ernokaikkonen

Human evolution has stopped in the western world. Modern medicine is giving nearly everyone a chance to breed. Things that were lethal 100 years ago are fixed on a routine basis. Bad genes get passed on. As a matter of fact, I believe that in the western world the human race has started to devolve. The gene pool is less healthy than it was a couple hundred years ago. Evolution continues in developing countries where life is harsh and medical attention is hard to come by. Individuals with more resistance to bacteria in the water or individuals who can survive with less food have a better chance to pass their genes to their offspring.

No, but their handling of the situation could've been better. Basically all that was known outside of France was that "Some rigger found a stuck pilot chute and now all Odysseys are grounded". I even heard that Sun Path only found out about this when somebody called them asking "Hey, what's up with the grounding in France?" when Sun Path hadn't heard anything about the incident yet...

There was a fatality in Spain a few years back where a skysurfer went in without a Cypres activation. He was spinning very hard and apparently the rotation managed to produce enough lift to slow him down below the Cypres activation speed. I don't know if that can happen in a wingsuit, but some of the bigger suits do have a lot of surface area in the wings. Who wants to take a data logger and go give it a try? Watching the video, at times, that actually looked like a side spin. Those of you who have seen some of the Tandem Instructor course videos will remember that it's quite possible to end up in a side spin by yourself, and that the usual recovery methods(arch hard) wont work. Also(I'm just speculating now) I think that "balling up" doesn't necessarily work if you're on your side; all it takes is a small asymmetry in your legs for the spin to keep going and even accelerate. Maybe some of the TI recovery techniques could be adapted to deal with wingsuit spins? Maybe the importance of the LQRS should be stressed to people buying a wingsuit(as it's the leg wing that gets you in trouble)? I'm not saying that there's necessarily anything wrong with the current procedures, just a couple of random thoughts I had.

See here.

I knew it, I've just never actually seen it.

JRAF! These newbies have nothing on 'raf! I wonder how much ban time he has accumulated so far? And he's still here!

If I really had to put a label on my life philosophy, buddhism would be it. Name the movie : "I never said I was a good buddhist!"

If you're using it, tell them "No, I'm using it, can't you see". If you're not using it, tell them "No, I'm just about to use it". I've spent a long time asking to use other people's laptops. It really was getting old, to me! It's too bad I want an iBook, I'm probably never going to be able to afford one...

I've thought about this myself. Do they work? Since some manufacturers are using them, one would assume they have been tested. Does anyone know if they have? Does anyone know of a test-jump with an induced horse-shoe and a subsequent deployment by the assister pockets? As to the 2" bridle vs. 1" type IV; I feel its easier to work with the 2" variety than it would be with typeIV, and that the 2" bridle is easier to pack so it looks neat from the outside. Of course, it could be just because of what I'm used to.

Maybe someone will patch a reserve pilot chute, I don't know. What I do know is that the amount of time and effort that goes into dis-assembling, patching and re-assembling a reserve pc will cost you more than a new one.

Depends on who you ask.

Who cares about the results?? I mean....what I meant to say was: The goal is stressed too much in the modern western society. We should concentrate more on the process, the way by which we arrive in a certain destination, not the destination itself--- screw it. I'm just going back to take the test again.

How much oil are we talking about? A few drops? Canopy soaked in oil? Probably something in between. I made an experiment some time ago. I took some brand new ZP and cut it to pieces, then poured all sorts of crap on the sample pieces with the intention of leaving them in storage to see what the different chemicals do to the fabric. Unfortunately the new coating on the fabric was so ZP and so slippery that I had trouble getting my contaminants to stick on the fabric. With only two jumps on your canopy I'd say there is a fair chance that the oil hasn't done any damage(unless it's damaging the coating). I don't have a Poynter's manual handy and I can't remember what if anything motor oil does to nylon. Or how to clean it off. I'm sure someone will quote the Manual in a few moments. In any case, the standard answer is: Consult your local rigger. edit: the above assuming it's Soarcoat type fabric; if it's Gelvenor ZP it's much less slippery and I'm sure the oil will stick.

Thanks. I figured it would have to have been an explosives-defusing-whuffo who wrote the article.

I'm having some trouble understanding this paragraph. The visual I get is someone using a potato gun to fire a bottle of Evian at a bag in order to defuse a bomb inside the bag. I must be missing something. Anyone care to explain?

Spend less. Jump more. "It's about how many more things you can cut-away!" -Redline

Yeah. I can confirm that. I did around 200 jumps on a Turbo ZX 145. I was overloading it a bit, IIRC recommended maximum wingload is 1.1, I was loading it at 1.3. The openings started "brisk" and as the canopy went out of trim they went through "hard" to "Would it hurt less if I opened the reserve at terminal"?. The landings weren't that great either; I couldn't get the canopy to plane out without inducing some speed with the front risers.

Q: Why did Jesus cross the road? A: He didn't. He rode the cross.

Maybe not all, but some of them sure do. These days packing tabs are much more useful on reserves anyway...

What about the Quasar II? That's like the POBs, right?

The explanation I've come up with is: -When you're flying with your head up, the altimeter reads correct(but you can't see the alti). -When you look at the alti, your head gets in the way of a clean airflow. Essentially, the alti ends up in a burble created by your head, not relative to your vertical speed but your horizontal speed. Or a bit of both. See attached picture.

Bob Marley: Legend. ya, mon!

No. You need a set of risers that have the ring(s) to connect it. You can, of course, jump the demo canopy without the RSL if your local regulations allow it. Just make sure the RSL clip isn't left flapping free. Connecting it to the cutaway cable housing is a popular way of preventing that; another way is hooking it around itself.

Oh man that's too funny.... But it's true, the germans are very serious. And if I say that, it means they are serious...