dterrick

I wear a Carrera snowboard hat that I bought for winter mountain biking. Works great! You get hat-head no matter what you wear to jump so you may as well have more protection / style. If you have the helmet style with solid ear coverings you may also find room for a dytter as a bonus! Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

At Gimli, Manitoba (home of the infamous Gimli glider ...Boeing 767 that ran out of fuel in 1983 and was dead sticked for 600 miles) we jump the one, the only, C-GXKU. The "U type" (Jaguar lovers will understand) is a 1956 Cessna C-182 Skylane with the O-490 powerplant. '56 was the FIRST year for a 182 and as such it has a main cabin 4 inches narrower than models prodeced after 1958. ...Beer can? Try Sardine tin. Don't know what I'm gonna do with all that extra room and altitude when I visit elsewhere. I kinda like the 20 minute ride to altitude. Lots and lots of time to admire the lake and the patchwork mosaic of the farm fields... or ... enough time to invent a jump and then dirt dive it in the plane (wihthout any movement whatsoever), then sit quietly and mind dive, then whine at the pilot for the beverage cart and inflight entertainment being late Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

actually, the 2002 FAI CoP requirements can be found here http://www.fai.org/sporting_code/sc5.pdf in PDF form. D is 500 jumps, C is 200, B is 50, A is 25. Etc. These are the basics that Canada has been using since mid-2001. The new B at a C-182 DZ (9000 ft) with some 'fun time' allowed and static line/IAD progression ia a 75-100 jump task "in reality". Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

THAT's a case of Beer! If you can 'cookie' on jump #21 you;re either very lucky or very good... certainly better than your 21 jumps you have either way. It took me 79 jumps to hit the 12" disc - and given the mayhem of that particular jump I had no belief the landing would be any better than the rest of the jump (slammer opening from a not-slowed-down-enough sitfly, ...damn near knocked myself out,... lost a contact lens so I had no depth perception, ...sunset load 'light' issues, etc). Apart from the basic 'stationary point' trick, the best words I'd ever been given were "forget WHERE you land once you set your pattern up, just land safe and smooth". Keep it up. Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Anyone else feel like re-awakening their 'expensive' University education for the edification of the forum in general? I do... skreamer's spoke of oil and the reason that "you Americans" will soon be at war (my synposis). As a 'polite' Canadian I/we are inexorably linked to the actions of the US of A - even when we don't want to be . Quite frankly you could or should call most of us "Swiss". Our benign nature (hey, we're still the French fighting the British when it really comes down to it ... but at least we generally keep the fighting at home ) has lead us, as a nation, to pay MUCH greater attention to world events from a world perspective. In my Humble Opinion (well, maybe not so humble) about 99% of Americans could not give a shiite (pun intended) about anything more than their own backyard and how to keep the money coming in to better their neighbor trying to do the same. Of course this leaves a dangerous minority who KNOW the truth of the matter (and who likely have the contest won already). Your 2.5 million (or so) 'informed' people happen to be i) those who run your export-based businesses (very important to the increaing wealth of America in general) ii) those whom you elect to public office. I put it to this forum that 99% of elected officials have come from 'the system' that has earned its' great wealth at the expense of the Rest of the World. Therefore you can assume that a very VERY small minority of powerful 'business interests' run your country... and mine quite frankly (like we count at 2% of the World GDP) Now, before you go McCarthying a polite Canadian for Communistic treason, think about foreign policy and what that really means. When one considers that the world has ALWAYS relied on international trade to balance the Wealth of Nations (go ahead, I dare ya, read Adam Smith - it's written in Olde Englishe ) some things should become clear. 1. 'Money' as we know it is simply a convenient means of exchange of goods. It is the goods themselves that really represent what we call wealth. (Perhaps this is the origin of the misguided notion that 'wealth= things'. Me, I personally think wealth= diverse Life Experiences... like skydiving and world travel). 2. The value of a 'good' like oil, is entirely dependent on a supply/demand curve. That demand can be local or it can be international. 3. When you become reliant on a good which you must import you become subservient to those who actually possess the good. 4. Greed is universal. 5. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. *** Look at your 'elected ones' of the past three terms for some guidance. I bet you'd find that the Democrats had 'business' ties to companies that provided 'social services'. Bloody Bleeding Heart Liberals want to make everything 'free' but guess what...? SOMEONE, or somebody's business, must still provide the 'Good'. Frickin warmonger gun toting Republicans likely have their ties to the Military Industrial Complex and everything that makes it run (hmmmm... never heard of a solar powered tank or S.A.M.) *** Now consider the world view for a moment. If the 'beauty' of the Free World is that we 'elect' our representatives, but if all elected representatives represent only their own interests AND if collectively they only represent (essentially) TWO interest groups then really we have only 'TWO' dictators. Only one, of course, can be in power at a time. Most of 'them' who the USA universally oppose are only 'one' dictator. But, Mssrs. Husseain and Bin Laden were BOTH aided or installed by the "one" American 'Dict...', um, President of the time. I suspect that was not to the liking of about half the population at the time, and neither is liked by ANYONE right now. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". The American people have been preoccupied by Clinton and the Mystery of the Stained Dress (say it... Scooby Doo where are you?) and then by Mr. Condit and the Missing Intern while 'dictators' have been committing genocide elsewhere. WTF? More WTF? Floridians, apparently, do not posess the cranial power to mark a ballot. Considering a Dubbya relative runs (maybe ran?) that state is there any wonder that GWB is in today? Is there any wonder that he is pursuing his daddy's agenda (...again...?) Is there any wonder that the Rest Of The World has looked at the American people as "weak and misguided" and "ripe for a lesson in terror". Please please PLEASE.... do not take ANY of this as a justification for September 11, 2001. There can be, and will never be, justification for such atrocities. I merely wish to air an 'outsiders' view of how inwardly focused the American people at large have become to world events and how ignorance of the International perspective has given rise to those dictators of other countries where the phrase 'life and liberty' does not mean what it does to "you". *** Damn it's a good thing that Gravity is Law of Nature and not just a political or religious idea. I took up skydiving just ten days prior to the Horror of 9/11/01. I had no idea what 'freedom' really meant until I started skydiving - and I'm not talking about politics. I only hope that there are enough sensible people around the globe, in whatever country, who ascribe to a universal like the dopamine rush of freefall to keep us in one piece for many generations to come. After all, religion hasn't done it, political idealogy hasn't done it... the Dave PS: No doubt some Liberal Arts majors will point to other 'Great' civilizations who eventually fell. Hey, The Roman Empire can only give us expenisve supercars and Z1 helmets now... the Brits (who 'owned' the colonies and invented many modern technologies now give us warm beer as a msajor export ) and the Japanese taught 'us' how to build our beloved automobiles. The question to ask going foreward might be... "Did the American Empire end with 9/11 or did it just begin. And, if it's is just beginning, at what cost and what form will it take in today's much smaller Globe?" (phwew, my brain hurts... time for a beverage) Tune in next week when we discuss Jung's Collective Unconscious and the Meaning of Life Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

good point edenney! I (hopefully soon spoken of in the past tense) jump a Raven 2 in solid watermellon Orange. While this canopy was once jumped by a former DZO it had not been used locally for some time. To add to the confusion, another hardcore senior had 3 lineover chops this spring and - wait for it - guess what his reserve looks like? "Is that Dave or did Brian have another mal?" Happy Hallow'een Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Julian (Cannonball) Adderley, Spontaneous Combustion... released in 1955 (Savoy Sessions). once a horn player, always a horn player. Cyber-jam with aggiedave and ? Cool, dad-i-o the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...about 3 or 4 pounds

first off, waaaaaaa!! On my last flight to alti it was +5 fht. . that is likely why it was the last... I just got waterski gloves w/ leather palm sand neoprene back. Get some, they rock. Make sure they're the thin ones and not all neo if you still want handle feel. I guess face mask would do too but in your tem even a knitted neck warmer will do a lot. Lycra/spandex longjohns and top under a T shirt and light sweatpants. Next level (if needed) turtleneck and windpants. Next layer yey (told ya it gets cold) sweater and replace sweats with thicker sweats. On your head wear a fullface or a head sock. I gotta run now, I'm curious to what others will add the Dave ...lin Winterpeg Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Lovely excuse for a picnic and with a 'show' too. Next time I'm visiting my sis in San Fran I'll get an exit aisle seat on a flight to LA and.... swoooooppp

Congrats Michele... Right, Gentle, and Easy are words I'd use to describe my downsizing demos ofthe last 2 weekends. Going from a 1:1 F-111 to an ZP eliptical at 1.25 is a real rush. I think I got a bit flare-scared at about jump 60 when a similarily skilled friend hooked in. From 600 ft. away I heard the THUD and saw the bounce. Yes, he's OK, no he didn't Femur, but the doc said it would have been better than what he did to his knee. Call me chickenshit but the Very Last Thing I wanted to do when I was consistently thumping my landings was to downsize and go faster (and maybe dig a deeper trench?). But one senior all but insisted that I take his Sabre 210 for a rip. Same lightbulb. Same dance. I came just 1 step from nailing the cookie on a no-wind landing. The ride, a 4000 ft hnp (it's daaaamn cold in Manitoba right now) re-acquainted me with my belief that all the drills I had been doing under my doggy canopy were really doing something after all. Suddenly did you feel like "hey, this thing over my head is now doing what I thought it should be doing all along?" I did. Then I hooked up with the Jonathan 170. Um...wow? I've driven some pretty twitchy racing cars in my time (Hi, I'm Dave and I'm a Recovering Car Guy) but the Jon was something else again. This thing had ESP and in just 3 3500 ft jumps I realized that I was in control and would only give control back if I also lost RESPECT for the fact that I was merely poking at some very predictable laws of physics with a pointed stick. Nine out of ten voices inside my head said "do it again" It's great to hear your story. Meet ya over the swoop pond in, say, five years? the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...how would you know that Dave? ...and why do they call them Buildings when they're already built? other Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

