DrewEckhardt

None of the above. Find some one local who does good work fast. The suit will fit right (they'll measure), it will be done in a few weeks (not months), the fall rate will match local preferences, and you'll have no problem tracking them down if you need changes. Karen Bilbery (http://www.freedommeanschoice.com) measured me and built my first two freefly suits. The last one was delivered in 3 weeks and cost $235. Julian and Sara Morgan (dba Hoolgan Wear) measured me and built the newest one (Karen and Greg moved to Eloy). It was done in about 2 weeks. Base price $240, + $40 in labor for stripes (Julian's stripes replace the fabric rather than being sewn on top). Paid $80 for materials up front, the remainder was due when the suit fit right and I liked it (it did the first time).

You have no knowledge of what the rigger did during the inspection + repack if you didn't watch. Spring loaded pilot chutes sometimes hesitate. Those factors made it more hazardous than a terminal BASE jump with the same opening altitude and landing area. Reserves are tested to higher-than-terminal speeds. In spite of this, reserves have blown up and broken lines on opening. Usually speeds higher than belly-to-earth terminal, asymetric body position, or construction/material flaws have been involved.

Play with a calculator using property values in your area. Consider what the historic appreciation has been, taxes, and other local costs. I bought my first home 5 years ago the idea being that the monthly cost was the same as renting, I'd have a big gain in value for a small investment (a nice place to live, no vacant lots, and growth capped at 2% make for high property values) and my living expenses will eventually drop dramatically (my mortgage will be paid off in 13.5 years). Paid about $10K at closing for the down-payment and closing costs. My mortgage (now fixed 15 year - longer fixed rate loans and ARMs would be less) + taxes + HOA fees + insurance + appliance replacements - tax deductions are less than I could rent the same property for. When I refinanced 1.5 years ago it appraised for $90K more than I paid and property values haven't gone down since then. Could have moved after a year and still come out ahead financially.

Quote"Rule of Thumb" derives from an old English law that says that it unacceptable to beat your wife with anything thicker than your thumb... False. http://www.canlaw.com/rights/thumbrul.htm

Don't care much about your job.

No, it's the end of monotonous work and freedom to vacation how you want. A few years ago I joined a company as the first engineer, hired the most technically competant and fun team I'd ever worked with, designed a really neat product, and had a great corporate culture relatively free of overhead and ego. Really enjoyed my job, got a lot of meaning from it, and was happy to work 10-16 hours a day as long as I got weekends + 2 10-day vacations off. Now I endure a boring job where I don't care about anything beyond having a paycheck, short commute, and fridge to stick my diet coke in. I don't think, usually don't talk to any one, don't care when my projects get done, and probably woudn't get here most days if I didn't have a wakeup call. If I hadn't found my soul mate I'd be existing not living and would be happy to be done in ten years if not sooner for a lot less . The last fun business burned $750K/month at its peak; * 120 months = $90M. If I couldn't work, continuing to draw my salary until my time was up or I otherwise died would be fine. Having a true love changes things a lot - I wouldn't give that up for $10B.

Doing nothing sucks, although getting paid for it is better than not.

Provided that you apply toggle input at a reasonable rate parachutes do not stall suddenly or unrecoverably, especially lightly loaded square ones. The forward surge coming out of brakes is where you're more likely to get in trouble.

Mathematically: At low altitudes airspeed increases about 5%/3000 feet. So you'll be going over 7.5% faster than you would down at sea level with the same temperature (hot air is less dense) and humidity (humid air is less dense). Airspeed also increases with the inverse square of canopy size. So the speed would be as if you had a canopy 1/(1.075^2) = .865 the size of what you have at sea level. .865 * 119 = 103 square feet. Recovery arc also increases substantially with altitude. Subjectively it isn't too different compared to jumping the smaller canopy at sea level although I haven't looked at the math. Annecdotally: I usually jump at 5050 or 4500 feet MSL but also have a few hundred jumps at sea level boogies. The altitude increase is like loosing over a full canopy size compared to sea level except with regard to control sensitivity (the parachute still has the same line length + dimensions). We tell people from sea level to be careful, that they need to start any high performance landings much higher, etc. The people who don't listen usually bruise or sprain themselves but sometimes leave with broken bones.

Peppers are fruit. Garlic and onions are what makes it difficult to give up vegetables.

I just hit Ctrl[:%s/^[>]*// Much less time wasted mousing arround.

Depends on the cook. Light, fluffy, sweet pancakes are wonderful. Gummy ones you need to cut with a knife aren't. French toast seems hardest to screw up, so not knowing the cook I'd vote for that.

