champu

I guess I could see that. Heh... If this thing goes in the drink, I wonder which of the dozen countries with their eyes on this launch will get to the debris first.

So they'd be aiming for an orbital inclination of... say...30deg or less? Their aim would either have to be for Russia/Alaska, or the Marshall Islands. I guess it's not too hard to decide on that one. The more I think about it though, the more I wonder, if it is a space launch attempt, why don't they just say so?

You're right, and I have no idea what their intended orbit would be, it would depend on the mission of the spacecraft. My point was that "shooting first and asking questions later," even assuming we hit the thing, is a really terrible idea right now.

Shooting down, or attempting to shoot down, what turns out to be a space-launch vehicle would certainly be a shithead thing to do.

I think it's time for a shameless plug for Rotten Tomatoes. It's a critical review aggregation site. If the movie scores 60% or higher, it's "fresh" and worth seeing. Less than 60% and it's "rotten" stay away. It hasn't let me down yet.

I see you're drinking 1%. Is that 'cause you think you're fat? 'Cause you're not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to.

OH SWEET JESUS, MAKE THE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE NOISE STOP!

One thing about launching hybrids I've found is people usually underestimate the skill required of the people flying belly in the base. This usually involves tossing a couple newbies who just want to be on a hybrid but can't freefly yet into the base. launching a two way with one hanger is actually pretty easy. I've found the best way to do that is to have the two belly flyers be one in one out, shoulders squared off to the door, in about the middle of the door, and have the hanger in front of them in the door, on the outside, head-jamming and holding on to chest straps. with a six-way it's two belly flyers outside, the two hangers crouched down, and two belly flyers all the way inside the plane. The keys this introduces is that the inside belly flyers have got to be ON IT on "go", or they will eat the floor of the plane on the way out. To help them do this, the two crouched down hangers cannot jump up AT ALL on "go", they have to essentially slip off the plane. The things that both these have in common is that the belly flyers have to have high grips, present really well, and be able to work out the twists and level issues that are going to be introduced on exit. The hanger(s) have to be sure to either stay in a ball for a second or two, or if they want to punch it out right away, make sure they stand directly into the relative wind. If you punch it out and start backsliding in your stand you're going to tear the base apart or go over the top on the hill.

Rapid up. Super-high.

It's an orientation reference for the pilot so he can tell where the laser-designator pod is pointed relative to the direction of flight.

This is exactly what I was referring to, thank you for your example. Gear issues? Emergency procedures? Get in the habit of checking your gear and touching your handles every jump. Low turns? Get in the habit of opening, making sure your immediate airspace is clear, and right away choosing a spot to land and a flight plan to get you there on every jump. Canopy collisions? Get in the habit of locating all the canopies sharing the sky with you on every jump. (I jump at multi-otter dropzones, and my vision isn't even all that good, and somehow I manage) Freefall collisions? Break-off issues? Whether you're organizing the jump or just taking part, get in the habit of watching skydive plans as they come together on every jump. If you have concerns about your ability to be on the skydive safely, or someone else's ability to be on the skydive safely, say something. If you notice the dive flow or break-off plan starts to accumulate "if"s, "and"s, "or"s, or "but"s, say something. All this said and done, can "shit happen"? Absolutely. But wouldn't you rather die of a spinning line-over on your reserve and crashing into a poisonous cactus than from hooking it in under your main?

none of me, but here's one I took of genoyamamoto

Being "extra-special-aware" immediately following your participation in or observation of a skydiving accident parallels "just being extra careful" when driving drunk. Neither, I suspect, are very effective. Safety comes from making sure the mindless routine you fall back into is a heathy one, not from drinking an extra cup of coffee before you jump. You won't learn anything from an accident by reading about it and concluding, "Well duh, don't jump shitty gear." or "Well duh, don't stab a toggle 50ft off the ground." You learn something from an accident by understanding what the person didn't do prior to or during every single jump that would have prevented it.

a six way hybrid turning points on the hill and little sunset swooping, both from today. (Sunday) Can you tell I like compositions that involve the sun?

Why do you care if your RSL is disconnected or not if you're standing on the ground with your main in your rig? Don't count on being able to stop the spin from a toggle fire by pulling on the rear riser of the unstowed side. It may work, or it may do nothing and feel like pulling on a wet noodle. Your best bet is just to pop the other break. Same thing happened to me using one hand on each. I tried to pull cutaway and it went nowhere. So I reached over with my other hand, did two hands on the cutaway, held onto the handle witih my right hand and grabbed my reserve handle with just my left hand and pulled. I was actually kinda surprised I did that, it was definitely not something I practiced.

I obviously can't speak for her, but I don't think that's what she meant. It did sound kinda bad though. I think her problem is less centered around big canopies and turbulance and more about sloshing around in the harness. To the best of my knowledge she's been sticking to the calmer winds in the mornings and the evenings. I like a rig that's pretty snug fitting, like I'm getting a hug. I've jumped a couple non-articulated rigs that weren't made for me and I felt more like I was getting molested. It can make for a weird canopy ride.

You little name dropper you Haha, that was a pretty blatent nizzle drop of the Tizzle. What size container are you getting? (i.e. what canopy size do you need to borrow down to until you can use your custom rig? 135? 120?) I have a sabre 135 you can borrow if you need it along the way, even if not right away.

time for the obligatory, "omg wallhack!"

I guess it depends on the dropzone's strictness regarding qualifications for night jumps, but technically you need either a B or a C on your way to a D. Some places simply require you to have the jumps and the water training, while some require you to actually have the B license before they'll let you do night jumps. I didn't get my B-license until I had around 500 jumps, and it was just to do night jumps. Shortly thereafter I skipped the C and got a D. I have no idea what my B number is.

Both groups, unfortunately, are plagued by hypocrisy and rampant logical fallacies. I think I've officially had it with this forum.

Simply? In order to decide whether or not something is out of the ordinary, you have to know what the ordinary is. I'm sure, however, the platoons of math PhDs at the NSA have a more detailed answer. As far as "narrowing it down to possible terrorists," I do suppose we could just gather up the phone records of all the brown people.

You would think so, wouldn't you? This is why DOJ gave up on the investigation. The very agency they were investigating was the one who had to give them clearance, which they would not give. No oversight = dictatorship. Zipp0 There is oversight, and it comes from these ladies and gentlemen. I can assure you they have access to information regarding the NSA's program, and the DOJ should have a little chat with them if the NSA isn't playing nice regarding this investigation.

This is actually a fairly good analogy. I would caution people who brush this kind of data aggregation off as benign. Don't kid yourself in thinking the NSA is going to put together millions upon millions of call records, take a few steps back from their newly amassed pile, and just marvel at it endlessly. Specific patterns found in this kind of data tends to trigger further scrutiny, and I think that's really at the heart of what worries most people.

Regarding a need to belong... As a white American male, on paper, I'm easily replaceable. I grew up in an upper-middle class neighborhood. There's tons of me. I'm everywhere. It's disgusting. Combine that with working in the aerospace industry and suddenly I'm a real sonunvabitch. I'm not interested in promoting myself with the tag-line "white American male." I'm interested in surpassing my peers, and distancing myself from stereotypical shortcomings. Some people like to form groups of this lineage to celebrate commonality and prove to themselves their ability to accomplish a particular goal. I don't. But then I've always been a solitary person, for better or for worse.

Wow... he must have like... 54 jumps.