howardwhite

"I did a T-10 ,and two PC jumps..." Kewl. Time for an unmodified flat circular jump. I once jumped a C-11, which had lines at least twice as long as the T-10. You couldn't turn it at all .. you just had to have a reasonable spot and a big DZ. 'Course I broke my leg on the next jump, on a PC. HW

"I can't remember which Otter it was, but under the left/right buttons, it had the Braille dots (true story). " Well, at least one of Kevin McCole's Otters, 203E, if I remember correctly. All Otters should also have a box of Beano or GasX on the back wall. HW

"By the way, I actually learned to pack a PC last weekend - did three of 'em and a couple T-10s. Good stuff!" So did you just pack them or did you jump them? There's a PC thread going on in the gear forum. HW

We had a 47-year-old woman recently, maybe marginally conscious but sat on the ground for a while after landing. Half an hour later, she complained of chest pains, etc. and the ambulance came and took her to the hospital. She was discharged about an hour later; they called it a stress attack. She apparently had a history of susceptibility to high altitude. As suggested, the harness is frequently seen as a culprit. HW

I proudly wear my UC Santa Cruz tee shirt with the Banana Slugs emblem. HW

"terridactal (sp?) " Paradactyl. Probably the last attempt to popularize triangular canopies, but by no means the first. Developed by Jim Handbury, who made significant contributions to containers, canopies, hang gliding and BASE jumping. See Wendy Faulkner's page with pictures of one. HW

I don't recall that the term "flare" was in use in PC days. Certainly it wouldn't have the same meaning as with a square. HW

"...said Kestrel SkyHawk, who cares for birds of prey at the center " Is this April Fool's day? HW

This is a cheese shop, isn't it?

If youo do a Google search on Paracommander, you'll see a number of posts from people who have done the same thing. I see one or two PC jumps a year (and have made at least 1,500). The problem for modern use is that you need a harness and container big enough and capable of accepting Capewell releases. The PC container itself is about as big as today's student square main and reserve. At least one local former PC jumper has been grounded because no one will pack his chest-mount reserve. But if the PC has been kept out of the sun, I don't see a problem with jumping a 20 or 30 year old canopy. (If you can stick your finger through the fabric, probably not a good idea.) HW

"Once graduated from AFF you are now a "Novice" jumper and no longer considered a "Student" Differen't places have differen't rules about who you can jump with during this novice period." Things have changed a lot; check your current SIM. I don't have it in front of me, but basically after AFF you have to jump solo or with a coach/instructor until you have completed your A check dive. If " Differen't places have differen't rules " and the "places" are USPA, they're not supposed to. Sure, you lived, and I did too, but I don't think "novice" is still in the USPA vocabulary. And I still think it's unwise and dangerous; 20-jump wonders don't know whether it's their fault or the other guy's. But happily, the fatality reports don't reflect problems in this category. HW

"Myself and a friend are officially off of student status and are mixing fun jumps with the requirements of getting an A license." I'm puzzled about how you can be off student status (graduated AFF?) and not yet A licensed, yet jumping with someone of equally low experience. This seems to me: --inconsistent with USPA guidelines; --dangerous; --not a good learning experience. HW

"when the Tappan Zee Bridge is jammed." Go north, young man. The Beacon-Newburgh bridge is likely to be less jammed . HW

"Brush, Colorado - $20 to 13,500 Longmont, Colorado - $20 to 12,500 Calhan, Colorado - $19 to 11,000 I believe rental is $25 at all DZs as well. I need to live in a cheaper state. " No, you need to live in a state with less ground altitude. HW

"I believe that tree landing was intentional" O, fer sure it was. I almost said that and then decided not to. Terry and maybe even Carl Boenish confirmed this. I hope you guys at Frontier are enjoying the Otter. Newfane has the distinction of being the site of my lowest exit, 1,400 feet. It was peer pressure. Not my lowest opening by a couple of hundred. HW

Jumptown Orange MA had an Old Farts reunion over Labor Day celebrating the 40th anniversary of the sixth world meet held there. Lew Sanborn, D1 jumped up a storm with people of all experience. Dick Tompkins, C-47, has retired from his real job and is jumping again -- checked out on squares and square packing. There is life after 60 or even 70. In Masters of the Sky (which we showed to a bunch of kids a couple of weeks ago) there's a guy who lands in a tree. It's Terry Utter; remember him from upstate NY? HW

Cross Keys and the Ranch have most of the neat things on PhillyKev's list and are less expensive than most other geographically competitive DZs. Skydive New England in Maine has most of the same and is $20. So is the argument that having a tiki bar and a swoop pond help lower jump rates? HW Troublemaker

The Ranch is a cool deal. Wish it weren't four hours away. HW

"Don't forget Gyspy Moths the "original" film about skydiving." The first 15 or 20 minutes are great, but then there's a very love scene (about three hours) followed by some more skydiving stuff. The outtakes (if they're like the ones that came with the original) are worth the price of the DVD. Then there are the old "real" skydiving movies, 16 mm, mostly by Carl Boenish and Norm Kent. We showed them at the DZ on a bad weather day a couple of weeks ago. RW in jumpsuits which would now be (and are) FF suits. ParaCommander accuracy. A dozen jumpers on top of a Beech 18. Two jumpers in freefall going through a C9 canopy. If you jump at Elsinore, you need to seek out some of these films as part of your heritage. HW

"The Ranch gets $15." And arguably serving the same market, Skydive LI gets $18 and CrossKeys gets $17, more for credit cards. Skys the Limit is cozy about its rates but claims to be "competive." BTW, charging more for credit cards seems to be a growing trend. I'm still trying to figure out why there are so many variations when fixed costs can't be all that different. The "northern DZs have to compensate for bad weather" has some appeal, but does Buckeye do gangbusters in August? Isn't the Ranch $!5 for members who pay dues, and how many members don't make enough jumps to make it worthwhile? HW Troublemaker

I forgot to mention why this guy was annoying. He *screamed* at the women in manifest, all of them jumpers and none of them responsible for pricing. Thanks for your input; keep it coming. Still want to know why there are regional differences. HW

An annoying guy showed up at a DZ in Massachusetts the other day and was **outraged** that an Otter load to 13.5 was $21. He is American but claims to have made his ~100 jumps in South Africa. Indeed, according to the DZ.com database it seems to be cheaper there. I've done a quick and dirty survey. $21 seems to be on the high end. The Ranch charges $15 and Perris has a "summer special" of $14.50. High $18s seems to be standard. Given fixed costs (plane, insurance, fuel, etc.), even this seems a wide variation. How much do you pay? HW

"True. But the DZ or DZO can. My experience has been that I always had to prove myself when I had my A-license. I've been told I can't jump because of winds" You've indeed had bad experience. I've seen DZOs impose a 200 jump limit, but never 8 for a license holder. Must have been a wierd DZ, probably a tandem factory which wants to discouraged experienced jumpers. Wierd that it was in Kansas; I though the wind there was never less than 20. HW

"Without the A, you can't jump at other dzs. With the A, you get grounded at other dzs the first time the wind kicks up above 8mph." Sez who? I've sent unlicensed jumpers to other DZs (with logbooks) because of weather or whatever, and they've had no problem making good jumps. The BSRs don't impose a wind limit on A licensed skydivers, and even the student limit is 14. HW

"I didn't want to drive an hour and a half to wait ..." You must drive very slowly. I live maybe 10 miles north of you on 495 and it takes me 40 minutes. In any case, if you want both helicopter day and night jumps, it's happening Saturday, Sept 21. HW