AndyMan

Real simple. Jump out of an otter, dive into a porter. Still pictures made parachutist a few monthes ago. _Am

Sort of. Paragliders have a very slim angle of attack. They're very floaty. This slim angle of attack means that theyll fly very slowly. Because paragliders fly slowly, they can do very tight turns. Much tighter then elipticals. Elipticals fly faster, but do the turns aren't as tight. Is there such thing as a "true" eliptical? Perfectly rounded end-cells, etc? _Am

Most suit makers will be more then happy to make modifications. Call up whoever made it, ask what they'll charge to lengthen the back. Most will do it for free. _Am

Sure. Important exits are the diving exit and the poised exit. The poised ext (assuming an Otter), stand in the door with your belly to the interior. Lead with your left (foward) leg, out, in, go. Peel yourself off the otter, throw out your left shoulder at the same time as your left leg, preesnt yourself into the wind. This is a standard exit for small and large formations. Notice you're presenting your chest to the relative wind. The dive. For bigger formations where everyone can't fit int the door, you've got to dive out the of the plane after the formation has already gone ahead of you. On really big formations, the dive may start with you running from the front of the plane! Stand inside the plane, beside the door. Face the horizontal stabilizer. Do a Superman dive towards the horizontal stabilizer. Notice again, you're presenting your chest to the relative wind. What're you going to do in freefall? I know you've said that you've "done" turns. Keep practicing. See how fast and how smoothly you can do 180's and 90's. Once you start jumping with a partner you'll be able to see how innefecient your turns are. You want to spin your body as if there was a spindle running throug your belly button. You should not move horizontally in any direction during a turn. Practice this. Fallrates are important. Punch out your arch. Then open up and cup air. See if you can feel the speed. See how fast, how slow you can go. _Am

Intense coaching can help most fall rate issues. I don't know where you live, if you can get some air tunnel time - this is killer. Custom jumpsuits should help. Yours should be cotton and baggy. Your wife's should be vinyl and tight. On top of new jumpsuits, you get to see at your wife in tight vinyl.

www.mapquest.com ?

You mean this letter? (flash plugin required)

No, it's a photography trick. He uses a very deep depth of field, a telephoto lense, and films from a few hundred feet above the formation. Ask the the photography forum for more details.

Nice rig!

I have no problem with new jumpers under elipticals, as long as the wing loading is appropriate. Skydive Chicago does this, they rent out Stilettos (at a .9 wingloading) to their recent grads. I entirely support this. _Am

I'm not sure how I feel about this. If this person had 20 jumps, I'd support it completely. I strongly like Skydive Chicago's idea of putting young jumpers under the style of canopy they will be flying later. I also strongly support the idea of putting people under canopies with an appropriate wingload. By 10 jumps I was certainly jumping a .9 wingload, although I was under a Navigator, not a Crossfire. I'm not a nazi over it being eliptical, I am a nazi over wing loading. _Am

This reminde of when I used to be involved with the National Capital Freenet, up in Ottawa. (free internet in the early 90's) We were always joking about making a lingerie calendar. We were going to hang lingerie over the servers, try and sell them to the unsuspecting public. Yeah, I'm a geek. _Am

Is that where he runs a Honda Quad-Cycle out the back of the Skyvan? _Am

Reasonably. _Am

The last time I flew southwest I was sitting beside a sumo wrestler. I hope. This guy was so fat, the seatbelt went around his lefs as oposed to his waist. The seatbelt literally came up over his legs, buckled on top of his knees. I don't understand how somebody that big could fly safely. Serious turbulence and I'd imagine his legs would break if he was wearing the seatbelt. To make thing worse, I was in the middle seat. I got pretty friendly with the girl on my right. _Am

That's pretty cool. I wonder why they didn't pick me...? With my 36 completed work units. lol _Am

Allo Philippe, Deux questions. In english, because my french sucks. What method of transportation were you planning on using? If you're driving, why not stop by The Ranch in New York. The Montreal -> New York drive isn't that bad. After the Ranch you can get back in your car and drive down to Cross Keys, again - not a bad drive. Secondly, when were you planning on going? If it's soon - well, it's winter now. It's cold in the North. This means you'll probably want to end up in Florida, Arizona, or California - the three winter Dropzone Mecca's. You'll obviously want to fly to these locations... _Am

That's the thing, right? If I'm gonna drive all the way to Morris, or Hinkcley, or Ottawa, I'm going to sit there for three hours NOT JUMPING while waiting for it to be packed. So, either I drive out on a weekday to drop it off, or I get it done in the city during the week. I'd much prefer the later. And hey, I'm lazy. I like local. _Am

Well, it's psycho packed. Got it on the 3rd try. Joy. Practice, Practice, Practice, as my old piano teacher used to say. Thankfully, will not jump this pack job. At least I don't have to take it to my rigger trash-packed. This is gonna be a slow or expensive spring... :P _Am

I thought you neede a birdle extension for a proper psycho pack? Does the Stiletto open on heading without one? _Am

Anybody know of any riggers in Chicago proper? Getting time for the spring repack, and I don't want to drive out to the DZ just for a repack. _Am

OK, I give up. Packers it is. _Am

Thanks. Simple answer to a simple question. Here's another. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPOSED TO PACK THIS THING? Seriously, I'm getting frustrated. I guess I've been spoiled with Aerodyne fabric, but I just can not get S-folds set. Any tricks for packing new PD?

That's very insightful. I've heard rumours that even Aerodyne is developing a set of nine cell elypticals. Didn't Bill Coe take a job there for this purpose? _Am

Getting it hooked up was pretty easy. Yup, getting each line straight was a pain. Of course I'll have it inspected. Now I'm trying to pack it. Three attempts so far... _Am