peckerhead

Age does not weaken parachutes or make them unsafe.Wear and tear alone do. Sealed and shelved nylon does not deteriorate with time. It is weakened only by outside elements and effects such as wear, dirt, and ultra-violet light. Forty year-old samples of nylon fabric have been known to test as well as the day they were made.---Poynter Parachute Manual pp. 354-355 In other words it is better to keep it packed in it's protective sealed container than it is to subject it to regular use. As mentioned already I would hold off on buying gear until you have more jumps but I would not shy away from gear that has been properly stored.

Let me rephrase that: The study guide I have from Poynter has 290 questions and answers to prepare for the FAA written test. Are the 118 questions from the new bank the same questions taken from the 290? In other words the questions are the same , there is just not as many? Thanks.

The listing has been revised, it was previously listed as a skydiving harness.

So I only need to memorize 118 answers instead of 290? What if the DPRE uses the old bank instead of the new one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=310&item=7132282526&rd=1

The team pictured was called "Hatleys Whores" Or so I have been told.

I finally made contact with my people. And then I lost it.

Thanks! Does anyone know if there is a way to restore deleted messages?

A few weeks back I got a PM from someone about a group of skydivers in California called the "Flying Peckerheads" Unfortunately I deleted all my messages and I can't remember who it was. Anyway today I got an official "Flying Peckerheads" T-shirt in the mail along with a really cool medallion. I would like to thank you for the shirt but I don't know your DZ.com user name. All I have is the return address on the envelope. Also, are there FPH numbers issued? I think I should be #1 since I have had that handle for over 20 years. But I would take any number. I would also like to order more shirts if possible. Do you have a website? Thanks Again!!!!!!

I will tell you a story about what kind of guy Ralph is. When I was a young jumper I couldn't afford to buy gear. At the time I could barely afford to pay rent, eat and make my car payments but I really wanted to jump. So I was jumping borrowed gear and one day I had two reserve rides in a row on back to back loads. Ralph walks up with an order form and a handfull of magic markers and says "That's it! You are getting a new rig" I said " Ralph I can't afford to buy a new rig" He told me that he would pay for it and I would make payments, as much as I could handle. The only condition was that the rig would stay at his DZ until it was paid for, after that I could take it and go jump anywhere I wanted to. So I ordered a custom container with a new main and a new round reserve. (at the time not many people had square reserves) The whole set up cost $1800. I paid him $100 a month for 18 months. I don't know of ANY DZO that will buy you a new rig and let you pay them back. I know of several other jumpers that he did this for. Since then I have bought 6 different rigs from Ralph and just about everything else (jumpsuits altimeters AAD's camera helmet, goggles etc.) I should also mention I later became an instructor at Ralph's DZ and trained students there for 8 years. So I know the guy pretty well. You can take my word for it or someone who talked to him on the phone one time.

You can call someone else if you want to pay more. Ralph has the best prices and more gear in stock than anyone. Most dealers won't let you return gear if you don't like it. If you go to his DZ the amount of gear he has in stock is just mind-boggling. Last year I bought a complete rig from Ralph and I saved at least $600. (for instance the infinity container was $995, square 1 wants $1300 for the same. The Cypress 2 was $1000, most dealers sell them for $1300 and up) As far as the "Call Ralph" patch on the end cells; I have only seen that on his student rigs and demo canopies. He has that done at the factory, Ralph is way to busy to be sewing patches on every rig he sells. He is a character for sure and I know he rubs some folks the wrong way, but when it comes to gear sales he can't be beat.

Sausage wallet

Wally's dead?

The first canopy I bought was an added attraction. Before that I was jumping rounds and rental squares owned by the DZ. I paid $350 for a complete rig including the container and a round reserve, it was a sac I think. My added attraction was 5-cell strato flyer with two extra cells added on to each end. I have a picture of it somewhere. I think the strato flyer was 178 sq.ft. and with the extra cells it was just under 200. It was kind of funky looking because the added end cells were larger than the original cells so they looked like pontoons. It was a piece of crap but being young and my first rig I loved it. I made about 50-60 jumps on it It was destroyed when it went over the tail of a 182 on jump run. My container came open and the main D-bag went out the door while I was still in the plane. I tore a hole in it big enough to walk through and ripped off about half the lines. This was followed by a very scary round reserve ride from 11,000 ft. on a windy day. Fortunately all the jumpers were able to exit safely. The horizontal stabilizer was damaged but the pilot was able to land the plane without further incident so all in all I would say we were pretty lucky. Ah yes, the good old days..... !

