rgoper

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Everything posted by rgoper

  1. then what conclusion have we arrived at here? is the X-Fire nose too small for an HMod to be applied? what transition would be practible after outgrowing, or progressing to another canopy at a wing of 2.0:1 to 2.5:1 wing loads? should a jumper transition to a fully crossbraced canopy, or try something else first? airlock? or just drop square footage and fly a higher wing? of course how small in square footage can a canopy be before it is fully crossbraced? i think canopy manufacturers should entertain the idea of creating a high performance canopy that will fly "small" i know it takes a lot to change the planform, and canopy size dictates the effectiveness of crossbracing and HMod noses, but i'm looking for an answer to keep low time jumpers from "pounding in" policing the DZ and setting wing load BSR's is a joke. we've got to do something else, soon. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  2. Dan: my apologies for the missunderstanding. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  3. his post struck me as satireacle and sarcastic. who would be intentionally marketing a canopy with the end cells designed to be closed? when i had my Cobalt 170^2 and i'd deploy, if the end cells were closed (which they generally were, one or both sides) a deep flare was the only way to reinflate it that i found. this not only took the fun out of canopy flight, it takes away from canopy awareness as well, this bothered me more than anything else. again, i am referring to the 170^2 Cobalt canopy, not any of the others as i have no experience with them. i think Atair has come to grips with the fact that the 170^2 had opening issues, it should never have been marketed in my opinion. i will say that i wasn't loading the canopy enough for it to be effecient. people can cry foul all they want, the Cobalt does fly "bigger" hell, when the thing did deploy correctly i've never flown a better canopy, until i bought my HeatWave 170^2, no issues yet. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  4. you got me by the short hairs on that one John! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  5. Dan: whatever the stratedgy or motivation was for this remark, i hope it yields positive revenues for Atair sport canopy sales. i call BS on your remark. given your position at Atair, it is perplexing and interesting you would even concieve making a remark like this in a public sky dive forum, regardless of motivation. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  6. John: this should be a "common sense" courtesy of other canopy pilots surronding a canopy pilot in disstress. i once had an incident when a skydiver below me (i was under canopy at 1000' AGL) went into self induced line twists, it looked unrecoverable to me, i immediately changed my landing approach and took an intentional downwind landing to give him all of the space he needed to deal with his perilous situation. thankfully, he got out of his twists, i made this observation myself before taking the downwind landing, but was already too low to make a correction to be facing into the wind, in addition i had made a decision and didn't have the altitude or time to change it. in the end, i got chewed out by a rw jumper i landed about 30' away from while he was agthering up his canopy, it really heated me up to be confronted like this, so i just "explained" to the other sky diver what the situation was and he never said another word about it. i didn't enjoy the downwind landing, but the other sky diver landed safely, shaken, but safe. later him and i disscussed what had happened, and he was pleased that i took evasive action to give him "airspace" to deal with his situation. (i could have simply flown underneath him and stole his airspace) although i took an ass eating for my downwinder, i'd do it again for a canopy pilot in disstress beneath me. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  7. since you inquired, yes they are selling them to the normal users like that. i had one, it was the most unpredictable, missbehaved canopy i've ever flown.it's a bad deal when the scariest part of your sky dive is deployment time. mine was a 170^2, loaded at 1.45:1, 35 jumps and i sent it back, the rest........later. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  8. i give up A.D. who is back? c'mon....GIVE! as usaul, i'm "missing the boat" Edit: never mind, i've just enlightned myself. poor sob musta come down off of his meds. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  9. i looked at your profile, and with my limited experience i'll say you did the right thing for where you are right now. later in the upcoming years this sort of decision will be second nature. so when/if you ever decide to jump a high wing and an elipitical in the next 2-3 years and after 300-400 more jumps your pull altitude will be getting lower and elipitical canopies are not very forgiving. line overs can be cleared some of the time, but you said it right...."Altitude Permitting" this is the key factor. i've had one line over mal, i got lucky and cleared it, i was going to give it one try, it worked out so everything was cool, but i already knew what i was going to do (because of prior planning) if it didn't clear. what i do is visualize what each and every mal i know about looks like, feels like and i constantly do practice handle touches before boarding the jumpship, and i'm anal about my gear. in my mind, this keeps me sharp before i jump out of the aircraft. plan your dive, dive your plan, leave room for error and always have a backup plan, never give up. when you experience any type of mal, try once, try twice, then it's time for plan "B". i know there are others out there with more experience that can give you more insight, but this is my offering. Derek, and Chuck along with a hosts of others with thousands of jumps can surely be consulted in these forums. you sound as if you have a good head on your shoulders, continue your vigilence. stay safe and have fun! Blue Skies, Hot Days!
  10. AggieDave has the resources to do this him self if he wants! but i say "Hell Yeah!" go A.D.!
  11. personal attack? ah, i can rise above, is that all ya got? again, i might would be even slightly offended if the source wasn't being taken into consideration. yeah, i guess your right, but, what do i know? never so much as broken pride in all my years and jumps in this sport. your vulgararity and insults have little if any impact, stop showing your IQ, it's sad when it's around your shoe size. you be safe, and take care. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  12. Your BS part is confusing though. And I'll tell you what old friend, I'm not sorry and I hope you live a long, long time. oh, make no mistake, i never implied you shoud have been repentant for anything, only questioning your classification of a 25 year old as a "kid", surely the young man isn't "simple?" having said that, it is my conception that you are not to blame in this incident. i hope you live a much longer and a continued happy life as well. best of luck, and positive vibes to you. take care, continue being safe. i appluad your efforts in your capacity in our beloved sport. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  13. *cough* *cough* bullshit. my dob: 12/11/58 my oldest child: 25 sorry old friend, your not the only one that's been fortunate enough to live awhile. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  14. who could possibly be an "Advanced" canopy pilot in 200 jumps? well, besides Super Man. it seems there are a lot of sky divers screaming about newer sky divers flying dish rags, but hollering and screaming trying to set rules and regulations will never fix this problematic area of our sport. only the DZO's and designated S&TA's can. but i've seen some S&TA's i wouldn't trust with a water hose valves position. when the proper training program is initiated and implemented, then we'll have a better handle on it. bottom line: $$$ i hate to say it, but we all know to support a DZ we must process a continual interest to the general public, so that means Tandems, AFF, AFP...etc. "Get em' in, get em' out, sell them their gear. it doesn't matter who we are talking about, anybody that wants to can buy a high performance canopy on the internet and go jump the thing and either cripple themselves for life, take someone else out with them, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, thus the legal waivers, take the legal waiver away that would end the whole game right there. sad but true if someone isn't legally responsable for someone else's welfare, and they can make $$$ off of the individual why would they care? when i see this particular BS going on anywhere i go, i won't jump at that place anymore, i ain't going out like that. how intelligent must someone be to NOT know that hurling themselves from an airplane each time they exit it, it may be the last sane thing they do? Gentlemen, this is no rocket science, what's the sense in complicating the topic? regardless of jump numbers, years in the sport, currency etc...the next jump anyone makes can be their last. simple, ain't it? --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  15. i have to dissagree with the "kid" label. 25 or so? kid? that's either an excuse being made for him, or somone trying to exonorate themselves from any guilt assosiation. not pointing any fingers, just making an observation. when i was 25 or so, i was no "kid" i'm more than sure this young man isn't in that classification either, although i cannot speak for him, i'm more than sure he would not be pleased with this assigned rank in the human society. that said, what it boils down to is everybody has to be responsable for their own actions and reactions. i've seen a lot of hot dog canopy pilots coming off of graduation, first thing they do is start to seek out gear. at what point do the vendors, whether original or independent be held to accountability? about 3 out of every 10 of these new canopy pilots don't last 3-4 years in this sport due to injury, or fatality. regulation? c'mon, that's a joke. sky divers would respect regulation about as much as the speed limit on the nations highways. if we start to believe that regulation will fix this problem, we are jerking ourselves off. in summation, regulation will never be accepted, whether you are pro, or opposed to it. so where does the answer lie? easy: Training. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  16. we all sky dive because of the thrill of freefall, it's the landings that are getting us. unlike years ago prior to gear evolution when sky divers were getting killed under a bad canopy, or gear that did not operate correctly. as long as there are BIG egos, (and there always will be) there will be incidents, accidents, deaths and fatalities. i've come to just accept the "big balls" attitudes of certain sky divers. only when someone has lived long enough to realize their own mortality will the incident level start to decline. it's all about "who's who, and who is the fastest, baddest and most bullet proof" well it's hurting us. back when i went through tandem progression/afp program, i became aquainted with another student and we became really good friends, he was 27, i was 40. this particular young man, even as much as i tried to instill safety to him, he was reckless. one day at the end of our sky diving activities we became engadged in a conversation that led up to me chiding him for pulling at around 800' AGL on a two way head down dive we did. we planned the dive, and i'm the only one that dived the plan, he fell past me while i was under open canopy SSS at 1900 AGL, i thought...."NO" sob if he didn't pull, if he would have had a mal, end game. i asked this young man, "what would have happened if your AAD would have fired?" he responded by replying with "what AAD?" he told me, "your just an old man!" i responded by replying "yeah, your right, but i fear i'll out live you" (i regret ever saying this now, because it haunts me) this particular young man was killed not long after this incident, low ground turn, landing in double fronts. i was very good friends with this young man, and his wife was a friend of my wife, don't be this young man. i lost a friend, his wife lost a husband, and for what???? "every man has got to realize his limitations" untill common sense is properly utilized, i fear the worst. this incident was one, and only one person's fault...end of story. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  17. Profile Here this is too much. check out the ratings, and license number!
  18. i never even considered it until these last couple of weeks. i'm always at work, when i'm home i've got the kids at the house. i just had major knee surgery on my left knee, and i'm no cry baby, but this gives the word pain a whole new meaning. at first i thought it would be nothing, but the day after it was done, and now 4 weeks later, i'm regretting it, consenting to the operation that is. i injured my knee in martial arts training as well, tied up with some 19 year old i didn't take serious enough and he kicked the shit out of me, i just never got it repaired and that's going on 6 years now. i think i'll wait and see how the re-hab and rebuilding processes go before i go to jumping again, if ever. "Every Man Has Got To Know His Limitations" --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  19. rgoper

    cannibalism

    homey be trippin' --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  20. Zen: provacative thought! as i've always declared in these forums, i'm a christian, i know i'm not perfect, so i don't even try to be, god only knows i've proven this over and over again. i voted "NO". i'm also a firm believer in the ying/yang theory, i try as best i can to adhere to that more than anything, i know i'll never be crucified on mount calgary. at least i hope not! see ya, take care!
  21. if you just want to see what a canopy's abilities are, then demo the hell out of them. but DO NOT expect the brand new canopy that shows up on your doorstep 20 weeks later to fly the same way. been there, done that, got the tee-shirt, but still don't have the replacement canopy. (after only about a year) --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  22. Lewmonst: i am very sorry that you were injured. Heres some Great Vibes from texas and i'll include God's Blessings and his healing touch as well. "Stay Strong, Live Long" Wishing you all the best, always. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  23. P.A.I.N. torn and destructed ACL, no cartlidge, the sockets where the bones used to meet (where the cartlige used to be) is worn as well. rehab going slower than i' doriginally thought, the DR. says 8-10 weeks tops, and no more skydiving. That's just to keep the wife off my ass. NEVER!
  24. AggieDave & Todd Spillars Get My Votes, Along With Cindy Gibson. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"
  25. Doggone Chris: this is bad news, and i'm certain your're dissheartned. but i'm sure a higher power has other things in store for you so don't let it get you down. ~~~~~~GREAT BIG VIBES FROM TEXAS~~~~~~ God Bless Bro.