tkhayes

People put themselves 'in shit' every day. That does not make it a stupid example. That demonstrates that not everyone agrees with you that the Strong is inferior, especially the passenger harness. Apparently some think it is SUPERIOR to the UPT harness. Stubborn? Maybe, but remember, I have jumped both rigs for substantial periods of time. I formed an opinion, not only on the basis of the rig alone, but on the company that backs it. I will take the Strong any day. TK

who cares if he is black or not? Why would that even matter?

yellow cutaway cables have been pulled through the grommets on MANY rigs, tandems and sport rigs alike. Problem was solved, as I said, Strong responded to a problem and have steel cables now, much stronger and smoother for that matter. and I have had people fall asleep on Vector tandems, Strong tandems, people fat and thin have trouble lifting their legs, whatever. Apparently there is a 'correct' way and an 'incorrect' way to adjust ANY harness for ANY person. One is no better than the other. As a matter of fact, I know of a DZ that uses the Sugma rigs, but prefers the Strong passenger harness. Not approved, but that is what they use. I started with Vector, got tired of piss-poor customer service, lack of parts and an attitude that they simply will hang you if you make a mistake. Strong is responsive in the market, they have a great working system, their share of problems, but at least they do something about it. Strong could use a new canopy, yes, they could make the rig prettier, yes, they could make a less-expensive drogue system, yes, but the problems that you are talkign about are pretty minor. i.e., I know of no fatality/accident related to a hard cutaway. I'll stand by the system. Is the SIgma better? Maybe, but I will not go back to UPT due to the bridges they burned many years ago. TK

hmm, pretty harsh assessment 1. Never had a hard cutaway on a Strong - and I have more cutaways than anyone else I know 2. Inferior how? Everytime the tandem industry came up with a problem, Strong often implemented a change or solution with no prodding from the field. Unlike some competitors who continuously told me "There is nothing wrong with the rig - the TM screwed up" 3. uncomfortable harnesses? If you fit them right and adjust somewhat under canopy they are just fine. We (until 3 days ago) still were using some of the oldest harnesses around, and they work fine. Thanks to some of our input, Strong has even a better harness today (again responding to the needs of the field) 4. Our riser covers work just fine Ugly? Maybe. Functional and safe? Completely. Comfortable? Up to the individual to make it so, and yes, generally they are. My $0.02 TK

It should not be their decision, if you own or control the dropzone, and you think it is safer or the best policy, then you fucking well TELL THEM that they are goin last. Of course you have to also live with your decisions, so I suspect you have reservations yourself. It makes sense here at Skydive City, we have Otters, and the tandems can go last, they have more flexibility about the spot, they can open higher, they have better canopy skills and generally no matter what, they make it home.

I would not vote, I would have to shoot him

their lies have cost hundreds of thousands of lives. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, his reasons were valid (to him of course) but we called it lies and we kicked his ass. We invade based on lies and they are still trying to perpetuate the war. It is a war crime at the very least

Google OISM and Petition and you will find lot s of critics of OISM, the petition itself, how it was run, and what the results mean. The petition and OISM sound like a load of baloney TK

January 27 - Memorial for Johnny Gates at Skydive City. A Sunset dive with friends and skydivers alike. Public viewing for Johnny at Lakeland Memorial Gardens Thursday Jan 25 ONLY from 7pm-9pm - Directions here>> Family will be at the dropzone early Saturday afternoon Sunset Memorial Skydive (family will decide who is on it, some slots will be open) Of course, beer and 'wake' afterwards

January 27 - Memorial for Johnny Gates at Skydive City. A Sunset dive with friends and skydivers alike. Public viewing for Johnny at Lakeland Memorial Gardens Thursday Jan 25 ONLY from 7pm-9pm - Directions here>> Family will be at the dropzone early Saturday afternoon Sunset Memorial Skydive (family will decide who is on it, some slots will be open) Of course, beer and 'wake' afterwards

January 27 - Memorial for Johnny Gates at Skydive City. A Sunset dive with friends and skydivers alike. Public viewing for Johnny at Lakeland Memorial Gardens Thursday Jan 25 ONLY from 7pm-9pm - Directions here>> Family will be at the dropzone early Saturday afternoon Sunset Memorial Skydive (family will decide who is on it, some slots will be open) Of course, beer and 'wake' afterwards ]

Skydive City is starting a Photo Album for Johnny on our Kodak website at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/skydivecity You can send any photos you have to photos@skydivecity.com and we will post them up there for everyone to see. We plan to dump them all to CD as well for the family, so send us some pictures, thanks TK Hayes Skydive City

