freakyrat

I recently received my 140 Pilot made out of ZPX. It packed about 1/2 size down and I presently have it in a Micron 310. It just wouldn't go in my Mirage MT sized container even with ZPX. I'm primarily going to use the canopy for wing suit jumps. I put a wing suit jump on the canopy and it opened and flew great. To someone who said that the canopy doesn't hold air pressure like regular ZP I got news for you. The winds had picked up to 25 MPH when I landed and the canopy was about as hard to get the air out of as an air locked canopy. The canopy opened very good and it flew great. I don't know if Aerodyne recently changed the line trim or what cause my Pilot is better than the one I demoed. It was very responsive and also had a very good flying speed and descent range with the toggles. From where I opened after the dive I had no problem getting back on the wind line and back to the DZ. The canopy also flared very well probably because of the winds but a two stage flare technique should work well in light winds. To sum up: ZPX openings and handling on the Pilot are pretty much the same as non ZPX. ZPX is easier to pack but is a little slippery. In a dry climate like Dallas it probably packs about 1/2 - i size down. It probably packs smaller in more humid climates. For what I'm using the canopy for (Wingsiuiting) and loading it about 1.2 - 1.3 its perfect.

I made 13 when I started at the Fort Hood Sport Parachute Club.

Audrey was a genuinely nice lady who I first met at one of the POP's World Meets. She had a long skydiving life and was known at DZ's across the globe.

I had a chance to jump my new BrandX FX composite Freefly Helmet from Square One this weekend. I must say this is an outstanding helmet from the construction quality to the fit and finish. This is the first of a new generation of helmets that I have owned that I didn't have a sore neck after canopy opening. It has got to be the way it is made in back because all my canopies open slowly and I would still get a sore neck when using a different brand of helmet. This one is tops. Thanks Square One.

My heartfelt condolences go out to Pat and Chris's family and friends.

Billy Idol, White Wedding

My condolences to Scott's family and friends and his skydiving family at Cross Keys.

Doug, looking forward to your presentation. See you in Reno.

Jump Track 3 32-bit does not work in XP Compatabilioty mode on a Windows 7 64-bit machine as the driver interface is not recognized. Jump Track 3.2 64-bit plus the 64-bit driver interface works like a champ in Windows 7 64-bit.

You need Jump Track 3.2 64-bit plus the 64 bit driver interface to use Windows 7 64-bit. I emailed stefan at L & B and he sent me all this and just requested that i mail him back the 32-bit interface which I did. Works like a champ now on my new Toshiba Laptop.

I have a 136 Samurai that opens nice and easy. It flies and lands nice. The canopies are popular in the areas known for wind and turbulence like the mid plain states.

I have a small rig ( Mirage G4 MT) and it fits very nicely in a Travel Pro sized Rollerboard. I used a High Sierra Rollerboard as it is flat inside and has expandable sides. It has a neat mesh pocket inside to fit some of my extra stuff and the lower front outside pocket fits my Toshiba mini laptop. I have a backpack that fits my helmet and wingsuit and stuff and that goes under the seat. I had the rig swabbed in Tampa but no problems and The rollerboard easily fit in the overhead bins on the MD80 I flew on. I bought the Rollerboard at Macy's on sale and it has worked out fine. Sorry for the plugs for the brand of Rollerboard but this one is one that fits my rig perfectly and has sturdy construction. I check everything else.

Jo and Tommy were some of the nicest people to share the sky with. My thoughts and prayers go out to Jo's friends and family.

I have a Micron V310 with an Optimum 143 Reserve and a Samurai 136. I also have a Mirage G4 MT with a Optimum126 and a Pilot 124 (My wing suit rig). I can tell you from experience that my 124 Pilot packs up a litlle snug compared to a Katana 120 I had in this rig, It also depends if you jump in a dry climate. Compared to Houston, It is drier here in Dallas and the Optimum just fits better in my Micron and the container doesn't feel like a brick on my back. Pilots made out of the regular ZP material pack up bigger that those made out of ZPX. The largest regular Pilot I could probably put in my Micron would be a 132 or maybe a 140. without the container feeling like a brick. With a regular Pilot 150 the Optimum 143 would be a better choice. Your rigger will appreciate it and you or your packer will also. A Pilot 150 out of ZPX would fit the container nicely also.

Aerodyne 124 Pilot. Maybe a little small wing loading wise but it's all I got for this and it is working out great so far.

That's funny.

JD Jumptrack 3 and 3.2 have never totaled your freefall time automatically as Jumptrack 2 did. Here is what you do 1. Open Jump Track and open your my logbook. 2. On the JumpTrack Toolbar at the top select Features 3. Next select Previous Jump Data 4. A separate window opens up with a Column on the left that says Start with Jump # etc. Mine starts with 0 At the bottom is a box that says Ask for previous jump data when creating a new logbook. Check it. The Right hand column says Total Freefall Time The first line of that says Previous, The Second Line says In this Logbook, The Third line says Total to date. You should have numbers in the Previous boxes, Now all you do is look at the bottom of this column where it says Recalculate Total Freefall Time in Logbook and click it. When You click it it should add the time of all your downloaded jumps together and come up with your total freefall time to date. 5. Click Ok after you have done all this and close the box out. Follow these steps after you have downloaded all your jumps from Your AltiTrack or ProTrack each time you download them and this will keep your total freefall time up to date. Hope this helps Chris

I just got my USB-Track exchanged for a 64-bit one and new JumpTrack 3.2 software for Windows 7 free of charge and will send my old 32 bit USB Track back to them tomorrow. Steffen has just been great and promptly answered my emails etc. I now have JumpTrack 3.2 running flawlessly on my new Windows 7 64-bit Toshiba T215 laptop which is small and light enough to carry in my gear bag and travel.

The First President Bush never went to Arlington on Memorial Day sending his VP. Reagan missed it once and Clinton went every Memorial Day that he was in office. There's no disrespect here, Biden most likely will go.

I use an Optimum 126 in mine here in Dallas where it is drier than Houston or Florida. It fits great. My regular PD126R used to fit very snug here in Dallas.

Mark Thanks for the jump that December Day back in Franklfort Indiana. I remember it because of the reserve sign off mixup before the jump from your friend MS and MS and I had a little chuckle over it when I returned to Houston. Those were the days. Blue Skies Chris

May Ron Rest In Peace. The last time I saw Ron at Skydive Houston I knew something was wrong cause he just wasn't his usual self.

I know how it is dealing with Congress. While debating the issue of DADT and military readiness etc. 5 years ago with aides to my Senator in his Washington DC Office, a retired Army General told them that he still has regular contact with Generals in the Pentagon and that the forces are stretched thin. They even expressed to him that the Army was within Three years of a meltdown because of the deployments, etc. My Senators people just wouldn't listen and look what happened. Finally the Defense Dept this week is going to issue new regualtions this week substantially modifying "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" while Congress debates the repeal of the law. They Know What is really going on and how the draconian way that this law is applied is putting undue stress on the force.

I would give them a call. They are pretty nice people and will be happy to answere any of your questions. I've had a Stilleto re-lined and they called after they inspected the canopy and found out I had a frayed kill line inside the slider that I didn't even know about and fixed it. There service is top-notch.

Robert I forgot, Thanks for Your service to your country and your comments.