dterrick

I did not know that PD made a Stiletto As big as a house I think you'll have fun I've done some eliptical spiral, spiral, flare

DAMN YOU! I thought I'd forgotten that game... first go, 11. Next go....never? ...to be sent to people I don;t like -Dave

I used to ride too. My parents hated it soooo much as they had known a couple that were disfigured when their leadwings went unstable on loose gravel - they were either wearing open face helments or none at all. Bad disfigurements. Dad always wanted a Hog but was never allowed because of this. I was 'nice' and sold the bike since I also had an old British sportscar at the time. Then I started skydiving. Actually they don't mind that at all. My aunt, on the other hand, lived next to a family who'se son (early 20's in the late 70's) had some kind of a nasty mal under a round and wound up waking up a parapalegic. Auntie D cringes at my skydiving - and now her oldest son wants to jump too. Guess who'se gonna be the villain in THAT one? Strange how our past can colour our perceptions of what 'risk' really is, isn't it? -Dave: PS: VIBES to the lucky one (your brother, Jeff) to have survived a runin with an 'urban assault vehicle' (damn near anything with 4 wheels when you're on a bike)

...if it's free or cheaper than a tin of coke and I'm VERY thirsty and the BEER light is already on. Of course, that would be my answer to most or all 'lite' beerz. (why the hell do they call it 'lite' anyway?? Mr. Language Person wants to know ) -Dave [edited to add] http://insiders2.ezboard.com/fnebraska13914frm14.showMessage?topicID=989.topic

pointy bit forward, Bill? In this photo it looks like the 'centre' lines are the 'spine' and the two triangle shaped sides are like rib cages. If this is so, I'm curious about how the risers were configured... 3 doesn;t go into 4 very well - are the centre lines doubled? Are there any of these around anymore? -Dave

Oooooo tht hurts. Might be me, as I'm running a P3 550. The motherboard is a P6B-AT first supplied with a Celeron (celery?) 400 !!... It's amazing what this machine will actually do when fed with a radeon and an audigy ... but it's a bit like jumping an old Racer with an ragged old 7 cell main anda shiny new reserve.... hey waittaminute... Don't laugh, my backup computer is a P 75 laptop with - wait for it - a 500 MB hard drive and a 56k cardmodem. I know some of yuze would throw antique shiite like that away but I have this choice right now .... skydive or geek toys. I hate the hard choices. Dave PS: since I cut back to 1024 x 768 16 bit colour yesterday computer life has been fine. Guess I may have been overdriving the sucker after all. Oh well, I guess ignornace is bliss and unlike in skydiving, pushing the limits to a critical failure won;t kill me

did it look anything like the attached photo? This came from the Sept 1966 Popular Mechanics (p.90). I love my old magazines... the next best thing to having been there (I wasn't genetic material on ANY level in September 1966 ) Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

done Dave

Thanks Ivan. Here's a twist that I remember to the last upgrade (can you BELIEVE this all started because ATI's original TV drivers wouldn;t work under XP so they changed it all ... and now the DVD drivers won;t install without their funky new 'send us some money stateside' install CD.) ATI says to remove EVERYTHING, right? So I do. On reboot, windows XP says 'hey, I see a radeon card' and it proceeds to do some shiite in the background (y'know, those little 'new hardware found - installing drivers' popups in the lower RH corner). So at that point the display is working fine but there is no ATI control pannel, no TV feature, no DVD feature. I guess I'm best to try again. Is it critical to do the removal in safe mode? Is it an issue that XP finds the radeon card and installs drivers? Is there a way I can get it NOT to? ATI is pretty specific about wanting no previous versions resident... would tha include XP drivers for the card? Thanks again - I bow to your geekiness Dave

Hi Ivan/Brian: Found the monitor book (KDS @ view 770, 4 y/o). It SAYS it will take up to a 1280 x 1024 res and has a total of 28 possible resolution 'modes' (12 preset and 16 user defined). None of the presets go beyond 1024 x 768 VSAI. Windows tells me I'm running the 'default monitor' under the radeon card. Once upon a time this system would detect the specific KDS monitor. The KDS canada page suggests the monitor function under 'windows plug n play' and that they use and test with Radeon cards among other things. Sounding like my latest Radeon driver install might be wonky? Dave PS: since I went back to 1024x 768 I've lost the on/off problem. Of course, now that I've told you that.... I just wonder why it would have taken weeks to show up...? Thanks for the help. I hope this one is over. Dave

