tbrown

The Pursuit is a specialized canopy, intended for Canopy RW. Aside from the fact that it's outdated even for its specialized purpose, it is a canopy of choice, for those who have chosen CRW as their discipline. CRW canopies are not intended for general purpose skydiving and especially not for terminal openings. If you have happy memories of a Pursuit canopy, then fine, I'm happy for you ! But your Pursuit wasn't your first canopy and I doubt it was your first square either. It's simply not an appropriate choice for today's newbie - and the LIZARD who's trying to make a quick buck selling one to a newbie damn well knows it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Do certain brands have a better reputation that others? I was considering choosing between something from either Aerodyne (leaning towards the Pilot) or PD, but that's largely because of what is available at the dropzones I've been to. I'm asking lots of questions of anyone who will listen :) Everyone has a slightly different take, so I'm trying to put it all together and determine what is right for me. Excellent that you're asking so many questions ! Buying gear as a newbie can be tricky business. First, I'd advise you to ask for plenty of advice and assistance from your instructors and your local rigger. NEVER buy any used gear without a rigger's inspection ! Your gear saves your life every single time you use it and it just has to be right. Pay for an inspection and don't buy anything your rigger's not happy with. Canopies like Spectres, Pilots, and Triathlons are good choices for beginners. Icarus also makes some excellent canopies, like their 9 cell Safire 2 and 7 cell Omni. The 1:1 wing loading recommendation is a good one for starters - don't let anybody tell you you "need to" downsize before you're ready. Used gear is usually the best place for a newbie to start. Some women have size problems though, I know one or two teeny tiny women who had to have a custom harness made for them. Don't know if that applies to you or not, but long story short, don't buy a harness that doesn't fit snug and feel right. Finally, be careful of the LIZARDS who will try to sell you their old crap at "bargain prices". I'm not talking about old or used gear, I'm talking about gear that's worn out, too small, or beyond your abilities. There are unfortunately some real s.o.b.s who will sell you garbage to make a quick $500. That's where you need your instructors, riggers - and instincts - to guide you. Demo all the canopies you can and see which one you like the best. Don't ever feel you "have to" buy anything - because you don't. When you find the right one, you'll know it - and you'll find a way to pay a fair price for it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Call somebody at UTP. Seriously, how the heck would any of us know ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Don't buy it. One of the more shameful aspects of our sport is the people who sell prehistoric junk gear to newbies who don't know any better. Just walk away, you don't even owe this lizard an explanation. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Perris ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Uh yeah, I'll stick with my Pilot. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

A cautious "yes". Strictly speaking, consensual sex between adults for pay should be legal in a free society. But legalization can't turn a blind eye to the serious problem of trafficking. Too many prostitutes are literally slaves, forced into the trade at a very young age. With legalization there would have to be regulation; public health, zoning, and strict enforcement of trafficking laws - with severe penalties would have to be part of the deal. But the hookers should not be the people - often the only people - who go to jail. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was psycho packing my 188 ZPX Pilot when it was new last year. Contrary to the advertising, it was NOT easy to pack - slippery as shit. so I psyched it until it started behaving itself better. I'm back to PRO packing it now - personal preference. It works just fine. But if you want to do regularly, you should get the bridle extension done. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh piffle.... After our second child was born, and talking it over with my wife, I had mine done twenty years ago. I won't say it was completely painless. The anesthetic is about as exciting as having a rather large needle stuck into your scrotum can be - on both sides. Once that's over though, there's no further pain. The recovery took a weekend and I was advised to have NO sex at all for a week. Also to continue using birth control until my sperm count was gone. Fully recovered, I felt like I had a new toy - wanted to introduce myself to ladies on the sidewalk. Have never had a problem since. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Seems in my experience that belly and free fliers have different opinions, like Catholics & Protestants about this. Free flyers seem to be rather adept at it and always emphasize doing one on the tracking dives I go on with them. On the other hand, bigway friends, including veterans of the world record 400 Way are dead set against it. As I'm a belly flier, I don't do it. I do track like hell, looking from side to side - and below. If I'm in the air with a lot of people, or if things have gone to hell, I'll track straight through 3 grand before I even stop & wave off. I don't want to miss somebody below me because I was on MY back. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'd like to see Michelle Bachman, just to make Mitt more palatable to the "real" Republicans. The rest of us can vote to re-elect Obama & Biden. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Our friend Brittan got the full "spa treatment" - a real banana cream pie, plus a dip in the pool. Because we love her, of course ! Same day, another friend Mike, got exactly the same treatment for his 5000th. We love him too ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Those "27 supposedly reported issues" have been written up by the FAA and the NTSB. Those 27 issues are now part of the FFA Accident and Incident Database (AIDS) with a 15 digit reports number. The FAA is using these reports to support implementation of AC, AC 150/5300-13. Remi, do you think they are going to all this trouble to make it easier for jumpers to gain assess to airport? I don’t think so. Sparky Time and again, the most successful way to crush something is to "allow" it, under ever more stringent and restrictive rules. That's what's happening here. The FAA would only love to get rid of us altogether, but they can't overtly do that. But by imposing "reasonable" regulations, they can strangle us, explaining all the while that we simply can't conform to their ever more "reasonable" restrictions. USPA is failing to provide LEADERSHIP. Ed Scott is an ineffective fool. In the old days Bill Ottley would've sounded the alarm and led the charge. Ottley wasn't always well liked, but he sure as hell was effective ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Bought an all new rig last year and had the choice to buy either AAD I wanted. I chose to go with a Cypres 2. I'd been very happy with the original Cypres on my old rig - which even fired once for the original owner, when he messed up and took it a bit low - so I knew it really would work ! The Cypres is more expensive, has a shorter lifespan with mandatory retirement, and two mandatory services. I'd just as soon have my AAD gone over thoroughly every four years anyway. Hope I never need it - but to me, my wife, and kids, my life is worth it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Another thing that might be worth considering is to have redundant checks as a part of your packing procedure, and sticking to it like it's some sort of weird religious rite, or as if your life depended on it :). Redundant checks goes for the entire pack job, not just for the toggles part. I did exactly the same thing once with a Spectre canopy, my first year back in the sport. It opened with one hell of a spin and I just stayed calm enough to pull both toggles down, which cleared it nicely, but the eleastic toggle keeper was destroyed. Ever since then - and I do my own packing most of the time - I give the routing a good eyeball and tug upwards on the steering line. It doesn't even have to be a big tug, just enough for you to see everything go taut and that the stow is routed correctly. Also, after having had a slammer opening that destroyed a canopy and bruised me from head to foot, I check and re-check my slider placement every step of the way, especially as I'm bagging up the canopy. And then you should also double check your p/c to make sure you've cocked your kill line. I do it one more time before closing the container. Don't just look for colored line in the window either - look inside your p/c, you should see some slack in the kill line. Packing can be a drag, it can be a chore. But never forget you ARE "packing a parachute" ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

