Steel

Don't misunderstand me I don't believe jump numbers are a tell all. Hell I know more than a dozen people with 3 times as many jumps as me and I definately do not think they know more than me because of that. But when somebody has just 500 jumps it does sound like they started last year or the year before. Although I think I caught on fast, when I had five hundred jumps, I could not tell you what an ideal wing-loading for speed, distance or accuracy was, how differently a canopy would react to harness input at different wingloadings, what a rear-riser landing felt like on a wide variety of different canopies. So my point is that when that when the newbies (people jumping less than 3 years or with less than 500 jumps) tell me something that sounds like they are repeating somebody else's words, it gets annoying after a while. All I can think is why don't you just take a tape recorder and record the person you heard say that and then come and play if for me again. Because I know for sure that you certainly don't have the required experience to make that assessment for yourself. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

for me 62 = 3.4 70 = 3.1 84 = 2.6 89 = 2.47 If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I don't compete but if I did it would depend on the competition. For a speed round requiring that I run a 220 course I probably would fly my VX-70 because with a well flown approach it will take me the required 220 foot without problem and it will be faster than most others (or atleast I think it will). To be competitive in distance I would need a new canopy, probably a VX 84 or 89. A VX-84 or and 89 would probably make the accuracy course (what really should be called a carving course) a lot easier to score high on. Keep in mind the sizes are not absolute for all. I am just talking about what I think would be ideal for my body weight. Now if they put out the competition that I would want to see that is they put a radar gun out there and clocked your speed while going through a set of wind blades then I would go with whatever my smallest canopy at the time was. (now a vx-62) If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

well then I guess I read it wrong. But hey if you want a great glide ratio what you need is a para glider. No parachute could even come close but since you can't deploy that at terminal what you need is a huge canopy. Bigger will pretty much glide further and it will take a really big chute before you get to the point where its actually too big and just collapses. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

First of all lets just look at the facts. This man was responsible for a lot, a lot of deaths. If he had been killed in 60 while running instead of 63 many many people would have not lost their lives for no good reason. But you make it seem like he is that much more important because he was president. Fact is he stole that election so he shouldn't have ever even stepped foot in the white house. If not for his mafia connections and his parents holding a monopoly on the newspapers he would not even have come anywhere near as close as he did to winning. I don't know what to think about Nixon. Perhaps he should have contested it. He knew he had really won. But I respect him for putting the country first. Although I think the country would have been better off going through a scandal than haveing a mobster who stole the election cause the harm he would eventually cause. (foreign and domestic). See stealing elections is nothing new for the Democrats. If you think that little fiasco that was been pulled in Broward and Palm beach counties in 2000 was alarming, then you just need to look into it and learn more history before the liberal elitists succeed in rewriting all of it. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

No JFK was an evil man. There is no question that he stole that election. In the city of Chicago alone 17,000 dead people registered votes for him. His policy toward Cuba has caused millions of deaths there. And if you want to say that its not the U.S.'s problem well then why the hell did he go and start that vietnam war, 12,000 miles away. (Why the hell did we care what was happening there? We had Cuba 90 miles off the coast of Key West being taken over by the communists. No he sent American soldiers over there to stand around and wait to be killed by Vietnamese. It was not like George Bush Jr. and Sr. who sent soldiers to go in win and get the hell out. But lets not forget his domestic policies he was the one who started affirmative action. I can probably go on but I think I have made my point that I have my reasons for hating the memory of JFK. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

You couldn't have said it better. NOT EVERYBODY"S GOAL IS DISTANCE. It has gotten to the point where I just want to smack the idiot with 500 jumps who stands in front of me and says I don't know why you keep going smaller your not getting anymore distance. (almost like they think they discovered America) The only thing that crossses my mind is how this person with canopy skills that are noticeablely beneath mine thinks he can possibly teach me something. I know my wingloading is not optimal for distance. But even with that totally inefficient for distance wing I am still swooping further than the majority of these people giving free advice. You can go out and see what J.C. and Clint are flying and then you can go out and buy the same loading and canopy style but if you can't dive your canopy like they could (consistently), I am still going to out swoop you, even in distance which is not my goal to begin with. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I think the answer is who cares. The real question is why did they wait so long to do it? then again Johnson was even worse. The only appropiate thing was to do him like they did his brother, Before he stole the election. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I see you really gave that some thought. There is definately a certain truth to that, as long as they both are in the same shape. Which only proves that the formula gets more complicated as you go along. Take me for instance 5'9" 200 pounds 8% bodyfat, I have no doubt the same screw up ending in the same impact will affect me less than some other guy who may be 5'9" weighing 200 pounds with 15% bodyfat (about average for an adult male). Now we have not even considered flying skills just different body types and again we end up in the same place everybody is different and policies based on jump numbers is just not fair. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

