tkhayes

never seen or heard of it. I have 16 or so tandem cutaways, most on Strong, and never had a problem TK

drop dead will you for fuckssake! Is America so ignorant, so obnoxious, so fucking arrogant that no one can even disagree with you? Then you decide they cannot be your 'allies' anymore? jeez. Most Canadians have a good 'world view' of what is going on, and are news-hungry people. Most people have more important issues on their agenda, like education, hunger, world peace - not bombing the shit out of evil dictators. And as a result, our Prime Minister does not have to hide behind a 30NM radius of security everywhere he goes, and can pretty much wander the streets safely. Mostly we shake our heads at you and we are not too concerned about what you think of us. TK

I have just solo'd and starting my cross-country, have spent almost $3000 already for everything that I incurred and i am at a reasonably priced school. I have about 32 hours now. There is alot to it, most i am told will take 60-70 hours to get their Private license. TK

It is a pretty lame requirement I agree. The main reason it s there I suspect is that it was there when the original expreimental exemptions were given out and set as a minimum then. Almost all the rules set for those days were simply adopted by the FAA as the new rules when it became 'legal' in 2001. Too bad really, It will cramp a lot of people who ar emore than capable of doing the job. I ould expect it would take another 20 years to change the FARs as it did for the first exemption, TK

Bottom line is that waivers do not stop anyone from suing you. Especially if you ARE negligent in any way, then waiver or not, you will lose. But if you are NOT negligent, and you get sued, then the waiver and contract allows you to countersue for legal fees, etc. If they are 16, the contract is meaningless. But you could have the family sign the contract, then you still have someone to sue for your costs should they decide to sue you later on when they turn 18. By then, the people that signed your contract are probably moved on, or at least it would be quite a difficult paper trail you would have to produce. I would be in favor of it if we did something like Perris, where we record and catalog on video their statements of acceptance of the risks, as well as have the paper trail to follow. I think at that point, you could mount a considerable defense. However, if you actually did fuck up and hurt someone, then it is all moot. TK

It has more to do with the angle at which the junction is stressed - as you can see form the pictures, the webbing bunches at one end over time, depending often on the size of the student and the angle at which the webbing is pulled tight relative to the buckle. Legstraps are always pretty much stressed directly square with the webbing. Like any gear - it needs to be inspected and repaired/replaced when fraying or wear is present. Articulated harnesses eliminated the problem, TK

When I was 5 years old, Fidel Castro had a ride on my toboggan TK

sell it and buy a Spectre and leanr to love the very soft and slow openings. Or continue to jump a canopy that opens hard and suffer the spinal consequences later in your life. TK

When i am on my death bed, I want to think about all the great times I had, all the friends I made and all the places I saw, etc Not think about all the people that I fucked over, all the things I stole, and the shit I created and all the bad things I may have done. (thanks to Gus wing for that thought) Nothing else - money, property, ego, whatever really matters at that point. That applies to morals, behaviors, belief structures, friendships, personalties and everything else in life. TK

it is more about having the 'most' fuselage and surface available in the event of an emergency, as well as all the other protective issues already mentioned in the same event. Lose power at low altitude? The pilot does not want a huge hole in the side of the plane creating unneeded drag. But for a light load in a good Otter, it hardly makes any difference. Fully Loaded? Close the door - Hot in Florida in the summer? Sure it is. How many of you are wearing a dark or black jumpsuit? You still do, so close the door anyway for the first minute or so. Could argue about it all day long I guess. Does not make much sense to me to NOT give the pilot the max advantage during takeoff. TK

what did I read in the story? A bunch of people got up, moved around and chatted, and NOTHING happened. Apparently from the story, security WAS in place and if something suspicious had happened, sounds like the Air Marshalls who were on board would have stepped in (they are trained in what they are looking for) The suspicious acitvity obviously was checked out if agents were waiting to see these folks, and I would guess they were not concerned about explosives on board because I suspect these people had none I also suspect that the agencies overseeing security were pretty confident of that as well. Sounds to me like a story of large differences in cultures. I got on an airplane once with a bunch of UK soccer players. They were obnoxious, drunk, throwing things around and generally out of control - but that is what they do. except now I am soccer profiling I guess. TK

given the recent dilvusion of the CIA's pre-war intelligence, I do not put much weight into ANY of the so-called threats. I think they just like to keep us scared so we will do anything they say. More fear? More $$ for big corporations that ultimately get to raise prices and tighten security. All-in-all I am completely convinced that this is more and more about money and power, not about terrorism. Will we ever see green again? I doubt it. Have we had a terrorist attack since 9/11? No, TK

