mdrejhon

Hello Billy, Is there any way we can download the full-resolution versions of the photos? It only presents the reduced-resolution version of the photos to the viewer...

Depends on the conditions. When it's sitting on a non-porus surface like plastic (which I assume the toilet seat cover is made of), I've seen super glue still remain ready for 15 minutes if the volatiles in it evaporates so slowly (humidity). Some plastics don't like the super glue and keeps its very wet for a long time, since it can only easily evaporate into the air rather than soak into the surface. If plenty was squirted out. When I was working in Electronics, I tried to glue two plastic battery holders together, and also to a board surface, and discovered these properties by accident...

There was one time I stayed home because I was completely blocked. NEVER jump in those conditions, or my ears hurt like hell (as if they are about to EXPLODE) Two other times, I went to the dropzone with a cold anyway -- knowing that the clean rural farmland air (interrupted only occasionally by Jet-A) would do me more good than city air. It did. I was well enough by the next day to jump. Brought a cooler full of drinks and good food to keep me stuffed and nourished as I stayed at the bunkhouse. Some minor stuffiness but I could still breathe through my nose (unassisted by medication, of course!).

That's why you got your nickname 'firsttime' -- You nailed a perfect flare on the first try, eh?

I agree! I'll take a Super Otter anyday over a slower CASA -- because of the fast lifts! The tailgate is lovely, but if you were stuck with only having one turbine, take the fast climbing Otter instead. I've been in a Twin Otter that climbed TWICE AS FAST as a CASA that I jumped in.

I'm still fine-tuning my tracking. At Deaf World Record, I participated in some 20way attempts, as well as some 10ways. I was the guy with the lowest jump number in the attempts, however, there was a number of sub-par trackers and several jumpers were making more mistakes than I did! I had to get out of a couple of messes when I watched a whole 12-person formation funnel (I was 30 feet away, and not docked), on the final attempt at near breakoff time, so I had to be like a missle out of there. I am not very good at tracking yet, but I really improved more than half a dozen tracking solos and these attempts. There was one occasion where I was the guy that opened the farthest away (On that one, I was part of the first breakoff of the two breakoff waves), though I am not yet reliably nailing that particular "good" track position. There were a moment that two trackers flew above me, and there were some moments that a tracker flew under me -- and in both cases I had to change course and keep tracking towards clear airspace. In these cases, I had to pulling at 2500 instead of 3000 which is the lowest pulls I've done in my life so far. (The LO instruction was "pull no higher than 3500" for first-wave breakoff and 2500 was okay.) It's harder than I expected to achieve a "good" flat track. Sometimes I do it very well and sometimes I am sloppy. Being deaf and wearing a full face, it's very hard for me to hear or feel the airflow to judge my track ability. I am told to monitor my "lift" on my back to help me learn to track better. I also try to watch groundspeed changes. Adjusting the cup of my body, etc. I need more tracking jumps with people I know. :-) Tracking can be so exciting and scary at times.

Sam, I should make it to Burnaby sometime next year. I'd like to see if I can participate in one of the Canadian Record jumps if I meet sufficient experience requirements by then.

We've got that at Skydive Gananoque. Fortunately, I haven't landed out in a while. (I almost did last weekend -- but I made it back safely, fighting upwind back to the landing area. Had to lift my legs to reduce drag, and also loosen my chest strap and also spread apart my rear risers with my hands to maximize canopy surface area, just to get every last ounce of glide! Strong winds flying upwind, so I had to stay in full glide instead of brakes)

To complain to Travelocity, I suggest FedEx from a business address addressed to the name of various contacts within Travelocity -- that will get it straight to their desks. Since business-to-business FedEx's are much more seriously taken in. A good idea to use business letterhead, if possible -- especially if you are a business contact taking your own business elsewhere from Travelocity. In theory, I like the idea of reservations through a reputable vacation reservation system such as Expedia, etc. - to help introduce skydiving to more people. As long as they charge EXACT DROPZONE PRICE plus a clearly quoted "travel agent fee" (say, $25). SkyRide is not the right service to partner with for such an idea. I wish it was NOT SkyRide. If SkyRide can be reformed (Under New Management), it will be many years before the brand can recover, but now is not the time to make SkyRide mainstream. At this stage, I would complain to Travelocity and be very sternly clear about your dissatisfaction of being associated with SkyRide. We need a honest replacement for SkyRide, but this isn't it.

