skybytch

Yes, yes it is Somewhere Over The Rainbow. If you were at WFFC at the start of a day, you may have still been too drunk to remember it.

Gooood morning Rantoul! Takes me right back to waking up on a couch in the dz.com tent...

Oh boy. Just going to throw this out there.... anybody else think this wouldn't have been an issue if tandems had not become amusement park rides? I mean, look at where the Senator is from. If it was only skydivers dying, nobody would care. But once enough Grandmas have died on a tandem.... We wanted turbines. Tandems helped us get them. Now every skydiver gets to pay more to jump out of them. Or pay nothing to not jump.

If it's not even fun doing non-work jumps, it might be time to take a break. Don't sell your gear right away though.

Hey this looks like fun and I got my popcorn so why not? I detest the imposter in chief. But. The protests are not his fault. Is he handling it well? Fuck no. Is he inciting violence with his Twitter rants? Fuck yes. But this tension has a looooong history behind it. TrumptyDumpty or not, this whole thing does not surprise me. It's been over 50 years since the Watts riots. And they were protesting what? Stonewall. Protesting what? Suffragettes. Protesting what? Protesting sanctioned violence against their communities by the police (ie the government). No, it's not Trumpy Dumpty's fault. He and his ilk are just making it worse. If he would just STFU and stop fanning the flames. Just watched video of LAPD handcuffing the black owners of a business who called the cops to catch looters. And I understand. It is far more important to detain law abiding small business owners trying to protect their business than to catch the looters who were still only a block or two away. A 10 year old girl got gassed by a police officer. People are being run over by police cars. Cops are ignoring the looters so they can beat up peaceful protesters. Cant even sit on your own porch on your own property without them coming by and shooting your ass if you dont react instantly to them telling you that you can't do that. The National Guard has been deployed in Sacramento. Last night there was a protest that they were at. The protest was peaceful. It dispersed as planned, prior to the curfew. Perhaps that is the answer. Pull out the cops so they don't continue to fan the flames with brutality (wait, what are the protests about?) and replace them with National Guard units, who aren't part of the problem. I'm just glad I live in the boonies...

How are your landings under the 210? If you are consistently standing them up, you may be ready for a 190 right now. Can you find one to rent/borrow for a jump or two? Definitely talk to instructors at your dz about it. They see you land. Us people out here in internet land haven't. You probably don't want to pack a 210 into a container sized for a 190. Generally not much fun. Consider reserve size before you buy anything. Smartest option for a novice jumper is to go with the same or close in size to your main. With a 190 main, I'd go for a 193 (or equivalent) reserve.

The Lancaster bomber was a British aircraft used in WWII. The re-enactment is loosely based on a raid over the oil fields of Ploesti, Romania, which was under Nazi control. It's way more fun than it sounds. Chairs are set up in the shape of an aircraft. There is a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, side gunners, tail gunner, nose gunner (yes, the actual bomber didn't have all those gunners, but more people equals more fun), four engines, several Messerschmidts and the narrator. I like to have real pilots at the controls to keep things a bit more authentic. The story begins with a takeoff at an airfield somewhere in Britain. At several points, the aircraft is attacked by Messerschmidts. Other things happen and eventually the story ends. I am not at liberty to disclose any further details beyond what I already have. Al Stephens used to do it on occasion back in the day. After he went in, several jumpers suggested that the honor of being the narrator be passed to me. I've put on several over the years. Really fun bit of performance art, especially when done while imbibing in a favorite adult beverage after a day of jumping.

If someone else organizes one, I'll show up. Putting on two was enough for me. Reunion story - the first one, we had a paragraph in the waiver that warned everyone of rule 1 - DO NOT SWOOP THE POND. So on the first load of the boogie, someone who shall remain nameless decided it was a good idea to swoop the pond. Let's just say he didn't make it back to the dirt, and that was his last skydive of the boogie. He did hang around though. That evening we put on a Lancaster Bomber re-creation. Guess who was engine #3?

Not really. We don't get many brain dead entitled suburban white women out here. They wouldn't survive. Of course, I have my tin foil barrier installed around the house and all of my essential oils to keep me safe outside just in case, so no worries here, I'm good.

Nobody tell my husband that. I'll never get decent internet. ;-)

We thought about that when we moved in and we should have gotten one. But we got used to the lack of consistent cell signal fairly quickly and forgot all about the repeater. Figured it's just one of the prices you pay to live rurally. tbh. I'm more excited about the internet than I am the cell. Netflix in HD! Online gaming! Page loads that are faster than dial up! The mind boggles.

