Andrewwhyte

Is that how you think of us? Oh Gawd! When I was about the same age I watched a show called "Adventures in Rainbow Country" after school. One episode had the protagonist 'Billy' having a visitor who was a skydiver. I think he was doing Billy's mom but the show didn't go into that all that much 'cause it was a kids show. Anyway he made a skydive and that was just too cool. Bill Cole did the actual jump.

This might have more to do with NASA not liking that the Russians have the jump on them in the tourist market.

I own and use all the items on the list. When my cypres was at the factory- I jumped anyway. When I forgot my altimeter- I jumped anyway. When I forgot my goggles- I jumped anyway. I jump without a jumpsuit periodically. I use a frap hat when I do IAD's so I can talk to my students. I don't think I would chose to jump without some kind of footwear.

All depends where the venturi is relative to the chamber. I thought the newer tunnels suck rather than blow, putting the chamber on the decreasing pressure side of the equation. There must be someone out there who knows something about this rather than us two who are clearly whistling through our hats.

(quack quack) (quack quack) disco, disco duck (quack quack) (quack quack) DISCOoO DUuUUK disco, disco duck (quack quack) (quack quack) disco, disco duck It's not even close.

Hi there, Pacific Skydivers is located on the Pitt Meadows airport about a fourty-five minute drive from downtown Vancouver (about ninety minutes by public transit). We operate every day and would love to see you. As you are a student in a foreign body we will need your paperwork (logbook) to be up to date. If you are seeing any of your instructors before you go it would be good if they insured that Gear type specifics are written down (one or two handle, Rip cord or BOC, things like that). Also some recommendations for what they think you should be working on would be helpful. More info at pacificskydivers.bc.ca

As I understand tunnel technology the venturi effect used significantly cools the air as it enters the tunnel. A tunnel in Illinois will either be seasonal or will have to have apparatus to recirculate the air in winter. Either can be expected to significantly increase costs (and prices). Time will tell.

Two points: 1. It depends on the kids. Some kids are well behaved in public and some are not. This is directly atributable to the parents. 2. If the kids are there thats one thing. If you want people to modify their behavior as a result that's another. Since I work at a DZ I have to speak and behave in a manner that's acceptable to kids, parents, christians, gays, right wing assholes, left wing assholes, you name it. But the non staff are just customers. They have no obligations to tow the line to the satisfaction of any other customer.

"If the women don't find you hansom they should at least find you handy" -Red Green

I usually figure that the USPA membership number times 2 is close enough to the world wide mark for a loose guess.

No wonder the French make fun of you. Just so you don't go making assumptions about my opinions: You are a bunch of anti-diluvian, thick headed, backward thinking neanderthals. (and I mean that in the nicest way) The BPA seems insistent on making skydiving as difficult and miserable as possible for everyone, especially for newbies. When I started skydiving nineteen years ago we were at least using piggyback gear although we still had round canopies. There weren't a lot of students over twenty five who could stick with it back then. There is no way I would start skydiving today at my age (42) with fourty pound kit and round openings and landings. Skydiving is a sport; it is supposed to be fun. It is not supposed to be some masochistic test of character like English boarding school. BTW the fatality rates for horse drawn carriages are much, much lower than for cars. Do you force your new drivers to parade around in Cartwright Specials for a couple of years until they get the hang of it? The only thing is you should have them so the driver's legs hang right by the spokes so you can have an outrageous lower leg injury rate commensurate with that of round parachutes.

It never occurred to me that anyone but a student would use front and back static line gear. And no you may not use that junk at Pitt Meadows.

I hurt my back twelve years ago. I expect to be finished rehab in another fourty or fifty years. Your call but if you want to remain active I would find the time for the gym. Maybe find one with daycare. I don't think you should stop skydiving either. I just think you need to get more aggressive about what it will take to remain active and what you are willing to do to make sure you can. There is a cute saying that people don't quit skydiving because they get old; they get old because they quit skydiving. This is so much bullshit. The truth is that some people in all walks of life refuse to slow down just because they are getting older and they are willing to take care of themselves. The members of that group who skydive, keep skydiving. Those who let their bodies degrade find that the little injuries (or big ones) force them to quit. Having a body that heals at a twenty-eight year old's pace is just a Ponce de Leonian dream to me. The one thing I do know is that your healing process is never going to be any easier than it is right now. If you don't go to the gym now it will not be easier in a few years when the kids are older; it will be harder. As middle age progresses and my memory begins to fail the one thing I have no trouble remembering is my old injuries. They become more apparent every day.

