chuckbrown

Reasonable people will differ. I've received permission from the FAA to do the exact things you've said are not allowed.

I can't find any litigation involving the intepretation of this language, but considering the wording of other portions of the FARs, one could make a very strong argument that this language does not exclusively apply to persons actually making an intentional skydive. This language is broad enough to apply to anyone engaged in any activity associated with sport parachute operations, e.g., pilot familiarization flights, ferry flights, observer rides, etc. Had the FAA intended the floor to be used only by persons intending to make a sport parachute jump (with a dual parachute harness and container system, blah, blah, blah), they could have very easily drafted this FAR to say just that.

and (s)he doesn't like Barry Bonds.

Nothing wrong with putting observers in a 182. We routinely put non-jumping observers right next to the door with an emergency rig. We make them sign a waiver and give them a briefing on emergency procedures and send them up. They're told to keep the seat (floor) belt on, so they're not going anywhere.

Did anyone else notice that Al Gore sounded like Big Gay Al? I'm serial! Thanks for asking!

You're not dying from hot sauce until you can start to feel it eat through your stomach lining. No joke. I saw some "stuff" at a promo table in a supermarket and thought I was a tuff guy, so I ate a whole bunch. After a while I was praying that only my lips would fall off. I could feel it gnawing through my stomach (and started to get scared). A gallon of milk later I was good to go. And I eat Thai chilies whole. I have no idea what the name was, but I hope the "chef" dies in a vat of his own creation. It didn't even taste very good; it was just f***ing HOT.

Did you talk to the other jumper about what happened and why he was unable to control his canopy?

IIRC, the same jump as my first reserve ride (no. 18). As the reserve was round I kind of went where the wind took me. Off DZ landings shouldn't freak you out because they can happen on any jump, and you should be prepared to deal with them. As soon as you have a good canopy you should evaluate whether you'll land off, and if you think you might start looking for alternate landing sites. Stay calm, find an out and plan how you'll fly to it and land safely. And don't do any panic turns close to the ground. I know several people who either spent lots of time in the hospital or died because of panic turns landing off.

Talk to a doctor. Ear problems and freefall can be a nasty combination.

So you think we should all add him? Like...everyone on this site? I'm not sure if this will work but: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=39271812 About me: Conservative businessman type Who I'd like to meet: San Francisco Bay Area ladies and couples who enjoy sexual exploration, especially giving and receiving oral. Somehow I'm thinking "conservative" is the wrong word. For SFO that IS conservative.

First reserve: Jump 18 Second reserve: Jump 19 Third reserve: Jump ~900 Total jumps: ~1100

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I seem to recall a FAR that required pilots to wear a rig any time they intend to open a door in flight or exceed 60 degrees of bank. Edited to add: 14 CFR 91.307 requires pilots to wear parachutes where they intend to exceed 60 degrees of bank. It makes no mention of the door being open. I guess I was dreaming.

This is the ID card that was recently issued to McKinney.

Not true at all man, see my post. Sorry dude, maybe the photos for the Keys are different, but the shots I've looked at (both of my home area & areas in Asia I've been) are exactly the same. Right down to the same cloud cover.

The Bird's Eye feature is one up on GE, but the other aerials are the same as GE but without the same level of detail. It is nice to not have to load special software (which I can't do at work).

My thoughts exactly.

If you're an unlicensed jumper and haven't jumped in a month, your instructors will probably want you to do some sort of remedial training/currency jump. Do what they recommend & try to go have some fun. There's no shame in taking a radio along as an added safety measure. Sissy. Just kidding, of course.

Just to echo was ZigZag said, I do recall my doctor telling my not to skydive because if I ever broke the ankle again I'd probably be crippled for life. I don't know if that was because the metal was in or not. Ask your docs & best of luck. BTW, I listened to everything my doctor said. I just ignored the part about not skydiving again.

Yes, if the jumpers decide the weather's good enough to jump and board the plane they pay for the highest altitude they reach even if they come down because of bad weather. Even if they don't jump they've received a service that costs money & should pay for that service.

FWIW, I shattered my fib and broke my tib clean off (or was it the other way around) in 2001. They put 2 screws in the big bone and 6 pins and a titanium plate in the little bone. The doctor said the metal stays with me for the duration. Occassionally, I'll get pain in the ankle (a dull ache), mostly if I don't exercise regularly. Other than that, I'd say I'm as close to 100% as I'll ever get. I run with no problems and have given the ankle quite a pounding both on and off the DZ. So far, so good.

Or aim for the most expensive car in the carpark! I'd prefer to go for the chain-link fence.

Damn you. Damn you all to hell!!!! I think my teammate scooped up your 126. It's a small world.

The 143 is probably one of the most popular-sized Lightnings out there. Good luck finding a used one. There was one advertised on the CRW dog e-mail list last week, but was scooped up before the seller could even respond to my e-mail.

While I'm no fan of USPA, my experience with renewing (which I've done on-line for the past several years) is that membership status on the Group Member website is updated as soon as they charge your credit card. Any USPA GM DZ with access to the internet can look up your membership status. I haven't shown up to a new DZ with an in-date card in years. I just tell them to look me up on the GM website to confirm my membership. Never had any problems. Why pay for expedited service when it's already there for free?

Drop and give me 20.