murps2000

Did you finish AFF 6 years ago? Did you get your A license? If not, I would recommend finishing those two tasks before purchasing gear. When you're finished with that, and ready to buy, your instructors should be a good place to start when seeking advice as to what kind/size to get. They will be able to assess your ability with regard to canopy handling, and recommend a safe canopy of a proper size, as well as bring you up to date on the what modern gear is available.

*** >Wouldn't the increase in airspeed generate a corresponding increase > in drag . . . Yes. More speed=more drag (and more lift as well, needed to carry the additional weight.) >which would affect the glide ratio? No, since both lift _and_ drag increase. The glide ratio is often expressed as lift/drag; if you increase both at the same time, the speed may change but the angle does not. *** Okay, lift and drag increase exponentially with speed increases, and so the glide ratio is maintained. This makes perfect sense to me in the theoretical world and it corresponds to what little I've read on the subject. What I find escapes me, is that in the real world any gliding aircraft is powered by gravity, and therefore must fly at a certain nose down attitude to maintain enough speed to fly. Now, with any speed increase, parasitic drag increases, as well. In order to overcome this, and maintain the speed needed to continue to fly, particularly at heavier wing loadings, doesn't the aircraft then need to fly at a more nose down attitude? And if so, wouldn't that affect the overall glide ratio? You've already said that the angle would not have to increase, but you mentioned nothing about parasitic drag. I think what I'm alluding to here, at least as it pertains to the wings that we fly, is what very experienced canopy pilots refer to as the point of diminishing returns when flying canopies way above their normal recommended wing loadings. The wing remains the same, and so the glide ratio must remain the same, as well. But at some point, in the real world, the canopy's glide performance suffers, doesn't it? What gives? BTW, I'd be happy to start a thread about this in Swooping & Canopy Control, if it is more appropriate than here in Incidents.

Why would you do something like that? Would that make me safer?

Ahhh, but aren't we all... Your post was actually quite informative and stimulating.

***Why else is 420 important? There are a variety of explanations besides the most common and the most elaborate, all much more interesting than "police code", and many plausible. Known Myths: It isn't police code. It isn't the number of chemicals in marijuana (315, not 420). And it isn't tea time in Amsterdam (that's 5:30). (Gerhard den Hollander). Length of buzz: In a study reportedly conducted on the effects of cannabis, one of the conclusions was that the effects last for 4 hours and 20 seco...blah blah blah, girl, are you high?

You are all mistaken. Any pothead worth his binger would know that it came from the Grateful Dead shows, which typically started at 4:30. One had to properly prepare in the parking lot in order to get maximum enjoyment from the show, so 4:20 became the common time to commence with consumption.... Or so I've heard....

Yes, it is a situational position, from situational experience. As is yours. And I could recount a few more experiences, as well. What stands out most in my mind, however, is the fact that I've felt the sting of the pride stab, myself, when a less experienced jumper has taught me a trick or two in the packing area, and in the air. But I recognized the logic in accepting what they taught me regardless of how I felt about it. So I guess you're last statement pretty well sums it up. Some people can't deal, and I hope I always can. The day I can't is the day I stop learning.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0135482712/102-1699602-7434518?v=glance Try this link if you want to find an interesting book that deals with the subject. The story is called "The Man who Rode Thunder" by Lt.Col. William Rankin. He punched out of an F-8 at about 47,000 ft. somewhere around Norfolk, Va. Can't remember the year, but it was a while ago, and to date it is the highest known bailout from an aircraft in flight. He did it without a pressure suit, and had a very lengthy freefall through an exceptionally violent thunderstorm. His parachute was equipped with an AAD which deployed it at about 10,000 ft. The ride continued for quite sometiome after that. He experienced lightning up close and personally along the way, although I don't believe he was ever struck. He does claim, however, that whatever lightning may look like from the ground, it comes in huge sheets when you're close by. Very interesting reading.

In martial arts the one who's going to hurt you if you don't listen is usually the instructor. Hopefully that's not how your skydiving instructors work.

