dterrick

More!! Please? I wouldn't even know where to go looking for this stuff. But, I often bookmark so remember THIS one? Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Geez Seb, I thought you'd have this one done in no time. You got the light bulb head guy? Look for a switch on one of the mountains that brings up a lowering device. Then "Mushroom mushroom" on your way out and dont get sucked into the anteater getting to the bunker. Anteaters eat ants, remember? Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Mine said Q=50 but I got it. thanks. These dudes are talented but I can't help thinking this is the result of the combined influences of Antoine de St. Exuperie, Douglas Adams, Lewis Carroll, and Timothy Leary. Who makes this stuff up??? Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

what do you do when the dude is sitting in the room with the machinery? Button clickies cant be all there is? mushroom Mushroom! Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

You gotta land yourself back on the planet no matter what you do in the sky. S/L teaches you valuable skills that AFF 'turbine babies' don't typically learn til much later - like being confortable with 3k hop n pops. The end results of an A license will be similar if not identical. By the time you're off student status in you'll be able to keep yourself in control in freefall and land safely. By 30-40 jumps or so there'll be little or no difference in overall skill in any area and you'll be looking for RW coaches anyway. I looked at it this way... for roughly the same $'s I got about 25 canopy flights under s/l instead of 12-15 for AFF. In Cessna land, that is a BIG difference. Do you want fast results , or do you want fun and time spent on the DZ? It's all good. Remember that you're always learning no matter what your license says you know And FYI, a big reason I did s/l over PFF was because I wanted to be 'independent' in the sky. Dave PS Welcome to th sport and whatever you decide to do, just keep doing it until you're addicted ... or has that happened already??? Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Oh my, Randy, I hope you're kidding about not ever changing the brake fluid - or I hope you live in a very flat state. Most of the post was well-kidded but seriously, brake fluid is hydroscopic, meaning it sucks up water out of the ambient air - even when it's in the (vented) master cylinder. Even a small amount of water, which boils at 212fht. will render your brakes useless after several panic stops (or hills). The water discombobulates (I'll take $5 words for $1000 Alex ) and you get the hydrogen and oxygen broken apart into gasses and gasses are compressable. Of course, this happens right in the brake calipers where most of the heat generated from braking resides. Poor brakes = crash potential, kinda like a snapped steering line. That said, I just never use my brakes . Slowing down for corners is for wimps. Stop signs and traffic lights are just suggestions, right Seriously though, a good "ballpark test" for contaminated fluid is to crack open the reservoir cap and look at the colour of the fliud. It should be clear, much like "lite beer". The darker it is, the more impurities it has sucked out of the atmosphere and the more compromised your braking performance will be when you need it most. [Mr. Garrison]Black fluid is bad, n'kay [/Mr Garrison]. It's likely a reasonable bet that changing the fluid when you replace your front brake pads is sufficiently often for Joe Average Driver. Under severe racing conditions I had to bleed the system after each day of racing (about 100 really, really hard miles). Of course, tires lasted about 500 mileas as well. Wonder why I got into skydiving? Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Lemme guess Ivan... "has 2 feet, is blue, and can't fly?" Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Winnipeg has a surprising number of famous or important people: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Village/1479/famous.html Notably: Politics/war: Sir William Stephenson, 'the spy called Intrepid" Entertainment: Burton Cummings and the rest of The Guess Who including Randy Bachman (BTO). Lenny Breau (jazz guitar great), Bif Naked (punk), the Crash Test Dummies (pop), Adam Beach (Naitive actor in Windtalkers and other movies), Monty Hall (Let's make a deal) Art: Sculptor Leo Mol, author Margaret Lawrence, Artist Charles Thorason (original illustrator/cretor of BUGS BUNNY) Hockey: (hey, it's icy here 5-6 months of the year): Bobby Hull (1st $1M salary), Billy Mosienko (3 goals in 21 seconds - NHL record), Terry Sawchuk (NHL goalie, too many award s to list). Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Absolutely Katee! My first (BEER!) out-of-normal-DZ experience was in Hollister CA. Thanks to dropzone.com, I had several people who knew who my cyber-personality was when I arrived. Neither they, nor I were disappointed at the physical meeting. I felt soooo at home - except for the bigger plane and double the altitude (was 18k 'safety' day) and the fact there were freeflyers and wingsuits, and, and, and... I've been back since and it just gets better! We all know "it" - that feeling you get in mid-flight like you own the planet. After one jump, you either do or you don't. If you do, everything else is just a matter of degrees and experience. My first 20-30 jumps were the most "exciting" bcause the learning curve was so steep. Keeping an open mind and a desire to do the un-done makes each jump new. the more I jump the more I realize I'm just learning a now existing body of knowledge that was ALL new not that long ago. When it's new to me, it feels great, so I always look for more. Maybe someday i'll be inventing 'new' stuff for others to discover like those who have gone before me (see Bill Cole threads in Histroy section for Canadian examples) I'm looking forward to my progression into the unknown - I think that is the core idea that drove us ALL to jump #1 in the first place!! Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Stefan, Now you have me REAL curious, as an aspiring BASE jumper. You calculated 220 ft high by an alti watch. Were you then attempting to determine an aproximate landing area? If you have a 220 ft height and a 2:1 glide ratio, you would glide 440 horizontal groundl ft. 3:1 would give you 660 ft, etc. Draw a right angle triangle. Height (h) is as you measure. Pace out the nearest obstructin from the base (b). If it is within the glide path of your canopy you could fly that at full glide without (extra) danger. It SHOULD be as simple as that. Calculating the c^2 (flight path) could give you flight time and distance(if you know your canopy speed). or, if you have an obstacle in the way you could draw its relative position form the baseand see if you will cler it. In order to do THAt, though, you also need to calculate it's height. If you care to take this to PM's I'm interested. If this post gives further insight, please let me (us) know. Flight path and glide angle is one thing as a 7 cell pilot I take to heart - I often have to fly straight home with the spots 9 cell pilots calculate Methinks BASE is an extreme form of spotting your LZ ... yes? Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Heya Dino: Been there, it's a rite of passage! I made 15 s/l jumps and was just short of my Solo certificate (roughly new USPA A) before Ma Nature conspired to shut us down in Manitoba (we call Winnipeg 'Winterpeg' for a reason but the summers kick ass!) Hang out as much as you can with the skydiving commuinity. Do likewise online. Read as much as you can of the past threads - go to the articles pages and memorize them all... everything you read will give you a head start on next spring's first jumps! The more time you sepnd immersed in the culture and the community , the more accepted you will become. Skydiving IS a lifestyle! Trust me when I say that these are the best things you can do right now - except for taking a trip further South and getting your certification sooner rather than later. Still, doin' it local has good Karma. Be patient and enjoy your early days of the sport. It's a bit like growing up again... Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

