tdog

Have any of you ridden the 2006 YZF-R6 with the fly by wire throttle and new design? I have a 2000 Honda CBR600F4 - the year BEFORE fuel injection.... I love it... I have not wanted to spend money on a new bike... But some little bug has got into me and I am looking... I am thinking of either the R6 - or the Honda CBR600RR - but since I ride sometimes with Hooknswoop I don't want to copy his ride. Just kidding - actually, I thought it might be nice to try something else out - and I am not a Kawi or Suzuki fan, not that I have anything wrong with them....

Wish I would have seen that one! Hey - I was working on a project with a guy with thousands of jumps... He wore a bootie suit for the first time. I looked at him expecting him to be relearning how to fly... Nope, perfect docks and orbiting as planned. He was doing great. Then came the track...

I notice that I can fly much slower in the tunnel... I think a lot has to do with the fact we don't wear 30 pound rigs in the tunnel... But I also wonder about the deflection of air around a person... In the sky, the air can go anywhere it wants. But in a tunnel, it has to squeeze by the person and the glass... I think the same can be true in the sky - you get an 8 way formation and it starts to go slow because the air is not free around each person and hits the other people in the formation as it deflects... So - I wonder if that also effects flight speeds??? I know a 4way that gets huge and covers most of the surface area really makes changes to wind speeds... Never the less - back to thread topic... Yes, the Colorado tunnel has a bunch of great people (as most tunnels do) working at the tunnel... Did you see the article in Skydiving Magazine this month about SVCO?

First time you get on the plane in tee-shirt and shorts and are asked to change your solo freefly into a 4 way RW - and you exit with someone taking an arm grip, you will realize those funny little grippers are much more comfortable to receive a grip on, instead of a bite of your arm muscle... OUCH. A wingsuit is to a birdman flier as a RW suit is to a formation skydiver... The amount of - or lack of fabric - on the arms and arm pits allows you to reach out for a grip without changing fall rate. Booties allow you to really leg turn powerfully when the rest of your body is holding on to someone...

I think I found the links to his videos that will work. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=5z76v http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=tbk64

Pay attention to diablopilot. It finally clicked when I realized I could slowly lean down onto the air instead of the various dives and jumps I used to do. But, I think if you ask your instructor for some demos, a lot of times they will show you and everyone else in your block an entrance or two before they start the clock... It takes about 10 seconds to demonstrate two entrances. Or, show up early and watch other people - as that is how I learn a lot.

Wow... That same night (both nights of the skydiver parties) my friend flew the tunnel at full speed on his belly... We are talking enough air to freefly head down in. The instructors were freeflying in a stand around him, and he was aware that spotting at those speeds would be challenging for the instructors, so if he corked he was told what they expected him to do... The instructors also have seen him fly/coach for hours so they know his skills and he has earned their trust. I never have felt the tunnel to be slow - unless I have asked it to be. At the party I was flying pretty fast. But, I know the instructors a lot of times like to see great body position on the net and will turn up the speed once you nail the position and show stability...

I have done the back 3 people of a "H" (bow) exit from the 4way dive pool - and it works real well because the outside center does not have to get very high on his/her presentation into the relative wind... Meaning, if the count goes to crap, or this person has my poor gymnastic skills, it still can be pulled off. http://www.teamfastrax.org/randomBlocks.aspx and select the "H".... You will just be missing the guy who is at the top of the formation in that video. Basically - one guy is out on the front of the door, using his right hand to hold on to the bar, with his body already presented into the relative wind... (belly button to prop) He is the outside center in 4 way terms. There is one guy inside (inside center), with belly facing the relative wind too, with his left hand on the shoulder/arm of the outside center's right hand that is holding the bar. When the exit happens - these two guys can "double down" with their grips and make a rock solid connection. The tail flier head jams his head on the bar and is holding the two legs of the outside and inside center... Once he gets the legs, his head no longer is holding him in much... This is a fun slot, because your count is "ready, down, down" and you slide down the plane being an anchor... The key to the head jam is exit with both hands on the bar. Get your head all the way out and butt out and feet at the edge of the door... Then, just stick your head back in and rest your neck on the bar... I tried doing it once without getting all the way out, and you find yourself inching to the door. Not only does this exit work real well with all sorts of skill levels - if you go into 4way, it is a fail safe exit for blocks/randoms that you have not learned how to exit that you can transition into your first real point on the hill...

Again I have no stake in this, this is just an observation. Before the policy went into effect the dealer would list the MSRP and the price that the dealer would sell a PD canopy to the end user for. The end user is not buying the canopy from PD they are buying it from the dealer so the while the MSRP is nice it means very little to the jumper shopping for a new canopy. They should be able to deal directly with the dealer.