- excessive insurance requirements, which cannot be met by most DZ operations - added fees/taxes, which appear to be supported by the FAA, which get levied against skydiving operations - general politics and an public view that we are 'unsafe' - etc

How 'bout this? If we are being told ANYTHING by the US govt about what Iran or Iraq is doing - then we ought to be damn skeptical, given that they have only lied to us in the past about what was really going on. Sounds like they want to drum up support for an Iranian invasion if this is what is being touted. Seen that anywhere before? TK

8 years ago, I took this James Morning on a tandem skydive. He is C6-C7 para from an injury. Has no movement below his waist, but he does have feeling. We did great, bound his ankles and knees with some homemade straps, hiked his legs up using them after the canopy was open - the dive went flawlessly. James showed up again and did another tandem last weekend, also did well, but is now interested in learning to jump regularly. He is 140lbs and strong like an ox in the upper body. I think he is a great candidate, assuming we can figure out some apparatus to keep his legs 'fixed' while in freefall. We have access to the wind tunnel as well, so that will be a requirement I would think, but I (he) am looking for any help, information, similar folks out there and what equipment you have, etc to help us plan this out OK. Any info? Ideas? Pictures? you can contact James directly at jamesmorning@bellsouth.net if you want to discuss with him. Thanks for any input TK Hayes Skydive City

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it is true that there is too much apathy in the Congress and Senate - no one wants to cross Bush or the administration. I have had several conversations with my Congresswoman, Ginny Brown-Waite. More than once, she has said "There is nothing I can do...." to whatever issue we are discussing. I find that amazing. Given that she WRITES THE LAWS of the country, there should be PLENTY that they can do. I have no idea why they react like that... TK

funny, I thought we 'won' the war when he announced the end back in 2003-2004 whenever it was - Bush is an idiot. I am ready for impeachment proceedings. Too bad we cannot impeach based on the fact that he is an idiot. 20,000 more troops means more targets for the insurgents to hit. Also means lower morale for ALL the soldiers, highdeficit for all of us. More soldiers throwing their weight around in a foreign country also means more 'insurgents' will sign up every day to fight them. Don't just stand there, WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS TK

We have something of his that he left here - of course, no one can remember his name - was here over Xmas with his girlfriend Anyone know who he is and how to reach him? Thanks - TK

I think USPA should establish GUIDELINES, just like any other skill or procedure. The dropzone need to establish their own RULES. THe guidlelines from USPA need to include: - Canopy skill progressions (i.e. Bill von Novak), with testing and pass/fail suggestions. - guidleines for aircraft exits, separations (may be less important) - recommendations for landing patterns and traffic patterns for given landing area sizes and shapes. We already have skill requirements for freefall to pass/fail in AFF and Coach Jumps. We rehearse and repeat jumps to hone these skills. We do no such thing for canopy flight. Landing and traffic pattern standards exist in all facets of aviation except skydiving. We have general 'block' diagrams of a "Left hand pattern" that barely applies on most skydives. It sould be easy to develop a hierarchy of landing priorities and landing 'zones' for different types of skydives and pilots. Many DZ's have a tight landing area congested because everyone wants to land there. We are lucky enough to have a large landing area, but still make it part of the briefings to know where the expected high-speed traffic is. It is MY responsibility to ensure the safety at MY dropzone, not USPA's, but I would welcome some suggestions on traffic priority, just like airplane traffic or other aviation traffic. With a few guidelines, it would be simpler for the dropzone operator to apply it to their DZ, and then help define what 'violations' are and deal with them. I have always said "If you flew airplanes the way we fly parachutes, the FAA would take your license away for the rest of your life." TK

there are quite a number of Icelandic skydivers, Snoori comes to mind - came through Z-Hills this year with others. We trained a couple of new students last year too I would have to search through our customers to try and find some of them TK I Yahoo'd it and found: http://fkr.klauvi.is/en/default.asp even an English version

We need to stop calling them 'emergencies' too, it is NOT an emergency - it is simply plan B, when Plan A did not work. I liken it to parking your car - someone took my spot, so I need to park in the next spot. I don't freak out about it, i just deal with it. I find when i teach students and low-timers that sort of thinking, then you can think about the sequence more rationally, rather than as an emergency. Emergencies raise your blood pressure, and make people panic - which often resuts in poor reactions and such. also then we sit there thinking about all the what if's If you think about it more as "hey, I CANNOT land this - I have no choice but to use my reserve", I think works better.

Don't Mess with Texas!

570 jumpers arrived since 12-16-06 more than 6800 jumps done Casa Arrives today! cloudy this a.m. expecting clearing

so far since the 16th of Dec: 475 jumpers through, 5700 jumps, 4-5 days of crap weather last 4 days have been great! see ya there, the pirate ship is almost finished TK