headoutdaplane

Skydive Chicago donated the use of one of their otters for a relief trip to Haiti, and ended up doing three. We need more planes to fly trips down. Does anyone have an otter or casa that we can use for a trip or two. We have a hangar in Venice, Florida full of medical supplies, food, and tents, and, a distribution system that has been in place for more than 20 years. If at all possible wet, if not we can pay for fuel. Only one pilot per plane as the right seater will be one of our pilots that has been into Port au Prince, Cap Haiten, or Les Cayes. Of course it is tax deductible. The website is www.agapeflights.com You can message me here on the dropzone.com site

I was asking for the 4 and 8 way stuff, on Saturday I was running at 85 with the left engine at 10, the Furies told me that they were happy with it, so I will keep that. And, if I read the USPA correctly it is set by the meet director for the individual event. Thanks for the input. Wes

I have recently returned to flying and as it happens I am flying the otters at SDC. I am wondering what the standards are for competition for the cut, I have been told two different standards by folks (I won't say what they are so as not to skew the answers here). Is there one standard for sanctioned events? or is it set by the meet's organizers (if this is so, what is the most commonly used)? Since I am a freeflyer, I have no clue. Any help would be appreciated. Please do not respond unless you are certain. Thanks, Wes

1998, Jump 101, I am visiting England jumping at a place called Headcorn where in the safety briefing they told me "don't land here 'cause it is a Born Free reserve where there are lions and tigers (and bears, oh my!)". And yes, there was a girl, a beautiful Spanish girl that came up to spend the week in London with me. I tell her to watch for my canopy, I will be spiraling. So I jump out at 6000 feet, the canopy opens beautifully, I release the brakes, clear the area and pull the left toggle on my Sabre 170 hard........all of a sudden I am on my back and the parachute is wrapping itself into a bundle in front of me. I remember thinking to myself throughout the time, it went something like this..."wow, that sucks.....I wonder if it will come out of this by itself......nope, doesn't look like it, I should get rid of it and pull my reserve...okay and here goes the cutaway......Fuck, it isn't coming loose! Oh wait a minute, tear and pull, tear and pull. Arch!!!Fuck that just pull the reserve!!! Wow, my reserve is white...I though it was orange......There is my main I should follow it down........wait a minute...Lions and Tigers and Bears! I'll just land at the DZ....." The Spanish girl had no idea, just asked me why I didn't spiral down so she would know it was me. I was amazed at how nice the dropzone was they actually asked the helicopter school next door to look for my canopy, didn't find it until three days after I came home. I still have no idea why it balled up, I have never heard before or since of a Sabre 170 wrapping itself up by a hard toggle pull, maybe a tension knot. Oh well.

Dejavu....My best friend and I on a jump two years ago, he ends up on the ground with a c3 complete. The worst thing about it for me intially is the doctors will never give you a prognostication, no percentages no nothing, not malicously it is just that, as advanced as we are, they still know very little about the spinal cord. He fought his way off the respirator and got the tube out of his throat, and has his own apartment. I don't know Rico but I do know that he and his family are in for a long road. My buddy tells me that the amount of people visiting him in the hospital reduced pretty quickly when it was known he would survive, so don't stop visiting it really means alot. I don't even know how many days and nights we spent in the IC and eventually at Rehab institute of Chicago, but they were worth it. I had never appreciated the nurses I have known in my life til this happened, they do the real work in a hospital. My best thoughts are with him and his family. And one more thing that probably belongs in the other forum, but screw it, let Bush know that we want stem cell research. Peace!

Gen Shinseki said that the reason he gave the black beret to everyone who succesfully completes basic training was to show the world that the US Army was a new lighter faster army, and that it would help raise morale. I 'earned' my black beret in '83 by going through RIP which was three weeks of pure hell, we started out with 56 and ended up with 5 of the original group, I was very proud of my black beret. However, after having thought about this a while, it is just a hat, and one that we only wore in garrison, we new who were were, and what we were whether we wore the beret or not. Now the Rangers wear a sand color beret ala SAS in the UK. It is in the end just a hat, however, I think if Shinseki wanted to boost the entire Army's morale a raise or better living conditions would have made a larger impact. Just my opinion.

I just moved here from Chicago, have had rig problems but finally got up this last Friday, and Saturday at Mile High after a month on the ground. The folks here are really nice. Be aware, the canopy comes out of the sky fast! Someone told me it is like down sizing a canopy size or even two. They have a otter now but they didn't fly it either day I was there, the king air is fast to the 12k agl that we made each jump. The views are unbelievable. $22 for the ride to altitude. I don't know about belly flying, but for freeflying there is no jump organizer so you just have to introduce yourself, and off you go. I haven't gone down to Canon City yet, but a couple of guys at Mile high said it is a nice dz as well.

I hold an 'a' license and have never had any problem jumping anywhere including one dropzone in England, three in Spain and quite a few in the U.S. Show up with a rig and people are usually pretty cool. Besides it usually says _ license or equivalent. One point though, until you show you can fly your canopy they may have you land in a student area.

My last name is Head (yeah, yeah, I've heard all the jokes). My nickname in the army was 'Gimme' but I liked Headoutdaplane better for this forum.

No free lunch???? Damnit!! No whining intended but as I reread my post I could see your point. I would never want to sound like a newbie (apparently a bad thing to the skygods). What I meant to say, and didn't express very well is I am going to do exactly what you suggested, but wait til the boogie is over. Uh.....just for clarification, wearing someone elses underwear is bad....right? I mean, even if you know the person, they are functioinal and are comfortable? And, yes SDC (and the handfull of DZ's throghout the states and overseas that I have visited) did spoil me, as I am sure Mile High will over the coming years.

I moved to Boulder, Co after 8 years of skydiving at Skydive Chicago. After so long at one dropzone you forget what it is like to be the new guy, so far everyone at Mile High seems very nice, but very busy this week with their boogie, so I am not sure who is a local and who is visiting. Unfortunately my rig is down for a while for repairs, no problem at SDC I could borrow any number of rigs, but who is going to loan a rig to someone that they don't know and says 'I am a skydiver'? nobody. That leaves renting, $25 per jump for a student rig, plus 22 for the lift ticket and $20 boogie registration. Thanks but it will have to wait, which sucks because it is a beautiful day and there are lots of people having lots of fun. It will be easier to meet folks when there is no boogie, I have my own rig again, and they can see that I am here to stay. Anyway the point of the post is remember to be nice to the new guys (everyone is nice to the new girls we all know that) 'Hi' to all at SDC, I will be back for Summerfest. Wes

Ah yes, a thread about a great xmas party, and someone has to bring up something bad about someone else, wow! thanks for helping the thread along, really, you added a lot, your insight and concern for the girls is awsome, nothing like having someone keep an eye out for a thread that might have too good of a vibe to it. Quash the good feelings before they grow!!! I look forward to you next enlightening commentary on people, dropzones, and really life overall.

Never, never, never miss the SDC holiday party!!! They do it right, great food, good music and the party lasts all night. Yeah I will say it, SDC has the best looking women in skydiving, and when they get dressed up, look out!!! Thanks to Genie, Missy, Rook, Tim and all the rest that did it again.