LearningTOfly

Wow... I never thought I'd hear that here... I'm totally with you on that thought. I've actually been thinking along the same lines since Afghanistan was was a hot toping in propaganda. I've been following the politics of the States for a few years now and have come to the conclusion that it's all utter bullshit... nothing more nothing less. Then again it's like that in lots of countries, but that conversation will be for another day. I guess while I'm here I could go on a bit of a tangent... this phrase "defending freedom" ...like WTF? When was it ever threatened? And was it freedom to begin with anyhow? ...I think that the media's new catch phrase should be something like "Think like they do because you don't care!"

This ought to genereate some interesting feedback... T-Shirt Co. Offers 'Go Canadian' Package AP ONLINE ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - An American T-shirt company has a solution for fellow citizens who want to vacation in Europe without having to answer questions about U.S. politics: pose as Canadians. This advertising package released by U.S.-based T-shirtKing.com, shows the "Go Canadian" package which includes a Canadian flag-T-shirt with the words to "O Canada," a Canadian flag lapel pin, a Canadian patch for luggage and a quick reference guide title For $24.95 US (about $30 Cdn), T-shirtKing.com offers the "Go Canadian" package, full of just the kind of things an American traveller needs to leave home and its politics behind. There's a Canadian flag T-shirt, a Canadian flag lapel pin and a Canadian patch for luggage or a backpack. There's also a quick reference guide - "How to Speak Canadian, Eh?" - on answering questions about Canada. It's the brainchild of employees at the Mountainair, N.M.-based company known for novelty T-shirts it sells worldwide on the Internet. The Go Canadian idea sprouted after one of company president Bill Broadbent's colleagues heard of someone being harassed about U.S. politics during a recent overseas trip. Some people might not mind, but others "just want to be on vacation," Broadbent said. "So we were joking that they could just go as Canadians, and that just kind of evolved." The package went up on the company website Nov. 12, and sold a couple hundred within weeks. Sylvia Dawson's boyfriend has been joking that she needed to find him a Canadian flag for a coming trip to Spain. That's after his daughter, who is studying there, warned that he might be questioned about politics when he comes to visit. So she bought a package. "I said, 'What are you going to do if someone asks you about the prime minister of Canada?' And he said, 'I'll study up,' " Dawson said. Such questions are the reason for the package's quick reference guide, which offers tips in case an American in disguise gets quizzed on Canada. When it comes to sports, the guide suggests: "This is easy to remember. There is only one real sport in Canada and it is called hockey. Regardless of any trivia question, the answer is Wayne Gretzky. If a Canadian says he had to "deke out of a meeting," it means he avoided the meeting. If someone is headed to "Hogtown," that's Canadian for Toronto. A trip to "Cowtown" means the person is going to Calgary. And in all cases, the guide advises: "If your vacation is to be stress free, leave those heavy politics behind and travel with a light heart and quick wit, Canadian style." The Canadian Press, 2004

Why would the missles be inert? If a pesky Cessna blunders into the airspace (restricted) then I'm sure that the air force jocks will want to do a bit more than waggle their wings and yell 'banzai'. And besides, what if a real threat really does appear... that'd be embarassing....

If the pres in in town then I doubt it's a practice flight edited to add: I'm a bit tired today, and thus not a swift...

You might be able to find a deal on www.barnstormers.com ...that place is an online aviation flea market...

Is a $400k porter going to work?! Such a deal may be for an aircraft minus a servicable engine... i.e. with an engine in need of O/H. ...the one you speak of is the pink one in Germany or somewhere over the pond? does anyone use 185's these days?... they are tailwheel, so the main deterrent I suppose is that the insurance mins. are off the wall. But they can go like stink... In my experience, though, the 'goundloop' is really nothing more than a word that scares most pilots out of learning tailwheel... the key (as always) is to stay ahead of the plane ...they don't groundloop on their own- rather it's due to lack of proper attention on the pilot's part... but I digress...

