Tonto

I have about 6 rides on a Predator 150 R loaded to about 1.3 and landed at 5000ft AMSL. It was made by Chute Shop in the early 1990's. (Now Parachute Systems) Closest common comparison would be the PD range of F-111 9 cells. I chose this reserve for use in a CRW rig due to it's nice landings, and my high rate of chops, so what I'm reading here sounds like it's from people who have too much ZP 9 cell experience. (or not enough F-111 7 cell experience.) I don't think 9 cells is too smart for a reserve. There seems a greater chance of off heading openings, and perhaps also longer inflation times. These issues never really concerned me doing CRW since we stopped working at about 3500ft, so I would have time on my side. It certainly performed better than any ride I had on a Tempo, which is what I replaced it with. I now use PD reserves. t It's the year of the Pig.

Absolutely. It's illegal to use a cell phone here while driving without a hands free kit.... but when I see people alone in the car waving their hands about trying to explain something to someone on the other side - I wonder what they're thinking... t It's the year of the Pig.

Wrong... I'm aproaching 30 years since puberty, have a full head of hair, pubic hair, and armpit hair. I couldn't grow a beard given a year. I shave every 2nd or 3rd day, and almost every woman I have ever dated has been hairier than me. It seems the "men have hair" isn't strictly correct. I did find a nose hair once though, so maybe there is some hope. t It's the year of the Pig.

The fact that the corner is not exposed. t It's the year of the Pig.

(Tonto scurries off to find out if personal attacks against one's self count... thinking along the lines of the new pope and euthenasia...) Scurry... Scurry.... Scurry... It's the year of the Pig.

Well, being a USPA member I get Parachutist - or rather I should get it. I never recieved December or February. And April's isn't here yet... Skydiving is a way better magazine for Info, but it goes yellow and grubby faster. I think it's time of true value was prior to the internet. These days you can find everything here anyway. t It's the year of the Pig.

No. Are you attacking me now? t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, same was true for young white men joining the army in the days of apartheid, but it hasn't stopped people from attacking me in this forum. So the new Pope was a member of the Hitler youth, the Weermaght, and a deserter to boot, along with being a member of the inquisition. You can cut that any way you like, but those are the facts. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yeah... I have 2 cypresses over 12 years old now. They make great paperweights holding down my order for a pair of Vigils... t It's the year of the Pig.

Mmm. I may be a little conservative here. Have you listened to the radio transmissions fron the Formula 1 drivers to their pit crews? It's only Shumi who can talk all the way through the lap. EVERY other driver stops talking while braking, passing etc. It's a head space thing. Do you think if I put a comms system on you I could talk you through a fight? I know how to fight. Could I help you? I think the comms would work really well in the tunnel. There were times I was bouncing around on the floor thinking "WTF does he want me to do?" On an AFF level 1, I'm not sure. I don't want to use the term "worst" but this student presented challenges I had not seen in several years and 1000's of skydives. I don't think the dive was a failure at all. The student has been exposed to an environment they had never been exposed to before. Their toes have been dipped in the stream of knowledge. The next dive will be better because experience is what we get when we don't get what we want. Really, this is what I long for as an AFF instructor. Somewhere, there's a key to the section of this man's mind that is blocking the path to learning. I want to find that key and see him fly, and I'll do the dives for free if nessesary in exchange for the knowledge I'll gain. Of course, I'm not sure if I would have the headspace to even operate an in flight system with any positive result. For me, freefall is a silent environment. I've learned to block the sound of moving air on all but the 1st few seconds of a night jump. I like the silence, but for the ticking of the clock. t It's the year of the Pig.

"A fellow jumper & I were discussing a 3rd jumper." I've been jumping 20 years. I'm averaging about 220 dives a year, but there have been years I did as little as 20, and others I did as many as 500. I jump weekends only. I don't get scared much anymore. I used to have gear fear until about 2 years ago when I stoped mucking about and kitted myself out properly with the help of my GF, who also jumps, and is a good influence. I know I skydive a lot out of habit. I climb on occasion and am involved in Chinese Kung-Fu, being an "in house" student to my SiFu, so I do have a life... but... On days I don't skydive, I'm lost. I can watch TV, I can go to movies, but really, I'd rather be at the DZm even if its raining. I guess I'm headed to be a Chett Poland one day, and will be happy just to hang out around jumpers when I'm too old to jump myself. I've realised that my number of jumps is finite, and that I probably won't make 10 000, and will be a few hours short of 200 if old age forces my retirement. This makes me appreciate each and every dive, and keeps me hungry for the next one. Life is good, but the common thread running through my adult life is skydiving. It's lasted longer than any job, any love, any goal, and when life seems to let me down, the sky is always there to inspire me. Ask your friend. They'll probably tell you what you want to hear. t It's the year of the Pig.

Ahh, c'mon. He's a former member of the Hitler youth. He can't be ALL bad! That, and he once called Rock music "the vehicle of anti-religion." He sounds like a wonderful chap. And he'd probably delegate most of that torture and murder anyway and only get involved with the "Grave sins" of abortion and euthenasia. I'm sure that his nicknames "God's Rottweiler" and "The Pope's Enforcer" were simply due to him running the Inquisition, nothing more. Ahh. Congratulations to all you happy Catholics. You must be SO proud!

