darkvapor

I'm sure the perspective is very cool. I've seen some amazing BASE jump videos with a similar contraption. However, something like that only adds risks. If it's a smooth jump with a good passenger, then this thing will probably have a good safety record. However, what happens when you have a mal? Or you have to fight your passenger? It's also a huge snag hazard... Lines.. risers.. handles and cords.. I think most TM's would rather have both of their hands completely free when dealing in an emergency situation. It doesn't look like there is a quick release system with it. And anyone who has taken off gloves knows it takes a few seconds, usually with the help of your other hand.. Attached is a picture of this contraption.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html Use that 'calculator' to figure out what your options are. It really doesn't matter what you claim. You will end up paying the same. Of course it is nice to minimize the impact at tax time (for returns or debts).. but since your single, with no dependents, and aren't claimed by anyone else, just put down 1 and that should be about right. edited to add: its probably better to have too few exemptions than too many. a skydiver your age probably wont have a few grand to pay back to the government when it comes time, so its better to receive a happy surprise than to end up going further into debt during spring time. it will be a helluva lot better to be able to buy a nice new canopy for the upcoming skydiving season, then end up sitting on the ground because you just busted the bank paying the IRS..

Lynch did absolutely nothing that deserved any praise or commendation. Her unit screwed up, they crashed, they got captured. They weren't heros, they weren't warriors. They were mechanics and cooks. They probably had 6 weeks of basic training and 30 minutes on the firing range. She didn't do anything extraordinary. IIRC, the unit didn't even fight being captured. She was just a poor little girl from middle America that got caught by those ruthless eyerackees that would dare to shoot at our daughters and sisters. Makes for a good story if you embellish the details and make it 10 times more important than it was. Her injuries were sustained from the crash, not some fierce all night battle to protect her fellow mess cooks. I totally agree that it has everything to do with appearances. (With enough makeup and the perfect lightning and camera angles..) she represents the ideal american girl.. She looks like she can be your next door neighbor, living in suburbia with the white picket fence, the 2.4 kids, and the dog... Same with Elizabeth Smart.. shes one of those 2.4 kids! Who can not feel some compassion for these two examples? Obviously I have no compassion for Lynch... too bad she got hurt.. but does not deserve the title of a hero... but that's another story..

Not So Fast, Lawmakers Say of Plans for a Space Plane http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/politics/28ORBI.html?ex=1067922000&en=3b0298372eeede0e&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE Thank you NYTimes for proving my point. 20 years ago, it was the loftiest and most noble of causes to explore space and to move beyond the bounds of the earth. Today, even with all of the technological advances we've made, it is not a "national goal"... That's like after discovering fire and all of its benefits.. then getting your hand burned, and saying.. 'let's go back to eating raw meat... '...

Very true. A lot of the aerospace industry is (or was) driven by political posturing. 'Our country has a bigger dick than your country!' ... However, a lot of people within the industry felt that it was noble and very much worth doing. Back in the Cold War, I was told (by several of my professors) that one of the most patriotic things you can do for your country was to be an aerospace engineer. Of course! The commies were about to win! However, past administrations, and many future ones will not put themselves in the situation of another Cold War. At least not on the military and technology side of it. Unfortunately, it's going to take a major event before America realizes how far back it is before something initiating another technological push. My personal opinion is that the Columbia shuttle disaster is part of this manifestation. We are falling behind in space technology, with not enough support from the leaders of this country. The aerospace industry's decline will start to show other gaps in technology, unfortunately, with devasting consequences. There is a big workforce gap, there is insufficient new talent being brought and sought into the workforce. It's all about cutting corners and stretching 40 year old technology to its limits.

I know exactly how you feel. It's certainly nice that there is a slight resurgence in the aerospace engineering youth, however, there remains a huge gap between the young and the old. Something like the median age of an AE is like late 40s and early 50s. The result is that the aerospace industry is left run by managers and politicians and not engineers. Government isn't going to be pushing for research and development like they did during the Cold War. And everything is so success driven, that there will be very few attempts to challenge previous thought and try to really accomplish something great. Look at the Columbia disaster; while the loss of a space shuttle and 7 astronauts is a devasting loss, it is a small price to pay for the knowledge gained, the human experience, and the technological breakthrough of space travel. And days later, the media, and just about everyone else, were screaming that we need to stop space travel all together and stick to sending communication satellites up. And no one wants to fund the research necessary for a new "shuttle" technology. Everyone wants a one size fits all solution. Along with a "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" mentality. Look at the JSF program. While there are a few components that are technologically brilliant, it is not an amazing feat of engineering. I doubt we will ever see the likes of the SR-71, and other planes that were really a break-away from conventional thought. With most entry level AE jobs will just be stuck writing FORTRAN simulation code all day, it is no wonder there are so many new grads that just get jaded after a few years. Enjoy school while you are still in it. It's probably going to be the best taste of real engineering work you might see for a while. I'm an AE as well. I'm also still in school, but I've been cooping for a while now, so I've got a decent taste of the job industry. While it's fun and pays the bills now, it's not going to keep me satiated for very long. As soon as I finish my AE degree, I'm going for a MS in another engineering field. Don't get me wrong, an AE degree is very nice to have. Although many say to get an ME degree instead, an AE can do everything an ME can, and then some. In most top engineering schools, an AE degree is much more intensive than an ME degree. Personally, I think an AE degree is a good place to start, but not a good place to stop. While there are some very good AE jobs out there, there are many that are not. I think I've gotten a bit off-topic, but I finally got around to ranting..

http://www.angrynakedpat.com/network/icf/index.php It's really no use downloading any of his other stuff. It's all exactly the same: stupid.. crispy.wmv is actually pretty good the first time around..

