ccowden

You know you want to! Everyone else is doing it!

Got my FIRST cutaway this last weekend. I know it's not really freeflying, but it was after a freefly jump. How about this for a first?..... weegegirl can model her first Badfish thong to be posted on our site with the others!

Yes, I learned how to land on rears before I went to the Velocity. I didn't land on rears on every landing prior to going Xbraced, but definitely learned the concept. The more you master before moving on in any canopy progression, the better. The team is doing great. The season is in full swing and we are having a blast.

Thank you! Yup, there is no sweeter sound than a diving crossbraced canopy!

Everybody says this, but I have read the bios of some pro swoopers with 5k+ jumps and zero cutaways. Luck? Yes. To some extent, for sure. They were not always Pro Swoopers. I doubt they were much different than any of us when they had lower jump numbers on a high performance canopy. Of course, with experience comes knowledge and we can certainly do what we can to reduce the risk of malfunctions, but we are never immune from things going wrong, no matter who you are or how much you know.

The reserve handle wasn't pulled immediately after the cutaway, but it was pulled quickly. I would say there was about a 2 second delay. After I pulled the cutaway, I thought very clearly to myself, "Ok, I am clear of my main and not on my back." Other than that, there was no reason to think any longer or try to get into a more belly to earth position. From the way it felt, I would say I was flung outward from my canopy and the relative wind would have been going from my feet to my head, making it quite unlikely that the pilotchute would go anywhere but into clean air. Atleast that's my take. I don't think I would advise hesitating very long to pull the reserve, even if you feel pretty unstable. A spring loaded pilotchute will generally "find" clean air.

I really think the key is to just lay as still in the harness as possible even if it starts to turn. I have tried to correct it by countering with the oposite riser as well, and it really can get ugly. On this last one, I may have started to "follow" the turn in my harness without really thinking about it. I think if I would have just tried to stay still and straight in the harness, it wouldn't have been so bad. Then again, maybe not. Sometimes it is gonna do what it's gonna do, whether you like it or not.

Loading the Raven at about 1.5 The stall point was at about my ears. Had a pretty hard landing with no chance of standing it up. Up to this point, I never heard that a Raven would fly like that when loaded at 1.5. Now that I know, I am looking into replacing it. Definitely something to learn from that turned out well.

I am still learnin', but damn I'm having fun!

Javelin TJN Velocity 96 Raven 135 Cypres No RSL

Well, it took 2,285 jumps, but I got my first cutaway. Last load of the day and I deployed at 3,300 feet under my Velocity 96 loaded at about 2.1. It got to line stretch and just started to snivel when it started pulling me around hard to the left. Once she started to go, there was no stoppin' her. by the time it was fully inflated there were two full line twists and it was diving to the ground in a hard spin. I watched it for a second to see if the twist would stop, but it just kept going. By the time it had 5 twists in it and wasn't slowing down, I knew there was no stopping them, let alone getting out of them. Peel, peel, punch, punch and I was under my reserve. Very quick, nice opening. I followed my Velocity to close to where I figured it would land and landed next to a road near a farmer's field. Friggin' Raven 135 flies and lands like garbage, but it saved my life, so I guess I can't complain too much. Lost sight of my pilot chute and freebag and have yet to find it. Actually was kinda fun!

"I got two words for her. Learn to fuckin' type!" Mr. Pink

Well, it all comes down to one game! I don't know if I can take much more. My neighbors must really wonder what is going on at my house with all the screaming. Man, oh man, that was an amazing game last night!

My all time favorite quote! Thanks for correcting me.

"So pretty please, with sugar on top. Clean the fuckin' car."

"Would you give a man a foot massage?" "Fuck you!"

Not every Cuban is as good as it's Dominican counterpart. There are just as many poor cigars from Cuban as there are good ones. Granted, the best quality tabacco still comes form Cuba, but every year the quality gets better outside Cuba and you can get cigars of the same caliber. I was never really impressed with the 'average' Cuban Cohiba either. The EV is a very nice cigar. Alot of people think that it if comes from Cuba it simply has to be good, usually based on the fact that you have to pay so much more. There is little anyone can do to make a cigar worth more than $8 or $10. The reason for cost above that is simply availability, either by size of the crop or the fact that they came from Cuba. It is much like wine. The same process is used to make a $6 bottle that is used to make a $100 bottle. It is the rarity of the batch that makes it expensive. Same is true with cigars. Sorry- guess I felt like babbling this morning! My point is, I will put a Dominican Montecristo up against most modern day Cubans any day of the week.

Me! Me! Me!

I like a few. Smoke about 3 a week during the summer. -Hemingway Signature -Montecristo Robusto -Romeo y Julieta Maduro -Cohiba Extra Vigaroso If I had to choos one- Montecristo

Yeah, it's pretty girlie, but you're allowed. I think they are wearing their orange 3rd jerseys tonight.

That's a good one!

Showing me a rock that I can't tell you where it came from doesn't really proove anything to me. I am sure there are all kinds of rocks that I couldn't identify thrie origin. And if a scientist says that they aren't from earth, how do I know he is right? They do it in court cases all the time. One "expert" sayd one thing, and the other "expert" says he is lying.

Well, I wouldn't say they are unbeatable, and they are definitely mortal, but I think they looked great against two really tough playoff hockey clubs in the Devils and the Leafs. And in this series agianst Tampa Bay, even in the loss, they look like an all-around better team. Tampa can make you pay for mistakes in a hurry, and that is what happened in game one. But if the Flyers play like they did in game two, I don't think Tampa can beat them in a seven game series. Yes, either Calgary or San Jose would be a tough opponent, but atleast they aren't the unbeatable West teams of past years.

I have been a diehard Flyers fan for about 15 years, and I truly believe that this is the year! Anyone got a problem with that?!

Absolutely, we did not land on the moon. There is no actual concrete evidence that says we did, other than what the government says happened. I mean, it was on tv, but big deal. I have seen the White House blown to bits on tv. Plus, no other country has been there or seems to care about going. I think it was just Hollywood and was to make us feel good about our status in the world. Don't get me wrong. I am not one of those anti-government, conspiracy theory type guys. Quite the opposite really. But I just have never seen any real proof of having been to the moon.