riddler

Hey Glen - I would've sent you a private message, but you have them disabled (I think - it says I can't send one to you). I tend to jump more at Brush these days, but I also jump at Mile-Hi sometimes. Next time I see you, I want to take a closer look at your hook-knife setup, so I can get some ideas.

Once again, you guys amaze me with your brilliance. I thought this was a great idea, so I did it. Just want to add that I have an awesome rigger who offered to do this for me for no charge. But where's the fun in that? Plus, I want to be a rigger some day myself, so might as well practice. I bought a button kit at Home Depot for USD $5. I already had needle, thread and scissors. I attached three pics. The one called materials shows the basic materials I started out with. The one called final is after stitching and attaching the button. The one called rig shows how it fits into my "mudflap" (thanks, Bill ) - you can just see the top of the knife above the top edge of the mudflap. I think the tape is a good idea for keeping the knife from sliding around in the mudflap, but I'm not sure the best way to attach it - anyone have pics of that? Also, thanks to Square1 for the free pull-up cords that I used for basic materials to make it myself. I feel like the Martha Stewart of skydiving.

Personally, I can't believe that considering how few people in the world jump out of airplanes, that there can be so much tension between us. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I didn't get video or pics, but they said to wait 6 months to skydive. Overall, I am very happy with it. 2 years ago, and I still have great vision. No problem jumping, diving, or anything else. Congratulations! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Ah - OK I'm so used to ignoring everyone's signature, and I thought that was one. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Try telling that to the post office. They suck. They always recommend I get direct deposit. I can't believe the post office would say "don't use our service for important things", but that's essentially what they tell me. Most of my contract work is with a small company that hasn't set up direct deposit yet. Usually at the three-week mark, I get them to FedEx another check. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I submitted a fax for my C license number and card on Dec 20th and I haven't heard anything back yet. Looks like there has been no charge on my credit card. I'm leanin' towards calling and finding out if there's a problem, but I heard they are preparing to move and also my mail service sucks (I often get paychecks 3 weeks late). Should I call and find out? Anyone else been waiting long? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I think I have a pic of where he landed too - yeah here it is. I think they made it into some sort of tourist arttraction. P.S. - I didn't see his comments - is there another link? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Just want to mention that I got the keyboard and mouse from UPS today. I have two laptops, each with it's own Cordless freedom keyboard and mouse. The Logitech people were smart enough to use separate channels, so they work independently of each other. HOWEVER, there is some interference in the mice - when my G/F uses her mouse, mine gets delayed quite a bit. But I'm willing to live with that

At least you're not in Denver. Here's a pic from my back window. Lots of flakes. Low today = -2. High = 14 (F). No jumping THIS weekend Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Bill - is the function of this to give protection to the stitching there? And can you see any problem with having an aluminum hook-knife in that space? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Shotgun at Square1 was able to set me up with a few personal items, including a nice aluminum hook-knife. I attached a pic. I'm wondering the best way to attach this to my rig. I already have a button on the fabric cover of the shoulder strap - I'm not that good with gear names, so please forgive me. In the pic, my finger is pointing at it. I was planning on sliding the hook knife into the space between the fabric cover and the three-ring straps, as shown in the pic. But it seems I also need a piece of fabric that has a similarly sized button that I can attach to the knife. Are most of these buttons the same size? This one looks to be about 3/8" on the snap. Can I get a strap that is attached to the knife and also has a button snap on it? Or should I just get a cover with a button snap? I think a cover is one extra step I would prefer to not have. Should I just get a rigger to make me something, or is there something commercially available that's cheap? Also, I wouldn't at all be offended if anyone wants to chime in with the names of these rig parts that I don't know. I'm sure someone has come up with a better name than "fabric that covers the part of the shoulder strap where the three-ring straps are sewn to the container and holds in the cable-release conduits". But that's where I'm thinking about putting my hook knife.

Sorry - meant to say 1:1 glide ratio on the shuttle. Need to type slower. The first number being forward distance, and the second being the altitude loss. Your canopy, depending on it's size can vary, but many student canopies fly at 3:1 - three feet forward for every foot dropped. Then there are those people with REALLY small canopies ... And of course, you change the glide ratio when you flare. The shuttle lands at over 200 MPH (~330 KPH), so it's a tad faster on landing than everyone but hooknswoop. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Security is going to be so tight in those buildings, you won't be able to even sneak in a closing pin hidden in your ass. I'm sure somebody will eventually figure a way to get in there with a rig, but it's going to be a challenge. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Sorry - another correction. Thanks N. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

As far as I know, the STS does not have such capability. Remember that the orbiter (the part that is often called the shuttle) is unpowered - it isn't much more than a fancy glider (except with a glide ratio of something like 1:10, it glides like a brick). Correction - I should say it has minimal power - enough to turn in space but not enough to provide complete thrust for itself in earth's atmosphere. Separating from the boosters during lift-off would be a disaster scenario for the orbiter, since it doesn't have power to even right itself, much less get into a landing pattern. The external tank (the big orange booster that the foam came off of) is manufactured at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, where I used to work. You can bet they're under lockdown right now, with NASA confiscating all files. Same thing happened with Challenger - I worked with an upper-stage booster that was inside the Challenger when it was destroyed. NASA locks down everything and goes through all records when things like this happen. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

You guys have no sense of artistry. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So it's funny that I don't watch TV, but we were in a restaurant a few hours ago having brunch and they had a TV with no sound showing FoxSports. There was a 20 minute segment on base jumping. They had shots from Bridge day in California (Auburn?), Norway and Moab(?). I saw a few people that jump at Mile-Hi. Anyone else see it, or was in that segment? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I knew there was a reason I can't compete! Just wait until Qwest sets me up with ATM to my LAN. I'm also working on some AI bots to respond to random posts on dz.com using my login - beware of strange-sounding posts from me that make little sense. Here's an example: "Yeah, [AggieDave], My skydiving packer held FreeFall into the BOC". I didn't say it was good AI. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That's a damn good idea! You could have people do tandems while exploring the history of the sport. Or they may change their minds and do one after looking at the cool pics and memorabilia. The only problem would be having a DZ that close to Washington - I'm sure the SS (Secret Service) would have an issue with trouble-makers in planes so close to the capital, congress, pentagon, et al. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My dungeon's nicer than Steve's. When are ya gonna visit? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

22 is pretty darn good for 2 years. I've been to 7 in a year and a half. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't think most riggers pull the main canopy out of the d-bag - they just unhook the 3-ring and pull out the whole thing, so they can get at the reserve better. Unless you're embarrassed about the line-stows, no-one's gonna notice Just want to give props to hooknswoop, who, whilst repacking my reserve, did quite a bit on my rig that other riggers have not, including flexing the three-ring release on the main. Not trying to advertise here, but I have to say that there are some very cool riggers out there who genuinly care about the equipment, the sport and the poeple. I doubt any of them would give you a hard time about how you packed the main, but they might offer you some free advice on how to better pack it Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Jessd - if you are using Internet Explorer 6 (Help->About Internet Explorer), especially with Windows XP, MicroSquash has a new "feature" that automatically resizes images to fit the browser window. Like Microsoft, this feature sucks. But if you point your mouse somewhere in the browser window and click *once* and hold the mouse still for a few seconds, you will get a button that suddenly appears in the browser window. I enclosed a screenshot to show you. You can then click this button once to enlarge the photo. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD