Kris

Now that the video is finally up, I'm going to go look for some kevlar body armor... Kris

Yikes! I forgot about the 150k limit. Does anyone have 532K of space to host a file? Kris

Probably not, but your altimeter will have some catching up to do and that is what is probably throwing you off. Kris

So, I put this new ATI All In Wonder Radeon 8500DV in my computer and I needed some footage to play with. Hmmm, what to use? I know! April's awesome swoop!!! She ripped this one out at Oklahoma Skydiving Center last summer. J.C., Luigi, you guys better watch out. Kris Aww, you know I luv'z ya, Sis!

Not really, but the yellow Honda & TRD stickers add 5hp^H^Hframes each.

I had a Heatwave loaded at just under 1.4 a few months ago. I absolutely loved it. Great openings & landings and easy packing but there were a couple of problems that made me ditch it... 1. It had enough oversteer for two ellipticals. Coming out of a turn I was all over the harness w/ a little toggle thrown in to stop the turn. 2. It developed a built-in turn that kept getting worse the more that I jumped it. At the end, I was holding 3-4" of opposite toggle to keep it level. It was checked by three riggers and the lines were all in trim. If it wasn't for that turn, I probably would have kept it but I was looking at a 5-week turn-around to get another custom Heatwave and PD happened to have a Stiletto in my exact colors and size sitting on the shelf so I sent the Heatwave back. We have two other Heatwaves in our extra staff rigs at my DZ and they fly just fine. I just wasn't as lucky. Kris

Hmm, try these... What do you get when you cross a duck? A telephone pole because motorcycles don't have doors. How many peas are in a pod? (True/False) Kris

Ahh... Athlon lovin'. Sigh. I am awaiting the day when EPoX releases their board with the 760MPX chipset so I can upgrade to dually XP's. Nothing against Asus but I am on my third EPoX and the things are stable & bullet-proof. Plus I really like the keyboard power-up. I just cut four 120mm blowholes in my Yeong Yang server cube. After I get the fans in I'm going with a window over the board side and one on the drive array side with blue neon. All the LED's have already been changed over to blue already. I also have about 5 backlit two-line LCD screens lying around so I may mount one of those in the case along with one in my monitor and use the LPT driver to show MP3 info on both of them. Kris

A Bhuddist goes up to a hotdog vendor and says, "Make me one with everything." Kris (Ba Dum Dum CHING! Thanks folks, I'll be here all week, try the veal)

Okay. Um, err, ahem. That spin test video is just about the creepiest thing I have ever seen. I literally got chills watching it. Kris Off to go give my G3 a hug.

It's in storage. When I move in March, it's coming out and I'll take a pic. Here's a list of some of the items in my vintage collection. TI 994/A TRS-80 (Model II & III) CoCo 2 Vic-20 C-16 C-64 C-64C SX64 C-128 C-128D Amiga 500 Amiga 2000 IBM PC Jr. Mac Quadra 850AV Mac Classic II Apple II & II GS Atari 400, 800, 2600, 5200 Adam and a few others... Yikes! I am a geek! But at least I skydive... Kris

I have a Mac classic that I turned into a fish-tank. Does that count? Kris "Apple, the only company to consistantly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory"

Okay, I'm torn here. Really torn. I have two expensive hobbies, skydiving and my car. I was going to get cold air induction, strut bars, short-shifter & NOS for my baby but skydiving won out. As usual, again... But it would have gotten me to the DZ a lot faster

I have a 6" extension on my Stiletto... Kris

Yup, that's definitely Miss Brit in the picture. Great article though! Kris

What Would Jimi Do? Hmm, probably smash amp, burn guitar and go home with some groupies but I don't see what that has to do with skydiving.

