ParaHog

Yeah, it's terribly boring. I wouldn't waste your money on it. But have you tried bowling? Man, there's nothing like the thrill of rolling a strike!

I agree completely!

Me too. Just because he's paralyzed, doesn't mean that someone else is automatically at fault. A skydiver's poor choice to do a high arched exit on a climbing jump run out of a low-tail airplane, doesn't mean that the drop zone owner was negligent and that he deserves to be sued out of existence. Readers: For those of you who think that drop zones which have stupid skydivers who get injured doing negligent maneuvers deserve to be shut down, vote for Mike! For those of you who think that for every injured skydiver, there is someone else to blame for it, vote for Mike!

Of course, the wing suit jumper who exited without bothering to first fall free of the tail had nothing to do with that incident, right? So you'll sue drop zone owner's out of existence because of the action of a single stupid and careless jumper. Wonderful! How many readers here want to line up and vote for this philosophy on the board of directors? No, I made no such claim. You are confusing me with someone else. So now you're also guilty of the same thing of which you accuse me - making false accusations. Isn't irony great? And since your premise is incorrect, everything else which followed is inapplicable.

You’re making some pretty strong statements against someone without being willing to have your name associated with them. When people insist on being anonymous it makes me wonder what it is they are hiding. Because of that anonymity our posts lack credibility. Jmo Sparky Suit yourself. Ignore my comments. Vote for Mikey.

Some people here seem to believe that military security gets to shoot anyone they want, without any repercussions. Incorrect! They have rules of engagement and levels of force to follow, just like civilian police officers.

But of course, because if you relocate the nearby airport, no REAL terrorist would ever be able to parachute into the base. Problem solved! I never knew military security was so cut and dried. And if they relocate nearby boatyards, then no terrorist attack could possibly come by sea. By gosh, this is easy!

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You testify AGAINST drop zones. That's just what we need from a member of the board of the USPA. (sarcasm) Like that board member that gave an incident report to a plaintiff's lawyer to help them sue a drop zone. You'll have to pardon me if I oppose having a board member who works to shut down drop zones when an accident occurs. We have enough trouble with outside lawyers doing that, without having our own board members doing it from within. I'm not running for the board or pretending to be something I'm not. So my real name and credentials don't matter. But obviously I know enough about you to keep you from getting away with some of the BS you're promoting. Ah, but you didn't bother to make that distinction in your description. You've been leading people to believe that your ratings are current. I didn't quote it - someone else did. I just pointed out the inaccuracies in it. So, you'll be correcting that description for the next printing, right? Oh, and your description on your web site where you get lawyers to pay you to testify against drop zones is still incorrect too. Readers, see: http://www.allexperts.com/ep/1652-14185/Skydiving-w-Parachutes/Mike-Turoff.htm What happens when the opposing lawyer points out that your claimed credentials are out of date, and that you're really just a paper tiger? And you still haven't addressed the question about how you'll do a good job on the USPA board when you've got a full time regular job, your CAP duties keep you from skydiving, and you also serve with the PIA. How are you going to add dedicated time for USPA to all that? What will you do when there's a conflict of interest between the PIA and USPA?

