darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. darkwing
    There are many kinds of hernia. Before the advice starts spreading too much maybe you could be a little more specific. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. darkwing
    The incident you cite may or may not be real, but I can absolutely, positively say that the drug scene in skydiving is vastly diminished from what it was 25-30 years ago. People in all walks of life have been "tuning up" inappropriately since the dawn of recreational chemistry (alcohol and mushrooms, about 1 million years BC). Don't be surprised, or even especially disappointed, to find it is still the case. It isn't any worse a thing to do in skydiving than it is in many, many other endeavors, from driving, to lifeguarding, to operating heavy equipment, to babysitting for the neighbors. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. darkwing
    Maybe closer, or faster to get to, would be
  4. darkwing
    While there may be an isolated case (as specified by the manufacturer) where that is true, it is NOT generally true. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. darkwing
    I remember an impassioned plea that Bill gave at the 1979 World Meet. The problem was that someone had stolen the Chinese flag, and the Chinese thought it was an insult (when it was actually high praise). Bill spoke eloquently on the socio-political ramifications of the theft, and asked us to return it. I am not aware that it was anyone on the US team that lifted it. I think it eventually got returned though. I will miss him, his Christmas cards, and his stories, at least some of which were true. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. darkwing
    I'm going to disagree with you on this Sparky. I believe that aspect ratio is connected to reliability. Lower aspect = more reliable. This was certainly the view in the early days by the developers of the ram air reserve (Para-Flite), and I believe that more recent canopy manufacturers continue to hold the view that rectangular, with lower aspect ratio makes for better reliability. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. darkwing
    I think it is an unbelieveably bad idea. Even with the hearing issues (although there are good, safe, deaf skydivers), you have the distraction issue. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. darkwing
    In 1974 we were doing night jumps in Star, Idaho, and the controller in Boise asked if we would put some foil in our jumpsuits so he could see us. It apparently worked. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. darkwing
    take them to a DZ on a nice day so they can watch. Have them buy you a cypres/vigil for Christmas... You are a big girl now. I wouldn't let them dictate to you. Next thing you know they'd be saying "You are not allowed to date that guy...." -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. darkwing
    CSpenceFLY & The RoamingDZ plus a few quarts of Peach Mountain Dew Mrs RoamingDZ.com Popsjumper Psycho Bob & Psycho Patty (My wife) RkyMtnHigh stl135... Wonderhog... Thanatos340 Skymama jumpchikk Goofyjumper Skinnyshrek Flytex revillusion Skychick312 & Avalonwings Lauralicious Skyjenb Skydivermandy and Dave Darkwing ... and I'll be bringing some of my peeps along. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. darkwing
    No problem. You should ask other riggers who got examined by the DPRE you have how their tests went. Our DPRE at his last examination here said something like... "Well I see you have packed a lot of ram air reserves, so you will back a round for this test." We had to kludge together a packing table... ps - do what the manufacturers directions say. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. darkwing
    The real answer is, unfortunately for you, "it depends." Wear depends on where it was jumped (sunny, dusty desert, versus green grass and high clouds), how many jumps it has, how it was stored, and other things. You really need to have it inspected to decide. There are some worn out 4 year old canopies, and some very serviceable 12 year old canopies. It would be best if you went over a canopy with a rigger, and they could point out things to look for. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. darkwing
    There are too many variables and too little information in your note. As you move to higher performance canopies, you will find the method you describe will put you in the hospital. Some students alread jump the aforementioned higher performance canopies, so they should listen to their instructors. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. darkwing
    I have a friend with a Wings, and he got a one-upsized main and I consider it to be over tight, at least from the perspective of damaging the container. As others said though, it depends on several factors, and if it is too late anyway, well you will find out. I caution you against over stuffing a container. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. darkwing
    There may be unscrupulous riggers out there, but I have certainly NEVER known of this to happen. I would treat it as an extremely serious infraction if I believed it happened. I would consider it criminally negligent. If you think it happened wouldn't that be enough to make you use another rigger? Trust is everything (well, not everything, but a lot). -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. darkwing
    There was a hybrid 2 surface and 1 surface wing called a Volplane that might be what you are remembering. It had two surfaces on the front half of the canopy, and a single surface on the back half. Here is an image of one, although not a good image. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. darkwing
    Are you sure that is a PC? It looks like the apex is 1.1 oz fabric, which I thought was a feature of Papillons. Did PCs have that too? Heck I used to own one... But there are a lot of misplaced memories in my brain. Maybe Palillons had a lip on the front too. Heck, now that I think of it, there was a Russian PC-like thingy too, the UT-15 or is that something completely different? Edit to add: Nice PLF position going there. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. darkwing
    Wow, I'm too lazy to contact them, but I hope a few people do. Make sure you do so nicely, and give them some solid credentials when you give them a better explanation. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. darkwing
    It will unravel. It shouldn't be done that way anyway, the running end should be fingertrapped back into the line, leaving a loop and knot at the bottom to thread onto the toggle. No loose ends.... -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. darkwing
    I mostly care about student safety, and those issues do not necessarily compromise student safety. They are, however, a little tacky, if true. Is the DZO aware? If so, then I put most of the blame on the DZO. I doubt I'd decide to become the policeman for USPA, unless safety was compromised, then I might. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. darkwing
    I've never been there, but here are some reviews on our own DZ.com -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. darkwing
    I used to have a Singer 97-10. It would sew through a silver dollar. It woulnd't even notice your thumb. You would though. Practice, practice, practice. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. darkwing
    I've been thinking about this since you first posted. After much thought I think you did the wrong thing. I have seen several times cases where a seemingly static situation deteriorated. In your case it could have happened a couple of ways. As one person mentioned, the knot could have cleared at flare time. Also, being that deep means your canopy was MUCH more susceptible to a stall induced by turbulence from any source--wake turbulence from other canopies, thermals, gusts... I am very glad you came out OK, but I think you erred. I am willing to debate the philosophy that "if you walked away from it you did the right thing." -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. darkwing
    Pretty standard for a beginner actually. The backloops got better as he went. Definitely needs some tracking practice. That's what being a student is all about. Heck, in ten years he may be a world champion, and you and I will be begging to get on loads with him. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. darkwing
    I can't speak for Bill, but I have a terminal opening on a 24 foot flat circular, un-diapered canopy and it wasn't bad. I've had harder openings on modern ram-air mains. -- Jeff My Skydiving History