MikeD10834

NSTIW ...'87 DC4 convention in Coolidge IIRC. I was on this load, albeit in the group before her exit. I remember landing and seeing a white canopy in a slow turn until impact. Found out shortly thereafter what had happened...

Ima Iddet ?

The one that sticks in my mind the most is "How far to you go up when you pull your chute?" ...I like to answer "All the way back up to the airplane if I don't release my brakes..."

Think "Proprietary Information".

Using MS Internet Explorer... From the pull down menu at the top... click: Tools> Internet Options> and click on "delete cookies"...

The real question is if you can, SPIT, SWALLOW, OR GARGLE... LOL ...there ya go, all fixed up for ya!

Competition is generally good for the consumer...

My canopy is solid royal blue, with #2/#8 cells orange with white ribs. ...But I've been a Gator too long to enter any 12 step program.

Just to clarify... Harness & container - Get the large rings. When swapping out canopy's (demo'n or borrowing) you can put either style of riser "rings" on it. IF you get the small rings here, you can't jump a canopy with the large rings unless you change the risers. Canopy - Get the small ones... good for either style of 3-ring . I didn't make myself clear enough to my dealer... and wound up with mini-rings on my harness, and regret it. If I win the lottery, I'll be paying to have them changed. My suggestion only, YMMV.

Yeah.... call me old school in that my experience does stem from the days of faster opening canopies. I was out of the sport for 16 years, coming back last year. I haven't jumped nearly enough since I've been back to justify calling myself experienced (I wouldn't even qualify for a D today due to jump numbers...) but I do what I can by asking questions and listening.

No offense taken...

PC has same jumps as main... don't know if it's sized properly though. I can measure it tonight when I get home from work, but how do I know if it's sized properly?

Does anyone have a hot tip or good suggestion for reducing the sniveling during deployment of a Sabre2 190 (loaded

...Sounds to me like your experiencing common withdrawal symptoms commonly associated with the lack of adrenaline and altitude. You can either suck it up and work through the symptoms, or get your arse out to the DZ for another hit or two of 'crack' from manifest.

Not sure what I could add that hasn't been mentioned already, except for the following (and these are just personal choices...) 1) standard size 3-ring, not the mini's. With full size, you can easily demo other canopies as your skills progress without the hassle of swapping out risers. 2) Type 17 chest strap (2"), not the Type 8 (1"). This will make it much easier for a chest mount alti to stay where you want it (if you go that route). I'm actually in the process of having my chest strap converted over... These are just my opinions... your milage may vary.

WooHoo, Why is that? From jump 1 of my new Wings, it was ever so comfy...

this is one I use at work for a screen saver... and occassionally to phuck with the 'new guy'

Randy, I've read the thread and totally agree with the responses... hold your ground, NO DOG, the little misses needs to grow up a bit, MIL needs to show some respect, etc. Nothing else I could add that hasn't already been said except for the following: 1) Traditionally, the father of the bride gives her away at the alter. She's leaving that family and becoming part of yours. Connect the dots. 2) Nobodys mentioned anything about allergies yet. Speaking from experience, infants can and DO have allergies. A stuffy nose and watery eyes is a PITA to an adult. and we have the internal body resources to deal with it. Infants don't, so just imagine the hell your baby would go through (and consequently, you'll be going through your own hell at the same time...). I wound up replacing all the carpet in my house because of my son's allergies. No amount of 'cleaning' sufficed, and I have no idea whether previous owners owned a pet... but it worked. You prepared to drop that kind of cash if your baby just happens to be allergic to pet dander? Just another bit of noggin fodder... Good luck!

I somehow remember my first kiss pass from way back in the day (log books really are kinda handy...). I've no idea how the tradition got started, but after I got mine I asked the burly bearded dude what the hell that was all about and he told me to relax, it's a tradition. I said really? His response was something to the effect of " Yeah, it's tradition... and us instructors use it to help us judge just how aware you students are in the air. Sometimes, students don't even remember it happening." I'm like 'wow... really?' and he's like "Yeah, really... that and the coolers are empty and I like Budweiser. If ya hurry back, you can make the sunset load!"

I was out for just a short time... 16 years. I kept my gear for a while, but eventually sold it to pay for classes. Then, things just kept coming up that, at the time, seemed just a wee bit more important than skydiving (graduating, career, wifey, kids, mortgage payments, hospital bills... the usual.) It's all good though. I always regreted getting out of the sport and longed to get back, but I just 'knew' that if I made so much as 1 jump then I'd wind up selling my kids and make my wife hit the streets so I could get back full time. Well, I finally got into a position ($$$) where I'd be able to come back fully into the sport and I did just that. Droped the dough for new gear, hit the dz, and well... here I am. As far as fear goes... well, on the drive to the dz I had a few butterflies in my belly. I had a D license (good for life btw) so I didn't have to start over from scratch... got updated on modern gear, drilled on EP's, canopy flight characteristics, and got on the plane for a check dive with the HNIC. On the ride to altitude, the butterflies returned but as we climbed in altitude they went away and on jump run they were totally gone. Green light came on in the PAC, he looked at me and said "...at your leisure" or something like that. I didn't wait for him to finish... I was gone! Dove out...turned around and watched him swoop down to me! It was like riding a bike, in that it felt just sooo right and natural. No hesitation... no instability... no fear. Just a big O shit eating grin on my face! On the ground, my debrief consisted of the following... I did great, he expected a bit of hesitation at the door, I gotta stick my legs out more, and that I owe beer! It was already in the cooler, on ice, and on the DZ. I learned way back when that if ya want to make friends at a new dz, bring beer... preferable on ice. The only thingy I'd do different after coming back is that I would have bought a used canopy instead of dropping cash for a new one and my only problem is that my new job is just slaying me with the hours I'm having to put in. *** edited to compensate for my fat fingers ***

