DrewGPM

Using rear risers used to be my preferred method for long spots. After getting some coaching, it appears that using half brakes is a better technique. Both work very well. I haven't noticed much of a difference between them, as far as performance goes. What I do notice is that half brakes is much easier to hold on to. Rear riser can be a bitch if you have to hold them for a long time.

"at half brakes into the wind will slow your forward speed and allow you to cover less ground. " Just about all the canopy coach i've heard tells people to use half brakes to get back from a long spot. Yes, you lose a little forward speed, but you lose almost all of your vertical speed. You're not going forward as fast, but you're not losing altitude either. The only time half brakes doesn't work is when the winds are too high. Since you lose some forward speed, it will take less wind speed to stop your forward movement. I've only heard of that happening once or twice. In those cases, you start looking for alternate landing areas immediately. I use half brakes or rear riser on almost every jump. I love them...and i'm pretty good at it. Like i said, unless the winds are high, half brakes will get you back from a long spot.

Great post! Kids are good for one thing and one thing only. I can't stop laughing when kids start crying. Crying children are, without a doubt, the 2nd funniest thing on the planet. And if they have a temper tantrum...i may very well wet my pant laughing! Don't get me wrong. I don't hate kids. If you abuse or molest a child, the line to kick your ass starts right behind me. That shit has no place in my world. But when they cry because you told them no or they didn't get what they wanted...i'm gonna laugh my ass off.

Chicagoland does Skydiving For Multiple Sclerosis every year. Sky Knights does one for Camp Heartland and this year they are doing a memorial day fund raiser for the homeless.

Wierd and assymetrical...how do you figure? If done correctly there is nothing assymentrical about it. The line symmetry runs diagonally from rear rise to opposite front riser. If it wasn't symmetrical, there would a turn, dive or something else going on. If done correctly you slide almost straight down.

Deep brakes will certainly sink the canopy. What I don't like about that is that you sink the canopy by taking energy out of the canopy to make it work. You're practically stalling the canopy to make that happen. When you go back to full flight the canopy surges in an effort to regain that energy. That surge is fun, but not something i like to use below 1500 feet. That's my choice, not something someone told me to use as a hard deck for that. If you're afraid of stalling the canopy you tend not to give enough brakes to get the desired result. You can end up in half breaks, which makes you cover MORE ground and lose less altitude. That's great for making it back from a long spot...the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish here. The best solution is react sooner, avoiding the need for this technique. But just in case you need the skill, it's nice to know how to do it safely. Learn how to fly your canopy. See shat does at high speed(front risers) and how it reacts at low speed(deep brakes). Learn how to make flat turn. Learn how to use half brakes and rear risers to help you get back from a long spot. Learn front riser input as a way to build horizontal air speed and bleed altitude. They are great if you find yourself under canopy in an unexpected increase in the winds. Learn warping and/or deep brake to help bleed altitude while minimizing forward movement. Would you buy a Ferrari and only drive on straight roads with 25MPH speed limits...heck no! You would find the curviest roads with the highest speed limit and go see what that bad ass car can do! You bought a canopy...and you use it every time to jump...seems to make sense that you might want to see what that baby can do! At the same time, you'll have to park that car, so you have to learn how it functions at slow speed too. Just to complete the comparison.

According the show, anything that claims to cure a disease is a drug. That is per the US Food and Drug administration. So that seems to be a relevant definition for me. Drugs are heavily regulated. Food supplements are not. If I am diagnosed with cancer, I could care less whether it is a drug or a supplement. If it works, it works, period. Just give me that stuff!

According to the infomercial i just watched there are natural cures for cancer. Since they are not drugs you won't hear about them very much. Some internet search seems to find several sources that confirm that there are some that work. I don't have cancer, but if there was a history of cancer in my family, I think i'd give one of those a shot.

go-go boots make me think of the movies about the 60's and 70's. Everyone was all about free love, orgies, drugs and go-go dancers. These days if you're a go-go boot sales person, you could retire if you cornered the stripper and hooker markets. Those are where i see them the most. So when i see go-go boots, i think..kick ass, she's gonna get naked or sleep with me for cash! Either way, i'm pretty damn excited! Kind of makes me feel like Pavlovs dogs...except that those lucky bastards could lick thier own balls.

warping is correct... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=295253;search_string=warping;#295253 My CRW buddy told me about it while we were talking about a guy who used huge S turns on final approach to avoid over shooting the landing area. He really screwed some people...luckily there were no close calls. For any new person reading this, S turns on final approach really mess up the landing pattern...you essentially cut off everyone. I've done warped my canopy a few times, just to see what it did. It does seem ro help you bleed altitude. How much I can't really say. I can say that the canopy was back in full flight almost immediately after i release the risers. I won't do it very low yet, not until I learn more about how much altitude I'm losing when I do it. Certainly seems like a useful skill to have.

The idea that Bush was the one to declare this a "holy war" is not accurate. The group "Islamic Jihad" was responsible for the US Embassy and Marine Barracks that were bombed in Beirut...back in 1983. Jihad means holy war. So the holy war thing has been around for a long time. Al Qaeda declared a jihad against the United States. in 1996. The document was titled "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places". It talks about a new organization called "World Islamic Front for Jihad Against the Jews and Crusaders". They didn't just use the word in a sentence, they included it in the name of an organization! In February 1998, that group declared that it intended to "attack Americans and our allies, including civilians, anywhere in the world." That is long before Bush used the word crusade in an unscripted speech. Bush said,"This crusade, this war on terrorism..." in the days following September 11, 2001. That is far cry from declaring a holy war.