Actually, no, the PD-176R will not fit in my rig along with my CYPRES. I can have one, or the other, but not both. I have tried. The Tempo-210 and my CYPRES fit just fine. So I am not getting 34 more square feet, I am getting about 50 as compared to the PD-160 that will fit in my Mirage. Do I want a smaller reserve? Umm, NO! I trust my Tempo because I have seen one loaded at 1.6+ open & land great and it is certified under the same TSO that PD has to certify to. While I understand that you push PD products as part of your job, don't get caught up in the marketing. Do I have anything against PD? Nope, I think they make a great product, I love my Stiletto and a PD-176R in a staff rig saved my ass a couple of months back. You're a Microsoft guy, I am a Linux guy. Those who have the best marketing win, but they don't always have the best product for the situation. As for opening hard, the sub-terminal opening I had on a PD-176 bruised the shit out of me. A hard opening can happen on any canopy. That's the roll of the probability dice. And I would like to know where you have heard that a Tempo will not respond to toggle input. Pulling down all that fabric on the back edge of the canopy has to create drag which will cause one side of the wing to fly faster than the other, causing a turn as long as the canopy is not in some type of malfunction mode. Physics. I'll take that extra square footage any day because I never know when I may have to sink that reserve into a tight spot or I may have some injury that negates or limits my use of my control inputs. Sorry, you lose this argument. I have one of the new Tempo's and I have compared it to a PD. My Tempo is very solidly reinforced and has spanwise reinforcement just like PD. What you did not take into account is that different wings will have different pack volumes. This can be caused by how the panels are cut, which batch of fabric was used and even the dye in the fabric can take up some space. Granted, that doesn't account for all of it but it is a significant amount. Even two canopies of the exact same type and size can have radically different pack volumes. No two are the same... Just because I didn't pay an extra $300 for a PD product does not mean that mine is inferior. Bottom line, I am comfortable with my Tempo, it suits my peace of mind and that is the most important concern. If one of my students asks me for a recommendation on gear, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend PISA or PD. I will tell them to look up the facts on both, then take a look at their rig to see what will fit and then we'll find out which the student prefers in regards to their unique situation. Kris

Hmm, my new Tempo has spanwise reinforcement just like PD does. All Tempo reserves built in the last few months are reinforced like this. That and the fact that I can have 210sq ft of Tempo reserve in the same space that PD can only fit 160 was one hell of a selling point. Kris

I ordered my Mirage with a soft-handle because I freefly. When taking weird grips it is a lot harder for someone to accidentally snag my reserve handle. Also, as a JM, I've had my students get real handsy in the plane when the door comes open and I do NOT want them grabbing my handles very easily. The down-side though is that you need a firmer grip to pull it and I've heard that some DZ's won't let their new graduates jump with one unless they have had already had a cutaway. Kris

Okay, here's irony at its finest: About three weeks ago I'm teaching an IAD student the mechanics for his first clear & pull. I threw him on the creepers and wrapped the PC around his arms & legs, taught the two-try rule, covered horse-shoe malfunctions & other scenarios, and how vitally important it is to give a good, strong throw of the PC to get it clear of your burble while maintaining stability. Sure enough, I go up to JM a couple of students, follow the last one out, smoke it down to 2400 & throw out. Waiting.... Waiting.... Waiting (gulp)... Before I even think about it, both hands are on my handles as I take a look over my shoulder to see what is going on. That was all it took. The PC took off from my burble around 1900 and my Stiletto was open at 1400. I guess I had better work on that whole "Do as I say, not as I act" thing when it comes to throwing the PC... Kris

I have mine set at 1600 because if I find myself working a problem too long then it is my reminder to forget it and get rid of it. If it went off any higher I would probably miss it during the snivel of my canopy and have no backup reminder if the absolute worst (loss of altitude awareness) should ever happen while I am working on a mal. Kris Kris

Pammi, Morpheus, Audiogalaxy, and Limewire are good tools. Or, if you want to pick up a 30GB drive, I'll give you a copy of my MP3 collection to hold for me as an "off-site backup".

Hey baby! [Joey Tribiani Voice] How You Doin'? [/Joey Tribiani Voice] Hope everything is going well for you & Don. I don't know how he conned you into packing but be nice to the boy.

I have triggered the "dirt-alert" (third warning) on my Pro-Track during a very aggressive spiral on my Stiletto. I wasn't expecting it and it startled the hell out of me. I have also heard it during a couple of really long snivels. I have mine set for 1600'. Kris

It doesn't work with Netscape but works fine with Internet Exploder. Good poll though, Missy. Kris