Fireflytx, I'm by no means a slinger of html or javascript, but I do have an opinion (for what it's worth). The biggest thingy that jumped out at me is that the site/page is not user friendly, in a 'navigation sort of way'. Using tables is good, and this should allow you to easily incorp a navigation section at the top or side, very much like your now seeing at the top of this page. Secondly, I'd add a bit of javascript such as mouse-overs, event handlers, etc.. A pinch or two of java, without over doing it, will do wonders for your page(s)... especially if your into cool effects. Another thingy you may want to consider is breaking up the page into multiple pages that would be easier/quicker to load and maintain. Just some ideas... take em or leave em. Blue Skies...

No, but I'd give 30 pts for the ability to lick my eyebrows...

Lulu, Your friend shouldn't have any problems that hasn't already been brought to light. My dad was missing his right leg from the hip down (no prosthetic device possible) and learned to skydive. Actually, he progressed through his D license and Pro-Rating without any waivers to the requirements, which means he met the exact same requirements as everyone else. A custom harness had to be built and TSO'd, and he used a scuba flipper to counteract the inbuilt turn due to non-symetry of the body. He used it like a rudder on an aircraft. These however, wouldn't apply to your friend. I applaud and respect his desire to skydive and wish him well. There's absolutely no reason he can't skydive and the only disability that I see is between the ears of those who think he can't or shouldn't.

Well I stand corrected! Damn it, I hate it when this happens. It's also been brought to my attention that the closing tie that I was refering to has an 80 lb break, not 40 lbs as I mentioned.

RobOC, As a former rigger in the Army, which also entails having to be airborne qualified, I may be able to shed a bit of light on the story but perhaps more qualified folks will chime in. It's been 20 years and I'm going by memory, so I hereby reserve the right to be totally fucking wrong. At anyrate, the actual line attaching the parachute to the d-bag is a doubled length of the same line used to close the container. I think the line has a 40 lb break, so doubled would be like 80 lbs. In a normal deployment, as the jumper leaves the aircraft and the static line is deployed and extended, the container tie is broken and the d-bag is extracted from the container. You would then go thru line stretch and the canopy is pulled from the d-bag. After the canopy is fully extended, there's more than enough force to break the double tie, thus releasing the jumper from the aircraft. Simple enough. Now to your neighbors account... Normal procedures would be for all jumpers to go through a 'jumpmaster' check after gearing up, and prior to boarding the aircraft. Any gear added to the jumper (belt, rifle, canteen, whatever) would require the jumper to get another jumpmaster check. I find it hard to believe that a jumpmaster would have missed something like this, as their checks are fairly rigorous and includes something akin to physically touching and following the static line from the closing of the container to the metal hook used to attach the static line to the aircraft. Not that it couldn't happen mind you... Anyway, let's assume he managed to add a standard issue GI utility belt after getting checked. If it were a normal piece of his gear, then donning it after chuting up would mean he would have to lengthen it to get it to fit around the harness container. No easy task being geared up, and he would have to shorten it again after landing. But let's suppose he managed it and look at the utility belt, specifically the metal clips. These are flimsy, made of pot metal, tin, or whatever. It certainly doesn't have the strength to withstand a jumper + gear + wind resistance + gravity, without breaking. A good jerk will likely break it, and I've infact done so... I'd even venture that the belt would break with less pressure than the d-bag / canopy attachment point. Anyway, back to your neighbor. I suspect that he actually didn't undo the belt, and it in fact broke allowing the deployment to continue. If it didn't break, then he would most likely find himself being towed by the aircraft (there's no way the dbag stuffed with a canopy (assumming the static line opened the container...) would fit between the jumper and his belt...). Standard procedures for a jumper finding himself in this position would be to put 1 hand on his head and the other on his reserve, so the jumpmaster would 'know' that he's ready to be cut loose (as in cutting the static line and allowing the jumper to enter freefall). Regardless, there's no way a team of guys is going to pull a jumper back into the aircraft. It's not easy to pull a couple of empty dbags back into the plane, much less one with a jumper dangling at the end of one. So unless the aircraft had a wench (not the blond bimbo type) onboard, they would have had to cut him loose. Why over a lake? Don't know other than to, as riggerrob mentioned, make the clean up a bit easier. Blue Skies...