Congratulations! I've had a few 16K and 17K jumps this year too. They are a hoot.

Man, yeah, I was on the same load! But I was not part of this formation. It was my first night jump! My spot was reasonable if somewhat long (I was the last person out, on a separate "go-around" jumprun), but I had a preplanned pull at 5K and made it to the night landing area no problem.

I use the big bands for the locking stows and the small bands for the rest. Because of the extra lines near the top makes it too tight at the two locking stows. Many people seem to do it this way, when using lines of similiar thickness to mine. Just make sure the locking stows aren't too loose while the other stows are super-tight, an out-of-sequence line dump is possible... So don't double-stow a big band when a small band has just the right tension. (Double-stowing is generally discouraged, I have read about it contributing to a baglock, but I've done it before until I purchased small bands for myself) At least one or two stows usually broke after every jump after I first started. Now I only need to replace the bands every 10-20 jumps on average, sometimes less often. There was a really good 30 jump stretch that my locking stows survived before I decided to replace them because of visible wear (they still hadn't broken by the time). As always, check with your rigger/instructor/etc.

My stows are much neater now (although I packed a few with messy stows, and I think one resulted in a rather exiting 90 degree off-heading opening). But I am still damn slow. My 170 is inside a rig that designed for a 150. So bagging is a bitch. As soon as I get most of the canopy inside the bag, I usually put the bag upsidedown and sit on the bag between my knees while I tuck the remainder in. On hot days, the rest is appreciated. I pack in about 30 minutes now, the fastest I've done was 20 minutes and it was a messy job, so I now do 30 minutes. I'm usually the last guy or 2nd last guy to finish packing. I've packed about 75 times now and the bagging is no longer feared. It will get better.

Very impressive! http://www.bird-man.com/?n=News&id=948 Flew with nearly no altitude loss for 2 minutes! Who'd think of it... strapping small jet engines to your body. Man, that's crazy. But congratulations!

Not the same project, but jet engine wingsuit flight succeeded... http://www.bird-man.com/?n=News&id=948 Flew with nearly no altitude loss for 2 minutes!

Doesn't that mean a small, modest ego? Much like a small parachute naturally means higher wingloading?

Cross referencing VERY RELEVANT INFORMATION about "holes" in rigs: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1899771#1899985

I didn't realize that bungee cords are a lifesaver for other things than avoiding harness-induced spins on miniature parachutes (avoids unbalanced leg strap position) Maybe they should be, seeing that "in certain conditions, such as premature deployment from a sitfly position, it may be possible to fall backwards out of a rig. Bungee cords will greatly reduce the chance of this occuring." [Edit: MakeItHappen already has an article here: http://makeithappen.com/spsj/fallout.html ...]

For my first rig, I started off on (and still am on) a 170 at wingload 1.1 -- BUT I was renting for a longer time, and already had 57 jumps before I started trial-jumping 170 rentals. This is where I still am and staying where I am for at least another hundred jumps. Erring on the safe side is always good, 190 works well. If you do get a 170, I strongly recommend Brian Germain's "Parachute and Its Pilot" book -- just so you are armed with the extra information you need for the responsibility of slightly exceeding recommendations (such as 1.1 on a 170). You CAN get hurt. That being said, a nice trusty square Sabre at that 1.1 wingload will still be safer than an elliptical at 1.0 wingload. So parachute type and performance plays a factor.

Balderdash -- just do it above 2000 feet. Good to get familiar with them, just do it up high.

