michaelmullins

Skydive Taft will be offering night jumps New Year's Eve, $14.00 to 14,000', Mullins King Air, strobes supplied free. Weather forecast is good. If you wish to reserve a spot on the midnight load, email us at http://www.skydivetaft.com or call us at 661-765-5867. We will be doing night jumps all night. King Air is now available every day of the week, $14.00 to 14,000', through March. Mike Mullins

Makes sense to make them magnetic, too. Wind direction from the tower is always in magnetic; almost every aircraft will have some sort of magnetic compass, but not all will have the capability to align their compasses to TRUE north. That would kind of be a bummer if you're shooting approach in bad weather in high crosswinds to a runway in a region where the magvar is more than 10 degrees.... Blue skies - It does not matter what the runway is numbered. The exact, and current, actual magnetic heading of the runway is always available on the airport diagram of the instrument approach procedures. Runway numbers can be arbitrary. Example: DFW due to the multitude of parallel runways numbers its runways 36L, 36R, 35L, 35C, and 35R. All these runways are exactly parallel and all have an exact magnetic heading of 355 degrees. Houston George Bush Intercontinental has parallel runways numbered 27, 26L, and 26R, all exactly 265 degrees. Mike Mullins

We will be operating at our winter location, Skydive Taft, Taft, CA from Dec 6 thru March. See: http://www.skydivekingair.com Thanks, Mike

Whoops, I'm claiming that as a typo, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Mike

OK, here is the full story on the email fiasco: At the West Tennessee Skydiving web site, http://www.skydivekingair.com, there is a newsletter that you may subscribe to by inserting your email address. We use this list to send out information about special events to the subscribers. Only emails from the administrator, me, are supposed to go to the subscribers. Replies to the messages from me are only supposed to go back to me, not to any other subscribers. However, for whatever reason that these things happen, the server that maintains my list defaulted to a setting that allows replies to my messages to be sent to everyone on the list. Of course, I did not know that this had happened and was only able to be aware of it after the fact. Mr. Michael Farley, a subscriber to my list (along with everyone else on the list) received a reply to my original message that should have only been received by me. This message was from a potential Tandem student to reschedule a Tandem. Mr. Farley chose to reply to this inquiry by trashing me and West Tennessee Skydiving (see text in the original posting on this thread). Of course, his message went to everyone on the list ( some 400 addresses). Mr. Farley has been jumping for 22 years and in that time has managed to log 195 jumps. He came to our DZ on 10-26-03 to make a jump. His last jump was made some 11 years previously, also at our DZ. On that jump 11 years ago, he was removed from the DZ by ambulance due to serious injuries he suffered while landing his canopy. After a layoff of 11 years, Mr. Farley was upset that we would require him to receive recurrent training and be accompanied by one of our AFF Instructors on a "recurrent jump". Mr. Farley felt that he should be allowed to just go up and jump, even after his 11 year layoff. We explained to Mr. Farley that our first priority was his safety, that he would have to receive the recurrent ground school, and that he would have to be accompanied by an AFF Instructor. He was not pleased. Dane Justice, one of our very experienced AFF Instructors, gave Mr. Farley over 2 hours or recurrent ground school at absolutely no charge. Mark Gerlach, another AFF Instructor, accompanied Mr. Farley on the jump for the cost of his slot, $16.00. Mr. Farley had no equipment so was supplied a Javelin student rig with Cypres. He was charged $25.00 for the gear rental (included the pack job by a staff rigger), $16.00 for the jump from 14,000', and $16.00 for the AFF Instructor slot for a total of $57.00. He was charged nothing for the 2 hours of recurrent training and was charged nothing for the AFF Instructor (other than the instructors slot). We felt that we did our best to get this skydiver back in the air safely and at a most reasonable price. Dane and Mark donated their valuable time to help him. Dane and Mark are also the instructors that would be hurt by Mr. Farley's efforts to send our potential students elsewhere. For our efforts we were rewarded with his email to everyone on our newslist trashing our DZ and complaining that "all I wanted was money". Mr. Farley, in his email to the list, also complained that we are not a "USPA" Sponscered Drop Zone" (sic). This complaint hardly seems logical in light of his complaint about "money" as if we were a "USPA" Sponscered Drop Zone (sic) he would have needed to pay an additional $40 for USPA membership as he has not been a member in several years. In requiring him to take the recurrent training and jump, we were not only fulfilling our goal and obligation to maintain the highest level of safety, we were also following all USPA safety guidelines. In another message from Mr. Farley, he stated: "When I came to the HALLOWEEN boogie I had FUN watching and when I was "ALLOWED" by you to jump. In all my years a few jumps I have never been required at any DZ where I was not known to make any jump with an instructor because I was not CURRENT. I was not made but IF not for the extra cost I would have made a second or third jump weather permitting and spent my money on MY JUMPS rather than paying to have some one watch me in freefall to see if I still know what to do". I will let you draw your own conclusions about Mr. Farley from the above statement. Also, he paid exactly $16 for all the training and "someone to watch me in freefall". This $16.00 payment, according to Mr. Farley, was the "extra cost" that prevented him from making a "second or third jump". This situation reminds me of the adage that "No good deed goes unpunished". I have always tried to give every skydiver the help they needed to get in the air and to keep the costs as reasonable as possible. Our instructors, Dane and Mark, donated their time. After dealing with Mr. Farley, I sometimes wonder why I remain in this business. Mike Mullins

