riddler

Ya, and the next day, flygurl picked him up from the hospital and brought him right back to the DZ. He was pointing at the dent in the tail and bragging about that's where his head hit Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Back from vacation Teach new jumpers tomorrow Skyvan on Sunday Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Just my experience - I have a house built in 1930 - big concrete and cinderblock basement and walls, whole house is brick. Three levels. I have both 802.11b laptops and 2.4 GHz wireless phones (all connected) on every level. Everything works fine. The wireless router is in the basement, and I have three wireless laptops, one on each level (remember one is two levels up) and it it works great. I have the main receiver for the phones (B&O) on the top level, and a phone on every level, and they all work fine. I have a 10/100 internal network, and I've never been unhappy with data transfer speeds. DSL at 640K and the DSL is always the limiting factor on speed, even with the one machine on the top level. Now, going *outside* the house is a different story. If I take one of my laptops outside, it starts to get slow, and I can only seem to go about 40 feet outside before I lose all connectivity. I assume this is because of the concrete basement. The phones work well from about a block away - I assume this is because the main transceiver is on the top level. I don't think you'll have a problem with 802.11b if you put the router in the basement and use the computer inside the house. The range on 2.4 GHz is quite good. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

There's only one logical way this can be completed Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

It was also required for the New Year's jump at Eloy last year. Most of the time, the license number isn't significant, but sometimes it is. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I was also told by one very good packer that it's better to make every bite of the s-fold shorter than the last. I'm not sure why, other than it seems harder for it to bunch up and knot. Any opinions on this?

This is also a great reason to get yourself to WFFC and jump hard. Meself only gots about 20 more jumps to eek in. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Mustard came to the dropzone with a handful of them and asked around and got everyone that didn't already vote to do it right at the dropzone before she hand-carries them to the meeting. It's nice to have regional directors that care. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I love you guys - you always give me new and fresh images for my desktop. The third one is my new wallpaper. Nice shots.

Jan - the reason we take the profile seriously is that we get a lot of newbie "trolls" that have personality issues and post trash to our beloved forums. If the profile isn't filled out, we might just assume it's someone that wants to stir up trouble. Typically, when you get more posts and your status changes, you get more respect on the forums. Because of who you are, you have the option to bypass all that and go straight to the lovin' if you fill out the profile and let everyone know who you are. Either way, but the former takes more time and posts ...

I agree with R65 - the pull force of a PC in good air is around 150 pounds. Unless it was packed that way, it's not gonna flip a loop and tie itself in a knot - it' s going to pull hard and straight as possible. Seems much more likely that as soon as tension is let off (when it starts to collapse), it's going to be erratic and could loop itself into a half-hitch. I've had this happen once. I was able to unhitch the knot easily by hand - I don't think it would be as easy if it was in a knot and subject to a 150-pound force - it would be too tight to easily undo. Once collapsed and trailing behind, it looks more erratic and could hapen there. But I'm not a rigger, so I'm only taking a wild-ass guess. Ed to add - I've noticed this happen once on my 9-foot bridle. I've never seen it with my 5-foot bridle. Length of bridle may contribute here.

It all depends on you and your instructors. Some people are good at various parts of free-fall, others aren't as good. Some dropzones demand perfection (at the DZ I started, 95% of jumpers would fail at least one level), while others seem to crank students through with few failures. I've heard that levels 3 and 4 get the most failures - that's when they start letting go of you and you are expected to start flying on your own, but I don't know. Personally, I failed level 3 twice. Spinning problem due to bad leg symmetry. I went to the wind tunnel and had no problem after that - passed all my levels easily and quickly.

Two things about this sport, if you're in it long enough: 1. You're gonna get hurt. 2. You're gonna have friends that die. I've had both. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

First rig: Main: 1.03 Reserve: 0.89 Second rig: Main: 1.3 Reserve: 1.36

Force a lot of water down, eat something salty and if you have a protein bar or shake handy ... Then make a low-altitude skydive - hop-n-pop from 5 grand. For some reason, jumping always cures a hangover. Either it just goes away, or you throw up under canopy and feel better. But sometimes, after all that water, I have to keep my legs crossed on the airplane. This of one of the few times that SCUBA is better than skydiving - you can pee while participating in the sport.

I used to work for a company where this was true. The guy actually wrote a book (not for the timid). That was the coolest company I ever worked for. Edited to add: I also took him skydiving - twice. He hurt his back on the second tandem, and never came back, but how many bosses would go jump outta a plane with you?

Wrapping up today Tomorrow I will be in Honduras, diving

Ohh - so that's what it takes to get a -number. I was wondering

Check out the back of July Parachutist. USPA refers to the TSA as "a secretive agency in Washington". Maybe it's just me, but that sounded like a little jab Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Wow - I've heard Brian say to me directly that he invented the airlock. That would be an interesting debate that I don't think I would want to participate in. Interesting that the guy that invented the ram-air also patented this concept. As far as the Lotus, the largest size made is the 190. If a student with 20 jumps loads a 190 at a low enough WL to meet their skill level, I would have no problem suggesting a Lotus - although I would also suggest they ask more experienced instructors for several opinions. I should note that I typically suggest a Tri or a Spectre for new jumpers, but if they wanted a Lotus, I would say it's a great canopy. I'm not a great lander, but I've tried both a 190 and 150 Lotus, and they are the only canopies I stood up on the first jump. IMO, they open, land and handle better than my triathalon or any Spectre I've flown - they are harder to pack than a tri, however. Yes, it is a semi-elliptical canopy (as are most "square" canopies today, but in my (pretty much worthless) opinion, they are just as safe as any 7-cell, and maybe safer.

Those of us that use hook as a rigger get our very own print-out for free. Don't even have to fire up the printer.

Funny, I think that was the year Bob started jumping. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Oh yeah - the other bad thing about balloons - you usually have to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to jump them. Although they sometimes have late afternoon jumps as well. Don't worry about it M - if you can do a hop-n-pop from 3.5, you can EASILY do a balloon from 5. Right? Plus, they are way more fun.

What I don't get is why would the news story mention his skydiving? What does that have to do with his crimes? Or does the media just like to portray skydivers as bad-boys to sell a story? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

If you can get four people in the balloon to conspire, you should be able to lift her up and chuck her out easily enough Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD