hparrish

Eric, Glad you made it out to MOAB..........Fucker. Say hi to Pauly & Ruth, and Jason & Lisa, for me. Stay safe buddy.

QuoteListen everybody, Jim Slaton is a friend of mine. That said, he got his (and his staff's) username on this site disabled because he simply would not refrain from blatantly advertising his products and services on this forum. I do not make the rules here, but I have been charged with enforcing them since the very inception of this forum. Quote Oh Come on Chuck...... Jim wasn' t on here pasting links to his website or pushing his canopy. Allot of JVX Pilots were doing that on there own. I'm starting to get the feeling that folks don't want anyone talking about the JVX on Dropzone.com. Heck I couldn't even find it listed as a canopy in the classifieds section. I think you'll have allot of PD Threads to delete if you don't want folks posting links.

Well it sounds like there are a couple of Gimps that have joined me in the sofa club. Melissa SF#2 - Sorry to hear about the calf tear. Keep up with the PT it will help. Whitney SF#3 - Wow a Fibia Break.........Freaky how that happened. Hope you heal fast. Okay folks that covers the "Three (3)" events thing. Lets not have anyone else get hurt PLEASE....

They came standard on the Vortex II container. Well the sliders that came with the container anyway. But I agree a rigger could easily perform this mod. Nothing more than a little stiffener stripp added to the the risers. I like mine.

Welp...........We came up but apparently too late to catch most of you. Didn't realize it was Peter and Michelle's wedding on Saturday. We'll try to get up there again another weekend. Later,

Hey Folks Me and the Prego will be out at the DZ on Saturday. You can rub Christine's Buhda Bellie for $1. The Ladies can rub my shoulders for free, and addtional body parts are $1. It will be good to see some folks, as I haven't been around for more than a month. Later,

Classic............That's Too Funny, provided he didn't get hurt. Later,

Well as long as it's something your'e working on for your own personal reasons, that's cool. Keep it up that's what changes and progresses our sport. I just got the impression someone told you, you had to be able to sitfly with no arms out. Sounds like that's not the case. Keep up the good work, your form looks good to me. Later,

I don't consider myself a Great Freeflyer, but I know I'm a decent Freeflyer, that can fly my slot on a VRW Team and turn points Freeflying. My Team mate took the AD Test and passed back in 2000, and he felt like it was definately an Ego experience. So I have no interest in ever getting an AD Rating. Plus he can BallMaster a jump if I'm interested. I definately think Ball Jumps are excellent for training and teach you skills that you cannot learn in the tunnel. Likewise the Tunnel is a proegression experience where you have to prove your skills before you can Freefly the way you want to in the Tunnel. But this has more to do with Safety and Liability than it does Ego. Although I'm sure there is a little Ego involved. In Freeflying your going to have to prove yourself in some form or fashion if folks don't know anything about you. Whether that means entering competions and winning, or being on Big Ways enough for folks to know who you are. Hey until folks know about you, you are going to have to prove you have the skills. Point Blank........ I don't think telling anyone you have an AD or so many hours in the Tunnel, or what Big Way experience you have means diddly squat. Anyone can embellish the truth to make themselves look better than they are. So go jump with folks and if you have talent they will know......Likewise if you don't they will also know. I don't think any rating is worth paying for, let your skills do the talking. Later,

Sure you can sitfly with no arms out............It's far from impossible. My point was that I see very few advanced freeflyers sitflying with no hands out, nor do I see the need to work on sitflying with no hands out, unless it's a personal goal you are shooting for. I don't think Sitflying with No Hands is necessarily a skill that advanced freeflyers work towards. When you advance to flying with larger groups I doubt you'll fly slot specific with No Hands out. I don't do it for 4 Way VRW. I just need to be able to sitfly with my hands in front of me or to the sides to fly my slot and turn points.

Per the Jump Shack Link Provided "Tuck tabs are acceptable in certain applications - but inappropriate in many others. Change for the sake of marketing purposes is unwise to say the least, when it affects the integrity and functionality of life saving equipment". I'd ask Jump Shack if they consider Freeflying, one of the certain applications where Tuck Tabs are acceptable. I'll bet they say yes. I see nothing in this Jumps Shack description that is recommending Velcro as a Freefly Friendly option. Nor do I think they would recommend it in good judgement.

Well the Reserve Handles do have to be TSO'd so if your manufacturer doesn't make a TSO'd PAD then I guess that solves that dilema for you. When you buy new gear, or newer used gear you might want to consider this. Protect that D-Handle Bro....

I see nothing wrong with your arm postion at this point. You are doing beter than 75% or the population that leans forward and has their arms behind them. You need arms to sitfly but need to be able to bring them in closer to take clean docks. I don't think they are telling you to fly with no arms, just a little less arm. I don't know anyone who can sitfly with no arms out. It is best to be able to sitfly with your arms closer in to your torso. Just bend them 90 degrees at the elbows to bring them in closer to your body. Aggie Dave had excelent advice for jumping with a pullup cord. Thats an excellent excersize for flying with your torso and legs. Will get you to where you need to be with regard to taking docks and still flying down the tube. Good Luck..........Looks like you are already flying very clean for you number of jumps. Harry P

