tbrown

Below I have posted a link to a video that demonstrates what can happen to you if you start swooping too early or don't know how to bail out of the corner. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4323 Be Safe Also, there's another video at skydivingmovies.com, in the TV and Movies thread, of Paul Moran's final jump. Paul did not survive, though it took about two months and a raging staph infection, he was never right again a day of his life. I don't usually like to point out or recommend as hard a view as this one, but smkdvr628 needs to see this and ponder that it could as easily be him. Swooping is beautiful, but I think it's easily the most dangerous discipline in our sport, next to BASE maybe. Neither should be attempted without lots of patience, training and care. I might add that Paul had thousands of jumps to his credit. You only have to make one mistake. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Maybe Dave can help us out here. There is a point beyond which performance deteriorates and more WL is counterproductive. There was some discussion about this a while back, but I haven't seen anything about it in over a year. Of course there are new canopies and new theories, like wearing weights with a larger canopy to get wingload with some actual wing as well. So at what point does wingloading degrade performance ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Too much distraction. Skydiving's not like driving, it's faster, more intense and far less forgiving. You can't pull over if it gets too intense. I love music, listen to it all the time. I'm listening to it right now. But not when I'm jumping. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I'm just surprised he hasn't tried to amend the Constitution so he could run a third time. Failing that, he might still suspend the Constitution or at least the general election, in the name of national security, because "terrorists" are plotting to run for office, or the Dems are a "pro terrorist" party or some such excuse. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I just can't imagine her getting a BJ. Or giving one. I think a lot of people hate her because she's smart and aggressive. I think she's much more of a fighter than her husband, she's eager to part some Republican hair with a hatchet (you go girl). I'm not sure I really like her either, when she tries to act folksy she's trying too hard. But I can't fault her for being driven or ambitious. And nobody without a lot of drive or ego can run for President, don't kid yourself. They're ALL rock star wannabees. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Oh now I'm really, really, REALLY pissed. Sort of anyway... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I prefer Relax, Focus, and Flow. It's what the book is about and has a positive sound to it that should appeal to skydivers and other action sporty types. Battling the enemy within might be true, but it sounds like anything from alcoholism to credit card debt or (shudder) nymphomania. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

At age 88 my prototype flying machine will work, but while aloft I will be sucked into a jet engine of a larger airplane and spewed out the back. Fuckin'-A cool way to go !! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

While I'm open to Obama, I'd rather see Hillary back in the White House. McCain would certainly be a worthy opponent and I could live with it if he won. Truth is, we've already hit rock bottom with the asshole we've got now, so anyone of the above would be a great improvement. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

We shall see. I'm open to hearing what the guy has to say and willing to consider voting for him. He has very little experience at the Federal level, but then Jack Kennedy was still serving his first term in the Senate when he ran in 1960, and only had one or two terms in the U.S. House before that. Hard to tell, sometimes you need a young upstart. Especially after the idiot we've got now, I'd vote for Anna Nicole Smith before another Bush. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Our kids are now 18 and 22, but they got a very few special spankings before they were 3 years old. In each case, safety was involved. They had done something really dangerous. One was wandering around in the street, "because she felt like it" - her words. The other wandered away from her mom and hid in a ladies' room toilet stall while her mom and big sister frantically searched for her and even called the cops to report a missing child. In each case, one well aimed swat across the tail focused their attention marvelously. They KNEW beyond any doubt they were in seriously deep shit (there's something to be said about preserving the novelty of spanking for that reason). But otherwise, they were punished with time outs, being sent to their rooms, no television, being grounded and not able to play with friends, etc. And all in all they grew up to be remarkably well behaved children, at least that's what a lot of adults told us along the way. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Democrat, but the Demos from San Fran are tripping on some heavy blotter acid. I'm surprised they haven't tried to ration toilet paper to save the fucking trees yet.... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It's one more thing between you and the ground, can that be so bad ? Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Three cheers for Judge Ambrecht ! Another reason for protecting the independence of the judiciary, I'd say. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Attached: an old advertisement for Cobra parachutes, from a 1978 issue of "Parachutist". Oh that's so cool, I remember that ad ! Thanks for posting that, it's even got my old white rainbow. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Could be a Russian, but I was thinking more likely a Starlite. They both had the row of open gores in the back. The Russian PC was bigger though, this one has the smaller & more elliptical look of a Starlite. My Cobra was a white rainbow, white top skin with a rainbow spectrum underneath. Really pretty canopy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Now THAT would make for a competition event ! I had been thinking a nice picture of some vultures feating on some nice boney red meat might help. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I jump a 210 Pilot, which as large as they make that canopy. But I'm also a big guy and load it at about 1.2, which is definitely enough for decent penetration into the wind and beginning to approach the zone where things start moving faster. I did jump a 190 for a while, was supposed to have got a 210 main with the rig I was buying, but it was delivered with a 190 (Spectre). I made the choice to give it a go and really liked the 190 a lot, for about 32 jumps. Then I got a thundering no winder on a hot day and made one dumb mistake that 180'd my foot, broke my fib in two places and almost destroyed my ankle, which had to be pinned for the next four months. I can't really say that it was the 190 that did it to me and I did a dumb thing. But the fact that I went to almost a 1.3 load with less than 40 jumps (after returning to the sport from a 22 year layoff), I'd consider my accident a good illustration of what can happen from downsizing too quickly. And I got off easy, I didn't hook it or end up crippled or dead. A smaller canopy really is a lot more fun and most of the time you can handle them well enough you'll even wonder what the fuss is all about. But it just takes that one time in a hundred that things are less than ideal and moving just fast enough that you may not have the judgement you need to do the right thing. I did just great for 32 jumps at a 1.3 loading, # 33 got me. Since then, on a somewhat larger canopy, 160 more jumps and having taken a canopy course, I could probably go back to a 190 and do just fine. I haven't got the money for a canopy anyway, so this year I'll just stick with the 210 to the point I can land it with my eyes closed. besides, I'm "old school", I still think a parachute's supposed to SLOW me down. Funny thing is in the old F-111 days, a 210 would've been considered a "mid size" canopy. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