It's funny how you claim I'm wrong, and then your very next sentence confirms exactly what I'm saying. So why do you say in your skydiving resume, as seen originally in message #18, that "Mike participates as an evaluator at AFF Training Camps and Certification Courses..."? When was the last time you performed either of those duties? You shouldn't claim to be something that you are no longer current to do. Instead of speaking in the present tense ("participates"), you should write it in the past tense ("has participated") to be accurate. If you had possessed plenty of signatures, then a few invalidations wouldn't have mattered. What it sounds like is you barely had enough to just squeak by, and it only took a few being shot down to ruin your chances. If you were widely liked and respected, you wouldn't have any problem gathering enough signatures to have a sufficent cushion. When was the last time you flew jumpers for a skydive? Why claim to be a "licensed (jump) pilot" if you haven't actually been a jump pilot in many years? Trying to fool people? Are you a private or a commercial pilot? And again with the rigging, so you pack your own emergency rig. But that makes your current knowledge rather limited. When was the last time you packed a Vector, Talon, Micron or Racer? When was the last time you installed an AAD or a Skyhook? Are you a senior or master? When was the last time you actually made a skydive? You claim that your CAP duties have kept you from jumping for the last four years, but it's been much longer than that since you've jumped. You're hedging again. Just tell us - how long? If your CAP duties have taken you away from skydiving, then how are you going to squeeze in being a USPA board member on top of your CAP duties? Are you going to resign from your CAP duties to serve the USPA? You're presenting yourself as someone who is on top of all aspects of this sport, when in fact your participation in those areas is all very dated. The public has the right to know all this, since you're running for the board. They don't deserve to be fooled by a grand sounding resume, that doesn't actually play out in real life. And you shouldn't be promoting yourself as more than you really are. We have good board members who aren't current jumpers. No problem. But they tend to still be involved in the sport in some manner, such as drop zone owners, jump pilots, competition judges, etc. Don't pretend to be something you're not. Don't try and fool people. We want straight shooters on the board, not self-promoters.

If you have something to say, just say it. If you think he doesn't know what he's talking about, then explain why. If you think military service is somehow relevant, then explain why. As it stands, you've provided nothing to disprove anything.

What's your definition of "HALO"?

Now ask him how long it has been since he actually exercised any of those jumping, rigging, instructing or jump pilot skills. Mike Turoff is now running for the BOD, since they changed the rules and he's no longer required to gather a certain number of signatures to qualify. He's always wanted to be on the board before, but he's never been widely liked locally, and he could never get enough signatures to qualify to be on the ballot. Now he's promoting that great-sounding resume of experience, but what he's not telling anyone is that he hasn't done any skydiving related activities in about 10 years now. No jumping. No rigging. No jump-piloting. No instructing. And I think if you don't stay active as an instructor, or other rating, fulfilling those duties a certain number of times per year, then your rating lapses and you're no longer considered qualified. And yet he's still claiming to be an instructor and more. Since the new rules will now allow him to be on the ballot, he's counting on the ignorance of nationwide voters who don't realize he's not actually an active skydiver any more. You certainly wouldn't know that from the above resume. They'll vote for him based upon his given resume of experience, which doesn't actually apply any more - he's not current, not by a long shot. Are those the actions of someone who is being straight-forward and honest? Is that the kind of person you want running the USPA? He'll probably get away with it and get elected anyway... His long term plan to take over the world is at hand!

Now ask him how long it has been since he actually exercised any of those jumping, rigging, instructing or jump pilot skills.

Winsted terminates contract with Westside Skydivers Due to violations of contract in regards to hours of operation, the Westside Skydivers business contract with the city of Winsted was terminated at Tuesday’s Winsted City Council meeting. The contract violation was brought to light through a written complaint from Winsted Airport Commission Member Glenn Weibel, which documented instances of skydiving activities taking place after approved hours. The agreement between the city and Johnson stated “no skydiving activities shall take place until 30 minutes after sunrise or 30 minutes before sunset.” http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2012/stories/winsted-westside-skydivers.html

Aren't you the guy that used to tell new guys to just go out and experiment, because that was the best way to learn? And now you seem to be saying that learning needs to be a regimented set of pre-defined steps which must be followed. What changed?

