FrogNog

I don't know. I know some RW exits or exit parts will have names written in books. Same with some basic other exits. Inside step, outside step, crotch, and RW ones I've heard (I can only remember "float" and maybe "center"). Apparently there is room to perform a service here.

OK, I think I should look at getting a keg for the proper opportunity. I'm probably about 7 cases in, and I've only bought .5 cases. Has happened: * first jump ever * clear-and-pull * own pack job * cutaway (rigger already bottled) * Caravan * A-license (.5 case paid) * standup, solo, downwind, and C-license-qualifying accuracy landings (like a dead center, only 3 paces off; DZO and JM witnessed so no getting out of that one) * dock * ride down (nobody on the ground at the LZ) * aborted ride down (radio looked broken but then pilot switched it back on) To do: * Twin otter (Kapowsin) * Beech 18 (Toledo) * Beaver (Ralphie's place) * Muff dive * Own rig * Pumpkin Jump! Woooooo! * Wingsuit * Star Crest Recipient, etc. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

S/L is better if you're afraid of heights. Which I sort of am / was. Now I'm just afraid of "lows". Above 3k, I'm cool because I know the handles are my friends. Also, you can fit 3 early-phases S/L students plus their JM in a 182 all at once, and you can give each one a spotting lesson if they're ready for it. One of S/L's downsides can be seen as an upside, too: while it takes a certain number of jumps to get to freefall (a small number nowadays in the US, and perhaps other places), that is an incentive. Unless delayed gratification and skydiving training shouldn't go together... I had a bunch of trouble on my short delays, and that may be a common issue of the S/L program. But at the start, the sight of climbing out at 3.5k vs. climbing out at 12k was definitely better for me! Maybe just to be fair, I should go through an AFF course too. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Is that what they were doing. I couldn't figure out their driving back and forth with the tractor and the thingie so I just ignored it. BTW, if you can't land inside the East Field at that DZ, you deserve to smell like manure! I was just at Kapowsin today and they had about 4" of accumulation before I left, and still snowing hard. And our Summer Caravan is there, too! If the snowclouds weren't down to 100 AGL, it would be perfect. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

What am I missing here? "The Star Crest Recipient formation must freefly the exit (no grips) and must participate in a freefall formation involving eight (8) or more skydivers held together for a minimum of 5 seconds." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

The beer rules appear to be remiss on how many cases a keg counts for. Does anybody know this? Does one simply work out the volume of (usable - we're in aviation here) beer in a keg and just divide by 16 oz (or whatever a bottle is)? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

One thing that helped me at more than one stage of my S/L progression, in addition to relaxing and taking several slow deep breaths before DOOR!, is to remember that I can do this. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Well, that's the theory anyway. I'm not so sure it has been tested and proven it actually works as well as most people hope it will. Look at where the force will actually be applied -- will that provide enough leverage to open the reserve flap by only cutting away? If not, will the main depart fast enough to clear the reserve when it deploys? I don't know about whether this theory has been tested, either, but I was told the peak force for an RSL to pull the reserve pin if a worst-case ring alignment configuration (if the jumper is head-down during the cutaway and the ring at the end of the RSL slides all the way up against the static ring) can be 600 pounds. On the one hand I doubt this is a realistic amount to get from one riser of a cutaway canopy that isn't held by both risers anymore. On the other hand this assertion is something that may have some testing behind it. There may be design and testing data indicating just how hard a cutaway canopy really can pull on the RSL / risers. If it's some huge figure, we can assume several square inches of velcro here or there won't make a difference. So, who knows about tested RSL pull strengths?

Perhaps what the USPA is saying is that as far as they know, every Joe Blow without a coach rating probably is, or may well be, unqualified to jump at his own expense with novices. And there are two ways to convince the USPA otherwise (from what I have read on this thread): Have the DZ's S&TA write a waiver when she sees he has had more jumps than most of us have had hot meals, or send the guy through the hoops. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

what issues could occur?? i guess i have never thought of any cons to this, only pro's, those being that your lines have less chance of being stripped when you roll the bag into the container, or when it is lifted out by the pilot chute. the way i have always thought about it is the pilot chute has to lift it straight off your back, so why not just have it sitting that way before you close it. I think part of the reason to rotate the bag 90 degrees from grommet-to-pin to grommet-to-reserve (and thus lines from small-of-back to bottom-of-pack) before closing is to make the lines immediately above the risers lay more straight and further away from the line bights, to reduce the possibility of getting a bight-wrap baglock. But I haven't read this anywhere, nor anything about how having less line from the riser to the first bight might prevent this. If you ask people at my DZ who watch me pack, you'll hear the term "anal" (as in analytic, thank you). So this may not matter to anyone else. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Ah, Bill, what do _you_ know? Seriously, though, 4x pain on a slammer sounds really icky. But Dacron lines doesn't impress the girliez. Easier to stow IMO, though. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned old Velcro vs. new Velcro, which can change the separation force (in both peel and no-peel, or separate and slide directions) a whole lot. In my TAS transition harness drills, I didn't bother to peel. I grabbed and punched across my chest. The velcro on the scary old drill rig (which happens to be the intentional-cutaway under-rig, too ) is quite worn and presented no trouble, even in my not-adrenalined state. (Of course, I wasn't spinning and the excess cutaway cables weren't bound up.) When I get a new rig, I will seriously be looking into how sticky the (cutaway pillow) velcro is and I may get it onto the hanging harness too just to check. Thankfully the rental rig I'm on right now isn't too sticky on its cutaway pillow velcro so I'm not worried about it. I've thought about learning to peel-then-pull but for now I'm still green on this whole two-handles thing (one of which is a pillow ) so I'm just going to concentrate on staying sane, staying on top of my openings as they happen, and not wasting time deciding and dealing with stuff. Hopefully (and I know that's a famous last word) if the cutaway handle Velcro whoops up on me I will have time for one more try and I'll think to peel and pull. While that plan sounds stupid from the standpoint of "thinking intelligently during an emergency", I weigh against that the adrenaline I expect to have in any "fast must chop or die" situation, and the time I expect to have in any "leisurely not good enough for me chop" situation. I'm betting my ass that in the first the velcro will be no match for my visceral determination and in the second I'll wisely consider the best way to conduct my cutaway for maximum enjoyment. (First one was sure fun ) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I dunno, if you lose power on takeoff and have to crash, do you really want to crash on them and their houses? Their heads would probably be really hard. Plus they might set you on fire while you're trying to crawl out of the wreckage. On a serious note, I totally agree with the turbine noise vs. piston noise issue. Too bad the porter is burnt; I'm sure they could have realized how well they had it if you gave them some cooperative turbine vs. piston noise demonstrations. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Like the Camera you probably have on your head Auryn. Im asking this question about the rigs I pack for other people. My rig has velcro toggle keepers, and all the brake line is stowed underneath the toggle. Blue Ones ! Hypothetically speaking, of course, if I were to pack rigs for other people, and I wasn't presented with a straightforward method of stowing the extra brake line, I would ask them what they like. Then I would remember what each person / rig likes. But of course I don't pack other peoples' mains because I'm not a rigger. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

