airtwardo

Well...says he got them in an estate sale. Rather unfortunate no one close to Bill thought enough of them to donate to the museum or see they found a better home. He's asking 500 bucks...I'd be surprised if they go for a tenth that. The dude is going to take the gold wings to a jewel appraiser. I sent the Ebay link to an old skydiving buddy that knew Bill well...he called me up shocked saying he was looking for HIS diamond wings - he 'didn't know' they were 10K gold! Plated pot metal more like. That said...a guy I use to jump with in the 70s (D377?) had a pair of wings cast from gold...used it as a lapel pin. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

I hope they do ya right. They kinda HAVE TO know something's up with that particular canopy, needing two major repairs...in 50 freakin' jumps?. Offering you an 'experimental' slider to 'fix' an opening problem not seen on other similar canopies is rather telling. That thing needs to be retired before it kills somebody. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Though on the surface that may seem like a wildly unreasonable request...and yeah, maybe full replacement is - however, I'm familiar with the canopy and the 'problems' it's had since jump #1. It never HAS opened like a 'normal' Safire...or at least like the one's I've jumped. The original owner IS built like a fireplug, but he's not 300 lbs out the door...the canopy was loaded pretty close to 1:1 when he had it. I helped him pack it using all the slow opening techniques I know but it had a marginal effect at best. The openings were at times so brutal, the 1st owner paid a rigger to pack it with him there - getting walked through the process. The owner knew how to pack, but was figuring he must be doing something wrong...I've watched him - he wasn't. The canopy exploded on opening jump #25 or 26 on it & tore the FIRST time... it broke his neck and knocked him out of the sport for good...had to have his neck fused back together. The trim has been checked and it supposed to be good...there is some kind of manufactured in anomaly with 'that' canopy - were it MY company, I'd pull 'that one' out of service and give CaptCrunch a heck of a discount on the 'trade in' ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Well...says he got them in an estate sale. Rather unfortunate no one close to Bill thought enough of them to donate to the museum or see they found a better home. He's asking 500 bucks...I'd be surprised if they go for a tenth that. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Was that Eric's canopy? ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Try decaf FWIW ~ NEW gear can have it's problems too, I had a canopy with THREE jumps on it split nose to tail...none were hard openings. Ran into a guy at another DZ that had 20 on his when the same thing happened...they were 3 apart in serial numbers. I've also bought a used canopy with 400 jumps on it...I put another 500 on it, gave it to a buddy who has jumped it for 3 years now...no problems. So just keep in mind regarding your 'good parachute is a good parachute' ~ ~ That reserve you probably have is 'brand new' as in 0 jumps...if MY 'new canopy' can blow up - so can YOURS ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

It's SFW so I don't mind.

They do that to save fuel. If you're just doing slow speed observation and not cruising, might as well use two motors at 50% instead of four at 30% My OCD kickin' in....Engines not Motors . ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

~ I have, all over the world when traveling alone. Some are great - some not so much... I usually don't have any real problems...my long cultivated, highly refined 'serial killer' look, seems to transcend all cultural lines & language barriers. It's an interesting & economic way of seeing things...gotta keep the right frame of mind or it can get a little rough sometimes. Capt. Mom's idea of roughing it...is bad room service at the 4 star hotel. "I didn't work my ass off for the lat 40 years to get listen to the 2am drunken fart wars in the corner" ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Back in the late 70's...my college roommate saved up his cigarette money for a month & bought an extremely WELL used para-plane from some guy that should have cut the lines off and made it a car cover years before. The shot & a half lugs on the risers were so corroded that I scraped off an 1/8 of an inch of crud with a pocket knife before even trying to polish 'em back 'into spec'. The risers themselves made a cracking sound when bent the first dozen times we tried to pack it...which was hard enough to do period, all the cells stiff as cardboard & nearly impossible to fit it into the 35.00 contained he bought at a flea market. The lines did 'look' much better after he ran a zippo up & down 'em a few times to mush down the fuzz. I came home from class one afternoon to see him modeling the container with smug satisfaction...the main fit 'damn tight' but looked right. Figured out what he did when I went into the kitchen...on the table was a beach ball size wad of rip-stop tape! He'd pulled off every inch of it from everywhere in, on or around that canopy...heck even the slider had foot or so on it collectively. Next day was his first jump on it...which resulted in a short ride on the 26 Navy - but that was because he'd hooked up the R-3's wrong and the whole thing separated on deployment. (pretty cool to watch from 20' away @ 1800 feet!) Two hours later we were back in the air...and she worked perfectly! Looked about like a screen door coming down with sunlight glowin' all the holes...and talk a stable canopy in deep brakes!! He jumped that POS for another 3 years - we kept the ball of red rip-stop hanging from the ceiling like a 'disco ball' for a few years...he hung it on the Christmas Tree as an ornament after graduation... That is until the cruel, unreasonable, vindictive slut he married....errrr, I mean his wife, made him quit jumping - and threw out everything he had that even smelled like a dropzone. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4553623#4553623 ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Interesting first two posts on the site, what's the rest of the story? There was a somewhat interesting article in "Outside" magazine a couple years back touching that very subject... Does sponsorship cause one to push their limits? According to the article which had a few interviews with BASE jumpers...it does. By limits...it doesn't always mean 'bigger & badder' stunts, sometimes it can mean doing the same one over & over to get the right shot. Fatigue causes failure too. That said...the sponsored person is the one who decides what price they put on their own life. Always in all ways KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Not nervous at all...just rather naive. Seems the grades recorded in the teacher's book were significantly different than the ones on the report card, by the time I got home & my parents saw it. They actually compared them! Who knew? ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

All those years of them talking about that bulge in the pants, I never knew they were looking at the wallet. BTW,,,the potato goes in the FRONT! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

***Being a tad bit more mentally mature than a 13 year old helps too. I'm fucked. The Harley makes ya look taller! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

THANK GOD! If I had to go it with MY charm & personality alone ~ ~ That's exactly what I'd be ~ ~ ~ ALONE! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Tandem ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

I think it's the new digital cameras that make ya look younger... I don't look like I'm 186 at all IMO! Airtwardo..is that picture of you? I RARELY say things like this but you're quite the charm...if i were a chick i'd jump your bones in a heartbeart

Brokeback ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Don't rig your gear incorrectly. I looked a bit closer on the video and it seems he is using the white loop on the right side but not on the left side. The angle of the brakeline tells me on the left side he used the splice and the toggle trough it. On the right side the brakeline is pointing up, meaning it can rotate. That seems to me as he used the white loop to hold the brake in place. Also you can see something white over the toggle, looks like the white loop. My thinking is that he messed up when parking the brakes and only used the white loop on the right side, that meant the left side released. It would not have been a problem if he had the lines trough the guidrings. It looks like both brakelines go trough the slider, and because the left one got hung up on one of the cascades the slider can't come down. ianyapxw: In short. Unless you try really hard it won't happen to you. Question - if the left side released, why is all the line down by the toggle? I think there is something else going on there...from the body vertical orientation he's well into the deployment...yet, look at the position of the connector links in relation to each other. One side of the canopy is loaded WAY more than the other. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

That's been my thought since day 3, and certainly since they confiscated the flight simulator from the PIC's home. Ain't it weird how they got mum on that all of a sudden like? Best- Richard I wouldn't make TOO much of that, I know quite a few pilots for the majors, that have a sim of some type or another at home. Lots of buttons & switches & stuff...when you have a 'bet your career' check ride every 6 months, it's a small investment to make. Heck - one of the wuffo's in the Cooper thread has a MAJOR detailed 727 sim in his house! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

There's no way you're almost 46 Shocked You look no older than 26 tops...truth!Smile I think it's the new digital cameras that make ya look younger... I don't look like I'm 186 at all IMO! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Samurai Tailor ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Making a major life decision based on pussy (or cock) is generally a bad idea. Yeah I wouldn't recommend it ~ though it's always worked out well for ME! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

Elephant thong Dang!! Two words that should never be put together. Please don't say you were talking about a size ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~