Just Because

[STEPPENWOLF]

Yes boss...but I know what you would with me..I hate heights over ten feet but always did wanna jump like my dad.If I ever do you will be my partner I am hooked to.

[dbeardslee]

Think I remember you telling me about her.I know you Doug and you would do everything in your power to make me chit my pants

For the most part you try to keep them calm - jumping out of a flying aircraft usually takes care of the scaring part. The plane ride up is usually the worst part for students, and that's when they really start to get scared. So we'd do a lot of joking around and stuff to get their minds off the approaching moment. But sometimes you'd get these students that were half nuts, and they're the same kind of students that don't listen to commands. Which is the same kind of student that will get you killed. With those types I always made it a point to show them the hook knife that was attached to the back of every student harness. It's there in case you get a line-over and need to cut a line, but that's not what I told them.

I'd pull the hook knife out and show it to them and say, "Do you know what this is?"

And they'd say "No."

And I'd say, "It's a hook knife. Do you know what it's there for?"

And they'd say "No."

And I'd say, "It's there in case I have to cut you away."

And their eyes would get REAL big. And then I'd say "Hey! There's no reason we both have to die!"

That usually kept 'em pretty well behaved.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Think I remember you telling me about her.I know you Doug and you would do everything in your power to make me chit my pants

[dbeardslee]

Thought of you today Dbeardslee..the sky diver who got knocked out after his jump..if I was strapped onto you said if something went wrong I will cut you loose I think you are the only one I would trust to be strapped to jumping out of a plane but would hate to hear the sweet nothings in my ear as you scare the chit out of me

I had a student once that none of the other tandem masters would touch. She was 5'3" tall and weighed 235 pounds. Usually you do a thing called a sit-back drill after you get the canopy open, and it involves repositioning the leg straps to make things more comfortable. But when you get a student with that much leg fat those straps aren't going any place. I told her beforehand it was going to be uncomfortable under canopy, and I took her down a little lower than usual to shorten the canopy ride. But she decided to complain anyway.

She said "This is REALLY uncomfortable! Isn't there anything you can do?!"

I said, "Well, there's one thing I can do, and you'll be more comfortable... right up until the point where sudden-impact-trauma kills the hell out of you. I'd rather get you down as fast as I safely can."

She didn't complain again for the rest of the ride.

As far as getting knocked unconscious - I know two jumpers that happened to. One got kicked in the head and took a seven-thousand foot nap. I asked him what it was like waking up at terminal velocity, and he said "Man, I knew I was skydiving!" The other was a girl who passed out due to oxygen deprivation on a high altitude jump. I was on that load, and she passed out right as the formation left the tailgate. Nobody noticed she was missing, and she fell somewhere in the neighborhood of twelve-thousand feet asleep. She woke up and dumped her canopy, and all was good.

You know what they say - if at first you don't succeed, skydiving's probably not for you.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Thought of you today Dbeardslee..the sky diver who got knocked out after his jump..if I was strapped onto you said if something went wrong I will cut you loose I think you are the only one I would trust to be strapped to jumping out of a plane but would hate to hear the sweet nothings in my ear as you scare the chit out of me

[STEPPENWOLF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqABijWMlxA

[STEPPENWOLF]

Phil that is called drying out after a bad nights rain where you name it..it got wet..didn't sleep well that night.

[MaximPhil]

Hey Max,the xs east is in my plan as I wanna do my travelling east cause I have been going west the last 20 years so time to see places I haven't seen in years or never saw.
Long bike rides are gone for me When I ride I have always been a cruiser,out for the ride and have a look see what is around the next corner.
South western OH and south eastern IN are GREAT places to ride along the OH River.But nothing like putting along a smooth black top road out in the middle of nowhere and can be alone in your thoughts plus I pull off at almost every pull off there is to have a look see.

My XS has been an important part of my life..we know each other

Hi Bill,
That looks like a good camp.
Phil

[STEPPENWOLF]

I wimped out today and had my first meal in my van that I cooked over the stove.It was good,used my backpack plate,a beer out of the fridge,tv on and sitting 15 feet from the track with trains everywhere...beautiful day..it don't get no better than this boys

[dbeardslee]

That youtube video was great. The turkey looked better than a lot of 'em I've seen come out of ovens. LoL

[STEPPENWOLF]

Not yet Doug,I have a stove and microwave but cooking a chicken on the engine sounds good haven't done that in years,pizza is good but can't be too long cause it dries out.If you can put in foil you can cook it on an engine.
One time on my 11 I had bratts on the engine and put a small hole in the foil and smeled like a brat riding down the road.
lhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqABijWMlxA

[dbeardslee]

So Bill, have you cooked any hotdogs on the motor of that new RV yet?

[STEPPENWOLF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R4j-AKXSDo&ebc=ANyPxKr7re9FRzvqYfkuD276ubkGTgrK-bUG0Te3RmG9ruZXyewpNDv-_lHW9da95nbKHiGHmjHuOZ5zU1_t69r5VpKe_ixoDA

[STEPPENWOLF]

I did do a lunch with a friend at what we call train camp.next to the tracks and we camp..private five acres and secluded.The van did all right.

[STEPPENWOLF]

Hey Max,the xs east is in my plan as I wanna do my travelling east cause I have been going west the last 20 years so time to see places I haven't seen in years or never saw.
Long bike rides are gone for me When I ride I have always been a cruiser,out for the ride and have a look see what is around the next corner.
South western OH and south eastern IN are GREAT places to ride along the OH River.But nothing like putting along a smooth black top road out in the middle of nowhere and can be alone in your thoughts plus I pull off at almost every pull off there is to have a look see.

My XS has been an important part of my life..we know each other