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So you can use it as an excuse???? Sure blame it on the risers... Honey thats not lipstick.

There is some great advice in this thread and maybe I can add a little more from my experience. When on final don't stare at the ground or the horizon. You want to look at both. Staring at the ground for a while can drastically reduce your depth perception, so I would recommend glancing at both quickly as you are coming in. In other words alternate between the two constantly and quickly (also looking out for traffic of course) 2 seconds each maybe. I think people get fixated on the ground and then misjudge it. Timing on the speed of the flare makes a difference as well. I've seen stairs as a great tool for flare speed. Find some stairs that have 15-20 steps. Start at the top with your hands as if you are in full flight (toggles up). Start walking down the stairs, as you get lower your hands should be lowering as well, you should get to the bottom of the steps at about the same time your hands are down in front of you (flare position). Do this then walk down the stairs faster and you should get the same result, full flare with hands as you step down to the last step. Hope that makes sense. Good luck

Thought I would share this if any one is interested. I went to a retirement party for a member of the 82nd Airborne last year and the 82nd Airborne Division All-American Chorus made an appearance. They rocked the house! What made it truly special for me was that I grew up singing Blood Upon the Risers as a kid at the DZ and they sang it at the retirement. So I discovered that they had a CD so I finally ordered one. Great CD if you like this sort of thing. So here is the link to their site. Only $13.50 plus shipping for 27 songs. [urlhttp://asomf.org/buynow/index.cgicode=3&cat=13[url] Not trying to make this an advertisement, just brought back some great memories. Skymonkey: if you need to kick this go ahead.....I'll deal with you later...

The XRS was built for a PDR113 and up to a 100 non crossbraced main or 74 to 79 crossbrace main. Hope that helps.

Ohhh not that I am calling you God or anything

Didn't we call them cheater cords back then as well? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. Back then only girls and sissies needed cheater cords. The rest of us just pulled that piece of shock cord through all the flaps by hand. That was around the time Saint Booth invented the 3-Ring, but before Saint Asquito invented the curved pin and long before God invented dirt! Hah! Hah! *** Ok........now you started it...Back then I was Maybe an early teen Some of us aren't as privilaged to be around when dirt was invented.

Didn't we call them cheater cords back then as well? You can solve your problem real easy. Quit packing. Thats what I did.

Another from SkyFest 2003 The second was taken some where around 1969-1970, maybe 71. That is the same paraplane in my previous post except 33 years earlier when it was new. The third in Jerry in the mid 60's soon to be under a PC.

Here's a couple, doubt they are the ones you are looking for but I'll post anyway. Hey its all about me right? The PC and Paradactyl (sp?) were taken at SkyFest 2003 the fund raiser boogie for student skydivers. We did a three way vintage gear jump. What you don't see is me with them under a paraplane.(second pic) We were trying to get all the canopies together after doing a 3 way round. Myself and the Paradactyl stood them up in the peas and the PC was off by only 100'. Not bad spotting especially since we went to full altitude and dumped at 6000'. The paradactyl had about a 65% chance of opening and the paraplane was about 80% if I remember right. The crew stack I took while wearing a video helmet and carrying my still camera. I was wearing my shades looking through my video ring site then looking through the hand held 35mm. Thank god for auto focus..Lucky shot. enjoy

Most people do not put their rig on correctly. Route your chest strap first but do not tighten. Once you are ready then reach back with your right arm and put it under the rig at the BOC then lift the rig up high on your shoulders and tighten the chest strap with your other hand. Make it extra tight. Then tighten your leg straps. What you will notice is that the rig is now sitting higher up your back where it should be and it stays there. This keeps the weight off your lower back and since we spend more time on the ground and in the aircraft than in the air this can be a great relief for alot of us. Leave the chest strap extra tight all the way up, this also helps keep the bottom of the rig off the floor of the A/C. Before you exit make sure you loosen the chest strap to normal. The tight chest strap will pull the shoulders of the harness closer together therefore setting you up for a riser strike. Don't want that at all, especially with out a helmet on. As far as I know all manufacturers recommend that procedure and have since the beginning of time. Also Mirage wants your hip rings to fall at the TOP of your hip bone. Most people miss that as well, the top of your hip should actually be in line with your belly button, most people think it is lower..not true. If you push in on your side level with your belly button you can feel where the top of the bone is. The center of the hip ring (the hole) should be at the top of the bone. Doesn't have to be exact but close is good. Thats my $.02 worth. Hope it helps.