I had a former employee, when he was terminated, did not return his company car for two weeks. (He made a copy of the key and took it without asking) He drove it all across the country. Did a bunch of damage to it... The police did nothing - because I gave him the keys - despite the fact I told them, "but the agreement was for a specific period of time and use" - and the insurance company would not pay for the damage because it was intentionally done by someone I authorized... I fought, and the police finally called him. He told the police to &^%$ off, which upset them and they took it personally... I got my car back in minutes and a police report that allowed me to get the insurance money. Oh, and the DA went after him too and I got his paychecks for a while. Never tell the police what you really think, so he learned. Anyway - in that experience I learned that I had to be very clear in the terms of the deal - and the police started to appreciate the fact the return date was not open ended.

I have not had it happen myself, or even come close. I have the Relative Workshop toggles/risers, with a metal pin on the toggles, I believe they are called "truelock". But I did do a three way with a guy who I watched open and then saw a brake fire from above. I looked down and said, "he has a brake fire... Come on dude, grab the toggles and fly out of it..." It took him forever before he chopped... I guess he was trying to fly out of it using his rears. Anyway - now that you have had it once you will next time try popping your toggles if there is time? I think, since I have seen it myself a few times, I will remember to do the same the first time it happens to me? I actually have had my toggles stick where the loop on the control line sticks around the toggle tab, so I know the feeling of a brake fire turn for my current canopy.... I have also on purpose popped one side to see what the turn felt like, knowing I can pull that side down to level flight if need be... I guess you could try these things too, to get more comfortable. But, cutting away and pulling your reserve is never a bad thing when you are in doubt or are out of time, so I would not second guess yourself too much...

I think, if you have your wings level and flare to a stand up landing when you touch down, you were not too low... If the canopy is still diving and crash into the ground you are too low... But seriously - a flat/brake turn can be used by a novice to turn "very low" while not crashing the canopy into the ground. I think there is the happy spot between not being scared to turn enough to avoid an obstacle - and panicking and whipping a diving toggle turn into the ground...

I've seen it done in steady 30mph winds, on a smaller canopy than that, and, he stood it up if I remember correctly. Ok - so if you are going downwind at 30 MPH - and you turn your canopy completely "off" - you are still going 30 MPH.... I wanna see someone land a canopy and run out a 30 MPH landing...

Al and I jumped together for a RE/MAX thing last week... He said something about 20 way teams too, and told me I have a slot. This event sounds fun... Who has been there before?

Dominic, who used to work at Square 1 - was very instrumental in helping me choose the right gear for my first rig, via e-mail and telephone calls. He worked real hard educating me - and made me a loyal customer... Then, I visited Perris for a training camp, and before my new gear arrived, they let me demo some rigs, to see what the different ones were like. Now that I know what I want, because I have more knowledge of gear and don't need a sales person to give me info because I have friends who are really good riggers and/or canopy pilots to ask questions of, I still am going to give all my business to Square 1, because of the effort they made to make me a loyal customer and all the demos I was able to jump. My point... Dealers and PD... Concentrate your effort on the novice skydivers who need the customer service and education - who don't really know the simple things like, "do the risers come with the canopy or container?" And, if they are loyal like me, they will continue to buy from you...

Try having someone video tape your landings... Then show it to someone you trust to coach you... Or, video other people who are great canopy pilots and compare your videos... What are they doing differently, what are they doing the same, with the flare? You may see your flare timing is off.... Also look at the steering lines... When you are at full flight before the flare, how much slack is in the brake lines - do you already have some deflection on the tail of the canopy? I had a string of bad landings - and I was flaring too low... I just needed to see it...

It may not work here either; IIRC, the Fair Trade Laws went out with the Ford Aministration. My memory is that Levi Strauss Company tried to make retailers hold to the 'retail' price but got nowhere. We'll see what happens, Jerry Oakey sunglasses... If a dealer sells below the retail price and they are caught - they lose their dealership... Apple IPods too... Two major companies have successfully told their dealers - this is what you will sell our product for, or you will not sell it at all.

Oh... I think I forgot to mention Byron was another canopy guy and shot very awesome stills and video on our rehearsal jumps...

