tdog

Take a photo and PM me... I will be able to tell. Don't ask how I know.

I looked at the video - 3 seconds to get out of a spin, I thought that was pretty quick. ;-) Actually, I was stubborn and tried to fly out of it for a rotation or two with the legs and arms extended, before I tucked up and flew out of it almost suddenly... So, since it is only my second spin ever, I was just trying new things and learning what works and what doesn't... Keeping inflated and trying to fly does not...

Pick a few... Mix it up... This is coming from a guy who cannot freefly worth crap and has spent all my money and energy on RW/Belly skills, which allowed me to pass my AFF instructor rating course pretty darn easily, whereas my freefly friends struggled a bit more... So, if you want to be a coach or instructor, you might want to stay in the RW world for a while... If you want to jump with anyone at the DZ - you might want to try freefly and RW/Belly... You know, you can freefly and belly fly in the same day with the same rig and same friends... Your shoes will not catch on fire just because they are oriented differently... But - there is something to be said about spending energy on one discipline for a while and mastering it...

So, I was on a three way PF (2 Phantom, 1 Vampire) flock... I wanted to get up some because I went a bit low on exit, and I punched it out as hard as I could... The suit started to shake, rattle, and roll a bit, like a canopy feels when it stalls... I could feel the lift being lost. Then suddenly I am on my back spinning and tumbling... It was actually quite fun at 10,000 feet - even though it became a solo jump at that point... My helmet cam shows 6 complete revolutions before I got out of it - and shows I was solid on heading and level until the sudden flip. It appears my right side lost lift because I rolled that way in just a few frames. I knew, from my previous flat spin that an exit gone bad could make a spin - but this one makes me owe more . Anyway - anyone got similar experiences??? Even with the spin dive that reached 116 MPH, my dive average was 70 MPH and 50 before and after the stall.

When I ordered something from out of country and had it shipped in... The shipper contacted me and told me what the customs fee was and asked how I wished to pay. This shipment was bottles of wine from France to the US - so it had even more red tape than a normal order of goods and services. So, I would just keep tracking your FedEx number - and see when it comes - and if it says "customs hold" or something like that - then you know to call...

Dbad.... Is that what you yell at your canopy right before you chop it, because if so, I don't want one of those...

I don't know what "E" means, but I will smile and nod... I read the http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/KatanaFlightCharacteristics.PDF on the Katana... The line I like best: I am glad PD has a sense of humor... So many technical documents have no humor in them.

The way we teach it, and it is what I would do... 3) Two Canopies Out 3a) Bi-Plane: Check Altitude, Disconnect the RSL, Using the toggles We teach "steer with the rear risers of the dominant canopy". Most two outs are caused by an AAD fire, right - so the likelihood is that both canopies will have the toggles stowed... If they are flying stable, the thought is, why risk anything by popping the toggles and allowing one canopy to all of a sudden increase it's forward speed and outfly the canopy that has it's toggles still at half brakes. Ideas, thoughts?

which size are you demoing?

Ya, but AggieDave is not flying a 170, even if he calls himself big. Are the 150 and 170 going to be targeted to the nitche football linebacker sized swoopers, or is that starting to be targeted to the middle of the road very active skydiver who wants something sporty and fun to fly, but also does not want a 1.7 WL and is into canopy control but not the ultimate swoop???? Do you see, for an example, someone loading the 170 at 1.2-1.3?

Page 22 of Parachutist this month has an ad that talks about the troubles and efforts in making the new "Large Katana". "Resignation ultimatums to get their own way: 3. Resignation ultimatums to get their own way that worked: 0." I went to the PD web site to get more info and they still list the 120 as the largest, and the wingloading chart, as expected, has "not suggested" for anything less than "advanced". So, who is the target audience for a Katana 150 or 170? What are the characteristics of the larger versions - do they become more of an "intermediate canopy"??? Who on your dropzone do you see flying a larger Katana?

Watch the zippers... I know you don't like Tony from your post, but when Alan's suit blew out in Zhills this spring and he went to Tony (next door) to get it repaired, Tony looked at his zipper and said, "you can't fly in the tunnel with this kind of zipper" and Alan said, how did you know I was in the tunnel? I had to replace my zipper too - the small metal teeth type blew out on me to, whereas the large plastic teeth zipper I replaced it with has been rock solid... I know you are not belly flying on the net on your belly a lot, but zippers (and/or the fabric that covers them) really matter... But I bet you knew that.

My grandmother is of the age now that everyone she has known from her younger years have passed on... It is painful to hear her mention at family gettogethers, "I just got a call yesterday that so and so died." If you are lucky enough to live a long time, everyone around you will die... She has outlived them all. Her Dead Friends list is everyone she met or knew in her generation. That is life I guess. I have been on a skydive where a fellow jumper passed on... I also have had employees never show up to work because drunk drivers killed them on their way... I guess the skydiving incidents are more painful because we perceive the risk to be more "optional" than riding your bike to work or having a heart attack - and our community is smaller.... Kind of like when I hear of a motorcycle accident on TV I turn my head knowing it could have been me, where as the "safer" automobile accidents I tend to ignore. Just rambling...

