JohanW

Rasczak Roughnecks is the unit in which serves the protagonist from Heinlein's 1959 Starship Troopers, from which the following quote: (page 145 of 208 in my copy.) Johan. I am. I think.

No, between the 10' boxes you were supposed to be in were 10' boxes that were supposed to be empty. Johan. I am. I think.

Two months ago Guinness were actually closed for Christmas. I finally got around to asking them the criteria for "Largest civilian formation flight" today. Of course, they may or may not have actual objective criteria for judging the completeness of a formation. But if and when they get back to me, I'll let us know. Johan. I am. I think.

Beetles? Who are they? Kids these days .. can't spell wotrh a damn. Johan. I am. I think.

"I'll bite you!" Johan. I am. I think.

Yes. Johan. I am. I think.

Being able to buy a firearm does not make it legal to carry it. Being able to pull the trigger does not make the bullet go where you'd like it to. And, being oceans apart, our outlooks are obviously different. I believe less than mortal violence would be enough. A can of mace, or a taser, would probably be enough to fight him off. (I have to admit I don't know if either of *those* would be legal to carry here either. But people do, all the time. And they won't get you in as much trouble if you feel you have to use them, and do.) You seem to be reasoning from a point of view where carrying anything less than the biggest stick you can get is useless. Different. Not necessarily better, but in this country, you don't have to stay in the car with your hands visible on the wheel when pulled over by a police officer .. very different. And yes, my personal experience with firearms is limited, I may very well harbour a misconception or two about their use. And no, I don't like 'em. Remind me not to stalk your daughters. Back to the regularly scheduled thread, did OP go to the police yet? Or find out anything useful from the mail headers? Johan. I am. I think.

Just noticed you (Soulshine) recently moved to Amsterdam. If this is happening here in Holland, forget about the weapon permit. No such thing here. This also means you're not in America, where I wouldn't know if you ought to go to the local police or the FBI or whatever; in Holland, I could find out what should work best. Or you could pay your friendly wijkagent a visit and take it from there. That's what I would try first. If you need more help, feel free to PM me. Johan. I am. I think.

Getting a gun may be counterproductive. Unless you are proficient with the gun and are prepared to really use it, chances are it will be turned against you. If a gun would be any good, unarmed defense will be just as good. There are no dangerous weapons, there are only dangerous people. That means you, not him. As long as it means him, a gun will not do you any good. My opinion. Another opinion, no offense: a dedicated, bigger-than-him boyfriend is the best protection you'll ever have. I do realise there's practical limitations to obtaining said boyfriend. Walk tall. Speak softly, and carry a big stick. Don't let him get you on the defence (but if you need that advice, it's useless). Don't be a victim. Stand up, and mean it. You can. You will.

Useful only for flying to the dropzone. Get me a Caravan and a load of friends (not a problem when you have a Caravan). Door! (And you won't get sucked into the engines either.) Johan. I am. I think.

It would help to know what mail client you use. If it's Outlook Express, right-click on the message, select properties, select the details tab, click message source. This shows you the full headers. Different mail clients may be slightly different, but you want to look at the full headers. Webmail services may or may not have the possibility to show you this information. Find the bottom "Received: " header. That one should have the chronologically first timestamp. It should also have the IP-address of the original sender in it. Later, higher "Received: " headers should list the IP-addresses of mail servers that transported the messages from the sender to you. If your mail address would be soulshine@example.org, you would see something like mail.example.org as the last server that relayed the message. Your first bet for help (not legal or judicial but technical help) would then be abuse@example.org. Replace example.org with the domain name of your own mail provider. It is quite possible to forge anything in e-mail, but most people don't know how, fortunately. Contacting the police is an option. One would hope they have technical experts. And people that are there to physically protect you and arrest stalkers. If knowing this makes me a geek, so be it. I hope it's useful for once.

I'm honestly not sure which way the scale tips in your particular case: learning to swoop on a more appropriate wing or learning on the wing you already know. A structured approach to learning to swoop is a good idea in either case, you got that right. Ideally, you'd make 50 or 100 jumps on the new one before starting to learn to swoop, but I know that's just too much to ask. And if I didn't care, I would not be posting in this thread. To the poster with the comment on the Foil 282: those things are dangerous. I twisted an ankle on one just last Friday. First jump of the year, too. Johan. I am. I think.

You knew that when you started the thread. Frankly, I am amazed at how well-behaved and helpful we all are in helping you dig your own grave. Johan. I am. I think.

I've seen BillVon explain before he has found a Safire 2 to have a relatively long recovery arc. I seem to remember him mentioning it may have been that exact particular canopy. Do a search, it was useful. Other than that, I fully agree with dragon2. Sabre 2 sounds like the way to go. (And do not jump a Springo.) One serious question: if you are going to invest money and time in swooping, why not invest it in jumps on your current canopy instead of in a new canopy? With all that usefulness out of the way, my honest opinion is not what you want to hear. You're in over your head. See you in Incidents. Johan. I am. I think.

