IMGR2

Definitely stop by Skydive 35 atleast once just to experience the fastest jumpship in Texas and 18,000 ft jumps on a regular basis.

They are training Royal Caribbean employees. I'm sure they would hire already made instructors but I doubt any of them would want to live nonstop aboard ship for 6 to 12 months at a time which is a requirement.

As far as I have been told the tunnel is no cost but that could change. You will have to schedule your time. I think once they figure out how many skydivers are going to show up they will probably put some kind of cap on how much time you can fly or start charging. I am not too worried at this point because the wife and I are regular cruisers with Royal Caribbean and there is going to be a ton of other things to do on this ship as well. For those who are curious the ship is still being built and trial runs are scheduled for summer of 2014. The first cruise you can book is a Relocation cruise on November 2, 2014 from Southampton England to Cape Liberty New Jersey, After that she will have regular departures from New Jersey for a while till she gets relocated.

Absolutely one of the greatest skydivers I ever had the opportunity to meet.

That is so cool. I wonder if there is more than one SOFIA. About 10 years ago I worked in Waco Texas at Raytheon Aircraft and I did some wiring on that aircraft. It was the most strict tool control program I have ever experienced in my 28 years as an avionics technician. The aircraft was parked in the hangar with a chain link fence around it with only one way in and out. There was a guard posted at the gate of the fence and he would inventory your tool bag everytime you went in and out.

Pat, He is still around. You can find him on facebook too. https://www.facebook.com/k.nutty

I can't say there are alot of people I like in the skydiving community more than I can say I loved this guy. Sincere, honest, and always had a smile and a hug for me. Lord only knows why but thank you Woody for being a part of my life.

Well it will be a very long wait. The ship will be commissioned the end of next summer and will be relocating from Southampton England to Cape Liberty New Jersey. It's an 8 day cruise that my wife and I will be on and 8 days of free tunnel time. I can't wait. Will definitely let you guys know how it goes.

Well I have seen many of my friends get hurt and also die from skydiving. I myself have broke my femur twice and worked my butt off to pay for it both times. I never asked for a fund raiser. I think the problem now days is that there are so many kids in the sport from the new generation of everyone else owes me something. What many people are calling now the generation of entitlement. All of my friends work hard for what they have and they earned it. If you don't have medical insurance the doctors will still repair you and you can make payments to them, I am living proof of that. If you feel like you want to help a friend out by paying their bills for them, by no means am I telling you not to help. I am just saying it can be done all on your own with hard work and diligence.

The Cloud's Edge of course because I am in it. Or the all time best video ever... Chronicle II by the Freefly Clowns.

Or you have to be wealthy enough to be in the "in" crowd at the wind tunnel. I recently found it amazing that I thought I had a friend for life. Taught him some freefly, made sure he was on all my state records, even had a VRW team with him. But then the wind tunnel opened up and there was no way I could afford to go there and now I can't even get him to return a text message. Not a friend when you have to force them to hang out with you. lol

I am sorry the freefly community has turned into this. Some of my best experiences in my career was when I would introduce myself to the out of town skydivers and try to work them into my skydives. And a couple of those people have turned into life long friends. It seems its getting more wide spread like a cancer. One of the reasons I have chosen to get out of the sport now.

I had very similar situations at a couple VRW record tryouts. It amazes me how I used to stand up for arrogant young flyers, dozens of times when I was told to cut them from state records that I was organizing or to replace them when they were on my team because they were not up to par. But I always stuck my neck out for them, telling others that they will learn and they will get better. Now these are the ones who stand in judgement of me. Talk about me behind my back and tell me that I will have to tryout for their records at camps that are being organized by people who were not even skydiving when we were setting records. This is so funny now. It makes me look back and wonder why I even bothered to begin with.

Wow Harry, You have taken the words right out of my mouth. I thought I was crazy and felt like I was the only one. I spent the last 18 years teaching, throwing boogies and competitions out of my own pocket, and competing at Nationals even opening my own dropzone focusing on the fun jumper. Now I am being judged, looked down on and even cut from jumps by these same people who I called friends and some who I actually taught to freefly. Not sure how some companies and dropzones actually justify giving their sponsorships seeing as though these people have never competed, never done anything for the skydiving community that didn't benefit their own pocketbook. As for people you called friends coming to the wind tunnel and not even dropping a text saying "hey dude I'm in town", don't feel left out. Since the tunnel opened here in Austin I have found out several people I called close friends have come to town and didn't even bother. There are some I actually offered a place to sleep if they come to town and I'm less than 20 minutes away. Skydivers are definitely not as friendly as they used to be. I remember when we used to do things for eachother and we all used to hang out. About a week ago I made the decision to end my duration in the sport. I will be sad for some time but I do think I will be happier spending my money and my time with people who actually care.

I believe you are refering to Carnival Cruise lines. I cruise at least twice a year with RCL and have never seen or heard of an issue. And earlier, yes I talked to Skyventure and its a 10 foot recirculating. Early cruise bookings start for Crown and Anchor members in 2 weeks. I am anxiously awaiting to book my first cruise on the Quantum.

Nah, having too much fun hanging out with people that actually like me. Lol

When I used to compete I used a vest that I bought from a sports website. The vest is used for working out, mine could hold up to like 35 lbs and it was very comfortable because it distributed the weight evenly around my torso. I don't skydive anymore, if you are interested in it just drop me a pm.

Well I have many days at sea on Royal Caribbean and I can tell you for a fact that the ships don't tilt at all. There is always a chance but the odds are extremely low.

Just got verification it is a 10 foot recirculating.

Oh yeah... Bluehair after Bluehair... Oh yeah, the glamour! HEY! I take offense to that. The wife and I cruise on Royal Caribbean at the least twice a year. Tons of fun and its safe to say 70% of the passengers are 30's and 40's. That's ok with me though, the less skydivers on the ship with me, the better I look. Lol

from the videos I saw of them flying, this tunnel is open air. BTW, the wife and I are avid cruisers with Royal Caribbean, we have already booked our Quantum of the Seas cruise.

Well Greg, I would probably take you up on your offer to come see what has been happening at San Marcos but I don't own and will never own an AAD, so that will never happen. That along with several other reasons that don't need to be public. From all of my watching and listening it just seems that it is my time to step out of the freefly scene. It was an amazing adventure and will still enjoy my occasional jump. For me it just is not as fun as it used to be. Thank you for everyones input. It was very educational.

Very well said. Although I think all the tunnel flyers go to the other dropzone. Can't do much about changing their mind.

OUCH!

I will have to 100% disagree with you. When the Austin area freeflyers were doing 8 ways 10 years ago, we were doing it out of twin bonanzas and wearing used gear. 4 out of 5 newbies I see on the dropzone have $6000 rigs and $700 jumpsuits on, with not one but multiple cameras and doing zoo loads from 1 million dollar twin otters. Do you know how hard it is to take someone serious with a troll profile? I can't take someone serious when I am not even sure if they know what they are talking about.