Milo

I was driving to work last winter when I went to pass somebody who was turning right (He had the right blinker on.) I was halfway past him when these thoughts collided in my brain: "I just slammed on the brakes" and "Holy S$#@ This guy is turning in front of me!!!" The first thing I realized was that I was decelerating rapidly and then I realized the guy was turning in front of me. I didn't hit him and have puzzled over the reaction before thought since then. milo

I went to Airsportz for a weekend in January and within 2 minutes felt more at home there than I do my regular 'home' dz. The folks there are great. Too freakin bad I live 600 miles away :( If I wasn't getting paid so much I'd quit my job and move to Rome. milo

The airline accepted responsibility for caring for the elderly couple when they accepted the extra $$ to do so. They failed to the extent that a mentally ill person has been missing for 5 months. This lawsuit doesn't sound frivolous to me, if it was a member of my family I would want to hold the airline accountable.

In this case, the family requested and PAID for extra assistance from American Airlines. The same type of extra attention you would pay for if you were sending a couple of young children on a plane alone. People pay for and airlines provide this assistance every day. If this had been a 4 year old child that had wandered off would you feel differently?

CNN Headline News was showing a short clip over the weekend about a couple who were married in freefall. The AP has a story on the wire about the '92 crash at Perris: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020422_428.html

Hello, I'm a novice jumper, just over 50 jumps. Today I jumped for the first time in almost 2 months. I was jumping different gear, a Tri 190 instead of the PD 210's(and larger) I have jumped in the past. The wind was from the north. Which happens rarely at my dz. I hate it when the wind comes from the north, the approach for landing takes you over power lines, parking lots, and buildings. It is not a problem for experienced jumpers, it is easy to fly safely over these obstacles and land in the peas. It gives me the fits, though. The spot was long, but reachable. I followed 2 experienced jumpers out of the C182 at 10000 feet. I have read that the glide on the Triathlon isn't as good as that of a 9 cell, so I didn't waste any altitude on my way back. I opened at 4000 feet and was debating whether I wanted to approach the landing area from the south, into the wind, but then I watched the 2 more experienced jumpers who went before me avoid the above mentioned obstacles and land downwind/crosswind, from the east. I opted for the crosswind landing, also. I came in and flared too high. A bad habit of mine. I hit the ground with my shins and knees, my legs were together. I bounced and did a somersault through my risers. I gather it was quite a show. When I stopped rolling, I thought "Whoa, that didn't hurt at all!" I sat up, to show the people watching me that I was unhurt, and started to try to figure out how to best untangle my lines. One of my jumpmasters from my student days ran up to me, and I said "That didn't hurt near as much as it looked like!" She looked me over and decided I wasn't broken and we untangled my lines as she pointed out my poor choice for a downwind landing. In my review of my jump, the only major thing I did wrong was flare too high. I'd rather take a crosswind or downwind landing in the grass than try to set myself up for a perfect landing into the wind only to find myself short and trying to land between the Hondas and Dodge Rams in the parking lot. Or worse. But, that's not the reason for this post. 15 minutes after my jump, the first guy out of the plane, the one who made the first crosswind landing came up and asked me if I chose my pattern based on his. "Well, Kinda." I said. The grief on this guy's face was incredible! He acted like he just killed my dog! I tried to explain that I made my own decisions and that I didn't hold him responsible for anything I do in the air, but I don't think it did any good. He feels he put my life in danger from his decision. Safety is important to me. I consider it MY responsibility. I don't feel this guy was guilty of anything. What do you think, was this guy stressing too much? Milo

Actually, I think the G.W. doll is quite sad (how appropriate) BUT, the attached pic of the Bin Laden doll in a pink tutu is rather amusing. milo

Action figures of President George W. Bush and Islamic militant Osama bin Laden are part of a group of new action figure designs by Herobuilders. The Connecticut toy maker is selling 'life-like action figures' based on major figures tied to the Sept. 11 attacks, including Bush, bin Laden, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=5&u=/nm/20020419/od_nm/dolls_dc_1

Well, I made my choice. I'm getting an Infinity/Silhouette rig with just 20(!) jumps for $2000 instead of a Talon T2/Triahlon rig with 250 jumps for $1725. The main things that convinced me to buy the first rig are the Infinity container and the low number of jumps. I was really leaning toward the Triathlon, but at this wingload and my number of jumps it sounds like either canopy will be fine. I have seen and heard nothing but good things about the Infinity containers. Thanks for all the input, that's what makes this such a great site!!! Milo

How lond did it take to get it back? I have an overdue cypres that I want to get inspected. Milo

My mistake. I DO NOT plan on flying this canopy inverted! ;) Milo

Hello, I am trying to decide between 2 canopies, a 150 Tri and a 150 Silhouette. I will be loading the canopy at .9:1 or 1:1 when I wear weights. I'm a new jumper, 50 jumps, choosing this canopy size based on the recomendation of my instructors. Can anybody who has jumped both these canopies at similiar wingloadings share their experience? Thanks! Milo p.s., The Silhouette has an F111 topskin and a zero p bottom skin, how does this age compared to a 100% zero p or 100% F111 canopy? What differences can I expect when I try to sell the canopy down the road, will the Tri be worth more?

