tdog

http://skydiveradio.com/show_files/sr14_11_08_05.mp3 I highly recommend that you play this radio show... I burned it to a CD and played it in the car on the way to the DZ today... Wow, I learned so much from Brian... It is one thing to read about all this stuff in his and other people's books... It is another to hear it explained with clarity, examples, vocal inflection, etc. I learned so much, I think you guys all should play it too... I refined my knowledge on: 1) Why a canopy turns and why the toggles change pitch, yaw and roll. 2) Why an elliptical canopy turns faster. 3) How to safely reverse a hard toggle turn (as the USPA requires on the A licence proficiency card) 4) Why harness input is crucial to make a coordinated turn, and why coordinated turns are good. 5) Why turning on the yaw or roll axis alone is bad 6) Why swoopers are having better results with adding weight instead of downsizing past a certain point. 7) Why to tilt my head to the horizon in a turn instead of keeping my neck stiff 8) How to correct a toggle turn close to the ground 9) The cause and effect of a flare 10) Gforces, why they matter, and how to increase them or lower them. Great info... I tried a few of the things he said to try and I found myself an even better canopy pilot after hearing this... I really now want Brian to come to the DZ and teach a class.

And I just purchased a wingsuit too for Christmas... Like the good 4wayer I normally am, I have gone thru the dive pool and figured out which randoms you can do at, say, 80MPH forward speed... C, Murphy Flake for an example... The cat piece stays the same, but the tail and OC are going to have to cheat their angles a lot... Q, Phalanx... That one will be easy.. B, Stair Step Diamond will need a bit of artistic interpretation, where two people (IC and Point) will have to spin 180, but I figure those two can back fly so you have the effect of two facing one way, and two the other.

Dan dude, was this why you were telling me I needed to lose weight and learn how to fall REAL slow???? I got it... Drogues!

Ya I noticed that too... I was going to say, wait on the tattoo 6 months to make sure A) you still want a tat, and B) to make sure you are still skydiving... For some of us the fun of skydiving never goes away.... For some of (you) (not necessarily those in this thread), you will quit before your 50th jump... But then again, if you have jumped (other than tandem), you are in our group, so there is nothing wrong with marking your body with a skydiving symbol... (Now, if you never have jumped and just wanted a skydiving tat, well, that would be like wearing a NSync Tee Shirt to a Back Street Boys concert).

This is your FINAL WARNING that your bank account is about ready to disappear... Congrats... Skydiving gets more fun when you don't "have to perform" but can just goof off, or if you are competing, you are working on your personal best, not showing your skills to an instructor... So, if you are having fun now, just wait until.....

You pay my expenses to any swoop comp, and I will be more than glad to put something together... Ok, heck, I don't think you would have to pay all my expenses either... Or any expenses...

BUMP! Now that the PC1000 has had some time (a summer) of use in the field, anyone got pros or cons to say about the sucker??? New news? Advice? T.

Using Vegas, on my laptop (rather new model) I put together this video (which thanks to the content, not my editing, has become a top rated video on the site): It has some bugs and some of the features don't always do what you expect them too... However, once you get the nack of it, it is just as good as any of the more expensive stuff out there....

They say no publicity is bad publicity... So, this might HELP skyride by getting their name out there, WHILE proving to the rest of the world that skydivers are the dirty fringe of life people think we are... But, some stories are done well, like the one that has been linked out there... Make sure the reporter knows Skyride is an agent for many different types of adventures and that the reputable DZs are suing and the USPA has issued warnings, so they can report on the "clean professional business" side of skydiving!

If you make a tool used then removed from the rig I think you are safe... (or I would do it)... It would be a far strech to prove that the tool malfunctioned, and that the tool was even used after the rig was packed. If you make a component installed in a rig, well then, I would be a little more worried.

Quote Lead times for Prodigy / Phantom / Acro are 3-4 weeks at the moment

New canopies come with links; used canopies should be sold with links. Doing otherwise is tacky, imho. Good point... I guess I was trying to say, if I was putting a used reserve in my rig, I might want to buy new slinks... Kind of like when you move, it is a good time to replace the hoses behind the washing machine.

I would use scissors... Just kidding... My reserve is on with Slinks... To remove it, I would undo the slinks, then either use the slink or tieline to keep all the ends of each riser's lines together. I don't think you should have any problem uninstalling it yourself, I have moved my main around a few times and the reserve fundamentally is no different except it probably should be installed and packed by the rigger on the next rig, or if you install it yourself, you should fully disclose to the rigger you installed it so he can inspect every part of it to make sure he agrees with your technique before (s)he packs it.

I sent in this question to skydiveradio, since Bill will be on the program next week... If more people want to hear Bill answer this in his own words, here is the info from another thread on how to send in questions. Perhaps if more than one of us asks, the question will be asked... The question I asked, in case you have some sub or follow-up questions: I know Bill HAS answered this many times on the forums, but a two way conversation between the hosts and Bill should yeild some more incite into why he thinks what he does...

