PalmettoTiger

Amen, brother Terence!! Preach on! Preach on!! When ya going to get your NCB number?

Thinking about that makes my imagination run wild!! Hang from the strut, linked sit exit, video guy is on the floor of the chopper on his belly... mmmmmmmmm tasty. Blues, squares, PTiger

Man, that sounds AWESOME!! Lessee... do I know anyone near Kamloops... mebbe I have some frequent flyer miles coming. Shoot, I'll get there any way I can!

Naw, man, you absorb all the oxygen you need through your skin! Sometimes freeflyers get oxygen poisoning, they go so fast. Dang, I thought everybody knew that... Blues, squares, PTiger

Ay Sangiro, are there any plans to nuke obvious trolls like this one? Blues, squares, PTiger

It's at ftp://129.2.229.250, but it went down on the 21st (when PilotDave had to vacate his dorm, I would guess) and won't be back up until September 1st or so. It's worth bookmarking, though - he has some GREAT videos there. If you're not careful, you will spend way more time than you planned downloading and watching videos.

My first jump was a tandem. I remember seeing the group ahead of me *disappear*. No long, arcing fall outward or back before you really started to go downward, like the movies make you think. Just "ready, set," poof. Then I looked out and saw the ground. Then my TM pushed us out and the ground got reeeeeeeeeeeeeally big and so did my eyes. After that all I can really remember is from the videographer's point of view. Blues, squares, PTiger

The next funniest thing of the weekend was when Halie was showing off a CD, and proudly announced "This is my first CD!" We all sort of froze for a moment before 3 of us yelled "BEER!" Then the DZ manager said "You can't case a five-year-old!!! ... but I'm keeping a list, and as soon as she turns 21 she's gonna owe big-time." Blues, squares, PTiger

To keep people from weaseling out of beer debts, we keep a big whiteboard on the wall above the kegerator that lists who owes beer, how many cases, and why. My favorite entry is "(name witheld) - brewery - first DZO rig ruined". Also, most of the time people bring Bud or Bud Light, or some other so-called beer. I went the extra mile and brought Killian's for graduating AFF, and for some reason people gave me shit about bringing "preppy" beer. I said "If you really want some Bud Light, just pour 1 Killian's into a pitcher and then add 3 bottles' worth of water!" That shut them up. Blues, squares, Deacon Dan Korn NCB #393

Craig, the Emergency Procedures dive sounds like an excellent idea, especially since I'll be getting my own rig soon and it will probably fit differently than the student rigs I've been renting. I guess what I was really looking for was an AFF JM's explanation of why the grip is taken so close to the BOC handle. I realize that you need to be close enough to deploy the main if the student is brainlocked, but it seems to me that if the grip was taken on the legstrap there'd be less a chance of the student getting an altimeter rather than the pilot chute. I dunno... this is a pretty trivial thing I guess, I'm just curious because it happened to me so I'm a little embarassed, and I feel bad for the other student who actually failed a level because of this. Yeah, I know, he would been out more than just a few bucks if he brainlocked and tried to deploy, say, his jumpsuit, but still... Blues, squares, PTiger

Alright, time to revive the geekness threads... A co-worker and I were trying to figure out why we couldn't edit the config.sys file on a new Windows ME machine. The Microsoft Knowledge Base was of absolutely no help. After 45 minutes of very frustrating frobbing and hacking, she suddenly looked at me and said "Somebody set up us the Windows ME!" and I immediately responded with "All your Knowledge Base are belong to us!" Blues, squares, PTiger

Of course, if somebody blows ass, both you and the pilot know exactly who did it. Although I guess he didn't get high enough for atmospheric pressure to encourage flatulence, did he? Blues, squares, PTiger

Hey, Mother's Day has been over for more than a week. Didn't you get your fill then?

Good on you for opening up the pub. I was initially happy to see a place that would be "just for us," but then I realized that's a slippery slope to elitism. Sometimes I think I go to the DZ just to get a taste of that skydiver egality that washes away all of the elitism you find in everyday life. Blues, squares, PTiger

Put it another way: working hard or hardly working? I think I fall in the latter group.

