Tonto

Hi Grant, I LOVE being a newbie! The learning curve is SO steep and the essence of skydiving returns undiluted. It helps when you teach too, to be reminded of the challenges faced when learning. Hope Wayne's behaving himself. He's got a good head, but pushes himself quite hard. Blue Skies, t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, I hate to break it to you but any ornithologist will confirm that your National bird is not an eagle. Eagles are classified quite simply and uncerimonialy as raptors with feathers on their toes. Trust me. Eagles don't flock. Having been through all that, I progressed through homing pidgeons, falconry and hang gliding before skydiving. and feel flying is as important to my body as freedom is to my soul. t t It's the year of the Pig.

Can't visualise it. When you say the "cutaway landing on a" are you talking about the jumper, or the gear they cut away from. Your canopy will take no weight from above. t It's the year of the Pig.

Eagles dont flock. t It's the year of the Pig.

180, 270 or 90 one way 270 the other. Gives me alti range. t It's the year of the Pig.

Mmm. Not always practical. My 14 screws and 22cm plate would look like I was wearing a garden rake. I've lost the plate and 2 or three of the screws now, but I'll always have the scar... t It's the year of the Pig.

Happy Birthday Blue. What's the square root of 27? No Australian answers please! Have a great day, t It's the year of the Pig.

No misunderstanding!

And more often, forgetting to turn it off. The battery will be flat if you leave it on for a week or so, then the costly reserve repack + the cost of the new battery. Cypress 2 is out now, and there are other units with features the Cypress 2 didn't dream of, like the info you get off a Pro track which can be downloaded through an infra red port. The future calls... t It's the year of the Pig.

I check my gear in the morning, similar check to yours. If I have another AFF I with me, we'll give each other pin checks. If I'm alone, I'll take my chances, as I can touch all my pins without help. If I'm doing Tandem I'll do a pre check. I won't let anyone but a Tandem master near my gear. I don't like some sweating 30 jump wonder messing with my gear before exit. t It's the year of the Pig.

That pressure can be good, in that you want to be as good as you can be - or it can be bad when you overamp and muck up an otherwise good dive. I still get it - last time on my 1st Birdman jump, but it went fine, as I thought it would. Sometimes, our fear is irrational, but still real. I had to do a full pre exit gear check on a fellow AFF I on jump run while the student looked on, as the I felt "something was wrong" I guess its what keeps us alive. t It's the year of the Pig.

8 Saturday 6 Sunday and did my dive with Peter, the paraplegic dude you put me in touch with. We have a few future challenges with short hip flexors, but nothing phisio won't solve. Landing was uneventful. Thanks for the heads up! t It's the year of the Pig.

High - Doing a really successful AFF with a paraplegic jumper Low - Taking flack from people telling me I should not be helping out. t It's the year of the Pig.

"I have little experience on CReW canopies, however I believe I would still land the lightnings I've jumped on risers if needed. " There is a world of difference between a PD lightening sequencial canopy and rotation rags like Rubis, AR-7 and Matrix. Loaded to rotation wingloadings, you would be a nutter to try it - and your team would agree. It's the year of the Pig.

And I've had that happen, 1998 in the turks and Caicos islands, and Rick Highsmith (from Daytona) was my witness - and was not caught in the corner, hit the water a little heavy, skipped to the beach and run up a dune - I survived, loaded to 1.65 and sea level on a sunset dive.. but I would not like to try it again. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well... I was not happy with it, until I was in the military and it some guy lost his dick cos it was hard to keep clean. Never minded the snip after that. t It's the year of the Pig.

Spread the news... I launched a tandem once, big dude pulled his legs up, had camera and was accelerating away dispite best arch I could manage, and threw the drouge unstable. (My bad) It entangled with us low down (didn't throw near necks...) and we started a Tandem side spin. I tried to clear it twice, felt myself redding out and fired the reserve. The whole thing is on video and lasts about 9 seconds. It's currently shown to all potential TM's by evaluators in our country. Couls have been very nasty. t It's the year of the Pig.

A black Swift 5 cell in a wonderhog harness, with a 23' Tri Conical pioneer reserve. t It's the year of the Pig.

Maybe every 6 months, maybe longer. I chop a lot - never had a hard cutaway, do around 400 dives a year, dont fall over and get dirt in my stuff and replace risers every 500 jumps as recomended. t It's the year of the Pig.

"if you don't think/can't land your canopy on rear risers, it's probably too small for you. Why? Because you don't have control over it in all phases. There's more to flying that pulling toggles, ask any CReW dawg or qualified HP canopy pilot about that! " Oh, crap! I have 3000 + swoops and National colours in CReW. On a competition Rotation dive, if you had broken a brakeline, would you continue to rotate? If not, does this mean you cannot fly? Would you attempt to land ANY competition Rotation canopy on rear risers? Your canopy has been compromised. It is a malfunction. That's why there is a throwaway round. As for swoopable rags, if you expect me to land a canopy loaded to 1.7+ 5000ft AMSL and over 100 d F on the back risers through traffic when I'm due on the next load and have 20 dives manifested for the weekend - you're a nutter. Yes, reserve mals may happen - but then again they may not. If you don't believe in your reserve - you have no place skydiving. I have 19 reserve rides off 17 chops,(remember the Crew...) so far, so good. Control check, not good, chop, land, put on other rig, go to boarding point. By the time I land my toys are gathered and 3 loads later the reserve is repacked and I have no scrapes or bruises to show. I don't give a flying monkey's toe what you think. Not wanting to land a canopy which is damaged has NOTHING to do with being able to fly it under all conditions. Write the manufacturer of ANY canopy and ask if its ok to land it without brakes. What would they say? t It's the year of the Pig.

Mainly broken fingernails and death, but everything in between too. t It's the year of the Pig.

It feels like flying... t It's the year of the Pig.

Thanks! It's very early morning for us, but I love this stuff! t It's the year of the Pig.

I've done this a lot. Try and keep it short, simple, ethical and personal. You've been chosen as a best man for a reason. Thank the people you know made a difference, and describe how you felt when you first met his bride to be, unless she's an ex of yours. (You may need to lie here) You can add some humour to show others how close you are as friends, but leave out the story about when you swapped the twins you were doing, or when you caught him harpooning the town whale. t It's the year of the Pig.