AllisonH

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Everything posted by AllisonH

  1. AllisonH
    This is probably a dumb question, but I've always wondered... How do they take out rods they put inside the tibia?
  2. AllisonH
    I think that probably true 95% of the time. However, if your instructor is asking you to do something more aggressive/advanced than you are comfortable with (be it downsize, go off radio, pull lower, move on to the next jump, whatever), I think it is always within your right as the student to question the instructor. Maybe they have a really good reason for it and you need to listen, but maybe if they hear your concerns they'll back off a little and stick with something you're more comfortable with for a while.
  3. AllisonH
    I'm flying into Ontario around noon on the 29th and back on the afternoon of the 5th. I realize this isn't helpful to you since those aren't the days you want to fly, but if anyone else is coming in around then and needs a ride let me know.
  4. AllisonH
    Maybe women and old people don't consider 150-180 pounds to be "little" either...
  5. AllisonH
    I've seen plenty of people sit fly in the tunnel wearing booties and they stayed on, but I certainly wouldn't try it unless I were already really good at freeflying
  6. AllisonH
    If you'd mentioned it earlier, I'm pretty sure there was one in Ohio last month. If I were you I'd try calling the other Michigan DZ's as well as the ones nearby in Ohio, Indiana, Chicago area, etc. and see if you can get someone there to do it. Or you could try asking Cindy - she's also an S&TA - but she doesn't usually do that kind of stuff.
  7. AllisonH
    Looking forward to it.
  8. AllisonH
    Yep, it was skybus I don't wanna ride on the Caravan because I want to have control over my schedule. I'm combining coming to the boogie with visiting my parents (this means they're paying for the plane ticket), so I need to fly into KC anyway. I now have tickets on Northwest, and when I get back from the boogie I should have enough frequent flier miles for another free trip.
  9. AllisonH
    My original flights were cancelled - the airline isn't flying anymore. This was not a big surprise since tickets were so cheap and the planes were maybe half full. But I got new tickets so I'll still be there
  10. AllisonH
    I (and other much more experienced jumpers) chose not to jump in those winds. At least one tandem instructor refused to take up tandems after the turbulence he experienced under a small crossbraced canopy. Have I jumped in winds like that before? Yes. Would I have probably been ok? Yes. Is it worth the risk when it's the second day of the season and you're uncurrent? To me it's not. I'd rather drive back next weekend than spend the week in the hospital. If I'd been responsible for an uncurrent inexperienced jumper yesterday, we would have spent the afternoon on the ground reviewing emergency procedures and planning cool jumps to do later in the summer.
  11. AllisonH
    I'm fairly certain I've only paid for one skydiving shirt. That was a University of Michigan skydiving club t-shirt, and I bought it to donate to the club and help them with advertising, not because I actually wanted another skydiving shirt. All of my others are either staff shirts I was given and told to wear, shirts that came with events I registered for, or shirts I won at raffles. I wear the ones that fit best and aren't too weird looking. I wouldn't wear shirts that had crude slogans or advertised products I don't approve of even if they were free, just 'cause that's not my style.
  12. AllisonH
    It's looking to be a very nice opening weekend here. Bright and sunny with highs around 60!
  13. AllisonH
    This brings up another excellent point. The reason someone would want to be heavier is to be able to keep up with their heavier friends in freefall (all people do NOT naturally fall at the same speed). At least at my dropzone, regardless of what equipment you had, you would have a very difficult time finding an instructor who could fall fast enough to safely jump with you and help you through your student progression. That doesn't mean there aren't places out there that could accomodate you - I've seen this question come up several times and there are a couple of DZ's that are equipped for it, but expect them to be few and far between. You may have to travel quite a way to get to one. Try searching for "anvil".