Food: 20% for decent service. 25% for good service. 10% if the service was poor but the right food showed up. The right food not showing up and other very bad service gets a talk with the manager asking for a replacement wait person. The replacement gets tipped based on their preformance. Hair cut: $5-$6. Food delivery: A few bucks when it was there after a reasonable delay. Taxis: A couple bucks if service was prompt. If I have to wait too long I'll call, cancel, and get a ride from someone else. Drinks: $1 each

I thought my cat ignored all non-water drinks except some dairy (he likes melted ice cream, but doesn't like Cat Milk. And then I caught him on the counter sticking his head in a glass of vodka/cranberry juice. I told him that 2 year olds weren't allowed to drink and that he'd have to wait until he was 21.

Sex?! With yourself it's just about the mechanical motions and getting release. You're following a script. With a partner you can experience interaction, an energy exchange, and a spiritual connection. You get to improvise with what's happening. Skydiving works the same.

Swooping is fun. Some practice under canopy above ground level is a necessary pre-requisite when increasing turn angles, switching to rear riser landings, or changing canopies. Ground rush below 1000 feet and freefall beside cliffs are fun. Jumps out of odd aircraft (B17 bomb bay exit, intverted out of a Pitts, etc) are neat. Falling through your shadow on a cloud while naked is great. I find other solos boring, not worth the plane ride, and definately not worth paying for a jump ticket. Better than watching network television, although I don't do that either.

Many tickets are written for revenue not safety (example: A rural highway is posted at 65 MPH, except where it runs through incorporated land and drops to 45. The traffic conditions, visibility, etc. are identical on both stretches). Such tickets can be plea-bargained to offenses with fewer or no points, although you're not going to get out of paying a fine (that's why you got the ticket).

I have a special little cat buddy too! His name is Willard, he's almost four years old, and I've had him since he was a tiny kitten. Who can resist a belly like this

Tantric aerobics. Other exercise. Jump off a bridge or cliff (a parachute helps here). When all that fails I eat anti-depressants until I find how much of what works.

While 90 is less than 180 and 270, you can still generate tremendous speed off a carving 90 degree turn (I clocked 48 MPH on RADAR under my stiletto 120) and should not be taking them lightly. The answer is after you've been doing a consistantly good job on 75 degree turns which follow the same performance at 60, 45, 30, 15, and straight in approaches. "good" means having the canopy as level as it's going to be as you approach ground level, finishing on heading, and doing so accurately (flying within 1.5 inches of a centerline and being able to have both first and final points of contact within a 10 meter circle are reasonable). This requires learning to interact with your canopy and change your turn as it happens using riser and harness input at significantly higher altitudes. You shouldn't be digging out if you have to start somewhat low, and shouldn't be planing out and then surging when you start too high. Before that, you should have developed the survival skills for when things go wrong. Being able to turn at least 45 degrees during your flare to go arround obstacles is sometimes necessary. You should also be able to fly over obstacles. Before that, you should have figured out how to integrate yourself into the landing pattern so you aren't landing at the same time as any one else. You should be flying a consistently predictable pattern (use an altimeter) appropriate for the wind conditions. You should always have outs if traffic/insufficient altitude prevent a normal landing (although in practice you want to finish with a flare turn in the later case). You'll learn more with a canopy that you're familiar with, and that takes a few hundred jumps with the same parachute - I learned more in the second 300 jumps on my Stiletto than the first 300. High hop-and-pops (8000'+) are good. You'll also learn more when you're ready for a canopy. Brian's wingloading-never-exceed of 1.0 + .1/100 jumps with adjustments seems to fit well. Attend a few canopy seminars and get landing video.

Only if they deviated from the accepted standards of performance. Example: Every rigger I know has a system for tracking their tools. Leaving a molar strap arround a reserve means you didn't do that and were criminally negligent. Counter example: The need for added material arround grommets and proper seating to prevent line snags was not understood. Fatalities before the service bulletins came out were not due to negligence.

You get the most speed from a carving turn. velocity = acceleration * time Following an agressive maneuver you+the canopy are not in a stable configuration so you're going to quickly pendulum back under the canopy and stop accelerating. Time and therefore velocity are small. With a carving turn you can maintain a steep dive and roll angle to accelerate for hundreds of feet. Time and therefore velocity are large. Using risers, the most speed is generated at higher roll angles which means rolling in more quickly, but not fast enough that you'll loose what you did. If you start too low you should be switching to harness input and then a flare turn so that you swoop the same direction as the other skydivers.

Narrow assuming it's sewn so it can't unthread all the way No difference in comfort and it's easier to loosen under canopy. Chest mount altimeters work fine if you mount them at the edge instead of the middle.

You can start your turn higher by using a carving turn with a wider radius the idea being to maintain roll angle which gets you reasonable riser pressure and an increasing decent rate until you need to level out. Opposite front riser can be applied to slow the turn rate.

My soul-mate/fiancee doesn't skydive and it works great. You just have to accept each other's activities/time commitments and take time to nurture the relationship.