metalslug

Well, if we're including those, then I can honestly say that James Bond has jumped at our DZ.

Hmm... In before the lock ?

This thread is talking about swooping, not "landing a canopy properly". Less than 1/4 of the members at my DZ swoop their landings but almost every one of them can land their canopy properly. Is it really fair to say that anyone who cant swoop is also incapabable of adequate canopy traffic awareness ?

Well, I think he may be about to say that... Although death&injury from a swoop is more likely, there are no (or fewer) regulations and minimum requirements in place for swoopers than there are for TMs. The other important distinction here is that a tandem jump involves another person's life (the passenger), a bad swooper usualy only endangers his own life. I would happier to see a newbie trying to swoop a beach-towel than to let him take any of my friends on a tandem.

I think it's nice. I've always prefered the American approach to automotive design. There's definitely something aestheticaly appealing to me about those "squared-off" body shapes, as opposed to the sharp&flat or heavily rounded shapes of many French and Italian designs. I also like the simplistic American approach to increased power.. more cubic inches! By far the most ugly thing about that new Mustang is those secondary headlamps mounted in the front grille. Maybe they keep with traditional styling, but it still looks really ugly to have them there. Edit to Add: Ok, after seeing the pics in skydivingchad's post I've changed my mind. The Mustang ass looks like... well, a horse's ass. I dont want one anymore.

Nope. Only about 500 registered skydivers in my country, the gear market is just not big enough to justify the cost of sending lots of demo gear to the dealers. Some dealers here in SA have demo equipment from Parachute Systems and Aerodyne, but not much else, and not in the canopy size range that many students would be looking to buy. Most of the skydivers at my DZ borrowed rigs from each other to demo where they could, and bought blind for the rest.

According to that; I'm Spiderman.

So... if your child or Very Significant Other was clearly in distress just a few feet from you, you may actualy hesitate to help ? Many of these thread comments are not claiming what they could successfully do, it's also about what they would attempt to do. The former requires skill and experience, the later only requires courage (or foolishness). I wouldn't chase anyone that low if they had a Cypres.. for precisely this reason. That would result in the jumper's handle being pulled at about the time your reserve opening reaches line stretch, after your Cypres fire. That would probably start their deployment at around 400ft. It would be a very close one.. but perhaps better than not trying at all. Good on ya.

Pretty funny stuff. Rather organize me a Green Card and some citizenship, dammit.

I dont have kids. I have lost faith in the future of my country and dont have the resources to emigrate to a better place, more suitable for raising children. I've also often thought that planned pregnancies are somewhat 'selfish'. After all, parents have children in order to enrich their own lives, they are not doing the child any great favor by bringing them into the world. As such, I had decided that if I cannot offer my child every oppertunity for a better life than I have had, then I have no business in having a child at all.

Planner - Facts - Heart - Introvert = Nurturer

If it was family or close friend, I'd chase them till the AAD fired.. or till 2000 if I had no AAD. I think a lot of skydivers have a sense of their relative inexperience, but a lot of whuffos think that anyone that can skydive is capable of 'James Bond' stunts: "You're a skydiver! He was right next to you when he started tumbling and you didn't even try to help?" My chances of ever catching an incapacitated jumper are very slim, but it would be just as difficult for me to explain to the whuffo relatives and friends of the dead jumper (who may also be my own friends and relatives) that I didn't even try because I was too pessimistic to even consider the possibility of success.

Eiffel 65 - Blue (Instrumental) I just never get tired of hearing that tune.

Age 32 Sex M Avg 0.1908 My last 3 times were identical (0.172) which seems statisticaly unusual considering the precision of the measurement. Is that timer completely accurate ?

Well, looking at my map I'd say it was North-West... from me. ..but then I'm in the Southern part of Africa so I guess my perspective doesn't count.

Nice download. Thanx for the effort, James. BTW, anyone know what altitude they pulled at ? The video makes it look like they were still way up there.

Is there any other way we can see that video ? Is there a downloadable digital file hosted someplace ?

I lost track of that thread.. What did the message eventualy say ?

Heh, I got the impression so far that John may actualy agree with most of my comments here. I dont see yet how I've baited him. Nah, it's certainly not just Americans that arrive for safaris, but they are the most common and thousands of dollars is more than most other people are prepared to pay, both local and foreign.

To me this is an important distinction. I have empathy for most animals but actualy get some consolation from eating the meat and wearing the leather, knowing the animal has been efficiently processed and utilised to its maximum. It doesn't matter to me whether the animal was commercialy slaughtered and processed or whether the job was done by a hunter in the field. However.... I do have a problem with most big game trophy hunting. I'm especialy alarmed by "canned" hunting. Some American hunters travel to South Africa and pay thousands of dollars to shoot a lion in a restricted space. Can this be described as anything other than bloodsport ?

IMO, a part of this problem is that people have different ideas on what 'respect' means. Does respect mean acknowledging basic human rights and civil courtesy ? Or does respect mean compliance with every wish and whim of every friend or an authority figure (parent/boss) ? Do different cultures and ethnic groups around the world interpret civil courtesy differently ? I could disrespect a Japanese home by marching in with my boots on (rather than removing them at the door) and not realise I was showing disrespect. Should we respect the person ? ..or respect the position they hold regardless of their credibility ? I know of one teenager who shot his father to prevent his mother from receiving yet another beating. Did this child disrespect his father ? Using the above example, do children have the judgement to truly know what respect is, who deserves it, and when and how to apply it ? And lastly, are we obliged to still respect those who disrespect us ? Most of us will come into contact with thousands of people in our lifetime and few of us have time and resources to please all of those people all of the time. Assuming basic human rights and civil courtesy is the common definition of respect, we should all get along fine, but IMO its not always a clear issue.

You appear to be correct. The book of Jonah does not mention wine. Very interesting.

(1) ferret (2) None. Every book mentions wine.

'Strength' in a woman is an attractive quality. I define 'strength' as the ability to be independent, to speak honestly and not be afraid what people might think, to manage your own life and finances, to fight back when pressured, to not shit yourself if you get stuck in an elevator (or jump out of a plane ). Strength is measured by how well you can control your own life. It's not measured by how well you can control your partner's life. Being strong makes you admired, being domineering does not. The type of woman that I am most scared of are extremely beautiful women. I fear them because they can cloud my judgement. (and sometimes interrupt my cardio-pulmonary functions

The closest thing to a name I've seen at my DZ are the sponsor's names that appear on some sponsored canopies. The CI at my dropzone has an orange canopy with great big "Crunchy" lettering across it. So, some folks may point at the sky and say, "Ah, he's flying Crunchy now", or "Ah, there comes Crunchy" (expecting another impressive swoop). It's more an identifier, to distinguish it from the canopy in his other rig, than a personified name. I have also noticed some custom embroidery on some cutaway & reserve puffs/pillows. The one I remember best imitates a pinball machine, with the words "Tilt" on the cutaway and "Replay" on the soft reserve". But puff embroidery probably belongs in its own thread.