Jimbo

I think about how much I wish I had the money to get a new canopy. Someone should give me money. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Heh. Make them give you a discount since it's been in an accident. "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Glad to hear you dealt with the malfunction, but are you _sure_ you beat the RSL? If you did it means you probably pulled your handles out of sequence, but without the reserve ripcord we'll never really know. Not suggesting that you did anything wrong, but if you think about how the RSL operates you'll realize that 'beating' the RSL (a) isn't likely, and (b) isn't really a good thing. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

I agree, you should be a solid belly flyer before taking up freeflying, you should at least be able to turn a 4 point 4 way. It's all about awareness. At 10 jumps you don't have SHIT for ANY skills, no awareness or skills makes freeflying extremely dangerous. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

PLF? Try it. Now's the time to perfect that little move, it could save you a bone or two later on. I really think that this is one of those things that just comes with experience. Have you talked to your JMs? - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Hi Chile - don't forget to add in the weight of clothes, gear, breakfast.... - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

That's pretty conservative! Your profile says you have 6 jumps, why not wait a while before you buy gear? When you do buy gear consult your jumpmasters and other local jumpers who you respect. Personally, I'd recommend something a little smaller than 190 for you, probably something in the 170/150 range, but I haven't seen you fly. Who knows, you might be better off under a Nav 280. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Uh, I pulled this from an ad on this site: Am I missing something, or is this just plain wrong? - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

I think we should teach students the right way the first time. In my opinion it's just plain confusing to teach a student one thing in the FJC and then turn around and tell them what learned only a few jumps ago is incorrect. I think that this is especially important when we're talking about getting rid of what might turn out to be a perfectly good parachute. We teach them to kick out of line twists, we teach them to give a long deep flare to fix closed end cells, why can't we teach them to do the same to attempt to clear a lineover, why can't we teach them that if the canopy opens in a spin they might want to see if one brake is released? Let's give these students some credit here, it's really not that much additional information to digest and it could save lives. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Doesn't matter. I'm almost (or maybe a little above) 250 out the door and can fall with almost anyone. Learn to control your body and you can too. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Let's pull some of the high points from Hook's post: This is important. When a soft link fails you'll know immediately. I'd much rather be aware of a problem with my canopy at 3,000 than at 50 ft. This alone should be testament to the durability of the modern soft link. Just a few things to think about.... - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

And just because something is old doesn't mean it's better either. I don't think that anyone is under the impression that soft links will last forever, however they are proven to be stronger and more reliable (when properly installed) than the older Rapide links. To each his own I guess... - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

SWEET! If only I had a scanner, I could provide much photographic evidence! And something to satiate Clay as well.... - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

CrossKeys. Otter, Skyvan, Grand Caravan, Caravan, Steerman Biplane, and a 182. Screw Sebastian. "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

First, I didn't say that they were unrecoverable, obviously most were not. I said that they appeared at first glance to be unrecoverable. The distinction is important. Anyhow - * several severe line twists * a spinning malfunction that had me on my back in the beginning. * 3 stuck toggles, I cut away from one. * a brake fire that had me confused and disoriented. I should have cutaway from one of the line twists, I didn't kick out until about 800 ft. I haven't made that mistake since then. I solved the spinning malfunction by evening out the risers and kicking out of the resulting twists. Two of the stuck toggles I was able to fix with a little work. The brake fire, well, that's easy, release the other brake. You may laugh or think that these are minor issues, I certainly don't consider any of them to major issues, but it takes two hands to count the number of times I've seen people cutaway what could have been perfectly functioning canopies. I'll try and fix my shit before I cutaway, I believe others should too. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

WHAT? How often do you inspect your steel links? Good luck... - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Darwin at work. Some people weren't meant to skydive, sometimes they learn the hard way. I submit that it's not a real emergency until you've proven to yourself that the canopy is not landable. Going for the reserve without even trying to fix a problem with the main? I don't get it. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

I used to think this was true until I really learned how to fly my Safire. Once you find the sweet spot on that canopy you'll realize that it's got just as much 'flare power' as it's competition. I actually prefer the flare on my Safire to the flare on a Sabre or Sabre2, but that's just me. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Just be sure to pull the cutaway first. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

That is, in my opinion, a poor choice. Given that your reserve isn't exactly guaranteed to open it is my belief that you should at least attempt to fix a problem before cutting away what might to out to be a perfectly functioning main. I've had several opportunities to cutaway what looked at first glance to be an unrecoverable malfunction, but because I've been aware of my surroundings (time, altitude, and air traffic) I've been able to fix all but one. If I cutaway every one of these issues I would damn near have an A license in reserve rides. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

I personally don't like it, it is my belief that the tandem master should be paying attention to the skydive and the student, not to getting the best video. What kind of interference would a glove cam pose in an emergency situation? Let's keep the TMs hands free to skydive safely, let's keep our resident video guys employed. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Posturing wasn't really the right word, I changed it to swaggering, but I'm not sure that's correct either. The question is, is the military actually planning to install AA missles around a crowded city, or is this just a high profile exercise to make the citizens feel better? - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

What do you think? Is this anything but swaggering? http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=1&cid=578&u=/nm/20020909/ts_nm/attack_anniversary_missiles_dc - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to privacy and a firm believer that sometimes we need to protect people from themselves. Some people, when filling out the profile, might think that the wingloading field is required or they might not think and just blindly fill in the blank. In the long run this doesn't mean much, but it could (and around here most likely would) end up with lots of criticism from other jumpers who look up a profile and feel that JoeJumper is being too aggressive. That just starts unnecessary, and mostly unfounded since 99% of the people arguing will have never seen JoeJumper actually jump, arguments. If you want to know JoeJumper's wingloading then just ask. If you're afraid to ask then it probably isn't that important anyway. Why does everything need to be handed to people on a silver platter? Are we afraid of basic human interaction even when it occurs over the wire? - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.

Ovaltine. Chocolate Malt flavor. Way more ovaltine than they recommend on the box with skim milk. Yummy stuff. - Jim "Like" - The modern day comma Good bye, my friends. You are missed.