There are a lot of threads that already discuss this, but they might not take into consideration the Prodigy by Phoenix Fly, which is different than the rest... My first few wingsuit flights were on the Prodigy... The idea of the suit is that you can still reach your handles and toggles without unzipping anything... (But I am 6'3" 210 pounds with wide shoulders and long arms, so even with XL, I did some unsnapping to comfortably reach the toggles after deployment). Because the Prodigy is much less complex, I know some WS guys will be willing to take you under your wing with less than 200 jumps, but at the same time, the suit really does fly... My first WS flights were pretty intimidating even on the "simple suit"... The two things that "hit me" on the first day... 1) My altimeter twisted on my wrist a bit. I could not see it very accurately and did not have the skills to over rotate my arms or reach back and fix it... So I used my eyes and came within 500' of where I wanted to deploy. I knew I could not use my internal body clock, because I was not in freefall, and I never trust my audible as a primary (especially when it could be confused at less than average freefall speeds) 2) Navigation. I was on a full skyvan load at a boogie. I had a very specific flight line to fly that was prearranged with my instructor and the other WS on the plane... Well, I flew that plan... And next thing I knew I flew the whole distance of the airport and still had 1/3 of the skydive left... I was flocking with someone, and knew another group was near by so changing the plan would not be the best thing to do... I had to come up with a plan B... So, do you think you have a calm enough mind on a skydive to handle new challenges that come with a wingsuit, and the skills to know your altitude without looking, know your canopy well enough to know when you can make it back or where you can land out, and the ability to have faith in your stability to pull a completely different way (which was easier than I thought, but at the same time very intimidating)??? It might feel like AFF all over again, but you won't have someone there to pull for you.... I think you might very well yourself know when it is time to try on a suit... And, for the record, not that I recommend it, I know people with your jump numbers who were very current and received instruction, who jumped the Prodigy with great success... So I would find a local instructor, and let them take you under their wings... They might tell you to wait a while, or maybe you will be flying sooner than you think... The good news is that there are some more options for novices out there... T.

Anyone want to go in on this with me??? I want to flock with my friends who are ordering theirs tomorrow.... We can split the discount.

Ya, the Magnesium jump was cool... I saw they "sticks" were wrapped in masking tape with an electric igniter... How was the magnesium configured inside the tape? A stick? Powder? Not that I am going to do it any time soon, but it could make for some fun 4th of july stuff on the ground.

Ya, I was going to say the same thing... I saw him loading a canopy with all sorts of stuff last weekend for a night jump, but he never lit that one on fire... Darn...

I was just going to sleep on the net myself. I will need earplugs, but I think my "sleep number" is about 30MPH.

Odds are weird, because the exact opposite is true for me and it was not who I expected, when I expected, or how I expected... Or, that the older generations forget what they have seen and get complacent. Why is it you see so many students doing practice EPs but the "experienced" guys are not??? The so called muscle memory is not as permanent as a tattoo. I know I am most ready to do my EPs right after I have worked with a student and trained them... After a few days my reaction time starts to slow down and instead of my brain putting all the parts together as a seamless process, I actually have to "think" about each step.

The guy at Square 2 in Eloy gave me a great tidbit... Keep the plastic bag on the new lens... Just cut open both ends and slide it to center, exposing just the ends, so as you handle it, the bag keeps the finger prints off the lens and protects it until it is installed... Then, when installed, cut the bag off...

If I was you, I would look at the Skyhook... If you want it, the decision is made. You have to go with a Vector. If you don't want the skyhook, then you have a bunch of options... After jumping each, I would personally own a Vector, Infinity, Mirage or Javelin.... If it is not on the list, I would not personally own it, but that is me, and I like Fords over Chevy too. If delivery time and price was the same, I still would go with the Vector... Bill Booth (Manufacture of the Vector) is not god, but when god skydives he uses the technology Bill invented... I trust RWS a lot... Again, that is me...

I flew outside center and tail... She flew point and IC... Depending on the day... I am sure we kicked each other equally as much on all the slots we tried... We were keeping the block inners as tight as possible, and sometimes the levels or "cog" timing caused impacts... But at least all the pieces were in the same video frame and we did not put a football field between us on the inners and block closes... Spent most of the time as OC when we "dove into" the blocks... So we could concentrate on good working time in the air, we launched a bow most of the time... We got pretty darn good at it, absolutely no rotation and turning points on the hill... Felt good to actually have a bomb proof exit.... One down, 30 more to go...

And it felt so good at 5AM in the tunnel when she was slapping me to wake me up!!! But knowing it was coming from you, I presented my butt properly for the correct angle of attack for a proper slap... But I got back at her a few times in the sky with my foot to her face... I swear, I was turning the block where I WAS SUPPOSED TO, because, the centers are always right, even when they are wrong...

I knew what kind of canopy you had the second I saw the video, because yours looks just like mine when it spins up... Something about purchasing the stock color patterns... How do you like your pilot???? I have to admit, being that canopy was so "close to home" my heart is beating fast just looking at it... I actually have that "just jumped" rush with a lump in my tummy... I have had a few line twists reciently, so it really is fresh in my mind... Good job... Now I just hope I can sleep tonight (I just put my canopy back in my rig after a demo of something a bit more sporty... I am flying to Eloy tomorrow, and I really don't want a mal, so I might repack it again to make sure I put the sucker on correctly... Question... At 26 seconds or something like that we see two handles in your hands... Two seconds latter, your hands are on your reserve toggles... What did you do with the handles... Toss or in the mouth.