JohnMitchell

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Everything posted by JohnMitchell

  1. JohnMitchell
    Wow!
  2. JohnMitchell
    Let me know how it works for you.
  3. JohnMitchell
    Dropped toggles have caused many accidents and at least one fatality that I know of. Here's what I teach to reduce the likelihood of dropping a toggle, esp. on final. Always put all 4 fingers thru your steering toggle loops. If you want to use your front riser dive loops to make a turn to final (like I usually do), use only your index and middle finger thru the dive loops, hooking them in but not gripping hard. Meanwhile, insure your ring and pinkie fingers are holding tight your toggle loops. After you finish your front riser turn, straighten your index and middle finger to let go of the dive loops and regrip on your steering toggles. I am not a swooper and know these techniques will not work for what many high performance canopy pilots are doing. However, this technique has worked well for keeping me out of the emergency room.
  4. JohnMitchell
    You're not the first person to do that. Truth be told, I wanted to do the same thing once or twice as a student, but I was too chicken to chicken out. Breathe, relax, visualize the jump going perfectly, realize that being really scared is really normal. Practice some more and go up and make that jump. I survived being scared, and I know you will too.
  5. JohnMitchell
    Good to hear. Welcome back, and hope you can stay this time.
  6. JohnMitchell
    Hope you get lots of work and even a few jumps along the way.
  7. JohnMitchell
    That's the very incident that made me think of this thread
  8. JohnMitchell
    Gotta agree with that. Looks like a great time on vacation, though.
  9. JohnMitchell
    Damn, wish I could make it.
  10. JohnMitchell
    Holy Shit!
  11. JohnMitchell
    You and I still aren't part of the "Metal Mulisha"
  12. JohnMitchell
    Well, that was your 1st mistake. Yes, I think you can run/slide out better in skate shoes instead of grippy boots. I, too, learned on rounds and used to use jump boots. They restrict ankle and foot movement and "feel" in free fall, which hampers your flying. Plus, no one wants to get clunked by those things if the skydiving goes poorly. I've read studies that say the benefit of high top shoes and boots for ankle protection is overestimated. I think technique matters more when you're trying to remain uninjured in a hard landing. A good PLF can be done in tennis shoes quite well. Boots up to your neck won't save you if your legs are apart and the ankles are free to twist. So, wear your boots if you want to. Some people do. Just don't use equipment as a substitute for skill. Still know how to land well and how to PLF when you don't land well. And don't be surprised if people look askance at your footwear. That's just the way it is these days.
  13. JohnMitchell
    You may be thinking of CO2, carbon dioxide. CO is actually slightly lighter than air, by 2-3%.
  14. JohnMitchell
    Darn government supported communist socialized medicine you foreigners have!
  15. JohnMitchell
    Those are accidents; Intentionally breaking windows is not. I doubt it would be covered. I once worked as an insurance agent. You may very well be correct. But I see the damage as not malicious on their part, just extremely ill-informed. I wonder if they wrote "gullible" on the ceiling before they fled.
  16. JohnMitchell
    It's under "idiot employee F-s up the works" clause. Same as driving a fork lift off a dock or backing a truck thru a wall, etc.
  17. JohnMitchell
    I understand European spinal surgery is more advanced than here in the US. Is that treatment even available for Turtle?
  18. JohnMitchell
    Disagree. As much as I think the employees are idiots, things happen when you hire idiots. There's insurance to cover things like that. Employees are NOT subject to "you break it, you bought it." I'd love to meet these employees and get a feel for their level of "common sense." I gotta admit I laughed like heck watching the video from the CA BK smashing the windows out.
  19. JohnMitchell
    I hadn't really thought about the fact that the booster, being at its lightest, needs relatively little of the available thrust for the soft touchdown. I bet they only made that one engine throttleable. Save the weight, expense and complication on the other ones. Cool exercise in engineering. Sure, you have the weight penalty of the extra fuel, but balance that against the weight of adding a parachute recovery system and all its structural reinforcements. Plus the economy of reusing your booster. First glance or intuitive solutions are not always the best, or even correct. Engineers make things happen.
  20. JohnMitchell
    Ha, is there anything more dangerous than a "routine test flight"?
  21. JohnMitchell
  22. JohnMitchell
    In one of the threads recently someone said they wanted my old timed out Cypres. I'd let it go pretty cheap. It's too old for the turn in credit, but still turns on like a champ.
  23. JohnMitchell
    What DougH and everyone else above said.
  24. JohnMitchell
    $375 Canadian. That's a nice value for a bootie suit with grips.
  25. JohnMitchell
    Mark does a lot a belly flying, so grips would be nice to have.