riddler

Kind of depends on the circumstances. If they are jumping a WL that I think is too high, then I don't have a problem jumping with them, as long as I know they can track away decently. As long as they don't open in my direction and close to me, they don't pose much of a danger to me. If they are known to be reckless in freefall, I don't jump with them. It's one thing to go low on accident, or swoop in too hard on accident (which I'm guilty of myself ), but doing these things as a matter of standard practice will eventually lead to a FF collision. I've been on belly jumps that went to shit, then people start freeflying - bad idea! Again, I look at how people track - one of the reasons I don't do a lot of freeflying anymore is because I see a lot of "good" freeflyers that flop on their belly and pull without trying to get away. Or maybe it's because the "good" freeflyers don't want to jump with me? There are one or two people I don't even want to get on the plane with. They are that dangerous, IMO. Folks that jump poorly maintained gear and aren't careful with it on the plane. Usually, the DZ will eliminate these people, or correct them. If I ever get to the point that there are a lot of people at my DZ that I don't trust, I look for a safer DZ. Some DZs are definitely more tolerant of reckless jumpers. If I don't feel OK about that, I will find a place that is safe. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sorry if this is a repost - I did a few searches, I swear http://bemil.chosun.com/movie%20link/SU-35.wmv A Russian Sukhoi SU-37 going through the paces. Good shot of the airbrake in action, and a lot of shots of the much talked-about (and probably worthless) "cobra" maneuver. One nice cartwheel and some decent flips, thanks to the 2-D TVCs, and one cheesy 80s top-gun soundtrack. Notice the rear rack, which allows mounting a rear-facing radar-guided missile to shoot down anyone sneaking up behind you. Also of note is the unstable triplane configuration that requires computer control to maintain stable flight. All-in-all, probably not a match for the F-22, but would be fun to own one

'Scuse me, could you tell me where the line starts for THIS?? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

A glut of hypoxia cases at the infirmary? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Man, did you get your canopy that dirty?? I would say that if you have "clumps" of mud, wait for them to dry, then brush them off with a soft towel. After that, use a soft cloth, dipped in water to sponge the area. Also, as Derek says - "hot tip": Even when it's nice and sunny for part of the day at the DZ, if it was raining for the entire week prior, then you will always land in either peas or mud, so only jump if you don't mind getting your gear dirty or if you can hit the peas on every landing. There was a reason you didn't see me at the DZ on Sunday, and it might have had to do with my aversion for dirt If it keeps raining this week, you probably won't see me jump this weekend, either. And I don't even have shiny new gear. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yeah, don't clean it. Most people don't. Remember that when handling the canopy fabric, you're dealing with not only the weave of the fabric, but also the ZP coating, so any chemical, even potentially the ones used to treat drinking water, could damage the coating. Mud will dry and after a few openings, much of it will come right off

The question is somewhat vague - there are a lot of factors that go into glide ratio, starting with the type of canopy, but including wingload, trim settings, aerodynamic efficiency (collapsible PC, slider, etc). It's hard to say that any one canopy has a better glide ratio than every other canopy for all situations. If you're currently jumping a Triathalon, you will find much "flatter" angles on landing with any 9-cell canopy. I have a Triathalon and a Lotus, and the Lotus is so much nicer on opening, flying and landing, that I rarely use the Tri anymore. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Very true. The only way to make space travel more affordable is to make is more risky. At least until the technology gets cheaper. There's still a lot of complexity in the process. NASA estimates a major systems failure on one in every fifty shuttle missions, due the overall complexity. The astronauts are aware of this, and assume the risk. I don't know what redundancy they have, but without redundant systems for life support, it's only a matter of time before a mission fails and people die. I wonder about all the private individuals that will sign up for space flights, and how they will feel about assuming this much risk, in addition to paying that amount of money. And you thought the liability waivers for skydiving were long Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Can't say I've ever had this situation. When I coach students, we always talk about freefall, but what I really watch during their jump is altitude awareness, pull altitude, canopy control and landing. I think it's a lot more important for students than the freefall. I've tried emphasizing that stuff directly, but the students usually start falling asleep So we talk about freefall. Anyway, when we jump together, I'm always down first. I have a 1.3 wingload, and we usually agree on pull at 3.5 - I normally watch them track and pull, then I pull at 3,000. 800 feet of opening, followed by 1.3 wingload and I'm always down first so I can watch them land. I see your wingload is 1.16 - I think it's great to be conservative here because newer jumpers will follow your lead and stay conservative on their own wingloads. But I guess there's the potential to get down after they do. If you want to watch their landing, you may have to fudge a bit and pull a few hundred feet lower than your agreed altitude - either that or spiral down faster under canopy I also bring Aleve with me the DZ

