gjhdiver

Lodi is a great drop zone, and I've had a lot of fun there over the last 20 years, but it does march to the beat of a different drummer. Time was every drop zone was more like Lodi then they are now, but if you are not prepared to do what you're told, then Bill doesn't have any problem letting your business go. It's a shame that wingsuits are now banned at Lodi, but depending on the reaction of the NorCal wingsuit community, this could just be a time out. It sounds like the wingsuiters need to actively police their activity with respect to visiting and new jumpers and not let them ruin what they have spent years building up here. Maybe if a system to control some of these issues was designed, Bill might relent and let them back to see how things go. In the meantime, I'm sorry that we only have a measly King Air that can get you to 14K in 10 minutes, but we'll try to hide our shame and get you in the air until you work things out with Bill

We'll be celebrating Bob's life with his friends and family this coming Sunday 08/29/10 at the drop zone. All are welcome, whether they knew Bob or not. He was one of us, so we need to send him off in the usual way. You know, the one that includes light refreshments and a good loud "Hymn".

I did my first 100 or so on a system with two shots on it. I knew how to get them undone, but I just figured that it took so damn long to do that it would have easier to cut a riser off instead if you were getting seriously dragged. That system had a nice free packed, unmodified Irvin 24" in the front mount with short lines, so you didn't have to cutaway malfunctions anyway. The only malfunction you really dreaded with that was a total, but that's another thread

He may only have two jumps, but he's a damn sight brighter than certain posters on the other side of this issue. Also, you seem to miss the irony of accusing someone of taking a position to be accepted as part of a larger group. At least he isn't accepting a fairy tale to become part of a cult of self delusion.

Bye Stan. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Leave it ajar for Petraeus while you're at it.

Well done. You're becoming more evolved. Let the frightened cling to their gods and monsters, there's nothing that can hurt you, now or after death. The superstitious will whine a lot and promise great retribution, but they have no more idea of what's out there then you do. In fact, they have a lot less, because a lot of them are resistant to the undending march of Science. (However, it is hilarious to listen to them when they try to claim the earth is 6000 years old and such). Let 'em complain. They live their life in fear of a delusion. You're now free to live your life as a human being, free of fear and superstition.

SPCA or not, I've jumped with plenty of pigs in my day

All the conservitards that are apoplectic should calm down. They'll be able to get more affordable psychiatric care now. I have to admit that I'm enjoying the impotent rage thoroughly. I spent 8 years under the idiot W with these guys smiling smugly and telling me to cram it. Now it's their turn in the barrel. Now there's an adult in the White House, so just sit back and listen to Glenn Beck while we drive for a few years. After a few years of health care, people will get used to the new entitlement, the way they did with COBRA, Medicare, and Social Security. It'll never get repealed, just added to in future. Next up, pubic option.

Building a bridge to the 10th century. http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/local/article/blame_the_victim_religious_leaflet_claims_ungodly_dressed_women_provoke_rap/42253/

Good luck jumping in NorCal then.

[reply But you have nothing to say, in fact all you do is attempt to fuck with others, I think there is a sticky on your behavior. Actually, you don't appear to have anything to say either. Either elaborate, or stop looking silly with all the "I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you" crap. Who knows, the POTUS might actually ask you for advice. After all, we know that DZ.com is the administration's go to source for excellent policy advice....

Jeez, I so don't care about this stuff. Anyone who thinks this stuff is unusual, or an attack on personal freedoms, hasn't really been paying too much attention to what's been going on the last 10 years. There's better battles to fight than this, but if the teabagger types want to tilt at vending machine legislation, go right ahead. Just let me pull up a chair and get a beer. I love watching idiots beat themselves with the wrong end of the stick.

There is one. It's called a C-130.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/hyperdad/videos/1/

I've read that 9 out of 10 people think gang rape is OK. Mind you, that 10th person really hates it though.

That's because he didn't understand it.

I didn't do anything. I live forwards.