You may be onto something Ivan - lately I have been running a much bigger resolution (1024 x 1280 I think) for the ease of using some accounting spreadsheets I've had to work on. This has been so for well over a month though. however, I never did look at the specs to see what the montor would support and I KNOW there are some radical options that the new ATI drivers support. Time to dig the manuals out and prepare myself for yet another purge and install of the ATI All in wonder (read: is it all in, I wonder?) product. Anyone else? I'm still listening and will report back with progress - even if it's a 'no fault found' statement. Dave

I jump a Raven (similar design, 7 cell F 111) with many many hundred jumps on it. I feel your pain and have a suggestion or 2. First, if you're anywhere near 1:1 loaded, it only gets worse. Mine is 'so bad' that I have learned to front riser carve almost by necessity. Well, not really necessity but the added speed gives me added lift and the initial flare is stronger. Then I run... sometimes a bit and sometimes a lot. Methinks what happens (to us) as the porosity of the canopy increases is that at less than full drive it simply does not have enough lift to keep you from dropping faster than you'd like. Final aproach in part brakes only makes this worse. Of course, our canopies aren;t that zippy to begin with so riser induced speed should not be a problem. Check this out with your STA or DZO before you start trying advanced manouvers - I did. When you crash are you landing on your butt or falling forward? Butt plants are likely the effects of your canopy stalling. It stops flying but you don't. Faceplants are likely caused by a late flare. In my case I was faceplanting - going for the BIG FAST LATE flare. Then Hutch suggested I flare earlier and the canopy started dropping me on my can, sometimes suddenly. Timing the flare of a tired F-111 is a tricky procedure but if you can do it on the CL then you can likely land anything. Dave PS: I've flown Bruiselites as well and out student 220's have far more flare than my Raven 220. Of course, they also have about 500 jumps less than my canopy...

Something's gone wonky with my PC but I don't know where to start. Any serious (OK, any half-serious) suggestions would be appreciated. The problem goes something like this: For the last day or 2 the monitor has been switching its self on and off in a 'click on, click off' cycle that can last anywhere between 10-25 cycles. It typically does this when I'm running outlook express or ie6. When will it do this? Frequently enough to be VERY annoying - sometimes I'll be interrupted several times in an hour and sometimes it will run fine for many hours. Just as I was typing this it went into standby mode without my command to do so. Norton (virus dates 8 oct) gave me a clean bill on the whole system although it has stopped a Bugbear virus four times in the last month. Norton firewall is not reporting any current hacking. Win XP pro. Are there Ghosts in my Machine? Dave

Wellllll... they're not SUPPOSED to. My brother in law makes the stuff and I've had some rather hair-raising conversations with him about industry-wide "quality control". Mike doesn't take the flu shot but their company, Aviron, has just introduced a nasal inhaled "flumist" that is a totally new technology (no egg albumen involved). No needle either. And about 'getting sick' after a flu shot, I understand the feeling. your body is busy creating the antibodies to the new invaders you've just shot up. then there's the fact that most people with 'the flu' don;t actually have influenza - the only thing the drug actually prevents. We'l only mention quietly that the vacciene also only prevents what is EXPECTED to be the next outbreak. If the companies get their research wrong, then EVERYBODY is vulnerable. Ee-yuck Dave

Wow! We could have months of 'remember THAT song..." threads from that page. then again, we have "Bob FM" in town - a formate dedicated to 80's 90's and whatever ... I think you've found the source of their 'whatever'. The scary thing is I remember most of those songs listed in the 80's and 90's -Dave PS Considering Mike Oldfield only cut TWO songs (Tubular bells sd. 1 and sd.2) I wonder which side was the 'hit'? Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Y'all sound so freindly employment and a green card is all it would take Winter can be nice Four distinct seasons break life into bite size chunks Winter's night is worst five till eight with no warm glow Even Sun flies South Sometimes I go nuts Mountain bike through winter snow eh, why the hell not Bright neon ski clothes relics from last centruy great for winter jumps Few others dare go minus twenty five is cold Cessna climbs like hell Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Thanksgiving weekend Realtive work on Sunday Close up the cottage Jump season is done year end party suturday I'll go jump today Fantastic weather Still not freezing overnight Think I'll bring my tent Dave

