mnischalke

Scott, off subject, but did you ever notice how many Pink Floyd songs have something to do with flying? Interesting mike

Favorites: Fight Club Full Metal Jacket Apocalypse Now Siege of Firebase Glory 12 Monkeys Momento King Pin Swingers On the other end of the spectrum, I hate any movie by that hack Quentin Terantino. mike

It makes me nervous when you "can't" check up under someone's reserve flap cause "it's a pain to close back up." A brother can jump all day without the reserve pin being looked at once. That's a bit frightening to me. If something that important is too hard to get to on a certain rig, that would not be a rig I would jump. My infinity opens and closes no sweat, and I really like that. mike

I usually shove my knee (gently) up under each side of the tail to clear it. I pull the tail around the front of the canopy (with the nose facing me) and grab both ends below the top skin center cell seams. I pull them toward me a bit and put about a roll in them. Matching the roll with the thumb and forefinger of my line holding hand, I push the roll into the bundle as I put a couple more rolls in it. My rigger told me to push in on the tail as you roll it. This takes up the slack in the tail but keeps the stuff you spent 10 minutes putting in the exact place in place. For my Silhouette, I am just looking for enough rolls (about three) to keep the package together when I lay it down, lay on it and begin to fold the corners over the top to finish with a Wolmari Pack. Psycho pack if you like, but Wolmari is the TRICK for me. Peace out, mike

67,500 first try the sequel rocks!!

Keep all your lines taught from the very beginning. I always turn around toward the container as I put the line bundle over my right shoulder and pull up all the droopy lines to the rest of em. I hold the bundle in my left hand and then stroke in the slackers with my right. (Clay, please leave that one alone) As I pack, I also try to keep a hand on top of the lines in the canopy to keep them both tight and in the center of the pack, where they should be. I then grasp the lines tight (double checking for loose lines behind me) above the slider as I pull the tail up and under my grip. Is that what you were looking for? mike

I like Clay. He adds that something special every board needs. See you all next week. Gotta go a calendar signing. OOhh yeah, me and 12 of GG Liddy's finest. (four of which I shot). Maybe I will have something good to add to this thread on monday. ;-p mike

I think I got there around February, but can't remember what class I was in to save my life (maybe 5). I have my final cut at home. That would tell me. Were you there then? I am raking my singed brain, but I can not remember you. mike

Had to post this: Dear Civilians, We know that the current state of affairs in our great nation have many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military. For those of you who can't join, you can still lend a hand. Here are a few of the areas we would like your assistance with: 1) The next time you see someone (an adult) talking during the playing of the National anthem.....kick their ass. 2) When you witness firsthand someone burning the American Flag in protest...kick their ass. If you see this on television, as many of us have, you are simply required to have a deep burning suddenly arise inside of you....then go and kick their ass. 3) Regardless of the rank they held while they served, pay the highest amount of respect to all Veterans. If you see anyone doing otherwise, quietly pull them aside and explain how these Veterans fought for the very freedom they bask in every second. Enlighten them on the many sacrifices these Veterans made to make this Nation great. Then hold them down while the Veteran kicks their ass. 4) If you are not in the military, DO NOT pretend that you are. Wearing battle dress uniforms (BDU's), telling others that you used to be "Special Forces", and collecting GI Joe memorabilia might have been okay if you were still seven, but now it will only get your ass kicked. (Veterans are exempt from this rule) 5) If you witness someone calling an enlisted Marine "Sir," stand back.....a Marine will kick their ass. 6) Next time you come across an Air Force member, do not ask them "Do you fly a jet?". Not everyone in the Air Force is a pilot. A Marine will be called to kick your ass. (children are exempt) 7) Roseanne Barr's singing of the National Anthem is not a blooper....it was a disgrace and disrespectful. Laugh and sooner or later, your ass will be kicked. 8) Next time Old Glory prances by during a parade, get on your damn feet and pay homage to her and the military member or Veteran lucky enough to carry her. Your stupid funnel cake will forgive you if you stand for 5 minutes with your hand over your heart. You might as well be throwing the funnel cake at the flag if you don't stand.....of course, either will earn you a severe ass kicking. 9) What Jane Fonda did about Vietnam makes her the enemy....hate her or else. (asses will be kicked) 10) Don't try to discuss politics to a military member. We might vote as separate parties, but that doesn't mean we don't all bleed the same. We are, simply put, Americans. Our military Chain of Command, to include our Commander in Chief...the President... (for those who didn't know) is all that we acknowledge. We have no inside track on what happens inside those big important buildings where all those "representatives" meet. The military member might direct you to Oliver North. (I can see him kicking your ass already.) 11) "Your mama wears combat boots" never made sense to me....stop saying it! If she did, she would most likely kick your ass! 12) Bin Laden and the Taliban are not communists. So stop saying, "Let's go kill those Commie's!!!" And stop asking us where he is!!!! Crystal balls are not standard issue in the military. That reminds me...if you see anyone calling those damn psychic phone numbers, let me know. So I can kick their ass. 13) Last but not least, whether or not you become a member of the military, support our troops and their families. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas that you enjoy with family and friends, there are thousands of troops overseas. Thank God for our military and the sacrifices they make every day. Without them, our country would get its ass kicked.

J., I was a young Marine Lance Corporal during my first visit to Ft. Ben. in 1992. I spent about eight months there for both print and broadcast. I got the Marine CO to finally give weekday off-post liberty to my platoon of boot Marines. Indy is the most incredible mid-west town I have ever been to. Bigtime loaded with sweet little honeys. And I have to mention the babies at the school--especially the flygirls of the USAF. That school was like 50/50 men/women, which is ridiculous for a military school. I went back for a couple courses later and I was easily able to pick up well where I left off. I was older, wiser and had no military responsibilities other than showing up for school. I didn't even have to PT. Nothing like rolling in at 3am after nickel beer night, only to get three and a half hours of sleep before the next class. And that was an average evening out. Fun times. Yeah really fun times. When were you there? Peace, mike

Now that's a good DINFOS graduate. Question the validity of all claims. That said, I would have really expected someone who spent any time at Ft. Ben (read your webpage) to have some really wicked stories as well. (Then again, most of you guys were locked in the barracks cause they didn't trust boots to be out in town own on their own.) I don't think I listed any in my post, but I could come up with 10 easy just from the year or so I spent at Ft. Ben. And I promise you would question most of them. The good part about that, you may know one or two of my accomplices and you could verify the validity on your own--albeit rather awkwardly I presume. Peace my dinfos brother, mike

ewww, that didn't read right did it? No priest within 15 yards, my good man.

1) Chrysler Lebaron convertable @65 on 95 2) ladies room stall in a bar 3) over a cannon on a civil war battle field 4) hand relief during Christmas dinner at gf grandma's--Merry X-mas!! 5) on top of an M60 tank 6) gf mom's bedroom--w/gf's mom (not the same gf as #4) 7) Chair lift (during the summer--I am not stupid--wet parts stick to metal in the winter.) 8) somewhat busy public swimming pool 9) one more reason I am going to hell--a sunny Saturday morning in a church confessional mike

Talk to your JM. He/she has seen your abilities and will best be able to advise you on your next steps. I may have had a cinderella story, but the guy I logged my first eight or 10 jumps with was Kevin Gibson, USPA director of Pubs and one of the spearheads for the new SIM. Me being all about toys and gadgets, I talked to him constantly about gear. I bought a rig on ebay after my third jump. (Older stuff, but the Cypress and Raven were what I was really after and for a grand, who could go wrong?) Kevin's a rigger, so he updated everything and advised me to get a newer canopy than the Maverick 200. Also, the Vector container had no RSL so I figured I may not jump it until after student status was over. I was really patient and did lots of homework and searching. I ended up lucking into a 75-jump Silhouette 210 from the dz.com classifieds for about half the price of a new one (thanks Hank). I also found an Infinity (standard RSL) container to replace the Vector. Piecing all this together was a little tricky because stuff has to fit in/around other stuff, right? Everything went together like a dream. Anyway, a few months later, on jump 10, I was on my own gear and loving it. I was then and am still loading my canopy at about 1.1:1--a slight size step-up from the 1:1 230 spectre I was jumping. I know I will outgrow this rig. It will probably be the first of many, but I accept that willingly. The upsides to ME (everybody is different) owning my own gear as I have seen them are: 1) I knew what I was getting into because I was immersing myself in the subject. 2) I assembled my rig and had my rigger go over everything with me to correct my mistakes, so I know what everything inside that black backpack looks like and why it's there. 3) I could practice packing on my floor at home with my own gear. 4) Gear was a great conversation starter between myself and UpJumpers--I am kind of shy. 5) I saved $20 bucks a jump on the ten ensuing student jumps. If I was to rent equipment until I hit jump #35, that's $500. That's also a used reserve canopy. Like I said, talk to the people you trust in the sky to help you get your new life started. Hope I helped, mike

Oh god help us if those NG-men have loaded M-16s. Please tell me that the mag in the gun is empty and just for show. Please please tell me that the loaded mags are in the pouches. I would bet dollars to donuts there's a freak or two who may have seen too many movies and think they could wrestle a gun away from Spec. Billy Bob. That's trouble waiting to happen. Actually, it may be pretty cool if the M-16s are decoys: Freak rips it away and while he fumbles with a non-functional safety, NG dude pumps two in the chest, one in the head from a 1911 (I know they have berettas now, but its my fantasy, so back off). mike

Does this mean we don't vote for Board Members? I will tell you that a smart, elected board member will not make self-supporting decisions without knowing it will benefit the majority too. If he pisses his constituents off, someone will run against him and win. If the USPA begins dictating bs terms, it will loose membership and, in turn, operational capital. No money, no organization. Next thing you know, the Centers for Disease Control are working on classifying skydiving as a disease (because skydiving causes injury, and no shit, the CDC is presently trying to study injury as a disease) and then five minutes infront of a congressional inquiry without an organization to prevent it, a ban on skydiving is moving to the FAA. Could it happen? Maybe only in my twisted little mind. But hey, stranger things have occured. Point being, if this is a power grab for the benefit of a few, those few will be left kings without a kingdom. I personally will extend my level of trust to those who will vote on my behalf. (Then again, isn't that meeting being held in DC? Humph, right down the road. What time?) I begin to wonder why we don't have USPA-affilliated state associations. Am I wrong? mike

I use a ProTec Ace Snowboard helmet. It's a purple mirrored half helmet with flap covers over the ears. There are no holes, except for the one I drilled in the one flap to hear my ProTrack. I also cut off the goggle clip thingy in the back so it wouldn't snag lines. mike

The Doors game!! You need hard liquor--something easy to drink without a chaser (Bacardi light)--matching Val Kilmer drink for drink. I woke up on the floor, empty bottle still in hand with the mouth of the bottle broken clean off. Go head. Try it. mike

--the second longest sentence I have ever read. mike nothing like being familiar with that which is gonna save your life.

Clay, It was a three-year-old trick Trans Am at that time. I probably wouldn't be caught dead in it now. Black cherry metalic. What was I thinking? Then again, if I still had it, I may be dead. mike

It's on EBAY!!! Dude, pull it off there. Just whore yourself out or get a Kia. This is tragic!!! For your future sanity, hope your reserve is high, mike

Shiner!!! Yeah!!! Oh shit, I just realized how commercialized that beer has become. mike

Aggie, Yeah, like I don't spend enough time on here already. mike

I don't know if it was a post by you or someone else about twists shortening the lines, but I encountered a soft right turn on deployment last weekend. I got to the ground, started packing and noticed the right line had a bunch of twists in it. I worked them out and the next deployment was perfectly on heading. It takes an extra minute or two to untwist the lines, but it sure is a minute or two well spent. Thanks!! mike

Great site!! 475kph=a little less than 300mph I am working on something to surpass that. With a greater ballistic coefficient, a helmet like the ones the coneheads used in their movie--except smooth and high-heat laquered--should get you up to about 350. I am going to the basement now... mike