West Tennessee Skydiving will be holding a Thanksgiving Toss-A-Turkey Boogie on Friday, Saturday & Sunday November 28, 29, 30. Jumping will start Friday at Noon. First place prize, one free jump. Second place prize, two free jumps. Third place prize, three free jumps. (Yes, we know) Jump Mike Mullins Super King Air all three days, $16 to 14,000', no registration fees. Fastest Jump Aircraft in the USA. Free camping and bunking, RV slots, large unobstructed, grassy, landing area, pea gravel target, indoor carpeted packing. Load organizers available, both freefly and RW. All experience levels welcome. For directions and information on the DZ, located 40 miles east of Memphis, see: http://www.skydivekingair.com or call us at 901-SKY-DIVE Mike Mullins

The charts that you are looking at refer to a worst case scenario of an explosive decompression at 40,000'. That is, you have a "normal" pressurized cabin altitude of approx. 8,000' and then a door blows off the aircraft increasing the cabin altitude to 40,000' virtually instantaneously. The air in your lungs is literally sucked out of your body and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Also, at altitudes above 40,000' you may not be able to "suck" enough oxygen into your lungs. The oxygen regulators on the masks certified for these altitudes will provide "pressure breathing" in that they will force oxygen into your lungs. When you resist the flow you will stop inhaling oxygen, when you relax the mask forces oxygen into you. If you are already breathing oxygen through a mask at 40,000' and then take your mask off, you will "probably" exceed the values in the table-- but don't count on it! Mike Mullins

The actual distance, from the exit point to his landing, was 9 statute miles. I have not heard about the freebag "landing east of Nashville". This seems to me to be highly unlikely. Freebags and pilot chutes usually descend about as fast as a canopy. From 25,000' the freebag and pilot chute should have been is the air no more than 25 minutes. If the wind was uniformly 60 mph from 25,000 all the way to the ground, the freebag could not have gone more than 25 miles. For it to go 120 miles, it would be necessary for the wind to be over 240 mph from 25,000 all the way to the surface. Mike Mullins

$99 Boogie-'til-Ya-Puke, West Tennessee Skydiving, Saturday & Sunday, November 23-24, 2002. Jump Mike Mullins Super King Air, the fastest jump plane in the country, all day, Saturday & Sunday, 8 AM-Sunset, $99 or $16 per jump, whichever is less, you can't lose. 14 jumpers to14,000' in 7 minutes. Freefly coaching and organizing by Joel & Jeff Mullins. Indoor carpeted packing, modern bathrooms with hot showers, RV slots, free camping and bunking, large unobstructed landing area, all experience levels welcome. No registration fees, one rig per jumper, must be packed to manifest. This is the last weekend the King Air is available for the season-- it starts flying in Coolidge, AZ, on November 29. For information and directions to West Tennessee Skydiving, please see: http://www.skydivekingair.com or call us at 901-SKY-DIVE or toll free 866-749-5867. Mike Mullins

West Tennessee Skydiving will be hosting the rescheduled "Not Marvins Boogie But He Will Be Here" on Friday, Saturday and Sunday October 4-5-6. Jumping starts at noon on Friday. Jump Mike Mullins Super King Air, just $14.00 to 14,000', no registration fees, free beer Saturday night, party with Marvin! Freefly coaching by Joel & Jeff Mullins & RW load organizers available. Free camping, hot showers, bunking. For details on West Tennessee Skydiving and directions, please see our web site at http://www.skydivekingair.com or call us at 901-SKY-DIVE or toll free 866-749-JUMP. Mike Mullins

Sorry, no pics yet. Mike

The results of the $1000 Freefly Money Meet held at Arizona Skydiving Coolidge on March 30 are as follows: 1st Place, $500 Prize "Arizona Freeflight" Steve Curtis, Performer Tim Straus, Performer Orly King, Video Total of 41.6 points. 2nd Place, $300 Prize "Coolidge Noodle Nerves" Jeffrey Mullins, Performer Christian Magallnes, Performer Dave Hebert, Video Total of 40.7 points. 3rd Place, $200 Prize "Homegrown" Storm Dunker, Performer Kenny Cosgrove, Performer Orly King, Video A total of eight teams competed, weather was perfect, and a good time was had by all. A special thanks to Steve Kelly who organized the prize money donations from the good citizens and merchants of Coolidge and Florence, AZ. More thanks to Kama, who spent many hours judging the submitted videos. Blue skies, Mike Mullins

Prize money now $1000! Arizona Skydiving Coolidge will be hosting a Freefly Money Meet on Saturday, March 30, 2002. Total Prize Money $1000. First place $500, Second Place $300, Third Place $200. No registration or entrance fees whatsoever, just pay for your jumps $13.00 to 13,500' from Mike Mullins Super King Air. Teams consist of two freeflyers and one videographer. Rules are FAI Competition Rules 2002, modified as follows for simplicity: Competition consists of 3 jumps, 1 Compulsory and 2 Free. You may use any maneuvers you wish on the Free jumps. Compulsory jump will consist of 3 maneuvers drawn and flown in order from the pool of the following 5 mixed random and block: FF-1 Double Spock FF-4 Totem FF-5 Double Dock Head-down FF-A Double Stand-up Turn FF-B Double Head-down Carve Working time is 45 seconds from exit. You may make your jumps anytime on Saturday, all three jumps must be completed on Saturday. If weather conditions do not allow completion on Saturday, then the jumps may be completed on Sunday. Jumps will be judged on Saturday night, or if the competition is held over on Sunday, at the completion of jumping on Sunday. Prize money will be awarded on Sunday morning, or at the completion of jumping on Sunday if the meet is held over on Sunday. Pickup teams and videographers are available, see manifest. Practice jumps are available, start your competition jumps when you desire. Free Pizza and beer Saturday night. Prize money is courtesy of the merchants and citizens of Coolidge and Florence, Arizona. Everyone welcome, come take our money! For direction and dz info see: http://www.arizonaskydiving.com