tdog

I typed "skydiving" and she whipped out a orange 1970's helmet and told me "Safety first and make sure you get it on film." Good one.

I was a theatre geek in school... I actually was on payroll from the district for operating the tech in the theatre when it was rented out... How about having a dummy hang from an electromagnet 90 feet above the stage floor wired to the work lights. When the night crew turns off the worklights - the magnet would disengage, and the dummy would fall to the floor hard. They would immediately turn on the lights to see what the noise was - and would find the dummy on the stage floor. (The dummy was fake enough looking that in a few seconds the joke would be over).

Well... How about turning all the sprinklers next to the main sidewalk towards the sidewalk at my high school... Then using a key I "had" to reprogram the digital controller to water for 1 minute out of every 7 minute passing period. A 4000 student wet tee shirt contest of sorts... The pisser... Now the campus has hundreds of CCTV cameras. None of the pranks I pulled in 1997 would be possible now... We had a bunch of pranks that cost the school district very little, were completely harmless, that are not possible any more...

Unfortunately, the www.uptvector.com is back online with EVERY link being broken/dead... Plus, it does not redirect to www.relativeworkshop.com... I just tried it... It worked - meaning redirected - for me... Perhaps something is cashed in your DNS or temporary Internet files? Or mine?

Page 11, Right Side - of December 2006 Skydiving magazine - has a full page color ad for the company formally known as RWS. This is an expensive ad - only out done by Mirage on page 7. www.uptvector.com is the only website listed on the page - and you have to look hard to see the name "United Parachute Technologies" - as the page has 5 "Vector" logos... If I was a backseat driver, I would certainly say that UPT is not going to push UPT, but instead the "Vector" name - in the way "Wings" is pushed as "Wings" instead of their corporate name... I love my Vector and I admire the accomplishments of "the company" - but as a consumer who dabbles in marketing at work - I can't believe that in the Christmas season a company would play with their website/branding/name so much... Thankfully, as of this morning, the uptvector site is now redirected to www.relativeworkshop.com! Perhaps they subscribe to the marketing thought "there is no such thing as bad publicity" - and this thread is an example, but oh well....

Now that the thread is going - I will state my own opinion... I tend to agree with what you said... The people who posted words in this thread seem to all agree... But the people who just posted a vote seem to not all agree... I should put a reminder on my calendar to revive this thread in three years to see what people actually do.

I did not mention it in my original post - but I wanted to see if someone else would by putting the "pros vs cons" option to see if there were any legitimate cons...

The article says the larger sizes might come out soon... But if you think about it - making the smaller ones first could actually save someone... Typically, swoopers with near or sub 100 sqft canopies are the skydivers that are overloading their reserves. Making low-bulk reserves that allow a swooper to have a 100 sqft main a 150 reserve might be more desirable to the consumer market than having a 190 main and a 230 reserve....

December 2006 issue... They said it would cost more - but unknown difference at this time...

The "new" PD reserve - with a smaller pack volume - made it to the front page of Skydiving Magazine... The article talks about how it packs 1-2 sizes smaller. The article also says: "It's not yet clear if rig manufactures will have to adjust the standard sizes of their reserve containers to accept the new canopies." And it says that since it flies/lands better, PD is upping the allowed wingloading. Both these comments lead to the idea that one could buy a smaller rig and keep the same square foot reserve - where the safer thing might be to buy a larger reserve for the same size container. This conversation has me hearing Bill Booth's voice reciting Booth's law - that whenever a manufacture makes something safer, skydivers will push the limits farther to keep the fatality rate consistent. So - lets hear it... Specify your wing loading in your sound off - as this might have something to do with your perspective. Do you want to take advantage of the tighter pack volume reserve by buying a larger reserve for your same size rig? Or Do you want to buy the same sq ft reserve and get a smaller rig on your back? Pros vs Cons.

Well, considering you got the inventor of the "Booth Three Ring System" in which you had questions about to reply with an answer within a day, I would say you did good.