43.79% - Geekus Majorus Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I'm dissappointed that you don't get more damage points for getting the truck to fall on top of the dummy. I only get points when I get him with the truck wheels. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I've always wondered about this. Has this ever happened? Was there an older design of a reserve bag that was attached to the canopy and got entangled with the reserve or departing main? Or was the freebag designed because someone just thought it could happen? I guess if the reserve bag was attached to the canopy, there would be some chance of it entangling with a streamering main. But it seems unlikely, and I'm curious if that's ever happened. AFAIK, the skyhook design keeps the freebag attached in some fashion, and I doubt Booth would have done that if he felt it was dangerous. Edit for spelling and syntax. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Not that I'm a rigger (yet ), but I think there's a perception that a rig-is-a-rig-is-a-rig, and that performing service on them is the same as changing oil in a car - since there are places that will change oil in any car for $29.99, then it seems the same. But if you change the oil on a few different cars, you realize that some are easier than others - partly because of the design differences, and partly because you get used to some, and are not used to others. I don't think reserve repacks fit into a one-size-fits-all category - some are similar, but each brand has unique characteristics, and sometimes even older versions of the same type are quite different. Rigs and riggers are unique, and I wouldn't expect to pay the same for a pack job from any two riggers or even between either of my two rigs. I ask how much, and they quote me a price. I know one rigger that charges $50 for every rig except Racers. And for Racers, he charges $100. He feels he spends a lot more time on Racers, so he charges extra. If that seems unfair, find another rigger. In my limited experience, there is always another rigger around somewhere. I've never seen a dropzone where only one rigger was available, but I have seen jumpers that absolutely need their rig by tomorrow and only have one rigger available to do it by then, even if that rigger charges more, then they feel cheated. You always have options for riggers, but if your time is limited, or your budget is limited, or you have circumstances, then you my have to live with whatever price or schedule the rigger gives you. And boy, after that post, I really wish the spell-checker contained the word "rigger". Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This is a great point, and I think the reserve demo program that GravityGirl mentioned is a good one. I know that PD has a program to do this, and I think some other manufacturers do as well, but I don't know for sure. If you haven't done it, you might convince your local DZ to sponsor such a program - I've done it and it was worth-while. After doing it and talking to some of others that did, the thing that we noticed most (I think) was that the stall points on the reserves was much different than expected. Mine was quite a bit higher than I expected, and I heard others say that. At least one person said he wasn't able to stall the reserve. It's an important point because if you are under reserve, you will very likely be low, which means that there may be no time to do a practice flare. Your first "practice flare" under your reserve may be your landing! If the stall point is unexpected, you may very easily stall it too high or not have enough flare and come in too fast. It would be a shame to cutaway from one canopy just to get hurt landing an unfamiliar reserve canopy. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think they're a great idea for student rigs too. We stick tiny AFF students into huge containers that hold 290s, and the belly-band makes them more comfortable and helps the rig hug to them in freefall. It may also help the student remember to do their chest strap, since they now have two straps around their front, rather than one - I don't know. What I don't understand is why they would market belly-bands to freeflyers? By the time a person starts FF, they should have their own gear, and it should be suitable for FF (which includes being well-fitting). If the rig is that poorly fitting as shown in the pics, it should not be used for FF. Probably it shouldn't be used for belly either, but for student gear, there are greater offenses. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think that jumpers should be able to get a special "classic" patch that they can sew onto the outside of any container older than 20 years. It would be similar to the "antique" license plates you can get for cars, and would exempt the owner from having, at any future point, to install a mandatory AAD or RSL Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think she was referring to the fact that the two bartacks were directly on top of each other, rather than one beneath the other. It's unlikely Precision would have made such a serious error. I'm also curious about declaring it un-airworthy. Would you write on the reserve card that the rig is nor airworthy until full compliance with SB-1221? Edit - just saw the previous post, so never mind. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Original news report states that he jumped a Switlik (i.e. round) canopy on his 75th brihday. This is wrong, according to riggerrob. Thanks for the info. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Does this mean Bush used a round for his jump? That doesn't seem likely. It doesn't look like Switlik ever made square canopies. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

A good read for some laughs: From here (I've bolded a few choice paragraphs): I know more than a few western skydivers have jumped this plane. I would love to hear your stories. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

FYI - Ender's Game is being made into a movie. Probably be a few years before it comes out. I thought Speaker for the Dead was pretty good. Haven't read Shadow yet. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

And with the climb rate of that Casa at Mile Hi, a lot of us locals were getting altitude sickness as well! Kind of funny that my Neptune kept saying "very slow climb rate" on the way to alititude. Seriously, altitude is a factor, but I really agree with the posters about water! It will help. Water should be part of your SHWAGG - Shoes, Helmet, Water, Altimeter, Gloves, Goggles. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Yeah, don't worry about it. Not everyone smiles, especially when they're concentrating. It's not required. Look at Michael Jordan. Sticks out his tongue when he's playing. Probably having loads of fun, but you almost never see him smile. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I did a tandem in August, then took FJC the weekend after September 11th. It was several weekends before I ever got in the air after they suspended all the air traffic. I was there every weekend, but couldn't jump for almost a month after FJC. This is another instance when having money helps. If you can afford it, you can fly out to Eloy in the winter and crank out the entire AFF in a weekend - I think there's only about 7 inches of rain a year there. Wind is another story, though. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This is a great assessment for a coach candidate. I've been coaching for about a year now, and for me, 90% of the freefall part of coaching is simply falling straight down, giving students a reference to fly around, and then remembering what happened so that you can give the students advice about how to improve. It doesn't require amazing flying skills, but you have to be good enough to fall straight down with a solid bearing, and maybe go catch a student if they slide a long way away. Mostly, you just have to observe and critique. Coaches seem to have the greatest impact on the ground, explaining to students what needs to be done, and what are the normal and expected details of skydiving. If you can observe in the air and teach well on the ground, you are a good candidate, IMO. I think a camera would be a useful tool as a coach (as long as it's low-profile, side-mount and you're not doing a lot of points). I don't wear one, but I think it would be useful to show the students after you've debriefed them, just to reinforce what you've already said. Plus, some of your students refuse to believe that you were falling straight down , and it's nice to be able to prove that it was them that was flying around the sky, and not you. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD