mfrese

And since I'll be working (jumping with tandem students) tomorrow instead of posting, I thought I'd put down a few thoughts on this incredible fucking sport. The Good - Beth Matsui (took me on my first jump). - Beth, Bill, Kirk, Raff, Tim, Skip and Monica (who got me through AFF). - ACSI (Adventure Center Skydiving Inc., AKA Hollister) - my home DZ. - Every other Cali DZ I've been to (Davis, Lodi, SMB, Cal City, and especially Byron) - Every other DZ I've been to (Deland, Sebastian, Space Center, Eloy, Aerohio, and the late, lamented Skydive Daytona Beach). - All my skydiving friends...listing them all would take the rest of the day, but you're all kick-ass people, and I'm a lucky man to have gotten to know you all. - All my professional skydiving friends: Andy, Zap, Seb, Chris, Justin, Tom, Gavin, Kip, Kath, Raff, K-Lo, Friday, Aviva, JR, Tom, Kimber, Tom, AP Mike, Mikey, Jeremy, Adam, Kevin K, Jeff, Steve, Gail, Peter, Rob, T-Bone, Egon, and anyone I may have forgotten...y'all taught me a lot, hope I helped you learn some things, too. - Jumping onto the beach with my wife and 12 friends for our 15th anniversary. - Beach jumps onto Flagler Beach. - Tracking dives. - Freeflying. - Swooping. - Skychick boobies.

Chuck, do you ever have turbulence or wind conditions that make you hesitant to do the stall-surge approach? During the summer especially here in Norcal, I just have days where hanging in brakes at a low altitude scares the shit out of me. I've watched other TIs doing this, and there's sometimes so much spanwise movement on the canopy it looks like someone's playing the accordion with it. That's what prompted me to start doing 90s to keep the cell pressurization consistent. Just curious... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

You're a pretty cool mom for doing this! Here's what I sent: Hope she has a blast! Mike Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Yep, other instructors have had issus with line twists on the same canopies, but they haven't been as severe. I'm guessing the wingloading is the major difference. Another common problem that seems to contribute to these is a very long trap door, which allows the D-bag additional time to turn/spin/do whatever the fuck it's doing to start this process...on all but one of these, I had twists at line stretch, with video showing I was dead on heading through the opening. I HAVE had line twists as the result of a slight turn from fetal passengers at pull time, but I never had any problems getting out of those. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

OK, watched this thread for a while before I spoke up, since I have indeed had to chop tandems mains for line twists that wouldn't come out...5 times, to be exact. Do a search on the Instructors forum and you'll find my previous posts on this subject. I got a lot of good advice in that thread from experienced TIs, which I have followed in subsequent line twist situations...some of it worked, some didn't.

I'm wondering if it's gonna be one of those "so bad it's good" movies...like "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or, I dunno, "Top Gun"? Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Don't make me quote Samuel at you, Monkeyboy! Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

...say "motherfucker" better than Samuel L. Jackson?

My wife and I decided (for many personal reasons) that we didn't want children long before we got married. We've both heard the "selfish" comments from time to time, and I can't really understand why people would feel that way...it's our life, our business, STFU, ya know? One funny thing, though...at least once a year, we go to Idaho to visit her only sister...the one who's married with NINE kids. After spending three or four days there, we get in the car and head back to the airport in Spokane. We're kinda quiet, thinking back over the visit, the kids, the talks we've had with their parents. I usually stop for gas before we get back to the airport, and as I stop and get ready to pump gas, my wife and I spontaneously look at each other and say in unison: "OH MY GOD! Thank you for not wanting children!" Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I chew gum all the time, and to keep from choking, I spit it out at the videographer in freefall. I've never let a tandem student chew gum, though, because I couldn't figure out how I was going to give them the Heimlich in freefall. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I always feel free to hate you, but Steph and the kids get a pass... Don't miss the sunrise on Haleakala, and just say no to all the guys calling you "bud" in the parking lot... Y'all have fun! Mike and Lynn Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