Michele, In case Grue's posts are confusing since he did not start at the basics... There are three "flat" or "thin" technologies: 1) Rear projection DLP/LCD. These units are about 1 foot deep, and can go real large in screen size. These still need to be in a wall unit or on a shelf, not to be mounted on a wall like a picture. For every inch of screen, they can be cheaper than flat tvs of the same sizes, but you have a $250ish lightbulb to replace and they are 1 foot deep. LCD uses a LCD panel to filter light, DLP uses Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing (millions of little mirrors) technology to filter the light. DLP is the technology that movie theatres that have switched to digital projection are likely to use - and is used almost exclusively for professional projection screens for concerts and events (20 foot screens on stages). Both technologies have moved to smaller projection surfaces (TVS) after starting in the large projector market. 2) Flat panel LCD. These are 1.5" deep and look like the "Plasma" wall mounts - and are basically the same technology as a flat LCD computer monitor, just much larger. They are known for longevity, but suffer from blacks that are not as black as other technologies - and some complain that (especially older technology) was not good for video games because the LCD could not keep up with the quick moving images. 3) Flat panel Plasma. These came out long before the LCD flat panels - and still often are cheaper than LCD per the same size. The older generations were known to buzz at higher altitudes (like Colorado) - and to burn in - meaning if you watched a program where there was a solid logo in the corner - or god forbid you paused your TIVO and then forgot and left it on - you would find a negative image "burned" into the screen. The solution that the video equipment rental houses discovered to fix this problem was to overdrive a solid white image for a few days to erase the image - but you need expensive video equipment to overdrive white. These are two websites that I liked for giving me reviews: http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/ http://www.LCDtvbuyingguide.com/ If you want Plasma - Panasonic seems to always have the best picture, and was the gold standard for the professional 42 inch model for price/quality/picture. This is what my eyes told me, and what the online reviews have said. The professional grade Panasonics used to not even come with speakers - but once they moved to target consumers they added audio and tuners and stuff people need/want in their homes. LCD - Sony seems to get a lot of good buzz in the market... Where to buy? I was looking for a "flat" TV for years - and I always said, "when they get $500 cheaper I will buy". I have a discerning eye - my professional job is broadcast and event lighting, sound and video - which means I light people to be shown on video, and have installed sound systems for concerts for bands you likely know well. Thus I also have a rather nice home theatre... I went to COSTCO and got a rather nice 40 inch LCD (Philips, which when sitting next to a Sony, I could only see very minor and very slight deviations) on a huge sale that could not be beat. I bet this is going to make Grue fall out of his skin - but with the sale price I could not justify going to even an online retailer, let alone a boutique installer/retailer. This unit will last a few years in my family room then will move to the bedroom when a good 50 inch comes out for the family room that is in a price I like. Costco had a few good name brands on the shelf when I was there, but since their inventory always changes, no promises now. They had a real nice Panasonic, like expected, had the best blacks of everything they had - at a great price - but I wanted LCD for a few reasons... Also, I asked the Costco store employee, "what is your return policy?" He said, "as long as you are a member, if it breaks or you don't like it, return it." Yes - they will take it back in two years when and if it breaks. I checked the written return policy, and the only limit they institute is 6 months on computers - and this is not a computer! Since most online stores and even boutique stores make their money with a service plan and have very limited return policies - I could not justify passing by the Costco return policy and price.

I am no expert - but I think I would have done the same thing as you (if I had a half pulled cutaway handle) - although with a Collins lanyard on my skyhook equipped RSL - I don't think I could have pushed the yellow cables back in because the one that passes thru the top of the reserve tray/container is not in a continuous tube... It always needs to be hand pulled thru the collins lanyard, so I probably would have looked at the three rings and if the yellow cable was out of the hard housings I would have pulled on the ends to pull the handle back to place... If I was not 100% sure they would hold, I would have owed my rigger some $$$ for a repack. So I would have inspected the yellow cables to make sure they were thru the loops with enough to spare... However, I doubt that I would have been put in this predicament, because I probably would have pulled that nice yellow cutaway handle so hard people on the other side of the world would have wondered who was making that screaming sound.

Do what? Covet?

Hey me... Red is nice too... Attached. Hey me... Stop looking on the internet - your wallet is not that full... I just can't stop myself.

Well maybe you should use the money from the tandem to do an AFF jump. Then by January you will be well on your way to your "A".

I never said the neighbor had an R6... I said he had something new.

So, I live in a loft building with a basement parking garage. I have lived here 4 years with the only motorcycle in the basement... Nothing to envy, be jealous of, nothing to covet thy neighbors bike. Well, there is now a 2007 super sport sitting a few parking spaces away... My 2000 is starting to look, well, dated... See the pictures... Is it wrong to covet thy neighbor's bike? Should I spend some money this holiday season on myself? EDIT: or should I just shoot my neighbor and "trade" bikes. ;-)

I guess this discussion left the point of the documentary - but I guess all discussions do after a while... The question the movie raises - albeit a bit conspiracy theory, did GM kill the electric car by: 1) Bad advertising, or actually advertising in a way that people did not want the car. The ads did look ominous when you viewed them - did not make you want to drive the car, and did not answer any of the popular misconceptions about range and quality or advantages. 2) By putting electric cars in specialty only dealerships (limited Saturn Dealerships) - and making people "prequalify" in a very long process to own one. Mel Gibson is in the movie describing how he had to go thru a background check that was absurd just to buy the car. 3) By only leasing them on very restrictive leases. 4) By reprimanding GM employees who actually sold the autos and met quotas. 5) By when the public leased them the installation of the charging station at the home took weeks to install. 6) By using inferior battery technology, even after GM purchased a company that designed a better battery, keeping the technology behind the power curve. 7) By making the waiting list so long that people, by the time their name came to the top, already had purchased other autos. 8) By immediately canceling production of the autos the moment California canceled the incentives, and not allowing owners of existing autos to purchase them, even when they agreed to hold GM harmless for parts supplies and future maintenance - and GM instead shipping them out of state to be crushed. The documentary actually has multiple former GM employees, such as the person in charge of marketing EV cars, the sales managers, and even a former GM board member - all saying that behind closed doors GM did not want the car in the market place and tried to kill it's success. Basically the point of the documentary is that GM did everything on the outside to say, "Look California, we made them and no one will buy them, we honestly tried, look how much money we spent, now can the regulation go away" when on the inside they either set themselves up for failure accidentally by the worst management and sales plans ever - or intentionally caused their failure, as the documentary would like you to believe. How many times do you see children doing things to prove to their parents they can't actually do it... Did GM do this with the electric car? Well, it is pretty clear they did with the evidence, but the question is, did they do it intentionally or out of their own stupidity.