Well, let's see. 1) You want USPA to require new wingsuit flyers to receive instruction from certified wingsuit instructors. 2) And you run a wingsuit school. Sounds like a biased interest to me. What am I missing? You're missing a great deal. Assumptions can be bad things. Do you see many wealthy AFFI's running around? Figure for every 50 AFF students, there is one wingsuit student. Oh BTW, I draw no financial benefit from teaching FFC's at Skydive Elsinore. On the flip side, our school has put out a few dozen videos, several training articles, pincheck guide, guide for DZO's, and developed a program much like AFF for those that want to continue wingsuit training beyond the FFC (and no, the multi-jump program is not part of anything USPA has seen, and is not/will not be part of any proposal). We also developed Wingsuit Water Training after 50 entries into various kinds of water situations both real and contrived. ... We share what we have, freely. The goal is to create safer, better-skilled wingsuit pilots so that we can grow the discipline and do great things. Part of that goal is to challenge instructors to meet an industry standard so that the wingsuiters they create, are cultured from the same standard. Thank you for your work, and for the expanded explanation. If the bureaucracy is created that requires every wing suit flyer at your DZ to come to you for training, for a fee, then perhaps you can make more money. It's not about how rich you get doing it, it's about forcing experienced jumpers to pay someone money before they're allowed to jump a wingsuit. I'm against that. All your other work for wingsuit education and safety is admirable. That's the way we've always done it in skydiving, because we love the sport and care about other jumpers. We don't need no stinkin' regimented bureaucracy to do that. We've always had people like you willing to step forward and do what it takes to make it happen. Just like every drop zone has someone newbies go to to learn big-way RW, or CReW. New guys learn those disciplines by volunteer informal coaches, for free, just because they like to pay back to future generations of jumpers, for the sport which has given them so much pleasure. There's no bureaucracy for those disciplines, and people perform those kind of jumps every weekend, safely. I don't see why wingsuits should be any different.

Well, let's see. 1) You want USPA to require new wingsuit flyers to receive instruction from certified wingsuit instructors. 2) And you run a wingsuit school. Sounds like a biased interest to me. What am I missing?

OKAY, I READ IT. Now, why was that so important to emphasize in capital letters?

That's nothing that the rigger can do to it. It's all a matter of the length of the cable running back to the riser release, and the length of your arm. If your arm is too short when pulling downward to get the cables clear of the end of the channel, then sweep your arm back outward like you're going into a spread-eagle position again. That'll create the extra distance needed to clear the cable.

Funny, I've ground-crewed may balloons. Touchdown to drive-off never took more than 30 minutes - without hurrying - unless there was a long walk involved. Doesn't matter, though. If the pilot decides he needs to stay on the ground, that's the end of it. If McNasty doesn't like it, call the cops and let them explain things to him. Well, if you're willing to spend even a half-hour in the presence of an out of control land owner who gets more and more angry because you're not leaving as he demands, then have fun with it. Good luck. It's kind of funny how you berate others for their "bad attitude", and yet here you are advocating ignoring an angry land owner and just doing what you want anyway.

Canopies are not replaced based upon a fixed number of months, but rather upon wear and tear. And if you make a 1,000 jumps a year like the Gold Knights do, then they deserve a new canopy "every year". no they dont and its outrageous that our tax dollars are being put to use so they can swoop new katanas 10 times a day. Let's see, they swoop 10 times a day, but do not make 1,000 jumps a year. Can you please explain that math to me? It doesn't seem to add up...

Canopies are not replaced based upon a fixed number of months, but rather upon wear and tear. And if you make a 1,000 jumps a year like the Gold Knights do, then they deserve a new canopy "every year". According to your profile you have 300 jumps in two years. So to match the Gold Knights canopy replacement schedule, you've got to jump your canopy another four and a half years before you should consider replacing it.

That's not a quick process. It can take an hour to deflate, bundle and load the balloon, basket and burner in the back of a truck. If you have a McNasty going ballistic that whole time, it's going to be ugly. He may have weighed that scenario against the extra risk of hopping the fence to the next property, and decided it was worth it.

News story: http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2012/stories/winsted-skydivers-houston.html "WINSTED, MN – Westside Skydivers owner Joe Johnson has been operating his skydiving business out of the Winsted Municipal Airport since the spring of 2010, with remarkable success in a very short amount of time. Following the same formula he used to set up his skydiving business in Winsted, Johnson has made plans for a second drop zone in Houston, TX which is to open between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1 of this year..." There is already Skydive Houston and Skydive Spaceland in Houston. Is there really room for a third drop zone in Houston?

Bingo. It will turn approval or denial into something done by a gov'ment bureaocrat with a tape measure. There will no longer be any flexibility or common sense in the process. You either meet the measurements, or you don't. Period.