SlashDog

Thanks. That's a very articulate answer and I jives with what I have heard. I just got a new rig. I'll ask my rigger to check the fit for me. -Sp

I'm interested in opinions on the legstrap bungee that "keeps you from sitting out of your harness". I imagine it would be most relevant in a premature deployment if your were sit or backflying. Have people really fallen out of their harnesses? I've seen people wearing these but I've also heard that it was a silly thing to worry about. I did a search on this in the forums but didn't find anything I was searching "legstrap bungee". -Spence

Looks like they may get jumping again next week. I hear they are signing a new lease.

We're thinking positive thoughts for DelMarva here at the Cleveland Parachute Center. It's definitely one of my favorite DZ's and I did my first Tandem and AFF there. When things get sorted out, I'll give whatever support I can to help.

I definitely think relaxing is a good idea and I will remember that. I jump with all kinds of different folks from lightweight to a super heavyweight guys who wears a tandem rig because his exit weight is like 300. All the feedback has been good. but from the ambiguity of the answers with regards to pelvic tilt I am guessing this is a technique distinction not made by the skydiving community in general. I will be gettting some coaching in z-hills soon and I will explore this issue with my coach there. Thanks folks. I truly appreciate the feedback!

Hi, I would like to know what the proper position of the pelivis is in the belly-flying arch position. Let me describe the two positions I am considering. In both of these positions the shoulders are back and the knees are higher than the hips: #1 Pelvis Tilted Forward.... if you were arched and standing up and the pelvis were a bowl of water, the water would be pouring over the front of the bowl. This is arching in the lower back. Think of reaching with the small of the back towards the earth. #2 Pelvis tucked... rather than arching the lower back, the pelvis is tucked under like a dog with it's tail between it's legs, so the butt is a little tighter. The hips are still thrust forward and the body is fully arched. Think of reaching more with the hip joints towards the earth. I hope those descriptions make sense. I am asking because I have been sore in the lower back and I am wondering if I need to modify my arch. I am very flexible and athletic. I can bend backwards in the limbo position until I am only inches from the ground. I don''t want to wind up doing something that hurts me in the long run. I know the soreness could be my landings but I usually land pretty gently. Any feedback?

Yeah, The Casa visits kinda petered out, but we got an Otter and Caravan for our boogies. Great summer!

Well, after consideration, I decided that I should go with the Spectre 190. I picked it up used in a beautiful wings container. I'm at about a 1.1 wingloading, which is smaller than I thought I would be jumping at this point but I am loving the ride and have had great landings. It's really easy to put it down where I want it. I'm going to stick with the 190 for a while. I definitely plan to demo a Sabre two next summer though! I figure that I will really appreciate the glide after a few hundred jumps on the Spectre. Thanks for the advice everyone!

What does it mean when someone says a turn feels "positive"?

Thanks. I will remember to keep "forum advice" in proper perspective. I also just re-read the "Choosing Your Canopy" article in the Safety articles. It looks like I'll probably be a while before I jump that rig, but I think if my coach approves, I'll likely grab it. I've got some credit at my home DZ, so I'll probably spend it jumping the 230, then the 210 while I work on my canopy control. Thanks!

I have just a few jumps but I am a comitted student. I have been jumping 230's and 260's as available to rent. My exit weight is 210 so I have been well below 1.0. I recently came across what I think will be a great first rig. It's a Spectre 190 (That would put me at 1.1)and I can see that this is a rig I could keep for a while. My landings have been good lately on the 260. Can anyone recommend a progression that will get me to the 190? Any thoughts? I have excellent coaches looking out for me. I am deciding whether I should grab this 190 since I am sure I'll be flying that loading within 50 jumps or so anyway.