.. helicopter.

A good example of a conservative canopy, once off student status, would be a Navigator, not smaller than 170, not loaded over 1.0 lbs/sqft. There would be other possible examples, and safety is never an absolute (and there is no absolute safety in this sport); your perception may very well be different. There are also a thousand other things you can do to increase your (perceived level of) safety. You may very well be focussing too much on the one question you know to ask; there are thousands you don't know to ask yet. A good instructor is invaluable. Johan. I am. I think.

You could of course consider a BMI .. Scott Campos isn't the devil, you know.

You are from Teuge, I should know who you are but I can't get a face with the name .. look me up some time. (If you can't get a face with the name either, look for the black wingsuit.

http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/linetrims/TF-TK-120-230-Line-Trim-Chart.pdf Except that's for a Storm. Profile says Spectre. Try http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/linetrims/SP_150-230LT.pdf Johan. I am. I think.

OK, WHO made a movie about Purple Mike and didn't even get his name right? Johan. I am. I think.

What is AS 8015/B and where might we find it? And, if it is not respected by users and riggers, is it enforced? Honestly curious here. Johan. I am. I think.

I seem to recall Henny could do them quite easily. I struggled. We were definitely still flying. (I did not understand how he could do them so easily, he did not understand I had such a hard time. ) I'm still a little hazy on what exactly he means. I've taken one of Matt's pics without a grid (unfortunately very low resolution) and drawn some lines on it like I think he means (see attachment). What are the criteria? When is a skydiver not in his spot? Do lines have to be parallel to each other? Are we looking at how close they are to the line intersections? This is not very different from our current red diamonds which we increase/decrease in size. or are we looking for if they are touching the line they should be flying on? I think he means (attached). Parallel lines is not too much to ask, the difference is mostly in lines not having to be evenly spaced. Edit: Judging the outer slots flying too loose is going to be a problem, looks like. I did test, but indeed, I still have it all on one page. Will do. Johan. I am. I think.

I've taken a quick scroll down my manual and nowhere does PdF say in it you cannot legally pack anything else than a PdF reserve in it. They do give packing volume examples with their own reserves, but I cannot anywhere read into that that those are the only ones you can pack in there. Actually, the following text seems to me to leave open explicitly the possibility of installing a reserve from a different manufacturer: Do note PD and PdF are different companies. It would really help if you would fill out your profile, at least with the country under whose rules you are jumping. I have version 7 of the manual, dated July 1997, and it says TSO C23d. (Newer manual versions may or may not supercede older ones. ) I had actually heard the rig did not have a TSO, only the European equivalent which apparently is not legal in the USA, so there are bound to be legal intricacies for Americans. See also the above post from riggerrob. AFAIK, if you're from anywhere else, this is not a problem, not even when jumping in the USA. As long as the pack volume matches between rig and reserve, there should be no special problems with compatibility. I have no opinion on the Microlite 150 itself; I don't know it. I think Atoms are nice rigs; I do know them - I own one, have more than 1200 jumps on it and have jumped several other rigs, other Atoms and other assorted brands and models. There are subtle differences between different versions, but for a first rig any of these are unlikely to be a problem if your rigger and your instructor are OK with your purchase. Regarding the LOR2 system - consult with your rigger. It's different. At least there's more experience with it than with magnetic riser covers. Would you happen to know the exact type of Atom you are about to buy? (33, 34, 35 or 37 before the dash, 3, 2, 1 or single to quad 0 after it.) (It's probably a 34-0, possibly a 34-1.) Frankly, if the rig/reserve combo has been in use as sold, and especially if the reserve has been deployed before, I would not worry too much about it. But hey - I'm an unknown voice from the weird wide web. Consult with your rigger. If your rigger is the seller, get an independent opinion. Take the opportunity to learn about gear. And not just from duh Innernet either. Have coffee with an actual human being and sit down and talk. (All the riggers I know serve coffee.) You don't know what you don't know yet; you may very well get answers to questions you didn't know to ask yet. Johan. I am. I think.

You have made this point before. And it has merit. Kallend also pointed out where it was flawed. And Costyn pointed out why it was not a solution to the problem at hand. We may outgrow no contact formations. But for now, grids seem to be where it's at for bigways. Implicitly, for now, that means we're considering ourselves aircraft, not freefallers. If you look at it that way, requiring grips would be a step back. (And no, I am honestly not working towards rationalising not requiring grips. I am keeping an open mind and trying to think things through.) I have seen the first wingsuits with leg grippers. I have heard people agree we need to test flying docked with noodles. In time, we will know if these ideas work, and, for now, for what sizes of formations. And for now, I am also interested in developing a working grid system for bigways. Does anyone perhaps have examples yet why James' system with floating lines would or would not work? Discuss .. Johan. I am. I think.

But for a few days a year, we'd like to set the bar higher, and include judging the formation into the fun. If you don't want to do that, please start your own thread to discuss walking flamingoes.