Lullaby [Extended Mix] by The Cure, off All Mixed up. t It's the year of the Pig.

I call my SO "T" She refers to me affectionately as "t' Formally we are known as "Big T" and "Little t" Together we are known as T&t. t It's the year of the Pig.

I had a Tandem reserve malfunction. Posted in incidents here. I don't do Tandems anymore. t It's the year of the Pig.

[whisper]Psst... I think that was "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."[/whisper] t It's the year of the Pig.

That's why they're "contractors." There is no doubt (at least not from the number of ex SA military guys who are currently in Iraq) that the US is using Mercs for their campaign. Truth is, they answer to no one. There are many, many video's such as the one you viewed. t It's the year of the Pig.

It was a hot little rag back in the day 220 sq ft 7 cells ruled the skies. Agreed that the wing loading should not exceed 1.0 or 1.1. t It's the year of the Pig.

Mmm. Interesting. I think the Caravan, Skyvan, Otter and Porter (Which I jump) all use derivatives of the P & W PT 6 engine. I may be wrong here. While twins produce double the gasses, you'd need to be some place special to be able to breathe both at once. I've spent months at Perris jumping Otters, and weeks at Eloy jumping Vans. I'm guessing you're right on the sensitivity issue but wrong on the cause. Rarified air at altitude or a host of other conditions could be related to the number of exposures a day. Good luck pinpointing the problem and solving it. t It's the year of the Pig.

This probably doesn't count.... but... I had to borrow a CRW rig to do a Bi Di Dive due to both wing loading and compatibility issues. Being an old CRW dog, I asked what reserve it had. When I found out it was a round reserve, I did a couple of practice PLF's. (This was mid 90's and a while since I had jumped a round parachute..) About 30 min later I PLF's that sucker in the senior landing area after the left hand side wingman of the diamond had come through my lines and chopped and I could not clear the entanglement. I had some issue with the CI thinking I had planned to chop, but after a quick chat with the others on the dive it was clear that wasn't the case. That's the last time I jumped a round canopy. t It's the year of the Pig.

I think you're barking up the wrong tree. I often do 10 or more dives in a day. I don't have any such problem, either with turbines or piston engined aircraft. What aircraft do you operate? t It's the year of the Pig.

You get an AFF student who makes you think... "Wow." With 1700 AFF dives, you tend to think you've pretty much seen it all. I've had students fly through the whole program in a weekend, I've had the vast majority pass without a repeat, one that has taken nearly 30 jumps to get through the program but is still jumping, some national champions, both South African and one from another country. Going through the door with "real" AFF, when it's the student's 1st ever jump, can be both rewarding, and sometimes unpredictable. I had a humdinger yesterday. The student performed well on the ground, and was relaxed and calm on the ride to altitude. When we went through the dive on the way to altitude, his knowlege of the dive, handsignals, in air emergencies, etc, was top class. The door opened, and his positioning and pre exit checks, as well as the timing of his exit was perfect. From then on, with an exit at 11 000ft AGL, to his pull altitude at 5500ft, both me and the other AFF instructor worked very hard to simply prevent him from funneling us. Although he responded to body position signals, he did so only when they were visible, and returned to his interesting but erratic "natural" position as a default. Altitude awareness was minimal and he was pulled out at 4500 by one of his instructors. He's quite big and quite tall. 1.85m, 95 kg (6'2ish, 210lbs) Dispite all this, he had a safe and enjoyable skydive. For me and the AFF I on the other side... it was very rewarding. We were high fiveing in the landing area like it was the last round of the world meet and we'd won. Often we see posts of dives that go wrong. It's nice to see posts of dives that have the potential for great mayhem, but are kept under control, and kept safe. It's really rewarding to have an AFF I on the other side that you've worked with a lot, and who you know is covering his side of the dive. No confusion, no assumption, no misunderstanding. AFF is hugely rewarding, but there are times that you realise that regardless of your level of experience, there are always students who's natural abilities can overshadow that in an instant. All fellow AFF I's out there, stay sharp. To those of you who are busy with AFF... 1. Think fast, but move slow. There is really no need to move fast just because you're falling fast. 2. When things seem "busy" take a glance at your instructor. They probably have a solution to your problem. t It's the year of the Pig.

I've got 18 chops, + 2 straight reserve rides (One when still on rounds and one prem) Of my 18 chops, 7 are from CRW wraps/entanglements and 7 are from Tandems. The other 4 are 2 spinners and 2 broken lines. No chops now for about 700 dives... but I'm jumping Wingsuits, so it's just a matter of time, I guess... t It's the year of the Pig.

I had the double zipper conversion done to my Classic, and had an 'Ëxpantion Panel" put in behind the origional zip. That suit now fits just about everyone! I paid about $320 for it. t It's the year of the Pig.

No. A large downsize coupled with the change to eliptical will put you in the same loading and category as a friend of mine currently in intensive care, except you have 700 less dives than him. Maybe you can PM me your DZ name, and a couple of other details so I don't need to hunt around for them if I need to post about you in incidents. Just PM them to me with "Future Incident" as the heading. Thanks, t It's the year of the Pig.