dcgilbert

Hey, I think I was on that jump. It was not what I would call sloppy by any means. Nice job!! Sloppy was the three way I did with Ingrid and march later. That would have been an interesting video.

Man Marc. I know it's the slow season for farmers, but how much time did that take you?

Most plastics are pretty good UV blockers themselevs. When I was working with a UV laser we tested the plastic lenses in our clear goggles (impact protective type). They blocked 95+% of the UV from 200 to about 350 nm. (The visible region starts around 400 nm or so) Dave

Gee, and here you told me it was "Thousands Standing Around." See what I get for trusting those pilot types. Hope you're enjoying Florida. Dave

Deleted and taken to PM.

Hi, I jump at Frontier. J.C. (Castile, NY) and Joe E. are the main riggers there. PM me and I'll send you JC's number if you want it. You can call the DZ to get in touch with Joe. Your profile says you jump at Frontier. Closing/cleanup weekend will be Nov. 8-9. You can probably talk to Joe there. Hope this helps, Dave

OK, here's my advice for dealing with medical people and questions about skydiving- don't. I have a rebuilt ACL from soccer (football to you). When I asking them about returning to skydivng, their answer was never. (I returned 12 years later- college and graduate school got in the way). They don't know the physical demands of skydiving on the body, what's needed to run out a landing, etc. Ask them when you can play football, rugby, baketball, tennis, etc. again. When they clear you for sports, you're probably about as ready as you will ever be. The medical people are much more used to answering those questions. (Note- I have no medical training in this area, just my own experience.) Hope this helps. Dave

Sent you a private message Dave

------------ US Air has no policy on parachutes ------------ Actually, they do. I'm flying US Air in August. One of their pilots jumps at our dropzone. According to him, rigs are allowed as carryons so long as they meet size and weight requirements. I was also able to get a (quite dated) letter from USPA stating rigs are allowed by US Air. They have letters on file from most carriers. You might try that. Dave

I had my ACL reconstructed in 1992 after I got kicked in a soccer game. The graft came out of the middle of the patella tendon. I spent six months in the gym before the sugery working on my quads, hamstings, hip flexors, and ab/adductors (sp?). I spent about 6 months in therapy, another 6 rehabing on my own and never did make it back to play competitive soccer. But the knee is probably 95% today and I can do just about all recreational sports with a brace. That said, this was 13 yaers ago. I had a conservative surgeon who made me wait six weeks to heal before starting rehab. There were 16-18 (I was 21) year olds with different surgeons that were rehabbing 1 or 2 days after their surgery. Nothing heavy, but range of motion exercises to prevent scar tissue growth. They were out of therapy before I was. I know one went on to play college hoops somewhere and another played lacrosse. The surgery has come so far since I had it done, that most people make it back. Check with your surgeon, but go into the surgery as fit as possible and get into rehab as quick as you can. See the stories of Jerry Rice and Clint Mathis for two guys that came back pretty quick. There's also a woman at my DZ that blew her ACL on landing and is back with no problems. She doesn't even wear a brace. Hope this helps. Dave

Got it. Thanks.

OK, this is my 'pre-second' (yeah, I know) post here after lurking for quite a while. Assuming the airspeed of the aircraft is still 80 knots or so, why would jumpers fall straight down? I'd expect them to be pushed behind the aircraft by the realtive wind- which is still 80 knots. I've read the separation article, but I still would expect jumpers to drift away from the plane at 80 knots, at least until they get out of the higher speed uppers. What am I missing?