Yes, yes and yes. Religious fundamentalism is a disease. Luckily it's one that has already lost the war of ideas to science. Unfortunately, it's going to take some time to clear up the mess, but it'll happen.

The last attribution tells you everything you need to know about it's author. Just another huckster out to make money out of the easily fooled superstitious. Oh, and yes. The church is irrelevant, and getting more so every year as the percentage of non-believers rises. As Martha Stewart would say , it's a good thing. Quite why people feel the need to be superstitious in large gatherings when they could do so in the comfort of their own homes baffles me. I guess delusions need a community of acceptance.

Funniest statement of the day.

I have worked 7 years at a DZ that does 8000 tandems a year (SIGMA). We take students up to the 500 lb. TSO. I have never seen a bent lower connector. We emphasize proper harness adjustment on a wide variety of body sizes, and do not allow assist devices on the lowers. This leads me to believe that bent lower connectors are due to practices rather than materials. Normally I'd agree with you, but I've taken the hardware off an old Vector II and a new Sigma, placed them in a vice and subjected them to equal loads using a device to measure pull force. The Sigma tangs bend at significantly lower pull forces than the older connectors, which really just backs up the observation that the older hardware never bent under the same practices. I've tested a new one right out of the box that exhibited the same low resistance to shear forces. They've also bent under all variations of tightness too, with all of the instructors seeing it in one way or another. Most of us get the students to stand on our feet and take the weight off them before release anyway, so there's not anywhere near as much strain on them as a full load. We also have two UPT tandem examiners on staff to monitor the practices. We also do 5000 plus tandems a year, so we have a good sample. Now I'm not saying that we might not have been over tightening lateral connections in the past and getting away with it because of the superior strength of the old connectors, but we've reviewed that part of the operation and made the necessary changes. It's no longer an issue since we changed to using the pull-up type releases, so we're all good. YMMV etc etc.

Well, here's the thing. UPT claims that the Sigma harness side connection hardware is supplied by the same company as was used for the Vector II harness. I'm sure it is, but the material, or hardening process (if any) they are using for the quick ejectors seems to have less strength than the ones used on the Vector II harnesses. In thousands upon thousands of tandems at our drop zone, we've never seen a Vector II side connector bend. Pretty much all of the Sigma ones bent or snapped in the first month of use. When that happens to every instructor on every harness across the board, that's pointing to materials, not practices. The quick release on my harness I made myself. I don't use the big yellow tabs for the very reason that was stated earlier, in that the student can grab them. I make what are essentially long closing loops and install them past the failure point of the quick release, and then tuck them away behind it where they stow away from prying hands. Only I can get to them. Since we've done that, we have solved our bending issues for all intents and purposes. If anyone's interested, I'll take photo at the weekend and post it. As for door openings and connection. If that door is open, I want them connected to me in some way regardless of altitude or other belts. Even if it's an altitude I'm not getting out at, I want to be able to control them near an open door.

Lower hooks as soon as we sit down, uppers at 5000 feet. The lower hooks because we open the door at 1000 feet for cooling the cabin and I want my passenger secured to me, and also because I want to make sure they are connected properly before others sit down against me and obscure my view of them. Currently we use a PAC 750 or King Air A-90. I don't hook anything up in the Cessna 206 because they are belted in and sitting behind me. We both turn 180 degrees and connect and tighten all four hooks 1500 feet prior to exit altitude. (A lesson in this happened last year when a TI hooked the right lower hook to the secondary main handle housing instead of the ring it was meant to hook to in a crowded aircraft. Upon drogue throw, it deployed the main.) I have installed quick release cords on both lower hook releases. If there is a problem that would require a forced landing, I can remove them instantly without even having to look at them.

Strawman argument. If you want to start an abortion thread go start one. Do try to stick to arguing the point at hand. Basically, this child died to validate the superstitious ignorance of the parents. It's just more proof that fundamentalism is a mental disorder. If you believe in a talking snake, it's no great stretch to believe that you are doing a child a favor by letting it die from a treatable ailment.

A bit like a belief in a supernatural boogeyman.