We live out in the sticks. It's wonderful living out here. In two years I've heard 7 sirens. No one parks in front of my house if they aren't invited. I don't have to listen to other people's music or parties or dogs that won't STFU. I can see three neighbors houses and occasionally hear their dog, but I can't see them and the dog only barks when there is a reason (and it's not 15 feet from my bedroom window either). I hope I die here cuz I never want to live that close to people again. But there are a few downsides. Up to 30 minute response time for law enforcement and ambulance, 30 minutes to a hospital, high fire risk, skunks, ten minutes to groceries, gas and restaurants, really crappy medical services. And cell and internet service. When we moved here, the only cell provider that we got reception from is Verizon. Sometimes it's one bar of 4g, sometimes I can't send a text, sometimes it takes two seconds to send a picture, sometimes it takes 5 minutes, sometimes it fails. Damn near $200 a month for two lines. It's great. The only internet that was available is satellite (we got Hughes Net). 20 gig a month high speed then throttled back to some negative number. That's like... less than a week of reasonable speeds. $80 a month. It's great. I heard a rumor that AT&T had put in a tower only 2 miles from us. Not only cell, but also fixed wireless internet. Very surprising considering there are less than 1000 people out here and we don't get a lot of "tourist" traffic other than Harleys. I asked folks about it on nextdoor. 250g a month, $70. $10 for each 50 gig over that, all high speed. Several of our neighbors have it and they are quite happy, good reception, fast speeds. Our contracts with Verizon and Hughes Net are up in 29 days (but who's counting). I'm sure you can guess what I'll be doing on that day. Thanks Obama.

You still matter, JP.

Please get your orthopedist's opinion on whether or not jumping could aggravate the problem. If the doc says it's not a good idea, listen. Skydiving is awesome, but back surgery sucks.

This this this! Dacron lines on my Spectre. Compared to my last one with microline, the difference in openings is pretty impressive. I should have mentioned that in my first post.

Had a lower back fusion in 2001 so I need a soft opening canopy. I love my Spectre. Is there a way that you can jump both a Spectre and a Triathlon to compare them? That's the best way to figure out if either of them will work for YOU. Anybody can tell you what they like and why but they aren't you. Don't let anyone tell you that your landing issues are because you are female. That's total bullshit. Your landing issues are because no one has taught you how to time when to flare and how to flare correctly. My best advice regarding improving your landings is to take a canopy control course ASAP.

Not trying to be snarky. Just wanted to give you a bit more information and a different POV before you pull the trigger. While many jumpers choose a smaller reserve that doesn't mean it's the right choice for you. Lots of jumpers have reserves the same size or even a bit bigger than their main. Based on my weight I could have a 135 or smaller reserve and be "just fine". I carry a 143 because I have never heard anyone say they wish they had less square footage over their head on a reserve ride... especially into a fucked up landing area. As far as container sizing, someone mentioned above that a 188 will fit tight in low humidity areas (think Eloy, Perris, Elsinore) and nicer in higher humidity (Florida,etc). Packing a tight main container isn't fun when you are still learning to pack. Consider where you live and jump before making that decision. How fast do you think you will downsize to a 150 from a 188? To me it makes more sense financially to buy what fits the canopies you will be jumping for the next couple hundred jumps, preferably used to save some coin. Downsize the main once. Fly the shit out of that, then sell it all and get what works for you at that point. A rig sized for 190's is going to sell pretty quickly when you are done with it. By the time you are ready for a 150, you will want a new container anyway. Imho, ymmv, etc.

Tbh, I would be more concerned about reserve size (as 20kn mentioned) than whether I can downsize more than once with it. Ever jump a 150 anything? A Pilot 188 might be the perfect main right now. Are you ready to land something 38 sq ft smaller on your first jump on that rig because you had to cutaway? Into a tight landing area? At sunset? In less than ideal wind conditions? Dress for the crash, not the cruise. Buy something that holds a reserve you can safely land right now. Cuz malfunctions are assholes; they likely aren't going to patiently wait for you to get to that point.

Sorry to hear that. I can see how that eliminates hump numbers for you.

42:COVID:0 (Gold Wings exemption)

Aww cmon. Don't be so cheap. It's a piece of history, FFS. It's worth at least US$2.75.

The US government is sending taxpayer money to it's citizens in a time of crisis. Money from the taxpayers that we don't have to do a bit of work to receive. Sounds like welfare to me... or dare I say even (gasp!) socialism? Makes me wonder how many of those who loudly condemn people on public aid are happily cashing their welfare checks and bragging about what awesome thing they are buying with it. I'm getting me a new desktop with mine. Socialism FTW.

Don't mean for this to sound harsh, but stop. You're already asking questions about a used rig in the classifieds. Stop. Go do a jump (you know tandem is not the only option for a first jump, right?), decide if skydiving is really something you want to pursue and can afford, do a couple student jumps and then start worrying about what gear to buy.

Jerry Jr falls just as well as his daddy did. Chip off the ol' block!

He's doing good so far, thank you for asking! He's doing what the doctors told him to do, which is strange because neither of us has ever been good at doing what we are told to do. Still bummed that I don't get to go see him, but even if there wasn't a travel ban I wouldn't dare risk having it and unknowingly pass it along to him.