sblue

Just don't forget, water can kill you just as dead as the ground. I lost a friend this weekend that found this out the hard way. I will let people that were there give the details of the jump, but the end result was a skydiver dead. Have fun in your swoops, but if you think you are to deep in the corner, you are!

Well hop and pops for us are usually at 3500, but it is never cool to "push" someone that is not ready. With 75 jumps, you go when you are ready. Students sometimes need a gentle nudge, but that is another topic all together. If someone basically pushed you out, then I would try and have a nice talk about his/her actions once you are on the ground, and if they think that it is no big isssue, then borrow their silver handle from them for a day and they will learn that it is an issue

Just a personal problem that I have and you may watch your video and look if you have the same thing... When I start turning a 360 too fast, I tend to lead the turn by bending my spine toward the direction of the turn. This has the effect of sliding you out on the turn. Try a few jumps where you only do your 360 at 50% speed and concentrate on only using arms and legs. It helps. I still tend to get overly ramped on a really good dive and slide out a bit, but we all have things to work on right? Shawn

Our 4-way team started out jumping only a kingair and learned to pull just about anything from the exit. One of the easiest is to launch a zig-zag. Only thing wierd about it is that the tail launches late so that he comes out presenting when the inside center is just clearing the door. Hope this helps some. Shawn

I did not know both jumpers but I did know one and she will be missed. If anyone is in Chicago, please convey my deepest condolances to Donovan and the rest of Team Funnel for all of our loss. Sending prayers, Shawn

Just a quick note on the Alti III's. I currently jump and FT-50, just for the reason that the face #'s are bigger, but talking to Kathy from Alti-2, I have learned that the face design will soon be changing somewhat, and that they now have removable/replaceable lens. I will be switching soon. Also, if you call her, ask about the new cool tye-die patterns. Blue Skies, Shawn

Now you know why we go over and over and over things in the first jump class. You may not need it on the very first jump, but when you do, we have drilled it in your head so much that you cannot help but remember it. I remember on my first reserve ride (container lock) being more mad that scared. I was really annoyed that I had to pull that handle. Blue Skies, Shawn

Question- How did they know that it was out of date when they did the gear check? If the SN and date were on the reserve packing card, then it should have been noticed sooner. I would think that if a rigger was trying to pull something over on you, he would have put the new date on the packing card, that way it would not raise your suspision or those inspecting the gear. Hope this works out, and keep us posted. Shawn

Well, we had kept pretty low key, in fact the last 2 seasons have been really quite as far as the camping is concerned. The ruckus started when we had the nerve to ask for a permit and to be able to leas an otherwise unused piece of the property. This is the same airport board that kicked us off the airport several years ago and would not let the skydivers land there......we had to land off and be picked up in a van and brought back. Thanks everyone for the input, Shawn

Well, I decided to ask this group because I will get a much better quality of an answer than on rec.skydive. Recently our Airport Board has banned camping on the airport grounds. We have, for several years, camped there on weekends, and have not had any problems. Due to an expansion of our DZ, we have asked to lease the property that we have camped on, so that we could add water and electric. A few days after we ask, they come in and say no more camping. We are going through the process with the city, county and airport board to get this resolved, but it will be a while. My question is this. How many of you regularly camp out at your DZ? Tents, RV's what facilities? Public Airport? DZ name and Airport would be helpful in getting some general feel for this to present to the board. Blues Skies, Shawn

Great Job. I am on a Comp 4-way team and when a student finishes their program at our DZ, the last jump they do is a 4-way. We always take them up and make a fun jump of it. Every once in a while we get amazed. A few weeks ago we had a guy go up on his first 4 way and he did 8pts. Keep up the good work. Shawn

My name is Shawn Blue. I am a Technical Support Consultant. Basically I sit here and wait for the phone to ring. I talk to people all day who are too lazy to open up the book we sent them telling them how to run their machine. I worked as a high school substitute teacher for fun one year, and I dabble in web design (http://www.skydivehastings.com). Blue skies, Shawn

Well I was 0:9:0 for the weekend....I need to work on the second number. I need to make 30 more jumps by the 17th. I set a goal to hit 500 jumps by 2 year anniversary in the sport. Lets all pray for blue skies for the next weekend... Shawn

Well I come from a mostly SL DZ, so here are our northern prices to compare to the big places on the coasts... SL FJC $159 SL 2-5 $49 ea (PRCP's and such) Freefalls (1-5sec,2-10sec, 2-15sec, 2-30sec and 2-45sec) $59 ea Graduation from Student Program. If you are not cleared to pack with our free instruction program, you are grounded until you are. At this point, us instructors have no pity on your delaying asses so we usually charge beer to help you finish the packing card. One on One coaching jumps - $49 ea. Total cost of jumps to your A license - $1425 This includes all gear rental and training.

If you have not had the chance to do so yet, check out the Infinity. Great riser and pin protection, complete bridle coverage, and very comfortable. Give it a look: http://skydivenet.com/vse/

Well, my record in a day was in Eloy, and it was 11. And I was really sore the next day... And yes, I did pack for myself..

I love my Tri... I had been jumping a Monarch 175, and after having the beating of my life, repeatedly, I decided it was time for a change of canopy. I demo'd a Tri 160 and thought "Wow, what a fun ride, but I want a little more, so I ordered a Tri 150. It opens soft and on heading. It is quick and responsive in turns and feels stable even in hard deep turns. It handles turb very well and does not seem to throw or buck much. Landings are great and I can get a fairly good surf out of it. Even with a wing loading of just over 1.4 it handles great. The ZP material is different than most. It does not have that slippery and crinkly feel. It is much softer and smoother. My first pack went into the bag smoothly and easily, not like most greased pig chases I have seen on new ZP. Overall it is all I could have wanted in a canopy. Blue Skies. Shawn

A couple of weeks ago I received my new Infinity Container in the mail. After having it inspected by a rigger and having my reserve packed I was ready to jump. My rigger, who is also a freeflier, liked the added riser and bridle protection, as well as the overall appearance. The reserve pilot chute spring is exceptionally strong and will provide an excellent launch if needed. Next came the fun part...Jumping it... After a nice 30sec freefall, I pulled at 6000 to play a bit and try things out. I found the rig to be very comfortable to hang from and did no dig into me even when doing extremely hard spirals. It is a breeze to pack up and the riser covers go over the shoulder and stay closed very well. Overall a great rig. Thanks to all of the staff at Velocity for a job well done.