There may be some validity to what you say, but I can't agree with you completely because in the situations to which I refer, it did not reach a point where any information was even attempted to be gleaned. Some of the very experienced jumpers I knew had decades of RW experience, and were interested in this new fad of freeflying, even to the point of purchasing new freefly suits before they had really done any freefly jumps. But they simply wouldn't accept any offers for pointers from us 500 jump wonders, even though they were just starting out, and were at a level where basic instruction from anyone would have helped. They instead had to get coaching from the Flyboyz, and Adrien Nicholas, and paid $75 a jump to have those guys chase them around the sky. We jump wonders chuckled when we saw the videos, and just shook our heads. It was sad, because they had coached us on our bellies years earlier, and we would have been happy to return the favor, and chase them around for free. And what's worse, they finally just gave up and sold their nice new suits. So I stand by my statement. It's hard to learn from someone with less experience, and I hope I never become like that. In fact, I want to learn some CRW, and I hope one of my tandem students that I send off to AFF will come back one day and maybe teach it to me.

Yes! Definitely! I realised a while ago that the hardest thing to learn in skydiving is anything you have to learn from someone with less experience than you. I've seen 4000, 5000, 6000, & 7000+ jump wonders, who cannot learn to freefly unless they learn it from someone who has more jumps than them. It's kind of sad, really. Not to many coaches out there with that much experience, but plenty with less, and a lot to teach. I hope I never become like that.

As a TI, I can say that I, for one, appreciate the attitude you have about this. Personally, I have had two of the people who have asked me if they could lurk get quite offended when I declined. One had almost 300 jumps. But after having some of the people that I allowed to come deviate from the plan, even after they were briefed, my attitude changed. I've had people with as many as 1500 jumps, and lots of tandem video experience come up and grab my wrist on a tandem. They thought it was no big deal. But they never strapped on a tandem rig and a passenger, and have no idea how scary it is to have anyone grab your arms in freefall with a tandem. Now, if I have any doubts about your judgement or flying ability, I will not feel one bit uncomfortable saying no. I would hope other tandem instructors would feel the same. As has already been stated in this thread, you will have a great time just riding to altitude with your friend, and you will both enjoy making eye contact right as you back-flip out ahead of them. There is one thing I'd like to add, however, and this applies to anyone talking to tandems on the ride to altitude. A tandem instructor often has about 15 minutes to talk with a student before taking them to the plane to go up and do what is, for most, a scary thing. There isn't a whole lot that the student is required to learn, but what they learn they must remember to do, or they can make life miserable for the instructor. Things like "keep your arms crossed" "arch on exit" "keep your legs back between mine" are simple tasks, but on the way to altitude, they often need to be reinforced to the student, who can be quite nervous. You may think, by suggesting to the student to "remember to look all around" or "make sure to check out the airplane as you leave", that you are giving them pointers that will make their skydive more enjoyable. Often times, tho, you being discourteous to the instructor, who is really the one who should be telling the student what they should remember to do. More than once, in the middle of talking a student through the dive plan, I've had fun-jumpers break in with some well-intended comment, only to have to start over from the beginning, so that the student can remember the dive flow. So, just as a suggestion for when you take your friend to experience something that they will enjoy and remember forever, be thoughtful of the instructor whose job it is to insure that it will be done safely. I'm not saying that you shouldn't talk to the student at all, but just that you should be mindful of what you say, and when you say it. I hope you and your friend have a great time. Blue ones...

I never doubted that for a second.

It's 90 series. Can't remember if it's A-90 or B-90. Pretty sure it's not C-90, as those have a slightly larger wingspan. Definitely not a 200, although I believe the engines are the same as those on a 200, PT-6-34's. Slick 4-blade props, too. Correct me if I'm wrong, any pilots out there. I wish there were still a king air 200 flying jumpers, tho.

You forgot floating. I think one of the coolest things we get to do is stand around for a few seconds on the outside of a half million dollar turbine aircraft in flight. The air's all nice and shiny up there, too (no, I don't take drugs). If you're lucky and you get a young, irresponsible pilot, flying a rental plane, you may even get a couple minutes to walk around. Just make sure to check the spot when you finally fall off.

HIM! FUCK HIM!!! Uh... beer?

You said king air, but you didn't say which king air. Mullens' RULES! Plus I can't wait to check out the one at Titusville in a few weeks. You can't jump Norcutt's king air 200, anymore, but that get's my vote. 20 jumpers to altitude in 10 minutes, 12 floaters at a time, and it was just so pretty to look at.

I've jumped a 182 many times, but thankfully I've avoided taking any tandems out of them so far. I shudder at the dark prospect. There is one thing about 182's that is really cool, tho. Most skybaby freeflyers probably never heard of a "horny gorilla", but for those who remember, the 182 was the best for setting one up, and getting a perfect launch. One foot on the step, everyone, join hands, and lets go....

Let's hope that never gets out. You can be sure it would be on RealTV before the end of the day. I don't even think anyone but a prospective tandem candidate needs to see it.

Hey, what's a neptune? A cool new gadget that I missed? I use the old alti & eyeball combo, myself.

Viviene Wegrath, without a doubt. Girl's got mad skills on a skyboard, too. Or is this just dz.com chicks?

Try going to a dz where nobody knows you, regardless of jump numbers, and see if they'll waive a coach rating. Or try to get it waived, so that you can jump with a novice for free, at a dz that regularly charges for coach jumps. It's not so easy, then.

After a bit of reading, I see you've gotten a lot of good advice. My $.02: I work at a misc. fabrication shop (which, by chance, Treejumps' dad owns), and we have a little 120v millermatic 130 that I've taken home & used on everything from real thin sheet steel (like 18 gauge) to 5/16" plate. For the thicker stuff I had to run multiple passes but it made nice welds. The wire we use in it is .023" outer shield flux-core, and I'm very impressed with how it runs, and this is WITHOUT gas. You may be able to find one for around $500 retail. It only has the 4 voltage settings, but I found this to be quite adequate. With practice, you will be able to adjust your wire speed so that it will weld nicely for just about any application you need. Admittedly the 240V machines weld way better, but they are hardly portable. You can find 120V power anywhere. And like your cell phone, there will come a time when you will need it in the field. One thing, though. If you run it on a 15amp circuit, it WILL trip the breaker on the 4th voltage setting. It will run okay on a 20 amp circuit. I believe it's a 40% duty cycle machine, which is pretty good. You can run it for about 4 out of every 10 min. Regardless of what type you get, tho, as has been stated several times in this thread, Miller is a great brand. My own personal Millermatic 185 is superb. I typically run .030" wire w/ 75/25 Argon/CO2, and it makes just the prettiest welds. I also use a 300 amp Miller at work, and it, too, is an excellent machine. It's always Miller time when I weld. Good Luck, and let us know what you get.

I think you shouldn't hold your breath. My guess is it's a two part mini-series, as I have seen no previews for a third part. Just previews for what's already been shown. I wonder where they'd go with it, anyway. Earth? Or a new TV show? You'd have heard something by now. Nope, I think you're going to have to let it go. It's frakking over. Pity. They really did Star Trek to death, and this was better, I think.

Ohhh, Best buy. Dealing with the Devil is bad. Hey check this out, true story. My older sister got me this tee shirt back in like 1979, and I only got to wear it once before my mom took it & threw it out. It had a rather phallic representation of the Galactica on it, and a caption which read " Battlestar Prophilactica" (sp?) on it. Bet that would be worth some dough nowadays. Thanks, mom. Fast forward to early nineties, another true story. One of my favorite cars I used to own, a 1980 GranPrix (huge, like Nimitz class) somehow got the nickname Battlecar Pontiactica among my friends (you can tell I don't have many). It was definitely the cruising party land vessel. It wouldn't go FTL, as they say, but could break 100mph, with only two fingers on the steering wheel. Unfortunately the old hyperdrive V8 went out, so she was decommisioned in about '95, and, if the old girl hasn't been crushed yet, now resides in a salvage yard near Harper's Ferry, WV. Ah, memories...