you want: 88 squared - 47 squared = ?squared. that is 5535 = x squared x = 74.39758 If you were looking for the length of the 3rd side of a right angle triangle you want 99.76423 figure. 3x would then be 299.2926966 If you really did mean the subtraction as you wrote, x = 74.39758 - multiplied by 3 you compute 223.1927418. Hope that helps. If you can describe the problem you wish to solve you may also get more input Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

The DARK side, Seb?? Altitude is not a side, it is universal. The only Law we obey is that of Gravity and to the best of my knowledge there ain't no arguin' over that one. ..Oh waittaminute, wingsuit flyers attempt to defy gravity and freeflyers want more of it ... damn, I thought I had THE answer there for a minute Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Congratulations! The Rev. is correct - "psycos" (psycologists) tell us it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. Learning to eat will take 21 days and you'll have a replacement habit. Have a beer instead - you're a skydiver (!! JUST KIDDING DAMMIT!!) Seriously, when you get the craving, do something ELSE for 5-10 minutes. Walk around the block. Drink a glass of water (boring, I know but we're supposed to drink lots anyway, right?). Stuck in a Dilbert? Get a cool velcro paintball gun from Here and frustrate someone else. Just don't replace a negative habit with another one. Ok, I guess you could load up www.foodtv.com and sepnd time LOOKING at food or learning to cook gourmet but hey, whatever. Just keep not smoking. On the good side: everything will taste better, hypoxia will set in at a higher altitude, and - wait for it - you'll have more money for jump tickets or new gear. Dave PS: in Manitoba, smokes are just shy of $10/pack on the street and well more than that in the bars!! Nobody dares start and only the truly addicted keep it up. Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Ollie: check out http://www.cspa.ca/cspa/Students/CoPs.html and click on the Cop2001 "here" hyperlink. In Canada we have a pre'A called the Solo Certificate. For that ticket you need to demonstrate a stable sit exit, canopy stall and recovery, and rear riser turns. By the time you get your A you need to demonstrate 180 degree flat turns, rear riser FLARES, and front and rear riser spirals. I'm sure the BPA is looking at our model which is even more stringent than the FAI standards ath the CoP level while still allowing a 'feels good to get off student status' ticket (valid in Canada only) to encourage people to stay in the sport but progress to an internationally recognized level. Looking back I actually found the canopy stuff to be the easiest because I did static line (well, IAD) and I was asking for 'fun canopy stuff' from about jump #3. I still aspire to CReW. Our system is NOT geared to the 'I gotta get my D asap mindset'. I guess that's in part due to our system being biased to require C's and D's ONLY for advanced coach and instructor ratings - and those CoP's are quite tough to get for that reason. Dave. Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Was the Flugtag fun? Is this why you are hurting? Sick from S.F. Bay? Mom says chicken soup Will cure all the aches and pains if not, shooters work *** Kids in winter dress Single digit mercury Forecast for tonight Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Geez Bill, you're almost exactly double my age (miss it by about a month). Cool - I guess there's hope for me yet Happy Birthday! If you never grow up you never grow old -not so ancient proverb Dave T Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Duuude Get ye to Silverstone (or Brands, or Donnington...) wherever your closest racing school is. Not only wil you learn lots about car control, you'll alos have a lot of fun. I guess the other thing you could do would be to install an adjustable boost gauge and turn it down on wet days. Of course, that's much like owning a badass canopy and flying the dog unless conditions are perfect Dave PS sideways is funnnn

