CygnusX-1

Ya, I knew it was one of those F'in commissions...lol

No but didn't the FTC FCC (our government) threaten to fine the stations and/or broadcasters? I don't recall the specifics of the case and am too lazy (read: don't care) to look it up. Or was this a purely public outcry without the use and/or threat from the FTC FCC that got him fired. All I remember is a little thing about a super bowl half time show, CBS, FTC FCC, Janet Jackson, and something about a wardrobe malfunction. And I didn't even get to see it. edited because I don't know all of our federal commissions off the top of my head

Just an FYI, Kim doesn't work at PD anymore. As I know nothing about the decision to let her go, I can't comment on why or what the status is of the demo program.

One thing to keep in mind is that SDU is offering FREE coaching on Thurs nights at Sky Venture Orlando.

That's the whole purpose of ISO certification. It's there to try to convince the (for lack of a better word) uneducated masses that this company is better than the rest. It really means nothing. The company I work for has ISO certification. All it means is that we follow the processes that we wrote. There is no external rules, regulations, code of conduct that we must follow. It's like this: I could write a process that says I must produce a widget with a failure rate of no less than 95%. As long as I follow the process, I can get ISO certified. Even though my widgets that I'm making and selling only work 5% of the time. BTW, this is me agreeing with you Remster...

Another option would be to have that image "silkscreened" onto a piece of fabric. Then have UPT sew that fabric onto whatever panel you wanted to have the embroidery on. I'm not sure how this may effect the certification of the rig. But it would be a way for you to get all of the shades and it would look just like you wanted. To clarify, I'm not suggesting that the panel be replaced with the silkscreened fabric. Just sew this fabric on top of the existing panel.

Search "bandit jump" is your friend.

Sewing magnetics into your slider might make the slider stick together when you quarter it and pack it up. It probably wouldn't be that big of a deal on opening, but you never know.

Lead is a non-ferrous metal so it (probably?) won't be picked up by walk through scanners. However if you were ever caught by a TSA person trying to "smuggle" lead shot through security, I would not expect to make it to your flight on time.

Really? When did we start building train tracks in the Pacific ocean? And do conductors and crew have to hold their breath the whole time they are under water? I say the trains will never meet. Oh and for that other thing - the night jumps. Never done one and have no real desire to either.

Anyone ever stop to think that the only reason that they want USPA sanctioned jumps is so that they can cash into the USPA insurance if something goes wrong? My guess is that you can't collect on the insurance if the USPA does not sanction your jump.

Or just talk directly to Kim to set something up http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?username=Kimsdu;

It was a lot of fun - SDU should do it again. From my perspective, the comp ran very smoothly and I wanted to make a public thank you to Kim for all the work she did. I saw her run around almost continuously making sure things were happening, judging, greeting people, and presenting awards. Your efforts were not lost on some of us. Thank you, get some rest, and do it again real soon!

You can do tracking in the tunnel. All you need is a coach who will hold you by your shoulders. I've done it several times. It also gives you instant feedback as to what body position gives you the most forward movement by the pressure on your shoulders. Personally, I steer with my feet. Small movements from the symmetrical are all that is needed to make heading changes.

If it was "too good to say no", then I say turn right around and sell it for a nice profit. Just because you have it does not mean you have to jump it. This could be a good way to earn some extra money for jumping.

And the best part is that it has not gone to his head.

I'll vouch for that, because skymama was hanging off of me.

Here is Skydive Sebastian, FL and Skydive Space Center (Titusville, FL). For quick easy reference: http://www.skydiveseb.com/index.html http://www.skydivespacecenter.com/ I've been to Sebastian so I know that is correct. I have not been to Titusville but that is where their website says that they should be.

Unless you live in the South when one day a Hurricane will come along and use your shade tree to give you some extra cooling holes in your roof.

All I'm wondering is what does "Save the cheerleader, Save the world" mean? You would think that by this it would mean that if they saved Claire she would do something to save the world. But in the final episode, she really did not do anything to either kill Syler or Peter. So what good was saving her besides keeping a cute chick in the storyline?

Don't forget that there are two sides to this coin. It is not only that the AAD would not work when it is suppose to. But it could also decide to fire the cutter when it is not suppose to. It could give you a 2 out situation when you really didn't need your reserve.

What??? Then Duracells aren't a better battery because company XYZ uses them in their medical devices? Say it's not so.

1) Because one will have a snivelly canopy and one will not. 2) Because your alitmeters will not be calibrated the same. 3) Because one will stop, wave off, check for traffic and then pull. The other will just pull in a track to make themselves look better. The real way to find out if you can track is to come to DeLand and get on a dive with Carl Daugherty or Mike J. Then at break-off you will realize you don't know shit about tracking when they leave you as if you are still falling straight down!

I could not agree more. It has boggled my mind how (and why) it was determined that you could become a competent skydiver with only 7 jumps in AFF. And before those of you start getting into semantics, that is what we are saying when you say that you do not need to jump with an instructor after passing AFF. I personally did not like that option when I went through AFF. That is why I purposely failed levels that I did not feel I was ready to pass. It took me 20 jumps to complete AFF - and I'm glad it did. By the time I finished, I knew I had the skill set to keep me safe in the air. But it did little for my canopy skills. Those I had to learn on my own after AFF by doing things like taking Scott Miller's canopy basics course. If we wanted to make better overall skydivers, we would require that as part of AFF you would have to make (I don't know) another 10 jumps dedicated to canopy control. Something similar to what is taught in these basic canopy piloting courses. Of course now we are going to get those people out there who are going to complain that "Oh my GOD, that is going to cost me another $1000 to go through AFF". Why is this sport getting so expensive. I should be able to kill myself and everyone else around me without having to invest more than a few hundred dollars. Seriously, this is how evolution works. AFF was probably designed to prevent deaths caused by freefall collisions. If you look at the current stats (and I haven't outside of what was printed in the latest Parachutist), our biggest killer is not FF collisions. It is canopy piloting related. We need to supplement our training with solutions to prevent these problems. We may even want to require people of all experience levels to get some supplemental training before allowing them to renew their license. I don't know what the real solution should be. I'm just throwing out ideas.

I was not sure if I wanted to post this or not. It is something I wrote as kind of a eulogy to B.O.B. I was very honored to be on his ash dive. I will miss you Bob! As many of you know but for those that don’t, Bob organized monthly big-way jumps in DeLand for whoever wished to show up that weekend. He did everything he could to make them successful. He chose which weekend and made sure aircraft was available. Always keeping us informed as to the plan. He organized each load based on who was there and who was jumping. From being here bright and early at 9:00AM for the first dirt dive to harassing those of us that showed up late. Did he expect to be paid for all of this work? No – not even to cover his slot. I believe he did this because he wanted to share with others his love for this sport. It wasn’t important that each and every skydive was successful. He always said the most important things were to learn something, be safe, and have fun. Yet he did not do this only for those that were experienced. He also set up another similar weekend for those of us that were just learning. These jumps were tailored to our skill level to give us experience jumping in bigger groups with the eventual goal of joining his experienced group. This meant that sometimes he would put together jumps where he knew we would not even make the first point. But that was not the goal of the skydive. It was to give us the experience of diving to a larger formation without having to worry about ruining the dive for everyone else. He even pushed me to join his experienced group before I thought I was ready. But he knew better. I was ready. And I will think of him and pay tribute to him on every major big-way I join for the rest of my life. I would like to close with the last email I received from Bob. I think this exemplifies who Bob was as a person.