headoverheels

Iwan had added me, but Pop skipped past me.

Well, you're obviously not cold.

They don't usually post the real info on the web site regarding registration fees, etc. so you may have to call to get the real info. Usually, you pay the fee even if you only show up one day, something that locals don't like. In the past, it has included dinner Friday and Saturday nights, so if you are there for those, it's a better deal. You can camp on the DZ if you like. Roger Ponce is usually there organizing belly flying. It's always a pleasure to jump with Roger, but he pretty much takes whoever walks up with a ticket, so don't expect his loads to be the best. There is lots of belly flying, maybe some rubber raft dives, etc. I'll be there Friday until Sunday. Are you going to Roger's CrossKeys big-way in July?

Either #1 or keep trying...

Of course. I wonder what Mary was thinking? Now that you mention it, it does look like a certain male instuctor I know with a female student under wing. I sent it to my girlfriend, who e-mailed back an hour later to say that she was embarrassed to be still laughing at it.

As it says, it is a Mini-System. One of the better sport systems on the market at the time (early to mid 70's). Those 3-ring predecessors are shot-and-a-half Capewells. I have more cutaways with those than with one point systems. The chest mount reserve seems to be missing. BASE, anyone? Edited to say: You know I was kidding about the BASE, just because no reserve, don't you?

Take a look at the two birds in the attached photo. Study them closely and watch their habits......... See if you can spot which of the two is the female. It can be done. Even by one with no skills whatsoever in bird watching.

Or how about doing pre-stars when you were the last few out on a 40 way? Mad John used to finish a novel a weekend, just while riding to altitude.

Get a long spot and you might change your mind. FWIW, a couple of people at Lodi don't like Spectre landings, and are moving to other canopies. The words "lawn dart" were used. Maybe reserve judgement for some no-wind landings. At some loading, it's quite a good canopy.

Here ya go: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=166659;search_string=minimum%20loading%201.2%20cobalt;#166659 and http://www.extremefly.com/aerodynamics/FAQ.html#one

And back!

As you say. Checking the line specs and chords for the center cells, the trim angle to the bottom skin is pretty much the same.

Would you mind elaborating a bit on this point for me please? The reason I ask is that a 150 Stiletto has been made available for me to try as well. It is good to get a heads up on what to expect between the two canopies. I could tell from the wind on my face that the zero-brakes flight speed of the Spectre 135 was slightly faster than the Stiletto 135. This probably just means that the nose is pulled down a bit more (shorter front lines) on the Spectre. The Spectre will turn pretty fast, but takes a lot more toggle input to do so, than on a Stiletto. If you are used to canopies that take more toggle input (and you are), it is very easy to over-react, over-flare, etc. the Stiletto. The Stiletto has a bit of oversteer, where it will continue in a turn after releasing the toggles, unless you counter with the opposite toggle. Please note that, according to PD, http://www.performancedesigns.com/Stiletto.htm, you are right at the maximum recommended wing loading for a Stiletto, for an expert. When I started jumping a Stiletto, with 2000 jumps, I demoed one at that wing loading, but bought a canopy one size larger for more flexibility in traffic and lower touchdown speed.

So now we know one more thing in the Starr report that I didn't need to know.

No, it means pulling 300 feet higher. I only have 2 jumps on a Spectre. It had a reasonably nice flare, turns pretty fast. Full flight trim speed is slightly higher than my Stiletto of the same size. I personally wouldn't buy one with wing loading beyond 1.3, but I might make a few jumps on a smaller demo under good conditions.

That would probably drop you to 38%, except to all of us here!

Nah, all that and $13 jumps http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/weather/hw3.cgi?forecast=zandh&place=lodi&state=ca&zipcode=&country=us&maxdays=7&daysonly=2

"Everyone" is wrong. It depends on what you eat, how hot it is, and who you are. If your urine is coming out clear, you are drinking too much, you are just needlessly overworking your kidneys. If it is dark, you are not drinking enough. Yeah, I know, taking vitiamins can also make it dark.

