blakeman

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Everything posted by blakeman

  1. We found a VHS, so bring it out and let's digitize it for the young pups.
  2. If they remastered that stuff on DVD I would buy the whole damn set!
  3. Anybody know where I can see the old Swoop Kerwin video? The tandem-thru-the-peas one where the camera guys says, "Wow, that was high speed!"? That was classic.
  4. Everyone who is anyone will be at this boogie. In fact, the coolest people on the entire planet will be there, some of them will even have clothes on.
  5. Dave Peterson's memorial will be held at Skydive San Diego on Saturday, November 7th 2009 at 4:00pm. Anyone who knew him is invited to attend.
  6. Skydive San Diego has a brand-new website: http://www.skydivesandiego.com The new site is loaded with features including photo and video galleries BUT WE NEED CONTENT! If you have pics or vids of Skydive San Diego that you would like to showcase in our galleries, please email me at [email protected] and direct me to them! Thanks in advance! Blake
  7. Celebrate the Endless Summer Boogie at Skydive San Diego on November 21-22! This is the signature boogie for Skydive San Diego- come enjoy fun skydives, load organizers, awesome food and beer, and one hell of a party. $35 registration gets you $20 jump tickets, t-shirt, dinner, beer, and the chance to win some free gear! If you have been to this boogie, you know you can't miss it!
  8. Skydive San Diego has a helicopter this weekend! There will be a Robinson R44 (3 jumpers) flying jumpers at the DZ the last weekend of every month. Jumps are from 6000' AGL and cost $85. The jump is fun, but the ride up is the best part! If you don't have a helo jump in your logbook, come on down and get it!
  9. There will be a helicopter based at Skydive San Diego the last weekend of every month. You don't need to wait for a boogie anymore! The R44 will hold 3 skydivers and will take the jumpers to an altitude of 6000' AGL. The jumps are $85. For more questions, call Skydive San Diego at 619 216 8416.
  10. The Crystal Mt. course was scouted, flown, and set up with skydiving canopies in mind. If I were to compete in a US groundlaunch event, then I would probably run the JVX, bigger Xaos etc - especially knowing who would set up the course! If in Europe, chances are the course was designed by a Nano or Bullet pilot, so you might expect to see a different pitch.
  11. Its called Speed Flying, and it is a very popular and growing sport in Europe. The US will not likely see the same growth or development due to the liability issues we see at ski resorts. Not to mention that ski mountaineering and paragliding are considerably bigger sports in Europe than the US. There are a number of manufacturers of speed flying wings. PD sells one called the Spire, but it is likely to be too expensive. The Gin Nano is the preferred competition wing in Europe, and the Ozone Bullet is pretty popular. Both of those sell for about $1500 USD and that includes the harness. Just Google "speed flying" and you'll learn a lot in less than an hour. Before going up and trying it, though, I would recommend finding some folks who have done it and can talk you through the dangers. This is not a harebrained idea ready for development, but is instead a full-fledged sport with instructors, competitions with rules and prize money, method-specific gear by a number of manufacturers, and a growing base of participants who not only know what they are doing but are unbelievably competent. It is also delightfully dangerous even when you know what you are doing, so be careful and get some instruction. One of the best instructors out there is Chris Santacroce. He's on the Red Bull Team, and he runs a paragliding outfit in Utah. Google him and contact him for good info.
  12. Well golly. I guess you're right. I mean, the hell with USPA anyway. We don't need 'em. They pretty much just waste all our money anyway. The magazine sucks, the rating programs suck, I'll probably never get to that damn museum... And I guess you do know what they do there. My apologies. So, who are all those people anyway? And what do they care what happens to us? I mean, how many jumps does that Glenn Bangs fellow make in a year? Is he a real skydiver? And that Ed Scott guy, what the hell was he up to for so long at USPA? What kind of stake does he have in this? I heard we were paying him to be a lobbyist in DC for all kinds of issues... I say we save the money, and maybe get a college intern to do that stuff! Then we can spend all those membership dues on something really neato! Hell, while we're at it, let's just all get together and vote for free membership for all of us so we can spend that money on jumps! And on top of that, don't allow anyone with a financial stake in skydiving to have the reins to this beast. I'm sure we can all pitch in and get it done! It'll be by the jumpers for the jumpers! Yeah! Let the DZOs just run off and form their own damn organization - the hell with 'em! I'm pretty sure they don't give a shit about skydiving anyway! Most of those dudes are doing it just for the money anyway - most of them are driving Porshes and Ferraris when we aren't around, I'm sure of it! I especially like Nicks idea of the FAA taking care of us! I am positive that they will ask one of us to be their inspector. There's no way they will be irritated with one more thing to take care of. There's no way they would assign some entry-level bureaucrat without a single jump to take care of us. I mean, skydiving is a huge industry! Huge! There's dropzones everywhere! There have to be as many dropzones as commercial airports, right? We probably account for a similar amount of economic input to the nation, right? They'd have to listen to us, and take our best interests at heart. They probably wouldn't take very long to come up with a federally-approved training program that we all liked that required awesome instructors... and it probably doesn't cost that much to have one of those terrain-avoidance things in every turbine airplane (I can't believe that the DZOs wanted to sidestep THAT FAR - I mean, what a cool idea for a VFR jumpship that only flies a big circle to 13K!) I'm pretty sure the DZOs wouldn't have to raise our jump prices to add one of those in there...or maybe just close down... You know what? I would like to rescind my earlier post. I have clearly missed the point. No, I do not think DZs will renew their membership. We all know they spend $400 just to post that USPA logo on their website. There isn't a one of them that realizes that the Group Membership Fee is secretly called the Pay For A Good Lobbyist For Peanuts To Keep The Gorilla Off Our Backs. I'm sure they all think that that whoppin' $400 bucks is more usefully spent on something else like a DZ Inpection program that probably wouldn't even be paid attention to by the fun-jumper masses. Right?