Human lawn darts, baby! Lightnings certainly won't win any awards when it comes to graceful landings. In order to really get any sort of graceful landing, you really need to build up some airspeed with the front risers. On no wind days, they really don't have enough bottom end flare to bring you to a good stop. It seems that if you don't generate enough lift with the top part of your flare, you will either have to run fast, slide, or face plant.. There are certain tricks to landing them well. I think once you learn the tricks and technique, landing one becomes a lot easier. However, they are a lot less forgiving of poor technique when it comes to landing. They aren't dangerous, but just be prepared to get a bit dirty trying. It's pretty weird. I've seen amazing crwdogs really have ugly Lightning landings, but I've also seen 1st time Lightning jumpers that have fairly nice landings.

Those things are more factors of canopy design than materials. There is not a huge difference between middle-aged ZP and middle-aged F111. Ofcourse, ZP has much longer longevity than F111, but flight characteristics are not hugely attributed to the material the canopy is made of. Part of the problem is just associations. People tend to think of F111 canopies as sluggish and poor performance because older canopies are F111. People think that ZP is higher performance (in speed, landings, turbulence, etc) because all of the high performance designs use ZP. If you build a moderate performance canopy out of ZP, and another out of F111, they will not be all that different, and most people won't even be able to tell. The F111 is going to experience performance degradation quicker. The comments you made on those canopies is more a factor of their design, not the materials they are made of. CRW and Accuracy parachutes are not trimmed and designed for good landings. They are made to fly a certain way. The material will affect internal pressurization, which does have consequences on the way it flies and lands, but not nearly as much credit as you seem to give it.

I stole this one from the PD website, photoshopped it, and made it into my desktop wallpaper. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=2963; I would use it, but I have a great picture of my friend's naked girlfriend on my desktop now.. Hey.. if you don't have nudie pics of your own girlfriend, borrow a friend's..

Do most places require an actual license? Or is license qualified sufficient? [Assuming person already holds at least an 'A' license]. Say, someone attends a boogie that requires a B or C license to do something, would having every requirement completed for that license, but did not submit for the actual license, be sufficient? Is it more dropzone policy or is there an explicit regulation? I'm only talking about events and boogies and such.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=282305;#282305 This one?

I think he meant: http://www.skydivewichita.com/

Well.. this isn't a Whuffo Tech Support Board™.. so I doubt your going to get it..

True. The speed equation can be expressed as 'speed of sound' = SQRT(yRT). Here, 'y' is actually gamma, a constant value (depends on medium, for air, about 1.4). R is a constant. T is temperature. Because temperature varies with altitude, so does the speed of sound.

I actually live in Grand Prairie (for anyone familiar with the area, aren't ya'll jealous? ). But I gota work tonight..

I don't think the race will involve America. I think the next race is going to be with countries more similar to China in terms of technological advancement. India, Pakistan, maybe even some Middle Eastern countries. The american aerospace market is horrible though. In a survey of aerospace industry workers, asked if they would recommend the industry to their children, something like 3 out of 4 said no. It is rough. The pay is par with other engineering disciplines, but still not enough. You can make more money doing something else. There is a lot of beauracracy in the system, and I think a lot of engineers are getting jaded. Part of it is government, they have gotten so accustomed to us being an aerospace powerhouse, that they cut funding and research. Meh.. it's too early in the morning for me to really rant. If this thread takes off some more, I will rant later..

YES! PLEASE! Jeezz... some of us are at work this time of day..

Prolly a whuffo that found a bulletin board that has quick response times..

Oh.. hahaha. I'm sorry! I didn't even read all of it. I thought it ended where I cut it off. Here is the last part:

The pic did just that, but for only 3 seconds. Thank you. Now help me waste another 3 hours.

Old... but should answer your question sufficiently. Oh.. and remember.. it doesn't matter if you exit from 1500 feet or 10000 feet. Terminal is terminal.

1) Leaving a King Air last and deploying out the door. Then watching the pilot roll that baby over and match fall rates during my snivel. 2) Breaking off from a 3-stack on a sunset load. The clouds were amazing: smudgy and indistinct below 3k, high and majestic all the way up to 10k. All glowing that bright orange Georgia sunset color. Then looking back over my shoulder to see the remaining 2-stack flying out of the sun back to the DZ. 3) Almost all of my CRW jumps have been fucking amazing visually. I think the view doing CRW is so much better! Nothing beats chasing a 2-stack dodging puffy summer clouds. Or being in a large stack high above the earth and seeing all the distinct cloud layers and how fucking amazing they are looking down.

Currently own: 1981 Manuel Contreras Double Top Classical ($5000) DSL100 Marshall Amplifer with 1960A Cabinet (4x12") Home Built PRS copy. ... almost built http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg096b/pegasus/pegasus.html Owned before: American Standard Strat Standard Strat Taylor K14C

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2150107