My very first jumpsuit was all black with blue grippers. Absolutely loved it from the day I got it (November 17th) until the following April...the next one was a VERY light silver-gray, couldn't quite bring myself to get white. On the ground at the DZ in Hollister on Saturday afternoon around 2:30, my Neptune showed 116 F. That was a brutal afternoon... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I've only had one Skyhook tandem chop, and aside from the speed of the reserve opening, it was no different than the three non-Skyhook chops (all sub-terminal. slider all the way down, no issues with the reserve canopy). Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I was flying a demo Velo 120 this past weekend, and did a nice carving 180 (no wind, 500' MSL, 93 F). Didn't quite make the "swoop course" gates, ended up a little to the right swooping through the dried grass and weeds. Suddenly felt a sharp pain right below my right knee and popped up a little to clear the grass. When I stopped, I had a quarter-inch chunk hanging loose, with the offending weed end still attached. I'd been weed-whacked! Lesson learned: long pants when jumping demo canopies. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

So, when are you going to start the Masters division? Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

I can't think of a U.S. manufacturer who doesn't issue ANY manual with their equipment, but they are all pretty generic, and with the usual disclaimers. For PD, you get one manual (Ram-air Owners Manual), which mainly covers packing, line trim, maintenance, etc., but doesn't refer to specific canopy types. They then do a fantastic job of providing additional guidance by canopy type in additional documents with flight characteristics and comparisons. Brian takes this further than most others (the BAS manual is almost the Reader's Digest version of "The Parachute and Its Pilot"), but I think that's due more to his personality and commitment to safety than any legal issues. Basically, I guess not having ANY manual would probably be looked at as "gross negligence", which, waiver or not, is a potential legal issue in some states. So that's my best guess.

Regrettably true. I included canopies in there knowing full well that they're never up to date due to various issues (legal being a primary one), but at the very least, you get a lot of packing tips and get to see what people wore to pack back in 1988. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Never mind the SIM, look at how many people don't bother to read the manuals on their container, canopy, or AAD? How many incidents in the last couple years (e.g. the German demo and the Perris jumper) could have been prevented if people just understood how their freakin' CYPRES worked? It's something I always try to drill into students heads, but it doesnt seem to get through to many people. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Re-reading this thread made me remember a fairly ugly incident from a few years ago that got the TM, not the student. A fairly new TM (

It's been 6 years and 6 months exactly for me today! Relax, it gets better every minute. And when you're at the drop zone this weekend, concentrate on how much better you feel on the ride to altitude...you won't be as hypoxic, and you'll probably feel better at the end of the day. No fair breathing in the BBQ smoke as a substitute, either. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

To whom? And whose? If i send them over there, they're probably going to get their little helmeted heads in trouble. In other words, if I let them loose, someone is bound to lose something. Jesus, I need a vacation. And a beer. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Hey, the spell checker didn't pick it up, it must be right. Beside, weren't we trying to get NWflyer to say something about hard dicks again? Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

People who think spelling and grammar aren't important have probably never sent out meeting minutes with "hard disks" misspelled as "hard dicks". I had a hell of a time explaining how we were going to distribute those to our customers. Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash

Yeah, but if he forgets the first fiance/parents/parent meeting in favor of skydiving/drinking activities (even if he remembers at the last minute), do you think the wedding anniversary's going to stick? Not to mention the first date anniversary, the proposal date anniversary, the first-time-we-went-to-our-favorite-restaurant anniversary...the man's doomed, I tells ya! (This is coming from someone who just celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary at the "first-time-we-went-to-our-favorite-restaurant" restaurant, so I have some familiarity with the importance some people place on these things...or, my wife's just weird. ) And I'm sorry I'll miss you too, Krisanne, I'll have to make an effort to do some boogie traveling later in the year, maybe we can catch up then. Take care, travel safe...I'm going to be with two teenagers, my psycho sister and two cats, so please be safer than I probably will.

I'm missing the memorial AND jumping this weekend to help my sister move back down here from Portland. Stupid sisters! So everyone please have a beer for us, and know that we're at Shannon's in spirit. But Matt, one thing: Dude, you forgot that?! You're so fucked... Doctor I ain't gonna die, Just write me an alibi! ---- Lemmy/Slash