nightjumps

Not anymore

Happy Sky-B-Day, Dave

Probably should have said, "Did she not have the urge to go potty in five years?" Was meant more towards motivation than spillage.

OK. I'll ask the obvious... Did she not have to go potty in five years? I'm thinking that if I ever found myself too big to potty, that I'm too big to eat. Seriously though, a part of you has to feel some kind of sadness that someone gets that way.

I think we "may" be doing the same thing during the initial climbout, in which my body is about the same. If you stop there, then that's where the difference begins. As the student is swinging out on the strut, my right foot then gets brought to the right furthest edge of the strut and I am squatting on the step facing forward so that I am inches from their face and can ensure my right arm with the P/C and bridle remains in the center of their back.

I am VERy confused by this statement. Exactly how are you climbing out that your reserve is exposed to the prop??? When I climb out with the student, we're side by side facing forward. I have one hand on the strut, both feet on the step, and my hand with their P/C in their back the whole way. Please elaborate.

Thanks, John. And, you're right. I've had to miss the WFFC once before since getting back in the sport and the following year it was more appreciated. Sometimes short-term sacrifices have to be made for the greater long-term good. Blue skies...

Fortunately and unfortunately, I accepted a new job a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I was offered two jobs in the same week. The first offer was an old boss of mine who made the offer and blocked out the WFFC week as part of the offer. The second offer that came in was more lucrative, but I could not get the week of WFFC as part of the package because they needed someone to prepare them for an end of August system deployment. I had to choose. One choice would have been an emotional one and the other a more logical one. While it would have been easy to accept the choice that included WFFC, I don't know that I would have been as passionate about that job for 51 weeks for the one week of passion at WFFC. So, this year, I skip the WFFC. To all that are there and that have seen regularly over the years, Mar, Doc, Brentster, Marcus, Hutch, Lee, Steve, Djan, Anthony, Tony, et. al. I'd like to say that I know you're missing me as much as I'm missing you, but you'd be lying. Wishing I was there and not being such a responsible adult. Please be safe, enjoy, and one more thing... Please make sure there's at least one no suit, no stress, sunset Anvil Brothers dive for me.

Ahh, ok. Maybe as a warmup till you get some one on one, you could view the following from Sid... http://www.packingparachutes.com/packing_course/html/packing_index.htm

First the ratio of reserve rides is pretty high when compared to failed reserves. Parachutes these days have a 99.997% probability of opening - for both mains and reserves. The odds of something happening with both are pretty phenomenal. Having said that, if you pull silver and the reserve doesn't leave your back; as mentioned earlier, use your elbows to bang on the side of the reserve pack tray (if memory serves, this scenario is what drove Mick C. to invent the catapualt system in his Reflex) As for the bag lock on a reserve, it's "probably" (not the only) the brake lines that need to be pulled on vigorously. We have replicated a reserve bag lock on the ground and found that pulling on the toggles releases it. And, as everyone else has stated, do everything you can think of till you see the light. Bang on the reserve, grab the toggles, the rear risers, etc. Finally, you should really focus on the positives of how many times reserves have worked flawlessly, rather than the minimal amount of times they have not. Each year millions of military jumps and skydives are done around the world, with thousands of reserve rides. As you continue, you may wish to consider geting an intentional cutaway rig and doing an intentional cutaway just to gain the confidence that they do and will work. What will amaze you even more is seeing the Skyhook in action on a real cutaway situation. I am still in awe of watching that work.

My question would be, "How did you get your "A" license without learning how to pack?" That aside; my recommendation would be to get with a instructor/rigger/packer, inquire as to how much for an evening of packing class, set a time and get after it.

Contact Kat directly at Alti, she'll accomodate you individually and provide as much customer service as your used to with L&B. Personally, I'm sticking with the hard Alti III and the ProTrack in me bonnet. If I can bang up the aluminum Alti III well, imagine my ability to tear up a Neptune.

No doubt. That thing wore me out. Trickly little b@#$tard...weren't it?

Any thoughts on the skydiver's size and effect on parasitic drag? edit: oops, you mentioned over 200 sq.ft.

The cause of this error is most likely because you have some kind of spyware/adware/parasite installed on your computer. You could try these steps to eliminate the problem. 1) Go to Add/Remove programs in Control Panel and Uninstall any programs that seem suspicious or that you know you did not install. 2) You can download a free version of SpyBot (http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.html) and run it on your computer to get rid of any such programs installed. 3) Go to this website (http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/)which will automatically check your browser and display if any known parasites are presernt in the browser.

Brian, I too, used to gather a considerable amount of information prior to planning a trip. After awhile, I began to reflect on those parties that were the best of times were usually those impromptu, throw together spontaneous things and not the planned ones. Took that philosophy, applied it to my vacations, stole a line from Crocodile Dundee, "Goin on walkabout," put the two together and that's what I do. This is my idea to share with you. Make your decision on a direction and a distance the day before you go and head out. If you head to Key West, there is a little scrubby blue hotel on the east side of the highway on Marathon Key that charges about $250.00 for a week's stay. They back up to the bay which goes out to sea. If you rent a boat and head out of the channel towards the oil derrick about 5 miles off shore and go snorkeling or scuba diving, there is this coral reef just on the east side of the derrick. About thirty feet down there is this explosion of colorful fish and a few 5 foot sharks thrown in. It's difficult to describe the colors. About one or two Keys north of Marathon is an all you can eat seafood buffet for $20.00. You've never seen so much seafood in one place. If you make it to Key West, Hemingway's house is a quick and short tour. Not exactly like going to Disneyland, but it's one of those places you can say you've been. If you decide to head south, try to skim the western portions of North Carolina. Mountains, trees, trails and cliffs over looking lush greenery as beautiful as those in "The Last of the Mohicans" (go figure). Enjoy whatever direction you head.

Florida is within 24 hours driving distance.

While somewhat opposed to psycho-packing, I still find it the best method for getting the new ZP demon in the bag for the first 30ish packs, then go back to pro-packing.

5.56 = 7.62 =

I'm not sure that getting a lawyer is going to do anything more than spend valuable time and energy that could be better spent in looking for a new job. My suggestion is to not chase negativity with additional negativity. Leave the negativity behind by using this this time in a positive manner to find a more suitable position. It's obvious you've been unhappy there for about a year, perhaps this exchange was enough to light the fuze under your butt to move on. It's been my experience that when these types of work environment situations occur and one moves on, they wish they'd done so sooner.

1. The trust. 2. The control. 3. Feeling fear turn into confidence and exuberation. 3.a Not having to spend 8 hours in chalk talk just to watch someone walk away after one jump. 3.b The AFP Program.

Ditto. The DZO of the 60' takeoff/engine out asked me to make the report and post to dz.com so that other 182 DZs would know about the bladder wrinkles.

[sarcasm]What!?!?!? C'mon now, what are you trying to pull here? Everyone knows that if you're flying a 170 main, you should consider a reserve in the 126R range. Makes the rig smaller, looks cooler, etc. [/sarcasm] A voice of reason penetrates...

I don't associate the Coach rating with the "Instructor" rating. Years ago, before the Coach rating was implemented - a Coach was anyone with more jumps than you who was willing to go up with you. I have no doubt that you will make an excellent instructor in the near future..

I've made that part of my ground and air landing training SOP's.