I've recently demoed the Samurai 105 and the Katana 120. The Samurai was loaded at about 1.68, the Katana to 1.47. They are quite different, and not just because of the size (I also tried a Stiletto 97 which handled almost the same as my Stiletto 135, just faster/quicker). What is it that you don't like about your Velocity openings? Openings on the Samurai were brisk/firm, except two solo jumps where I didn't have any extra speed (not tracking, falling flat). Those two openings were quick and very nice. 8 out of 9 jumps were close to on heading. A representative opening was one which was on heading until the last instant, when the canopy turned 15-20 degrees to the right, easily steered back to on heading with harness. One opening had a bit of a diving turn to the left, but I'll blame that on packing or something. The openings coming out of a short track (4-way) were as firm as I would like. Not quite hard, but I wouldn't want them any harder. Two other jumpers who tried the Samurai for one jump each commented on the firmness of the opening. If I buy one, I'd want to get that figured out, with a change in packing, slider, or something. Riser turns were nice. Less pressure than my Stiletto, and less pressure buildup during the turn/dive. No canopy flutter during turns, felt right. Significantly longer recovery arc than the Stiletto. Harness steer was nice. The spot on one jump made it an upwind run the whole way, and I did a couple of small turns back and forth on final using small harness inputs. Landings were fine. I was glad to have a bit of wind for my first day, then very little on the next day. Significantly more bottom-end flare than a Stiletto. Easy transition to make, but I need more practice. The Katana has a slow, soft opening, even coming out of a longer track, slower than my Stiletto. Even after the canopy is mostly open, the slider is slow to come down. Then front corners of the canopy are still held in a bit, then the slider gently slides down over a period of about 1 second. Openings are more on heading than for a Stiletto, but not as on heading as the Samurai. Trim is steeper, but you can float pretty well on either rear risers or brakes. I had a fair amount of wind and traffic for the 8 jumps on the Katana, so I didn't get to explore its flight characteristics quite as much as the Samurai. I really liked my first landing, with about 140 degrees gentle riser turn. One later jumps, I noticed a characteristic of this canopy that I didn't like. My typical landing was a gentle carving 180. Front riser pressure started light and stayed pretty light. As I got into the turn, the rate of turn would decrease, unless I either added a bit of harness steer or added more front riser deflection. I'm not talking about adding more front riser pressure, which I would expect, but actually having to pull the front riser down further. Also, the left end of the canopy was bucking a bit in this gentle carve, similar to the way a canopy with too short brakes will buck on double fronts. The brake setting didn't seem short on the Katana, however. At first I thought I was just hearing the slider flapping more, but then looked up and saw that the left end of the canopy was the real noise source. I don't know whether this is a characteristic of the Katana 120, of this particular canopy, or of the loading at which I jumped it, but it was unacceptable to me. Maybe a more aggressive turn would have been smoother, but I don't do those. Landing flare was better than a Stiletto. Recover arc may be similar to the Samurai. It seemed less, but the Katana was more lightly loaded. I have a Katana 107 demo coming sometime.

You can get BBC on NPR, late night on the west coast, when it's early morning in Britain. I don't like the way the acknowledgements of major corporate donors have grown from a simple "made possible by the generous donation of xx corp" to a mini-advertisement to a not-so mini advertisement. What's non-commercial about that? I listen daily, lots of hours on Saturday if I'm around a radio.

Damn, girl, I would have said more like 40!

Guy I worked with had a black one, along with a certificate that it was the one and only to be painted black by the factory.

I'm trying to remember -- was that second point a 104 round around a 10-way round? Same as day before, but with 10 more people on the round?

Your poll needs more resolution at the bottom of the price range. $15 single ticket, $13 each in block of 50. Nominal altitude is 13k. Once in a while we get shorted a bit, but we get extra often enough to more than make up for it. Formation loads go to 15k and cost a $13 or $15 ticket plus two dollars extra for the extra 2000 feet. Oh, and tandems are $100, with $35 video. Parachute Center, Lodi, Northern California.

Yeah hot, but even nursing majors should have correct spelling on an ad/resume.