Kris

3:4:1 The "Case of Bier(tm)" is for my first IAD student that got herself stuck between the step & the strut. Damndest thing you ever saw. She climbed all the way out onto the strut, had both hands on the grip-tape and before I could tell her, "GO!" she slid right down the damn strut. (yikes!) Luckily she was maybe 110-125# so I was able to push her forward & down when she left and she and her pilot chute cleared the step & wheel with no probs. Hell, she remained calm, kept eye-contact and threw in a beautiful arch & landing as a bonus. It's nice to have a first-jumper whose brain doesn't shut off when the door opens every once in a while. Kris

167mph. Yes, I am the anvil. That was in shorts & a t-shirt. Verified by my ProTrack set to SAS measurement. Kris

I am 245# out the door and jump mini-rings on type-17 risers with my Mirage & Stiletto-190. Because of this, part of my first-jump inspection for the weekend includes my risers. I check the ring attachment points, the grommet and all of the webbing / stitching for wear or frays, then I check the top of the riser where my slinks are installed. Kris

Lisa, You don't know how close to home this hits. I lost my fiance a couple of years back due to complications with her juvenile diabetes. She was on the transplant list for kidneys and a pancreas as well. Her heart finally gave out during the operation to amputate her other leg. I am a card-carrying organ doner and I give generously to diabetes charities. The problem is that 90% of the people out there don't understand diabetes and don't understand the staggering amount of complications that are caused by it. Kris

The way I see it, my logbook isn't just my log, it is a record of my memories and it's my favorite scrapbook. Why would I want to fuck with the karma gods like that? Sad... Kris

And remember, heat is your friend. The hotter you can get the water with the dye in it, the better chance you have of the dye taking hold. Kris

http://www.avid.com/ http://www.canopuscorp.com/ http://www.pinnaclesys.com/

And another one...

Since we're discussing cars, here's my ride. 2000 Hyundai Tiburon So far she's got: 149HP / 138lb torque Short shifter Cold-air intake 750 watts of Pioneer Premier / JL Audio / Infinity Kappa / Phoenix Gold and Audio Control lovin' In three more months I will be putting in: big-bore throttle-body and intake manifold 4-2-1 headers and completely new exhaust Maybe a new balanced cam In December she gets an Eaton M62 supercharger, APEXi management system, and a stage-2 clutch. Maybe bigger injectors but I don't think I will need them. Yeah, I know, it's jump money but the faster that I can get to the DZ... Kris

Dave, I'm 5'8" and 245# out the door. I think we should make a skydive together sometime.

Well, not with it on at night but I keep one on my rig to use as a hook-knife... Kris

I have to agree. As a JM and FJC instructor at my DZ (in windy Oklahoma) I never agreed with that one either. I'll put my $0.02 in when you post your rant.

With my Stiletto (and even with my old Sabre) I am happy if everything past the locking stows is somewhat snug. I am more concerned with the lines being even & clear from each other. But you better believe that my locking stows won't let go until they are ready. I can pick up my d-bag with the locking stows done if I am careful but the tension is not so high that I am worried about a bag-lock. Even then, it takes a lot more locking force than you think to cause a bag-lock. Any respectable pilot chute will have more than enough force to pull the lines from the stows (and even rip a few in the process) in order to initiate deployment. For line-dump to happen you would have to have some kind of "bag-strip" mal. Picture a deployment with a snatch force so high it literally rips the bands and dumps the canopy out of the bag before the lines have any real tension on them. When that canopy grabs air before you hit the end of the lines... well, I hope you have a great chiropractor and money to have your main repaired.

Umm, did someone say BOOBIES!? Kris Always happy to help a brother out...

Ditto, I am off to Summerfest this August myself. Kris Would have loved to have jumped the jet when I was at Quincy in 2000. Oh well...

