to boogie? Couch Freaks like to boogie!!!! They said it couldn't be done. How does a small skydiving club who puts on the best Labor Day boogie in the country throw together an impromptu pre-boogie Beech boogie just 2 weekends before Labor Day? How do they do it you ask? How? I don't have time to go into all the details, but for starters, it involves a lot of heart, dedication, and beer. For those of you out there who think Couch Freaks is synonymous with Ft. Dodge, come out to Winterset and see how we spend the other 51 weeks of the year at home. Huge thanks to KCSC for bringing up the Beech! Looking forward to seeing you there!