As in dropshop . com the DJ store? That's what I thought, but then I tried www.coughdropshopcough.com and it's all good. Seriously, though, "little" things like altimeters don't have a huge price variation, so I also recommend getting it from your DZ if they can get you one you like and they get to keep $10 or even $40. That is, assuming you like your DZ.

Fish scales, my man. (The kind that a human uses to weigh a fish, not the kind that a fish uses to cover its body.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

My appreciation for the 182 exit is it's the one that gives you the biggest sky, because the airplane is taking up so little of it. I've only done two planes - 182 and Caravan. I like the Caravan for the view - looking over that wing (no engine in the way) at the sky and the mountains, and the door you could push an elephant out. But I like the 182 because it's more comfortable for me - so much stuff to hang onto. And if you stand in the crotch you can feel a 85 mph wind on yer bum. Maybe that will seem less novel when I get to sitflying. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Maybe you could get some armored underpants to wear over your suit. (No, they're not called that, but no, I'm not kidding.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I wanted to take my mind off some stuff for a while and get outside my comfort zone. Now, freefall is sort of inside my comfort zone but the plane ride isn't. :) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'm jealous, our Caravan went away for the winter and now we have to jump out of the 182 or the other 182. And by "our" Caravan I mean of course the Caravan that was visiting us. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

So, i'm coming in straight & need to turn to my left; you're saying I should flare harder w/ the right toggle? From your text I don't know if you're talking about the same thing your quotee was talking about. (Of course, I'm not 100% sure what the quotee was talking about.) I think the "uneven flare" is not for when you're coming straight in on final and everything is hunky-dory. I believe it's for when you're in a turn only a couple seconds from the ground and you want to hit less hard and more upright (i.e. with the canopy more over you and level). If I am guessing all this right, then that means if you are in a left turn near the ground you would flare except flare more with the right toggle, which would try and do two things at once: reduce your downward and forward speed and bring the canopy back up over you. Once the canopy is directly overhead, even up the toggles to avoid going from a low left turn to an even lower right turn as the canopy goes swoosh! right over your head. :) If you're coming in straight and everything is cool except you need to turn left, you just want to make a gentle left turn. There are plenty of ways to do this. A "flat turn" a.k.a. "braked turn" (as I understand the terminology) is supposed to give you a good rate of heading change without increasing your forward or downward speed dangerously like a hard "normal" toggle turn does. The way I read to learn to do flat turns is: * as with all new maneuvers, start way up high (so if you hose up, you have plenty of time to save your butt) * go to half brakes (i.e. both toggles) then pull down a bit more on one toggle and let up the same amount on the other toggle. * adjust from there until you can change your heading quickly and safely. Things to adjust include how far into brakes you go to do this, how much further down you pull the "inside" toggle, how much further you let up on the "outside" toggle, and some details about how to stop the turn that frankly I have ignored because I just even up the toggles back to the braked position and call it good. If you were already on top of this and I'm misunderstanding whether you are misunderstanding, then just totally ignore me. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I've been toying with the idea of a shop-vac attachment to assist packing. No one would ever buy it, of course, but are you saying you would consider being a novelty guinea pig for this? (

> First off, prevent the problem beforehand by practicing intentional low turns. > Learn to flat turn and flare turn up high, then gradually try it lower and lower. > Once you've done enough of them, you will instinctively do them when someone > cuts you off or you realize you have to turn into the wind. This is what I learned from reading the forums a lot: low turns happen, so practice flat turns a lot for when, not if, you have to make one to avoid something ugly down low. So now I practice flat turns. I started up high and have brought them down to my pattern. On turning into the wind: if things get down low and my only problem is I'm heading downwind, I will personally take my chances on a sliding high-groundspeed landing rather than a last-second turn. I haven't gotten into this situation yet but I assume if I do it's because the wind changed unexpectedly, I'm keeping with an established landing pattern to maintain predictable traffic flow (and either the wind changed or the first jumper who landed needs a beating), or I've already just done something funky like a low (flat, I hope) turn to avoid the alligators infesting the swoop pond. In all these situations, a downwind landing is the correct answer to me. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

With smoke! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Step 1: go to a local dropzone and ask them these questions. If they say you are old enough, Step 2: learn to skydive by going through student progression. This takes a while and meanwhile you will learn answers to all the questions you ask about anything - being an instructor, what gear you should buy and where, etc.. -=-=-=-=- Pull.