FrogNog

> ... SALT water is even more degrading. There are some submissive canopies that are cool with salt water. Hard openings can be more common with these, but if you whip them around by the risers hard enough to show them who's boss, that reduces the incidence of such misbehavior. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Is the tail an issue (on the Grumman Tiger)? Or do you fall away between the wing and the tail all graceful-like? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I was a bit wishy-washy on when exactly I would wear my helmet until two things happened: 1. Getting into a 182, I whacked my head good on the bottom of the wing like a clumsy student dumbass. Because I was wearing a helmet (pro-tec, ICYC), I recovered in a few seconds. Without it I guarantee I would have been cursing for a long time, I might not have been fit to make the jump, and I definitely would have questioned my fitness to make the jump. 2. Some time ago I came to the realization (partially due to reading dropzone.com) that at any time on the way up, the pilot could yell "GET THE HELL OUT!". I feel more comfortable sitting in the plane trying to relax if I know my melon is padded for an underplanned high-speed unpoised exit. The other things are details. I PLF a lot whenever things aren't totally going my way, and I never know when I'm going to find a rock in the middle of the field with my head as I roll over. I hope to continue thinking PLFs are a lot of fun.

With me when I was on SL, and watching some SL students I have ridden with later, the JM has always been back-to-the-instruments, up front. He can open the door and spot easily from this position (on knees) with up to three nervous SL students on their butts in the back of the plane. When it's almost time, the closest student scoots up and sticks his feet on the step but stays sitting; on the SLs and sometimes the first few short delay jumps, the JM can reach across the door with his arm in front of the student to be clear that it isn't time for them to climb out yet. Course adjustment hand signals to the pilot with his other arm are right up there. Maybe this just works because our JMs are really skinny. :) In the 182s, I can't think how else the JM could "service" three SL students without sitting up by the dash; the students would have to crawl over him or squeeze around him (after the first) any other way. Maybe I'm not thinking creatively enough, but with 4 people in the 182 there's barely room to breathe. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

> Its not exactly safe to do a jump with a pumpkin on your head. > Especially for a demo...it is easily dropped. > Trust me, been there, done that, didn't drop it, almost did. So... you would advise against jumping a pumpkin-head over congested areas? That sounds smart to me. Would the pumpkin stay on easier if you put a pro-tec inside and sewed the pumpkin to the helmet in a bunch of places? Based on reading other posts, I'm trying to think of pumpkin-head securement that does not comprise excessive additional risk to the jumper. (Noting that the weight of the pumpkin atop one's neck adds risk by itself.) (P.S. For anyone overly concerned, I promise to wait at least until next year to try this. I don't think jump 34 in my logbook should say "pumpkin helmet jump". )

What about pumpkin-helmet jumps? Or is that not the level of safety you were looking for? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

> I plan on buying one this winter.. So, what color are you going to get? Red, by any chance? I just need my "A", a rig, and a bit under 200 more jumps...

So, he has to learn French, too? Brutal. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I also had really bad leg discomfort on my first few jumps - one time I got huge bruises that lasted a week. Almost every time my legs would be unhappy under canopy. I don't know what caused it and I can't say it's totally cured, but after the first dozen jumps I guess I just don't notice it anymore. Also, in all those jumps, I have been tightening the legstraps down to the point where I can feel them really clamping my legs when I walk. Squat-and-pull straps and that seems to do it. Aggie sez "snug" and that sounds about what I do. Give this a shot and see if the problem gets better or worse. Uh, to specifically answer your end question, I would recommend "way up high and crank them down (light to medium cranking)" instead of "leave lower across legs". -=-=-=-=- Pull.

"Someone always farts." "The plane is cramped and the floor is uncomfortable; we have to get up and stretch our legs." "The pilot says the plane lands a lot easier if it's empty, and we like to help out." "Because it makes my balls get bigger." (Elaborate from here as appropriate.) "Because I couldn't think of anything scarier when I signed up for my first one, and now I'm just hooked." "DUH!" / "You're kidding, right?" / "Mmmmmmmmmmmm...." + grin and far-off look in eyes "Because they won't let me ride to altitude on the outside of the plane." "I don't jump - I start out the morning getting my Jet-A fume fix at the local airport and the next thing I know it's 13k and someone's pushing me out." "I like to call it 'extreme birdwatching.'" "Swimming is too slow and you can't breathe the medium." "I jump out of airplanes so you don't have to." "All my friends do it." / "Peer pressure." "I wanted to do BASE jumps but, hello, we're in Kansas!" "You know that sound of tires squealing on tarmac on touchdown? That's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me." "The view really improves when you leave the plane." "Have you ever tried to do a Mr. Bill off the highdive?" "I don't like that falling feeling you get if you're still in the plane when jump run is over." "Can you even conceive what it feels like to burn three million joules of potential energy in sixty seconds?" (Figure for freefall of ~3300 meters in 60 seconds with an out-the-door weight of 97 kg.) "My hair dryer is broken." "Skydiving tickles." "I joined for the chicks and the money, and by the time I figured it out, it was too late." "The cops get pissed when I go this fast on the ground." "I grew up in Salt Lake City, where there's nothing to do but drink or skydive." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'm circumcised; does that count? Oh, and my sister is Jewish. But... she doesn't skydive. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I support a 0% locals requirement because I think groups who suck should have the option of traveling a long way to find a state that hasn't yet set a big record. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