the ORIGINAL question was about invading Iraq and why? Diversed into N Korea, Venezula, Cuba, etc. No one has come up with reasons to invade them, plenty of why not to, My point exactly - Iraq is no different, we have/had no reason to be there, The threat is LESS than N. Korea, we apparently do NOT invade just for oil (Venzuela) and we do not invade just do dispose of dictators (Cuba). Part of the trouble with America - it never seems to admit when it is wrong. Might go a long way to say - hey, we invaded and there are no WMD's, now let's clean this up, do some rebuilding and get out. - you do not even need to apologize, just act. Instead now were are fighting "terrorists and insurgents" in a country that never had any to begin with and we treat them like they are the enemy. Maybe they just want their freakin' country back - you would do the same if some superpower invaded the USA just for resources, oil, or for no good reason. Would you consider YOURSELF a terrorist if you were hiding in the Tennessee hills picking off Russian invaders as they drove by? Time to leave Iraq - if we NEVER went there, the world would be the same as it was 3 years ago - only 10,000 Iraqi civilians would still be alive, and so would 850 US soldiers. And I would not be looking at a 200B debt for a war either - money we could be putting into finding Osama (or perhaps food, medicne and education in our own country) TK PS - what happened to finding him anyway?

I find that hard to believe. I found that I pay pretty much no taxes down here compared to what I paid in taxes in Canada, Income tax is a fraction of what Canadians pay (mostly duie to all these services that are being discussed) Real estate taxes might be higher, I do not know, but they sure are high depending on where you live. In Zephyrhills? Pretty low. Car insurance is higher Health care seems higher because we do not get a bill for it in Canada Sales taxes in Canada are MUCH higher, (except Alberta). Newfoundland pays almost 21% when it is all added up. Down here we pay for every service, everyone has their hand out to make a buck. It is the American way of life. I pay all the mortagage closing costs every time I get a loan - not because it costs money, but because they want to make a buck right up front. I pay title insurance, which almost never pays out (scam) Everyone sues everyone so insurance is much higher. A few examples of the differences. In Canada we do not have title insurance because the government keeps the real estate records. Mortgage closing costs are lower, but interest rates are a bit higher. More things are regulated in Canada, but I would not say that taxes are lower. Taxes are MUCH higher. But do you get more services for the money you spend? I do not know. Health care is definitely not 'free'. Canada has a government that cannot afford to pay for it and tries to keep the costs under control. Here you fight with your HMO because they cannot afford it and they try to keep the costs under control. same thing, different price. I prefer the US system, but I do not like the fact that half the country has no insurance - something wrong with a government that cannot take care of its own people, feed and educate them. TK

also see my original post about 'threats to our national security regarding Iraq. The threats were made up. that was my point - we were lied to. Saddam Hussein is no more a threat to US national security than Milosevic was/is. Or for that matter no more a threat than the leaders of Syria - but we do not invade Syria. I would take North Korea to be a bigger threat if you believe that WMD's are a problem - why are we no invading there? (again cause they got no oil) TK

Castro is a threat to our national security? Why? Kennedy solved the crisis in 1961-1962 whenever it was, that was a loooooooong time ago - I see no threat to the USA from Cuba. Sorry about the 'racist' language' but it is hard to display sarcasm in print. My experiences here in Zephyrhills, especially recently, lead me to believe that much of the USA is still very much racist and people still hold the beliefs that blacks are inferior, depsite what the law might say. TK

I will not name but I will quote the parachute manufacturer who recently said "God bless the war" War makes lots of businesses rich. Spending is reckless and never ending by the military and government as they justify any amounts of money for the cause, whether they can afford it or not. Ask Haliburton and their stockholders if it would be a good thing for the company to end the war in Iraq. You bet they support it. And so do many of the other manufacturers and suppliers that are sending & providing parts, supplies, equipment and whatever to the war effort. Ethically and socially, they might object, but when that big contract comes in, they are more than happy to sign on the dotted line without thinking about how many people may die because of their products and services. TK

geez, then we should also (or should have) boycott(ed) Columbia, Honduras, Panama, half the countries in South America and Haiti, For years, thousands of people ran from Haiti, but we did nothing - Baby Doc was ruthless, but we had no sanctions against Haiti all these years - so again - why Cuba? We do business with LOTS of dictatorships around the world - dictatorship does not necessarily mean we boycott them, nor does it necessarily mean that they are bad for their people. Cuba is a poor country with a poor government and little to offer its people. But it is still richer and probably less corrupt than Haiti has been for 30+ years. Yet we did nothing there. Back to my argument about why we dispose of a dictator in Iraq, when there are MANY worse in the world. (Cause they got oil and we don't like poor niggers.....) TK

