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Andrade wrote: "Forty-eight of these jumps are inexplicable: Good weather, experienced and healthy skydivers with no history of depression, working equipment, etc." I am familiar with a number of these inexplicable no pulls Marty and they scare me a bit. What the hell happened? Could it possibly happen to me? In addition to at least one visual altimeter, I wear an audible altimeter and jump with an AAD. Theoretically, that gear should dramatically reduce the chance of me replicating those mystery no pull deaths.

Rude.

Something I don’t like about online discussions is how when someone clarifies their viewpoint and potentially changes their mind people jump on them. Maybe it is because tone is lost in a forum like this, and I’ve got no idea if you’re being nice or snarky to Turtle.

Why was Pavlov's hair so soft? Because he conditioned it.

Isn't liberty supposed to mean that where you stand politically doesn't impact one's freedom? Or does your version of liberty mean that one's political views should impact one's freedom? Or are you just talking out of your ass because you have argued yourself into a corner?

Meh.....everyone's a critic! And I haven't even read the book yet!

I spent some time on the all AW FT 30 this weekend. I was able to get ten jumps on the AW, and I was having some much fun I didn't want to jump the VK. I noticed that I am on version P4, and I am not sure what changes have been made. The harness sensitivity is very intuitive and does not feel detuned as the version that Daniel jumped. Yesterday there was zero wind so I got a chance to do some 90 harness turns, and the airwolf was very responsive. I have to come back to the openings, because they are so nice. I was using the snaps on the sliders, and I was getting really consistent perfect openings every time. Such a pleasure, and during the opening sequence if it did start to turn all I had to do was load the other side of my harness a little bit and it would open strait every time. The FT 30 material is so impressive. The drive I get out of this wing is so impressive. I got a chance to fly with a HK similar wing loading, both at 2.7, and I was holding half brakes! This is a great wing!

We just flew a pair of dekunu altimeters on our rocket. I couldn't be more pleased. They gave us instant access to a great deal of data. this was particularly important as the flight went to shit. We were able to pull key data points out of the unit. We had to kind of hack them to get them to record the flight as we were using them well out side of normal skydiving paramiters. So far I am very excited about these units. Lee

Aim for the dzo's car. Sorry, couldn't resist.

If you do basic L x H x W to get volume, the Curv can accept more volume. If you look at a side view of most rigs, the back pad is flat from shoulder blades to where the rig rests on the top of your butt. Your spine is curved, though, so there's space between your lower back and the rig. The Curv uses this space for additional volume. As a bonus, it fits more comfortably along the curve of your spine. Yes. No. However, a newer design than the first-generation MARD is in the final stages of acceptance testing and is planned for release this summer. It will be fully and easily retrofitable to existing Curvs. Yes, and yes. -Mark

Damn, you can't even get rides like that at Six Flags! --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

Well.... Okay, If you insist. I was looking through some old pictures, trying to find one of my trusty old Para-Plane for another thread in this section. When I came across some old pics that reminded me of a jump that was less scary for me than everyone else there. File this one under: Better to be Lucky than Good! A little background- It was 1979 and I was the Captain of the " Jumpin' Dawgs" Southern Illinois University Skydiving Team. A few of us on the team had the credentials and skill to do demos, and we'd worked out a deal with the university to perform at many of the home games as a warm-up to the festivities. At different times I'd brought in the 'Game Ball' , dog biscuits for the school mascots, the head coach's 'missing' game plan.... Rah Rah stuff. It got our club attention, which increased membership...which fattened my wallet, since I'd worked out a deal with the local DZO for a nice cut of all the static-liners I brought in a taught. The game in question was a most special opportunity for us as a team ...and me in particular. It was the Home coming game for that season, and despite the lousy team we had. It was to be a monster event in town. It was also Parents Day, meaning not a lot of empty seats in the stadium. And...for the first time ever! We would be jumping at half time instead of as the warm-up monkees. The day of grand expectations had arrived... I'd gone to what for me at the time, were extreme measures to; "Pull off a crowd pleaser" -My folks had driven 350 miles to check out where all the money was going... Got them front row seats for the game. -Stayed up most the night prior to see that the pilot buddy we convinced to 'borrow' a university plane was suitably lubed to follow through. -Utilized my by then well honed skills with whiteout and a copier to make all pertinent paperwork in order. (is there a statute of limitations on USPA insurance fraud?) ....ahhh just kidding. - Re packed my reserve in the trunk of my car. - made DAMN well and sure that this Tall, Blonde, Bumpy in all the right places.... (get this) CHEERLEADER type, pixie babe... ...that I had met at a party two nights before, and played slap & tickle with most of the early morn with... before being thrown out sliding into third... ...whom, I quite slyly I should add, agreed to... 'drop it on' for part of the game and watch her cheer on the team, ...was still expecting me to come see her steal the show with her new routine. ...3rd base my ASS! I had some show stealin' to do myself!! -A lotta guys don't like to jump smoke...it can be messy and is a little dangerous. I'd jumped a lot of smoke...even back then, with the demo team from my home DZ. Problem was, the club was 350 miles north and so were my smoke brackets. A fellow team member and engineering student, had contrived the smoke bracket to end all smoke brackets... and agreed to lend it to me for the day. The thing was beautiful; stainless, aluminum, heavy nylon webbing... ....and safe! Three separate ways to cut it away if there was a problem. You could even set it up to fire the 2nd smoke with a kick from the other foot! ( these engineer guys are something, us undeclared dudes just party and chase babes) All pretty much going to plan... If you don't count that odd color the pilot face keeps turning. ...And why's he keep askin' to borrow my helmet? We had some trouble strapping him in the plane, so now we're a bit late, no time for a wind drift. I can see the flags on the stadium and they're still... The 1/2 time whistle has blown, the band is beginning to form into the diamond shape that it will hold until we touch down within. At 3500 feet ... Dead nutz over the 50...CUT!...C-YA!! And we're off- 5 second delay... ripcord out... (yes, a ripcord!) ...canopy check, The other two guys begin to form up on me... I "am" the Captain after all! I reach down to fire one of the two yellow smokes...and... HOLY SHIT!!!! ...There it goes! The bracket to end all brackets has performed flawlessly! ....pull the grenade pin, it and figures your in trouble ...breaks apart into the 3 purposely designed, masterly machined, close tolerance matched pieces. And with the burning M-18 showing the way... Is now screaming down toward a statuim full of waiting to be impressed people. My initial emotion was terror... - All demo jumpers know rule #1 : don't hurt anybody! To religion... -God I hope it doesn't hit anybody....That I know! To the skydivers standard, Gallows Humor... -It'll smack the blonde pixie right in the melon, ..no real threat of damage there! ...but it will ruin her 'routine' and I'm never gonna get a chance to break Roger Marris's record! (remember, this was '79...Mac was still in rubber pants) I'm drifting way out of position watching the end of my career unfold ...the other two guys blissfully unaware of my minor mishap, are yelling to me to "spin it down!"... ...spin it down... ..hell I might as well just cutaway and track for a soft spot on the blonde. ...nobody would even mention the smoke bomb if I did THAT! At around 1800 feet I'm right over the goal post. ...south side of the field. A yellow cloud seems to be emanating from near the wall behind the posts, It's definitely inside the stadium ...but looks like nothing going on in that area... Surely if id beaned a customer, there would be some frantic activity there... right ?! Maybe, with all this clean livin' I dodged a bullet.... We all three landed safely, on time and on target ...just as advertised! The crowd went wild...the band was relived! ( looked nervous as we pounded in among 'em) Dragging our gear to the sidelines, I curtly explain to my fellow skygods just how well the jump REALLY went. When... off in the endzone...POP! ...smokebomb # 2 starts burning... ( Hey!...the auto-kick start really works! ) Maybe if we ignore it, it will just all go away... ...I'm packing on the track that circles the gridiron. ...gotta suck out every bit of glory you can ya know! My Dads standing next to me just beaming ...behind him I see this doughnut warehouse with a badge, carrying the remnants of my bracket & bomb combo in his paws... being escorted toward me by Southern Illinois University's director of athletics... Old number 40 for the Chicago Bears....Gayle Sayers! Though always a big fan, I'd never met Mr.Sayers...( I cried during 'Brian's Song' ) ...and wasn't really looking forward to our impromptu introduction. Maybe if I ignore him...he just go away! "Hello, I'm Gayle Sayers...are you enjoying the game?" # 40 asked my dad. " It's great" pops answers, " But I really came to see my son jump in." "Yes, they do put on quite a show for us" Gayle says looking at me... I'm on my knees trying to close my container, putting on the best Brian Piccolo impression I can... playing the 'sympathy' card. Mr. Sayers then hits me with more cool than 'Shaft' could ever touch... "I was explaining to officer "krispycream" here, ...that you drop these in as wind indicators for landing direction... and that you ordinarily pick them up after the game." Err Ahhhh....YEP! That's right! ...Ahhh, After... But I can take it right now...Thanks! My dear old dad, knowing every bit of what's going on here...never misses a beat... Gee Gayle, mind If I get a picture... hands me his camera...and puts his arm around Sayers. ...Hell, at that point, even "I" almost wanted to hug Mr. Gayle!! I stayed for the rest of the game ...hey, ...front row seats! The folks took my friends and I out for a great dinner, before they hit the road for home. The Cheerleader came along too... Couldn't get over how I wasn't kidding when I said I'd "drop-by." ...Oh Yeah, Remember that legendary time when "The Babe" ...pointed out to left field? .....YEP! ... YARD! A Long Distance DINGER!!! Sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~