RE/MAX is putting together a 5 minute promotional video that is featuring skydiving a 60 way formation. The producer hired the Colorado Skydiving League to be the skydiving production coordinator - and we featured a bunch of Colorado talent, with out of town guests Eliana Rodriguez and Norman Kent. Norman shot the video in high definition, working under the direction of John Behring. Norman's footage of the skydiving scenes range from awesome to super awesome in terms of video quality as Norman was jumping a new HDTV camera for the first time. I think the past two days have been some of the most rewarding for me, and a lot of the skydivers involved said similar things. The core formation team (alphabetical order) of Glenn Frank, Anne Klein, Chuck Owen, Tom Reiman, Eliana Rodriguez, Travis Roth (me) DJan Stewart, and Steve Zeder had to build the parts of a 60 way formation for close up shots. The wide shots will include computer animated skydivers pieced into our formations taking docks onto us as the camera shots widen out... We had to do multiple jumps to simulate diving exits from above and below, small pieces building, grips, and the big reveal shot for the end of the video where a closeup pulls back to a huge wide shot where a bunch of computer animated guys will be added. While we were not turning a bunch of points, we had to turn the formations the same direction (or the direction of best photography) for each jump. So our exits always included a planned spin on the hill before the first formation build. Some of our jumps were just the 8 of us tracking back and forth between the camera and mountains... Zip past the camera and turn. Other shots required us to build formations one grip at a time - where busting a point meant building the point before Norman was in his slot, all while not looking at the camera... I busted a point, although the footage was not contaminated, because I thought I saw Norman in my peripheral vision a few feet away, but since I was trying so hard not to look - he was actually filming me, but not in his slot yet still getting the grip before mine. Even our trackoffs at the end had to go away from the center of the formation, with us at the edge of the formation, so we all had to track past the camera, not the typical go whichever way is open. Al Saylor from Team RE/MAX came out and was a great asset. He brought his four RE/MAX canopies and Eliana, Chuck, Josh, Justin and Al had to land them over and over again - because it was not the swoop that counted, but the delivery of the lines right after they landed... I think jumping out of the plane into a bunch of crash pads was fun - we joked that we should log those many jumps in our logbooks... I wish I had a camera in the Otter as we were jumping into the crash pads - as most of us were checking our handles and doing checks of threes out of habit on the way to the door... Anyway - the reason I am posting... 1st - I want to thank RE/MAX for supporting skydiving and using our sport in their promotional materials, scheduled to be released this fall. If you are buying or selling a house - remember who is putting our sport in the spotlight. 2nd - I want to thank all the formation and canopy jumpers. The Producer commented how nice it was that all the jumps were near perfect and we did not have to change any roles/slots in the cast. We were not turning 50 points per jump - but holding a formation perfectly still in the sky with outfacing and sometimes weird shaped formations and remembering which animated skydivers will be taking grips on you, over and over again - and doing it so almost every jump had usable footage, made the Producer happy. All the skydiving extras on the ground, and Will and Rocky the packers were great too! 3rd - I want to thank Mile High Skydiving, and Justin (Manager), Clay (Pilot) and Frank (DZO) for being great hosts. Anyway - I can't wait until the video is public - because some of the images we got are very, very nice. Here are some of our photos attached...

AggieDave posted to a thread called "Is this a malfunction" the following: After googling Hick's Law, I realized I understood and taught to the concept already, but did not know Hick had a formula for it... So, I thought in the spirit of continuing education - I would post a link or two... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hick's_law http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs5724/projects97f/virtschool2/theories/hickslaw.html The point is... I know a lot of instructors who bash these forums, a S&TA told me once to never read these because they are all wrong... He might be right, but I have learned SO much from DZ.com, not from the content necessarily on the posts, but where the content lead me to research and ask questions of others to make my own educated decisions... So, DZ.com, for me, is a super powerful continuing education source - making the world smaller, bringing concepts from DZ to DZ real time (even if those concepts are wrong).

God, you owe a lot of - and I don't even drink the stuff and I think you owe a lot.... Congrats.

The chat was via e-mail and they have not responded yet - but it has only been a few days - and I know the rep is swamped... If you are interested, I will pass on the word...

I never said I wanted the government to get involved... But it did upset me that my United Health Care premiums for my employees went up 10% this year, and some employees turned down coverage because they could no longer afford the $1,200 a month premium... All while the CEO of United Health Care, with stock options, made 1.6 BILLION last year... That means he made my yearly salary in minutes.... But this is not the speakers corner - so I thought it was funny that my friend sent me that "joke" via e-mail... I actually lit a corporate event today where President Clinton spoke... I did not realize that the average GM automobile has $1,500 in health care costs built in to the price, where as a Toyota has $160.... But again, this is not the speakers corner.

Novice AFF instructor and First Jump Course teacher... I feel my weakest link is teaching canopy flight.... We have mockups to teach exits. We have horizontal trainers to teach body position. We have countdown timers to teach altitude awareness. We have hanging harnesses to teach EPS... But, of all the instructors I have watched teach - at a few dropzones, I have not seen anyone really harness tools to simulate canopy flight... So, I am very interested in taking that canopy course you mention... I also chatted with a rep from a canopy manufacture who asked for ideas on a instructor program - and I commented that I would love training and training aids... Wouldn't it be cool if they had a canopy guru that would teach instructors to be better instructors? As far as my own continuing education for freefall - I have found that coaching novices in the tunnel keeps me on my toes, and attending Airspeed training camps trains me well...

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement. The first patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week. The second sees his family doctor after waiting a week for an appointment, then waits eighteen weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn't reviewed for another month and finally has his surgery scheduled for a year from then. Why the different treatment for the two patients? The first is a Golden Retriever. The second is a Senior Citizen.