Very manic (up and down), hotel bed, just lying round. Vision's hazy, inspiration's flat, heart burnt out, go figure that. If I should die before I wake I pray the maid this bed to make. Don't change the sheets, just make it up with me inside and sell my stuff. Or get the paddles and shock my heart see if you can make it start. Help me now, before life wanes, please chuck me out the nearest plane! I'll soar and fall and fall some more, fall and fly, tumble and soar. When I get down we'll have a beer and smoke a j with friends so dear. We'll talk of days when life was easy beneath the cool night sky so breezy. And when the wind will start to blow and scoops me up, it's time to go. Where we end up, don't know, don't care long as skies are blue and there's hot chicks there. Maybe Mars or South Dakota or Dagobah and I'll hang with Yoda. That little guy can really shred! He's freeflying now inside my head. We'll go head down and speed to earth before our canopies' rebirth. Then eclipse the sky with speeding silk bilk, hilk, milk, wilk, jilk, nilk, fuck it. Thanks for the jump, Yoda. You crazy little upskirt perv!

WARNING: Spiderman will make you gay! http://www2.b3ta.com/spidermanwillmakeyougay/

I raced home from work on Sunday... the weather had been bad in the morning but had cleared, so I hoped they were still jumping. I got there and sure enough, a guy had dropped in to jump. He was a production assistant for MTV's "AND-1" basketball reality TV show. His name was Scott and he and Bri and I chatted about entertainment stuff and I gave him some DVD's. I was checking my gear when I got bad news. Scott lost his packing data card so they couldn't verify that his reserve was packed within 120 days. We couldnt jump and Scott was looking at $75 to get it repacked at the next DZ. He only had 30 days left on it anyway, so he wasn't that pissed. I however went back to the trailer and fetched a heavy steel tire iron and proceeded to wreck the clubhouse, moving on to smash Scott's rental car headlights and generally menace the spectators at the picnic tables. The police came and surrounded the camper and I shouted expletives throug the bathroom vent at them. The mayor of Cleveland came by and I explained the situation to him. He was very understanding and told the cops to leave me alone and presented me with the key to the city, which we both used to smash the windshields of Scott's rental car. The mayor, police and I then hurled garbage at Scott's car as it sped into the countryside. Several Amish took shots with their .22 cal rifles at Scott as he drove by and young girls hurled their bonnets at him in disgust. That will teach him. Nothing personal. He was really nice. I wish we had gotten a jump in.

I'm stuck at work in an office Indiana. I feel a little better after a quick walk and chatting with my girl. I have to keep this post short. In a few minutes, a Cessna is landing in the parking lot to pick me up and fly me to someplace tropical. Jimmy Buffet is the pilot today. I'll be jumping out at 14500 and free falling over the beautiful ocean, hook turning and slipping down between two palm trees and swooping down and grazing my toes in a long graceful trail through beautiful white sand of the remote beach, where there is a margarita, umbrella and hammock waiting. Iz is there with his ukulele to sing to me and a few friends, while I chill in the hammock and feed the cute sea otters that are frolicking in the sun around two trees where the hammock is tied. The dolphins are out playing in the surf and they are calling my name in Dolphinese and jumping and spinning to try to get me to parachute again because it makes them laugh. No one wants to leave the beach because they all know that in just two hours, the sun will set and the gentle, fiery, red and orange splashed sky will explode in slow motion with waves of happy water colors that will bring tears to the eyes of all who gaze on it with it's perfect, pure beauty. Each person will privately and unexpectedly be reminded of a long forgotten childhood memory of their very own, that they hadn't remembered in years. Mine will be indistinct and hazy in it's circumstances but the feeling will be crystal clear. It will be a pleasant day-dream of some long ago time when for some reason, I was posing for a family picture. I was two or younger but I knew what a picture was and found myself between two women who loved me very much, maybe one was Mom or maybe not, but they were beautiful and happy and sat me between them in their laps, the picture was forgotten and all I could think about is how safe I felt and how this must be what people call, "love". And as each person enjoys the epiphany of their own personal reverie of pleasant recall, the only thing anyone will say out loud will be my friend Eddie, who says, simply, "Nice."...and Iz will quietly strum, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on his uke, almost as though not to disturb the delicate, wispy, cotton candy streaks of pink-crimson sunset with words. Then someone will fart and we'll laugh until someone pees. You should come here some time. Everyone misses you.