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Rick, I respect that you can admit you were wrong about Trump, that you are also embarrassed by what he say's and that you own it. I thought that by stating 'I'm not saying you" I would get there. I did not. For that I apologize. Joe

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I don't even think he needs to be baited anymore. He is always on the attack and his attacks are childish and racist. I wanted to see a change in the government. I thought maybe a political outsider might be a better option. I was wrong and I am embarrassed by the things he says.

I've seen that sentiment a lot and I used to share it. Now I don't. (Long before Trump.) Consider the case of a DZ trying to hire a new pilot after they had a scary almost-crash with their Otter. They look at several experienced commercial pilots - some with military experience, some with freight experience, some with thousands of hours of CFI time. Should they hire one of those guys, or hire the guy who runs the local liquor store and isn't a career pilot? After all, the liquor store owner will approach it with a new mindset and apply some "out of the box" thinking. And he had to run his own business, so he has real-world business experience instead of simulated flight time and socialist military experience, where you get paid no matter how bad you are. And the last pilot had commercial and multiengine ratings - and look how THAT turned out! Most DZO's (and pilots, and skydivers) would hear that and say "WTF! You hire a guy with experience if you want your airplane flown well and your DZ to succeed." Politicians are no different. Some are good, some are bad - but they all have experience in managing governments. And a good politician with experience managing a government will do a better job than a reality TV star and real estate guy with half a dozen bankruptcies to his name. The big difference between pilots and politicians is that pilots usually don't have fully half the country dedicated to finding fault with them.

They had them at PIA. They are more comfortable than the G3 and have a removable liner that is easier to wash. On top of that they are impact rated. The only issue with that is drilling it voids the warranty. All of that being said mine is at the painters and I cant wait to get it.

THIS is why we have divided ourselves. Rick and I have a personal experience with wildly opposing views on a few issues, yet we haven't (Yet!) divided our friendship. It's interesting to realize you can actually be friends with, support their right to chose, and still disagree with people unlike yourself. It's actually pretty informative to consider opposing stances, perspectives, experiences, and views on most topics/issues. Attacking people for having their own views on issues is anti-American IMO. We're all free to vote who and how we want. I still cannot understand the near violent approach we have to differing views.

O'Malley is sitting at a pub with his buddy one day. As he starts to get a little liquored up, he elbows his friend, points out the window and says, "You see that road out there? I built that road with me own two hands and me crew. But do they call me O'Malley the road builder?" "No," says the friend. A few more shots and he elbows his friend a little harder and points out the window again. "You see that fookin bridge out there? I built that bridge with me own two hands and me fookin crew. But do they call me O'Malley the bridge builder?" "No," says his friend with a stifled chuckle. Two pints and another couple shots, and O'Malley shoves his buddy again. "You see that fookin castle out there in the distance? I built that fookin castle with me own two hands and me fookin crew! But do they call me O'Malley the fookin CASTLE builder?!?" His friend, visibly holding back his laughter, manages to chortle "No." > > > > > > > > > "Aye," O'Malley says, head hung low. "But yeh fook just one sheep..."

There must be something evil in me but I have to admit I have found this point quite funny (ironic). Don't you miss the days before GoPros, when what happened in the sky, stayed in the sky? In the past you would a zoo jump like that and after landing tell everyone how many points you had turned.

I was doing the exact same thing--actually the exact opposite, as I'd always turn left, and as billvon explained, it was a sub-conscious reach. The neat thing is that this habit (which wasn't easy to stop at all) helped me get the feeling for a more dynamic flare: Since I could not stop myself from the habit of initially reaching down with my left hand, I eventually just noticed that I could easily adjust to correct for it during the flare: I would unavoidably start turning slightly left, but I'd notice this as soon as it started to happen and I'd immediately adjust by pulling the right toggle slightly further down and noticing how the canopy would straighten out. This showed me how much room and time there actually is during the landing flare, for all kinds of adjustments, and I got more and more sensitive to the feedback from my canopy--noticing subtler and subtler changes in its flight behavior. Eventually, I stopped turning left, not so much because I stopped having the unconscious reaction, but more because--if anything wasn't straight, or if I wasn't at the right height or anything else felt off, I would immediately make tiny adjustments in the flare--this now happens almost automatically, just like your body automatically knows how to make balance adjustments, if you're walking on the grass and your foot lands on a slight angle, etc.: You barely notice this consciously, because it feels so natural. The whole thing does get a little more tricky in cross-wind landings when there is some serious wind, though. (and again: I have the feeling that some student canopies just respond a bit more sluggishly, making these adjustments harder to gauge by essentially having a slightly lax interface between pilot and wing)

You are most likely sticking out you right hand to "break your fall." It's instinctual. Practice keeping your hands in tight to the side of your body, or to the center of your body, as you flare and do NOT allow them to move away from it; this will tend to prevent the "break your fall" move. Eventually, when that happens, you will move your left hand down to counter the turn to the right.

Funny video! But in the future maybe stick to smaller formations until everyone can control their fallrates and approach speeds, and can refrain from mixing sitflying and belly until they have that control.