Bob_Church

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Posts posted by Bob_Church

  1. "I didn't think the Xenia club was there anymore. I didn't see it listed in the current USPA list of DZs anyway. I never jumped there, but I did visit a couple of times. There was a pretty well stocked rigging loft and pro shop there. I bought most of my basics (altimeter, packing mat, gear bag, 1st jumpsuit.... etc from that shop. I bought my SST rig from them too. I don't get over that way much anymore, though. I used to work for NCR, and as such would be in Dayton for weeks, even months at a time for training and special assignments fairly frequently, so Waynesville and even Xenia wern't much a drive to get to. A lot of good memories about my times there. "

    There are two renegades at Skydive Greene County. Here's a photo of them. Jim isn't a USPA DZO, he's independent.
    But if you ever get out this way give me a yell.
    Bob

    http://www.skydiveohio.com

    renegade.jpg

  2. ZigZagMarquis

    Now let the blame and finger pointing and who's going to pay for the rescue effort flail-x begin!

    ... if it hasn't already.

    :P



    Let's not forget the inevitable "why did we run stories about it constantly?"

    https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/07/10/627738100/did-we-care-more-about-the-boys-in-the-cave-than-other-kids-in-crisis

    Why ask us, you were the ones running them.
    I think it's a lot like skydiving. People can relate. Or hope we get hurt. Maybe both. The pilots with their expensive airplanes risk their lives doing acrobatics while people just sit there and eat their ice cream, but when they hear we're going to jump they run up and lean on the fence to get a good look.

  4. gowlerk

    ***Don't try and play word spin games with Bill on this site. He is the reigning expert!



    It must be hard for you. Trying to argue with a man who knows words and uses them correctly. It just seems so unfair to subject your "logic" to such scrutiny.

    Let's not get too carried away here You're talking about a person who has created an art form of twisting words into a meaningless ball of twine.
    Oh, and informed me that I'm the lowest of the low for pointing out that he didn't seem to know what a word we were talking about meant. He didn't disagree about not knowing what it meant, just that I was the lowest of the low for bringing that into the discussion.
    .

  5. BillyVance

    Can anyone point me in the right direction on any legit war bird ride outfits in the eastern VA, MD and NC area?

    My father in law's 75th birthday is coming up. I suggested to my wife that maybe such a ride would be more enjoyable for him over a tandem jump (weird coming from me).

    Thanks.



    I have a friend with an N3 though I suppose that's kind of pre-war. It's a (branch of military that I can't remember, maybe navy) version of a Stearman.
    I'll check around though, there are quite a few that fly for our air show, including some yaks. I'll ask Nick how to contact them.
    But then, he might be picky about which side they were on.

    edit: I know the Yaks are two seaters because they bring their wives along, but I'll check with Nick about any of the war birds he might know about that would fly a passenger. Then there's Dina's C-150 that I jump from occasionally. It LOOKS like it's been in combat.

    yaksmoke.jpg

  6. billvon

    >emailing the military because of your posts on a skydiving website. Classic.

    Sadly, Ron is not the first person to take out his anger on another poster by trying to get them fired.



    Seriously? I thought the guy who tattle tailed to moderators about the drug thread was pathetic but that's even worse.

  8. gowlerk

    It's pretty clear that the purpose of the application is for the applicant to identify who they are so they can be checked out. I mean if ID is so important to prevent voter fraud why can't it be used to prevent killing machine acquisition fraud?



    Personally, and this is just me, but I don't consider that a background check. They check you for a criminal record. So if you've already been caught you can't buy a gun. First one's always free I guess. But when we say background check I suspect most people think of what happened when one of my ex-student employees applied to the FBI and they came around and talked to me about him. To me, that's a background check. And it's comforting to think they're doing background checks so that's the term that gets used.

  10. billvon

    >So if the applicant marks the "yes" box on "are you a criminal" they don't get the gun?

    Nope. If the background search comes up clean they get the gun. If the background search comes back with 'convicted felon' they don't. (I assume you are OK with that.)



    You said "criminal" Not Felon.
    The thing is, when you're trying to use laws to change something the devil is in the details. We can say "gun control" or "background check" but legally those terms don't mean anything. Hell, they don't really mean anything even in discussions, which I think is why some of these discussions never seem to get anywhere.

  11. billvon

    >Based on looking at this who would you ban from buying a gun?

    Criminals.



    So if the applicant marks the "yes" box on "are you a criminal" they don't get the gun? Or did you have something else in mind?

  12. billvon

    >What is this background check?

    A check to see if the purchaser is a criminal.

    >Who carries it out and what is it intended to accomplish?

    The seller carries it out using the Firearms InstaCheck Unit, a Colorado state service.



    Based on looking at this who would you ban from buying a gun?

  13. Phil1111

    *********All of you who think the US got involved in WWII for shits and giggles seem to forget about the concept of crimes against humanity. While the Germans and Japanese were not realistically threatening the US directly, they threatened the very idea of humanity. Fighting them was noble whether they were knocking on our door or not.