I think it's etiquette to have at least 10 people staring at you and a vidiot point a camera at you, and the smell of caramel/apple/whipped cream. (100.1) FAA Cream Pie Rules (Subsection 100.1) - Strict rules regarding 100th jump pie projectile. (a) The pie projectile must be edible and refrigerated, with stiff whipped cream, to keep it of a less liquid consistency, to prevent dripping on the shirt of the victim. (b) Position the 100th victm in position in open space with at least 20 feet surrounding. The 100th jump victim shall not be wearing a rig, jumpsuit, helmet, or any electronic gear (including, but not limited to iPod, Neptune and ProTrack units). (c) Once the victim is positioned, the audience and video cameraman should be visible in the subject's field of view for approximately two seconds before the pie becomes visible. This stuns the victim with unexpected attention, in order to keep him stationary during the pie splat, and to give him sufficient warning to shield his eyes. (d) Once the pie becomes visible, permit a minimum of 0.3 seconds to allow the subject to close his eyes before the pie makes contact with the subject's face. This is necessary to avoid temporary blindmess by accidental contact of the eyes with the pie substance. Please verify critical inclusions in the dropzone liability insurance, to make sure it includes pie projectile coverage. (e) Any arbitrary random timing can be used for pie procedure initiation for maximum surprise value to the victim; however, rules c and d must be followed for safety and insurance purposes. (f) The pie shall be mashed into his face rather than thrown into his face, to avoid any pain, accidental inhalation of whipped cream, damage to eyes, and to prevent laundry or clothes change requirements. (g) The pie shall be of standard Frisby Aluminum Pie Pan 10" size. As a substitute, 8" to 12" is permitted. (h) Champagne is strictly optional. (i) It is permitted for the pie to be retroactive. However, all FAA pie rules must be followed.

You forgot a "Good Old Fashioned Skydiving Boogie" as a party option. Why limit yourselves to political parties when there are other perfectly good parties to worry about before 2008?

I went travelling with a parachute for the first time. I made damn sure I am going to do carry-on because I don't trust baggage handlers. I have a nice color printout of the TSO letter (on glossy photo paper) and the Cypres card. I went on WestJet to Florida. My findings on 4 trips through security (For each direction of my roundtrip, I had one for Canadian security, one for USA security when switching planes in Toronto between the domestic and international legs of my trip.) 2 out of 4 times, one pass through the X-ray without a second glance. 1 out of 4 times, two passes through the X-ray and some mumbling. 1 out of 4 times, they had me open the gear bag and they almost wanted to open the parachute. The security people was tugging at the gear flaps, which made me really nervous (who wouldn't when you're fondling with the baby!), and I panic-pointed at the TSO letter. They had a read-over and two persons chatted to each other, and waved the rig on. Whew! As a yet additional safeguard, I also have a printout of a WestJet policy letter specifically permitting parachutes as carry-on luggage. Otherwise uneventful Florida trip. Definitely need the TSO letter and the Cypres card. (The Cypres card was never used, but the TSO letter was a lifesaver at one time.) The rig slightly exceeded carryon weight restrictions, but nobody noticed. On my trip down, I packed my helmet in my check-in baggage, but on my return trip, I packed my helmet in the gear bag. After my experience, I am going to buy a wheeled gear bag, carrying the gym bag with a rig alone is extremely tiring.

Did he specifically limit you to F111 fabric PD190 or allow you to look for ZP fabric (PD Sabre 190). The PD Sabre 190, arguably, is a lot more fun to fly than the older PD190. You might want to clarify with your instructor though.

You spoiled turbine jumpers. I did most of my jumps from little C182's and C206's. Can't position your feet on the strut? You gotta learn. I can reliably launch a 3-way from front float, rear float and V strut. Yes, linked 3-way exit from a C182. Better believe it. Actually, I've never funneled a linked RW exit before from a C182. Yep. Never. (Almost did once, but formation fortunately did not flip.) Regardless of which exit position I was in, riding the hill on a C182 is a lot easier than riding the hill on a Twin Otter, at least for me. It is sooooo EASY to funnel a linked exit from a Twin Otter. I keep funneling about two thirds of linked 3-way exits from those. The Twin Otter visited our dropzone only three times a year (but we are one of the few lucky Canadian dropzones to even GET the plane at all, at least!). And I did not get my first CASA exit until Jump #118. And you better believe I did 9 jumps in one day solely from Cessna's. Perfectly good airplanes to jump out of.