CanuckInUSA

LOL ... I was going to say the same thing. But Jeremy beat me to it. But his book is likely in better shape than mine as mine got wet a while back and it looks pretty beat up. Hey the same offer (paying for postage) is extended for my pack like a pro video if you're interested. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I haven't flown one yet so I can't answer you. Of course why am I posting in this thread then you may ask? I don't know except to say that I'm probably just killing time post whoring. But I will likely demo one in Rantoul and I suspect I'll have 300+ jumps by then. But I'm not sure when I'd buy one. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

That's it. I'm going to sue BillVon, Ron, Skybytch and all of the other canopy nazis out there because they've been saying things on these forums which make me think about NOT running out and flying a cross-braced pocket rocket canopy. You canopy nazis are holding me back and because of that I'm going to take you for all you've got (LOL ... which probably isn't all that much). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I just received this email message from the DZ manager of Mile-Hi Skydiving and thought I'd forward it here for those not on Mile-Hi's email list. Let's just hope that Mother Nature isn't too cruel to us this weekend as I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while now. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Don't you just love our modern society. Did it ever occur to this guy that walking near the rotating propellars was hazardous to his health? Instead, he's trying to sue the DZ for his own stupidity. A small child may not understand the dangers, but an adult? Jeez ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Without a doubt you'll stop faster if both breaks are used together. But all the stopping power is in the front break (and with that I think we are all in agreement). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

This is not really correct. If the left or right tracks in the lane are in good shape and are not grooved, then yes position your bike in the track as riding over wet oil and fuel isn't recommended. But if the tracks have any sort of groove in them, then you're much better off riding on the wet center track with the oil and fuel as riding in a wet grooved track you run the risk of hydroplaining (a much worse scenario). Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey I'm in total agreement to what you say here. That's very possible. In fact it's more than possible. In Alberta where I was trained they don't really have the MSF (they've got the Canadian version which likely is more extensive). My course was a six day course 4-5 hours per night after work. The first night was all classroom theory. Then the next three nights, we did basic motorcycle control (mine was held in the parking lot of a football stadium) using total beaters (so if you could control one of those crappers, you could control anything). The instructors started us off first making baby steeps practicing all the skills and work your way up from there (with a lot of emphasis on countersteering and breaking). I will admit that the first night in the parking lot was boring as everything was done at slow speeds. But as the week progressed we got faster and faster. They also taught us how to interact and position ourselves in traffic and how to read the other drivers. Then on the fifth night, they took the entire class in a big group to drive around the city for a few hours (on reasonably nice street worthy bikes). Finally, night number six was the graduation/road test night where the government tester came in and we did our road test and for the riders who learned something during the week (not all students passed), they were given their new motorcycle endorsement. If other courses don't go into the same detail as mine, then that's unfortunate. I went into that course with some experience riding a motorcycle but really not knowing very much. And I came out of it as someone who felt confident that they knew how to control their machine and they knew how to interact with all those bad drivers out there driving their steel coffins. But even with all that positive training, I still crashed my bike several months after taking the course. Testosterone, a crotch rocket and one of the best days of my life to that date riding in the mountains of British Columbia came close to ending it all for me on a really tight mountain switch back road. Lessons learned that day: 1) Don't ride fast on a road you've never been on before. 2) Public roads are not race tracks and contain deadly debris (I low sided it after the front tire met the marbles). 3) Always wear your helmet and leathers. Where I was protected I wasn't hurt (my head hit the ground), where I wasn't protected I was hurt (I wasn't wearing a leather jacket only a light nylon jacket) and I suffered a cracked elbow injury. 4) When the signs says 15 miles and hour they mean it. All day long I was cruising around corners much faster than the recommended speed signs. But this switch back corner started off wide and got real tight on me real fast while I was probably going about 30-40 mph. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Good god I don't really know how to respond to such a post. But I'll try (and I'm sure we won't see eye to eye on every topic). But hopefully we can keep the flaming to a minimum as it's not my intentions to preach to people about motorcycles. I just feel that formal instruction saves lives that's all. I do think reading the "Twist of the Wrist" books is worthwhile as they do have great information in them. But am I to understand that you think someone new to motorcycles should by pass actual physical instruction in favor of reading a book geared towards more advanced drivers? And then even worse, attempt to practice what is written in the book before a certain foundation of motorcycle skills are learned and ingrained into the new motorcyclist? You put a new meaning to the word "Donor-cycle" don't you. People need to be taught countersteering, breaking and basic control before then need to worry about the apex of a turn. Yes by all means once the motorcyclist has achived a certain skill and knowledge level, attending one of these courses is a great idea. Dude I don't know where you're getting your negative information about safety courses (maybe not all courses are the same), but the one I attended in the mid 90s up in Canada had excellent instructors and they did teach me to do this. In fact, we went way beyond just the theory of this principle as the instructors had us physically drive over wooden crates and tires (in a control environment) to prove to ourselves that it can be done. First off I have been 145 mph on my bike on a country road, so what I'm about to say is a little hypocritical. But dude those sort of speeds should be saved for the race track. People are risking organ donorship when they ride bikes at excessive speeds on city streets and highways. There are too many unknown variables (traffic and debris to name a few) on public roads to be riding a powerful machine near it's limits. Yes leather, a helmet and back pad are highly recommended and mandatory on the racing circuits. But many recreational motorcyclists ignore this all important safety gear (very few have even seen a back pad let alone wear one) and they need this gear just as much if not more than the racer. In summary, I think we're not in total disagreement with some topics. But I'm obviously a little more cautious about the whole topic. Maybe because I have crashed, because I know people who've died and/or been crippled. And maybe because I'm likely older (I have no idea how old you are) and am more conservative with my motorcycling (I did briefly try recreational road racing in the mid 90s but quit because it was too expensive and dangerous for me at the time). I guess you can call me the motorcycle nazi. In fact substitute motorcycle with canopy and I guess I could sound like one of our friendly neighborhood canopy nazis here on dropzone. Peace bro and be careful on your crotch rocket. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