  14. AllisonH
    I haven't jumped a 190, but I jumped both a Pilot 150 and a Hornet 150 and found the Pilot to be more responsive and more fun to fly. (I bought the Hornet because it was a lot cheaper and this was not a canopy I was going to keep very long, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, but I definitely preferred the Pilot). The Hornet, Pilot, Sabre2, and Safire2 (among others) are all in the semi-elliptical class. I don't know the exact differences between them as far as which is "more" elliptical than the others, but I wouldn't expect a huge performance difference between them, especially at the 190 size. But go ahead and try them all - they each have their fans. I haven't flown a Sabre2 yet, but of the other 3 I'd choose a Pilot any day. Just my opinion though, I know people who absolutely love all of them.
  15. AllisonH
    Will do - but it'll be a couple of months before I'm both current and at home to jump it
  16. AllisonH
    Just out of curiosity, is this recommendation the same regardless of canopy size? i.e., would you recommend the same thing if a 1.5 loading meant a 150-170 sq ft canopy and if a 1.5 loading meant a 90-100 sq ft canopy? (Note: I'm not arguing, disagreeing, or changing canopies, I'm just wondering
  17. AllisonH
    Ahh, gotta love quotes taken out of context Yup, I did a rear riser flare with my feet and still managed an uneventful stand-up landing?!?
  18. AllisonH
    Are you calling my friends "cheap" Haha!! I'm saying they fit my budget and I like their coaching enough that I'm flying out there again in a week and a half for some more jumping and tunnel time
  19. AllisonH
    When I landed my 150 on rears, I started the flare a little too high and finished the flare with my feet about 2-3 feet off the ground. Didn't stall the canopy, just came straight down the last little bit. Landing was therefore a little harder than normal, but definitely not a big deal. I wouldn't choose to land on rears on a regular basis, but I wouldn't hesitate to do so if needed.
  20. AllisonH
    Can't comment on why it's on the checklist, but I know why I wanted to do it. When I had ~60 jumps, I lost a brake line (finger trap wasn't sewn and it fell off at the cascades). I was scared by the idea of trying to land on rears, so I cut it away. I wanted to have the experience of landing with rears in "ideal" conditions so that if I were ever in a situation like that again, I'd feel comfortable landing it. I still feel good about the decision to chop that one given the circumstances and my limited experience at the time, but if the same thing happened tomorrow I'd keep it. (I've also since learned to inspect my canopy to minimize the chance of that happening again).
  21. AllisonH
    What's the IMAX called? I saw the one that went with BodyWorlds2 in Chicago, and I wasn't really impressed. I enjoyed the exhibit, but the show didn't do much for me, and I'm usually a big IMAX fan. I don't regret seeing it, but I certainly wouldn't pay to see it again. Not sure if it's the same as the one you're taking about.
  22. AllisonH
    That's interesting - I have a Pilot 132 and I haven't had that problem at all. Haven't landed it on rears (landed my old Hornet 150 on rears and will do so eventually with this one too when the conditions are right), but have done a lot of rear riser flares up high. I've put it just on the verge of stalling to see where that point was, but it was beyond the point where my comfortable rear riser flare ends. That said, I'm not very large and my arms aren't very long, so it's possible that the rear riser flare that feels normal to me is different from what someone with longer risers/longer arms/higher wingloading would experience?
  23. AllisonH
    Holy Cow - I think we post on all the same threads. Great minds think alike. I'm pretty sure We'll get some response. Michael and Aubrey (Our star Students / Newly licensed jumpers) are in contact and doing a great job. So far, we should have demo stuff from Jumpshack, Aerodyne, and (knock on wood) Mirage. It's amazing how many jumpers at our DZ use Aerodyne canopies or Containers. Don't you have an Itty-bitty Thing already? I'm more likely to read (and respond to) threads that are started by someone I know or about gear I own - but really I just spend entirely too much time on here!! My current Pilot isn't that itty-bitty. It's a 132 loaded at about 1.05. I want to demo a 117. I'll keep my current gear at least through this season, but I want to see what's out there.
  24. AllisonH
    Ooh, let me know if they're coming - I want to demo a little Pilot.
  25. AllisonH
    You lost me there - how are there 27 square feet in a square yard? Aren't there 9? And 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard?