panzwami

because no one else was in there at the time...

I put about 200 jumps on an FCI Pro Series 170 back in school. It is by far the softest opening canopy I have ever used, with each opening running 700-900 feet. There was only one exception, on an otherwise routine jump. 3500 feet, look, wave, pull, instant canopy. I had become accustomed to the softness of the openings, so I was far less prepared for it than perhaps I should have been. It smacked me so hard, I thought I got a full inch shorter. I was in sort of a loopy daze for the ride down, and after I landed everyone was staring at the bleeding 6" gash I had on my neck from the riser slap. It put an early end to my day of jumping, although no permament damage. I have no idea why it happened. I spoke with a couple riggers about what may have caused it, but I don't think I could have intentionally packed that canopy to open like that if I tried.

well, a family tree that doesn't fork IS much easier to diagram....

I doubt there is anyone who can adequately judge if 58 jumps is enough simply by reading a post on dz.com. Decisions surrounding whether someone is safe to jump need to be made by qualified people who have direct contact with that person. Just because someone posts their $.02 on here doesn't mean it should be taken as gospel (myself included).

a what?

I think it's really hard to set firm numbers as to what specific amount of jumping is "enough". The guidelines are in place because there has to be some sort of rule of law, but there's never a "one size fits all". The people who can best answer this question are probably your instructors, as they have the most direct knowledge of your abilities.

I don't really have the experience to comment on the specific flight characteristics of specific canopies, so I'll leave that one alone. There are a number of threads that have covered end cell closure in various situations: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=end+cell+closure&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=25

Did you by chance happen to catch what school they were from? I know we (Georgia Tech) used to send a large contingent on a Pacific Study Abroad around this time every year.

I doubt it has anything specifically to do with elliptical canopies. My old Manta 288 used to get end cell closure on every single jump, but even with only 7 cells fully inflated (7/9 of the canopy, or 224 of 288 square feet) my wingloading was still below 1:1.

yeah this f'n sucks. I can't count the number of hours I spent in college laughing hysterically to some random Mitch set. Didn't matter how crappy everything else was going, just flip on some Mitch and relax. Ducks eat free at Subway.

I've heard a bunch of good ones over time. This is the funniest one that springs to mind. --- A guy was planning an upcoming trip, so he stopped off at the ticket office, but he mixed up a couple of the words and said "I'd like to buy a picket to Tittsburgh". He started to correct himself, but the ticket agent stopped him: "Don't worry about it, it's called a Freudian slip, I do it all the time. Like the other day I was at breakfast with my wife and meant to ask her to "pass the syrup", but instead I said "YOU STUPID BITCH YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

When I was 10 I was about to go bike riding with a couple of my friends. But before we left I wanted to make a couple adjustments to the brake on the front tire, so I loosened the quick-release and took the front wheel off. I made the changes and put the wheel back on, but sorta forgot to tighten down the quick release.... ....I made it to the bottom of my driveway before the front wheel came completely off and I went face-first into the pavement. I stood up and tried to act like everything was cool, but my friends were all pointing at the huge gash that I had split open in my chin. Took 15 stitches to put it all back together. I did get some nice paid meds tho...

not a problem...

Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head? http://adtunes.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11489&hl=toyota

and on and on.....

nope, still lots and lots of ass-working-off.

without even looking at your profile, I knew exactly where you were jumping.

I'll take "Things Only I Know" for $600, Alex.

I think it was the "parachute pack" that didn't open at 15k. Never heard of one of those, but I'll have to check them out....

Friend of mine was heading up to do a solo freefly. He got completely geared up, then decided at the last second he wanted to throw on a pair of pants (to go over the shorts he had on.) So he runs over to his gear bag and puts on a pair of jogging pants *over his leg straps*. Jump was uneventful, but as the load was landing I heard a strange flapping sound. Sure enough, there he was on final, pants around his ankles...

yes and ooooooohhh yeah.

now that's interesting! [/Homer]

"hey, my girlfriend's watching. Look what I can do....."

Nope, that's the King Air from Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston, GA. It's one of the reasons that the Georgia Tech club bases there. But yeah, nice plane. Jumped it just yesterday....

We've got a couple dozen or so actives at Georgia Tech. They range from AFF students all the way up to AFF-I's with 1100+ jumps. I've seen at least 5 or 6 that post on dz.com. I dunno about more reserved, I've seen college students do some pretty crazy stuff. Definitely check out the Collegiate Boogie in Florida. It's usually around the end of January.