labrys

I've tried to teach my canopy... it just won't listen. It didn't occur to me until just now that I should try learning Afrikaans, duh... it's a Hornet. Would someone please let me know how to say "stop that incessant snivelling" in Afrikaans? Owned by Remi #?

Sheesh: http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/alertskydiver4.htm Alert skydiver goes out on a limb By ERIC GERSHON STAFF WRITER MARSTONS MILLS - When a window opened in Sean Coutinho's busy schedule yesterday, he did what any self-respecting funeral home director would do on a sunny spring afternoon. He leapt from an airplane dressed like a court jester. And, for the first 6,000 feet down, Coutinho's 21st skydive was pure fun. Then he found himself pondering one of those hypothetical worst-case-scenario questions: What do you do if you're hurtling toward earth at 200 feet per second and your parachute won't open? "Pick a good tree," he said yesterday, after climbing down, uninjured, from a pine deep in the woods north of Cape Cod Airfield. The misadventure started innocently enough for Coutinho, who runs both a masonry business in Sandwich and Coutinho-Boisse Funeral Home in Harwich. "I was in between jobs today, and there were no death calls, so I said, 'I'm jumping,' " he said. Coutinho went to Cape Cod Airfield, where New England Sky Sports, a skydiving company, opened for business on April 15. The company recently moved from Lincoln, R.I. Coutinho first parachuted with the company's current owner, Robbie Spencer, in 1996. For $22 (a price based on Coutinho's experience; a tandem jump with an instructorcosts $200), a pilot flew Coutinho to 10,000 feet in a small Cessna. Then he jumped. At 4,000 feet, Coutinho realized he'd had "a high-speed malfunction," but managed to release a reserve parachute and steer toward the airfield, he said. Coming up short, he picked a new target, a tall tree in the woods to the north. He jerked himself backward at the last moment to soften the impact. "I stepped right onto it," he said later, smiling and uninjured. "It's like it was waiting for me. To hug me." He hugged it for about 10 minutes, then climbed down. Neither Coutinho nor Spencer could immediately say why the main parachute release had failed. But in his eight years in the skydiving business, he'd never seen a parachute fail. Spencer said he would examine the $6,000 harness and reserve parachute, which, late yesterday afternoon, were still tangled in the tree, about a mile into the woods. It is not uncommon for the main parachute to fail, said Chris Needels of the United States Parachute Association, a member-funded organization based in Virginia. He also said it has never happened to him in more than 3,000 jumps, and that the reserve parachutes almost never fail. "It is there for one reason," he said. "To open, open properly, and open under a full canopy." Spencer said his company owned the parachute Coutinho used yesterday, and that it was equipped with an automatic-release mechanism. Had Coutinho panicked, passed out, or otherwise been unable to operate it manually, a computer system attached to the harness was programmed to release a parachute at 750 feet from the ground. Coutinho seemed energized and unfazed by his dramatic experience. Less than an hour after emerging from the woods, he vowed to jump again - the same day. "It was a pleasure to have a malfunction with them," Coutinho said. "I wish somebody was videotaping." Coutinho made his first jump in 1996, after his wedding. Having boasted to friends that he would try skydiving, he felt pressure to keep his word. Sue, his bride, came along. Owned by Remi #?

I'll be there. | __\_\_o____/_|

Looks like bullshit, IMO Owned by Remi #?

I don't know anything about it, but googlng "thomas-jung" took me directly to this site: http://www.tjti.com/ Owned by Remi #?

AHHHHHH!!!!!!! Man. Now that's a good answer. I hadn't looked at it from that perspective. I also very much agree with NickNitro's post just above, because I'd been approaching the idea from the angle that the reserve and aad are both subject to failure. I'm not sure that I agree that an AAD isn't "life saving equipment", but that's another discussion. I see your point in general. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions Owned by Remi #?

Okay. That point makes sense to me. I'm really interested in hearing your answer to the question I had about the whether there's a difference in attitudes in this case: Someone not willing to do a bigway RW jump without an AAD vs Someone not willing to do a bigway CRW jump without a reserve. I know that the reserve isn't optional here. Assume for this question that it is. Owned by Remi #?

