Kris

In his book," Sled Driver," SR- 71/ Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes: "I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day as Walt (his backseater) and I were screaming across Southern California 13 miles high. We were monitoring various radio transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace." "Though they didn't really control us, they did monitor our movement across their scope. I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its groundspeed. "90 knots" Center replied. Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same. "120 knots," Center answered. "We weren't the only ones proud of our groundspeed that day.. as almost instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, "Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests groundspeed readout." "There was a slight pause, then the response, "525 knots on the ground, Dusty". "Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission coming from my backseater. It was at that precise moment I realized Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in unison. "Center, Aspen 20, you got a groundspeed readout for us?" There was a longer than normal pause.... "Aspen, I show 1,742 knots" "No further inquiries were heard on that frequency" ~~~~~~~~~~ In another famous SR-71 story, Los Angeles Center reported receiving a request for clearance to FL 600 (60,000ft). The incredulous controller, with some disdain in his voice, asked, "How do you plan to get up to 60,000 feet? The pilot (obviously a sled driver), responded, " We don't plan to go up to it, we plan to go down to it." He was cleared... Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

WooHoo!!! I did need a new RW suit, actually. PM me with the details, Todd. Thanks! Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

No, it's 15K MSL. For natives to that type of altitude, it's not that big of a deal but oxygen is made available to those who need it. They still go to around 13K AGL though. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Yes, he did. Much to the entertainment of all. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

I've gotta second that suggestion.

Congrats on finally making it back to the sky, Lisa!!! I can't wait to hear you screaming your lungs out in joy from the other side of a formation in freefall again. 1:2:4 1 chop from a Stiletto with a broken suspension line and a blown cell resulting in a freebag/reserve PC that also got tarred & featherd TX style. Sigh. $165 for the freebag & PC and god knows how much for my main to get repaired. 2 kickass jumps. One with Turtlespeed, and one solo with, what I've heard, a kickass exit from the CASA captured on camera by Tony from SSM. 3 cases of beer owed for first (and hopefully last) blown-up canopy, 1st chop at Aggieland, 1st jump on my Tempo reserve, 1st time totalling a reserve freebag & PC. If you're gonna do it, do it with chaos- style. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Dammit! Missed your call. Sigh... Don't worry, Lisa. You know I'll make it up to ya'! My knee is doing a lot better. It's still stiff in the morning (heh), but lateral movemement is a lot less painful and it never swelled. I'm supposed to continue RICE therapy for 1-3 more days and if it's still painful then I'm to make an appointment. Here's a new one to add though, I went out yesterday to grab some grub and just get out of the house. When I grabbed my new pair of Oakley's, something didn't look right. There was a chunk of coating missing from the left lens about .5cm big and at the top of the frame was a small melted furrow about the same size. Looks like even having my Oakley's on saved my ass a bit. My experience with the Minute's is that the damn things are practically indestructable so I was glad I had those on and not my goggles. HootyHoo!!! Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

*hands Laurel some vanilla bean ice cream with Magic Shell topping* This'll fix you up.

If I'm tracking away from anything bigger than a 6 way I'll pull a barrel roll in my track to check airspace. If not, I'll look over each shoulder, wave off, & deploy. Since I jump an elliptical I don't look at the deployment. If I don't feel the bag lift off of my back or the snatch of the pilot chute within a second or two I'll sit up. If the PC was stuck in my burble, that will clear it. If nothing still happens after that I will cut away and go for silver. Total time from pitch to silver would probably be 4-5 seconds. Once the snivel stands me up I have my hands on the risers and then I will look up at the canopy while keeping an eye on the horizon so I can keep my Stiletto on heading with harness input. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Damn I love my dz.com family.

I put the number of jumps in the post. It's about 250 on that canopy. My laptop and gearbag are still downstairs and I have no desire to climb the stairs right now to pull a graph. However, the max speed I showed when I checked after the jump was 179mph, but the average for the bottom half was 131mph. Also, I always de-arch and grab air before I pull. Thanks for the vibes.

Sky, I'm chill. Shit happens and I definitely understand that fact. But, I do like the way you think. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

So....I get to the AOT boogie and things are hopping. I'm there no more than five minutes, filling out the mountain of paperwork at the registration tent, and have already received hugs from no less than 8 friends that I haven't seen in a while. First jump, did a two-way sit with Turtlespeed out of the CASA. Folks, his name needs to be changed to Lightning speed. I broke 215 in a head down and couldn't catch him. Second jump is the sunset load. Yeah, I got there late. I was feeling kinda zen so I just decided to do a solo and admire the view. Left the jumpsuit on the ground, thought about leaving my helmet for the full effect, but decided to go ahead and take it anyway. On exit, Tony from SSM was taking everyones picture so I did a reverse exit, cracked an evil grin, and threw out a couple of "hang-loose" signs as I fell away. Played in my sit, worked on some cartwheels, and spent from 6K to 3500 on my belly checking out the sun as it finished dropping over the horizon. 3500 comes so I take a look over both shoulders, wave off, make sure that I'm stable & level, and deploy. Folks, I have NEVER had a harder opening in my life. At that moment I had to decide whether I wanted to throw up, pass out, or scream in agony. I kept conscious, spit out a bit of bile, and screamed like it was a world-class event. Okay, fuck....I'm alive. I somehow manage to bend my head back, and I know my legs are okay because I really wished I couldn't feel my right leg right then, because it had been severely wrenched at both the hip and the knee and it was singing the anvil chorus. I look up at my Stiletto 190 and the left side has a bit of a line-over but the canopy is turning so gradually it's no big deal. I popped the toggles and it cleared so I finished collapsing and pulling my slider down as I continued looking at the canopy to check it out. That's when I noticed that the entire bottom panel had completely blown out of the 2nd cell in from the right and I had busted a control line. Since I was still at 2700 feet I tried a left turn and a right turn. Both were good but the right one took a bit of effort. Then I tried a practice flare. I got 1/4 into the brakes and the canopy started oscillating. Fuck! I can't land it, but I can fly it. I checked the traffic around me and flew over to the hangars. I hung out until about 2000', made damn sure there was no traffic below me or above & behind me, and then I chopped. My Tempo 210 opened wonderfully, if not a bit brisk for my right legs taste, and I stowed my handles for safe keeping, did some practice flares, got a bead on my main and freebag, and got into pattern for an uneventful landing. It was then that I noticed that my face felt really hot. It turns out I had a pretty good knot on my forehead and also had abrasions on my left cheek and the left side of my forehead. There is no doubt in my mind that if I had not been wearing my helmet we'd have been looking for my ear along with the rest of my equipment. I gotta give the Aggies credit. The DZO and the RWS factory rep had already gone after my freebag and my main landed right next to the hangar in the swoop area and was already being recovered by someone else. DZ.com's own Brits17 met me as I limped out of the landing area with a beer in hand for me. I had no less than 4 offers from other people who offered me gear to get me back in the air. Damn, those people rock.

Just a guess....but I'd say drop testing. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

That'll happen if you go nust torquing it down...which you don't need to do. Just tighten the screws until they're snug. And as for Kevin's response, I have to agree. The new 1.17 code is absolutely great and I've had nothing but great performance out of mine since I put it on it. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

You know....I was going to keep that pic for myself but since I was actually there and you mentioned it.... I shall allow everyone else to live vicariously through us. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

No, I did make it back to the tent but Kim nixed me because I was 40-ish jumps shy of BM's Rantoul limit. No problem though, the order is in and life shall be good. Don't worry, I'll make it around to Raeford eventually and we'll definitely get our flock on, . Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

I couldn't take it any more. All of my friends were afflicted. They didn't even try to hide their glee as they ran around saying things like, "Dude...you so have to try this. C'mon...just one hit!" I'm weak. I gave in. I sent off the order for my Bird-Man GTi today. Purple body, silver wings. Dammit, I wanna be a flying too! Now I just have the 8 weeks of agony until it gets here. I'd like to thank my pushers, Skybytch and Jceman of The DropShop. Now...does anyone know how that BM-I list is coming? It doesn't look like I'll be able to make it to Raeford for my maiden flight. Who's available in Dallas or other parts of Texas? Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

This is true. When I had problems with the custom Heatwave I ordered from him two years ago he took it back 30+ jumps and almost two months later and gave me full credit towards a new Stiletto (at a good price). Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Dove, you speak with great knowledge and insight. Yup, one on the left, one on the right. Just like I like them. If a woman is comfortable with her body and her sexuality, that is more attractive to me than anything. And that goes for whether she's large, small, short, tall, whatever. Personality goes a lot further than looks with me. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Agreed. PDS's answer made perfect sense to me as an IT guy. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Sorz. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

And I'll take mine with Einstein, Schrödinger, and Hawking. BTW, did anyone else think that maybe the founder of God Hates America possibly just has a really bad case of Tourette's? Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Airbags are dusted with either cornstarch or talc to keep the fabric supple. It's harmless, but it smells like ass when mixed with the scent of the propellant. At least it did in my old car when they went off. Supposedly, in some cars (Volvo?) they use a bit of some type of ammonia-like chemical to help prevent loss of consciousness. It's kinda like the ammonia ampules they break under someone's nose to revive them. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

Dude! You're in KANSAS!!! Heh. Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™