stereo with her Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Well Duhhh And were there to have been a Deomcrat in office that war might never have happened. But THEN, you'd have had the DEMOCRAT friends administering all the social projects that would have occupied the budget bills. Maybe not so blatant as oil and defence contractors but somebody has to run the programs - and programs come with budget allotments - and somebody gets to decide how to spend them... and those chosen ones promote THEIR agendae. It's all the same, but different, everywhere. The only answer... rampant Comminusm! ... (try THAT one on for a flame fan) Oh, waittaminute... party faithful over THERE got nice houses and cars and vacations and never stood in in line for anything - geez I guess it really it IS the same everywhere. Absolute power corrupts absolutely Dave PS: We're no beter in Canada. We have one party, effectively unchallenged in the next election because our 'Right Wing' Progressive Conservatives self-destructed after Brian Mulroney's patronage and kowtowing to Reagan in the 80's (yes, we're stubborn and fickle as a nation it seems). Now, PM Jean Cretien is in the final days of his PM'ship and finishing off HIS agenda. Paul Martin, the party's replacement PM-elect is making noise that he's going to un-handout many of the things uncle Jean is now handing out to HIS past supporters. Sheesh. Shoot em all! Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

I have microlines on my Raven. I've had much less trouble with broken bands since I converted to the little ones like you've bought. It may take you a while to get the hang of doing the locking stows, especially if the canopy is a tight fit in the bag. It's worth it, IMHO. Change them all. Periodically, pull a new one out and compare the 'stretch force' against the ones installed on the bag. Now and again I change them all and retire the old ones to duties like tying up computer cables, etc. Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Not quite skydiving but I'm cure the collective impacts were simillar... I took a high speed tumble downhill skiing many a year ago (as in it took me about 20 minutes to climb back up to where my bindings popped as I cartwheeled at the mercy of Ma Gravity). One of those wee 'cardboard cameras' was in my fanny pack. I landed on it several times - felt like someone suckerpunched me in the kidneys . The film turned out just fine. If you are talking about a plain ol' cheapie camera (not a "single use" camera) you may not be so lucky. Of course, about six bucks will tell you for sure - send the photos in but don't pay extra for 1 hour service. Would I trust the focus of such a camera in the future? Not if it had a movable lens. Would I be concerned about dropping it again... absolutely. Our STA asked me, once, if I knew what the camera would hit if I dropped it. His answer... "The newspapers". Consider the danger that a falling object can inflict. Even in a rural area you might bruise a cow or something . Get one of those little keychains with a little 'phone cord ' style coil and clip one end to the camera and the other someplace inside your jumpsuit. Dropping the camera would no longer be an issue. Be mindful of any snag potential you create though. Problem solved. Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Well, Johnny, 40 celcuis is 'no shirt and a beer in the shade' weather so I'm guessing you're dealing with farenheight. Minus 40 farenheight is also - 40 Celcuis (the scales coonverge right about there) and you must be made of stone to sustain that temperature! Good on ya... I guess. I'll never see it and my DZO would'nt (doesn't) allow it. We jump down to 0f on the ground, that's it. You can't push-start a Cessna and my hands go numb much below about 10f at the top (9k) even in neoprene gloves with liners. Taking another 50f off SHOULD leave you unable to feel your handles... and pull (not a nice thought and I've been there). Even USPA suggests "gloves should be worn where the ambient tamperatue at altitude is below 40f". The real issue, besides bravado, is - does the temperature gradient between your breath and the outside air cause a potential icing condition? I'll stick to hop n pops in ski gear and see if I can get my DZO to let me (attempt to) swoop wearing my yard long ballet skiis

Hmmmm, I'm guesing New Yawk must be warmer than Winterpeg at altitude. I've recently read on a winter jumping forum thread that the reason our extremities get cold has as much to do with core body temperature dropping as anything. Given that we lose 80% of our body heat through our head, maybe there is something to be said about a sealed full face lid. I like that theory. I also trust BillVon who said that visor icing was "an issue" on the 300 way. My trick to solving this problem while racing cars in the winter was to use a headsock - or whatever else keeps the moist breath from hitting the cold visor directly. It is the absolute moisture tolerence differential between warm air (your breath) and the cold surface that causes the problem. Anything that keeps them apart will help eliminate the problem. Holding your breath is not a viable option Do tell, what's the ambient temp at altitude at 14k mid NY winter? Our fall jumps take us down to about +10f waering RW plus a layer or 2 from 9.5k. Winter jumps, to me, mean -10 on the ground! Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Bakersfield? Should be warm enough to pitch a tent in your back yard. Don't have a back yard? Know someone who does? Otherwise, take a preventative measure - cook up some home made chicken soup (tins don't count) and then spike it with garlic. If it works when you;re sick it should work better when you're not. BTW, this bit is said only semi-jokingly. Chef-boy-ar-Dave has spoken D PS: what jumps? Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)