i call it my tracking parachute. ...I'd call it a Drogue Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Our C-182 is 46 years old. It has some thin carpet glued on for an 'interior'. Duct tape? I wish. The engine is fresh - who cares about the bloody interior... Well, I guess I did. One day I said 'enough already' to the shoddy service HutchAir was providing on my round trip flights from Gimli to Fraserwood (no seats, inflight entertainment, beverage cart, or pretty stewardesses) so I just got out mid flight. I think maybe others have done this before, too . ...OK so the physics were a bit off it sure sounded genuine to me (Hey c'mon the DZ in Dropzone was no hell either ) Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

We had a rock s tation that did one of those contests ... same result. I can't remember what else people did but if I remember the grand pricze was 10 grand or something Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...AggieDave do you get the idea those guys watched Monty Python a bit too much? ISTR a number of BBC parodies like that first one. ROTLMAO tho, time for a python fix other Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

... It's not so much how many times as is when was the LAST time you checked. In a C-182 (narrow airframe model) I'm lucky if I can even reach my hackey. I do my cutaway and reserve handle reach after each mind dive - just in case. I do a 3 handle check as I aproach the door and one final reach for the hackey just before I exit. That way, unless I bump the door on the way out Im 99.9% certain I don't have a lost or loose handle. (I've seen both). Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

the better question would be "Can he get all 20 minutes of the lyric to alice's Restaurant?" I think I'll go looking for an MP3 now... another Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Cute Smile! Nice Racer! Can I play too Brittany? 'Race' ya (raven II in same) Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...so late one Saturday night returning from the roadhouse with a case of RoadRockets, the 'redneck' brothers "Bubba" and "Zeke" see the flashing red and blues coming up fast on them. They've taken the backroad home and they're the only pickup truck on the road so this MUST be for them. Thinking quickly, Zeke (the passenger) peels a label off one of the remaining bottles and says "Bubba! Stick this label on your forehead NOW and follow my lead"... Moments later, the suspicious po-lice man aproaches, gun drawn, and confronts Bubba...: "Evening boys, ... you all been drinkin' at the roadhouse tonight?" Says Zeke, pointing at Bubba's forehead, ... "well I have osifer, but Bubba here, he's on the patch the Dave ...Geez, North of Mason-Dixon? Hell, I'm North of 49 and it's Daaaam cold here. "winter beer" here includes a mix of Ethylene Glycol to keep us from freezing up Seriously, naaaah, who could be serious now. Grolsch (Dutch) in the Green pint bottle with the flip top ceramic cap (great for home brewers) or my own refill from a recipe in Clone Brews (ISBM 1-58017-077-3). Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

..."freaky"... Care to trade LBC jokes? Q: (an easy one) Why do the English drink warm beer? A: Lucas refrigerators. Q: The Lucas company motto? A: An Honest Day's Work and Home before Dark

..and in my former 'life' (if you would call it that, I know better now) I played extensively with restoring and racing British Sports Cars (Triumph GT6+, TR4a IRS, TR-6, Lotus Cortina ...) The 'right tool' to disassemble most every component of a 30-40 year old British sports Car is seen in the attachment (..and it should scare you that I can name and use the 'originals') the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Heeyyyy, I resemble that remark! At least I do when I'm jumping my tired and well-loaded F-111. Flare high....thud. Flare low.... skreeesplat, thud. Get it 'right' ... just like jumping off of a picnic table (at best). Three demo's on a 'sportster' eliptical at 1.25:1 ... swoosh tiptoe (some wind) swoooooosh tiptoe (no wind), plan 'B' final out of bowl landing due to traffic... swoosh tiptoe! ... Guess my problem wasn't in the finishing ...damn I could get to like this swooping stuff now that I know what a 'real' flare feels like

...hmmmmm, I think I know where you're at with one. I was demoing a Jonathan @ 1.2 (first eliptical demos, did Sabre 210 and 190's over the summer on and off). FLY (?!?) the opening? I was on a 3000 foot hop'n pop (good plan, eh?) and dipped the left shoulder at 'check-000' - just at snatch. No line twists but my forward view was 'somewhat obscured' by a left-diving canopy. Weeee? Straightened out with opposite rear riser and proceeded to remember what my 'first' canopy flight was like once again

hard to stereotype his music, just one of the many in my ecletic collection. Young-ish Black guy in a "BB King meets Bobby McFerran meets Mark Knopfler" sorta idiom. The album "The Door" is the only one I have at current - it's definately an "album" rather than a collection of songs hashed onto a CD (remember vinyl and "album sides?"). Everything from upbeat pickin' (with Hammond organ) "gospel" style to "been down so long forgot what up is for" bluuuuuz. A Bearshare search on "keb mo" shows a good X section. PM for a couppla rips Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)