Ah yes, we had one of those....His name was Shorty. He had been hanging out at the DZ since he was a little kid. He taught me how to pack when he was 14 (I was only 18) He started flying jumpers when he was about 20. It made me kinda nervous at first, for some reason I always thought the pilot should be older than me. I will never forget the first time I walked out to the 182 and he was sitting in the pilot seat. I waved my arms at the DZO and screamed "Hey! Can we please get an ADULT to fly the plane?!!!!" When Shorty started flying jumpers he still looked like he was about 14. Many of our older students would ask him how old he was on the way up to altitude or say things like "Are you really old enough to fly this thing?"

No pilots?

Hey! While we are at it, whats wrong with good ol capewells?

What goes up

Yeah, like I said I did get stand-ups in the peas. I also had off-field landings in rough terrain on days that were probably too windy for squares. If you really feel the need to jump antiques I would highly recommend a good spot in favorable conditions. !

I have 56 round jumps. Other than 4 round reserve rides most of those jumps were on para-commanders. I did it because that was the "advanced" round at the time. It is ironic that I was doing 4-way rw but I was still not considered to have enough experience to handle a square. Many of my buddies did not jump a square until they had over 100 round jumps. My 5th jump on a ram-air was a night jump..... We used to say a good landing on a PC meant you did not get dirt up your nose.....Of course I did a few stand-ups in the peas but I was less than 150 lbs back then and those were rare. Why on earth do you want to do that? If there were more videos of landings from the good old days you might reconsider. But hey! if that's what you want go for it....Orthopedic surgeons are also more advanced these days.

I am taking a senior riggers certification course in Feb. and I am looking for suggestions as to what would be the minimum tools needed to get started as a rigger. (just packing no sewing machines yet) I have packed many reserves over the years but I always borrowed tools. I am just looking for the minimum needed for packing reserves, I can always add on as I go. Here is the list I have so far: Temp pins shot bags T handle (crank) Packing plate Molar strap Bodkins Fids Press and seals Rubber bands Packing paddles Tool bag or box to put everything in I know this will be covered in the class I am just trying to get a jump on things. What would you riggers recommend for a starters kit?

Keeping flies out of the beer is EXACTLY why they do it in Mexico. Dumb American tourists saw this and that's how the trend started up here. I remember when I first had a corona in the states, we called it "Mexican Miller" because it came in a clear bottle. In Mexico it is one of the cheapest. Actually ALL cheap beer tastes better with a squeeze of lime.....Try it with a Budweiser sometime. .

Friends don't let friends snowboard........ How does a snowboarder introduce himself? "Woa! sorry dude! Are you alright?"

Didn't get a november issue, still waiting for a december. I have been a member for 22 years and I can't remember a single year that I received all twelve issues. Last year I think I got 9 or 10. And they wonder why so many don't vote?

I just got the sad news that Steve Romines lost his fight with prostate cancer a few weeks ago. Steve was a pilot, skydiver, and tandem master in the Northwest for many years. He was my wifes tandem master back in the late 80's when tandem was still quite new. The last time I jumped with Minus was at Central Oregon Skysports just a few years ago. He had just got a new job in Alaska and was moving at the same time we were moving the DZ to Madras. He seemed to be in perfect health, he is not much older than me. He moved back to Mollala last summer when things started getting bad. Steve flew and instructed at Estacada, Mollala, and Central Oregon and probably many other places that I am not aware of. I made some of my first freefalls out of his old 170 before he bought it. If any of you out there knew him and would like to send a card and remember Steve to his family here is the address: I am sure it would mean a lot to Deb. Debi Romines 32001 S. Ona Way Molalla, OR 97308