Leaderboard

Ok, I'll say it. The forum migration to the new format did not help.

Thanks. I knew perfectly well that whatever mfg I picked, it would be the other one.

As a former Texan, I say give them their independence, and remind them that freedom isn't free. They'll start having to negotiate trade deals, too. Wendy P.

Interestingly enough, I heard a talk on the placebo effect in general yesterday; in the COVID vaccine trials, about 30% of people had an adverse effect (besides sore arm) to the placebo. Fewer to the second shot, which given that the actual shot has a higher incidence of adverse effect, seems to indicate that the second shot does have a noticeable effect in some people. Got my Pfizer shot one on Saturday; already have my follow-up scheduled for shot 2. I'll be volunteering at our local senior center as an intake person after that. Seems only right, since it's a 10-minute stroll. Wendy P.

DGIF about the Bachelor but I don't understand why tandems turn so low. I see them at DZs turning and frantically digging out of the corner constantly.

That TI will never live that down. He may as well just turn in his rating card. He is also lucky he did not break his neck.

it also effects your repack numbers, you get a "/" for a standard repack and a "X" for a chop. "X" is 2 "/"

Yep. Iowa got 42% of their power from wind in 2019. And it's a lot colder in Iowa than in Texas. No big blackouts in this storm; the worst they got to in the worst part of the storm was 1500 homes without power. They figured it out. Perhaps it's not wind turbines that are the problem. Perhaps it's the people who are installing, operating and maintaining the wind turbines. (And the nuclear power plants, and the natural gas plants.)

This is funny and almost surreal. I don’t know why you’d believe me any more than you’d believe hutch, but I first met him in ‘98 and that story is pretty much how I remember it. Icarus FX was just getting to the masses, and I distinctly recall him babbling around the dz at that time about some crazy badass canopy he got to demo somewhere. I didn’t go to Quincy that year so I don’t know if that’s where it was. I was only like 1-200 jump wonder at the time. He regaled me with tales of insane wing loading and crazy fast swoops being achieved by the top canopy pilots of the day. I only met Jazz a few times but he was real.

Yeah not very practical. It just gets complex. (Just like this reply did for me...) In theory if there were a DZ with tons of funding (eg military) you could be lent a reserve canopy set up to use as a main. "You have a Smart 150 in your rig? Well, we have a PD 143 set up here, that would at least be similar." There would be complexities because a reserve doesn't normally have the deployment bag attached. (So you need a specially built reserve, or static lining the jump, or removable deployment system, or someone else chasing the d-bag.) Sometimes there are big boogies where manufacturers bring reserves set up to be tried out as mains, but then you need to be around such a big skydiving event. But if you want to actually cut away from a parachute, then you need a 3rd canopy, a reserve, on the system. You can have the reserve to test in its proper place on your back -- which makes putting a real reserve on your belly more complex, especially to have it fully legal. Or you could have the reserve to test on you belly, which keeps your 'last reserve' in your rig as normal, but then the deployment for the test canopy won't be like a real reserve. Either way, having 3 canopies makes the gear and handles and procedures and crap that your wearing more complex and less suited to a newbie. Maybe more dangerous than a real cutaway after a mal! (There was even a World Champion doing a stunt jump for a commercial about 25 years ago, with 3 canopies, who screwed up the order he pulled stuff and died. An unusual case but 3 canopies does get complex.) And even if you set up everything to cutaway to a reserve to test flying it, there won't be nearly the same stress level as if you were having an actual malfunction. So then ideally you'd at least do something like pop one toggle on the main to get yourself spinning around before cutting away. Reserves do fly a little different than the ZP canopies people are used to today. A small F-111 style canopy will tend to have a shorter, sharper flare motion, not a long gradual flare motion. It used to be that people were used to F-111 style canopies from their student days, but now they don't get that. So I do get a little concerned about newer jumpers these days knowing how to properly flare their reserve. At least people learn that they should do practice flares under their reserve when actually flying it after a malfunction. All in all, it gets complex. So in the sport it is considered reasonable to just spend one's time practicing on the ground. Hanging harnesses are good, handle checks on all jumps are good. And you don't buy a reserve that is way smaller than what you are used to jumping as a main.

you can have a reserve hooked up as a main to see how it flys. I wouldn’t chop a good canopy just because my reserve was due though adding completely unnecessary risk. some dzs use a hanging harness on the ground. much less risk of falling to your death

What isn't complicated is that a state that consistently rejects federal intervention in its affairs and whose senator opposed federal help for other states after a weather induced disaster comes cap in hand to the feds when it has a problem.

It was a bargain even at NASA’s price. But for some that’s not good enough. NASA regularly pulls off amazing stuff, and yet they seem be the government entity most commonly cited as a waste of money. They are the one government run organization that not only does what it sets out to do, they often knock the ball out of the park. Then they have to beg for more operational funding because their spacecraft last so much longer than they were designed to. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big spacex fan too, They have pulled off some impressive feats of engineering, and yes, at reduced cost. They are a for profit corporation and that’s what they should be doing. But even if they are not as efficient, NASA does scientific exploration of space better than anyone else.

i think a lot of people are getting their sky fix from local FB groups. Both my local dzs have fb fun jumper groups that create a low level of constant traffic. The groups are have become necessary / best way to share DZ news / events, and then also have become a microcosm of DZ.com, with incident discussion, gear discussion, misc bonfire shit, and even some politics.

It's my home DZ and most modern DZ in Ukraine! Situation for July 2006: 1 jump ticket to 4200 m(14.000 ft) - 95 UAH (around 19$). Exange rate - 100$=500 UAH. Block and group discounts, for example - 100 jump'a ticket will cost 8360 grn.=1650$ (maximim discount is 12%, valid for 6 months)