    Well stated.

    I recently heard a guy, a guy who was old enough and educated enough to know better say "We fought to stop Hitler but Stalin and Mao killed more people each and we never even bothered about that."
    He was that determined to find something about the US to criticize that fit in with a discussion we were having about war and the US military.

    The essence of that line of thought is that Mao and Stalin killed their own people. Setting aside the fact that Ukrainian purges, Ukrainian famine, etc. were directed at separate republics. Generally speaking US wars have never been prosecuted for territorial or imperialist aims.

    But forty plus years of The Cold War to contain them is not bothering?

  14. What is this background check? Who carries it out and what is it intended to accomplish? I don't mean more vague things like "prevent gun violence" I mean specifically. What would it check for that would make Colorado safer?

  15. rushmc

    ***All of you who think the US got involved in WWII for shits and giggles seem to forget about the concept of crimes against humanity. While the Germans and Japanese were not realistically threatening the US directly, they threatened the very idea of humanity. Fighting them was noble whether they were knocking on our door or not.



    Well stated.

    I recently heard a guy, a guy who was old enough and educated enough to know better say "We fought to stop Hitler but Stalin and Mao killed more people each and we never even bothered about that."
    He was that determined to find something about the US to criticize that fit in with a discussion we were having about war and the US military.

  16. BIGUN

    ***No US soldiers have died defending "our" freedom (the freedom of US citizens and soil) since the 19th century.



    And. those who have homes in areas near forest fires shouldn't be thanking the firefighters who were injured or died stopping the fire before it reached their homes. No, there was no threat to our freedoms in the 20th century. :S

    And having a good enough military to keep anyone from trying to invade you seems like a good plan, especially once weapons of mass destruction became prevalent.

  17. Remster

    ******So it looks like we just need to get rid of the Skyvan and use a different airplane with an large rear door. What other options exist other than a C130?



    CASA would be the next closest I could think of. 32 jumpers. Slower on the climb. Tougher to use with lots of small groups since the jumprun tends to be faster and the drop gets strung way out.

    But you can chunk some wicked formations off that huge ramp.

    Great for boogies, but you need a hundred fun jumpers to keep one turning so not so great for daily use. Just my opinions.

    Don't know if it's possible to make new Skyvans, but they did start making otters again due to demand.

    Casas need 2 pilots. Another strike against them, tho they are f'ing fun planes for sure.

    As long as you avoid the Casa Rash.

  18. "Who knows, maybe they'll pay it forward and want to become scuba divers with an eye on becoming a rescue diver at some point in the future. "

    I think I'd consider paying it forward by going into a career in Security and make sure nobody ignores the warning signs at similar places.

  19. "And you should go to Westminster and tell the family of the 13 year old who was just killed in a road-rage incident that you don't really give a shit about their dead son, as long as you don't have to change anything related to your guns. "

    That's about as cheap as it gets.

    It doesn't even make sense.

  20. obelixtim

    ******A Bangkok Post reporter has said on Twitter that the first stage of the operation will be to recover four boys.

    Good luck to them. That's a difficult dive for the best of cave divers.

    Really hoping everyone involved makes it out OK. Need all the good luck possible and more.

    Further to the point about "blame":


    Quote

    But for many in Thailand, Ekapol, who left his life in the monkhood three years ago and joined the Wild Boars as an assistant coach soon after, is an almost divine force, sent to protect the boys as they go through this ordeal. A widely shared cartoon drawing of Ekapol shows him sitting cross-legged, as a monk does in meditation, with 12 little wild boars in his arms.
    According to rescue officials, he is among the weakest in the group, in part because he gave the boys his share of the limited food and water they had with them in the early days. He also taught the boys how to meditate and how to conserve as much energy as possible until they were found.
    "If he didn't go with them, what would have happened to my child?" said the mother of Pornchai Khamluang, one of the boys in the cave, in an interview with a Thai television network. "When he comes out, we have to heal his heart. My dear Ek, I would never blame you."



    Imagine how much cheaper skydiving would be if we had that attitude in the US. DZOs can win lawsuit after lawsuit because they're baseless but it's still expensive just to defend yourself.

  21. billmorford

    Thanks, Bob.
    I made my visit to one of the local DZs (Skydive Pa) just to scope it out and felt very welcome right off the bat. It turns out the owner and I went to high school together, so we had a lot in common right off the bat. He looked over my logbook and recognized at least a couple of the names of former instructors and jumpmasters that had signed it, and was very encouraging, telling me that a tandem introductory jump was not necessary, and that he thinks AFF will be a perfect fit for me. The next weekend class is in 2 weeks, and I plan to be there to start AFF that Saturday morning.



