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I've been stopped many times for traffic violations.... Maybe that has something to do with it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Jeni, we'll be praying for you. Trust in God and in your brother who loves you. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Wes Throb. I like it, in a porno kind of way. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I thought you were out of here, after that weepy thing you wrote the other night. I mean you're welcome to stay, I always liked you, but if you're going to give some Gettysburg address about how full of uh...well you know, we are, I'm a little surprised you're still here ? Care to answer that ?? P.S. I'm smashed and I'm sure you're a nice lady. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh well, a touch of gray, sorry that you feel that way. The only thing that I can say, is it's alright. We will get by, we will survive. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Thank you Spike & Trigger. I didn't think pulling down one toggle and then the other was such a good idea, especially near the ground. It's only recently that I've seen suggestions to do this in these forums. It's either dangerous misinformation, or else the posts I'd read were badly enough written so as to be confusing. I'm trying to internalize a procedure whereby I'll reflexively pull BOTH my toggles down if I'm cut off near the ground and then make whatever turn is necessary by lifting opposite toggle just a bit. A while back Aggie Dave also made a good observation that you only need to turn just a bit to avoid most collisions, you don't need to turn 90+ degrees. So half brakes, which will "float" you and just a little flat turn, should do the job rather nicely. People need to internalize this drill the same way they internalize reaching for their handles if their opening looks like shit. I don't think any of us has to even think about grabbing handles, well we shouldn't even have to think about pulling toggles to chest and making a small flat turn when we're cut off - because it will happen to all of us sooner or later and more often than a malfunction. Anyway, thanks again for your input. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

The sound of terminal air is so much more unique - it's where you are. I'm a huge music head and love to listen to just about anything good, but for the few minutes you're in the air, the overhwelming sound is better - and it's safer to concentrate on your dive and not whether you're boppin' in time to something else. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

You know any other lonely friends who are stranded ? You could invite them all over and have one heck of a Xmas potluck dinner and all snuggle around a good movie or two. You could even invite them to stay overnight - not suggesting in your bed, but that could happen too, who knows ? Da hollydaze is what we makes of 'dem... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I once shattered a helmet off my head, landing under a round reserve in a flooded field. Without the helmet I'd have likely drowned with a fractured skull instead of walking away with a very sore shoulder. Only time I EVER jumped without a helmet was for an intentional water jump, where I reasoned the helmet would be more of a drowning hazard than any likelihood of a head bangin'. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I've been following these flat turn discussions with great interest and using flat turns, both for practice above 1000 ft and once or twice bleow that to set up for final. I've been using the method of pulling both toggles down chest high and then letting up a bit on the opposite side toggle to make the turn. It works quite nicely. My question has to do with the suggestion that in a tight spot, you can supposedly pull a toggle down from full open flight and then quickly pull the other toggle down to match, so that you get a quick turn and then flatten the canopy out of its dive. I've tried it just a few times up high, and as yet don't dare try it near the ground. Is this really a recommended way of making a flat turn, or is it more of an "oops - oh shit" way of correcting for a panic turn too close to the ground ? I'm thinking thhat a lot of these flat or else unfortunate panic turns occur in near collision situations, where somebody cuts you off on final. The flat turn not only keeps your rate of descent way down - or even reduces it - but keeps your body from swinging out like a pendulum nearly as much. Also I'm thinking that just going into the brakes to start the turn might help to "pop" you up, floating you up out of a collision course, as well as reducing speed and giving you a safer configuration for your turn - since we are flying in 3 dimensions. But I haven't heard nearly enough yet about pulling down one toggle and then the other to be persuaded that it's safe and would appreciate more input on this. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I would only let her keep the boat if she pays in full. Otherwise you're going to be in more shit misery until you decide to repo the boat next week. Just do it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Of ginger ale and animal crackers (try it and see how fast you get HOOKED -bwahahaha !!). Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I don't like it when I see 4 yr olds tearing around in those little battery powered jeeps either. I just don't think kids have the maturity to make the kind of snap decisions that things like driving - or skydiving - require. Am I jealous ? You bet I am ! I wanted to skydive ever since I was 7 yrs old. I had to wait until I was 18 because my parents wouldn't sign off on it when I was 16. I'm just not sure that a kid understands that this sport could get him or her killed and that you only have to screw up badly enough once. They just think it's a blast, and I'm sure they can fly graceful circles around 18 year old geezers, but what happens when they get a violent spinner ? Or a hung up steering line ? The kind of dumb stuff that kills adults with thousands of jumps, who should know better ? I'm proud of these kids, don't get me wrong. But I do think of them as an aberration, from skydiving families, with DZO dads and moms. I only hope the families can deal with it if the worst happens. I'm making my own kids wait 'til they're 18. They have to pay for it too, though I will hire a cameraman to jump with them. And I've made it ice cold crystal clear to them that they should never think they need to do it just to please the old man. It's OK with me if they never jump. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Them were the days....when DC-3's were the Queens of the jump fleet. They could be ill tempered queens and blow a jug - and often would, usually right before takeoff on a sunset load, so you'd have to come taxiing back. But geez, they were lovely. They were so big and ROOMY. Everybody used to sit in each other's laps and you could lean back and snooze on the ride up. The lovely engine drone would send you right off to snoozeville. I appreciate the speed and reliability of turbos, but riding in an Otter is like being stuffed into a submarine with wings. A DC-3 was more like booking into a grand hotel. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