High: I'll be able to take Thursday and Friday off of work this week. Low: Mother Nature is not cooperating in terms of having jumpable weather. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey David I can usually pack in about ten minutes. But then you've seen the result of when I rush it. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

No I didn't ... check again ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Not only am I going to add my name, but I'm going to add a few others (who aren't available at the moment) who were there last year and I'm sure will be there again this year: jfields freeflyz QuickDraw CanuckInUSA Konradptr VerticalMethod Jose Jose's Brother (I can't remember Jim's screen name) sunshine more to come ... Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Yes Kenny can be there if you'd like to wear him again. And Couchfreaks is on my short list of boogies I'd like to attend this summer. I'll likely need to take an extra day off of work so that I could jump two days as travelling is going to take a day each way. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Denise If Mother Nature is kind to me, I'll be able to put a nice dent into those 54 jumps this weekend as I'll be at the DZ jumping tomorrow (not sure how many jumps I can get on a Wednesday though) and I'll also be jumping on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'd also like to jump Thursday, but the weather isn't looking all that promising on that day (none of the other days are looking all that good either, but Thursday should be the worst). Now if I could only include Rantoul for my jumps, I'd get my 54 no problem-o. But the WFFC occurs a few weeks after my 1st sky birthday. Hey if you can get 200 by September, breaking 300 before your 1st sky birthday shouldn't be a problem at all. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I just updated that last post as my math was bad. I've got to do nine jumper every weekend between now and July 14th. But if I can do it, you can do your six and get 200 by September 30th. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Hey we've got the same minimum weekend jump numbers to complete in order to obtain our short term goals. But if I fall short, it's not as big of a deal (I'd like to get 300 jumps in for my first year). So I've got to do 54 jumps in the next six weeks (an average of a little under six per weekend). Outside of an injury, my biggest road block will be Mother Nature and her afternoon thundershowers. Oops ... my bad. My math is bad. I've got to do nine jumps per weekend. So if I can get 300 by July 14th, you can do 200 by September 30th. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Couchfreaks!!! Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

