tbrown

No offense taken smartass, but since you make an issue of it, most of those years were in the seventies, with a 22 year break. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Aside from camera jumpers and CRW Dogs, most excuses for not using a RSL sound like the same excuses people use for not wearing seatbelts or motorcycle helmets. Or getting flu shots. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

She probably thought she understood how it worked and didn't know that she didn't know. If you think you know how something works, why would you ask? Michelle Spray thought she understood her Cypres and would turn the thing on at her sea level home before driving to Perris at 1420 ft MSL. She thought she understood and ended up paying for her mistake with her life. The outcome of her death, at least at Perris, is that we have ALL learned a lot more information about how our AADs work and what their limits are. Even some VERY experienced jumpers have admitted to not understanding some of the detailed info we've learned (like moving a rig up or down more than 30 ft elevation can screw up the calibration, for one example). There's a whole generqation of jumpers who are way too dependent on backup devices. You don't ever wait for anything, you install/activate a backup device, then forget it's there and act like it isn't. This jumper and anyone else who makes this kind of mistake needs to be grounded for re-training, not drummed out of the sport. She's theone who something happened to and at least this time we can all feel relieved that she's alright. But there are too many other jumpers just like her. Some dropzones require attendance at Safety Day before allowing a jumper to start another season. Maybe that's not such a bad idea. This game plays for keeps. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm a Dem (sort of, they embarrass me) and though I'm not HAPPY with Judge Alito for a bunch of reasons, I haven't heard anything about him that should deny his appointment. I hate GWB's guts, but the fact is a President - ANY President - has the right to choose the Justices he wants. If the guy's not keeping a stash of child porn on his computer, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be approved. But I'm NOT happy about him. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Last spring I had my first Cessna jump since returning to the sport from a 22 year break. I started in Cessnas back in the seventies and jumped them all the time, but since returning in 2003 had only been up in twin turbos. Four of us went up to 4 grand at Taft because that was all we could get at the moment, things cleared up later and the PAC-750 came out of the hangar. But I was sitting in the "student" position in the door, with a good friend kneeling in "jumpmaster' position. He got out and left the plane effortlessly. Then I tried to swing myself out on the step. Lord, what the years and a few extra pounds can do to us. I used to be able to slip out onto the step like a cat on the hunt and here I was huffing, puffing and straining to find my footing while the young dude behind me is yelling "come on !" in my ear. It was all good though, I just made a true hop & pop, looked up once at the plane and tossed, while the young guy dove out and tracked for a better spot at a lower opening. It was nice to be back in a Cessna again - but next time I'll take one of the upright kneeling positions, thank you. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The thought police Nazis in Connecticutt have found something new to protect our children from. The State Liquor Board has anounced they will not allow the sale of Very Bad Elf Double Ale, because the label MIGHT appeal to children. Very Bad Elf is an English imported Double Ale for the Xmas season. The label shows a nasty little shit of an elf firing projectiles with a slingshot at Santa's sled and reindeer (the rotten little bastard...). Anyway that's just too much for the Nazis at Thought Control Central, who are abusing their authority by banning anything their thick cobwebby skulls can't understand. The first question that comes to my mind is whether the State enforces a minimum age law for the purchase of alcohol. I'd be more worried about the adults who this sort of label might appeal to (especially the ones who like to jump out of airplanes, you know, the kooks). Aside from what little kids are doing in a state run liquor store at all. This is BEER, real Ensglish ale ! There are skydivers in Connecticutt, am I right ? To arms ! One if by land, two if by sea, fifty four - forty or fight ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Remember a high speed mal will stand you up, so you will be going a LOT faster than normal ;) Not really. If it's standing you up there's usually a pilot chute and some kind of ball of crap over your head and it's probably slowed you down to ninety or the high eighties mph. I once cutaway from a streamer mal and felt the "drop" effect when my 3 ring separated. That cutaway was in the old days too (1980) when pull altitudes of 2000 - 2500 ft were the norm. Back then I used to pull "high" at 2800 - 3000 ft and was usually sitting under canopy by 2500 ft. On this streamer cutaway I was under an open reserve slightly above 1500 ft, which should be decent even nowadays, especially with square reserves (I had a round reserve back then). There's been a cultural change in pull altitudes from the old days. Back then we had canopies that opened quicker - and harder. And we all started out with static line from about 2500 ft, moving up through freefall in small increments from hop 'n pops at 3200 ft, 10 sec. delays at 3500 ft & so on. Most of today's jumpers progessed through freefall programs like AFF, where they started with high leaps from 12,500 and made their first pulls at 5 grand. In my opinion, it was easier for us to work our way UP in the old days than it seems for modern day students to work their way DOWN from a pull at 5 grand. On plenty of loads we've talked to so many kids making their hop & pop for their A License who are just a nervous wreck about having to leave the plane below 5 grand. We just try to reassure them that it's safe and FUN and they'll ENJOY it. I almost wish I could offer to go with them and say "just follow me", but I'm already committed to something else with my friends at 12.5. It's because we started with pulling at 2500 ft. Which is a bit low for today's students with slower opening canopies, but 3000 - 3500 ft should seem reasonable. And it's true that high speed malfunctions eat up altitude at an unbelievable rate, but the extra altitude will do you no good if you just use it to stare at the thing. You've got two handles, so find 'em and pull 'em. That's all it really takes and pulling two handles can be done with amazing speed if you're scared. And if you've got a RSL - which you SHOULD have at low experience levels, the fix will happen even faster (but you still gotta pull both those handles, even if the silver is an "empty" pull). Pulling higher than the old days is generally a good thing and I like it. But it's important to learn to at least feel confident with 3 grand and that should be a goal - work your way down to confident with 3 grand. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I was hoping we'd merge with the Indoor Body Surfers...... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm glad she pulled out for her own sake. While I didn't want her to serve on the Court, I'm also sure she's thoroughly decent lady and didn't deserve having her reputation put through the Washington shredder. On the bright side, at least the Republicans are waking up to what an idiot GWB really is. Maybe they already knew it, or maybe they even thought it was a good thing. But stupid cuts both ways. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm a Relative Worker & always have been. It's good discipline and real flying, especially the sequential, which makes you think and plan. Plus, when you do get into freeflying and hybrids, you'll actually be able to GET TO the formation and get in. I spend more time lying in hybrid bases watching freeflyers orbiting and falling below because they have no belly skills. Tracking dives are a form of no-contact RW and you learn good tracking, so go on those too. Most importantly, take a canopy course ASAP. Today's canopies, even the "mellow" ones need real heads up flying. Landing your canopy is something you have to do on every jump, whatever else you're doing. It's too easy to get hurt - or even killed on today's canopies and the proper training to use them is only beginning to catch up to the advanced designs. Learn to fly your canopy first. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The Inedible Scmuck, or The Indelible Schmuck, but a schmuck either way. Also definitely a C-section... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