  13. Skyride? Are you f**king kidding me? You think that battling Skyride is USPA's best and highest function? Do you even know what they do all day?
  14. After 2 days of tactful conversations with the Fire Control Unit Desk, they have altered the TFR so that we may resume operations! SKYDIVE SAN DIEGO IS BACK IN BUSINESS!!! Come on down and skydive!
  15. After many tactful negotiations with the Fire Control Desk, the TFR restricting all skydiving operations at Skydive San Diego was moved slightly so as to accommodate jump operations. Our heartfelt thanks and adrenalin go out to the folks at the fire unit for going to bat for us! Skydiving operations will resume immediately, so grab your rig and get out here!
  16. The 2007 Harris wildfire burned to the DZ, split, and burned around both sides leaving the DZ intact. (The thread below this one, written by BuzzFink, was originally started exactly 4 years ago during the Cedar fire!) On Monday, October 22nd, the Harris Fire was still several miles away, but moving fast. Enlightened to wildfires by the 03 Cedar fire, DZ personnel flew the DZs Twin Otters and Caravan to nearby Brown Field, and then began loading up rigs and anything essential to the business. By nightfall the fires were leaping across the hilltops in huge plumes of flame, and everyone left the DZ hoping there was something to come home to. On Friday the 26th, the roads were opened, and DZ staff and funjumpers were allowed back. The DZ was untouched by the fire, and after several hours of hard gritty work, the airport was squeaky clean and ready for operations. The DZ would like to extend a very warm thank you to everyone who helped out - they will be enjoying some free altitude soon! Unfortunately, the DZ is within the TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) Area, and no flights are allowed. This weekend was to be the Third Annual Endless Summer Boogie, but it may not happen if the TFR is not lifted. Please call the DZ at 619 216 8416 to see if any loads are going up. The DZ is open and there will be people hanging out waiting for the TFR to lift. We expect to be back in full operations soon, and encourage everyone to come down and skydive! Blake Robinson Director of Operations Skydive San Diego
  17. This thread is about the Cedar fire back in 2003. The Harris Fire 2007 that is still burning managed to burn around us as well and the DZ is in great shape. We are still under a TFR (temporary flight restriction) until further notice, and we don't know if we will be having a very good boogie this weekend, but we are open and unscathed! Blake Robinson Director of Operations Skydive San Diego
  18. Everyone who is cool will be there. Chris Fiala, Andrew Staich, Brett Willard and Danny Koon will be organizing freefly and hybrid dives. Gary Macdonald and Julie Richter will be organizing RW loads. There will be some pretty epic wingsuit flocking going on, and rumor has it there might even be one skysurfer there... A lot of the usual suspects will be there as well as the Elsinore crew and some poor bastards from Oregon who are already getting rained on.
  19. I run a busy DZ with 16 Sigmas loaded with Icarus 365s. In two years we've had one chop (due to a walk-through). I think if you have good packers and reline the pigs before they get bad you'll be fine. Use the fat rubber bands, beat the bad packers with a stick, make sure the stows are uniform... you know, the usual deal. I don't think its endemic to the Icarus, at any rate, unless you got a lemon.
  20. I'm afraid it is me. I hear you're doing great work at SDO - Tell the gang I said howdy, and if you get cold come on down to Sandy Ego for a weekend!
  21. Haha! JJ, you poor disgruntled bastard, you need a hug!
  22. It's boogie season, so don't miss The Endless Summer Boogie at Skydive San Diego on October 6-8! $30 boogie fee gets you $18 jumps, catered dinner, a kick-ass t-shirt designed by Diana Blackburn (based on the cool surf-movie poster) DJ's at night, cool organized dives all day, and all the chill vibes San Diego is famous for. Some lucky jumper will also get a chance to win 100 FREE jumps in a Deal Or No Deal-style contest. LOs will include; Freeflyin' - Chris Fiala, Wyat Drewes, Dave Gershfield, and maybe a surprise visit by...well, we can't tell you... RW/Belly - Gary MacDonald and Julie Richter from the 4-way team Onyx. There will be wingsuit flocks, hybrid dives, bigways, littleways, and whatever else Chaos Theory can account for! The bunkhouse will be available on a first-come first-serve basis, but there is beaucoup camping room so bring your tent or RV and make it a camp! If you are planning on attending, send an RSVP to [email protected] so we can tell the caterer how much nosh to craft up for us! See you there!