Thanks everyone for the calls and responses.............Surgery is tomorrow morning at 6AM. Which is probably why I'm still awake now. I will only be in the hospital for one day, then home. You can call me on my cell or at home, just ask Nanacy or one of my team mates for my number. Try not to call me until Thursday please. They are putting cadavre parts in me (LCL & PCL ligaments), kind of freaky. They are fixing the torn miniscus and re-attaching my calf muscle to my tibia. Serious stuff. My wife was joking with me about my Cadavre parts. She says now she can talk to my knee and say " I see Dead People". She got me laughing pretty hard with that one. On a serious note. I want you all to think about your canopy progression, when you think about this. I'm a pretty experienced canopy pilot and I still made a big mistake, that is costing me. Think about that when you are thinking about down sizing. The mistakes become more costly when your wing loading increases. Most of you at CSS are pretty conservative though, but I hope a few of you can learn from my mishap. I'll see you all in the sky in about 6-9 months. Thanks again for your thoughts. Later

***Moronic attitude, if you ask me. There is no glory in dying or getting maimed. You have had your famous one post. Also hope you have your own health insurance; please don't make me pay for your stupidity, which, as you acknowledge, you had a long time coming.*** Hmmmmm....... Not sure if you are aware this is a CSS Thread. Where folks from CSS update each other. So I'm letting my friends know what's up. You can keep your comments to yourself, as you obviously don't jump at CSS or know anything about me. Later, Harry P

An update...........I'm sure most at CSS have heard already. Well after 1400 jumps and more than 1000 high performance landings, I've finally achieved my reward. I pounded in last weekend at Skydive the Farm, during the Wicked Liquid Swoopers Boogie. I smacked into the water at about 60-70mph and flipped once. After I could start breathing again they pulled me from the pond, removed my gear and called the ambulance. I have no broken bones but messed up my knee pretty severely. I have a torn PCL, LCL, Meniscus, and the muscle has separated from my tibia. I have surgery tomorrow morning and the recovery will be 6-9 months. I have always accepted the FACT that when you are a high performance canopy pilot........It's not if you will get hurt......It's when will you get hurt. Stay safe and make informed decisions. Later

Pretty Damn Good for 100 Jumps.............Keep up the good work. looks Fun.

Oh I asked Mr Slaton his thoughts on wing Loading and his response was 2.1 to 2.2 is where the PST is heading. So I took his advice.

There are big differences between the VX an JVX design wise. The nose, No Stabs, and Line Trim. and Sail cloth options I've jumped both allot and bought the JVX and glad I did. Kind of wish I'd known the Sail Cloth Hybrid option was coming I would have gotten that as my 2nd canopy. Not sure where you are located but we are having the Wicked Liquid Swoopers Boogie this coming weekend and there should be several JVX's out there. We will be at SkydiveThe Farm in Rockmart, Georgia.. You should check it out if possible.

Just Two Weeks until Jive Jam 07. Take a look at our website for pictures of our last event (Jive Jam 06). If you feel you have the skills, register for our website and We'll contact you to ask a few questions. www.FFJive.com Later, Harry P

Well I believe this particular post is in regard to freeflying, as the Category and Pictures will attest to. However I feel that PADs are better than D-handles regarless of the discipline, they reduce the chances of having your handles inadvertantly pulled. And you can order PADS with pockets that allow you to get your thumb inside the pad, to make pulls a little easier. I believe Quasar makes a cut away handle PAD with a pocket. Nearly all Reserve handles are PADs now adays. But it is a personal decision.

Just 1 Week until the Wicked Liquid Swoopers Boogie Harry P

Nope.....But I can see how it could be seen that way. I was referring to that group of guys at a DZ that can't Freefly yet but want a date.

Velcro is NOT a good idea for freeflying. I'm assuming you are talking about velcro on the riser covers. I hope your not talking about the Velcro attachment point on your bridle (That's fine). Velcor anywhere else is BAD. Lets take Velcro on your Riser covers for example. You are going HD at 160-170 mph. If your riser flap comes open and your risers slide over your shoulder, this could be bad. At best you'll open with sever line twists, at worst you could have a premature opening going HD and snap your spine. Get the picture??? Riser protection is just as important as handle, pin, and bridle protection. i would avoid velcro. See if your rigger can modify your rig to move from Velcro to Tuck Tabs. See if your rigger can modify your rig to be freefly friendly. Check with advanced Freeflyers in your area and get their imput on your gear. Stay Safe...........

Oooops Sorry didn't answer your original question..... Assuming you can already sitfly fairly well...... You could exit with a coach and have them hold you in place. But they should be giving you minor corrections the whole time, not just holding you in place. I find it easiest to teach head down by having the person, maintian eye contact with me, focus on not arching, keep their face close to mine, relax, and brief them on hand signals before we jump. For the firs few jumps I tell them to let their legs go limp and concentrate only on what their upper body is doing. When they have proper torso and haed position, then we concentrate on the legs. If you don't have anyone to coach you on HD, and assuming you can Sitfly well. You can work on cratwheel transitons. Try 360's first and make sure you can stick the sit again. Then try to cartwheel into a head down position. These should all be SOLO's. Eventually you should be able to cartwheel into a head down and stick it. I do tink the best way to fine tune HD flying is to get a coach / mentor. You may think you can freefly well because you can hold it the whole skydive, but you'd be surprised how much you are actually screaming across the sky. A coach / mentor can get you in the correct body position, so you can feel what it should feel like. They can tell you why you are back sliding, spinning, driving fwd, etc....... Get a LOCAL MENTOR....................