Do the reason's really matter? I seem to remember a detailed presentation on WMD's. Which is/was wrong and still is today. To now say we are fighting terrorism? Hmm, there were no terrorists based in Iraq (of any significance) before the war, now we are fighting them every day. Was this a self-fulfilling prophecy? Saddam Hussein as a butcher and needs to be taken out of control? Sheesh - 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 100 days in the largest genocide in decades (1996). Genocide is regularly practiced in several other corners of the world, so if we want to 'save people form their leaders', the targets could have been better chosen. I have no idea why we went to war, just like I have no idea why we still hold a grudge against Cuba. I do know that the reasons are flimsy and wrong and we should be apologizing and getting out. Let me guess, - Iraq has oil, businessmen love war, our leaders love war, Rwanda has only poor black people, and (many) Americans are apparently dumb enough to be lead around like a horse following a carrot, believeing everything the gov't tells them. TK

If you are worried about flying solo without a radio, then you should ask to fly with a radio. If the staff refuses to give you one, then perhaps it is time for a different dropzone. I think people need one-on-one coaching, using a radio, until the student can prove that they can do it on their own. The radio is not necessarily a tool a 'tell' you what to do, but it can be used to walk you through various exercises, ask you questions during flight, make you think for yourself and teach you what you need. Too many DZ's are still kicking students off radio at Level 7-8 without making sure they are capable. Part of the reason so few learn how to fly parachutes properly and leading to the rise in canopy fatalities over the years. Stay on the radio. Ask instructors to coach you. Pay them if need be, you pay for aerial coaching and freefall coaching, pay for radio coaching. Use the resources at www.performancedesigns.com and read up on things. You are at a stage where you should be relaxed enough to think and grasp new information, even if you need coaching to accomplish that. good luck with it, but do not step there if you are not totally comfortable with it. TK

Should be a good weekend, I am just back from Finland and Canada, so in time to help with some events: July 3 - Sat Night we will try to do a night load for anyone that is interested, please let us know early int he day so we can get the load organzied BEFORE dark, else we may all be pissed and full of beer. July 4th - piggie roast (chickens too for those that do not like pork. Janine is making all the extras, food is free and TK & Paul will be smokin' the meat all day. Fireworks Sunday night in true Johnny Gates fashion. we will be blasting off high-intensity fireworks for the annual show. See you there, TK

might have something to do with someone running off with all the money and not paying any (or most) of the bills, when that was their job.....

just what I said - destabilization of the middle east just might be the good reason they need to 'protect themselves'. Especially if they think Iran and Syria are a threat, given that they have all these funky weapons. Hell we did it, looking for weapons that did not exist TK

we will never know if it is 'not pratical' or not, since the government continues to do it, and the world continues to be angry with us. My point is that it might very well be worth trying. Sure a few countries have soldiers over their, but you missed my point. Most countries do not extend their influence to the world, nor do they ask or demand that foreign governments allow them to open military outposts inside their borders. it is this sort of influence that gets groups/countries/people pissed at us. Would our 'way of life' really be threatened if we closed military bases in Korea, Germany and the Phillipines? I doubt it. We might actually have to be good neighbors instead. We will still buy our toasters from China and gas from the middle east. I fail to understand why American influence has be extended at such a high price for only a 'perceived' gain. There is no proof that we actually 'need' overseas bases. TK

I will take 1000 less dead American soldiers over 10,000 less dead Iraqi civilians. My point is that even if we save 100,000 Iraqi lives, it simply is NOT justification for what we are doing. When governments are bad, people die and are mistreated, then they rise up and smite the leaders, - the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Bolshevik uprisings, the Armenians, etc. History is full of it - maybe we should look at the numbers, pull out of Iraq and go to Central Africa where we will save many MORE lives - if that is your goal. How about this for a scenario? We tell Saudi Arabia that we are NOT going to buy any more of their oil until they clean up the middle east and this terrorism thing? We use our oil and Venezuelan oil and pay higher prices for it (funny we seem to be paying that now and for no good reason). Saudi Arabia loses billions and trillions of dollars per year. I think they would get off their ass and do something about it and we would not have to intervene at all - problem solved for us, no one dies at our end and we do not get accused by the world of being bullies. And the extra fuel cost probably runs less than the $200 billion dollars this war has cost us so far. Maybe then car makers actually get off their asses and start implementing some fuel-saving technologies that have been around for 20 years. TK