GraficO

Let me know what I can do for you: Visit www.facebook.com/pullupcords for photo examples in the photo albums Adam Option Studios GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Ronnie Beth, I am your surrogate uncle and a good friend of your dad. I have some pictures of Ron of when a friend of mine went to DC and got to spend some time with him. I've kept up with you and your dad's antics and adventures here and there over the years as well as all the jumpers that we all knew before you were even a twinkle. Regardless of the time between phone calls and emails, we're still all family. We all have the same roots. Your uncle's passing was part of a string of heartbreaks for your grandfather and your dad that year. It was hard on everyone, especially your dad. Gary probably one of my favorite people in the whole world, his wit, his humor and his outlook on things in general was always so refreshing and fun. As I remember it, your uncle was very similar. All the Gross' are good eggs. I'd be happy to chat and give you an outside perspective of what I know... in the meantime, poke your dad to call me. It's about time we caught up again ;) Adam the picture is your dad's 500th "Pie". Good times. I'll scan the photo of Ron I have framed at the house and post. GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

the webform for L&B goes to [email protected] which is the general email account. We use a webform as to cut down spam & email harvesting. When an email is received at [email protected], it is distributed to the area of specialty: i.e software related, repairs, general questions, etc. That department head then will reply to the customer. Here are some thing to keep in mind while contacting L&B: - L&B is in Roskilde, Denmark, a small town outside of Copenhagen. - L&B is a small privately owned company with about 10 employees. - Normal business hours are Mon-Thurs 8am-4pm and Friday 8am-2pm. Closed weekends - Factory tours are available by appointment only. - Emails are responded to within 24 hours on business days - worldwide timezones may affect this response time. In regards to email contact: - Our employees strive to maintain a high level of Customer Service, please be descriptive and detailed in your email so we can better serve you and respond appropriately. - Being rude, offensive or vulgar will not expedite the service received. - Treat us as you would like to be treated. - We are multilingual to the best of our abilities but please try to write your emails in the simplest terms so your points are not interpreted falsely. From the L&B Team GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

I don't get on DZ.com all that often but since I've been working with/for L&B for 14 years, I can honestly say that they are probably the foremost examples of great customer service in our industry. On many occasions I have had conversations with other company employees, tour reps, owners and whatnot saying that they strive to emulate L&B in terms of their customer service. Steffen is attempting to help Vandev with his IR port issue. GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

you may also need to hit the reset button. Grab your instructions or download them from the L&B website at http://www.l-and-b.dk GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Anything L&B... I personally have one of each of their audibles GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

try http://www.l-and-b.dk/manuals/altitrack_man_eng.pdf GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

In my opinion... pie should be served: - Jump 100 - Jump 500 - Every 1000 thereafter Just say NO to Catfood Pies!!! That's just sick Thoughts on the 500 Pie... think of how many people don't make it past 500 before they go off and do something else. SO... it would seem appropriate that 500 be a milestone to be celebrated... GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Motorcycle accident.... I tell ya... skydiving isn't dangerous. The DRIVE to and from the DZ is what's dangerous. GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Deeply saddened... it was not your time. Swoop the Pearly gates my friend. GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

aw fudge.... Blue skies camera guy... GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

As posted in 2004: -------------------------- I look at containers as doing a specific task. From a purely construction point of view, instead of saying the Mirage is over-done I probably should have been more specific in saying this: The design of the Mirage, because of the flap patterns and the design of the main riser covers among other things, they choose to produce increases the parts count that goes into the rig. Many of those are purely cosmetic and not necessarily functional. Higher parts count equals more sewing and construction time that has to be compensated for hence a higher priced rig. Both Infinity and Mirage are bullet-proof rigs but the advantage from a construction point of view is that Infinity is more simple to make. Both rigs have more than adequate shoulder riser protection, both have reserve side internal riser covers, both have main closing flaps that stay put regardless of body position in the air and both a very popular with a broad spectrum of skydivers for those reasons. Point here is that the features compared above have been streamlined and functionally simplified on the Infinity and/or integrated with other parts which cuts down the need for more parts and more sewing. Whether or not the Mirage or the Infinity is better than the other is aesthetics and what you consider a better rig. A perfect example is the differences between the Mirage Riser and the Infinity riser. On the Mirage riser there is a grommet for the closing loop of the 3 ring AND a separate part for the hard housing for the extra cutaway cable. Infinity has streamlined the design of most risers available including the Mirage risers and made both into one part but combining the hard housing with a grommeted end-fitting that also serves as the grommet for the 3-ring release. Less parts, less sewing, less expensive... same functionality. Another example is where the Infinity has combined the reserve L & R closing flaps as the secondary internal riser covers. At last I saw, the Mirage had secondary riser covers that were extra parts sewn into the seams of the reserve flaps/sides. Again it's a matter of parts count and sewing as opposed to streamlining the same idea. With all due respect to Justin and Jeff Johnston (Lead designer of the Mirage) Mirage has for the most part just ADDED features to the original rig instead of INTEGRATING them. The end result is ultimately a higher priced rig strictly because of the way it is constructed, the parts count, the complexity of how the features are added and the sewing time to make it. It is not because it's features are any better than Infinity or Javelin or any other rig on the market for that matter Jeff just chose to make the Mirage the way it is. Kelly at VSE on the other hand took a completely different approach to accomplish the same tasks and did it better, more cost effective and that is transferred to the customer buying the rig. From the aesthetic point of view, everybody has their own idea of what looks good. Some think the way the Mirage looks is absolutely the most beautiful thing they've seen on the planet, while others think the Jav or the Infinity or the Vector is gorgeous. So if you are willing to spend another $500 on a rig for the aesthetics... go right ahead... it's your backside.... personally I would rather go jump and spend the $500 on tickets or tunnel time. GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

try http://www.windsign.com Chris can take care of ya... GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

Ok... let me build a scenario: At my home Cessna DZ... there a never more than 8 jumpers in the air at any given time. We are so small that the two people who actually do high performance tuns to final over the main landing area are well known to 95% of the people who jump here. The HP pilots know who is on the load and their typical landing patterns and vice-versa. If I travel to Eloy or Elsinore, etc.... I have no idea what other people's typical and predictable landing patterns are nor does anyone else know what mine are. Cannuck's post as far as the precision and technical precision of a HP pilot's swoop does make sense... but the point I'm trying to make is that we're all fine at home with people we know... but on vacation it's somewhat open season. I will say this, I agree with SDAZ's motion to minimize that probability of another canopy collision but that is where it ends. There is no solution given to allow all pilots of all experience levels to do their landing pattern... HP swoop or box approach. From previous discussion it would seem that a larger main landing area would help to allow more room for all types of approaches. In talking with several pro swoopers much of the consensus is that there should be some sort of HP landing area so people not doing HP landing should just flatly stay away from the area. Many other DZs have designated landing areas for students (Elsinore and Perris come to mind first)... why not have a HP landing area, a general landing area and student landing area. That way people of like approaches can have a more constant idea of what other people in the pattern for that particular landing area will be doing. I'm open to new ideas... it just seems that banning a blossoming part of our sport isn't the right way to go... it just needs finesse. GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."

how's your Infinity? Long time stranger.... GraficO "A Mind is a terrible thing to taste."