yoink

Ask for his DZ CCI / Owners name, then drop the guy an email to check the jumper is real.

That's pretty gnarly. Can't believe he's not wearing some sort of padding though. That thing looks SUPER twitchy in the corners and I've seen 70mph road rash when people come off bikes on asphalt... It's not pretty. Lots and lots of time in sterile hospital environments regrowing skin. Like my original instructor told me - All the gear, all the time.

Just out of interest, what do you think that figure should be? 75%? 90%? More?

Because of the precedent it sets. Lets assume Rubio gets into office next term and people start clamoring not only for his birth certificate on the first day in office, but also his marriage certificate, or a blood test result... should he pander to them? If he did, what would the next president have to produce to assuage the super paranoid?

That's a pretty bold statement. Any time you put 'in other words' in front of something you're applying your own judgement to it - seeing what you want to see. I'd need to see more evidence before I was convinced Jesus was talking about political correctness there. But I guess you take it on faith? No, you really, really are from what you've posted here. If this is at odds with what your religion tells you that you should be then I'd suggest a cold hard look at yourself before that final reckoning you're waiting for comes.

It might be worth waiting a little while to pick a canopy. The reason that I suggest this is that the characteristics you prefer are typically those associated with student-type or very conservative canopies. (1-stage flare, very flat glide). The current trend for modern canopies seems to be a 2-stage flare in most models and a slightly steeper glide, so maybe after some more exposure you'll find yourself more comfortable with these characteristics and won't get a canopy which may be harder to re-sell in time. A couple of older canopies you might try could be a Triathalon - slower, quite forgiving, and a more one-stroke flare than is typical now. It does have quite a steep glide though. An original Sabre isn't beyond the realm of possibility, either. In larger sizes they're fine with a 1-stage flare and have a more flare power than the Sabre 2 in my opinion. They don't fly quite as flat though, but not as steep as the Tri. The original Sabres were renowned for having hard openings. Mine opened as sweet as a nut every time, but some of them needed modifications and care while packing to avoid getting spanked. In terms of more modern designs, it might also be worth trying an Aerodyne Pilot. I've never jumped one, but I've heard that they're very forgiving, reasonable docile 7-cell canopies, but fly a little more similarly to the Sabre 2 than either of the earlier options. They'll also have a better resale value. 3 others to consider: The PD Spectre - great all round canopy with a flat glide, the PD Silhouette, and maybe the Safire2, from Icarus. My experience with the latter is limited, but I'm sure others can weigh in.

Does this have to be done by a rigger? If so, I've been in error dozens of times.

Wow.

There are some studies to suggest that muggers selectively choose weaker targets based on the gait of the victim. http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/02/18/0886260512475315.abstract You choose to carry a gun and live in a state of paranoia to be a little safer. Me, I just walk a little more confidently.

I've long held the belief that people need to pass a basic intelligence test before being allowed access to the internet, too!

It's not the brightest idea I can think of, certainly. I don't think I've ever heard of any dz doing them... The biggest question in my mind would be 'why would you want tot put yourself in a position to land out, at night.?' Night jumps are definitely a riskier type of jump. Increasing the risk by combining it with cross country seems like a bad idea to me. Particularly as the reason for doing cross country - the view of a different landscape passing you by isn't there is you did it at night. All that said, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the old-time guys have some stories of having done it way back when...

Stupidity is not a disqualifying condition for gun ownership. It should be, but it isn't. Stupidity should be a disqualifying condition for a lot of things. But it isn't. What is really sad is that someone thinks a constitutional right should have some some way to weed out the dumb ones from having that right. That's one perspective. There are others.

Even disregarding that, and not knowing what gun it was, I can conclude he didn't set the safety properly because "not subsequently disregarding the four rules of firearms just because you engaged a safety feature" is the last and most important step of engaging any firearm safety feature. But maybe the anti-gun legislation guys might agree on this - if someone is demonstrably unfit to own a gun, then they should have that right revoked. We're not talking about semantics of 'insane' or 'depressed' - this guy broke what I think everyone would agree is a cardinal rule of gun ownership. - Don't point a gun at something unless you're intending to shoot it. Even I know that one!

Can't possibly have any accuracy then. To say you have a myopic world view would be an understatement.

Wow. 'Misjudgement'...? That's one way of putting it. Assuming this is right, what do people think the appropriate penalties are for the pilot? If he'd JUST crashed the plane somewhere unpopulated, I could see (and agree) with him getting away with having his pilots license revoked, but having killed 11 people I'm guessing he'll be charged with involuntary manslaughter. (Accidentally killing someone without malice of forethought). From what I can find, the penalty for manslaughter is very variable, but does carry stricter punishments is the act which caused the death was inherently risky or negligent - both of which may apply.

What were you when you were a student? What were you jumping - a round maybe? I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm not saying it can't be done safely. I do think that if it were my DZ, I'd need a good reason to go against industry standards and put my business at risk other than the feel-goods.

the more interesting question is did he not set the safety properly, or is it faulty? Incident analysis please!

Don't forget a flag. You've got to have a flag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEx5G-GOS1k

I'll go one further and say that (without blind luck) there's no chance I'd have caught this on a preflight inspection. I'm not a rigger. I'm not immediately familiar with what should and shouldn't be sewn on a rig, or which types of sewing patterns should be used. If something looks obviously wrong then there's a chance I'd catch it by comparing it to the opposite side, but this? No chance. And for the manufacturer - the solution is simple. Don't tack stuff with glue before sewing. If you eliminated that step it is pretty much 100% certain that this defect would not have made it passed inspection. As I said earlier - I'm not a rigger, but I'm pretty certain the glue isn't necessary. It may make the life of the manufacturer easier, but that's a different concern. Maybe a rigger could let me know if I'm wrong on that assumption.

I get to this sentence and then immediately switch off - Anything relevant you might have to say afterward is lost. I do the same when brenthutch or rushmc act like children too. I'd suggest less vitriol and hyperbole in your posts - unless you're just deliberately trolling. Based on what you usually post... I am betting you are not a consumer of the daily drivel being spoon fed to the no information voters that believe all they see from Rupert Murdoch. I actually read a lot of news from a lot of sources, but don't watch TV. - I do think there are more effective ways of communicating the limitations of biased mass-media than resorting to name calling. I look at it this way - I'm NEVER going to win an argument with the fundamentalist / super-whatever. But if I can communicate effectively, maybe I'll start some of the people who may read but don't post, thinking - just a little. I think you and I are on the same page and probably share similar opinions on a lot of things, but if you're losing me do you really think it'll help with people who have views more divergent than ours? - just some feedback. For what it's worth - if people here haven't discovered RSS readers, it's an immediately enlightening way of seeing the bias in news stories. You can set it up to get reports of specific news stories from a multitude of news sources... Really interesting stuff. Usually moreso than the stories themselves. Feedly is one of the more popular ones: http://feedly.com

Joe MadSkillz going in under a canopy he's not ready for represents his personal insanity and that of maybe a few people around him... If Trump gets into the oval office it shows the insanity of at least 22% of the voting public. If he were to succeed we can only hope it becomes a wake-up call for electoral reform, as it will finally be obvious that the only reason he won isn't because people actually wanted him, it's because people like rushmc don't want a democrat - any democrat. Even a childish egomaniac would be better than that in their eyes!

I get to this sentence and then immediately switch off - Anything relevant you might have to say afterward is lost. I do the same when brenthutch or rushmc act like children too. I'd suggest less vitriol and hyperbole in your posts - unless you're just deliberately trolling.

agree - -- Bush looks good now compared to the current guy. -- Clinton looks good now compared to the last two guys. I wouldn't mind that as a concept if the US was completely isolated. We can make our mistakes and pay for them... so be it. The problem is that I think Trump has a very real liklihood of fucking everything up, massively, for everyone. You don't put a celebrity in charge of a country. That's insane. Their wold view is so twisted from reality that it can't help be anything else but a disaster. #KimKardashian 2020??

The hooks on the back of ski / snowboard helmets for keeping goggles attached are a huge no-no.Other than that, it might be OK. When looking at any helmet think of potential snag hazards first.

I'm going to run for president. I think we should build a wall round the entire US. We can have guard towers and dogs patrolling the perimeter. Every American has the right to their own securely locking accommodation with regular, mandated exercise times - you know, to help with the healthcare thing. We could even arrange visas for visitation rights from foreign nationals - about an hour each seems right. Of course they'll have to have their forehead tattooed with their exit time to make sure they don't overstay.