prost

Slightly overweight for a guy who founded a Hamburger joint.

Wait untill there is a huge amount of seperation before I get out. William

Yeah but I think you also can get them with turbines. I think they call it a buffallo then. There is a drop zone with a Caribou but I don't think they jump it much. I can't remember where it is right now. Maybe someone else can help out. William

Chuck, I wish it wasn't his weekend or I would go with you. I was just recalled to the Marine Corps. I have been out for 3 years on IRR and they called me back for my last year. They sent me up to Quantico. I can't go this weekend because I still have things to take care of here. In the future, let me know and I will join you going to any swoop comps in Florida. I want to get into compitition swooping. Iwould be willing to split the ride with you if nothing else but to get some pointers. William

And tell him William said he was a bitch.

I got my canopy back after over 6 weeks. Since then I have only put one jump on it due to moving on to an FX. I have three mains and only two rigs. The one jump I put on it, I noticed the riser pressure was higher but everything else tended to be good. Opening was normal, and the flare was great. I have been recalled to the Marine Corps so I am a little slowed down on jumping, but check back with me as I will be jumping it more. William

Make a big dent in the ground. With my landing approaches, if anyone hits me at 400 ft, I am toast (2.4 on an fx). I would only have about 3-4 seconds till I reach 0 ft anyway from that altitude. The one good thing is that at the altitude I start my carve, I can still cut away if it got ugly. William

How about' "dontforgetyourchutesoyoucanjumpfromthetop.com" William

Bill, I don't understand your analogy that belly jumpers will be blown back towards the freefliers if they exit first. Not if like most drop zones, jump run is into the wind. Say if the plane is going north, then the wind is blowing to the south. So the drift will be to the south. If the freeflier gets out second, he will be further to the north as the plane is flying north and the belly flier will be drifting to the south. This will put the farther away. William

If the jumpers are all pulling at similar altitudes it is much better to try to get horizontal separation. Take this example. Skydivers are exiting a plane from 13000 ft. A free flyer gets out planning to pull at 3000 ft. He actually pulls at 3300. He has a farely quick opening and is open by 2900 ft. His freefall time is approximately 44 sec. 5 seconds later a belly flier leaves the plane planning to pull at 3000 ft. He pulls at 2200 because they broke off a little late. He has a slow opening and is open by 1400 ft. His freefall time is approximately 60 sec. So do you think the freeflier will have descended 1500 ft under canopy in just 16 seconds. Not likely unless he is flying something like an FX loaded at 2.4 and went into a hard dive right away. If they have no horizontal separation, they are going to collide. One other thing to think about. Assuming the belly and freeflier are both good and don't slide all over the sky, the belly flier will drift more than the free flier. If you put the free flier out first the belly flier can drift right over the top of him, where if you put the belly flier out first they will drift farther apart. Since I believe it is better to get horizontal separation for reasons stated above, i believe in putting belly fliers out first in all but absolute no uppers. We do not see that very often. One other thing. The times and opening distances I used were just off hand. Just for illustration. I know they might not be exact but should work for this illustration. And as far as people pulling at there assigned altitudes, things don't always go right. Most accidents are caused by a chain of events. William

Rob has it right on. The AFF rating is the most difficult rating to obtain. I would suggest doing 30 to 50 practice jumps before you go to the course. One other thing, They make the course very stressful. I have seen many people fail that I thought just got to stressed out. William

Why do you think a canopy will not open slower at subterminal speeds. The canopy will open slower on a hop in pop if the plane is flying slowly as well. Remeber the air has to pull the canopy out and inflate it. If you have less air going by per second it will take longer for the canopy to inflate. William

I jump with a jvc dvl805. The model up from that one. I do not know of an easy way to hook up a control button. If you just need an indicator light, there are systems that work by placing a sensor over the record light. William

First off let me say I jump with a JVC. That being said I would recommend a Sony if you ever want to do paid video jumps. The Image quality is just as good on the JVC but where the difference comes in is compatibility. The Cam eye II will not work with the JVC. You have to get the one that tapes over your indicator light. This will work but is more trouble and does not have as many features. Also many firewire cards will work better with the sony because they base their designs on them. The imovie software that comes with the imac will not work with JVC at all. One other thing about Sony. The usually have a slow motion that you can adjust the speed on. William

When we had high winds the other day we got along rope and tied it to a tie down and the other end to a harness. It would lift people up like a parasail, only without having to tow it. Rounds are safer for this but squares are more fun. William

Being nervous after a lay off is natural. I once new a girl who went threw AFF minus her graduation jump and then had to miss a month. When she came back she would not get out of the plane. Hell, I even still get nervous after a lay off and I have been jumpning for years. The best advice I can give you is to make up your mind before you go up that you are going to jump and do not give yourself time to change your mind when the door opens. If you get out once you will be ok. William

What do you mean.....sounds like you gave into the dark side. William

The weather here sucks. What are some of the things you like to do on bad weather days? William

I am interested in knowing how many people here jump in this area and what drop zones do you visit. William

I can't believe you left hook turns off your list. William

You can reach him at [email protected]

I layed off untill march but once i started jumping this year i really started jumping. I have to look at my log book to be sure but I know I have done over 400 since then. Man that video helps out. William

You have been studing did you say. how do I get that job?

What do you mean the "new" movie cutaway. That movie is several years old.

Make sure you let us know how it turns out.