What makes you skeptical about the turn you decribed? I use the forearm and leg technique for my turns. It is fast, easy to control, stops on a dime and has produced my best center turns. I'm a pretty big guy, so i fly very flat, almost in a de-arch position. Dropping the shoulder always me sink out of formations. So i learned the forearm technique and I don't sink during a turn anymore. I teach the technique to everyone that I see sinking out of formations when duringa turn. Never heard it referred to as a paddle turn.

From Sangiro in the Incident forum: "I noticed you registered today only and this is your first post. Feel free to send me a PM and let me know who you are and I'll unlock this thread. " Sangiro locked that thread because he wants to know who biavep is due to the suspicious nature of that post. FYI, if there was an incident at Beiseker i'm sure someone would have posted about already. So i'm guessing that nothing major happened at that place.

Tweeker, you're the shit! Hinckley ain't the same without you. I can't believe you got a real job...that's just not right! Any chance we're gonna see you in Chicago this summer?

Summerfest isn't too bad as far as canopies in the air at one time. They fly two planes at time all summer long. So they are used to keeping a safe time frame between aircraft. I've never had the "holy shit, where did that canopy come from!" incident like you get every once a while at WFFC. During the week the planes fly with some pretty light loads. I was on a few Otter loads with 12 people last year...what afast, comfortable climb! Summerfest is a good warm up to get you prepared for the madness of Rantoul.

Skydive Chicago has Summerfest July 30 -August 7. World Freefall Convention is August 5-14. I'd suggest doing a week at Summerfest, then spend the second week at the World Freefall Convention. They are only a few hours drive apart. I did that last year...tons of fun! great skydives, fun parties and incredible people at both.

i bet you still jump a round reserve you rip cord pullin', spring loaded pilot chute havin', pro tec wearin', non-alcoholic beer drinkin' toggle hooker! editted to avoid appearing to be directed at a specific person

Teams going to Nationals and competing at the upper levels will do verticals on many of the blocks. So if the video clips you've seen are Majik, Airspeed, the Knights, etc...you will certainly see verts. since most of us aren't as good as those guys, we don't mess with verts. Going vertical is cool, but if you miss the catch at the end, they whole dive goes to crap. It's not worth the risk to the average team. In the Midwest Skydiving League we have ten teams this year, there is 1 that MIGHT try vertical manuevers...and many people think they are nuts for doing it. The non-vert move is pretty fast if you do it right. If you're interested in that, try asking about it in RW forum. There are some pretty team guys in there that can explain how to turn those pieces. Otherwise, PM me and i'll explain it.

I never took it as a diss. If it was meant as a diss...it wasn't a very good one. I was sincere about my need/desire to learn more about the difference between the cross braced, non-cross braced and the airlock canopies. Your commnets about the difference in riser pressures makes sense. i'm sure there are other differences, too. I want to learn about those differences. I've been jumping a Sabre 210 for 600 jumps...my knowledge of the high performance canopy market is pitiful...but i'm trying to learn.

Of all the tubes, the two person tube is the safest. There are fewer limbs to worry about and it won't spin as fast. The main issue with a tube is when it falls apart. It blows apart because of the forces generated by the spin. When that happens you have no control over where you go. Since the tube is built with your knees and feet close to my face, the odds of me getting smacked in the head is much higher than normal. Ever been kicked hard enough to get blurry vision? how about landing when your goggles are covered in blood from kicked in the nose? It is scary shit. When the tube blows up you've been spinning and flipping, you're totally disoriented and unstable. It takes time for even the most experienced jumper to get back to stable. All the time you're getting stable and stopping the spin, you are losing altitude fast. You tend to forget about altitude awareness while you get stable. The more jumps you have, the smaller this concerns gets...you have better control in the air. Even with a 2-way, the exit is awkward out the door. Unless you're in an Casa or skyvan...those are pretty easy. The exit of a tube out of a 206 looks like a hazard. I've seen people hit the door rolling out of an otter, so the small door of a 206 is gonna be wild. I'm sure it's possible, but it's gotta take a few tries to get it right. The tube falls fast, very fast. Your normal sense of time in freefall is gone. It's easy to lose altitude awareness. Because of the grips you take, I've seen a couple guys who couldn't see the altimeter on a tube...so that's a problem. Another issue is with the gear. I've seen at more than enough tubes end when someone has a premature deployment. Talk about dangerous! Make sure that BOC pouch is tight and the riser covers are in good shape. watch your altimeter, i've know a coupel guys who have lost those on tubes. Double know your shoelaces..shoes come off pretty easy at that speed. There are some really fun things we can do in the sky, there is no need to do them all right away. There is still a lot to learn. Basic skills like side slides, center turns, fall rate control, docking on a formation, piece turns, burble hops...plenty of skills to master. Leave the unstable, out of control spinning stuff for the people that have learned the basics.

thanks...guess i'll have to do more research and learn the difference between those "classes" of canopy

Officially the pilot is the one in charge. He/she has final say in everything. He may pass instructions to the jumpers, and since instructors with students are closest to the pilot, he may relay information to one instructor. That instructor will passes it on. If it's a serious emergency I assume the pilot will just yell "get out of my plane!" don't wait for an instructor to translate. The Pilot is in command, do what he says. Talk to your pilot and S&TA to mae sure you know your DZ wants you to proceed.

i've never been so attracted to a woman in my whole life...I think i love you!

And for just down right offensive, my buddy used to refer to his wife as "The rusty old cunt"

when it comes to insults, it's tough to beat clicky but this one always makes me laugh clicky2 so does clicky3