"Say it ain't so" by wheezer is a pretty good song... It's got easy parts and harder parts and the solo isn't hard to play, but sounds awesome... there's a really good set of tabs at mxtabs.net

What does an eight year inspection for a cypres 1 costs? Thanks, LTF

Congrats dude! I remember my first freefall after a few static lines... it went something like: "This is going to be awesome!! 'Arch thousand', yea I got it coach, don't worry..." [jump] "Arch thou... oh sh*t! where'd the ground go?!... oh, okay, there it is again... [pull] After I pulled I tumbled some more, so that I was able to look down/ up between my legs and see my pilot chute inflate ...needless to say, I was pretty psyched after that... Congrats again...

I have quite a few people on my list like that too... ...I'm afraid I can't be much help, but I can comiserate, at least

I figured a bit about the autorotation stuff... I'm a fixed wing guy, but have seen chopper pilots practicing thier forced landings and that. I have no doubt that with the speed those guys are carrying that they could put it down in a field no problem at all if need be. (As well, the twin and turbine parts probably add a bit to the integrity of the system (thanks for the specification)) But nonetheless, they are flying low and fast... which tends to be bit less forgiving than other configuations... so one slip on the pilot's part and I'm suddenly going to be very dissapointed with him, granted, not for long. It might be that all on board agree to the risk, and that's cool. If I have the oppourtunity one day, I'll probably take it just as quick as the next guy... I'm just wondering what people's thoughts on the matter are... (and what the FAA guru's say... I'm guessing that they turn a blind eye to this stuff)

Okay, I've seen the videos (various) of the helicopters full of jumpers buzzing over the countryside at treetop level and a half for extended periods of time, while all on board are having a blast watching the foliage go whipping by. What's the deal with this? I'm sure that the pilots have two million hours flying, but is this not explicitly irresponsible behavior? If the engine were to give up the ghost at the right (or wrong) time, all on board now have a very good chance of becoming toast...

The 430 is a very cool gadget... I did my IFR rating on a Dutchess equipped with one. Flying is as hard as following the little blue line after that. I have a pair of DC ANRs, which work great, even without the noise cancelling turned on. On thing, though, when you are using the noise cancelling on the ground, keep extra aware... I've had fuel trucks sneak up on me before... crafty buggers they are.

I know that my experience level has alot to do with my insights into the sport, and I know those insights will change with time... I just hope I'm on the right track now. (sorry if my 'neophite' screaming response annoyed anybody... I'll grow out of it, I promise.) Thanks for being gentle in your response, I've seen some very caustic objections to other young jumper's opinions on the forums. Feel free to pull the 'experience' card on me any time. I am aware of the frequency of landing accidents... from reading the USPA's reports and the incidents forum here; and from personal experience I know that the landing that is one of the more challenging aspects of the jump. ...like the saying goes- 'flying is the second greatest thrill known to man, landing is the first'... It seems to me, though, that as a student, some of us are just lucky to survive gaining the right experience and develop a bit of skill. That applies to many airborne activites, too; have you ever seen the grip a flight instructor has on their coffee cup while one of their students is flying solo for the first time? Then once we know we have that bit of skill, the 'expert' syndrome comes into play a bit... which, I think, is the underlying theme of these post topics. The developing 'expert' syndrome coupled with confidence and agression requires more luck (compared to the student phase) in order to survive. I once saw a dzo almost kill themself on a swoop. As you might be able to see, I'm kind of struggling with the idea a bit- I see some people here saying 'why risk low turns?'; which is perfectly logical... but I imagine some of these people also fly their approches at mach 3 and know that one slip and they're toast; and once upon a time, these people were 60 jump wonders waiting to discover the joy of the front riser... and in order to do that, they had to decide to risk it once... and after surviving, they did it again and again until they could call it skill. Small canopies on the other hand, I won;t comment about other than that I'm looking for my first now, and I'm going no smaller that 1:1, and not elliptical. As for the ego comment... I know that it reflects my youth more than anything else, but I enjoy jumping and flying, and I take pride in both of those and in the fact that I'm good (or lucky) at both. Which seems to me to be ego... but is separate from conciet. And I think that a very cool thing to do is to always seek guidance in order to grow in skill. Skydiving (or flying) is not a hobby for those who are serious, but a lifestyle... an everlasting pursuit of perfection. How's that for youthful optimism?

