FrogNog

Easy answer first: 2) Save my ass. Harder answer: 1) there is very often a conflict between theory and practice. Lots of people have covered it already. All I'll add to that is there are big issues and small issues. A five degree correction, IMO, is a small issue, and I understand the debate over whether a pilot with zillions of jump runs experience would not interface properly with a newbie meatbomb, for any of a number of reasons (e.g. newbie is scared to ask the pilot for a correction). But sometimes it's a big issue: "where the hell is the airport?" or "wind board said 60 mph uppers; we're flying crosswind 3/4 mile downwind of where I want to get out!". These are the cases where I will try and stay in the plane, beg for a go-around (or a "renavigation", if you will), or even ride the plane down if there is a conflict. I try and determine my "spot concern level" using data on the ground and on the ride up before jump run, so I know how carefully I need to check the spot. And on a tangent, 182s can be poor rides up, but so many of these spotting issues go away. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I prefer to phrase this as "my parents are in Vegas and they can't wash their cars or water their lawns because they intentionally moved to a city in the middle of a desert." Of course, I should talk. I live in Seattle and often can't jump because I intentionally moved to a low cloud. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

It is my understanding that a great many things we take for granted day-to-day came out of space exploration. I'm not sure Velcro is one of these, but I think it is. I'm pretty sure microwave ovens are. Saran wrap may be another, but I live without it OK. Kevlar may be another product of space racing. This may include some of the other materials we use for suspension lines. Of course, I'm still waiting for the big one: super-cheap rides to altitude. Space racing involves a lot of trying to send things into the air faster, safer, and cheaper, and we're all about that! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Necrobestiality is nothing. I once knew someone who engaged in pyronecrobestiality. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Nice work. A question though. Seeing how it has a very rapid descent rate and is GPS guided can you use the standard military method of determining the HARP(High Altitude Release Point) or have you modified the original formulas to work with this system? I think they use the standard HARP and program the ONYX to pull low. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

The problem with making skydiving equipment, as I see it, is two-fold: 1. If people depend on your product, and it lets them down, sooner or later they will sue you. This will immediately be a very bad thing, financially, no matter what. 2. If people depend on your product, and it lets them down, you may have indirectly hurt or killed someone. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Dang, you make a good case for why I should pack for people for money. The only downside is standing around smelling fresh-deployed nylon and Jet-A, listening to the propellers, and seeing the bright blue sky, and being packing all day. I make just enough money for that to not be worth $400 a day to me. (Even if I did pack like ten times as fast as I do now.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Based on the physics they describe - lengthening the lever arm - I think this is a good idea and will definitely make for lower pull forces (like their testing says). The only thing I would weigh against it is increased cost (not an issue if it's small) and increased hanging-up on cutaway (time / testing will tell). However, I should point out that their own literature says this design change reduces the cutaway pull force by 30% or more. (The higher the g-forces, the better the improvement their design offers, according to their test numbers.) "never more than like 6 or 7 pounds of pull" may be accurate, but if it is, then their numbers imply a properly-operating regular 3-ring system would only ever be 8 to 15 pounds of pull (before the risers, harness, or you break). Hmm. At first I thought this wasn't a big deal, but now I realize if I'm on my back spinning around under my malfunctioning main, I'd prefer a 6 pound pull to a 9 pound pull. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

What kind of winds can it land in? BTW, that is the sexiest way I have ever seen to deliver a keg to a party! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

This accessory is called a "Light-Track", I believe. I found some note of its existence, but not much. clicky - Parachutes de france.com catalogue page Very bottom of page - "Light-Track" Pro-Dytter accessory from clicky - a L&B products FAQ: "Question: When is the LIGHT-TRACK available? Answer: Probably by middle or end of year 2000." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

My advice: 1. It doesn't mean nothing. You almost slipped off the horse, but you held on. Ride it again. 2. If your JMs are like my JMs were, once your butt is past the doorframe, "getting back in the plane" is not an option, barring extreeeemely unlikely circumstances.

The reason I would unstow the slider is so just in case the packer forgets, I don't open at terminal with a collapsed slider. But really, I just pack for myself (so far) because I believe packing builds character. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Clicky my snowflake -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Word. And downwind, when applicable. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

http://www.cypres-usa.com/cyp16.htm Dated 1995. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

So, back in the day, would you actually have a relatively normal landing if you put your rig on backwards like in the picture? (Looks like risers coming from his back.) Doesn't sound "safe" to have the handles in back, tho... -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I've only seen one in person once, but my understanding is they are not stiffened in the manner you described, and the wing areas are engineered similar to ram-air canopies. I believe I read that various types of stiffeners had been tried historically and contributed significantly to the near-100% fatality rate of wingsuit experimenters before the "modern" style came about in, I believe, the mid-90's. Plus if you get too much bracing, it's called a hang-glider or a SkyRay, not a WingSuit. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I have been told it is bad to double-wrap "elastics" on the locking stows, but you can double-wrap the non-locking stows. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Did you go along with the shortening of your name because otherwise it just took too long to listen to it? I understand the name MacGuillicuddy can't be pronounced in Texas on a lunch break because there just isn't time. Hence: "Mac". -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Havok feels like an exoskeleton for yer face. Extra bones, not extra space. (For better or for worse.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I don't know anything about DZs in China. But isn't the cost of living way, way higher in Hong Kong, such that "your same salary" would probably fail to cover rent, utilities, and food? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

The TSO'ed design specifications may indicate a placement range of the chest strap in relation to other webbing, and it is possible with the short harness that was lengthened, the permissible location for the chest strap is way up high. Or it could have to do with the handle cable housings, which might need replacing with ones two inches longer if you were to move the chest strap down two inches. Or there might be a limit on the unstitching and restitching allowed, and the chest strap is too involved. "it appears ... pretty straightforward" is appearance. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Oof, too scary for me! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I, also, am not committing suicide everytime I jump unless I do something right, any more than the same is true every time I ride a bicycle in traffic or down insane hills, every time I climb a ladder, every time I drive my car, etc.. Naturally I don't want to die - I wouldn't get to jump anymore if I did! (Edit: meaning, if I die, I wouldn't get to jump anymore, therefore I don't want to die.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Either I'm a dumbass and have been misspelling 'skydivers' this whole time, or the media just hacked up another skydiving story. -Kramer There are two generally-accepted spellings for skydivers: skydivers, and skivers.