for the past 6 months I have been at 3.4. I believe pretty strongly that for a 27 chamber you will start to sacrafice distance for speed at about 2.8 or 2.9. I don't have as firm an opinion on 21 chambers but I am guessing 2.5 or 2.6. Don't get me wrong I don't deny the fact that Clint Clawson had the 340 foot record with a 2.2/2.1 wingloading but I don't believe he would have gone less distance if he was doing 2.5 instead. As for Shannon's 418 foot swoop, GET REAL it was downwind. I don't believe current canopy technology can break a 400 feet with no wind. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

If your going to base your policy on strictly safety then there is something else missing from your formula. Fact is bigger guys can wingload heavier with the same degree of safety. Although he did not come right out and say this John Leblanc suggested this from a different angle years ago. But obviously we don't need John Leblanc to understand something that is so obvious. Atleast for me it is. I have jumped my 70 loaded @ 3.1 with 19 inch risers and I jumped it with 22 inch risers and I could tell the difference quite clearly there (with only 3 inches of more line). A heavier guy will be using a bigger canopy with longer lines for the same wingloading. Although his foward speed might be about the same, his dive from the same approach will be shorter and his canpy will respond less to the same turning inputs riser or toggle. This will make it safer for a 200 pound guy to load at 3.4 than for a 140 pound guy. My 62 does not twitch anywhere near what Luigi's 46 does but its loaded at practically the same weight. I don't think your BSR would take that into account, hence it wouldn't be fair. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Fast bikes are great. But a bike that is so powerful that you (or anybody without years of experience AND developed talent in the art) is scared to touch the throttle just a little too much and doesn't make any sense. 5 or 6 hundreds are the best starters and are not in anyway limiting unless your well over 200 pounds. If you achieve the level most bikers achieve then you probably will never outgrow a 600. 900s are a little too powerful for a beginner but a 1300 hundred to start out on is just outright stupid. Don't get me wrong I am pretty sure if I would have started out on a 1300, I probably would have not been hurt. But I would have had a lot less fun on it. Most of my riding concentration would have gone to not giving it too much throttle and flipping over. Oh and its noticeable more expensive to buy and to insure. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I did it and I love it.(7 times thus far) I haven't been testing speed or distance lately so I can say exactly how much that has improved, although I am pretty sure it has improved minimally. But when I simply look up and have a clear view of my canopy I just think its so kewl. I am used to leaning back and to the right to get a view of the canopy that way and then back and to the left, then front right and left. I typically like to make sure everything looks right before I dive my baby and now its much easier to do so. I just look up and its all there in plain view. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

17 packed for myself every one of them. I quit early that day also I could have gotten 2 more and I hadn't started first thing in the morning either. Got 15 on numerous occasions. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

>Nothing, but it's better than the system we have now, where they stay at 1:1 for 39 jumps then go >with a loading of 2:1. The 500 jump guy will survive that a lot more often than the 39 jump guy will. Lets try to be realistic over here and not use exageration. I have yet to see somebody with money in hand seriously intending to downsize faster than I did. And I had over 50 jumps before going down to a sabre 150 (1.4 pounds per square foot for me at the time) After that I had well over 500 jumps before getting into some serious downsizing. Anyway the point is that when I hear people talking about newbies with 39 jumps wanting to go to a 2.1 wing loading it sounds like spin. Like they are going to throw out this situation that never happens because they don't expect anybody to question it. Because if it really did happen it might make a good arguement for their agenda. If I am wrong, I ask prove it. Show 1, just ONE, student (because that is practically a student in my book) with 39 jumps that seriously wants to get a canopy which he would load at 2.1 pounds per square foot. (with wallet in hand I mean not just somebody talking crap) The only person I ever remember hearing say stuff like that was a whuffo co-worker of mine and that was because he knew what I was doing but didn't understand the time it took to get to where I was at. But after he went to his face on his first on a 300, on his first AFF I don't recall hearing anything stupid after that. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

