Macaulay

No girl could ever stand up to skydiving. They can't stand up to land, either, for that matter. - Macaulay

My next one is a Crossfire. I got a Sabre because I scored it for $350. It's fun to fly, but I have three problems with it. A. It seems slow now. I can go smaller. B. I like a LONG, controlled recovery arc to get speed. The Sabre, as with many PD canopies, has an automatic recovery arc. My Sabre 120 planes itself out from a 180 in about 100 feet. I have to do a series of riser turns to build up speed. A Crossfire could get me more speed in a single 180 from 300'. C. While the openings aren't killing me anymore, I like a good 700 - 1,000' snivel. I'm definitely happy with it until I can afford something better, though. It's got to be the best square nine-cell out there. The quality of a PD product is also a bonus. - Macaulay

Pull-out kicks ass. I'm BOC right now, but would rather be pud (too cheap/lazy to convert). No worrying about premature deployment due to freefall or snags. However, I'm seriously consider getting into wingsuit flying. I'm going to be trying it out very soon actually. If I end out getting a wingsuit, then I can't use a pud. You've probably heard of the "freefly handle" they have on Wings containers now. It's a throw-out, but the PC is packed in the main container, and the PC handle sticks out like a pud. For freeflying, I'd say just go with a pud. If I'm going to be both freeflying and skyflying with one rig, then I'm going to get myself a Wings. The bottom corners of the container fit in nicely with a Birdman suit. I also like how Wings keeps the risers covered by just having larger single covers, as opposed to double. They look nice, they're comfy as hell. The reserve PC is also very innovative. It has a very small area that is mesh, where almost all of it is ZP. This causes it to take air in from any direction and "fill up" like a balloon. You could be flailing around on your back when you fire your reserve and it will still get above you. The reserve system is great. It's easy to check the pin, the pin stays covered, and there isn't a lot in the way of the reserve PC. Not quite as good as my Racer/Elite (nothing in the way of the reserve PC, pin is on the other side of the rig), but you can't check the pin on mine once I'm wearing it (no need to). Wings are pricey, but worth it if you got it. - Macaulay

My mom's going to be watching me jump (in person) for the first time this Sunday (that shouldn't be beerable). She knows I'm very careful with everything I do, and has actually been very supportive of all my activities throughout my life. In fact, she's buying my jumps. :) However, deep down, I know my parents are scared to death of receiving that call. This, if not for any other reason, drives me to put safety first. I'm still going to jump. I'm still going to swoop. Yet, at least for the sake of my friends and family, I've made safety my first priority. Has jumping affected your relationships with friends and family? If so, how? Have you or anyone you know quit jumping, or considered quitting because of this? I've known a few people who left the sport because at the request of their family, or their own conviction. I think we all try to keep both, but if it came down to the wire, which would you choose? Personally, I'd have to go with skydiving. It's far too important to me. Those who know me well know that it is far more dangerous for me to NOT jump. Maybe that's why my family is making sure I stay in the air. - Macaulay

Can't find #skydiving... We should be using a web-based chat. I think we should all drink while we're in there. I already started. - Macaulay

Of course... it's all relative. If you really want to compare safety records, you have to look at it proportionately. - Macaulay

HAHAHAAA!!! Go for it... I just remembered how scary a girl's body looks when nude in freefall. From above... cute little butt sticking out from under the rig. From below... total hellish chaos. - Macaulay

Ground hungry = steep glide angle. The glide angle is actually very different from size to size and loading to loading of the Spectre. The 150 probably has the steepest glide angle. Just open high if you're off (be considerate of jumpers above you, though). - Macaulay

Holy crap! I just wandered into a f*¢king girl scout reunion! - Macaulay

Maybe now's the time to start flying camera... - Macaulay

Spectres kicks ass. I loaded one at 1.3 starting at 30 jumps. At 100 jumps, loading between 1.2 and 1.3 should be OK. You'll be able to keep that canopy around for a long time. You can fly it straight in, or swoop it later on. Nice openings, fun to fly, nice landings. Probably the best all-around canopy out there. - Macaulay

So from what I've studied, I smaller parachute will perform better than when a larger version of the same model has the same wing loading. This means that if you lose weight, you can get a performance increase by flying a drastically smaller canopy, while maintaining the same wing loading. That's where Metabolife comes in handy. It works dangerously well. I lost 45 lbs. on this crap. I wonder, however, when I should stop taking it. - Macaulay

Naw... it's just an easy way to isolate the finger that they're pointing at you. - Macaulay

Yeah. Mouth set it all up as follows: Time: When hell freezes over. Place: Not even in your wildest dreams. - Macaulay

HAHAHAAHAHHAAA!!! - Macaulay

Am I an enthusiast yet? Hell, at this rate, I'll be high in top fifty by midnight. - Macaulay

You could also let them know that there are girls who will get on their knees for them for five dollars (plus a tip). A lot of men will be relieved to find that these girls actually like them when they're smaller. - Macaulay

A friend of mine is trying to swing me jumping out of his hot air balloon in New Mexico when they do they crazy fifty billion balloon launching thingy this summer. I really researched that one, eh? - Macaulay

I know how you feel, man. When I announced that I had quit smoking at Elsinore, grasshopper went white and asked me if I had quit drinking, too. I think I went white at about the same, time. No one will do shots with me up here at Skydive Oregon. :_( We really shouldn't be shutting out other forms of alcohol. We need to embrace hard liquor. In fact, it must come first. - Macaulay

I think had six wisdom teeth pulled (about five jumps per tooth) while at my old job. You know how it is with wisdom teeth... out for days. The irony is that my wisdom teeth never came in, thus were never pulled. No one would actually check something like that. - Macaulay

I've dreamt that I was freeflying without a rig, and right when I got near the ground, I could look down at the sky between my legs and automatically pop up there. I've also had ones where I get into my dive under canopy, and the ground just keeps getting farther away. I stay in the dive and build up unbelievable speed. The ground stops, I swoop, and the swoop just keeps on going through neighborhoods and even inside restaurants and junk. - Macaulay

Damn! How many jumps did you have at the time? If you were a student... you had to get out near the end. That's some scary shit. - Macaulay

As well I should be. Uh-oh... that's two for two. I'm getting used to it! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! - Macaulay

True... I can't argue that. Naked's the best way to go. Naked or decked out... just don't half-ass it with this pony tail and sweats crap. ;)

Those names don't count because they are relevant. If you are debating politics, and someone calls you "jerkoff", then they lost. When I call you "Assumitron 6000" and "Queen of Assumptions", those are fun ways of pointing out that you are making assumptions, hence the root word "assume". I also went on to detail what assumptions you had made, and their invalidity. - Macaulay