Buy the canopy you want. Buy the container you want (perhaps even one that is designed to be a little tight for your first canopy so you can downsize in a year or two)... Then learn how to pack... I had a canopy that was explosive. So much so, I put it in a card board box and overnight it "hatched" by pushing off the strapping tape and came out of the box and covered my coffee table. But after a few pack jobs I learned a few techniques. Now I can pack anything and I am not afraid of a brand new canopy... The point... DON'T WORRY... You will be a-ok packing with whatever canopy you choose. And learning on a brand new slippery canopy is perhaps a good thing.

I loved the concept of the Smart cars when I was in Europe... Now I see a modified version here (USA). And I saw the consumer reports article said that it was the WORST car they ever tested, and suggested for the same gas mileage to go with one of the toyota/honda hybrids. The only plus they had was it's ability to be parked in tight spaces, but they pointed out for a cleaner reliable fuel efficient car, choose a hybrid... Too bad...

I am glad your instructors are so good, in fact perfect. Just kidding. Since you replied to my post saying I thought two instructors was a good idea for the first let go skydive, and you said some instructors were pencil whipped, then said those without skills are fearful to let go, I kind of feel that you might think I am fearful or without skills.... I don't think I was pencil whipped, I had AT LEAST one spin stop and one roll over per eval jump, and I trained on AFF specific skills for a solid hour of dedicated tunnel time (I had probably 100 training roll overs and 100 training spin stops in the tunnel before having to do it in the sky on my evals and pre-eval training jumps). And I still believe, per the reasons I said before, that two instructors is not such a bad thing on the first let go jump, especially if the student is expected to do nothing except fall straight down, and ESPECIALLY if this is the first time the student has a new location/method for the pull as in the switch from tandem to student equipment in the progression. The jump can go to shit quickly - and having two instructors is not a bad thing - especially when they work as a team. The student might panic and try to pull in the wrong spot/way since this is the first time they have worn the gear - and if the one instructor ended up on the wrong side after a spin stop, he can't help. That is where having two instructors would be helpful - allowing roll reversals without the fear of being on the wrong side to assist. It might take years for it to happen to a good instructor, but still... I have had to pull for students on level 3 when they couldn't find it and panicked and did not allow me to help - and that was after they had done it themselves on 1 and 2. Lots of new stuff you are adding... I would be comfortable in your progression if the first non-tandem jump was a single instructor hold on dive, because the jump could be dedicated to the feeling of flying without the drogue and dedicated to practice pulls... I would gladly freearm it, and even let go for short periods if the student earned it... But making it a let go planned jump is where I would be worried... If your progression has the student doing their first non-tandem jump as the 4th jump, and this is a let go dive, I would want to see some seriously good practice touches before letting go... And this means the student is spending 1/2 the skydive doing the touches/COA - leaving just a little let go time... It would worry me, because I know I am not perfect, and no instructor/skydiver I ever have jumped with was either... Having a student "feel" solo freefall starting late in the jump after a few practice touches - means the working time is short - and I have seen some students get tense a few seconds after being let go and take a perfectly stable jump to crap, because they get nervous: "Oh my god, they let go, I am on my own." Please let us know how it goes! I never have actually done your progression or known people who have, but I hope it goes well and my fears are chalked up to being overly cautious. I seriously hope it goes well, because we need variety and creative teaching methods.

In LA, according to the documentary, I remember a number in the 20-30 miles range for the average daily use... Now, I don't know if that was one way or round trip. Either way, well within range. That is why the studies showed 90% of all the people could have had one with their use. If you drive 15000 miles a year, that is 40 miles a day. 1/2 the range of the car with the generation 1 batteries, 1/3 to 1/4 the range with the generation 2 batteries.

90 % of all Californians could have used the electric car for their average daily business. Assuming a family has two cars for two parents - they still could have the SUV for the weekend trips to wherever, and a EV1 for commuting to work/play. Also, I lived in LA. I saw many "Electric Car Charging Station" signs... So there was ability to charge. Also - think about it - in LA, when traffic stops (I was there last week, I was in bumper to bumper traffic on the 405, 101, 10 and 5 at every time of day) there is no energy consumption - so sitting in traffic does not ruin the range.

The EV1 could beat a lot of gas cars off the line. 0 to 60 in 8 seconds. This is actually slightly faster than the best selling car in 2000, the Toyota Camry - which took 8.8 seconds for 0 to 60. So, it was more sporty than the most popular car, so your argument failed...