That's just not possible with a pilot chute mounted on the bottom of your container. Besides, even if you could see it, looking that far back would probably make you de-arch and start turning. Looking works for ROL and emergency handles, but not BOC. Blues, squares, PTiger

Whoa - I just checked the pub (is it wrong to visit the pub while you're still at work?

Yeah, and if women hauled us all around by our nuts I think reproduction might cease too! Blues, squares, PTiger

I hung out at the DZ all day Saturday and got to listen to some AFF students debrief. One of them failed because of a problem I also encountered - when it was time to grab the BOC and deploy, he ended up getting his mainside JM's altimeter instead. I was lucky enough that I did it while I was still up top and doing PRCP's, and after a little tug-of-war my JM smacked my hand to get me to let go and start thinking again. But the student I listened to was unlucky and had to repeat the level (and pay for it again, too). My question is this - is it possible for mainside JM's to take a different grip on the student so that their altimeter isn't in the "hand arc" for a student? I know we're supposed to start at the top of the container and work our way down the side if we can't locate the handle, but that's one step too late if you've already got your JM's altimeter and are trying to figure out exactly what it is. Besides, starting low and basically sweeping up your hip until you find the handle is a much more natural movement than reaching back first, then down. Plus, it could be difficult for older students or people with shoulder problems to reach back before reaching down. Another thing that I think contributes to the problem is that the other student and I both went through tandems before AFF, so we were trained on a ripcord that's low and forward, as opposed to the BOC which is low and back. Anyway, I'd appreciate it an AFF JM could give me some insight as to grip position. If anyone else latched onto an altimeter during their first few jumps I want to hear from y'all too! Blues, squares, PTiger

Need you even ask? Blues, squares, PTiger

The Priceless Moment™ of the weekend comes to us courtesy of the DZO's daughter. I had gone to the DZ Friday night to have a used container and reserve inspected, and I planned to sleep in my car at the DZ. The DZO graciously allowed me to sleep on his couch inside his air-conditioned house, for which I am truly grateful. The DZ manager and a few other staff came to the house and we stayed up drinking beer, eating pizza, and sharing stories on the back porch. Halie, the DZO's little girl, came outside to be adored and listen to our stories. When the DZM started talking about his latest cutaway, Halie, all of 5 years old, realized it was a new story, and gave Joe this exasperated look and said "Joe, you had another cutaway!?" I totally lost it along with everyone else who was there, especially the guy who packed the mal. Blues, squares, PTiger

The few. The proud. The intelligent Southerners. BTW, I'm looking at a different rig now - still a Vector II, but a PD 176 instead of a Raven II. But it does have a PD 230 main! Blues, squares, PTiger

OK folks, false alert. I gotta make this quick since the yardwork awaits, but I had such an awesome weekend that I'll probably make a longer post tonight or put it on my website. Anyway, I took the container and reserve down to the DZ. My rigger snagged a bagged PD 230 main and wrestled it into the container, then got a workout trying to close it. When he finished, I put the rig on and cinched it down all the way. The emergency handles were pretty much in my armpits at that point. That was when I decided I'd be more comfortable with a larger rig. First of all, when I'm under the harness the emergency handles will be even farther up and back on my body, and although I'll still be able to reach them, I'd rather they be farther forward and down. I think more than anything you have to be comfortable with the location of your emergency handles!! Also, seeing how much trouble he had packing that PD 230, I realized it would have been nearly impossible for me - his trouble closing it would have been doubled for me since I won't be able to pack a 230 F-111 as small as he had. So.... I'm going to send the rig back to the seller, get my money returned from the escrow company, and keep looking. Someone at the DZ is selling a similar Vector II that's one size larger, so that may be what I end up buying. Other than not settling on gear, I had a stellar Friday and Saturday that more than make up for having to do yardwork all day today. Let me know how your weekends go, folks! Blues, squares, PTiger PS Blue Sky Adventures is in St. George, SC, not Georgetown, SC. My bad. Edited by PalmettoTiger on 5/20/01 11:25 AM.

Whoa, great minds think alike!! Except I'm still looking for a main... I feel a sudden urge to get a PD 230.

Cool, thanks for the info. Anybody heard George Carlin's routine about airline lingo? "We call it getting on the plane. Well screw that! Evel Knievel can get on the plane, I'm getting in the plane!!" Blues, squares, PTiger