There's plenty of great used gear out there. I got a magnificent used rig, a Javelin with a Spectre, PD Reserve and a Cypres for just $3 grand. None of it was older than 3 years and the previous owner had taken really loving care of it. It was even for an unusual harness size, since the previous owner and I are both big tall guys. Of course you should always get a rigger's inspection of any gear before buying it - and you should negotiate that inspection into the sales agreement. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Dave, we found some Shiner Bock at the local Ralph's last week & tried it out because you recommend it so highly. Not as malty as I usually like ( I love Bohemian Pilseners), but has a very nice dry taste to it. The wife especially liked that. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Three times that I can think of. First was a Cessna where the pilot informed us of some problem and we took it back down - I was a static line student and had no vote in the proceedings. The other two were fully loaded DC-3's that returned. One was for a nasty weather front moving in, the other was for a cowl flap that came off one of the engines shortly after takeoff (below a grand). And one time I took an observer ride while recuperating from an injury. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If it's something you can pay a hooker for, it's sex. Ditto for if you have to buy an X-rated film to see it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

His lawyer's going to have some good arguments. Personally, I think they should've just let the international court of justice try Hussein, because it would be a lot easier to make a case under the genocide convention and maybe under geneva, depending on the status of the people he killed and the surrounding circumstances. Which is why, when they found him, they should've just dropped a grenade in the hole, along with a loaded pistol that "he pointed at them". Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