There was just a story about that kind of test on NPR yesterday, a black woman was recalling how the white registrars refused to register her to vote because she couldn't guess how many jellybeans were in a jar on the table. They would also demand that she recite the Preamble to the Constitution (the "We the people of the United States..." bit) and to their horror she recited it perfectly and they finally gave in. Any test would NEVER be applied equally by any governing party currently in office. It would always be applied strictly against those out of favor and waived altogether for those in favor. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Reminds me of the days when my older daughter was in Drama Club, she was cast as one of the Sheriff of Nottingham's lackies in a Robin Hood play. They were professionally coached in the art of stage combat, i.e. how to put on a convincing swordfight while hopefully not hurting each other too badly with stage swords made of metal tubing. I wonder if this idiot high school would even allow such a play, or would the kids have to "fight" empty handed, Monty Python style ? Or would Robin and the Sheriff's men have some kind of "Diversity Day" to celebrate their differences with some kind of sissy dance around a maypole ? Sounds like more idiot school officials on the loose, they can't find useful jobs so they take it out on the kids. Zero tolerance is zero tolerance for our liberties - and the kids are learning it. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

There will be no impeachment for the simple fact that the votes aren't there. Even with a Democrat majority in the House, it's still doubtful that all the Dems would vote for something as serious as an impeachment. So even though only a simple majority vote is required, it would be doubtful. Secondly, the majority in the Senate is by one slim vote (and thank God for Sen. Tim Johnson's continuing recovery from his recent stroke). Conviction by a Senate trial requires a 2/3 majority vote, which is why neither Andrew Johnson or Bill Clinton were convicted, even though a simple majority of the Senate voted for a guilty verdict against both men. Now if only there were some evidence that the Prez was knockin' boots with somebody..... Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Don't forget using a cigar. Anything physical is sex, you can even do it with your clothes on. Everything else is just a matter of degrees. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I never even thought of it that way, but my senior year in college I sort of had a winglady. There was nothing more between us than just being friends, we'd lived in the same house (different rooms) once and fought like cats & dogs over who did dishes, toothpaste & so on. Living apart though, we were the best of friends. Anyway, her boyfriend went "on the road" - very important in those days. I was a student with a student I.D. and she was not. So I constantly took her out to movies, dances, concerts, whatever was happening on campus, with my I.D. I was happy to be her social date and we had fun. and part of that fun was I really met A LOT more women than I ever had before. I got SO laid my senior year and I think a lot of that might have had to do with squiring Maria around. Hey guys, it really works ! Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

It was a 180ft. 5 cell, although the advertising insisted it was really 10 cells (yeah right). I never noticed the openings being any harder than any other square I tried back then (Strato Clouds, Cruisairs, my Viking Superlite), but they all opend with more "authority" than today's canopies. I never had any debilitating pain that made getting out of bed difficult or anything like that. Of course I was only 23 years old at the time. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

Another PC class canopy but it did not open squirrelly. After throwing the pilot chute, I could feel the pin being pulled and the container opening, the bag lifting off, and when I hit the end of the lines, I went, maybe, another 25 feet and I was under an open canopy. I knew a lot of people who jumped Starlites. Wendy here on these Forums used to jump one a lot and loved hers. I only tried one once, on a 10 second delay and thought the opening was just a bit "assertive" for me, but it was a nice canopy. There were a bunch of small packing lightweight canopies in the mid/late seventies; the Sierra, the Starlite, the Piglet, the Sparrow - I owned one of those - heck even Pioneer mad an RW PC out of 1.5 ripstop. They were all trying to get the nice openings, flight characteristics and landings of the PC without being so darned heavy & bulky. But the PC still flew better in all conditions than any of them and the only real solution was to go square along with the rest of the world. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

I am selling a product, they are interested in paying me for it. I fail to see where my responsibility lies in all this. Part of the problem with all the canopy related injuries and deaths in recent years is that too many inexperienced jumpers are buying and using canopies they're simply not ready for. SOMEBODY is selling them these canopies. Your argument is purely economical, it overlooks any ethical obligation you have to the buyer and our sport. Would you sell a machine gun to a 12 year old kid ? Why not, if you've got one for sale, the kid has the money and wants one ? Without opening the gun ownership can of worms, I think most reasonable people would have to think about a 12 year old with a machine gun, while selling the same kid a .22 if he shows you a NRA gun safety course card could be quite reasonable. It's always possible that anybody can get killed skydiving. And somebody could fly my 210 Pilot into the ground and kill themselves too. But it isn't nearly as likely as it could be with a sub 150 ft. fully elliptical, or even cross braced canopy. These "kids" (and some of them should be old enough to know better) need to cool their jets and take the time to learn how to fly canopies safely. A 27 year old "kid" with just a few hundred jumps killed himself this fall making a front riser turn below 100 ft. on a 135 ft. elliptical canopy. How would you feel if YOU had sold him the canopy ? There ARE plenty of qualified jumpers out there who can handle any canopy you might care to sell. And you DO have an ethical responsibility to sell only to people who can present some evidence or references to their skill and ability. Otherwise, you're selling a machine gun to a 12 year old. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !