weid14

AB?

huh, go figure.... in front of the police station.

I know.... didn't say I did it.... just explained the prank (I've sen it done though

nope, but there's no law that says the pilot is going to give you a spot that will let you land ON! (I know, I know, use your eyes, but since I'm inside the plane, I can't look and we were told to go on green and they will pick us up if needed.)

actaully the prank has been played using flour. while packing insert flour, -- on opening it does create a dramatic effect (dont' get it wet though). the desert sand does create the same effect, and that stuff stays in your gear -- white to brown, black turns brown, gray turns brown.....

WHAT???? I didn't hear about that... dude that sucks. hey, want to buy one of mine?

well some of us are current on highways landings, eh? you going to make it out on a weekend before you move?

it's in Coleman -- dont' ask me where the heck that is... but that's who was advertising $13 jumps.

not sure how they do it in Oz, but the USPA had a two part series on starting a DZ that was pretty informative. You may want to contact them and get reprints. Of course to make a million $$ skydiving you need to start with 2 million!!!

I was going to put the 35 seconds right after "clock starts when first person leaves the plane", but my brain goes faster than my fingers..... actaully the method we use a split timer stop watch. each point you hit the button, you can then time block moves, exit to break, exit to completion of second point, how far out is next formation from 35 seconds, etc. (i.e. is the 14th formation .5 seconds out, that sort of thing). On the video thing, if the judges can't see it, you won't get credit. good camera fliers for 4way are hard to find... expect a new 4 way camera person to take out the formation once or twice trying to find the sweet spot between being to far away/too close/steep enough.

OK, here goes..... (there are rules governing all this, in the competition manual on the USPA web site). if you exit the formation complete it counts as a point.... you can launch anything you want and transition to the first point (grip switch even if you want). once you get that first point (remember the clock starts ticking when the first person leaves the plane other than video) you must show complete separation between points (formations) -- remembering that blocks have pieces that stay together. So, if the dive goes something like this (intermediate dive pool) - E, 21 (meeker, zig zag/ marquis)..... you could exit a meeker (point 1), show compete separation and build a zig zag (point 2) zig/marq is a block, so there are two pieces that stay together.... the block turns and you build a marquis (point 3), compete break back to the Meeker (point 4). If you drop grips in the block, you will not get credit for the block (it's a bust) and a 2 point penalty. if you do not show separation between random formations it is a bust and a 1 point penalty

in response to "out of date material".... yeah, I picked up a demo velocity from PD yesterday. Of course, the letter they give you says to read the owners manual. Well, there it is -- a hot-off-the-press "ram-air parachute owners manual" with a picture of the first "hot" parachute on the front - a Sabre... to funny (this thing dates back to the first Racer SST). you'd think that PD sould update that ting with real pictures and the like.

only knee flying and back flying.... it looks easier than it is

if you're at cross keys or teh ranch -- ask to see if the horseshoe video is around. A jumper leaving on a bigger way (not huge, but not small), had her pin jostled and extracted. it's all on video, she's trying arch to the formation amd can't understand why whe is floaty, then she's pissed cause a video guy is docking on her, leading to her realization of the issue. He deployed her PC, and it did turn into a bag lock, which she cleared, but the canopy opened in a ball of crap. she chopped... it makes for interesting vid. TK's neck breaking swoop is on there too.

depending on the speed of the air (if it's cooler out it's faster), you can do all sorts of stuff, sit, tee's, back fly, etc. I have seen someone get their head stuck in teh netting though (it was funny)

you could (and should) consider other coaching options in the tunnel. Doug Park, Joey Jones, Shannon Pilcher et al, have an incredible amount of tunnel time and were using it as a teaching tool right after it opened. compare what you get with them vs. airspeed. you may be pleasantly surprised. I'm lucky enough to have 20+ hours in there (it's a guess, but fairly accurate) -- it is an EXCELLENT learning tool. Coaches get in there and can change body position (yours) and demonstate correct mechanics, and you get tons of repetition building muscle memory. caution -- you will get sore in the ol' pectorals if you're in there a lot, you may want to do push ups and the like to get ready for it.

well, I wouldn't consider 1.3:1 lightly loaded, especailly on an F-111 material.

you have to callapse a kill line pilot chute, not a bungee. yes the bungee will need a little airspeed to fully inflate, which may or may not cause issues in a hop-n-pop. collapsable PC's are necessary on higher performance canopies. you'll probably not notice a difference on lightly loaded canopies. you might try elsewhere for your pc and bridle also (there are some who are making them and are good, and probably less expesive)

by the way Chris, your site is getting really good, nice job

well, that's OK, Rob won't fly the otter in gusts over 20 anyway. I use the .."upside down leaf" wind indictor. if they're upside down, I don't go

that's cause of the airlocks.

well, Eloy is 1400 feet higher than Cross keys or deland. of which I jump at most. and I know enough about my canopy opening to know that it is different at Eloy vs these DZ's

nope DB, sorry to disappoint you, everyone on my team said the same thing when I mentioned it.... same packer(s) as all year, same canopies, different depolyment altitudes. I believe that A higher opening altitude will cause a parachute to deploy faster (and therefore a little harder potentially).

yeah, what he said (like I understood any of it)

ummmm, a man's center of gravity is not at his shoulder.... in fact it is about an inch directly behind the belly button. a womans is 1 - 1.5 inches lower than that, that's it.