genoyamamoto

I will remember this Ok just let me write up a waiver in case I trip and drop you and also if your canopy disintegrates above your head. I gave tallguy a lift last week so it shouldn't be too hard to carry you on level ground. I can't promise anything if(or when) we walk through the pond tho... Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Ok thanks!. Understood now. I will add untwisting the brake lines to my checklist. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

yes fortunately by the time the packer mentioned how much they liked people who didn't stow their toggles I was in the habit of doing it so they don't hate me too much. Could you describe what a "pigtail" is? Do you have any pictures of a pigtail? Sounds scary-cute. Thanks! Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

lol! If I could I would have carried them on my shoulders and packed for them, if I knew that my pack job wouldn't blow up on them! The AFF instructors were some of the best teachers i've ever had, besides perhaps my high school physics instructor so I want them to live and teach me more. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

I just read "Canopy Relative Work", published in the early 80's and in the back of the book it says you can actually go from forward flight, almost stall the canopy and start flying it backwards!!! Have you ever done that? Is it a standard thing to practice to get to know your canopy better? Thanks! -G Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Oh yeah that reminds me I was told to put the toggles on by the instructor that waited. He said that the "packers will like you". The packer's view on this was "stow your toggles or we'll f**king hate you!" I'm sure glad he told me to place the toggles early on. Anyway, it's nice to hear that you guys enjoy the big grins on our faces. I won't feel as bad now whenever I catch myself smiling . Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

I didn't realize people still used 200 speed film. When I used to use film, the extra grain in 200 wasn't worth the extra 1 stop in speed from 100 and the difference in grain between 200 and 400 is negligible. But then again I wasn't using it to take photos of people falling from the sky. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Sweet lens! Can I borrow it? Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Yeah I like all of the instructors I had and appreciate how they kept me safe and answered all the questions I had. I just like some of them more than others because they walked back to the hangar with me (i.e. their beer preference takes precedence). Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Because only two of the five instructors I had walked back to the hangar with me. The other three bailed as soon as they landed. Well it's nice to hear it's SOP at most places. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Hi, I thought back to my very recent AFF experience and wanted to make a suggestion to all of you AFF instructors out there. It's just a small thing but something that I really appreciated from the two instructors that did this. What they did was wait for me in the landing area and walk with me to the hangar. I know it sounds silly but I really appreciated the two guys that did this during my AFF progression because it does get lonely having to walk alone into the busy hangar, especially as a n00b. It also gave me a chance to share the thrill and accomplishment of the jump before entering into the busy packing area. I know a lot of times you guys have to pack so you can go onto another student but if you have a few minutes to spare to wait for a lonely student to land, pick up their gear and walk in, i'm sure they would appreciate it. -G Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Wow I hope I look that good when i'm 45 but the way things are going I don't know. Anyone got the number for his plastic surgeon? But seriously, i'm sure with the right lighting and some serious post-processing he would look "normal". -G p.s. I think his finish er um I mean complextion looks like DuPont flamulit. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Cool!!! Congratulations!!! Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

You're welcome. I finally found the mythical beer rules list taped up on the wall. I was half expecting to see rule #1 as "if this is the first time you are reading this list you owe beer". I guess I should pack a few cases in the trunk if I head down to Arizona. Bud light anyone? Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

ROFLMAO! Vowels are my friend... Wait 'till you find out my real name! Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

if i get my A license before then can I come play with all you all's? -g Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Well i'm a greenie and the two times I plf'd occurred on the jumps where my instructor went over the art of the proper plf. So when I was coming in on final all I could think about was what he had said about plf'ing and saving my ankles. At that moment it felt like the natural thing to do as all I could hear in my head was him telling me to not be afraid to plf, although i've stood up similar landings since then. When I was told not to reach out when docking, I of course reached out to try to dock! Oh one more thing, someone told me not to get fixated on the pump house when landing (Byron, CA)... well things turned out ok as I saw people on the ground waving me away and I realized what was happening. Chalk one up to Heissenberg. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

lolol sorry about that. Yeah take a roll of 50-100 speed slide film, shoot it and find someone to develop it for you in the c41 (negative film) process. You'll get higher contrast as well as some neat color shifts depending on what film you use. You can probably find a pro-lab that does x-processing runs once or twice a week. Of course you could just develop it yourself, it's not too difficult, and you could then get any minilab to make prints for you. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Try cross-processing a roll of e6. Grab a roll of EPP, Provia, RSX11 or Elitechrome, shoot normal (or +.5 to 1.5) and process normally. I think you'll like the results. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Hey lawrocket, the answer to your question is "nobody knows". Einstein assumed gravity propagates at the speed of light but it has yet to be proven. The best way to prove this is by measuring gravitational waves. Kopeikin and Fomalont attempted to measure the speed of gravity using another method as mentioned by someone here but there have been serious issues raised with their technique (mistakes and lack of sensitivity of their method). There's an article at: http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/Phys-speed-of-gravity.html That should give you an idea of where we are in answering your question. Heck, if you are really REALLY interested you should e-mail Stuart Samuel! Just look for him here: http://www.lbl.gov/ds/ -G Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Dude I just finished up AFF yesterday and was friggin the coolest 8 plane rides in my life! I also had fantastic instructors with me so that made the jumps really fun. Anyway, my n00b advice is to get as many jumps in a day as possible. The first ride of the day to altitude always scares the bejesus out of me, while the subsequent rides up are about 100x better. Oh and remember to smile at your instructors, they seem to like that. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Hey I feel the same way bro. Did AFF II & III this weekend in Byron and it was way too fun, except for the plane ride up, that was pretty scary. Oh and getting blown off the plane when presenting got my attention. Driving is a bitch now. I can't pay attention 'cuz my heads in the clouds dreaming about this weekend. Hovering and turning reminded me of bodysurfing, except you can ride the air longer and at the instructors. Anyway, glad to hear you had as much fun as I did! -g Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Thanks everyone. I feel better now knowing that i'm not the only one with these thoughts, but looking at your chart Fast, looks like i'm in for a few more interesting jumps. Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here

Hi! I'm new to the skydiving world and will do my AFF 2 jump this weekend at Byron, CA. I read thru a lot of the posts and am sort of relieved that other people get nervous on the plane ride up. My AFF 1 jump was two weeks ago and the buzz finally wore off 10 days later!!! Anyway, I was wondering how people dealt with the time between their first and second jump. As for myself, all I can think about are malfunctions and emergency procedures. This is the last thing I think about before falling asleep and the first thing I think about after waking up. Have other people experienced this? I also have this nagging little voice in my head that keeps telling me that it's wrong to jump out of an airplane! Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me Feel the hate... Photos here