Not this weekend, but last... A 20 year old shy college kid student skydiver looks at me in a serious face and quiet tone and says: "I figured out what packing is like... It is like putting the baby back in."

For starting this thread and bringing attention to their product, I think they owe you one anyway - so ask for them to send you one to take to the airport...

I am only 31 years old - but looking back to my childhood, there are a few pranks that I enjoyed that kids can't do anymore. 1) Prank telephone calls. Sure there are codes to disable caller id, but still - the whole caller ID thing takes the fun out of being a kid and randomly calling people at 3 in the morning. 2) The plethora of closed circuit TV systems... In high school, thanks to a job I had, I had a key that opened almost every padlock (master lock brand) in the campus - it had to be a real high security lock not to be on the master padlock key.... So, I simply unlocked the irrigation system timer and programmed the system to water during every passing period, and readjusted the sprinklers to water the sidewalks... A few years back I walked my dog on my old high school campus and found 6 cameras covering the sprinkler timer and sidewalks... A simple impromptu wet teeshirt contest was not that harmful to society, but impossible now... The key still works by the way, and I found it in my scrapbook, and they would have a hard time putting me on the deans list now, so maybe I should go back to the campus tonight to make up for all the kids who can't pull the prank because their picture is on file with the campus. So, what pranks did you pull as a kid that kids these days just can't do because of technology? (I suppose this conversation could quickly lead to why kids these days choose the alternate pranks like hacking government computer systems and making viruses as quickly as they do but lets keep it to your best pranks - and how likely a kid could do it now).

Just today on a high pull I intentionally pulled one toggle down to the stowed point to see what it was like... I agree it is fast on a docile canopy, and I am using this experience to discuss this with students and other jumpers... I know a few people who chopped a perfectly good canopy that just had one toggle released and could have fixed the canopy just by trying pulling on the toggles once... The question is, can you do that before you reach your decision altitude????

Questions: 1) Did you have your cutaway pillow out of the Velcro upon landing, or was it still velcroed in??? If velcroed in, was it as normal, or as if it got revelcroed half in when you stopped pulling? To clarify, you chopped your main by pulling the yellow cables out at the threerings - and disconnected both before landing? 2) Vigil fire - when it fired, what canopies were "out"? Was your spinning dive that fast, or by this time did you already have some of your main cutaway? 3) Were the toggles, upon finding your main? 4) Were you taught anything about a toggle fire - and what to do to avoid it becoming a bigger issue? Did you try anything to diagnose a toggle fire before chopping? Congradulations at being alive and thank you for letting us know what you learned! Great job and thank you for your post!

Ok - so I am still in that hard learning curve as an AFF-I... So I thought this would be a fun whimsical thread, but with some seriousness to it that perhaps people can learn from too.

I think you should find a coach and work on basic RW (belly flying) skills. Body Position (something "sporty" - not typical AFF) Range of Motion (learning how to fly with your arms in different spots) Turns - start easy - move to leg turns Forward/Back Fall rate Side Slides The amount of time you spend will be determined by your wallet and how quickly you learn/how good your coach teaches. Also, everything you learn now will be useful when you are off AFF - so make sure you get a good RW coach to teach you, as you should be working towards great flying skills. Jumpnaked69 and I coached a guy with no freefall jumps in the tunnel. We worked on advanced body positions in the tunnel. We went to Florida on spring break, and he flew something closer to Mantis than Boxman for his AFF dives and his instructors combined levels because he was able to do the learning objectives of more than one level at a time. On his second jump after AFF - we turned 19 points in a 4way (50 seconds working time), and he had all the outfacing moves on the formations. Needless to say, his AFF went well too - and his instructors respected the fact he was doing more advanced turns/body positions.

The one I taught yesterday started at 7:30 AM and jumpers were ready to jump at 3:30 PM with a 35 minute lunch. That includes every student getting enough dive flow practice that their AFF level 1 instructors really just need a quick review. I had 10 students, but one had 16 jumps 5 years ago, and he remembered a lot, so I used him as the 1st to go on all the physical training things - so it made it go real smooth... The one a few weeks ago I was done 1 hour earlier with 8 people, but I had a coach candidate helping me, so the EP training went a bit quicker. Also, this class asked a lot more questions, so we talked more.

*blink* Suuuuuuuuurre! And all I hear is bitch-bitch-bitch about you having to drive all the way to Mile High to jump with me, but nooooo, not for Travis! You can't wait to go jump with Travis Hi Travis

Dude, now we need to go riding! I have a cbr600F4! Now - I have gone thru 5 rear tires in 18,000 miles - not because I peal out - but because of nails... I have one in my tire now, so let me get that fixed and lets go for a ride!

Most of what you need can be downloaded and printed from: http://www.uspa.org/licenses/index.htm

Ahh... You are making me blush... We were only good coaches because you learned so quickly. You were great fun to fly with... Your brain will likely not remember what you heard, but your muscles will likely remember it all... Come back any time... Did you do that the night you were freeflying too, or just the one time when we were flying together... If it makes you feel better, it is very common for people to do exactly what you did - so smile, you are normal. At least you did not try to stand on your head and it was your feet - and I am glad you did not land on me because that never looks good. Now, since your parents were watching the whole time, when again did you say they will do a tandem or tunnel????