steelyeye

Amazon - Excellent and very enlightening post!

Dude - this is not just tradition, it is a necessity! My empirical evidence (two cutaways) strongly suggests that if you don't have some sort of physical contact (high-five, low-five, knuckle bump or the more elaborate rituals described above) bad things happen! 100% correlation on this one! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

"Partner" - I can't stand it... Make a decision, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, buddy, whatever, just not this horribly PC word! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Straps, handles, rings, hackey, and, most importantly, high fives all around (the two cutaways I have had were after NOT high-fiving...not superstitious, just believe in empirical evidence!). "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Tenshi - How about changing that to "My message to young Americans: if you wanna do something for your country, there's OTHER ways to do it than to join the military." Serving in the military and protecting your country in war AND peace is still an honorable way to serve your fellow citizen, but it may not be for everybody. "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Warped, you beat me to the punchline! Perhaps we should also consider FDR's "Hottie"! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Uhhhh.....Monica? "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Here's mine over the North Shore! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Hey y'all - Displaced southerner finding myself in Hawaii. Anyway - learned to skydive just under a year ago in Washington state, got my first 50 jumps out there with an incredible dropzone full of great folks who were really interested in new jumpers. Military ordered me out to the Aloha state and soon found myself battling low clouds, steady trade winds and incredible numbers of tandems for the chance to pull over an amazingly beautiful drop zone. Have to say that the group out here has been really friendly and has made me feel quite at home in the new drop zone (although packing out in the open with a steady 10 kt trade wind has been a major challenge). I made my 100th jump last weekend, and in this land of few students, I was really amazed at the reception it got. I mentioned that I was coming up on my 100th, and several of the jumpers got really fired up. I wound up getting a special pack job from one of the packers to make sure I made the load, and jumped a really great 4-way RW jump with two jumpers with thousands of jumps and another who was a dedicated free-flyer. They took time out of: 1. Preparing for Thailand, 2. Gathering yet another mega-group-tracking dive, and 3. Coordinating another group free-flying dive, to put together a simple 4-way RW to celebrate my 100th dive. Another diver with god-awful amounts of jumps under his belt insisted that he go along and video. That is really cool, and I really appreciate the fact that these extremely experienced jumpers recognized a significant milestone in my jumping experience, even though it was fairly insignificant in the big scheme of the sport. My wife (and dog) were on-hand to witness it, and it was a really special experience. Mahalo and thanks to the entire jumping community for ensuring that nuggets like me are paid attention to and included on enough special jumps like this to ensure we stay with the sport. Blue skies - Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Dave - Thanks for the nut busting... about what I have come to expect

It happens terminal, sub-terminal or super-terminal. I was thinking that if the brake line stow position was too long (brakes not being stowed "enough"), that might cause the problem. I am not planning any big ways, but always up for one! (anything past 4 is a big way to me!) Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

My new Pilot 188 (10 jumps loaded at 1.2) is acting a bit squirrely. My first hint was my first deployment - the other jumpers watching my hop-and-pop from the plane said it looked ugly and described what I experienced. After I pull, it snivels nicely, then the center 7 cells open gently, then the canopy surges forward about 10 feet (a chord length), then the end cells slowly pop open. Overall, it is really a gentle opening, but I a bit concerned that it is potentially dangerous in a big-way. It is generally on-heading, but the surge has me really concerned. After it gets done with this show, it flys like a dream! I have been standard pro-packing it without rolling the nose. I have tried rolling the nose, I have had a very experienced jumper pack it, I have tried deploying head-up, head-down and in a track, I am out of ideas. I figure the first step is to check brake settings, and have contacted Aerodyne and am waiting on trim settings. After I check that out, if it all matches, they want me to send it back for test jumping. I have talked with other Pilot owners, and they tell me that they do not experience anything like this. Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated. Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Sorry I was not clear - It was an SOS rig. Also, I was back on the next available manifest the next day! Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

I hope this story helps others who have not had their first ride on a reserve! Still on student status - Had my first cutaway yesterday. I had done my first unstable exit (3 backflips off the wheel) and had stabalized and begun practicing turns. At 4500' I waved off and pulled. Canopy opening seemed normal, but when I went up to release the brakes, I noticed the spring loaded pilot chuted had somehow gotten wrapped around most of the lines on the right hand side. It had even managed to come back over itself, thus locking it in place. The chute was bent in the middle and obviously was not fully inflated. I tried the controllability checks. Flare seemed to work and it turned to the right, but would not turn to the left at all. I flared a bunch of times and yanked on the rear risers, but nothing helped. I was keeping track of my altitude and at 2500', decided that this was not a landable canopy. I grabbed the reserve handle and remember thinking "#$%!!, I hope this thing works." and "I wonder what color the reserve is?" I felt the main release and arched hard. I was surprised at how long I was in freefall. I had rotated all the way to belly down when I felt the reserve lift off. It deployed quickly and when I reached for the toggles, I was surprised at how short the risers were. Quick controllability checks, then a very conservative flight back to the DZ starting from 1500'. The lineup was less than perfect, but I was satisfied that it was a safe approach. I landed off field just short of some trees and hit the ground pretty hard, but a good PLF saved my butt. Overall, I was very thankful for the good training I had gotten and felt very comfortable with the whole procedure. It was very hard to cut away a "functioning" main, but having had the DAAN altitude of 2500' drilled into me made the decision an easy one. I think the visualization and practice of emergencies, thinking through responses really does help in a time of crisis! A case of beer for the DZ and a bottle of bourbon for the rigger who had packed the reserve (my first reserve ride and the first time one of his reserve packs had been used! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."