Froggy

Only real. I hate plastic trees, plain and simple, no matter how good they look (I have to admit the ones you can find in stores now look much better -- almost real from a distance -- than 20 years ago). However, for the last several years we simply decorate our very own live fir growing in a large pot on the balcony -- we bring it inside, and it stays there for a couple of weeks. It's real, it smells great, and it doesn't make you feel guilty of enjoying a holiday with a dying tree. If I had my own house, my ultimate choice would be to have a nice fir in the yard...

Exactly! An AFF student pulling one toggle down (and it was higher that 10 feet ) and landing in a turn on his first AFF jump resulted in that fracture that I mentioned earlier. I am afraid it would have been worse for him if he had anything above his head that was not as forgiving as a Manta... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

If I understand correctly (and I am not sure about that, as it really seems to be too good!), West Tennessee Skydiving (the home of the famous Mike Mullins' King Air) is advertizing half-price jumps ($11) to 14,500' if manifested before 8:00am. Check it out! Is that true, can anyone confirm? If it is, I am sure looking forward to my upcoming business trip to Memphis early next year... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Oh yes, I understand that... BTW, this was the biggest change for me in landing my Triathlon compared to previous canopies (but I can still manage flaring it in one pull -- not that I would want to). I also did a single-pull flare on Nav-220, and it worked OK (except one time when I got a brain lock, and landed downwind ). However, if you are talking about >1.0 WL, isn't it a bit beyond student level? But yes, I think I get the point of making students getting used to a different feel and technique from the beginning... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Not to interfere with a discussion, given my (in)experience, but I just wanted to give you a former student's perspective who started out on a Manta. My progression was Manta-288 (26 jumps total), Laser-250 (18 jumps), Maverick-220 (10 jumps), and 4 jumps on Navigator-220 along the way. Then I got Triathlon-175, which is my present canopy. I can say nothing but good things about Manta being my first canopy. It's very docile, predictable and forgiving canopy. I definitely saw performance difference while transitioning to smaller canopies, but nothing too drastic to indicate a significant difference in handling of those canopies, so I don't quite understand the "old vs. modern" argument. I only had one minor injury (badly sprained ankle), which was clearly my mistake, and had very little if anything to do with the canopy type. While the downsizing from 220 to 175 may seem to be a pretty large step, I didn't do it without talking to many people who knew my skills and saw me flying under different canopies -- including my AFF instructors, DZO, and some fellow jumpers. I can tell that all experience I got on student canopies, starting with Manta, on which I got the most jumps in my student progression, gave me enough skills to safely handle a Tri-175. Currently, I have no desire to downsize in foreseeable future, and I am sticking with my Tri, which works great. I just want to stress out the forgiveness of a Manta for beginners -- I once saw a bad landing, resulting in a tib/fib fracture. I am pretty sure if that student had anythng more responsive and not as slow and docile as Manta, the outcome may have been worse than that... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Ahh... That makes sense. I guess I am not very good with "general knowledge" myself, since I didn't even know who he is... Duh... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Your "even" kinda tells me that this is the least you'd expect from a person to know? Well, I dunno... To me, it doesn't mean sh*t -- a person can know nothing about the popular music, and still be very good with general knowledge, well, in general (no pun intended). But then again, people on that show are expected to know all that crap about pop culture, etc., so I guess your point is perfectly valid in context... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Here is the link to the information on the TSA website. Also, there was a letter from USPA on the subject, but I couldn't find it on their web site. There is, however, some info on USPA web site. There were several threads in the past on this topic, some of them may have links -- do a search. As for the Cypres card, you can write to Airtek, and they should be able to send you one. I also found a scan of that card on the internet quite some time ago, but the resolution was rather crappy, so I have re-done it with little enhancements -- that's what I carry when I travel with my rig. I cannot attach it here because of the file size, but if you want, I can email it to you. I have anothehr self-made one-page warning notice that may come in handy -- I put on top of the rig, so it's the first thing visible to whomever opens my suitcase. I posted it before in another thread, but here it is (attached). -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

I personally do not find them sexy at all. And I don't even want to comment on the artwork. But, as it was said already, it's personal, so why would you care if anyone else, other than you, likes them? IMHO, all tattoos on women are total crap. I don't like tattoos on men either (although there are some rare exceptions), but at least they usually don't look THAT bad... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

So true!

Now, THAT's really cool! I am all in favour of practical gifts, and this one is the greatest idea!

Then once again size shouldn't matter. Good to see I'm not the only one that dislikes the commercials. Exactly! Why the hell would anyone give a sh*t about the size of the rock, if it's really about the "meaning" behind it? I am so fed up with some women proudly showing off their latest toys, and all those oooh's and aaah's they get in response! I just don't get it, period. I do like some natural stones, but diamonds are not among them. To me, diamonds have absolutely no natural beauty -- it's just a freaking piece of glass, for all I care. But of course, it's just me. Couple of years ago I brought an opal pendant for my wife from Australia -- a beautiful stone, and it was locally mined there in Australia. Does it have a meaning behind it? Hell yes! Does it cost nearly as much as a diamond? Hell no! Does the price actually matter for any person who is not totally shallow? Well, you decide... And yes, I hate those commercials, too... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Uh... Actually, Mi-24 is VERY different from Mi-26 that you are referring to. Mi-26 is a transport helicopter with a tailgate (ramp) that takes up to 82 troops (68 paratroopers with gear). In comparison, Mi-24 is a multi-purpose helicopter (attack/transport) that can only take 8 troops. It doesn't have a tailgate, and its side door doesn't look like a good exit setup. Actually, there was a pre-production version of Mi-24 with a sliding door, but they only made 10 of them. I doubt very much that Mi-24 can be used as a jump ship -- if anyone has a different info, please let me know, I'd be curios to hear it... P.S.: On the second thought, I figured this is exactly what you were saying in response to tbrown. In that case, sorry for arguing with a wrong person... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Hey, I think it's definitely not you being in need of a humour lesson or two, but your friend... And I sure agree with wmw999 (above post). -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

HUH?!? Pardon my French, but WTF did you do exactly? -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Very nice of him. Very impressive. Very cool! -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Not necessarily. But VERY likely. Sounds kinda like a pointless argument to me, as you can't be certain about anything, except death and taxes, as they say. But DougH has a perfectly valid point... Edited for spelling -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Makes sense. But, assuming for the sake of argument that the assembly is flexed regularly, thus taking "setting" of the material out of the picture, do you think the amount of webbing in the ring is a real concern? I mean, sure, there is more material to pass through the ring, but would it practically affect the cutaway in real-life scenario, considering the load on the risers? To me, the combination of mini rings and large risers seems rather odd (I wouldn't choose it myself), but I am just trying to understand how safe it is, since manufacturers are offering it as an option... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

I only got them when I was in the Army and in the Maritime Academy (also had to pass a yearly medical, and all that stuff). But voluntarily -- never had, never will. -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

I'd like to hear it, too. Just plain curiousity, because it does seem kinda illogical to me... -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Unfortunately, I have no idea who that is, but I like the photo.

That's a cool video! BTW, what the hell was THAT at 3:04?!? Holy sh*t, that maneuvre just looks unreal! -------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...

Here are some of my desktops. The C-130 ramp view from 2004 World Record-357 in Thailand (absolutely stunning pic, I must say!) was shamelessly stolen from Andrey Veselov's site, and I don't remember where exactly on the Internet I found two other photos... The Elsinore Vengeance tracker is my current wallpaper.

I can confirm that!

-------------- We were not born to fly. And all we can do is to try not to fall...