ZoneRat

zzz..[mumble]...level proximity grips... level proximity grips...zzz...hey, when did Jenifer Aniston join our team?... arch a little harder sweetie..there ya go...zzz...

hands Sebazz another brew....and unceremoniously passes out.

ssssssshhh... [almost, but not quite a whisper] Silent thread! Besides....Honest...it wasn't me. Found these empty beer bottles... just cleaning up a little...[/almost, but not quite a whisper] hic°° ° “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

burp... 'scuze me. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

[whisper] that's cool, man... thanks [/whisper] POP

[think] man... what a cheater...oh well... internal mental yawn.... hmmm...Or was it Jedi mind tricks? [/think] “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Skydive Dallas is an SDU campus. Additionally, there's a ton of RW folk out there every weekend. Quite a few new RW jumpers with about the same number of jumps as you have as well. The past couple weeks some of us intermediate lvl guys have been been allocating our "Early Bird" 10.00 jumps as drill dives with those new jumpers. I personally find those jumps very enjoyable and rewarding. I love jumping with young jumpers. Come on out sometime. Ask around for some guy named Robin. If I can't jump with ya (I have team training this weekend, but I'm free next weekend) I'll absolutely take the time to introduce you to folk that would love to make a few jumps with ya. Who knows, we might even get you your SCR!

I fly on a rookie 4-way and a rookie 8-way team. The fall rate of both teams are typically about 110 sas. I can handle it fine with a slightly de-arched boxman, but I'd love to learn the mantis. My question is this: Can the range of a mantis typically encompass the fall rate of a boxman position? I don't really want to hassle with buying a slower jumpsuit so I can mantis with my box flying friends. Am I out of luck then? Thoughts? “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Well... I'm a ZoneRat... any room for a simple RW spud in the mix? I can keep the hybrid from spinning, if that helps at all... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

My gawd. What an UGLY, UGLY rig. Was that a gift from your wuffo girlfriend? Is it too late to return it or did she find it in a garage sale? Tell me you're not going to jump that death trap! Kidding. She's a beaute... Have fun with her ya lucky bastahd! “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Anyone flown a biplane with the toggles? How did it work? I have. At the time I had a 170 spectre and a 170 tempo reserve. Both 7-cells. Same size & same/ similar line lengths. I saddled at about 850' right above a trailer house with lawn crap all around it and had to steer it to a safe landing area. I unstowed the front toggles and ever so gently gave a little input, then went back to full glide on the front canopy... while I waited a couple sec's to see what would happen. The front would turn a few degrees then the rear would slowly catch up, bumping it's nose to the tail of the front canopy. Then I'd turn a little more. Then wait and watch. It felt way strange. Like driving through slippery mud or on slushy ice. It takes much time from input to result. You have to be VERY VERY gentle and patient. It took several small turns to get the hang of it, but I was able to not only avoid the trailer, but put it into the wind as well. This happened on Safety Day. This is one of those jumps to which my signature refers. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Ok. So lets say you're walking through the hangar and you see one skydiver venting/ unloading on another. Should you, as a bystander, take any action to difuse the situation? Should one say, for example: "Hey man. We don't handle it like that around here. Take an hour and calm your ass down. Then have a calm talk in private. Alright?" or... is it a bad move to get in any way involved? Thoughts? “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

If in doubt, don't go out. One of our coolest manifest gals was up for a quick hop n' pop last Sunday. A weather front was moving in, but it was believed that one more otter load could make. She was poised at the door looking back and forth between the weather front and the green light. She thought "That looks bad, but I just don't want to ride the plane down!" then she thought "Whoa, did I just think that?" She recognised her thought was a signal that her mind wasn't where it needed to be, and stepped back from the door. As she did so, the pilot killed the green light and started yelling that no one jump. The winds came up from 0-5 mph to 38 with gusts to 45. This happened literally within 1-2 minutes time. She would've launched under moderate winds and landed in a whirling multi-directional shit storm. It wouldn't have been pretty. My respect for her went way up when she told me her thought process on that one... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

My first container was a Velcro laden Dolphin. On about my 6th FF attempt, someone I respected clued me into the dangers of FF'ing that rig. I didn't do it again. Couldn't afford another at the time so I was forced to develop some belly skills. (What the hell, it's all skydiving. It's all fun.) Because of that I was invited onto a rookie/ goofball 4-way team, a rookie/ hardcore 8-way team, multiple hoop dives and raft dives, scrambles comps, and a handful of sunset formation loads. Not bragging. I'm no prodigy. All the other upstarts that went RW are just as good and have done just as much, and more. But dude, how fun is all THAT! Yep. That old-ass dolphin was the best thing that ever happened to my skydiving. Eventually, I did get a Vector 3... Now, when I'm tired of flat work I'll treat myself with a sit with my FF buds. Because I do it so rarely it remains a treat. All that flat work helped me pick up the sit very easily. Air's air, I guess. The V3 is IMHO a far better rig. You can tell that when you pack it. FF or not, I like the secondary riser flaps that run all the way down the back of the rig. I like the 100% bridal protection. I like the way the closing loop is located on the bottom flap rather than the bottom of the Dolphin container pouch, where excess lines are stowed. It just feels tighter and better engineered than the Dolphin. That Dolphin was more comfy, though. Still have it, still trust it, and am looking forward to eventually piecing it together as my second rig. Belly rig, that is... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Aim for the DZO! or better yet, aim for the peas! (That way others can say "Nice Spot!") “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

~Vibes WW~ It's tough to be treated like the village idiot. Once that spotlight's on you, it seems like every flaw minor or major is open for communal examination and comment. You can do everything right for 100 jumps, then a visible mistake occurs, and tears it all down. Rise above. Rise above and wait... Another village idiot will eventually come to take your place. When he does, show him kindness. Reread Tonto's post. Tonto make heap good sense. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

• 8 hours, bottle to toggle. • Ya start out with two buckets. An empty one labeled experience. A full one labelled luck. Try to fill the first before the second runs out. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Post whore away. One of my coaches just got the ruby-nona-pony-dodeckahedran-whatever badge for 180 hours of freefall time. Once he secretly lurked a 3-way tracking dive I was on, right after attending a max track ground training seminar. There I was blasting away, theoretcally max-tracking when I sudenly noticed him on my immediate left- grinning at me. The bastard was doing a side slide. I hope my track has improved since then. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Yeah, Sunday was a damn good day. I'm one of those goofballs that likes awards: SCR,SCS, 4-Stack, SCSA, Falcon, Eagle. Almost made the vSCR...but didn't. Congrats on your NSCA! And you also achieved the Golden Falcon and Golden Eagle on that 125-way, ya know... I doubt I'll ever try a vNSCR. Scary monsters, that. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

2000! That totally rocks, man! Let's see...2000 (x) oh, say an avg of $16.00/ jump + gear, beer and DZ food... that comes out to... Oh, wow. Best not to think about it like that... “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”

Hey Wendy! Good to hear from ya! We met about a month ago at TSL at Spaceland. We were pumped about the SCSA. Brett and Shayne have been LO'ing a handful of zoo-load hoop dives every month for a year and a half, without success. Came close many times, but never nailed it. It became personal. Next time you're at SDD, we'll put one together for ya! Maybe we can make it a DZ.com hoop dive... Robin “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophies.”