FallingMarc

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Everything posted by FallingMarc

  1. Aren't round reserves so much fun? Don't forget to not flare! Marc
  2. Eh... I watched Pack Like a Pro a few times now, then tried to pack while watching it, and now I'm sitting in my room with my Triathlon in a small pile next to me. I did it on Saturday with someone walking me through it, but on my own here, even with the video, it just seems to fall apart when I try to fold it into the bag... and I can't tell what the hell he's doing when he makes the last S-fold on either side, he reaches under something, grabs the D lines, then flicks his elbow and there's suddenly a nice neat s-fold with no lines in the way. When I do it I end up with a very pretty mess of tail and stabilizer, with canopy fabric all through the lines... Guess I'll keep practicing... and I'll flat pack it to take it to the DZ this weekend, because I know it'll at least open that way... Marc
  3. Excellent advice Zennie... I plan to get some freefly coaching in the next couple of months, and the biggest thing that worries me is the thought of collisions. I'll definitely be staying away from anything but solos and 2-ways with someone who knows what they're doing for some time... Marc
  4. Hey man, don't be pissed at yourself. You haven't jumped in two years, of course you're gonna be jittery. On my first 10 or 15 jumps, I felt the same way... some part of me knew I had to do it, and I wanted to do it, but when I was grounded for wind or whatnot, there was always the relief of not having to make the decision to go. It doesn't mean you don't really want to jump, it's just part of the way the brain works. Soon enough you'll be in the air again, living it up... Blue skies, Marc
  5. I know you're just watching out, I appreciate it.
  6. I weigh right about 135... yeah, it seems like a pretty big jump for me too. But my instructors and the DZO who have watched me said I'll be fine on it, and I'm a fairly conservative canopy pilot. I've also got about 80 or so hours in small aircraft, and it seems that the two experiences help each other a bit. Especially with flying an approach in traffic, and judging my position on landing. I admit it does freak me out a bit, but I see no reason why I would do anything to hurt myself or someone else on this canopy that I wouldn't do on a bigger canopy. Downwind/crosswind landings don't sound that fun but I'm totally prepared for that if I set myself up too low. That, and unexpected obstacles on final, are the only things I can see happening to throw me off. And if there's suddenly something (??? we're in downstate Illinois...) in my way while I'm trying to land, I don't think it will matter what I'm flying.
  7. Hmm I like how it takes a full 10 spirals under canopy to come down 100 feet... And I think I beat your score Omri... Marc
  8. ...! I think I'm gonna cry... Michele, about that book thing... I'll be first in line to buy it! Marc
  9. So for the past couple of weeks, I've been jumping the rental PD 210 at Archway. It's better than the big student Skymasters, but it's still only loaded at like .65, and quite frankly, it's not mine. So, I'm looking for gear, and stuff to transition down on. And I find someone selling his whole rig, and he's about my size so the container fits great(which is a totally new experience for little old me), and it's got a Triathlon 135. Ok, that's gonna be a lot faster than the 210. So I show up on Saturday, and pick up the rig, which just got a fresh inspect and repack. And not many people are here, because it's forecasted for storms, but it's not that cloudy yet, just windy. I find out that the rig (which has been sitting in a closet for at least a year) is in great shape. Good, good... but with the forecast, there's not too many people here at all... and Archway only has the PD 210 there available besides the student rigs. But the DZO who's watched me fly my canopy every time I've jumped says I'll be ok, just take it easy. "Just don't turn too low to the ground," he says with a grin. Right... so what's the policy on pulling high? Like, real high? Just get out last and do it, no big deal, ok... So I manifest. The King Air is on the blink this weekend, so we have Chicagoland's Porter. Thank you Hinckley! I do a final gear check, with somewhat of an odd feeling... this could be my rig... wow. It's so comfortable! Climbing into the Porter is a trip, what a huge door! Exit will be no problem! Climbing to altitude I think, ok, I'll just get out and pull real high, and give myself plenty of time to play around with the canopy, find out where it stalls, how quickly it responds, all that good stuff. I close my eyes and try to relax. I haven't felt real fear about leaving the airplane in a couple of months, but here's the familiar anticipation, plus something of this new canopy... Skip to 14,000 feet. Door, cut... not much of a cut compared to the King Air... damn, that's a huge door... and there goes the 6-way. With all the wind today, it's a good 15-20 seconds between groups... and there goes Tracy on a solo freefly... and one more solo, and I'm in the door, watching him fall slowly away. Close my eyes and relax, see myself falling stable, pulling stable, landing comfortably. Glance back into the now empty plane, then down at the ground, get my footing, and dive! Weeeeee... I think I yelled something on exit but I don't remember what. I was thinking of pulling around 7 or 8, but on the ride up I decided to give myself even more altitude, so at 10, I dump. Wow, that's taking a long time to open. Wow, that's some line twist. Odd, I felt rock solid while deploying. Okay, I kick out of the line twist, and look at that tiny friggin 135. Well, tiny compared to the 210... I release the brakes and feel a lot more speed than I'm used to. This is gonna be fun. I look down and realize I'm WAY the hell up. Ok, that's what I wanted. I try a couple of flares, a couple of turns. The slider's flapping a lot louder than other ones... hmm, I've seen people do this before... ok, pull it down behind my head. Now I have a big purple blind spot behind me. How the hell does this thing collapse? I fumble with it for a while and can't find anything. Oh well, at least it's quiet now. Ok, now I'm a little below 8 grand. I look down. Wow, I'm kind of far out already, and I'm downwind of the DZ. I get pointed into the wind, and try to determine my glide path, but I'm too high to tell which way anything's moving. Ok, I'll just stay pointed this direction... I do a few more practice flares, and quickly realize I'll be lucky to make it back to the landing area. Ok, trying to think of the right thing to do in this situation... keep holding for one... pull on the rear risers... a little more... now I'm sinking, that's too much... ok, I can stay like this. I was hoping to be able to use this altitude to experiment, but oh well. At 4000 feet I watch a static line student go out to my side. I'm in full glide now, so I can hold the slider down with one hand, so I can keep an eye on the static line jumpers and that 182. He should know to watch out for me, but better that we're both watching out for each other. It looks like I'll be able to make it back ok, but then around 2 grand I hit the turbulence, changing winds, and less options. It's hard to tell if I'll be able to make it over the runway or not... there's zero traffic though, so I don't need to worry about getting in people's way. At 1000 feet I decide not to try for the landing area and make a small correction to put me on the downwind side of the runway. Walking is healthy. The ground is approaching steadily. I'm going to hit the bean field again--I overestimated my groundspeed when I made the correction. Ok, getting close, getting to the right altitude to start my flare when I'm on that giant F111 canopy I'm used to, so I start to flare, and plane out immediately. Wow, that's different. Well, I plane out in the air, that is... my groundspeed is actually about zero. Ok, so I hold the toggles where they are until I'm a bit lower, I practiced this up high too. A little bit lower, and flare out the rest of the way, and I step down lightly, much to my surprise. It surprised me so much, in fact, that I just stood there for a second, ignoring the wind. The wind, however, did not ignore me. It quickly pulled me onto my ass, and I remember to haul down on one toggle, so now there's a fun little Marc-shaped impression in the beans on the north side of runway 27, but at least I didn't get dragged. When I asked about pulling "real high," they all thought I meant around 5 or so. From now on, I'll be more specific. I'll also remember to give myself a better spot when doing cross-country, though this one was unintentional... I didn't jump any more this weekend, too much wind for me, especially on an unfamiliar canopy. Damn, was it nice to fly. I think I found my first rig. I'll bring the beer next weekend. Blue skies and calm winds, Marc
  10. Sounds like a good time, man... just one question... "we are a good 5-6 bobies apart"... Am I missing something? What??
  11. I'm confused by the differences in size canopies at the same wing loading. I realize that I don't know much, I haven't been in the sport that long, but it just logically seems like a canopy design, i.e. Triathlon, is nothing more than a wing of a certain shape. It would make sense to me that a glider with a certain shape would fly the same with the same loading, regardless of the actual size. Please correct me as I am going to be jumping a Triathlon 135, but at 1:1 or a little over, this weekend... Marc
  12. No worries man, I did 6 15 second delays. Turning was not a problem, it's the stopping that got me... Marc
  13. Hey Joe there's a couple of good freefliers at Archway that give free coaching at any level... ask at manifest. I'm gonna try that sometime soon probably... other thing is, don't let Jason catch you freeflying if you're using his rental gear. I'd be afraid to do it in those Dolphins anyway after seeing that video of the premature deployment over in the S&T forum! See ya CASA weekend! Marc
  14. This is ambiguous. Are you supposed to piss on your own feet, or someone else's? And if you're pissing on someone else's feet, do you receive the therapeutic effect or do they? I'm so confused. It's a good thing I don't have athlete's foot...
  15. What...? ....OOOoooohhhhh... skydiving, right...! I knew that. Really!
  16. Man with the weather like it was today I'm friggin horny for altitude too... though nookie would be nice too I admit... hehe...
  17. Oh man with a subject like that I can already see it coming...
  18. Ok I want to test this duck thing out. Can a get a federal grant or something? Marc 58 hours and 44 minutes AAAAAAARRRRGH
  19. Totally man... see you in a couple weeks! Marc 59 hours and 4 minutes... argh...
  20. Didn't we do that one already? Marc "Bored" Mallette P.S. 60 hours, 14 minutes and counting...
  21. I'm not complaining or anything, just making an observation... 60 hours and 17 minutes to go... the pub's not open... where is everybody? I'm not going to go to the real pub for at least another half hour here...
  22. Only....... give me a minute...... 60 hours and 23 minutes till I get to the DZ.... Too bad you can't come out this weekend Anne, I'll see you in the CASA though! Marc
  23. FallingMarc

    male ho

    Speaking of hoes, everybody come see me play this saturday in Urbana Illinois! Live music courtesy of "The Hose" at the Lincoln Avenue Residence hall! That's right, we're giving a FREE concert! All you'd have to pay is exorbitant prices for gas to get here and back because you all live across the world in various places... damn.