BigMikeH77

Even the big guy appreciates skydiving! (Found this funny collection of skydiving related bible verses!)

In Gibby's defense, the airplane noise MUST be loud.. I mean, if she can hear it over all the voices in her head... (oooooh BURN!)

Excellent point, one that hasn't been brought up yet. I'm fortunate in the sense that my home DZ has easy reference points for spotting; roads on either side of the airport are an excellent indicator.. But your first Hop n' Pop is a great opportunity to really exercise that skill. Just grabbing an instructor or coach and going over spotting on the ground with an aerial map is quick, easy, and adds a potentially new element to the jump. I think that, as a student on your first hop n pop, knowing that your spot is good and knowing WHY your spot is good can actually increase your comfort level with the whole thing. Chances are though, you'll still exit like THIS. It's still tons of fun. I think one of the instructors on the plane had to practically hold my hand on my first.. Now, I love em'!

---AP 20. November 2013 DENVER "A Denver man is lucky to be alive after plummeting nearly 13,000 under a malfunctioned parachute on Wednesday. Michael Haring, an experienced skydiver with 40 jumps, was performing advanced maunevers in freefall such as front and back flips and barrell rolls - skills that are used in international competition. When he pulled the ripcord to deploy his main parachute, it failed to open leaving the outermost cells of the chute uninflated. "As a skydiver, you don't have a lot of time to react in life-threatening situations like this. I could have cut the main parachute away and opened my reserve, but I quickly analyzed the situation and made the decision to stick with what I had and make it work." What Michael did once he realized the parachute had totally malfunctioned was aggressively pull on the back "risers" in to inflate the chute properly and land safely. In a situation where most would have cut away, this skydivers intrepid mindset and courageous actions serve as a shining example of bravery in the face of death." CAN I BE A PRINCE NOW???

Welcome :-) What part of the country?

What ARE you doing in that tunnel???

Now GA is the scapegoat for poor housetraining according to the first link..

/0/0 Stupid cloud. Stupid wind.

Hi and welcome! Good luck with your student progression - with practice, your arms and legs and head will all work together

I've been a BMF since kindergarten. I stole the number 7 from Mrs. Jackson's class.

Really, REALLY bad!

Unadulterated genius.

I once dug for an IED with my bare hands because it was a "really nice day" just in case.. Now here I am, eating Junior Mints... Edited to include: My mom would KICK MY ASS if she knew that

Extra pointz for FELONY CONDUCT!

I'm a BMF!

Do you think a CEO and the executive board of, say, McDonalds making millions upon millions in salary and tangible benefits is respectable? They line their pockets with the profits from slaving their workers for less-than-living wages, and have the public pick up the slack by providing medicaid/food stamps/other subsidies.. Tell me why it's wrong for aomeone in charge of running a multi,multi million-dollar charity that benefits veterans to have a salary of roughly one-tenth of what a for-profit CEO would make?

Yes this looks legit to me. I've see much more popular charities with significantly greater operating expenses - for example, the Make-A-Wish foundation. These are still great organizations. Not-for-profit doesn't mean that the organizers work for free. Sorry to burst your bubble

I think there are more people banned from CQS than there are active participants cult members. I earned my ban months ago when I released the Hitler parody

^^ Me too. Too much new makes me uncomfortable and almost certainly takes the fun out of fun jump. It's really hard for me to say 'next time' to jumping with a friend because there's so much more to be gained than if I'm jumping solo... But if it's a 5 minute call and I'm set in my dive flow it's best not to change that.

Thanks for posting that. I certainly understand the situation a bit better.

It's difficult for me to really tell what's going on in the video... Clearly the use of digital zoom indicates there is a good deal of altitude still, and I see what appears to be a line-over (is that correct?) malfunction. The pilot cuts the malfunctioned main away, and then for a moment it looks like the reserve canopy is still inside the freebag and in tow - as though it doesn't "want" to open. After that the camera follows the main to the ground. So I'm slightly confused - Did the pilot wait to deploy his reserve or did the reserve deploy upon cutaway but not open?

I've never been in a cutaway situation... But I can't imagine that when the time comes I would be worried about whether or not I recover the main. That just doesn't seem like it would, or should be, a priority at that moment.

Eat at my favourite restaurant.

Ooo... yeah... no can-do! It's right on a flight path! Plus I hear it doesn't have hardwood floors. I like my hardwood floors! And these days, it's granite for the countertops or no deal!