So what was the rest of the rant about? The number one way to not get hurt skydiving- quit the sport, take up sailing. Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is not rational, and is really quite stupid to the average thinker. Our sport contains a very obvious inherent risk. I personally know and have accepted the risk (as most of us have) that if all dosen't go well, then I have a good chance of ending up as the cause of a crater. On that note, I take every precaution (short of jumping out of the plane) I can to prevent that outcome. There are, unfortunately, those among us who just don't think very clearly. Like another post I came across, where an instructor was asked by a student something to the effect of "do I test my cypres by not pulling and just waiting until it fires?" At least this guy asked, and so an accident may have been prevented. Also, skydiving is totally an ego boosting activity... that's why we do it, and there's not much denying it. As all other skysports, it is extremely unforgiving. If someone feels comfy with low turns, there's really no stopping him from trying them. We can only hope that he has enough judgement to know when to call a botched turn off, or is lucky enough to survive a close call and smarten up. Good judgement comes from experience, and we all know where experience comes from. Whew... I need to get back to studying.... Blue skies LTF

Cessna- ride the slide or linked ...horny gorillas are entertaining. Pretty soon I think I'll have a chance to jump from a King Air... not really looking forward to that, though.

These look like potential famous last words to me... I'm actually in the same position now- looking for my first rig, that is.... although I've decided exactly what canopy I'm going to get- a Sabre 170- now I just have to wait for the right one to appear on the classifieds page. (the loading should be about 1:1 that way) A 150 might be perfectly fine, but you have to consider that you will be stacking the odds aginst yourself that way. Remember when Murphy likes to show up...

My first freefall was.... then a few days later I put one down behind the beer line... so I was able to gain the full experience of skydiving times two.

I did my Private, Night, Multi/IFR, and Commercial back when I was 18... and started jumping towards the end of me 18th year. The flying experience made the canopy control part of jumping easy- after the first jump I pretty much decided "nevermind that annoyance on the radio ...now where'd I put that front riser? oh yes, wheeee!" I hope to start flying at a local dz once I finish building up the 500hr minimum or whatever the insurance guys are after these days... then I'll be able to call myself a real live skyslut

How does age affect the integrity of a container? I know that material decay is inevitable; so when does a rig become unsafe to use- after 10 years of use...20 years (provided it was looked after reasonably well)? I'm looking at a few older rigs (for my first) and am specifically concerned about the condition and strength of the stitching on the webs.

I though that the main would be an option if altitiude was in surplus. Looking at the big picture, though, there seem to be just too many variables... Thanks to all for the good info and no flaming...

I reasoned it back and forth a bit before posting... it gives you a second out on one hand... but on the other there are many more bits to snag on the doomed airplane which would make life more interesting than I care to imagine- ...as well, having a sub-terminal opening at low altitude would not be very enjoyable... Thanks for the input.

Just a quick question for those with experience here: Can a regular skydiving rig be used safely as a bailout rig for aerobatics (closed cockpit)? This is assuming that the seat is modified to accept the dimentions...

Great (insightful) post! I've never consiered this... although I don't fly high wing loadings either, but having your risers spin up would definately make your day a bit more exciting than usual.

My solo checkout jump was a hop 'n pop from 3.5ish. They aren't terribly bad- just hop out stable in the relative wind- fire a peace sign to the next guy in the door and then dump. I thought mine was actually pretty cool, just watching the plane fly away as I pulled... the openings are a tad softer, as well. And remember that 3500 is still a long way up.