christopherm

Actually, if sitting up front in an otter with a pilot I know, I will roll the nose trim down a couple of notches and see how long it takes the pilot to correct it. I did this once to a pilot all the way to altitude and asked him before we exited if he thought it was weird that he had been trimming the nose up the whole flight. He didn't know what I was talking about.

That's really neat. -So, how hard is the ground?!

I'll be there for sure. If we get a few more of ya out here, we should be able to keep the Otter flying all day. See ya Tuesday!

I have just begun the transition to x-braced canopies as well and realized how much heavier the riser pressure is. I believe that is normal since the wing is more rigid but that would just be my guess. -So, how hard is the ground?!

What's worse than 7 babies in a trash can? 1 baby in 7 trash cans. -So, how hard is the ground?!

I did two crazy jumps this Sunday. The 3rd jump I did my first Birdman jump. This was awesome, but I'm not going to jump it anymore cause I don't want to talk myself into getting one when I'm trying to save up for ratings. Anyway, the guy briefing me talked me out of jumping my Stilletto with it and so I jumped a big ol' Sabre 2 150. The opening was crazy enough as is but then I had about 6 line twists. The worst part was that all I could do is just look up and watch it keep twisting. Luckily I kept the risers even and it never dived. Then on the 5th jump we got inspired by the stories of blind people jumping. Soooo... I taped up my goggles with several layers of duct tape and went jumping. I had them on the entire ride to altitude and had a couple of people jump with me. I had my DZO, Jim Cowan, who I've trusted since day 1, talk me down on the radio. This was f*ing scary since I had vertigo the whole time. I had both toggles all the way up but thought I was diving to the left! Cool experience though and almost a stand up landing on a Manta! -So, how hard is the ground?!

So yesterday I got to be an extra in the movie Bottleneck. It'll prolly be out sometime next year. I have invitations to the premiere and the next Academy Awards. Okay so maybe not but I'm in a movie, woohoo! -So, how hard is the ground?!

So I got my demo 95 Cobalt this weekend. You think they'd be mad if I lengthened the brakes? The canopy was cool. It was a downsize from the 107 Stilletto I normally jump so of coarse it flies faster. I should have went with the 105 so I could have compared apples to apples. The front riser pressure seemed to be much less (a good thing except for the obnoxious bucking caused by brakes being set way to short) than the Stilletto and the toggle pressure seemed to be greater, it took more to plane out. Openings were good but so are the ones on my 107. I'm not completely sure what I think about it but I've got one more weekend to decide. -So, how hard is the ground?!

There's no reason to be in such a rush to get the camera on your head. It says in your profile that you have 36 jumps. My DZ S&TA woudn't even let me start jumping one till I had 100 jumps and a C' license. There is so much for you to learn right now, don't go adding variables until you have all of the basics down pat. I'm not trying to say everyone should have 100 jumps and a C' license to jump a camera, I'm just saying you should be a little more patient. -So, how hard is the ground?!

Okay... question. I know that you are supposed to have the ring sight over your dominent eye. My left eye is deffinately the dominent eye but since I started doing video, I've had it over my right eye. I'm used to it this way. Does it effect your accuracy to have it over the recessive eye or does it matter? If I need to, is it a big deal to switch the mount on a flat top pro? -So, how hard is the ground?!

Oh I did enjoy! Ahhhoooooooooo! -So, how hard is the ground?!

It's a training seat used to prepare pilots for the forces of ejection... I think . -So, how hard is the ground?!

I just went through J&R and got the Rebel 2000 for $199 (body only) and a Canon 28mm F/2.8 lense for $169. I'm sure if you are patient you can find better deals on Ebay. It's also a lot cheaper to get the zoom lense with the body but I really wanted the fixed. -So, how hard is the ground?!

The president will speak at 10:15, it's official now. -So, how hard is the ground?!

I agree, turned out very nice! -So, how hard is the ground?!

It looked unnecessarily dangerous. Couldn't you build the same amount of speed out of a well executed 270. -So, how hard is the ground?!

