DougH

I don't care. I think my girlfriend has watched it in the past, but we ended up getting Iron Man from Redbox to watch instead.

I am going to see if I can get my "buddy" Joe Courtney on the phone. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Mandatory AAD's, RSL's, PFD's, MARD's and bubble sheet scantron exams for every one! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

In Massachusetts they're called "Rotaries". Not to be confused with "cutoffs." God, I hate Mass. drivers. So true, I am busting a gut over here. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That is hilarious! When was this? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

And I can think of 3 time that many where it did. How many tail strikes can you think of where the leading cause of the accident was a crouched or sitting exit? I think there are two seperate issues here, you need to seperate them. 1. The safe SOP is for the plane to be in slower level flight for a hop and pop. I think most would agree here, but having the plane in slow and level flight does not remove all risk of tail strike. You can't argue that it does because we have incidents that prove otherwise. It also is important to point out that in any operation, no matter how well structured, there is a chance that we have deviations from SOP. 2. You should exit the plane in a safe manner that minimizes the risk of tail strike, regardless of the planes configuration. Here I would argue that a crouched or sitting exit is safer in the sense that it minimizes the risk of tail strike regardless of the plane's jump run configuration. It is an exit position that can have great stability with little practice. And most importantly I think it is an exit that has the most relevance in an emergency situation. If we are trying to teach students confidence to deal with an emergency exit, lets give them some tools that they can actual use when the shit hits the fan. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Did you guys happen to shoot anything at the Aerodyne booth? All the other streamcast have been awesome! Much thanks for putting this together!

A waste of...? I guess it depends on your expectations of the crap they put out on TV. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I think it was an act, and a brilliant one at that. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

That might happen but I think realisticaly people buy containers that don't match their experince, or needed canopy size because they are impulsive and the combo is available for purchase NOW. If it comes with a reserve that is smaller than appropriate, they probably aren't going to buy it and then swap it out for a newly purchased Optima reserve. If they are piecing it together part by part I see your point, but most first rigs aren't put together ala carte. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Smells too Yaky? "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Jerry I have an inside source... the verdict is that they are switching over to synthetic yak's hair. They were going to use radioactive spiders that would weave the whole canopy but Bill kept getting bit and reinacting scenes from the past couple Spider Man movies. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

No they didn't, they bounced around the screen like a pool ball, same as this game. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Is it just me or does that live leak video look fake? It looks like video of cats tied on the trebble hooks, and then fishing footage. If it is real that is disgusting, but it looks like it could also be a video that was edited to look that way. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

There are two angles I guess: One angle is the way you approach fellow jumpers. A lot of people claim that no one will jump with them, but the other side of the story is that they are timid in approaching other jumpers when looking to get on on jumps. It sounds like you are really making an effort to get in on the action though. The other angle is that the people at your DZ are acting like a bunch of dicks. Jumps costs money of course, and personally I don't do zoo dives any more because my budget is tighter. That being said I still try to jump with or shoot video for newer jumpers who are trying to improve. Maybe it is a mix of the two? Try approaching jumpers differently, and try a different DZ if there is one close enough for you visit. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I never had you pegged for being "slow". "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

I thought I shared my opinion on that above. You can learn to swoop with a progression that minimizes some of the risks with either. That progression will be long and take a number of jumps. It doesn't start with buying a new canopy and going back to whipping 90's though. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Whose ass is going to be under the canopy? Who gets to enjoy the pain meds if shit happens to you? Your instructors/mentors? Yeah, I didn't think so. You can't teach experince, and all the experince in the world isn't enough sometimes. The body count of dead swoopers who were at the top of their game proof of this! You aren't any better than those dead jumpers were when they had 200 jumps, and you instructors aren't any better than the people who took them under their wings at the time. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

The SabreII 150 is a safer choice, and a better learning opertunity than the Safire II 150. Is is also safer choice and a better learning opertunity than any of the smaller sizes of any make. If you combine any of the canopies above with a poorly planned swooping progression that moves too fast (not unlike downsizing too fast) none of them are going to be "safe". "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

so the sabre2 has a longer arc, as most modern swoop-canopies do, which will suit me better in the long run if i want to keep going the HP-way!? It has one of the longer recovery arcs of the modern semi eliptical canopies canopy models available from the major manf. It also displays less of the negative characteristics the make eliptics canopies a bad choice for less experince pilots: oversteer for example. Yes, in my opinion the longer recovery arc makes it more suited to learning to swoop than a canopy with a shorter recovery arc that requires lower turns. More wiggle room. You will have better tools to learn with a SabreII 150 then you will with a Springo 120, or a Safire II 119. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Dave's comment was pretty civil and on point. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Sort recovery arc, not unlike your Sabre I. Same reason I didn't suggest a Pilot, depsite being a die hard Aerodyne jumper. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

My honest opinion is that you can't extensively train away the risk of a downsize you lack the skills and experince for. You can teach skills in a handful of jumps and class room time, you can't teach the experince that keeps you safe in that same timeframe. That is earned over a long number of jumps. You may get away with it fine, but don't let you coach fool you into discounting the risks involved here! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

If you want to become a good canopy pilot with safe consistent landings and killer swoops then you need a good foundation to build on. Have you considered changing just the canopy type. Demo a semi-elip with a longer recovery arc, a Sabre II would be a good candidate. Changing one thing at a time isn't only safer, but it will give you a better learning curve since you will be able to focus more on learning, and less on saving your ass! "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P

Serious question. What do you hope to gain from downsizing to the smaller chute? What are your goals for canopy piloting? I can definetly see value in wanting to go from a Sabre to a more modern model. I just don't know what you will gain from going to a smaller chute at the same time. If I put myself in your shoes, where my landings aren't consistent, and I am trying to learn to swoop (a whole new thread altogether), I wouldn't want a smaller canopy to add another variable to the mix. "The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall" =P