JohnyCrawford

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Posts posted by JohnyCrawford

  1. peek

    Does anyone know the origin of the expression "sweet-spot" as used in skydiving to describe the amount of flare required to make a canopy level out and stop/reduce its descent? It is used in the USPA SIM, ISP Category E section but is not in the glossary.



    The term "sweet spot" originated with a young lady named Goldilocks, who was quite beautiful, and named for her long blonde hair. One day she was searching for the perfect bowl of porridge. The first one she tried was too hot, the second one was too cold, and the third one was finally just right. Goldilocks exclaimed; "This really hits my sweet spot". And every since that day, the "sweet spot" became known as the Goldilocks Principle. So when you get that landing flare just right, you can thank Goldilocks for giving you a good way to describe it. This is why skydivers are so infatuated with young beautiful blonde ladies to this day. True story!

  4. Put the sensor unit inside a zip-lock plastic bag. Seal the mouth shut except for about an inch. Hold it up to your mouth and blow air vigorously into the bag. This induces a quick increase in air pressure, which will make the sensor believe it is experiencing low altitude, and cause it to fire.

  5. I did that with my sunglasses once, which were perched on top of my head. I've gotten so used to them being there, that I'm not even aware that they are there any more. After looking all over for them, and finally blurting out "where in the heck are my sunglasses", I realized everyone was looking at me and laughing. Because they could see them. I couldn't. "What?"

  7. Yep, "awesome" is a good word for that.

    At first I couldn't figure out what that long framework was for sticking out on both sides - it didn't seem to do anything. And then as he came in to land, I realized; "outriggers". That probably helps keep it from tipping over if the thrust is a little cockeyed when he comes into land and is near the ground.

  11. BillyVance

    He was heard on air traffic control recordings asking "Was that airliner supposed to be under me?"



    That's the part that gets me. The time to ask that question was when he was on approach, not after he landed. Then he would have had time to go around and make another pass.

    And how does he miss that giant number "20" painted at the end of the runway, while the taxiway is blank.

    I think he needs to buy a couple of clues...

  13. riggerrob

    Perhaps this is because the maximum height of fear (as taught at the Canadian Army jump school) is 33 feet (10 metres). I believe that is because at long distances, we measure distance by size. Only during the last 33 feet does our binocular vision come into play. At short distances, we measure distance by the different angles between our eyeballs.



    I'm convinced that this effect has something to do with why modern day AFF and tandem jumping is less scary to the new jumpers, then old-fashioned static line. In a static line from 2,000', the ground looked really close, and death seemed imminent. But from 13,000', the earth is far more remote, and you can't even see people on the ground, nor even individual trees. I think this remoteness makes the brain intuitively realize that more time is available to deal with freefall. And thus, less fear.

  14. I would ask the manufacturer.

    It's 16½ to 17 years old - does 6 months one way or the other really matter?

    Those pesky Europeans like to use Day-Month-Year,
    while the pesky Americans like Month-Day-Year.

    So when the Day value is 12 or less, you can't tell them apart.

  18. That's the way I feel about the news. There are so many lies being told, that even if you think something they're saying is true, you can't really be sure. So you have to trust nothing. Hell of a state of affairs.

  19. The CNN gigapixel photo of the Trump inauguration:
    http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2017/01/politics/trump-inauguration-gigapixel/

    Scroll right to left (click and drag) until you can see down the mall to the Washington Monument.

    There's sure a heck of a lot of people in that photo. Totally different from what this thread is promoting as the Trump inauguration crowd.

    Would CNN post a fake gigapixel photo in favor of Trump? Nyet!

    So you have to ask yourself; How do I reconcile these two views supposedly of the same thing at the same time?

    Sombody's lying...

    And it's all to promote the idea that the Trump presidency is illegitimate.

  20. "Adjustable laterals"!

    Like bell bottom pants and wide neckties coming back into style.

    I always wondered why they quit being used... Completely practical, so you can cinch your rig down tight against your back, and adjust for different size canopies.

    "Oversize BOC pocket"

    That sounds like a premature deployment opportunity to me.

  22. Isn't funny after all the fury Obama made about the Russians stealing our political secrets and giving them to Wikileaks to reveal them to the public, that now he's letting a guy out of prison who stole military secrets and gave them to Wikileaks, to reveal them to the enemy? I guess democratic party secrets are more important than national security.

  25. SecondRound

    I have been trying to plan a winter trip from MN. It seems like event listings on the major DZ websites have gone untended , and Facebook has not filled the gap. A trip usually requires 6 weeks to 10 weeks to plan and make arrangements. Sadly the DeLands and Eloys no longer seem to provide much info that far ahead. If I am missing a resource, please throw some light on my ignorance, otherwise this may become the Winter of my discontent.



    I haven't seen youi mention Parachutist magazine. Did you look at the events listings there?