A 30 day deadline with no deffinate action at the end. That's like waving your finger and saying "you better disarm in 30 days, or we'll be forced to make another resolution!" Stop twisting the story to make it only look nice for the liberals "Why does big bad Bush have to have 10 days instead of 30, he likes death!", that's bullshit. What makes you think that Sadam will disarm in 30 days when he hasn't already done it in 4 months, or better yet, 12 years? Sadam could deffinately use the extra month to better prepare himself for war. -So, how hard is the ground?!

Are you even really paying attention to what's happening. We liberated Kuwait last time we were there. Completely different story this time round. We are going to have a presence and bring down the dangerous regime and replace it with one supporting the people. We won't leave till that's accomplished. Countries like France have made it impossible for that kind of solution. I said one that hasn't already been tried. -So, how hard is the ground?!

Alright Bill, you liberals seem to have all the answers, what do you propose we do. Now come on, please take your time and come up with something that hasn't already been tried. -So, how hard is the ground?!

Apparently, the UN has members that want nothing but to stop any progress. The French remind be of having a stubborn little sibling. Now that they know we are going to war, they have already apologized for any contributions they made to Iraq having WMD. They just want to be included in the aftermath, unfortunately they don't have big enough genitalia to actually help stand up for the world. -So, how hard is the ground?!

We're defending the US and the world, that's what you fail to see. I can't fathom why that's so hard to comprehend. If I started a job in the cubicle next to you and you found out instead of writing memos all day, I was playing with pipe bombs, you would probably tell your boss and I would be fired. Or would you say it's not really fair to fire me because I haven't set one off yet. It might hurt my innocent kids, and if you fired me, I would be more likely to come back and set one off. That's ludicrous. -So, how hard is the ground?!

It doesn't seem to me that liberals will ever wake up. You all are living or trying to live in some fantasy, idealistic world where everything's good, nothing bad happens. Well guess what, there are bad people in the world and they are a threat and they MUST be taken care of. "Ohhhhh, Sadam doesn't have WMD." He said himself that he did. Snap, snap, wake up! "Oh, well, he wouldn't use those against us or anyone else." He's already used them against his own people. What makes you think he won't use them against everyone else. Wake the fuck up! "Well we need to solve this using diplomacy." We've been trying that for twelve years. Guess what, it DOESN'T work for SH. Stop being afraid to stand up for your country. Ask not what you can do for the good of the liberal party but what you can do for the good of your country! Thanks to previous UN resolutions, this war is legal, no matter how much the liberals try and twist it. Quite pathetic. -So, how hard is the ground?!

You know, your incident reminds me of a guy at our DZ who has pushed himself pretty far, pretty quickly. The bad thing about it is that he won't ever listen to anyone about safety. He had a cypress fire, (two canopies out), and has pounded in like three times... no broken bones yet . Anyway, his last incident, he did a fairly nice turn with good enough altitude. Everything was going smooth he just never flaired an inch. WHAAAP!, right into the gravel path. Somehow he got up and walked away. Target fixation is a bitch

I haven't made the safest wing loading decisions either. I, however, have been blessed enough to have not pounded in yet. I went off of student status to a loading of 1.12:1. Somewhere around 160 jumps I went to 1.23:1. Then at right around 450 jumps I went to 1.72:1. That's a pretty big jump. Before I switched to my Stilletto 107, I had jumped some other, higher wing loaded, canopies but it deffinately wasn't enough to be proficient at those particular loadings. I scared the shit out of myself a couple of times before I reached the Stilletto but never since. I think the most important lesson I've learned so far is about making decisions. Most canopy fatalities are proceeded by a series of decisions made by the pilot that led to his demise. Learn to stop that chain reaction at the first decision and choose the right path. I find my self falling back on this, especially during the off season when I don't jump as much. But, the more disciplined you become at making good decisions, the safer you will be. If traffic is bad, or you set up a little low, or the wind is coming over the hanger, SAVE IT FOR ANOTHER DAY! If you don't you might not skydive again. -So, how hard is the ground?!

Yeah you are right. I've learned a lot too. I think about %1000 of the people on here are smarter than me so it's like you yeah Bill's point is really good, oh Rhino's point is really good.... Dammit! and pull my hair out.