Shotgun

I think if he *knowingly* led us to war under false pretenses then that would be grounds for impeachment... but I guess that's what they're now trying to determine...

From Yahoo News Are we gonna have two Presidents in a row impeached?

Thanks, Michele :-) Yeah, that's what I meant... I was just wondering if something like this should maybe be at the top of the forums (as a warning), particularly in "Safety and Training" and "Gear and Rigging" where a lot of new jumpers seem to request advice. Again, I would sincerely hope they would discuss any advice from this site with an instructor at their dz, but you never know...

Yeah, I know a dude who hit the tail of a T-Bo... he was alright (I think it bruised his shoulder), but it left a dent in the plane ;-)

This may sound silly... and I sincerely hope that no one comes to dropzone.com as their ONLY source for advice on skydiving issues... but I've noticed that just about anyone on here will offer advice whether they actually know what they're talking about or not (including myself ;), and it's scary to think that someone out there might actually be taking some of this advice without considering the source... Do you think it would be a good idea to put some sort of disclaimer that states there is no guarantee that any advice given from dropzone.com comes from a reliable source? (or is there already one that I'm not aware of? ;) When I give advice on any kind of safety issue, I always try to state that I am NOT an expert... but not everyone does this... (and some folks on here are actually experts, but there's not really any way to know the difference, especially for a brand-new skydiver)... Hopefully everyone reading these forums is smart enough to realize this, but it does concern me sometimes... Some people are good at sounding like they know what they're talking about, even when they don't ;-) Just a thought...

Depends on the plane... an Otter might be pretty hard to hit, but something like a Twin Bonanza could be fairly easy to hit the tail... If you have concerns, ask the jumpmaster about the particular plane you're jumping out of... they might have some specific advice for what to watch out for... I don't think it's very common, but there have been some cases of people hitting the plane after exiting... Good luck with your AFF!

Thanks JP... Good to have you in SoCal now! :-)

So is Perris having everyone do this? Or just those who have rigs from 2001+? Does it take very long to have the test done?

Comparing apples and oranges, dude. Either one will kill you if you don't give it the respect it deserves... Hell, either one may kill you anyway.

A BOOBIE dock of course! Or wait, would that have to be two boobies touching?

Started jumping in 1991... but took a long break after I maxed out my credit card ;-) So about 5-6 years total.

That's it! I find this post highly offensive and will no longer be posting to dropzone.com... so C-Ya! Ok, well maybe after I have another drink I'll post some more...

Hey David, That's a bummer dude - sorry to hear it. Wish I could explain my gender to you, but I can't. (Ok, well I guess I can't explain men either ;-) All I can say is... we DO get better with age. But that probably doesn't help much right now... Anyhow, that wasn't very cool of her... so maybe there's someone better for you out there.

Welcome to California!

Sorry to hear that! But I'll have a drink for you.

My liver is VERY evil and is being punished at this very moment.

When I ordered my Vector, I got the 19" risers (because I'm pretty short). When I put them on my canopy (Triathlon 135) I suddenly had less flare than I had before. When I went to a smaller canopy (Triathlon 120) the poor flare was even more noticeable, so I put 23" risers on it and it made a big difference. Now I have to really stretch to collapse my slider, but the better flare is worth it. Of course there's more to flare power than the riser length (like the length of your brake lines), but it did make a difference for me (and let me point out that I am NOT an expert ;-) Most of my experience is on Triathlons, so this may be different on other canopies... You may want to contact the manufacturer of your canopy and ask them if they have a recommended riser length that works best with your canopy. (Aerodyne was very helpful to me regarding this.)

Yeah, I was wondering about that thread... (No offense to anyone) but if I was the female in that situation, I'd be a little upset to see it being discussed on a public forum. Public forums are very, well... "public". Hope it didn't cause too much of a problem...

I agree with this completely. While a wingloading BSR might help to get the ball rolling, it will ultimately be up to each DZ to do what they can to keep people from hurting themselves or others. The main point being that these are private businesses and they have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason they see fit. The one thing I have learned from reading this discussion is that I need to be more vocal at my DZ. If I see someone who I think is putting themselves or anyone else in danger, I will now talk to the DZO or S&TA and let them decide if anything needs to be done. (and of course I don't mean running to them with every little issue, but anything that appears to be a major issue)

Yikes! Jumping in Slovenia sounds scary. You should definitely try to educate yourself as much as possible... There are a couple of websites (I'm sure there are more if you look around) that have some good information - they may not be relevant to this incident, but you might find some useful info: PD's educational articles at: http://www.performancedesigns.com/education.asp and Skydive AZ at: http://skydiveaz.com/resource.htm Also, maybe if you could get everyone who jumps at your DZ to chip in you could afford to hire someone (like John LeBlanc from PD) to come over for a "safety seminar" weekend or something like that. I have no idea how much that would cost, and it may not work if there are too many big egos at your DZ, but it's a thought... Good luck and stay safe!

I have a drug problem too... I don't have any!

Now that you mention it, Sangiro has made me late before too, and even caused me to waste entire days on my computer! He is an evil man!

Ok, I woke up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. If I do anything "productive" it will definitely keep me up, so I'm playing with My Dirty Dave Attell Doll. They have a "Bar Hopper" game that looks pretty cool too, but I can't get it to work :-( "Kick the sandman in his sack, stay up late Insomniac!"

Just for the record, I wouldn't have been laughing at these guys if they had been seriously injured or killed. The fact that they got beaten up just a little bit in an event that (in my opinion) is cruel to animals was amusing to me though - "poetic justice" as someone else stated. It's interesting to hear both sides of the argument (whether this event is cruel or not). It's funny how two people can see the same thing yet have completely opposite opinions about it, but that's the way it is with everything in life (and why we will never have a perfect government ;-) Hmmm... why does the wingloading BSR come to mind now???

I don't think it is ever a good idea to fly directly down the jump run, especially when you know there are others exiting (before or after you) in that direction. I think you should wait until you see the canopies from the next group before you start flying in that direction. Generally you should have time to do this unless you had a bad spot or pulled too low, but (unless the dz has no good outs) I think it would be safer to land off than to risk having a collision with another jumper. Now I'm certainly no expert, so maybe someone with more experience could elaborate on this? And it would probably be a good idea to talk to the DZO or a respected experienced jumper at your DZ about the exit order and flight pattern... As for being on a load with someone who is dangerous, there seems to always be a couple of those people at any dz. I know the feeling - I just make a mental note of who these people are and try to stay as far away from them as possible. Now if they're really doing something BAD you should definitely mention it to the DZO or manager.