dudeman17

Having to kick out of line twists should not be a traumatic event. Line twists, having to pump the slider down, getting the end cells open, things like that are all part of the normal housekeeping you do in the variables of your openings. Again, don't be complacent about any of that, but that's why you want to be diligent about all the things like being altitude aware, opening your main on time, doing all your canopy checks, so that you can have all that worked out by decision altitude. Every jump. Even having a malfunction that requires a cutaway and reserve ride is not really a near-death experience. It's kind of like getting a flat tire on your car. Swap it out and get on with your day. It's actually kind of fun, you get to pull more handles and play with more of your gear. (Don't ever do it on purpose without needing to. It'll happen soon enough.) AGAIN, not to be be complacent, be diligent. Practice all your EP's and visualize. Do it more, and that perspective will change. But only you, with the in-person consult of live instructors, can decide whether this is appropriate for you. 'Overthinking' things can be good in this sport.

I don't know. I read that differently. I read that as Rataczac assumed that the people tracking the flight DID know where it was, and was just putting a time to the event.

I agree that the money floating in the air was the key part of that. It just struck me as odd that some lay person would say 'oh yeah I saw some risers'. Since that's what I know about, that's what I commented on. Shrug.

Interesting... Risers are a very specific part of the rig. They are the (usually 4 but sometimes 2 in the case of reserves or perhaps a pilot bailout rig) straps (they kind of look like seatbelts) that go from the shoulder part of the harness to where the lines attach. Isolated by themselves, it would be unusual for a non jumper to know what they are or what they are called. Also, in the case of the bailout rig, they do not detach from the rest of the harness, and it would take a tool to disassemble the links to detach them cleanly from the lines. If Cooper were to end up hanging in a tree because the canopy was caught in it, he could cut them with a knife to get down, but then they would be hanging by the lines. So for the person to say 'risers', instead of 'harness' or 'lines'... I suppose if he were hanging in a tree, he could cut the lines, but that would be a bit of a reach. If he then wanted to use the container to carry stuff (money), he might cut the risers off. So the hacked-off riser with the links and a bit of lines might clue someone in to what they were. Hmmm...

!!!

(Pardon the momentary hijack, but...) I always find it curious when 'movie' cars are mentioned. As Joe inferred, there are often several of them. They have the 'hero' car, which they keep pristine, which is used by the actor or second unit for standard driving shots, pulling into or out of parking spots, and what-not. Then they might have one or several others that they use for stunts or chase scenes. And yes, a shell car is used for dropping into lakes or whatever. So when an article mentions a movie car, I always wonder which one. I remember reading an article about the convertible GTX that was used in seasons 2 & 3 (?) of Mannix, before they changed to the Challenger. When they were done with it, some secretary at the studio bought it. No one thought about it ever being collectible, the secretary just liked it and bought it for personal use. Can't remember what they said it was worth today. And while it's cool to watch, I always cringe when movies destroy classic cars. There are only so many of those left. How many old Chargers were trashed by the Dukes of Hazzard TV show? Anyway, caring about any of that probably indicates my getting old(er)...

When I first started participating in the Cooper forums, it was evident that everyone else was already well familiar with each other. It was also clear that nobody had any regard for RMB. But I like to keep an open mind, give people the benefit of the doubt, and make my own assessments. And I believe I have been fair with him. But geez... Rarely have I ever seen someone more clueless, more un-self-aware, be so full of themselves. Deluded to the point of mental infirmity. And now he is intentionally, purposefully spamming the site and daring for it to be shut down. An infantile tantrum if ever I saw one. This should definitely be reported in an effort to get him banned and the site restored to on-topic posts. And Robert, as I told you before (but nothing gets through your thick skull into your deluded brain), what goes on in the other sites regarding you is not hatred. People would have to care about you in order to hate you. It is well-deserved mockery.

Some years ago I made a reference to Steve McQueen. The youngsters around me just looked puzzled and said 'Who?'. More recently I happened to make another reference to Steve McQueen. The youngsters around me started talking about some current director. I looked puzzled and said 'Who?'.

Double down, triple down, stamp your feet. Nothing gets through. Exercise in futility.

Actually, Flyjack, you are the one person who can put a stop to this madness.

No, not Judi Van Cleave. The person I can refer to (but don't want to outright doxx) IS willing to sell them singly, and reasonably. I don't think most people have use for a thousand copies. ------- No it wasn't. ------- Nope. Not by a longshot.

On a lighter note for everyone else... It turns out that copies of Ha Ha Ha are readily available. If anyone is interested in getting one, PM me and I will give you the contact. I am not selling these myself. I have no personal stake in their sale. I can just refer you to somebody who is.

You're the one who spews hate. You're the one who keeps throwing around old laundry. You're the one who keeps trying to manipulate others' behavior. You're the one who throws petulant fits like you did yesterday. What goes on in the comments section of Bruce's site - I don't think that's hate. I think that's mockery. Most of these people have long since given up on trying to convince you to be rational.

Robert, you occasionally exhort people to stand up for what is right. I will do that now. You, sir, are an asshole and a hypocrite. This is the act of a petulant child. Bruce has been a member of that community far longer than you have. Maybe someone should go back a few pages on this forum and find your post where you mock Bruce for his belief in UFO's and abductions. Maybe we should send that to SUFON. Or should we send it directly to Susan?