That's the best/worst story about velcro I've EVER heard ! I wouldn't be surprised if it did mate with his jumpsuit. Took him 1500 ft to peel it off huih ? With a little help from his guardian angel, I bet ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It was rental gear so I didnt pack it myself. Why in heaven's name not ? Your malfunction may have already been conveniently packed for you, or anyone else who was next in line - and who may not have opened as high, or been as level headed as you. I'm still renting demo gear myself. At Square 1 you get the rig off a rack and the canopy out of a bin on a shelf, so "some assembly is required". Some people hire a packer, I prefer to do it myself. Often the brakes are already set, but since I'm already assembling and packing anyway, I just undo them and stow them over again myself. Bottom line is I know who packed my main when I get on the plane, and have only myself to blame, if the canopy's insane (alright, already, that will do...). But you made the right call on the cutaway. Numero uno, it's YOUR life, your decision. I once cutaway from a similar jammed toggle, also in gusty conditions. But I dicked around with it down to 1200 ft before chopping. The ground rush made for a very lonely 2 seconds waiting for that reserve to catch me. You made your plan and stuck with it. Best of all, it worked and you're good to go. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Hey Jimmy Tavino, you remember Joe Giunto's brand new Wonderhog ? Memorial Day weekend, 1976, Ripcord Skydiving Club, West Bloomfield, NY. It was an early model, still had shot & a half Capewells and a blast handle reserve. -But what was this business about a HAND DEPLOYED pilot chute ? -You mean it has no spring ? -It doesn't even go inside the container ? -Oh no, you fold it up like this and stuff it in this pouch on the bellyband. -OK, Joe, so how do you open it ? -Simple, you pull it out of the pouch and throw it away.... -You WHAT ?!?! -You pull it out and throw it away. -And it works ??? -Yeah, it works great, I LOVE it ! -That's cool Joe (he's out of his fuckin' mind...). And that's the way it was back then. But soon there more and more of 'em popping up all over the place and everyone who got one loved 'em. By the end of the next year, I got me a hand deploy of my own. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We don't have a heck of a lot of women either, with the sport being about 80% male dominated. Although here in sunny So. Cal we do a lot better than that, with plenty of women jumpers out at Perris and Elsinore, and other So. Cal DZ's, I'm sure. At Perris we've got a very few Black men (no women that I've ever seen) who are licensed regulars. Over the years I've known a black jumper or two, here and there. Usually they were in, or had been in the service and got their exposure from being around jump operations in Airborne, or as a rigger or something like that. For many years we've had a club called The Latin Skydivers and there are quite a few Latino jumpers nowadays. Lots of Asian heritage jumpers too, as well as a great many who travel here from Asia, mostly Japanese. It's good to have what diversity we have in our sport and would be better if we had more. For what it's worth, I've had several of my black (I grew up when "black" was in vogue, and think "African-American"is just too cumbersome) friends tell me that skydiving is "crazy white man shit" and that white men are always doing crazy shit like climbing mountains and jumping out of perfectly good airplanes and then wondering why so many of us get killed. They've got a point there... But I do think the welcome mat is out and wish more people of all kinds would come on out and join the family. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

On my own, wanted to do it since I was 6 or 7. Freshman year at college I spotted a notice for meeting sponsored by a nearby drop zone, so I went and signed up and got to go with a large student group. Great discount too - $35 for my FJC (neener-neener). Of course this was 1974. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

What is the lowest you have pulled? A C&P from 2000 is safe and fairly common. I'm with you Mike, although C&P's from 2 grand don't seem very common anymore. Most of the "hop & pops" I've seen on the ride up are somewhere between 5 and 6 grand and leave me thinking "that's a hop & pop ??". I remember speed star teams making practice exits at 5500 ft... The worst thing about it is that a lot of these people are students, or going for their A license, and the thought of getting out as "low" as 5 grand really scares them and I can't help but feel a little sorry for them. I always make a point of telling them how NICE it will be and that they'll like it and shouldn't worry. The gear nowadays is totally safe for stepping out at 2 grand. I haven't done a 2 grand exit in over 20 years and that was on my old rig, but I do remember that my pilot chute went out BEHIND me in the relative wind, rather than straight up, and that I swung below the canopy in kind of an arc as it opened. As BillVon points out, an exit at 2G gives you as much time as a terminal opening from about 2800 ft or so. I think it's just that the ground is bigger and you have more time to think about it looking down on jump run. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

If I think the war in Iraq is a bad mistake, does that make me "anti American" ? If I'm alarmed that a Bible thumping Attorney General thinks he can call someone an "enemy combatant" and imprison them at a secret location without trial, charges, or even contacts with family or lawyers, does that make me "anti American" ? If I think people with AIDS or cancer should be able to puff a little pot to ease their suffering, especially when the voters in 8 western states happen to agree with me, does that make me "anti American" ? Pro or anti American is a very loaded term. Not everyone who loves this country wants to bomb all the non-white people of the world into submission, or fill the jails with pot smokers. I think there are very few people who are "anti American". But there is a dangerous loss of civility in public debate on the issues. What's made this country work has been the tension and compromises made between liberal and conservative opinions, when the good of the country is put first. As much as I can't stand them, I think the right wingers have their place in the national debate. And so do I , out here on the left coast. God bless America, it's the only one we got. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Franks isn't the first military man to state that kind of an opinion, history is full of hardass and vainglorious generals who are ready to pitch the Constitution over the side at the drop of a hat. Present circumstances are somewhat different, we've never had to deal with the possibility of a dirty bomb or a smallpox epidemic, and I'm rather apprehensive about getting through the holiday season without something ugly happening. But we should look to our own Civil War for some hopeful inspiration. Abe Lincoln was leading this country through the worst and bloodiest war in our entire history, before or since. Americans were killing each other and ravaging their own countryside. On the downside, Mr. Lincoln gave in enough to suspend the right of Habeas Corpus, which goes all the way back to 12th century England. But on the positive side, Lincoln decided to go ahead with the 1864 elections, even though many of his advisers suggested they should be suspended for the national emergency. He had the sense to realize that if he couldn't be re-elected, he wouldn't win the war either and the country would be finished. So he not only held a free election, but permitted a General (McClellan) to run against him as a peace candidate, who would've made peace with and recognized the Confederacy if he'd won. Lincoln was re-elected by a landslide, in no small part because of all the soldiers who were fighting and dying, who cast their votes for him. We've had other bouts of authoritarianism in times of war and conflict, mass roundups and deportations of leftists in WWI, and of course the imprisonment of American citizens of Japanese descent during WWII. But we've always manged to find our way back from the edge of the abyss. It could happen, but I think the Constitution and the American people are more durable than Gen Franks does. Maybe we would have martial law for a while - San Francisco did after the 1906 earthquake, right down to looters being shot in public. But we find our way back because our freedoms are the most important thing in our life and we won't accept anything less. Look at the Patriot Act, it's already under attack and will likely be amended by the Congress. Meanwhile the Supreme Court heard arguments this week against the Constitutionality of imprisoning "enemy combatants" without charges, trial, or contact with lawyers or family. Americans are not quite so ready to kiss off their freedoms. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult Parachute Woman - The Rolling Stones The Wheel - Grateful Dead Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones Let the Good Times Roll - The Cars I'm AMAZED nobody's mentioned "Don't Fear the Reaper". Back in the seventies that song was a HUGE drop zone hit - especially at Elsinore. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I think his luck and his money are both running out. This time around everyone's just plain sick of him. It's just a shame he was permitted to go on wrecking more kids' lives all these years. Maybe he could get a gig with the Catholic diocese in LA ? They'd probably love to have him. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh maaaaaaaan..... what's the world coming to ?!? I mean it was labeled plainly enough "TIT-EE" is pretty specific, and most people know what NSFW means. Nobody ever pointed a gun at my head and made me lood. What's skydiving without tits anyway, huh ??? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !