Andy9o8

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Posts posted by Andy9o8

  1. Quote

    The USA is no different...they built their country on freedom of religion...not freedom from religion .....



    Actually, our First Amendment gives you BOTH freedom OF religion AND freedom FROM religion. That means I can't stop you from doing yours, but by the same token you can't stick yours up my ass.

    ....Oh, wait, lemme re-phrase that.....

  2. Quote

    My cat is cool as shit and I have taught her how to sit .....



    Hey if she's learned how to do a sit, that's pretty cool. Freakpussy, eh? Does she do headdown, too? I'll bet the claws are an advantage when docking...

  5. I agree with all of the above responses.
    See, this is where I think every DZO and S&TA (not just some of them) needs to be more proactive with low-timers. Simply forbidding him from jumping that canopy until he's more squared away is a good idea, but that only works at your dropzone -- are you going to phone or e-mail all the other local dropzones and drop a dime on this kid to protect him from himself? Maybe you will, or maybe you're not comfortable doing that. Some DZ's do closely scrutinize low timers' wing loadings and simply refuse to allow them to jump something too hot for their skill levels; but not all of them do. All of them should.

  7. Quote

    But you're forgetting about the tail - I can see the cat keeping the feet together and essentially falling like a ball with the tail acting as a streamer. That could be very stable.



    In that case the kat would be doing headdown FF. Maybe chasing after some......Badfish?? [ducking]

  9. OK, there's been lots of talk lately on here about whether a skydiving cat (but not under a canopy) would land on its feet at terminal. Most people say yes. I think that's a myth. Yeah, I know, cats right themselves to land on their feet even when dropped from pretty high ground-based objects - or so they say. But at terminal? Hmm. I haven't done a scientific real-world study yet (my application to the FAA is still pending). But consider the cat's 4-legged anatomy -- it's basically stuck in what, in a human, would be a permanent "reverse arch". I'd venture a guess that at terminal velocity, the force of the relative wind would overcome little Snookum's instinct to right itself, that is, the wind would act on wittle kitty-kat just as it would a badminton shuttlecock, and force Our Hero onto its back, until...well, until the jump was over. Any other opinions? Bring 'em on.

  10. Yeah, of course if you drink a ton of water just before you pass out for the night, you'll have to get up pretty soon to take a leak from all that water you drank, but you'll still be drunk, so you'll trip over your toes and crack your skull on the side of the sink. So much for avoiding a headache. :D

  12. Nature's Miracle (you can get it at pet stores) is great for dog & cat whizz on carpets & upholstry, but I have NO IDEA whether it's safe for your rig. I'd say find it in a pet store, make a note of its ingredients and then ask your rigger or the rig mfgr.

  13. There was a thread on this issue – the debate over “two hands at a time per handle”, versus “one hand on each handle” a couple of weeks ago. Excellent debate with thoughtful pros and cons of each side given by many up-time jumpers. Definitely worth doing a search for that thread & reading it through.

  14. Quote

    ***The media likes to say the parachutes didn't open when there is an injury or fatality. Most don't want the actual facts.



    Boy is that ever the case. Media mis-reporting of skydiving accidents is one of my pet peeves. (This could be a whole new thread; it has been before.) I say this just to emphasize to the person who started this thread that media reports of accidents are the LAST place from which a non-skydiver should get an impression of how, and how safely, modern sport parachuting equipment really works. Go to a DZ (you may find it less busy on a weekday) and see if there is a rated instructor who is willing to sit down with you and answer your questions.

  16. Quote

    Yes its real...



    I got mine hooked up with a "Clapper". You know, like in the commercial where the old lady claps to turn her light off. Clap once - you cutaway your main. Clap twice - you dump your reserve. Kind of like a dytter, only in reverse, cuz IT reacts to YOU making noise. Yeah. I hear there's investment opportunities in the company. This is going to revolutionize the sport.

  18. Quote

    ...that split second of feeling like a hostage under duress ......



    How were you (or anyone else) under duress, even for a split second? I really just don't understand all this bitching about waivers. So the process now takes 10 or 15 minutes instead of 15 seconds. Big deal. Everyone knows, at least at a basic level, the inherent risk of skydiving. It's really a no-brainer: you know the risk; do you want to jump or not? If you do, sign the damn waiver, as many times as they ask, smile for the birdie, and get out there and enjoy the sky.

  20. Quote

    Go somewhere that is fun-jumper friendly - not a tandem factory.



    I agree with this & the other posts saying you should go elsewhere (unless you've already down-paid your money >:( ) You should be treated like a valued customer and a brother jumper, but that's clearly not happening. Cross the border & go to Frontier. They're a great club-operated DZ and will make you feel welcome, always.

  21. Quote

    There was a fatal incident where guys doing BASE had wet canopies from hitting a creek. The canopies were packed wet, and froze overnight (in the car truck it seems) into blocks of ice and didn't deploy. Much different than what you asked about but worth remembering all the same.



    If your account of that incident is accurate, that canopy didn't malfunction because it was wet; it malfunctioned because it was frozen. But mostly, it malfunctioned because the jumper failed to do a proper gear check under the circumstances, and in those circumstances, a proper gear check should have been to un-pack those canopies, look them over carefully, thaw them out and re-pack. So the lesson from that incident has less to do with wet canopies than it has to to with taking the time to do a careful pre-jump equipment check -- which includes being willing to miss a load to re-pack if there's any doubt.

  25. Quote

    Quote

    I wonder if you're referring to a certain pilot I also knew from Upstate New York-near-Canada. If so, we all felt he was a pretty squared-away pilot, and I still think he was. I don't want to get into an argument with you, but I think you're going overboard on this.



    I think you have no idea who I'm talking about.

    _Am



    Maybe, maybe not. I just didn't want someone who was regarded as a good pilot have his reputation slammed in a way that might make him recognizable to some people who were at a certain DZ back then, w/o him having the opportunity to reply.

    That aside, I still think that a good pilot need not totally abstain from all acohol 24/7 and can use mature judgment and profesionalism to prevent himself from drinking so much that he's hungover the next morning