This new rule excludes front and back gear; why is this? It's quite amazing that anyone out there is still willing to subject trusting members of the public to antiques that have been banned in civilized countries for at least ten years. To then say that because the gear is out of date that justifies not using an otherwise mandatory piece of safety gear is very strange logic to me.

I am planning to resume jumping next week after knee surgery. Fortunately it was only cartilage damage. I have delayed it a bit because a flu caused me to break my rehab schedule. I want four more exercise bike sessions and two more weight training sessions before I go. I have been doing high rep/low weight squats and quad extensions; I start lunges today. Three sets of thirty reps can be excruciatingly painful to the muscle tissue without over stressing the cartilage or ligiments if you use very light weight. What kind of shape are you in? Have you been religiously following a flexibility and strengthening plan? How highly loaded is your canopy and how fast is it? Is upsizing for a while an option? You said your brace did not do the job. Is it possible that you did not spend enough money on a brace. If you spent less than ~$400.00 on it then it may not be enough for post ACL surgery. We have one guy at the DZ who uses one he paid ~$1000.00 for (I think his surgery included more than one ligament). I hate to say this but if you have reinjured yourself you need to step back and take a hard look at what you are doing. An ACL injury has the ability to both end your skydiving career and provide you with a lifetime of pain. As we injure ourselves throughout our lives we are faced with the choice of serious and often unpleasant rehab, or converting to a less active lifestyle (and dying of heart disease).

The recommendations of this inquiry are from a jury. Twelve whuffos who are specifically tasked with making recommendations to prevent a recurrence. The system is heavily slanted to making unreasonable recommendations. No evidence would have been entertained as to the costs associated with their results. Transport Canada on the other hand does have to look at costs. What is disturbing is that another inquiry is about to begin in Alberta this week. The recommendations will undoubtedly contain some call for regulation; they always do.

She married a Canadian.

I saw that episode of "Adventures in Rainbow Country" when I was eight or nine. I remember thinking how cool it would be to do that myself someday. I was right. Thanks Bill.

You may want to consider a bungey pilot chute. These have the advantage of not requiring an extra step. The main disadvantage is that the tension decreases over time as the bungey wears out. When this happens the pilot chute will reinflate during a swoop. I doubt this is a big issue given your current canopy choice and loading.

Why don't you ask Guy Manos? If you want his work you should make sure he gets some cake.

YES I would not call the first instance a brainlock. This is just you taking some time to deal with a new situation. That is why juniors should not be dumping at ~2000'. The second case is also common for junior jumpers. Transitions kill. For the life of me I don't know why people still use ripchord activated mains. Whenever you use an unfamiliar type of gear you should practice until you are thoroughly bored, and then practice some more. The key to avoiding brainlock (other than preparation) is to keep thinking; never try the same thing more than twice. If it didn't work the first two times, you need to do something else. I'm glad to see that you thought yourself through it on both occasions

This attitude may indeed be human nature, but it is also a trap. Far to often people tend to equate skydiving ability with quality of person. I have met many students and junior skydivers who are not only cool people but people of such accomplishment that I would feel privileged to meet off the drop zone. The converse is of course also true. There are very good, very accomplished skydivers who are also petty thieves, wife beaters, perverts, drug dealers (no, really, it's true) etc. and deserve no respect whatsoever. It may be that the most fulfilling period of your life is about to begin, and that nobody over there is the guy who is just starting the project that you are about to embrace.

Put at least two jumps this season on what you know before you try the Triathelon. This will allow you to concentrate more fully on flying the canopy during your preparation and in flight concentration/relaxation phase.I think this is a really good canopy for you to try next given your location. Do a hop and pop from five or six if you can. Have fun.

Come jump at Pitt Meadows. When the ground starts going by sideways, your at 5500. Seriously though, I went through a phase when I didn't need a dial about 1500 jumps ago. Some people are proud of the fact that they don't use a cypres. I use both but wouldn't let the lack of either or both keep me on the ground. I forgot my dial on a tandem last year; no problem. I just used riggerrob's drogue as my reminder. I know he pulls within two hundred feet on every jump.Problem is I forgot to turn before I pulled so I was flying straight at him when I opened.(We weren't that close).

Put it in the agreement that they have to pay for the repack. Then pro rate it and be the queen.