Lisa the 'skybytch' has it right. You have a good starter rig but you;re a bit heavy for the wingloadings. My BEER! rig was (still is...) a Raven 220 with a Stellar 165 reserve. Just to scare you all, I was cleared on the eliptical 170 class shortly off student status. Frankly, I disagreed then, and now, with this allowance given to me but shortly after that I began demoing many canopies. I've yet to fly a Sub-170 but I've flown every planform available from 170 through 220. At many DZ's I'm sure 'd be encouraged toi fly a 150 or less but I'm not "unbreakable" like many of the 20 year olds I see around in the sport I'm guessing you'll find the Raider 'fun'; You're not far off my wingloading and I enjoyed my 7 cell Raven for about 50-75 jumps. Mine is a tired canopy and I began to have troubles with its' flare power - something you'll not likely have if it is as new as you claim. if it is, you have several HUNDRED jumps to home your canopy skills on it and I suggest you take at least 200 to do so. Search for Billvon's recommendations on canopy downsizing soon. The Maverick will set you down even more quickly than the Raider. Do everything you can to learn the raged edge of canpy control under your main and under all conditions as soon as possible. Many, many clear and pulls from altitude with canopy control exercises (seek a CReW dog's advice if you can) will serve you well now. I've done this and my skills have saved me twice - even at a small 1 Cessna DZ. Remember, cannopy control is like driving a motorcycle - it's always 'the other guy' that causes the problem ... your task is to avoide the shite and stay alive! From my FJC onward, I enjoyed the canopy ride as much as the freefall its self. coming from a sports car racing background I also have a very high tolerance (....need....) for G forces , spirals, and swoops. I have not yet let this need over-ride my need to stay in one piece and so far my sense of self-preservation has served me well. Best of luck finding YOUR equilibruim in this respect. Dave

You like Pinot Noir LizzieB? Take a drive up Bear Creek Canyon (?name... Santa Cruz Mountains) and visit David Bruce winery. The drive is worth in its self. When I was last in CA I paid a visit and they had some 1982 vintage that was on the raged edge of 'too old' (they were clearing it out) but their current 1994-2000 stuf was AWESOME! Clos du bios is very nice too. Also consider South African Pinotage. KWV has a nice, inexpensive bottle that goes great with lamb and any other meat with a bit of Zing to it. mmmm... oenophiles

So you won this last round did you vinny? Good for you

Nope, that's just a wing with a new 'lion' (pronounced 'line') set he he he

Hey Jess! After 7 jumps you have every right to have hazy memories. Sensory overload is indeed the major issue. ... ... some of us are trying to find that happy time again ... Seriously, the way you describe your body 'doing it' but your brain not remembering means that you've created muscle memories and patterns - this is VERY good. As to your cutaway, I had my one and only (*...so far...*) at jump 20. It was opening weekend (about as cold as you describe) and I was doing 20 second delays on progression. For me, time slows down when I'm in serious kak; that is the primary indication of SERIOUS fight or flight. I've been through it in sports car racing, on the road, on the ski hill , ... when it came to me in skydiving the processes were automatic. GROUND TRAINING, DONE RIGHT, IS EXTREMELY POWERFUL. Sounds like you had a great course conductor and have a very promising future in the sport. *** Something that helped me IMMENSELY at sports car racing (both for real and during online sims) is the following article: http://freespace.virgin.net/adrian.rose/brain.htm If you are a driving-type, it may help you too. It may seem like a lot of mumbo-jumbo to start with but pay particular attention to the diference between left and right hemisphere concentration. Skydiving is a very 'big picture' sport to me. Focusing on a small point like, arm position in an formation skydive, I lose track of the big picture and something else gets neglected. Being able to launch with "glazed over eyes seeing everything and acknowleging nothing" is the state I need to be in (some would call it 'relaxation') to have a smoothly flowing, successful skydive. The payoff comes after landing. Sadly, one thing that MUST be said RIGHT NOW is that this technique is subordinate to ALTITUDE AWARENESS. When things go smoothly they feel so good that you believe they'll last forever. If you lose awareness, they just might. . Finish your season knowing you are on the right track. Do some stuff over winter (I know Wisconsin has winter) to practise. Stud some tires and go mountain biking (thinking big picture). Ski (thinking big picture). Contact your local sports car club and take up ice racing. ANYTHING you do that forces you into the same wide-eyed passive concentration will help you keep in mental shape for opening weekend next season. Dave

Who bought the csae of beer? Seriously, sounds like a blast. Not your typical pilot... Dave

I seem to remember a certain greenie talking of his electrical generating system and actually getting PAID by the power utility. Welll, ahead of your time, Bill - it may be coming to Winnipeg. ...as reported in this morning's Winnipeg Free Press...: As nice as having no electrical bill would be, I think I'd STILL wish for calm days (...better swooping y'know