It was the fist bump and devil horns your instructors did on top of your rig. Bad jou jou. You should probably refuse to jump with them again. ------- On the serious note... In and of themselves, line twists are not that uncommon, and as long as your canopy is level and flying straight, which is 'usually' the case on a big docile student canopy, they are not really a 'malfunction'. This is NOT to say that you should be complacent about them. What the others have said is absolutely true. Watch for traffic and keep track of your altitude as you get out of them. If you haven't got them worked out by decision altitude, then there you go.

I believe I've posted here a number of times that it really isn't a problem to jump in a suit, and anyone with jump experience would know that. The only part that could give you a problem might be the tie, and clearly he took that off. Also, the laceless, ankle high shoes with the Vibram type soles that Flyjack has posted would also work fine. So it seems that Cooper dressed just fine for the 'occasion' of blending in as an airline passenger.

I have a question. I know it's ballpark question, I'm just looking for a ballpark answer. I you had a typical EV sedan, and you were at a fast charging station, what would be the minimum amount of time you'd need to be plugged in to make it worthwhile? Say you were on the road and ran out of 'go', and you had a few to 'lower several' miles to go, how long would you need to get just enough charge?

I agree with what kleggo has said. It's been a while since I've seen it as well, I'd have to watch it again, but even then it might be hard to answer your question fully within the confines of a forum. A couple things, though... I always thought of and often described Carl as having a child-like innocence and optimism. I remember people in the movie (himself included) saying similar. I always liked that about him, I strived for that myself through much of my youth. These days I'm cynical as fuck. Can't quite remember exactly where in that transition I was at 43. I was also somewhat skeptical of the way Bill Wendt came off. As I recall, in the movie he was saying that he somewhat admired Carl and the jumping that was going on. I remember those days, I myself went through their 'legal' process in '82, and I don't remember 'admiration' being any part of their attitude. When jumping was first getting started, the Park Service (understandably) was like 'whoah, wait a second...', and jumpers were (also understandably) like 'wait a second hell, C-YA!' and the Park Service's reaction was basically, 'you wanna butt heads with us?, we're the federal government, have at it!' And as chief ranger, Bill Wendt set the tone for that. That 1980 'legal season' was a lie, they designed it to fail and never intended to let it continue. They violated many people's civil and legal rights. They let Jimmy Tyler die. Admiration my ass. ------- I remember when the movie came out in the theaters, a few of us were going to go see it together. But we couldn't quite coordinate our schedules, and I ended up going to a matinee by myself. I was the only one in the theater. After it ended, it took me a while get up and leave. As I was walking out, some pimply-faced kid who worked there asked, "That good was it?" It was to me.

No. Geez, it's been forever since I've seen that, but if my aging, sputtering memory banks are correct, I think that was Mark Sechler. I think Peter Hammond was in there helping sweep it up.

Carl built this ladder against the side of his garage, in his back yard. It was wide enough for two people and extended a bit above the roof. He liked to go up there and look out across the rooftops, get a bit of, well, elevation if not quite altitude. ------- By the way, thanks for the archive links.

Somewhere, Jim Hickey is shaking his head and laughing derisively.

While that is true, I bet some of them would read it anyway, because the curiosity is already there. Might I suggest that this is the wrong approach. I mean if you don't really want to do it, then just say so. But predicating it on other people's support... You know you're not going to get it. So by asking for it, it just sounds like you're using the situation to try to manipulate people. Besides, you've spent much of this page (and many times before) saying that you don't care what they think. Rather, like I suggested before, you should consult with the other parties involved and determine if there is enough demand for the book to justify it. I'm guessing many Cooper people who don't post will want to read it. And the Fenn people. And I bet that some of these people you argue with, if they never got a copy from the Ariel parties, they'd probably get one too. As for the money, wouldn't the other parties contribute to the costs? Maybe you could structure a deal with them so the initial royalties would go to recoup costs, then revert to the standard structure. Anyway, I'm hoping you'll do it because I would like to read the damn thing. And I'm guessing I'm not alone in that. So if the other three parties involved would like to see it done, then you should do it. It would be the right thing to do. ------- I remember hearing an interview long ago, I don't remember if it was an actor or director, but it was somebody to do with the movies. They were asked if they would rather their movie win an academy award, or make 100 million at the box office. They said they would rather make the 100 mil. "But", they said,"not necessarily for the cynical reason you imagine. If", they continued, "it wins an Oscar, that means we impressed a handful of stuffed shirts at the academy. If it does well at the box office, that means we impressed the people."

I hope you don't hinge your decision on whether to republish Ha Ha Ha on whether you get feedback here. I think we already know that you won't. But I'd bet that they'd buy copies if it were available. Rather, I'd hope that you would consult with the other three parties involved and determine whether there would be enough demand to justify it. It sounds as if Fenn people would be at least as good if not a better market than Cooper people. Someone on another thread says that Amazon does a thing where they'll publish a book but not print it until people order copies. Print on demand. Maybe that would make it easier? Interesting that you were surprised at who wrote it. I don't expect you to name them, but I'm kind of surprised that you were familiar with them. I kind of expected it to be some outlier that nobody was aware of.

Well I for one would be interested. I would hope others would look at it objectively and not interfere. It seems at this point that the original book has become a collector's item. I'm guessing that the copies you have, wrapped and preserved, you would never actually read them or allow them to be read, as opening them and going through the pages would disturb their pristineness. I get that, but at that point they become worthless as an actual book. I for one am not interested in having a collector copy. I'm curious about the content. So if a new paperback version were available, that one could read without worrying about it getting tattered, I'd be interested in that. I would guess that many others might be as well.

So who owns the rights to it? Would there be a way to get more printed, or a kindle or pdf version online? I don't know that I need to own a copy, but I'd be curious to read it.