I'm glad you bring this up because it's easy for people to say they'd go for silver. But how do they know if they've never really found themselves low in the basement? A shit, I seem to have a lot of the other videos. How come I don't have this one? I guess I've got a reason to pick it up now huh? Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Andy ... I don't know about your student gear setup, but when I was renting student gear, the risers didn't even have dive loops or dive blocks. So using the front risers was pretty much out of the question. If your gear doesn't have the dive loops or blocks then that would explain the difficulty you're having with the front risers. But let's also not forget that your student Manta is almost twice as big as my Sabre2 and more than three times as big as the pocket rockets that Chuck pilots. So naturally you'll have more riser pressure. I think it's fine for you to be asking these sort of questions (it shows that you want to learn). But if your profile is correct, lay off worrying about landing with your front risers for the time being. Also, keep in mind that I'm in what guys like Ron and BillVon would refer to as "in the dangerous phase of their canopy skills progression" as I do have several hundred jumps and do push the envelope more than what I did when guys like Chuck saw me at Eloy back in December (not sure if Chuck even saw my landings). So I'll try to keep my ego in check as I know I'm not jack shit when it comes to swooping. Now if I understand the monkey correctly with that last sentence when he talks about being in deep breaks, he's referring to the jumper setting themselves up just prior to turning onto final (a hook turn) and flaring their swoop. This is something I ironically was thinking before Chuck wrote this that I need to get better at. Knowing how my canopy will perform (how much altitude will it lose in the various turns) so that I can land where I want to land. I'm pretty good at hooking a turn and swooping a line, but I can get much better at my altitude awareness so that I touch down exactly where I want to touch down during my swoop just as the canopy is finishing it's recovery. I tend to hook too high (better than too low) and usually lose the speed of the turn and then have to struggle with the hard front riser pressure. But having this problem is better than finding myself in the corner with no altitude to play with. Of course if I misinterpreted Chuck, I'm sure he'll let me know. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

As long as future years are anything like last years boogie, I don't think my family will see me at x-mas for many years to come. And the beautify part, is that each year has the potential to be better than the predecessors. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Thanks for the info. I knew the diving characteristics were effected by wing loading and canopy types, etc, etc, etc but I wasn't so sure about the recovery arc. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

If you're referring to snapping turns with a toggle, no I don't do that sort of thing anymore. All of my turns to final are front riser turns. Some are more abrupt than others and some are long smooth turns. It all depends on how much altitude I believe I have to play with, what the traffic around me is doing and what sort of winds I'm flying in. On my 2nd to last landing on Sunday, I did do a nice gradual 180 degree front riser turn and things turned out rather nice (probably my best swoop landing of the day). Yes I can definitely see what you're talking about and I do acknowledge that I have much more to learn about my current canopy. After all every landing is different (wind, approach altitude, traffic, etc, etc, etc) and I really do need to experiment more with how much altitude is lost and how much speed is gained doing different approaches. Here's another question for the knowledgeable. Does the recovery arc change for just the canopy type or will it also change with the wing loading? I could downsize one more time with the Sabre2 model and still be within (barely) the recommended max weight limits and be familiar with the flying characteristics of the canopy type. But the thing I would like to avoid would be to start flying a new canopy type with a recovery arc that I'm not ready for (despite the fact that I wish my current one had a longer recovery). Note: I'm not planning to change canopy types or sizes anytime soon. This last question was just a question to be saved for future reference. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/skydiving.htm Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

Waahoo!!! I just got the word. Rantoul here I come. Try not to worry about the things you have no control over