    If you ever get over this way give a yell. Skydive Green County Xenia is my home dz despite not getting there very often. I'm semi retired so most of my jumps are C-172 jumps for events at Vinton County Airport where I'm the official skydiver since I'm the only guy with a parachute. It's less than thirty minutes away but after I moved Xenia is about three hours each way and my back hates being in a car. But it's always good to get over to Xenia when I can and it always feels like pulling into home. It can be weeks or years but Lee and Jim still recognize you instantly. So do some of the others but my memory has gotten worse than my hearing.

    Bob

    Edit: And do it when you just get off student status. I've never been any good at RW so at that point we'll be well matched.

  22. Hooknswoop

    Quote

    Exactly. And if that changed, they'd start doing the background checks. Because they don't want to go to jail.



    And the only way that would change so that they would get caught is with a regristry. Without that, they can’t get caught (that is what I mean by unenforceable).

    Derek V



    I posted this awhile back but I don't know if you saw it. It's one thing to say "keep a registry." It's another to get any useful information from that law.

    Coolville gunshop .pdf

  23. billmorford

    Hi, y'all, or rather "Hi, fellow Yinzers" (its a 'Burgh thing)
    I'm a "retired jumper from way back who is thinking hard about returning to the sport. I had my start at the WSPC in Waynesville, Ohio (now Skydive Cincinnati) in 1980, and over the course of 3 or 4 years managed to make 31 jumps (that I can document) with about half being at WSPC and the other half at Indian Lake, Pa.
    I haven't thought much about jumping for a long time, but recently reconnected by way of Facebook with some of my old friends from the Waynesville club. Now I think I have the bug again, and I'm seriously thinking about jumping back in (pun intended).
    I'm sure I have about a thousand questions to direct to the appropriate forums regarding some of the changes in the sport since I last jumped, especially those dealing with new technology, new disciplines like wing suiting and free flying, and new drop zones and facilities like wind tunnels.
    A lot of things have changed, but a lot have stayed just the same, from what I have seen, and I think my motivation this time is not so much about the adrenaline rush and feeling of freedom that comes from jumping, but rather the bond and comradeship that forms between those in the skydiving community, a bond I still feel with some of my old friends, some living, some who have left us too early, even though I have not seen them or participated for many years.
    I am planning on taking a little road trip this afternoon to investigate at least one fairly nearby drop zone to get the lay of the land, meet the management and watch the operations, and I am inclined to think that I'm going to just say "Screw being retired! When's the next class? Sign me up!"
    Wish me luck, and hope you all are having a great day in the sky!
    Bill
    Pittsburgh, Pa
    btw.... yes, that really is me under that old PC in my profile pic.



    It's not really a problem, go for it. You'll be told that you have to do a tandem jump, which is cool. After that, I don't know and it will depend a lot on how that goes, that sort of thing. But The Sport is easier to enter than ever, except maybe the costs. Between tandem and the hybrid AFF that that it leads to you can be off student status in no time.
    Just don't buy the horseshit about downsizing. Swooping a small canopy is a discipline of its own and if you get a lot of experience then want to do it that's fine, but don't accept the all too common crap about it being part of skydiving and you're in the wrong sport if you don't get a smaller canopy.
    Oh, and you'll be surprised about sizes now that ZP is standard. I jump a 210 hornet which, when you were jumping was a medium sized canopy like the cruiseair I had in 1980. Now a 210 is huge and lets you down nice. So when you're getting off student status do some serious checking. Canopies are different now but mostly in a nice way, just be sure to get good advice.
    Welcome back.

  24. obelixtim

    ******

    Quote

    Well, you seem to be jumping to the conclusion that the coach is being blamed by the parents and authorities.

    I have yet to see that anywhere in the stories I have read.

    He may be to blame. He may face consequences (if he survives).

    But my question stands:

    Where are you getting the idea that the coach is being blamed for this? From any particular reports, or just your own head?



    The culture of the Thai people, based on Buddhism, is very different to western ideas about blame, life and death etc.

    So they will accept whatever happens, with the attitude that it was meant to be.

    Not to say they won't be sad and upset if their loved ones are lost. But they will not apportion blame.



    We'll see, but I think you may be leaning on the culture thing a bit hard.

    With good reason.

    I've spent quite a lot of time in Thailand, and they do have a totally different mindset to Westerners when it comes to such things.

    You can see it in the responses the kids themselves have given. Nobody is blaming the coach.

    Cool.

  25. ryoder

    ***
    I wouldn't rule out liquid oxygen eventually. It could be provided by one of the mobile units like they bring to airshows for some of the aircraft and then moving a little would give them a lot.



    Low O2 levels in the ambient air is only half the problem.
    The other half is elevated CO2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercapnia

    Setting up compressors outside the cave gives them access to unlimited air, (and is easier than finding containers of 02), and it addresses both problems.

    I wonder how sealed off the chamber is. Will it vent itself or just slowly lower the water level without getting rid of the CO2?
    And if the hose isn't quite big enough there are oxygen concentrators that might be a good compromise.