And you want to take up skydiving? Oh come now.... This is a reaction that I've heard from many friends who were either making their first tandem or their first trip into a wind tunnel. It's simply a new and unfamiliar sensation and one they hadn't been expecting. Some of them have even told me they had "trouble breathing". I start by telling them they didn't turn blue, so they had to be breathing something. Then I just explain that it was a new sensation they hadn't been expecting and to not worry about it, they can actually breathe just fine. The ones at the wind tunnel told me on their second turn in the tunnel they could breathe just fine. Are you really discouraging anyone who feels a little spooked by a new sensation ? How will they ever learn to trust a simple stable arch in freefall ?!? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Two points: I was told at a dealership that Pilots pack larger than Sabre2's and Safire2's. Also, the new ZPX Pilots pack smaller than the regular ZP Pilots. I currently own a ZPX 188 Pilot, which initially didn't pack very small, though now it seems to be be packing smaller all the time. Second, I've also heard it said that PD uses a more conservative method of measuring their canopies than the standard PIA method. Thus their 193 reserve is said to be a 200 footer, and the 176 more like 182 ft. per PIA reckoning. Or so I've been told. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

From July thru September you'll find the southern states can be unbearably hot, especially if you're from Norway. But there are many beautiful dropzones in the northern states, places that are usually closed during winter, but have very active jumping scenes during the summer months. Check out Skydive Chicago, The Ranch in Gardner, NY, Jumptown in Orange, MA and Skydive New England up in Lebanon, Maine. In the Northwest you might try Skydive Kapowsin, in Shelton, WA, or Skydive Oregon in Mollala (did I spell that right ?). All of these places will be making the most of the good weather while they've got it and all of them have turbos to get you up to altitude as often as you want. Hope you have a great visit this summer ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We're not daredevils, we don't skydive for the danger. At least I don't, nor do any of my friends. But the danger is there and it is unavoidable. I do not believe the sport ever CAN be made 100% safe. There are no devices that are 100% foolproof and only a fool would rely on devices (other than a parachute) to save them. Look at what's happened in recent years. AADs and RSL/Skyhooks have drastically reduced low pull/no pull fatalities, but advanced canopies are being flown into the ground by people who can't handle them. And people are flying into each other below a grand - what device could prevent that ? Using our brains, WE can make skydiving quite reasonably safe - but that's about as far as we can get. Any attempt to make it "perfectly" safe is not only impossible, but smacks of overregulating a sport that is willing to assume a calculated risk. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

2001: A Space Odyssey The Godfather (for an outrageous admission price of $3 !) Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Whirlybird Lassie Mr. Ed and......(drumroll please.....) RIPCORD ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

All fantasizing aside, it was no Gilligan's Island. Their lives must have been ones of terrible desperation under a blazing hot sun with little or no fresh water. I'd sure hate to die like that. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was a dyed-in-the-wool rocker who HATED disco - but I liked Donna Summer. Mostly because I thought she was hot. Also, I remember hearing her "Hot Stuff" on the dropzone at Perris as far back as 1979, when it was a new song and high in the charts. So sorry to hear of her passing, I didn't even know she was sick. I'm just getting old enough to see that the era of my youth truly is passing away (Levon Helm, Adam Yauch, even Davy Jones) and now Donna Summers. Blues Donna, I'd love to love you too. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My impression is that every time I've seen this woman's picture, her skin keeps getting darker and darker, until she almost looks black. Obviously, some shameless photoshopping is going on, to prove a point ? This leads me to wonder if the entire story isn't being entirely fabricated, or grossly exaggerated, in order to distract our attention from more pressing and relevant issues of the day. It's eerily Orwellian, as in 1984, when the big questions are things like why the unemployment rate doesn't count discouraged people who have given up trying, or why the Federal Tax Code taxes unemployment benefits, while most states don't. Instead, we are asked to recoil in horror at a woman whose very existence, not to mention any "crime" she may have committed, is front page news. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I saw The Band in 1974, at Barton Hall, Cornell University. We were about 30 ft back from the stage. They were absolutely stupendous ! The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was only one of the many songs they performed. Levon Helm was one of the greatest and most underrated American musicians of the 20th century. As was The Band - only two of whom are still living anymore (Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson). I'm beginning to feel like my parents did, as I watch the great lights of our era going out, one by one. Our age is passing away, as all things must. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !