rgoper

well, i know for sure this is a true statement. ol' wyubya is just itching for an excuse. when we go, is a matter of "when" not "if" wyubya is an idiot, little more than the "village idiot" his antics will cost us, and cost us dearly. Dave Mustaine MegaDeth --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Tiffany: Congradulations!

i'm going to have to dissagree with you on this one. next time you go to the drop zone, look at the automobiles, count how many "junkers" vs. how many "yuppie" vehichles you see. then, look to see what kind of equipment everyone has and visually equate that into $$$ inherently this is turning out to be "a rich person's sport" and most of the sky divers i know are professionals, or being educated to be one. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

BINGO! thank you, plus i was born in San Diego. no need for apology, this is your thoughts!

i couldn't have said it better. all good points. war will only costs human lives, it is a sacrrifice no human should have to make, but humanity has taught us over the last 2000+- years that this is "normal" behaviour. so it's a "kneejerk" reaction to go to war to settle differences, well that, and to test Boeing's latest technology.war is proof that mankind has no way of communicating in an adult fashion, i think this phrase speaks for itself. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

and yet we wonder why we depend on foreign energy. this makes me sick. bastads! like i said, "this isn't about oil" --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

sad, but true sponsors don't give that much of a discount to their sky divers. you have to come from a wealthy background to "be somebody" in the sport of sky diving, kind of like tennis. gear is expensive, and so is travel and the sport isn't widely accepted enough to be sponsored well. a car race last 500 miles, and you get to see at least 10 high speed wrecks and these guys have all of the major's decals all over their race cars, maybe if we could invent a 500 mile long sky dive with sponsor's logos....? --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

no, while itz true the inception of the "Yuppie Skydiver" idea was mine, i am not # 1. visit "The Dog House" to see which number i am. i have seen the avalanche you speak of at your home dz, last time i was there, i got there before he did, and then he parked next to mine, i had my cut-away that afternoon and left. upon reaching the parking area, there it was the "monster avalanche" dwarfing mine!

the only "hummer" i own right now is my wife! J/K ladies, don't go jumping on me. i don't have an H2 yet, but despite other's opinions, i will be purchasing one after the first of the year, i could care less what the "general review" is. i own a 2002 avalanche right now, and i have been listening to loads of garbage since i bought it, seems everyone but me thinks it's ugly, well, seems like these people aren't around when i make the monthly lease payments. so anyways, that's my .02 USD. c ya in the funnies. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Josh: you should not be afraid of anything you can see, concerned...yes, scared no. what's he gonna do, jump through your monitor and kill you? having said that, if you relly believe CT needs some help, this posts can in no way be condusive to helping him, why don't you instead "lend a hand up" to the young man? we are quick to judge and slow to help someone. take care, be safe. wishing you the best always. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm afraid you might just be granted this wish. all i'll say is i'm glad i didn't do it that way. there is no way a student can land a canopy like this 100 times safely, it's mathamatically impossible. i've got almost 500 jumps, and last jump i made i busted my ass, it was the first time in a long time, but it happened. the only thing for certain in this sport is "you WILL land" --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i agree with your remarks. i think maybe even making "downsizing" a part of training somehow. maybe have them fly a 280+ transition (or equivalent of .08:1) them down to a 1:1 wing? let them experience the "feel" of downsizing, before they lose 89-90 sq feet of canopy when they buy they're own gear? there's gotta be a better way. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'd pay "cold hard cash" to see that! LIVE! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

at the inception of sky diving, sky divers were getting injured because of equipment failure, now many years later, with gear at the height of engineering design with safety at the forefront we have sky divers being seriously injured and killed under fully inflated mains and perfectly good equipment. some of the sky divers that have been at this for over 20+ years will tell you to "fly big" "live long" "land safe" but maybe that's why they've been sky diving as long as they have? i have seen too many people hurt and killed since i started sky diving a short 3 years ago. i'm glad i started at age 41, because if i had started when i was 18, i can tell you i wouldn't be here right now because even as old as i am, i'm still an adrenaline junkie. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

pm'd --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

just got "burned" huh? blow it off man! tomorrow will come whether she's around or not...right? "don't let no grass grow beneath your feet!" chin up, head high, don't never let them see you sweat. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

your probably right on with this statement. i think it's actually a "double edged sword" myself. imo i think canopy control training should be required before a newbie starts flying a "dishrag" for a canopy. i believe as well, some of the newer instructors are flying high performance canopies themselves and are trying to bring a new philosophy to the sport with them. only time will tell if it "pans out" my hope is that the "learning curve" doesn't get too many people hurt, or worse yet kill someone, or get killed themselves. maybe i'm too "conservative?" in the end, people are gonna' do, what they're gonna do. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm sorry, but that's pathetic......i can see getting in a pinch, and needing a "hand up" but advertising it? yich! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

you saying you don't want a girlfriend? but anywho, i always figure "knowledge is power" so how can knowing something hurt you, unless it's something you'd rather not know about? "oh i wish somehow i didn't know now....what i didn't know then" Toby Keith --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i know of one dz in texas, and one in florida that is using semi elipiticals loading up to wings of 1:2:1 for their training programs. i think this is "new wave" and maybe best? most student get off of their training program and are immediately downsizing between 60-80 if not 90 sq ft. of canopy. so it's hard to determine which is the "lesser of two evils" start em' out small, or start em' out big, and let them get small on their own? most people won't listen and downsize rapidly anyway simply because of peer pressure. when i graduated a certain person reccomended a 150 sq ft canopy, (i trained on a 230 at a 1:06:1 wing) but my ex-divemaster put a stop to that when i ordered my equipment, and i wound up with a 210 sq ft, looking back in retrospect, i'm glad i did, although having said that, i was tired of it after only 100 jumps or so, it was like hauling an anvil around! i think the sky diving community needs to make sure new sky divers are fully informed with "correct" information, including all facets of containers and canopies before making any gear decisions after graduation and purchasing their own gear. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'll give you 13 guesses, the first 12 don't count! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm by no means an expert, but i would go with a Triathlon with a 1:1:0 wing load. it's a forgiving canopy and easy to land. on another level, i know of a couple of dz's that are starting their students out on semi-elipiticals. their theory being train them on what their going to wind up with anyway. i don't know how much i buy into this train of thought since it can only lead up to us going one step further and training students on fully elipiticals, maybe even x-braced? but it's being done. what are your thoughts on the matter? --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

this is very funny! it's good to see someone has a sense of humour!

taping a small maglight on your helmet is a great idea. if your jump went as you said, this is really nothing unusaul, it was probably just the brake line twisted up on one side or the other. that is what i would look for, on each side of the tail of the canopy before packing, just follow the outside 4 lines to the toggles, and work the twists out of them. this same thing has happened to me before. be safe, take care! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

gemini: the horns get lucky? haven't heard yet, i'm still in saudi. i guess it's time to go back to DRMS and saw the horns off of that longhorn on the 50 yard line again! i heard the cowboys got lucky as well, emmitt smith with 144 yards rushing? go figure. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"