lewis321

My wife and I jump together along with our youngest son. My oldest son, two younger brothers and my mom have all made tandems. My oldest son made a few static line jumps, but never went any further.

C 182 C 206 Caravan Porter DC3 Beech 18 King Air Mullins K.A. Yankey Doodle Otter Otter Casa Skyvan "Super Connie" Pax 750

1. Whats your name?Todd 2. How old are you? I'll be 40 Aug. 21 3. Why did you decide to start jumping out of airplanes? I had talked about it for along time and my family bought my first jump for my birthday. 4. Are you single or taken? Married?Married 5. Do you have kids? 2 boys 16/18 6. What do you drive? 2001 Dodge Ram 4x4 7. Have you ever done a kisspass? Yes 8. Where do you live?Northern Indiana 9. Do you have any pets? 1 cat, 1 dog 10. How many jumps do you have? 270 11. What color eyes do you have? Brown 12. What is your nationality? American born and bred 13. Have you ever dated someone you met off the internet? No 14. Favorite Movie? Hard to say 15. What do you do when you arent skydiving? Work 16. Have you ever BASE jumped? No 17. If not... do you want to? Yes 18. Do you have siblings? 2 brothers 19. Where do you want to travel to the most? I was stationed in Germany for a while when I was in the service and would love to go back. 20. What's your favorite color? Depends on what it is on. 21. Where was the last place you flew to ( not skydiving )? Florida

I don't know if they have anything like that or not. I will have my wife check into it. She is a teacher at his H.S. Maybe we could contact some of the companies to see if they would want an intern for a few weeks like you said. In reading some of the other posts I see that there a lot of kids out there that are going beyond the norm. It's really awesome that they have your support too. I get to hear plenty of stories of kids that just want to "get by" from my wife. I love to see kids with ambition whether it's making a parachute, designing and making costumes, etc,... After all someone has to make our gear so we can keep jumping!!! Just another note to all the skyparents out there that support or push your kids to go above and beyond: YOU ROCK OK, enough blabbering I should probably go to work now Todd

Nothing wrong with shameless plugs. Would love to see some examples of your work.

He is pretty cool. He has been hanging at the dz so long he has gotten the bug without ever jumping.

I love my son, but I'm not sure I would want to jump the first one

because he wants to design and make his own parachute! He is 15, has been packing at the dz since last season, wants to get his rigger's license, can't wait to start skydiving, and wants to be an aeronautical engineer. Is that cool or what!!! Anybody want volunteer to jump it when it's done? I may never have to buy another canopy ever again

We would love to have you at stop by any time you get this way. There will always be fun jumps and cold beer. That goes for you too Sunshine. Stop by and we can do a few dz.commer loads out of our little cessna, drink a lot of beer, and tell "no shit there I was" stories.

101!!! Age does not matter. You are a skydiver with a big heart who is trying to get the word out and offering help in any way you can. That is "HOT" I also wanted to add this from the rest of the staff at ISA. I think I can speak for them when I say thank you to everyone out there, and to Bo and Paula we are behind you 100%. Just let us know what you need. Looking forward to the fundraiser to see some familiar faces and to meet some new ones.

I'm sorry for being bad!!! paulgc is definitely in the hottie category. Since I've been bad, do I get a spankin'

SWEEEEEET..... now you will be dancin' with the sky!!! Good luck and enjoy, Todd

Hey, you can't get us all excited and not tell us where and when. That's just not right!!

Hey Ward, We have talked about auctioning a lot of stuff, so I got to thinking HMMMMMMMMMMM, what about a "love slave" auction. I would gladly step up to be auctioned( for the good of the dz of course) We have a lot of hotties out there: Val, Wendy, Vanessa,and you of course. Any one else want to throw their hat in the ring? Do you think I should ask Angie first? I wonder if she would even bid on me!

I would like to add my name to that list. I started at what was then Skydive Goshen. Paula was my jump master on my first jump. I now have my "D", coach,and am working on s/l instructor rating. I owe a lot of that to Bo and Paula. They are not only awesome skydivers who care about the future of our sport, but they are wonderful people who also care about their friends. We may only have a little 182, but we have some of the best skydiving around. Todd

My wife has 10 more jumps than me and started jumping after me. Both of my younger brothers have jumped. One made a tandem and the other made a few static line jumps. My mother made a tandem. My oldest son has made a tandem and my youngest, who packs at the dz, will start his training next season. The cool part is I have been working on my instructor rating and will be able to teach him or any of the others that may decide to continue.

OK, Greene give us some dirt!!!

18 years as a carpenter. 10 of it in the union doing commercial work The last 8 doing my own contracting in the residential market.

Welcome Aircav I lurked for a while before I posted. Too shy I guess. Is there such a thing as a shy skydiver? Let your posting begin!!!!

Hey Syn, You are pretty much on track with your thinking. You should still try to land into the wind. You may not need as much flare however. Front risers may help you penetrate some. The only time I would turn downwind is if you cannot make a safe landing area upwind and are able to make one downwind. Hope this made sense.

I'm not trying to flame here, but this is the Safety & Training forum, not the Incidents forum. IMHO this is the correct place to post it. I too have seen step thru's, but both risers were twisted. Is it possible to only have one side twisted? I have seen one side of a canopy flipped thru, but this created a twist in the canopy itself and the riser. My 2

Congrats !!!! Good to hear you got thru AFF. Keep In touch with us here at Goshen, IN. When we get the weather we will get some jumps in. You do remember where Goshen is don't you? You know, the place you made your first jump at!!! Sounds like you had some awesome people taking care of you and to me that is what it is all about. Just goes to prove that no matter where you go in the skydiving community someone will have your back. Again, Congrats and keep in touch

Hey Lew---Love that name! Don't sweat it. Just remember your training, relax and enjoy it. It only gets better. Don't get hung up on doing everything perfect the first time. That is not what it is all about. It's about knowing how to do it and getting better at it with practice. Good luck and keep us posted I almost forgot the most crucial thing in skydiving: ALWAYS LOOK COOL

QuoteIf you are on a 'low' way say 2 or 4......how do you know where the wind line is at breakoff....in order top avoid tracking up or down the windline. Can this only be achieved by taking a ground reference at altitude and using that lower down ( or maybe the suns position)? As a beginner most of my formations do turn some with all the points... LOOK DOWN One of the most important things forgotten is to look down as you set up for exits. Even if you are not spotting or are using gps you should look down to get a general idea of the flight path of the aircraft. This will give you a reference to where groups will be exiting after you and you may be able to see the group before you. Talk to an instructor. They will be able to show you, and if you can do some spotting. This will really help you understand about jump-run, wind-lines, and exit-points.

Congrats on your tandem