thanks Chuck I'll check it out. "rigging65 Just wondering, why? If you're not going to get rid of the p/c why worry about the slider? " I might get rid of the p/c and bag eventually when I feel more comfortable with the idea. Maybe after I hear that a few people have 500 jumps that way without incident. But about the drag created by the slider, its very real. I know that for a fact. Even with it fully collapsed (that is the two kill lines being pulled all the way), I still see it filled up with air behind me. Anyway less drag always makes a more pleasant landing. If you want to see this for yourself try not stowing your slider at all and you will see that your shutdown power as well as your over all swoop speed and distance with be decreased. Then if you want to see this even more try to jump a pilotchute that is not collapsible. Anyway the point is anything that could be done to eliminate drag it going to make for a better landing. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Although farting in the plane may not be a nice gesture to your fellow skydivers, the unpleasant scent will be gone in less than a minute. On the other hand as I recall jumping in in Italy out of a porter with 8 Italians the unpleasant smell was from the point the door was closed up until it was open and I could stick my head out the window for relief. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I have been thinking about this lately and know that others have accomplished this. But to the best of my knowledge they have not accomplished it in an effecient fashion. If anybody has any pictures of a way to make this work that would be really cool. I know its much more common these days for people to make removeable pilot chutes. But for some reason that idea makes me very uneasy. I picture a pilot chute suddenly not working because it was not attached properly, then baglock following, and finally, worst of all, the loss of a $2000. canopy. So I think getting rid of the slider is my next goal. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

if you mean the barefoot then 29cm the shoe 34cm but more simply European size 44.5 or American 12. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Well then I guess it must be the adults who don't know any better because with all the roaches all over the streets of Amsterdam somebody must be smoking it. Or are you telling me its the American tourists? If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Fewer kids on drugs than the US, I don't think so. And I don't have anything against Dutch people anyway I enjoyed my visit to that city quite a bit. But after living for 9 months in Europe and getting to know people for many European countries I understood quite clearly why other European countries were ify about having Holland in the European Union. They know the Dutch are totally carefree, careless people and don't want all the undesireables coming in through Holland simply because the Dutch don't care. So my point was these are not people we should be learning from. Instead these are people who should be learning from us. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I believe what you say in that making something illegal makes some people want to do it more. And obviously the idea of making policies on wingloading is something I am opposed to. But just for the record, although I don't doubt that those statistics you mention may have indeed been collected somehow, I still find doubt on their accuracy. If you walk through the streets of Amsterdam the amount of roaches (bud or last part of a marijuana cigarette) is higher than any other city I have ever been to. I have been to the biggest cities of 18 different countries (Milan, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Minsk, Budapest, Athens, Berlin, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Ottawa, {NYC well I am from there}, just to name a few) and there is no question that no other city even came close to Amsterdam in physical evidence that people there were smoking canabis/marijuana. And I am sure everybody knows about the coffee shops. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

Have you been to Amsterdam the capital of Holland, the most pornographic, highest drug using city in the world. (Great example to learn from) Or Sweden the most socialist country in all of Europe, another big bunch of sickoes. I don't want to offend Norway cause I have good freinds from there. But I will say that if you had been to these places, as I have, or if you knew more about them. Atleast then you would know that to use them as a model for our policy is just silly. We are more likely the ones that should be setting the example for the rest of the world. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

I got my first rig with 13 jumps. It was a racer with a Robo 185. I didn't see that option in your poll. I can't for the lights of me understand why somebody would want to rent gear for 50 jumps unless they were not sure that they were going to continue in the sport or if they had money to waste on rentals. With less than 50 jumps I had already ordered my second rig with a sabre 150. I had that by my 65th jump. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.

not sure what you mean by keeping the same performance to land. But I am pretty sure that on a 90 hook the only way you will reach you maximum speed is if you banked it so hard that you got the maximum angle of descent and then hung hard on your dive loops for a long enough period of time to reach your terminal velocity. (when your force of drag and your downward pull of gravity where equal). When I think of how hard you would have to to enter that turn, for how long you would have to dive it to the ground stairing at one point and pulling out ot the dive just in time to keep your maximum speed but not pull out to late and face the ulitmate consequense. Well when I think of that its a stupid idea, but hey I believe in freedom so do as you wish. If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass. Can't think of anything I need No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound. Nothing to eat, no books to read.