I remember my mother telling me of a similar situation occurring from the FAA when she was president of USPA from the 80's to mid 90's. They tried to tax lift tickets for skydivers. Part of their thinking was that regular passengers for commercial travel were being taxed, why not skydivers. If I remember right the laws were written in such a way that a landing had to be performed for this tax. But that was not fair to jumpers because we never landed. The FAA was persistent on this for a few years, she fought them constantly and ultimately won. The FAA finally dropped the idea because she pointed out that (i forget the exact figures) the amount they would collect was far less than what it would take to create a department to handle the collections. I keep thinking she figured that they would collect $600,000.00 a year for this tax and at a cost of $1,000,000.00 to collect. Glad she won that one. It is certainly good to hear that they are wanting to help others. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

If you are refering to what I call the ladder strrap. If this is the one that has the push button straps that can be released on either side, the clasp may be wrong. I know a while back they sent out a few straps with a diferent version snap release. They need to match up and I guess their supplier changed designs and they were getting mixed at the retailers end. I forget how to tell the difference call BH they can help.

One of the new features of the Odyssey besides internal risers covers is a seamless (bottom corners) reserve tray. Thus eliminating any snag points without the need for additional protection. Years ago(many) wrapping the risers down and around the reserve tray was done all the time, hell you had to, the risers were like, what 3' long? Today, I don't think any manufacturer recommends that. I believe they all suggest the risers run straight down the rig. I sold my G4 (for obvious reasons) last year what protection did/do they have, I didn't quite understand the other description?

And of course you are adding SkyFest 05 on that list cause you will be there in July!!!!! Ok Ill add it for you.

Happy Birth Day Mary!! Hope it all works out.

I think i knew that but I can't remember!! No really I had know idea thats interesting. I hadn't heard of it until I got back into jumping 4 years ago...I finally asked someone why it is always 420? I all ever heard was someone ask outloud what time is it..respons was 420 everytime!! Now i get it.

Ok I got scared .. SO here it is again. I just wanted to know who has consecutive USPA or D numbers. I also posted my mothers USPA number. My USPA 44632 D 23924 My Fathers USPA 386 D1090 My mothers USPA 420 D? got look it up My mother has no clue at least she acts like it....she is a mom so she probably knows everything. It is ironic that she has that number because if you know my parents especially my father when he was alive it just doesn't fit. In 2004 my mother hit 40 years with USPA and I hit 20...So I thought about making a "420" dive.....No not that.. 420 could "represent"! Make the numbers 420 in the air, I know it isn't easy, but it is doable. But then I thought how would it look if I sent a pic in to Parachutist of a 420 dive with my mothers name under it?? I mean she was president for three terms at USPA. So even though I just posted this again... Here's the deal Don't tell my MOMMY!!! Who has the numbers before or after mine??

Attempt to make a 420, not easy seen it done though.

I have been debating over this for a while so finally I thought what the heck? I tried to do a search to find this category but a million options came up, maybe I used too popular of a key word? So if it gets locked or removed I apologize upfront. I thought I saw someone here had the D number right after mine and wanted to figure out who it is. So I thought I would kill two birds at the same time. Who's got consecutive numbers? My USPA 44632 D 23924 My Fathers USPA 386 D 1090 Heres the fun one: My mothers USPA is 420 When I found out I didn't believe her so I verified it. She has no clue!! When she is out judging competitions and in a crowd I'll ask her what her USPA number is, she says 420 and everyone busts out! She has no clue.....well she is a mom she probably knows... Its really ironic too because if you new my parents especially my father when he was alive it doesn't fit them at all! In 2004 She hit 40 years w/ USPA and I hit 20 years. Hmmmm I thought a 420 dive could really represent!! But then I thought how would it looked if I sent a pic of a 420 dive with her name under it...She was president of USPA for 3 terms not sure if that would go well. I think I would be grounded for the rest of my life. Of course I just posted it here...So here's the deal Don't Tell MOM!! What your number? Is there a match? Thought some of you might enjoy that.

I guess that does sound like I was jumping. I was only packing back then, and that is the only mal I have packed. Thats how it should have read. I can't remember who made the rig, I believe it belonged to Howard Hughes, no not that one this Howard is from Texas and jumped at Seagoville DZ. Help me out here. When the Hand deploy's came out and one point I thought everyone was using the straight pins,long before the pullout was around? I remember feeling bad cause I packed the man a total but ultimately the design was at fault. I remember the elastic loops. Ted said he didn't think it would ever happen he just liked the idea. If i remember right the RSL would be connected to the pc, to create a "skyhook", again this idea was just one of Teds many thoughts for the sport. If I am not mistaken that has been done on a rig years ago. I think it was a European mfr. Damn cant think of it. Ted told me who it was?/?

Ted Strong still wants to put a reserve throw out on the shoulder. You have to wonder why, but at the same time its hard to question someone like him or Bill. I remember when belly bands and ROL 's came out. I also remember packing my only mal at about 10 years old, it was a total and was ultimately a recall. They used straight pins on the bridle and they would "stand" up and not release. The good ole dyas.

We weren't invited!!

When I lived in Houston four officers were arrested for hanging out at vacant building drinking beer and firing their weapons, on duty! Ohh what a city!!

Never had a choice My mother made about 20 jumps when she was pregnant with me. Its in my blood Got to love it!!

What do you call a bunch of millionaires sitting around watching the superbowl? The Cowboys! or any other team that did'nt make it. old but still gets a laugh, or boo every once in a while.