mark135

I am a truck driver! I know, I know, its hard to believe. I actually drive a semi around grand rapids Mi. I can sense all the raised eyebrows and I know some people will get their panties all twisted up but it's true and I am comfortable with it. I know your all whispering behind my back but just keep in mind I am a skydiver just like you so you can treat me just like a "normal" person. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

The foam company I work for makes "memory foam" beds.................I don't have one. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

No, we jump at Premier skydiving, over in Fremont Mi http://www.premier-skydiving.com We have probably met. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

'97 all the way around. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

My wife somehow managed to sneak my stiletto out of the house and send it into pd to be inspected and relined. turns out they did a clamp test and it passed new slider, and it looks like a new end cell although she says we werent billed for it, the stabilizers look new also partly cuz of pd sewing on new logo's I also got a set of straboframes for our new rebel xt And A poster of an exit shot she took of me taking our 3rd boy on a tandem (she ran second video and stills on it) I got my wife a quasar2 shorty for a second rig. It was a used rig but with very few jumps for an 8 yr old rig. We knew the owner and He had come down with ms several years ago. I will probably send it into strong along with my quasar for mods. our quasars are actually mates, they were purchased new at the same time by the original owners. our college kid (meaning broke) gave me his old aerodynamics textbook. I actually thought it was original and thoughtful because of my interest in airplanes. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Not really. I have a Stilleto 135 and a 181-m in my quasar. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

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Ouch very well done however. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Thats a fine looking tandem master there Notice both my kid and I have a look of horror. Me because of a sloppy exit and him cuz its his first jump! Couldnt you post a pic where everything is going right? Does everyone see what kind of a dzo I have to put up with? Sheesh. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

All of your examples are great but if that was the camera I am using it would all be dark with darker sillouettes and 1 bright spot (sun). Actually its not my camera. I shoot 35mm but the dz wants all digitals so I borrow the dzo's d-20 when I have to but I dont like this dark picture stuff when it comes to shooting into the sun. (exits or sunset shots) I also use 500 on bright days and 350 on overcast. I and the dzo use this same settings on the d-20. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Is there a setting that will prevent the camera from making everything dark when shooting into the sun? Talking canon d20 and rebel xt here. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Ok. Lets clarify. We will calssify the harnesses as the old ones (no leg strap padding) the middle ones (hip rings) The new ones (just like the old ones except it has the thick round padding on leg straps) I think the chest strap problem you are having is with the middle one. with both the old and new ones you can keep the chest strap lower as it is free to slide on the mlw with the middle ones the chest strap were difficult to keep low on student. I am thinking that you arent getting the mlw adjusted short enough.? with the new harness's as well as the old I will snug up (again) the mlw in the plane just before hookup.. not tight just snug. That seems to help. I have done this with some 3rd time tandems (afp) and all have said it wasnt too tight they couldnt arch. This was difficult if not impossible to do with the "middle" harnesses _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

It would help if you could be more specific as to "old" and "new" harnesses as there are 3 different strong harnesses. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Don't forget about the new dz in fremont. it has a little plane and lots of really cool people. the dzo isnt bi polar but is an ass just joking Bill!! (caveat due to the dzo who will probably read this) Manifest did tell me i was going to be the first one banned!! She wont let me near the plane unless i have a rig on my back and/or a student with me. She has this crazy idea that i plan to install paint ball guns under the wings. In all honesty Tony I had forgotten how much fun skydiving was. it used to be all work. now Sue and I are having a blast up at Premier Skydiving. And yes Napolean does rock. Sue and I made some good freinds while we were jumping there. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

C'mon Tony, get yer head out of the sand. almost tossing me out of the plane because i called a go around and he needed to look for himself by putting the plane on its wing. pencil packing the student reserves. using cypress's that are beyond thier service date. using fxc's that havent been recalibrated for years. using f-111 mantas that have more than a thousand jumps on them using tandem rigs that have not had any of the mods done to them. Hell Tony, that one tandem rig had a big ass rip in it right into the reserve tray. using unqualified instructors shit man the list goes on. this dz holds the record for most students who have broken somthing. mostly due to canopies that were ragged out when i was a student let alone 10 years later. Having to sit there while manifest screams and yells and cries when I refuse to take a student up due to unsafe conditions. then another guy we will call "spinner" says "I'll do it" where is the s and ta? oh yeah its also the owner who has holed up in his hanger becuase he is too depressed to deal with the real world. screw that man I dont need that crap. I took it longer than anyone else exept d.a.p. No fatalities? pure luck. look at the fatalities at the other michigan dz's. they had nothing to do with the dzo or the training or anything else. they were just accidents. The only good thing is that I do agree they are the best 182's bar none. and great facilitys. too bad he couldnt stick some of that money into safe equipment. I would have rather seen new student gear than the king air which of course he lost because why? hmmm refusing to make the payments. sounds familiar huh. We will sit down at the wffc and get totally hammered while i convince you of the greater truth. It wont take long so drink fast! _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

well, the building is on a 25yr lease. not even sure why he is paying property taxes unless its part of the lease deal. the tandem rigs were not the property of the dzo, rather someone elses who was leasing them to the dzo. besides, this dz would best serve the public by closing anyways. Oh the horrer stories i could tell. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Oh you know thats a fact! lol. In my oh so humble opinion I feel the only good footage with the handcam is the opening and canopy shots. the rest of the skydive seems best captured by outside vid. the best option is to blend them. but then the price of getting vid goes up and will decrease sales. or offer either outside vid only or the blend. The real issue is that the students have no clue which is better. they are going to go for the cheapest price. As far as liking handcams or not, people who know me , know that when confronted with two choices and cant make up my mind I tend to lean towards the choice that offers the most caution. In other words I can be a big pussy, although others like nsemn8r call me a dick. I wish they would make up their mind _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Hmmm. If you don't mind I will do the flaring. At least I haven't broken a student. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

I have not yet made up my mind on handycams but do have several questions. When you have a "problem student" what do you tell them about their video? That thier once in a lifetime vid didnt work out cuz they had a bad body posit? as a video person having to tell someone their vid didnt work out (cam problems or whatever) was my worst nightmare. Shouldnt we as tandem instructors devote 100% of our attention on keeping the two of us alive? after all a tandem isnt just another skydive. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

New student gear, new tandem gear. experienced, uspa rated instructors. no shortcuts taken in student instruction. 45 minutes north of Grand Rapids. A student oriented dropzone that makes sure fun jumpers get on loads.

After a while you will be lucky to remember to log them at all. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Oh c'mon. I will always call an exp. jumper (that knows me well) a pussy for scratching on a load because of conditions. It rarely takes more than 10 sec. before it dawns on them that I am not on a load either. lighten up man, It's supposed to be fun. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

I can think of a few. In my vast pac experiance (1 jump) I found it to be 1 small step above a king air. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Thats the method I use, or used to, I made the mistake of getting a tandem rating. Except I put right foot on edge of step and am stretched out with hands near where the strut and wing meet , left leg dangling. I can then kick out and lie on my back for exit. I also use a 18-55mm lens set at 22mm. works just fine. matches the .6 lens on my camcorder. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Careful there nsemn8r. We are keeping an eye on you and may change any link you post to......... I dont know, maybe some sort of really strange sexual aid device. _______________ "It seemed like a good idea at the time"