The point I was making is that always and the majority are not the same thing. Aren't the majority of mals also human error and don't we depend on the reserve as a backup? In that light, I don't condiser the comparison of an AAD to a reserve "stupid" Owned by Remi #?

Impersonating a military officer/enisted person is a crime. Owned by Remi #?

Not so fast... I have vonage voip. I could carry my adapter anywhere in the world and plug it into any internet connection and place a call. the "originating number" would be from the US, not the country I was in. Owned by Remi #?

Sorry. Point taken and goodnight to all. Owned by Remi #?

I'm reading them. I think I'm learning from them. I'm not calling anyone stupid for asking questions. I'm not going anywhere I consider to be beyond my realm. What about you? Owned by Remi #?

Well, gee. If you don't even want to know, why did you bother to weigh in with such informed advise? Owned by Remi #?

It scares me to think what "ewww5" must have been that it couldn't be posted. Owned by Remi #?

How many main malfunctions are the result of packing error vs purely random problems. Maybe if you EXPECT to NEED the RESERVE you don't belong in the air? What are the odds of your reserve failing vs the odds that your AAD will fail? Owned by Remi #?

Please. The AAD is there to be a backup in the case that someone can't deploy. You're claiming that that's always jumper error? Owned by Remi #?

My point is that I don't wear a reserve because I have to. If it wasn't a FAR I'd do it anyway. That makes it very relevant. I don't think many CRW folks would do bigways without a reserve either, but I don't see anyone dogging them for it. FARs or not. I don't see the difference. They are taking risks because they have a backup. Edited just to annoy hooknswoop I'll shut up and listen. I'm trying to learn, honest. Your posts have been instrumental in making me think about a lot of really important issues and I can't thank you enough for the mental tinder. Owned by Remi #?

I wear a reserve and an AAD. If I run a red light I don't make the choice because I have or don't have airbags. Are you going to answer my questions? Edited to make it clear that my primary question is: Is it okay to accept certain risks because you have a reserve, but not okay to take certain risks because you have an AAD? Owned by Remi #?

But, why is it okay to exceed a safety threshold because I'm wearing a reserve and not okay to exceed a threshold because I'm wearing an AAD? Both are backup devices and both are subject to failure. Regardless of the fact that an AAD is optional and a reserve isn't... If there were no FARs that mandated a reserve would that make it unacceptable to take risks at high alti under my main? Edited to add another thought: Suppose reserves were optional. How many people would do a bigway CRW jump without a reserve? Would those that would do CRW with a reserve but not without be in the same niche with people who would do RW bigways with an AAD but not without? Owned by Remi #?

I'm not sure I can articulate this well, but I'm going to give it a try: I find merit in many sides of this argument and I've done a lot of thinking on all sides. I'm interested in knowing how you guys feel about this train of thought: I've been advised to "wring out" my canopy at high altitude to get a feel for its perfomance envelope. I've paid for canopy coaching that involved stalling my canopy "at a high enough altitude" to cut it away if I get in trouble. So if respected experts are telling me to do things I wouldn't do if I didn't have a reserve to save my ass if I get in tight spot, how does that differ from not accepting certain risks without having an AAD to save my ass? Owned by Remi #?

I might be there. Have to check my ...*cough* busy *cough*... datebook Owned by Remi #?

You need to identify the programs or services that are using those ports, determine if you need to have them, and uninstall them if you don't. ICMP (ping) is normal. You can block it with zone alarm if it bothers you. 80 is probably a personal web server. 22 is SSH, but is also very common with rogue FTP servers and remote access programs. Check for spyware and viruses. Owned by Remi #?

i took the course last year after i bought my hornet and it did a world of good. i'm going to try to find a nice 170 this summer and take it again when scott's back in sept. i'll be at the dz, though. cya there! sgc sounds like fun. Owned by Remi #?

Hey Alana, Nothing interesting to report from sunny Rittman. But I will share the view from my back door this morning. Owned by Remi #?

You sound like a very kind and sensitive person. I personally don't agree with the idea, though. I think that people who sacrifice their lives for a common cause "deserve" to be remembered by the other people who support that cause. I don't think people who die participating in a sport they enjoy deserve that same treatment. Owned by Remi #?