jerry81

All of them

-clouds -no clouds -flags -anything that smells remotely like airplane fuel -the "Skydiver on board" sign on my car -anything that smells remotely like the rotten insides of our airplane -any kind of aircraft -anything high enough to jump from -driving fast with the top down -boring classes (I invariably start thinking that I should at least be wearing a "I'd rather be skydiving" T-shirt) ...are just some of the things that remind me of skydiving. Generally speaking, I'd say I think of it every 30 minutes on a 'normal' day, and about every waking moment on mondays and tuesdays after good weekends.

The Porter, eh?Are you getting it for free yet, national freefly champions? So did Vili join you? He seems just the pilot to really do it. And I'm sure he'd love chasing skydivers down, too. Anyway, thanks for bringing this up. I'm going to Bovec tomorrow for a week and I just might do a h&p or two from altitude and enjoy the mountain scenery.

I know the feeling. Both my city and my trekking bike vanished from our garage three months ago. Serious bad vibes to whomever took your motorcycle!

The only problem is that when done properly it's so gooooood you don't wanna open your canopy just yet. And you can get a "little low" while enjoying in tracking Exactly how I feel about it. We should have a tracking/low-pulling contest sometime.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items in front of him. He picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar as he shook it lightly. The pebbles of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar, the students laughed. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. “Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognise that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health and your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.” “If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.” “If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.” “Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing.” “There will always be time to go to work, clean the house and fix the car. Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . But then...A student took the jar which the other students and the professor agreed was full, and proceeded to pour in a glass of beer. Of course the beer filled the remaining spaces within the jar making the jar truly full. The moral of this tale is: That no matter how full your life is, there is ALWAYS ROOM FOR BEER.

My mom once accidentally pricked herself with a needle after giving a shot to a woman who was telling her how her sailor boyfriend just got back from Holland. Luckily, all she got from it was a big scare. I do believe quantity plays a role in transmitting diseases and while a used needle isn't the best thing to get jabbed with, if it only had traces of blood, chances are your friend will be fine. !Vibes! to her, of course.

Something for the good/bad/ugly thread; Good: You're doing your bd nekkid dive. Bad: Your diarrhea has just come back. Ugly: You're in a 20-way. I disgust myself.

It is past midnight over here, so I'm kicking back and enjoying a nice mojito. Thinking about making me another one soon.

I generally agree with that. But try repeating this statement the next time terrorists strike in the States and see what happens.

"A gust of wind caught me just as I jumped from the plane.." (explaining why his position on exit was somewhat less then perfect) Another student: "I just knew I was gonna mix something up." (after landing and triumphantly cutting away his main rather than picking it up.)

Only in America...

I found that if you're willing to wait a bit sometimes, WinMX is great for downloading hard to find music- classical, non-mainstream jazz, full albums...stuff you just can't get on Kazaa.

There's a parafoil with this (or similar) setup at our club. I remember the girl who usually jumps it complaining about her openings being too slow, sometimes taking over 1000' and often requiring some pumping of the brakes. So I guess it helps.

You forgot to add; 1 Head Honcho to delete the thread because it was eating up more bandwidth than the titee bar.

Agreed- this is one of the reasons I said it was two different worlds. That, and I intended to pull a bit low and I like knowing that the air below me is 100% clear. It was a Porter. From where I was sitting, I could have moved only to the wingstrut. Somehow, I doubt that. The person organizing this 8-way was the most experienced of the group and he was also probably the most dangerous person I had seen that weekend. Agreed. However, I still think you Americans usually don't completely understand just how different an approach to this sport people have here. For one thing, there aren't any commercial dropzones and the necessary banning or grounding of certain people would cause some big personal grudges- something few, if any, organizers wish to risk. It sucks. Second; I've been jumping for a year. The best I can do right now is to educate myself as best as I can (hence this thread) and possibly pass this knowledge on to jumpers with lower numbers who are willing to listen. In another year, I'll probably be able to start influencing others too, but right now, I'm quite certain noone would pay any attention to me. And btw, I saw one person who claims to be competent enough to hold canopy seminars crash his pocket rocket most of the landings and then take it out on people who "blocked" him on final approach with their big canopies. Go figure. Me, I learned a lot, mostly from the replies here. Others- who knows if they were even aware of me...

'nuff said. You can't trust him as far as you can throw him. NPS rangers are criminals. NPS and parachutes do not mix.

Does opening it with a screwdriver/nailfile/swiss army knife count as a keyless entry? Anyway, I'm getting an error too. But I don't need a webpage to know my car is cool.

First of all; clicky! Second, I think they look exactly like Peerser goggles- try searching the forums for them.

First of all, safety-wise, the States and here is just two different worlds. I'm constantly seeing people do things that would (from what I read here) get them grounded or banned in America. Second, getting under the group apparently was my mistake, caused by thinking I was out of harms' way at my altitude. I realize now that someone with a mal can easily hit you even if you think you're low enough. But regardless of that, the facts remain that this formation did not break high enough to insure everyone had their own airspace (a bit irrelevant, but it was still scary to hang there waiting for an entanglement to drop down by you) and they pulled low, even though they had students among them and they knew there was likely to be an open canopy somewhere below. I've no problem admitting that I screwed up, but I'd still be mad if a person who just decided to hum it fell through my canopy at 1500'. Anyway, live and learn...

I don't know if I've seen his latest simulation, but I've seen one version of it. I agree that exiting after them would have prevented this, but since they obviously did a thing or two wrong, too, I'm still curious if there's anything I can do to feel more safe when I'm flying back to the dz. Also, in my defense, the plane was a porter and since the exit they practiced on the ground seemed pretty awkward, there's a possibility that they might have accidentally taken me with them if I waited to go last.

This happened to me on the last jump on sunday; I was in a load consisting of me and a fun-jump 8-way. I exited first and flew headdown for most of the dive, hummed it a bit (for my standards, anyway) and was in the saddle around 1800. I opened above almost the exact spot where I exited, so to get to the dz I had to fly down the jump run. So there I was, flying into a slight headwind, heading straight for the landing zone, when at around 1500', the sky about 300' in front and above me literally fills with canopies. The other group apparently took its time on exit, but they probably drifted towards me a bit. More important, they had almost no separation on opening (think Cutaway, the movie) and they all pulled too low for (my) comfort. The guy leading this group had a couple of 1000 jumps, is an accomplished base jumper and has once killed another skydiver by falling through his canopy. From what I've seen, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near or below him on final approach and now even being in the same load doesn't sound very appealing. Obviously, I have now a slightly longer list of people around which I should be even more careful than usual, but I'd like to know if there are any general suggestions for making sure someone doesn't fall on you. Pulling lower might have been the thing that saved me this time, but I'll soon be flying a smaller elliptical canopy on which opening that low really doesn't sound like a very good idea. Perhaps I should start tracking even on solo jumps so that I don't fly directly along the jump run on the way back, but then there's still the matter of groups breaking and people tracking away, which might again put someone above me. I hope I don't sound too paranoid- I trust most of the people I usually jump with, but when I'm at a larger boogie, I'd just like to know I'm doing everything I can to prevent someone else's mistake from hurting me.

I suggested that we use an escrow service, but he either didn't notice it or didn't want the extra hassle, since it was after this message that he told me he was going on leave soon and would like to close the deal before he left. Anyway, if I don't hear from him by this evening, I think I'll just put his address on the ignore list and stop worrying about it.

Well, it was me who found this guy and me who suggested Western Union, so... But then again, I wouldn't put it past the Russian Mob to pose as a 250lbs park ranger in an attempt to get his hard-earned 700$ from an unsuspecting (and hopefully overseas) skydiver.

Here's the situation; A few weeks ago, I found an ad on http://classifieds.skydivewww.com/ for just the canopy I'm looking for (Cobalt 135) with very few jumps and a price that seemed almost too good to be true. The guy selling it lives in Brooklyn, but said he had no problems with Western Union money transfer and an overseas buyer (I live in Europe). I asked him a few questions about the canopy and why he was selling it, and he told me that he broke his foot after two jumps on it- apparently, his wingloading was over 2.0. Also, the serial number he sent is indeed the number of a Cobalt 135 manufactured in April '01 as the ad stated- I checked with the manufacturer himself. Still not satisfied completely, I tried contacting Atair (the US division) to arrange an inspection of this canopy, but apparently all I've heard about them not answering their emails is true. The seller says he can't get them on the phone, either, although I didn't check this. Anyway, a few days ago he told me he was going on vacation soon and won't be back 'till mid-August and that he can ship the canopy next week if I can send the money that fast. I said no problem, and told him what to do (how to pack the canopy, get a price quote for shipping with FedEx, send me his personal information for the WU transfer etc.) and the last message I got from him was three days ago, telling me he will check on those things and get back to me the same day. Now, from what I've been able to find out about him, he's a NPS ranger currently stationed in New York at the Grant Memorial. Apparently, his duty sometimes gets in the way of doing other things and sending out emails. His name is Chris Kounkel, just in case someone knows him. My dilemma, of course, is if I should trust him. On one hand, I can't find any big holes in what he told me so far and I never got the impression that he's trying to screw me. Truth be told, from his emails he sounds like he's not exactly very bright. On the other hand, I'm not very good at judging people and I know for a fact that sometimes wishing something were true makes me see only the things that support this wish. I've thought about sending him the money and the number of the transfer, but not telling him the password for picking up the cash until I see that his package has shipped. Having not heard from him for three days, I am more and more leaning towards dismissing the whole thing, and I guess I'd like to hear some opinions on what you think I should do. Bear in mind, though, that I usually don't trust hunches, because doing what "feels" right can easily mean one thing today and another tomorrow. Oh, and if someone has a Cobalt 135 to sell, do contact me.