I love my Mirage G3 UNISYN. I have the freefly deployment handle and because of the bullet-proof construction the entire container will stay closed until I open it, period. I am a big guy too and I find the UNISYN harness to be the most comfortable that I have tried on compared to the standard Mirage, a Talon and a Javelin that I have jumped. The Mirage is definitely pricey (thank God for my staff discount) but it is really well built, uses top quality hardware, and I have recieved nothing but great service from Bill & the gang at Mirage. If I didn't have a Mirage I think the only other container I would check out would be the Wings. Kris

Okay Mike & Bobby... Here is how I earned the nickname "Master D": In one weekend I did the following: 1. Broke a mirror in the creeper area while practicing for a four-way dive. 2. Locked the keys to the change drawer in said drawer. 3. Packed one of our AFF instructors a mal. That was all it took, the DZO said the name and the name stuck. Sigh. I try to be good, really. Kris Well, I did try to back the golf cart through the wall of the hangar last weekend while teaching the FJC, but that's another story...

If it's a vinyl sticker a hair-dryer and some patience really pays off. The decal will come out smooth as silk and won't pull back on itself later. Kris

Welcome to the board. Hell, I don't even know you but I know you're the one with the pimped out cheetah-fur freefly helmet that shows up in a lot of videos that Mike Farmer and Brandon Chouinard supply me with.

TAKE OFF EVERY ZIG! FOR GREAT JUSTICE! Kris I am such a geek...

Okay, I just happened to have my computer wired into my home theatre receiver with the sound cranked waaayyyy up (was listening to MP3's), lights off with only a couple of candles going when I hit that first website. I dropped a 32-ounce cup loaded with Diet Dr. Pepper onto the carpet, I made a weird inhuman noise, and nearly crapped my pants. Kris Then I sent the link to 5 deserving people I know.

Andy, I bought my Stiletto 190 brand new and I am putting it in a Mirage G3 M4 which is designed to hold a 170 tight. Big, new, slippery canopy and a tiny D-bag. No problem. So, wanna' know the secret? Psycho-pack it. I can get it in the bag in under 5 minutes and without swearing. My Stiletto loves it and gives me great openings that are never more than 15-30 degrees off heading. Just another option to consider. Kris

OKay, I go completely against the Canopy Nazi grain here since I picked up my Stiletto 190 after 115 jumps, all but 15 on a Sabre 210. I load mine at about 1.35-1.4 and have put about 50 jumps on it since then and some jumps on a few other ellipticals. The important things I have noticed about the Stiletto are these: 1. Make sure your pack job is symmetrical! Repeat that over and over while you practice deploying as flat and stable as possible. Even with those, the canopy can snivel and dance for a while. It only takes a little bit of harness shift to keep it under control but until you get comfortable with it, it will take some getting used to. Just don't forget to be aware of your surroundings (altitude, people, etc...) while this is going on. 2. The flare? Sweet and with almost no end if used efficiently. On a straight-in no-winder on a hot day it is rare for me to have to skid out a stop more than a couple of feet and sometimes I'll just save a little flare and pop it up to a gentle-stand-up. The control range is nowhere near as deep as a Sabre (compared to the few that I have jumped) and it doesn't take much to get it to respond. If I find myself going off to one side during a surf I can easily correct it with a little harness-lean. 3. Un-twist thy brake lines and do it regularly. On my Stiletto I can notice a handling difference with as little as 5-10 twists in the lines. 4. Enjoy the turns up high. The first time I was able to see the ground over the top of my canopy while in a spin left a smile on my face for a couple of days. There is a bit of over-steer that you will have to get used to with the Stiletto but you will learn to automatically counter it after a few jumps without even thinking about it. Watch the turns down low. The amount of altitude the Stiletto will eat up in a turn is amazing. I have actually given myself ground-rush while holding 360's going through 1200 feet. I didn't think that I would stay at a 190 canopy for very long after I got my Stiletto but the more I fly her the more respect she demands. I plan to have a lot of fun over the next few hundred jumps before I get rid of her for a leaner model and only after I am comfortable with her cross-wind, down-wind and in tight landing areas. The more I jump her the more I find out that I need to learn but that is half the fun. I don't think I could have picked a better canopy and I did demo other ellipticals before getting my Stiletto. Jus' my $0.02 Kris

Thanks for posting this information! While I am still in the very low experience range when it comes to freeflying and won't be doing anything bigger than a two-way with someone experienced this is great knowledge to have for down the road. Kris Can't wait to be in Dallas this weekend to work on my head-down some more.

Check Yahoo.com (under their shopping link) and do a search for the full PC9 model name (can't remember it) on www.pricewatch.com It was on one of those that I found it for 800-something USD. Kris