There was an interesting explanation offered on a documentary about Lincoln's Gettysburg address. Up until the time of the Civil War, a time when people were more likely to say THESE United States than THE United States, the Declaration was always considered to be a list of grievances against King George, or the "Bill of Divorce" that's been mentioned here. But when the Confederacy walked out and America was suffering through its bloodiest war, Lincoln chose to focus on the preamble and Jefferson's language of the Rousseauian Enlightenment, about things like life, liberty, and the pursuit of hapiness. Philosophically, the Declaration is indeed out founding document, though it has no particular legal force. The supreme law of the land is the Constitution, with its Amendments. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If the USA (oops, sorry... i meant the iraqi's) want to punish a world leader for crimes against his own people, are they going to carry that on and get Robert Mugabie? If the Zimbabs ever strike oil, we, eh, they, just might..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Make it an intentional water jump, at least you won't break something while landing. Even if you're fairly light, rounds can bite you. You can likely find someone that has a closet/basement full of old stuff that would be amused to see jumped again, and not care if it gets wet. It never ceases to amaze me how deadly people think round canopies are. IT'S JUST NOT TRUE !! As long as you don't weigh something like 200+ lbs, you should have no problemo jumping a Paracommander, or a Papillon, Sierra or Starlite canopy. These are NICE canopies, they open nice (except for the Starlite) and can be landed very softly. The only real disadvantage is that you only get about 12mph fwd drive out of them, maybe 15mph with the Starlite. I loved my Paracommander. I perfected my standup landings with it and even switched over from paraboots to sneakers with my PC (which is what we used to call them). And I NEVER, ever had to cutaway from it, or any other round, and I made a little over 300 jumps before going square. I weigh a bit too much nowadays and my knees ain't what they used to be either, so I'll just treasure the memories. But if you get a nice day with ground winds under 10 knots, take a Cessna load up and you might even learn to "spot". That's something else from the old days, we learned quick to be real deadeye spotters, because we had to. But thousands of people have made millions of safe enjoyable skydives with round canopies. The things aren't exactly carved out of wood y'know... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I throw cash out the door every time I go jumping. Lots and lots of cash. Throwing my body out is almost an afterthought. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

My entire motivation for even suggesting a live televised hanging would be so that we could declare toatal victory and get the hell out of there. GWB could strut around in his fighter pilot duds and declare "mission accomplished" all over again (I don't even care what he does anymore, he's a lame duck and his own party is deserting him). Those people are going to go on klilling each other forever because they enjoy it. The only reason there even IS one nation of Iraq is because a dictator was brutal enough to make all of them toe the line (NOT to condone anything Saddam has done). An if Al Qaeda takes over the country ? Well, that's what we have long range nukes for, isn't it ? Hang him on TV, declare victory and bring the troops home. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I said hanging because that is apparently how the death penalty is dealt out in Iraq. Remember, we are pretending to let these people do it their way. Besides, hanging is a recognized art form in our own country and the subject of many a moving Country Western song ("Long Black Veil", "Tom Dooley", etc). And from what I've read, it's not supposed to be an easy thing to watch, so if they do show it have a good bucket handy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Now that Saddam Hussein's on trial and likely to be sentenced to death, I'd like to say as an American taxpayer that I'd like to see the hanging televised live. And I'm even against the war in Iraq. But after all the blood and treasure the American people have been puring down the rathole in that country, we should at least get the small reward of watching the s.o.b. dance for us on the end of a rope. Hang him during halftime of a sunday football game, with Frank Gifford and John Madden offering commentary. Anyone who doesn't want to watch can pop in a Teletubbies DVD (nothing down on the little Tubbies either, I like them too). I know, I know, the "Iraqi Government" (ha-ha) is supposedly ruinning the show, but they're pretty compliant if they don't want their allowance or our troops cut off. So what if they have to get up in the middle of the night to get the job done, we should see it LIVE, after that we can watch the reruns forever. If this sounds bloodthirsty, so what ? We've seen too many kids go over to that pesthole of a country, the last one was just back on leave and pointing out all his friends who were killed in the pictures he'd taken. He's in some little garbage dump of a town in the middle of nowhere and says the locals hate the Americans. So if he has to be there, I say we get to at least watch a decent hanging. So how about that, GWB ?? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm a little surprised you're buying a brand new main for your first canopy at all, but that's your business. Many people will go through one or two second hand canopies before settling in on a canopy type and size they really want, based on their experience from a few years' jumping. But hopefully you should be able to get Aerodyne change your order to a 190. And because Aerodyne charges the same for their canoies regardless of size, it shouldn't cost you any more (unless they've already started cutting material for the 170), OR effect the instructor's profit margin on his sale to you. By the way the Pilot's a great canopy, but you'll enjoy it more if it's better sized for your experience. No canopy is fun if you get hurt. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

After having fallen from about 17,000 feet, Herman had miraculously collided with the gunner and, equally miraculous, had been able to hold on to him, literally for his life. With twice the normal weight on the canopy, their landing was quite hard. Well that's a case of beer for history's first Mr. Bill jump! Supposedly there are something like a thousand documented cases of people hitting the ground without the benefit of an open canopy and living. There was also a report in Skydiving magazine, back in the eighties or early nineties of a guy who went in at Z-Hills, hit a tree and ended up sitting up alive. Jerry Bird was quoted as an eyewitness in the article. Bird had come on the run, expecting to find the guy dead and was surprised to find him attemting to get up off the ground (I'm pretty sure he made the guy lie down and wait for help...). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !