riddler

Yeah, the Army saw that headline and thought they should give Ibu to any General Infantryman that was bleeding Sometimes I think that infantry and vets are one big medical test group for those guys Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That's the one with the spaceship thingy? I think it's their VIP room. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sure, if you don't mind a $30 cover charge Right across the street are some decent clubs that don't have the "name". Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Whole Paycheck? We've had them in Denver/Boulder for about 5 years. I've spent a lot of time and money in them. I've gotten to the point that I try to avoid them when I can. There are usually better organic produce markets around - Wild Oats, Vitamin Cottage, etc. Of course, if it's your only option, it's a pretty good one. But they are IMO overpriced, not dedicated to organic foods like other markets and in Denver, it's where the rich and snobby go to shop. The one in Austin is the only really good one I've even been in - it's the original, and still the best. The one in Salinas is pretty good, but it's easy to get good produce in Cali. The one in Sarisota is snobby, and the produce is poor, considering it's Florida. I can judge the entire store from just their guacamole. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I have 350 jumps, and I consider myself a beginner pilot. I've done front-riser 90 degree turns to final, double-front riser landings (straight in), landed down-wind, rear stalls, half-brake turns, harness shifting, and everything else I could think of under canopy (except radical swoops). But I've never taken a canopy class, and I've never dedicated several jumps to learning one thing about my canopy, and I fly conservatively, especially close to the ground. So I still think of myself as a beginner. My highest wingloading was 1.3, and it was pretty high for me. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The best way to judge is to demo one. Give Big Air Sportz a call and ask for a demo of a Lotus. I've flown one now for two years and I think it's an excellent semi-elliptical canopy - not high performance, but opens and flies exceedingly well. I've compared to a few other canopies the same size, and I like the Lotus the best. If you have turbulent conditions a lot in your DZ, you will probably notice a difference in how they fly in turbulence. For me, it feels more "rigid" - a little more bouncy, since there's less of a shock absorption. Look up at your canopy several times while flying, and you will see that it doesn't accordian as much. I also watch a lot of canopies land at my DZ, and there are quite a few Samurai and Vengeance canopies - to me they look like they don't deflate as much in turbulence. Watch out jumping them in high wind - after you get to the ground, they don't deflate very quickly, so it's easy for the wind to grab them and pull you a bit. Grab the tail and shake them hard to deflate them quicker. Brian has a system for getting the air out quickly after safely landing them. I think that patents are one reason why you don't see more airlock canopies. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

family theme this year. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My pride Good news is that I found out that I actually had some pride in my jumping Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Judging by the splatter on the headrests, it doesn't look like there was a driver or passenger. Was this a test with one of those chicken-launching guns? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

What's your degree? Engineering? Finance? Law? Tough it out and get the degree. You will be able to buy a rig and do more skydives, spend time in tunnels and got to boggies with the extra money. Trust me on this one. Art History? Liberal Arts? I say drop it and go to the DZ. You will make more money as a skydiver Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Have a great one! Thanks for all the stories. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

For me, after AFF, I started working my opening point down to 3500. I kept it at 3500 for about a year and about 75 jumps. Then I started going to boogies, where many of them want you to open no higher than 3,000. So I started working my pull altitude down to 3,000. That's where many experienced jumpers in the US pull, and you could probably go the rest of your life pulling at 3. I have been pulling at 3 for the last few years now, even doing coach jumps. I will very likely lower my "acceptable" pull altitude when I start AFF Instruction, but that's for different reasons, and will be done over a long period of time, with some changes to my gear and procedures. Even then, I will still consider 3K to be my "normal" opening altitude, with 2K being the absolute bottom. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'd really like to jump video when I get AFFI. But I don't plan to share it with the student. I hope I can use it as a learning tool for myself, and in the event something unfortunate happens, I can use it to document the jump. As far as sharing with the student - well, we have video people that get paid for that. I'm not going to undercut their income by giving it away for free. If the student wants to see their performance, then they should purchase video. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Err, yeah. I've jumped SOS, even though I was trained for cutway/reserve. I was making a point that it makes sense to train students for what they are going to jump when they get their own gear. Doesn't matter if you might feel something else is safer. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

FYI - I took a jump class this week that meant a lot to me - I've been looking forward to it for years. I was in class four days, and I elected not to make the jumps because I've had some moderate congestion. It's not worth it. There will be other opportunities and other boogies to jump. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't believe the airlocked canopy offers immunity from turbulence, but I do think it offers some advantages. Specifically, it doesn't drop as much in turbulence. It may only save you a few feet, or it may save a few hundred in a total collapse. Even a few feet of saved altitude makes a difference on landing. I do know one former jumper that is lucky to be alive after a turbulent landing and the lack of a PLF shattered his spine. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Makes sense to train students on what they are going to use as experienced jumpers. It might be argued that SOS is safer or more dangerous than hand-deploy, but if your country jumps mainly hand-deploy, then that's what makes sense to use. Sadly, I believe that many student gear choices are more about economics than safety I have to commend our new DZO - one of his first decisions was to eliminate all the older student gear and get brand new RTS rigs for the students. Definitely makes me feel more comfortable with students jumping them. I know I had one or two bad experiences on dangerous student gear Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Out of curiosity: I've always heard teams outside the US referred to by their country. The Italians, the Russians, etc. OTOH, I hear American teams referred to by their team name (and sometimes supporting DZ) - Deland Magick, Arizona Airspeed, etc. Do the other teams have names? If so, are they beyond pronunciation by most Americans? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think this is a training thing that needs to change. I've seen a lot more white mains in the last few years. Instructors that are still teaching that reserves are white probably need to rethink this. Even ten years ago, instructors were teaching "solid-colors". When I suspect a cutaway, I ask myself three questions: 1. Is it a solid-colored canopy? If yes, might be cutaway. 2. Does it have a pilot chute trailing behind the canopy? If not, definitely a cutaway. 3. Can I see the main streamering down? Usually, they're not too far away from the suspect jumper, but you need to look in three dimensions. As far as solid-colors - I may be wrong about that too. There are probably manufacturers out there making all sorts of multi-colored reserves. I believe that it used to be solid-colored or white because it made packing volume smaller, but I'm not entirely sure of that - modern dyes could have rendered that rule obsolete. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

In answer to your questions: this Lotus 150 was purchased used (right here on dz.com) at less than 2 years old. The original owner complained of hard openings, so a rigger sewed the pocket on the slider, in addition to some other canopy modifications (risers, lines). I've always jumped it that way, since that was the way it came, and until now I was fine with that. BTW - the rigger that did the mods, according to the previous owner, was named Brian Germain. I figured he knew what he was doing. A very good point that I'll take some time to consider. Thanks

I think that was closer to two years ago. As far as I'm concerned, this sounds like some outrageous marketing, even if it is possible. Jeb has stated that any competent wingsuit flyer could do this with his new idea - I have a feeling that his idea of competence is a few notches higher than mine Lots of great ideas come and go in Skydiving. Remember Micheal Fournier's plan to break the world-record balloon jump? I guess you could go back even further and talk about Rodd Millner's proclamation to do the same. Fortunately, some people succeed, and the sport is made a little better by it. I hope Jeb is one of those people - I just don't see how it could be done. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, I'm no "expert" skydiver, despite my D-license , but I have learned one thing about skydiving. It's better to do one small step at a time then a bunch at once. hooknswoop removed the 1" pocket from my slider, and I'm going to watch my alti carefully on the next few openings and see how much it shortens. If it goes down to 750, then I might do one more thing. If it goes down to 500, then I'm done Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I originally did that too - you don't see many used Lotus canopies out there. Either they didn't make that many, or the jumpers hold onto them for a while. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hmm - I'm wondering if the noise I'm hearing in downtown Denver is related. Started at 2:57 am this morning - right about the same time as you. I thought it was someone's car horn jammed open, but it does sound a LOT like the air-raid sirens they test on the first Tuesday of every month. And it has been going for more than an hour now - can a car horn last that long? I've got class today too - hope it shuts off soon Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it Time doesn't always allow for long entries, color-coded, with diagrams showing every maneuver. But if your choices are filling out the logbook thoroughly, or drinking beer, then I'd say fill out your logbook. More beer for me, that way Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD