bob.dino

Like you, I'm struggling to understand how your reserve handle could be pulled. I've done a couple of hundred jumps in that slot and I can only think of two possible causes: - your centre out (the person directly forward of you in the stack up) bumped it on climb out. If you were in the position you're in by the time the count is given, then this looks unlikely. There's plenty of clearance. - the rear diver bumped it while looking for your right arm gripper. It can be very hard for the person in that slot to see what they're doing. Neither of them sounds particularly likely. Even if your reserve handle was dislodged from its pocket, it's unlikely to deploy - there's too much tension on the pin. I've been in freefall w/ a dislodged handle a couple of times, and it's not been an issue. Something must've given the handle a decent tug. Something goes through the frame at 0:26 as you leave - in the bottom right quadrant. I can't make out what it is. Reserve handle? ps: you can tell your rear rear to stay down from the start. If you mirror the exit count, they can see it and don't have to readjust their position during the count.

16:28 here. Looking forward to a quick beer with mates over from the States then on home.

WTF actually is Cheerwine? Jumping at Raeford, there's a factory/distribution centre nearby with a bunch of trailers that had that on the side. Is it booze? Or a soft drink? Or what?

I've exited a Cessna at a fraction below 2,000ft and been fully open by 1,850. On a Spectre 190 loaded at 1.1. Packed normally. At 1800 ft, if the plane is flying flat and stable, I'm exiting, counting 1 (to see the tail), and deploying. Because I'm still moving forward at speed, most of my opening will happen horizontally and I'll lose little height. If, however, the plane is descending (so that I'm not exactly sure of height) or I can't exit stable and am not exactly sure what height I'm going to deploy at, the smart thing would be to use my reserve. Of course, because it's likely to be a stressful situation and my adrenalin will be up, I'll probably bail and deploy my main as normal. Muscle memory and all that - after all, how often do you physically rehearse an aircraft bail out on silver?

Yes they do. Quite a lot. The other thing is that slow, deep breathing actually relaxes you. So does a smile, however forced. Releases chemicals that chill you out. Or you can go the pot brownies route

Since it is a US magazine, assuming ASCII encoding is probably fair.

Two weeks IRL - AUS is about right. More if it needs customs clearance.

Another option: Paypal. It can take cash directly from your bank account.

PAC's do that. I've been on/in a couple that stalled. Don't put more than 5 + camera out, and if the group is larger than an 8-way, make sure later divers stay up with the pilot. Also: warn the pilot so (s)he can increase the speed of jump run.

Working for me at the moment.

Great to hear you're back and in the painful-but-healing bit. First jump's on me. BTW, I hear pain meds and booze are a quality combination.

How heavy are you? With the wings on your suit it's going to be difficult to put your arms into a modern mantis-type position. Every time the wings catch air, they're going to drag your upper arms above your shoulders.

I'd echo Squeak's advice, but I'd probably have spelled it better. Have fun

On a single job (rebuilding a shed) we tried a High-Volume Low-Pressure ("home") sprayer, roller and brushes, and a airless compressor. The home sprayer was so bad, we gave up and went to roller and brushes. A coat w/ roller and brushes took 3hrs 15min. Renting an airless compressor was not cheap, but each coat took 15min. Allowed us to finish inside and out of the shed in a day. Some caveats: - Paint will go everywhere. Literally. Your floor, windows, clothes etc will have a spattering of very fine paint droplets. The droplets are so fine that they seem to hang in the air for a few seconds, allowing them to drift onto anything. - It uses a quite lot of paint. - If you're doing this indoors, I would highly recommend some very serious breathing protection gear. I wouldn't tackle a large painting job without one ever again, but I'd be very careful about using one indoors, and I'd talk to someone that knows a lot more than I.

I'd try contacting UPT (makers of the Vector), and Performance Designs. Both should have large amounts of visual and written data about parachute opening sequences.

Jump #9. I started AFF to prove to myself that I could do it. It scared the snot out of me. In Australia, AFF Stage 7 includes backloops. We were between 8 and 9k and had just done the backflips and my instructor was grinning like an idiot. Something in my head unclenched, I felt a huge grin steal across my face and I can still clearly remember thinking "So this is why they do it!" I decided to do 25 jumps or so. When I hit 20, I figured I'd do a couple of hundred. Getting close to that mark, I was training 4-way for Nationals, and I said "500". Somewhere around the 400 mark, I decided to shut up and jump until it was no longer fun.... and last week I did the Arizona Challenge. Complex 78-ways from 16k5. Still fun!

Glad to see someone say it [:-)] You can gain a hell of a lot from tunnel 4-way training, particularly how to change your fall rate very quickly.

I believe he only uploaded '05, '06, and '07, 'coz they're on my site... http://www.sundered.org/cpc/

Rain == annoying Ice == fucking sore. At 14k, it's often ice rather than water, and it's bloody sore.

Kirk is a top bloke. You'll have a wonderful time and learn heaps. He's a patient, friendly, and very good at helping you teach yourself to fly.

You have a grip. You want to move to another grip. You take the second grip before letting go of the first grip. There is no time when you don't have a grip. In most forms of competitive relative work, it's a bust (or foul) to grip switch. Except when used as part of an exit, before you build the first point.

Did you land it?

You mean on the other side of the runway from the loading / packing / drinking area?

If we're doing skydiving ads, Carlton Draught in Australia did a couple: Skytroop. This one has Actual Skydivers!

Triathlons don't have the greatest reputation for being easy to land. Try borrowing a Safire2 or a Sabre2 and see if that helps.