Iflyme

Man, we're a funny lot - you may ask: funny "strange" or funny "ha ha" ??? Well I think we, as a group, are leaning to the "funny strange" side, but I have had a good laugh on this thread! Don't stop now!!! Let's start an international incident... (if we haven't already)

13 is my wife's lucky number, too (well - not "lucky" - maybe "significant" is more appropriate)... she was born on the 13th, married on the 13th, and the list just goes on and on... today is her birthday!!!

don't eat yellow snow

Actually, there have been aboriginal people living there for about 40,000 years. And there were First Nations people in North America longggg before the Europeans brought their disease and bigotry here... BTW, Canada IS the best country in the world ... just check with the UN ... 7 years running now...

Froggie, I'm so pleased to hear that you had a BLAST! You rock, girl!!!

Attaboy, Jason! Skydive 'till ya drop!

I consider myself lucky to have found this great sport (despite my "incidents")... is that what you mean?

Thanks for the suggestions ... it seems to mee the the door handle is too far from the pilot when the door is open! And that would make the climbout even more awkward... but I do appreciate ANY tips - really! Ya, Dutch - I could really go for a bigger plane. I did a couple of jumps from a Beech 18 last summer, and it was definitely more "big guy" friendly... Tee - NOTHING is gonna stop me from hookin' up with you in Kamloops in May... I'm on the list for the ride over in the Twin Otter... just make sure I'm not caught on something at exit time when we go up together!!! (I'll be easy to find there - just look for the REAL tall dude with the door handle sticking out of his rig...) Frank

Hold on a second ... if the spots Tourism Australia run on our local tv station are true, it's NEVER anything less that fab in Oz... you know, 'shrimp on the barby and all that rot...

Gee, is that safe???

Well, today, on my second jump, I did a poised exit. And just as I release the plane, I hear a big metallic "thwanggg"... as it turns out, I was hung up on the door handle (again). The jumper exiting after me watched the knob thing follow me down in freefall. The pilot couldn't close the door (C-182), and had to make his approach and landing with it open! This isn't the first time this has happened to me. I'm 6'6", and climbing out is more like scrunching out... on jump #50, I actually was hanging off the damn knob after I released the plane. It put a nice tear in my container, and narrowly (couple of millimetres) missed catching my reserve! A good rigger made the necessary repairs (thanks, Rob). Lucky for me, there are no repairs (to my gear) necessary this time, but the door opening mechanism needs repair. From this moment on, I'm door diving!!! This was jump #77 -- has anybody had any experience even remotely similar to mine ??? The first time it happened, I didn't think much of it until I was on the ground ... this time it really threw me for a loop, not knowing if my gear was screwed before pulling... The first jump today, btw, was following the CReW guys out - it was snow and ice pellets for the first couple of thousand feet ... snow on top of your canopy looks cool! (The stuff that doesn't blow off, anyway). Thank goodness I got those warmer gloves a couple of weeks back. My moustache was iced up!!! Please excuse my rambling ... the beer light is on now at home (I've earned it today!). Frank

Don't waste a good brick on a lousy tv program! There are bazillions of those...

Hey, Billy - I made beer a couple of months back with a muscian/photograper/travelouge writer who was just sooo fascinated with Sedona and the surrounding area... I think he had even named his band Sedona! They released a real cool CD a bunch of years back that was rather popular in Sedona! Carrie, I really enjoyed reading about how you became interested in skydiving... I like learning how everyone else got so wound up in this crazy sport we all love so much! For me, a buddy and I had been casually mentioning back and forth over the course of a decade... then one day he called ans said "some of the folks I work with are going, and do ya want to go..." So we did the FJC (along with one of my younger brothers), and I was totally hooked the moment I landed! They both did just one more jump, but for me I can't think about anything else most of the time! Anyone else have a story they can share? Frank

Hey, Mark, nice to see you here on the new DZ.com ... how did your airshow experience wrap up (I enjoyed the pix you posted in the final days of the old forum!)? Frank

Ya, Billy - the wx is a strange animal... forecast for today was warm and sunny, and it started out like that, but then it got real windy and bloody cold... I hope tomorrow's better, 'cause I plan on goin' up a couple of times... I sure hope those Californian Utilities pay us for all of our power they have been using! We just got a $200 rebate on our electric bill! So you have a snowpack, huh? 2 summers back there was meag snow in all our mountains right thru 'till the following winter (very cool views from altitude) - now the snowpack is about 50% below average! We're not even gonna fill the kidde pool this summer (I'm on a well)... Ya ever heard the Blind Melon song "No Rain"? That's how I feel these days..

Are ya ok windchill? Did you forget your meds this morning?

Thanks for speaking, anonymous ... I agree - watching someone go in is NOT something that every skydiver should expect to see eventually. Watching the video of Jan go in on her final BASE jump was tough enough - but to see it with your own eyes must be just ... just ... well, I guess I just don't know how awful. I will look away if it ever happens when I am there...

Gee, Albatross, if ya came hundreds and hundreds of miles north, you'd end up in Beautiful BC... we've had (in Victoria) the second DRIEST winter in recorded history... the sun just won't stop shining!!! Trouble is, we go into level 3 water restrictions next week - usually that isn't 'till August - if at all! At least us skydivers are happy...

I like safety meetings... but there is no Safety Day here in Canada - but I'm gonna jump Sunday

I just want to say I agree with you all!!! 'Sis, you need a jump ... guys, we can't fix a shitty DZO by slamming him here, but it is good to spread the word... however, we don't want this place to end up like rec.skydiving... I'm sure if Sangiro feels it's warranted, he'll do whatever he feels necessary to amend these shameful reviews... Gee... this is the first time I've felt so agreeable in a while (maybe 'cause I plan on SKYDIVING in a matter of hours...) Frank

Alex - I'm curious - what's the deal with the little "copyright" sign at the end of each of your sentences? Frank

Just to play devil's advocate, if you DON'T cutaway first, and just activate your reserve, perhaps that motion will cause whatever is keeping the bag in the container to allow it to go free... then you would be far more likely to have a main/reserve entanglement. Personally, I'd cutaway, but like Grasshopper said, there is no one simple answer - just make sure you are ready to execute whatever procedure YOU have decided on... do SOMETHING! Frank

Well ever since we humans started "agriculture" and "farming", we have been messing around with momma nature, and sooner or later it is gonna come back on us... Don't get me wrong - I love a big meaty dinner, but it just seems to go against the nature of the planet - raising animals for slaughter... I hope you folks on the other side of the Atlantic aren't grounded for too long because of this hideous outbreak...

I never gave it any thought until today - but if your brakes are stowed, nothing should twist up! I will ask more questions at the DZ this weekend, and find out more! Frank

In Canada it's known as PFF(progressive freefall). I learned to skydive IAD (instructor assisted deployment). Then I went to GFF (gradual freefall - 5 second delay, 10 second delay, etc). Now I'm a BAD ASS skydiver (well, working towards it, anyway )