Yes!!! We were put in this universe to go skydiving!!!

I had a 10 hour layover in Amsterdam in November. Enough time to see a little of the town?? The 11 pm train didn't show up until 1 am. Amsterdam isn't a pretty town at 1:00 am when you can't even buy a pack of (socially unacceptable) cigarettes and the only people on the street are other addicts craving a fix from more socially acceptable drugs. The airport itself was fine, they even have a machine hidden in a corner that (gasp!) sells cigarettes. Milo

Why skydiving is better than sex... 1. You don't have to hide your skydiving magazines. 2. It's perfectly acceptable to pay a professional to skydive with you once in a while. 3. The Ten Commandments don't say anything about skydiving. 4. If your partner takes pictures of you skydiving, you don't have to worry about them showing up on the Internet if you become famous. 5. Your skydiving partner doesn't get upset about people you jumped with long ago. 6. It's perfectly respectable to jump with a total stranger. 7. When you see a really good skydiver, you don't have to feel guilty about imagining the two of you jumping together. 8. If your regular skydiving partner isn't available, he/she won't object if you jump with someone else. 9. Nobody will ever tell you that you will go blind if you jump by yourself. 10. When paying for a coach jump with a professional skydiver, you never have to wonder if they are really an undercover cop. 11. You can have a skydiving calendar on your wall at the office, tell friends skydiving jokes, and invite coworkers to jump with you without getting sued for harassment. 12. There are no skydiving transmitted diseases. 13. If you want to watch skydiving on TV, you don't have to put the kids to bed first. 14. Nobody expects you to jump with the same partner the rest of your life. 15. Nobody expects you to give up skydiving if your partner loses interest in it. 16. Your skydiving partner will never say, "Already? We just jumped last weekend! Jumping is all you ever think about." 17. Your jumping partner won't get offended if you suggest a 'three-way' 18. Hop n Pops can be enjoyed by *both* jumpers. 19. You can look at your partners log book and learn how many jump partners they have *really* had. 20. Small rigs can be more fun.

Wow, that is a nice article! I'm a newbie lightweight jumper as well. After we graduated off of student status myself and a significantly heavier jumper were seeking advice for our first rigs. I listened as they reccomended canopies loaded at 1:1 or 1.1:1 for him and as they reccomended canopies loaded at .8:1 or .9:1 for me. I trusted their experience, but secretly felt it was a criticsm of my flying skills. This article puts down in words what my JMs knew from experience, and will be a nice addition to the bulletin board at the dz. Milo

The squeaky wheel gets the worm. ;)

Whoa, that is some deep commentary on modern culture. The zipped text file can be downloaded here.

Uh-Oh!! 30+ posts in less than 8 hours..... Clay, Dave, Lisa and Remmie better watch out!!!!!

Thanks, Chris. The link you provided, in an earlier thread, to the NTSB report and transcript of this tragic incident was very informative. I shared it with a non-skydiving student pilot friend of mine and we discussed what this pilot was thinking and why he made the choices he made. Very few tragic accidents are the result of just one mistake or bad decision. Time is often of the essence, whether it is to get on the next load, get the next load up, or to get cargo to the next airport. We all need to be vigilant, for ourselves and those around us, that we don't sacrifice safety for time. milo

Or, Maybe, It's not who or what you know but how good looking you are.

Current details from the English version of the Czech News: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/view-id.php4?id=20020404E04479 U.S. stuntman for Triple X film dies today - 4.4. PRAGUE, April 4 (CTK) - A U.S. stuntman, 45, died today shortly after midday during making an American action film Triple X in Prague, Iva Knolova of the Prague police said. "He was pulled on a paragliding and hit a pillar of the Palacky bridge. He died on the spot due to heavy injuries," Knolova said. The Triple X' production immediately imposed an embargo on any information for the media. Not even anybody of the stuntmen agency Filmka, cooperating with the film makers, told CTK anything. "I cannot comment without the permission of the Stillking Films," Filmka chief Ladislav Lahoda told CTK today, confirming only that one of the U.S. stuntmen died. Stillking Films refused to comment either. The police now investigate whether the accident was caused by a technical shortcoming or breaching security rules. Triple X, being produced by U.S. director Rob Cohen, is mainly be made in the Czech Republic. The main casts include Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson, the latter fairly well known from Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown movies. According to previous information, the script ought to talk a story of a professional sportsman in extreme sports who become a government intelligence agent. He, Diesel, has a task to destroy Russian mafia gang. The Stillking Films company is one of the seven most significant film producers taking part in making foreign films in the Czech Republic.

It's not what you know, but who you know.

You know what? I think you are an Enron accountant. ANY thread here is just 1 post away from boobies, that's why I come back so often :)

If you don't know, don't worry about it. If you think maybe you know, but you don't; don't think about it. If you know, you know.