lippy

I'm not the most articulate person in the world, so bear with me... I'm currently jumping a stilleto 135 loaded at about 1.5. I had been getting a little bored under it until I discovered the joys of downwinders, and although that's entertaining, I'm looking to step down to a 120 that, unlike my 135, isn't out of trim and a little baffed. I'd be loading the 120 at about 1.67. I'm currently jumping at DZs around 700-900' MSL. It's looking like I may soon be transferring to an area around 3000'. Obviously the 120 is gonna go faster, and with the altitude change + downsize at the same time, I'm a little concerned. OTOH, when I demoed the 120 last weekend I noticed a dramatic increase in the bottom end, and my ability to get the thing stopped, which was one of the major reasons I liked it so much. I attributed this to the fact that my 135 is a little baffed. So I'm asking for some advice on the situation. And on swooping at higher altitudes in general. Thinner air means less lift, but it also means higher speed. Can this higher speed be converted to more lift? Was the increase in bottom end I found on the 120 purely a factor of the newer material, or is it somehow related to a higher wing-loading? I got nuthin

I may be wrong here, but I've been thinking that as of late, the number of people cratering in during HP landings has gone down. I thought this was the case, and largely because the training was getting better and we were starting to learn from mistakes a little more. Maybe there's just been less reporting of such incidents? Don't get me wrong, I agree with what you're saying, but have you not noticed a decrease in (at least reported) incidents over the past year or so? I got nuthin

Just wondering something about hard riser housings in general. When I was demoing my current canopy I was jumping the risers it was on. They had hard housings, and I found this to be somewhat of a nusaince when packing, to get the risers over the back of the container neatly. Is this typical of these housings, or was this just b/c I was putting another manufacturer's risers in my Reflex? I got nuthin

A couple of years ago when Canadian Nationals were at Eden North, I was doing my first jumps out of anything bigger than a C-206 from the Caravan they'd brought in. I jump a Reflex with the flaplette mod, but I was unpacked and got invited on my first hoop dive, so borrowed my buddy's rig, also a Reflex, no flaplettes. Got high in the door and hooked the pop-top on the floater bar, ripped the PC halfway out. I'll never forget the looks on the faces of the guys holding the hoop when I started to come in on it. I got nuthin

I think a good rule of thumb for a total mal is: If you've attempted to deploy the main then chop before pulling silver, but if you havn't (ie: lost pud or hard pull) it's not necessary. That makes a lot of sense to me, but I've never had a total and not sure what I'd be thinking if the time came to make that call I got nuthin

He's in his mid 30s. He's basically the shop manager, in an oilfield services shop. Vehicle is a Taurus station wagon, always locked. He's physically fit, and we're not going to fuck up his head any more than it already is. Virtually any tool we'd need is available, and manpower isn't an issue. On a slow day we'd get 30 people easily. Managment would be happy to help (they regularly help me out by paging him to his phone after I've taped a capacitor to it) I got nuthin

I work with a guy who's always playing pranks on people. He's gotten just about everybody in the shop in some way or another, and we wanna get him back. If I've learned one thing about skydivers, it's that some of us are sick and twisted individuals who would have some great ideas for this. So let's hear 'em... I got nuthin

I've got a Reflex w/ Cordura BOC, and I love it. It feels more secure to me than Spandex, and I've never had a hard pull in almost 400 jumps on that rig. I got nuthin

Snowboarding and weed. Moved to Louisiana for the jumping, and snowboarding isn't really an option. Decided money was better spent on jump tickets than drugs, and that decision probably made my life a lot better than it would have been if I was still a burnout I got nuthin

I always wear one, and it's saved my ass a couple of times. Two weeks ago there was a guy with 40ish jumps walking to the plane without a helmet on. I asked him why he didn't have one, and he told me his helmet was dirty from when he face planted on landing the jump before I got nuthin

Yeah! Add a few Lemurs and a couple of Marmosets, and a case of Red Bull, and you've got a day's worth of entertainment!! I think you should throw in some midgets too I got nuthin

I think a lot of people didn't give themselves the best odds when they did their first jump, but that's just because we didn't know better. These kids are DZ born and bred, and probably knew more about skydiving at age 12 then I know now. I got nuthin

Very cool to hear they've got good customer service. One thing I'd wonder about with that mod is if the snap is ever going to be a problem when you're kneeling in a jump plane. If the snap is on the front of the leg and you're kneeling with your shins to the floor will it dig into your leg? Not a safety issue or anything, but it'd suck when you're getting your shit together on jump run and have a peice of metal jabbing your shin. I got nuthin

I'm with ya on the duct tape. If I just tuck mine up then they'll start flapping right after exit. I taped them up for a horny gorilla last weekend, and @ breakoff I realized how much I depend on them. It felt like I wasn't moving, and I've got a fast track. I got nuthin

I use a Pro-tec skateboard lid. I modified the strap for my dytter and decked it out with stickers and J-U-M-P in keyboard keys accross the front. It's cheap, and it's saved my noggin on at least two separate occasions. Will get a fullface when $$$ allows. I got nuthin

OK, I have a feeling I might get flamed here, but I just read the exit separation posts and this came into my head. I know that come breakoff everybody should track off of the line of flight (unless first or last group out), and this is what I normally do on a 4-way or smaller, assuming I know the way. But I also spend a good bit of time at unfamiliar DZs. Sometimes I'll spend an entire weekend at a place, and when I leave Sunday night I have no better idea which way North is then when I got there, and I usually have other things on my mind in the plane before exit then to make a note of which way we're heading. Even if I did, I'm not sure about taking the extra couple seconds at breakoff to account for jumprun as well as other jumpers in the group. I've never had a close call or collision like this. So am I a menace to the sky for assuming that the group behind isn't gonna follow us straight out, or is this how most people operate @ gotime? I got nuthin

***BUMP*** Come on people, $12!!!!!! I got nuthin

Very not cool. That DZ is a shit-show. Student fatalities aren't rare there, most experienced jumpers in the area hate the DZO, except a few people who were booted from the other local DZ and go there to be instructors. I started there, left when I found a better place and came back that one night for night jumps. On that same jump I busted myself up bad on landing and they wouldn't call me an ambulance cause they'd bounced a student earlier that week and the media was watching close. I got nuthin

I think the official dates are the 18-24. The Grand Caravan is a fixture there, and the Skyvan will be there for a while after the boggie. The $12 Skyvan jumps are the 26th through 29th. Check out http://www.neworleansskydivingcenter.com/events.htm . They've also got a full page add in this month's Parachutist. Hope to see ya there I got nuthin

We were at 10,500 in a 182 on a night jump. All of a sudden things were really loud and I was watching stars spinning through the windshield. He got it back at about 5 grand. Apparently he flew us into a thunder cloud or something. I didn't stick around long enough to find out, and havn't been back to that DZ since. I got nuthin

I've been in a spinning jump-plane after the pilot lost control. The Gs had my hand pinned to my leg and opening the door was out, let alone getting over to it. I got nuthin

Ok, I thought you did such a good job I showed it to the secretary at the office here, and the two customers waiting to talk to the boss...There's no audio on my comp, but hers is working fine I got nuthin

Just got the new Parachutist...The full page add looks great!!! N.O.S.C. is coming along amazingly, and the boogie's gonna ROCK!!!!!! I got nuthin

Schweeeet!!!! Good show Steve, that rocked. I got nuthin

I requested a demo 150...Here's the email I got back. I got nuthin