> Skills are often passed on as an after effect of forming friendships. All this talk of beer lights and I misread that line as "Skills are often passed on as an after effect of foaming friendships." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

> hop n pops are always fun in the winter months and you need em for your A license What if you did S/L progression? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Jim, I'm at Snohomish, too, and I am drooling to see a wingsuit in person. Questions related to this: 1. Are you going to be jumping your wingsuit from a 182 over the Winter at Snohomish at all? Or... 1b. Do I have to come down to Kapowsin to see it? and 2. Do you or does anyone else know how many wingsuit fliers there are at Kapowsin? (I think I know the number at Snohomish. ) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

> It felt just like "the spins" How long previous to that was your last meal, and how much sleep had you had? All day with two adrenaline loads on nothing but a small breakfast after nervous sleep can do weird stuff. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

S/L was better for me, I think, because I was just too scared to do freefall at first. Getting out of a flying plane was bad enough, but freefalling would have been unbearable. I remember about 5 - 10 jumps in I was really nervous about going up "high" (10k or 13k). I'm over that now, I think, but I'm happy to have done S/L. Something nice about coming out of your first, biggest sensory overload and being under canopy alone so you can consider throwing up in peace... -=-=-=-=- Pull.

>> skydivers are really brave >Thats a weird statement. Not sure I really >understand it. People who run into burning >buildings are brave. Skydivers are out for a good. time! I consider the bravery of Skydivers and pilots equal. Skydivers jump out of a perfectly good airplane with a well-tuned rig with _two_ canopies. Pilots fly a tin can with wings and bring it back to earth as consistently as possible, and they let skydivers ride with them and jump out and sometimes hang out for a bit outside the door. If something goes wrong, the pilots will do everything they can to take care of their passengers, including controlling a sick plane in some circumstances while the divers bail. If the trimwheel falls off right before cut, or some other "minor" thing in the plane breaks at a safe altitude and place, the divers almost certainly get out and have a near-normal ride. But the pilot probably has to ride the plane back in with e.g. elevator trim stuck one position. And lastly, when a pilot _does_ jump, he jumps with one chute, it's a round, and he doesn't always spot! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

> everyone will be wearing Santa / Raindeer / Snowman suits as they're hanging of the strut over the beach You're going to give us pictures, right? I wanna see reindeer and Santa on the strut! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

From another thread in another forum, someone says canopies want to open. I agree and I learned this from a story one of my riggers told me about how hard it was to get his first canopy on an intentional mal-cutaway jump to actually mal. Story goes, he had the first one in a 10-gallon garbage bag, all wadded up to hell, jumps out and strips the bag off and it opens perfectly. So, some of youse guys have done these jumps, right? What stories do you have about the canopy that Would... Not... MAL!? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Frognog is an old nickname and not one I use for skydiving. I picked it back in the days of the BBS - right before ANSI color really caught on and everyone realized the escape codes bulked up the transfers so much that playing tradewars at 2400 baud was going to have to go; 9600 became the new acceptable minimum. And I paid 250 hard-earned $ for my 9600 baud modem, at about age 14 or 15, and the card was so long, it actually used one of the long-card holders at the other end of the case! (Only card I've ever seen do that.) Anyway, it comes from this joke: Q1: What's red and green and goes 90 mph in small circles? A: A frog in a blender. Q2: What do you get if you add an egg and nutmeg? A: Frognog. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Those line twists on the second canopy (I assume reserve) had me on the edge of my seat. Can people explain what was going on there? Like, why did he take so long to twist out of them? And it looked like he was dealing with some sort of snarled-up slider and toggles/lines thing as he untwisted around. Through it all I was biting my nails as the seconds passed and passed... And working backwards, it looks like he was OK under the first canopy and then it went all squirrelly - did I see this right? Did he twist it up through bad inputs? Glad to see the reserve looked like it was flying slow and stable while it was all twisted up. Different from my last line-twist episode, where I was saying "If this doesn't get bigger and squarer in two more seconds, I'm chopping." (Also different because he probably didn't have any more handles. :) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

>>For safety, I can see the pilot requiring you stow your smoke device >>on the step before entering the plane and put it back on outside. >I would think you'd risk dropping the thing - and that seems like it would be a danger to people on the ground. I wasn't serious. I meant it in the same vein as a pilot saying "Smoke canisters? Well, I hope you brought enough for everyone!" -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Twilight cutaway in the rain with lightning in the distance. Landed standing, had all my cables, main landed in the DZ with me, and the view was incredible. Plus that second of absolute peace after I cut away. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Man, I love skydiving. The more I learn about it and the different stuff you can do, the more I learn about danger / potential danger. So, a followup question for further readers: does anyone / do groups jump smoke out of a C-182 or a similar sardine tin? "near the door" becomes more sketchy in that case. For safety, I can see the pilot requiring you stow your smoke device on the step before entering the plane and put it back on outside. -=-=-=-=- Pull.