bmcd308

I think you place too much emphasis on economics here. I was hitting on a (very cute) black stewardess on a flight just yesterday, and I tried to get her to come skydiving (she lives here in town). She replied, in as awkward and courteous a manner as I have ever heard someone approach a difference between the races, that there was nothing in her culture that would make her think it was OK to jump out of a plane. When concluding, she actually said "black people just don't do that kind of stuff." She promised to come out and watch, though.

It is still a stellar idea, and it is by no means original to GW. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

You will definitely be able to spin it up. If at first you don't succeed, exaggerate your control inputs. Let off one toggle really quick then immediately bury the other. You'll be kicking like a Rockette. ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I did it to a Manta when I was a student, but I turned hard left first (probably 720 or better with toggle on hip) them immediately hard right (toggles passed each other just below shoulder height using smooth but quick input). I made it about 90 right before it spun up. Great thing was that the Manta still flew straight and level, even all twisted up. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

Regardless of the mob, if you get past his weirdness, he has actually done a good job representing the people of his district. I think that many people who post here would be surprised by how much of his politics they agree with, particularly if you took foreign trade off the table. Given his district, he has very protectionist positions on foreign trade, but that's what the people who elected him want. And he has brought a great deal of color to an otherwise boring political process. Brent ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

I'll give you my opinion from a very unfair test. I rented a Sabre 190 for about 25 jumps after student status then bought my own Hornet 190. The rental sabre had an unknown but no doubt laughably high number of jumps on it. My brand spanking new Hornet which had fabric that actually held the air in absolutely kicks its ass in every category, except maybe toggle pressure. I noticed that it took considerably more effort to pull the toggles down to flare my new canopy than it did on the Sabre. Rear riser pressure is also heavier on the Hornet, but it did not seem as noticeable to me as the toggle pressure. Anyway, toggle pressure is not unreasonably high by any means on the Hornet, it is just different and heavier. Compared to a very tired Sabre of the same size, the Hornet has quicker turns, more flare, more penetration, less abrupt collapse in a stall, and WAY better openings. But remember, the Sabre that showed up for this test had its best days well behind it, while the Hornet that showed up had zero jumps until I got out of the plane with it on my back. $0.02. BMcD... ---------------------------------- www.jumpelvis.com

> Understanding Engineers - Take One > Two engineering students were walking across campus when one said, "Where > did you get such a great bike?" The second engineer replied, "Well, I was > walking along yesterday minding my own business when a beautiful woman rode > up on this bike. She threw the bike to the ground, took off all her clothes > and said, "Take what you want." "The second engineer nodded approvingly, > 'Good choice; the clothes probably wouldn't have fit." > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Two > To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half > empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Three > a pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a > particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these > guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The doctor chimed in, "I > don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude!" The pastor said, "Hey, > here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him." "Hi George! Say, > what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?" The > greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of blind firefighters. They > lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always > let > them play for free anytime." The group was silent for a moment. > The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for > them tonight." The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm going to contact my > ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them." > The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at night?" > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Four > What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers? > Mechanical Engineers build weapons and Civil Engineers build targets. > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Five > The graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?" The graduate > with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?" The graduate with an > Accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?" The graduate with an Arts > degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?" > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Six > Three engineering students were gathered together discussing the possible > designers of the human body. One said, "It was a mechanical engineer." Just > look at all the joints." Another said, "No, it was an electrical engineer. > The nervous system has many thousands of electrical connections. " The last > one said, "Actually it was a civil engineer. Who else would run a toxic > waste pipeline through a recreational area?" > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Seven > "Normal people ... believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers > believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet." > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Eight > An architect, an artist and an engineer were discussing whether it was > better to spend time with the wife or a mistress. The architect said he > enjoyed time with his wife, building a solid foundation for an enduring > relationship. The > artist said he enjoyed time with his mistress, because the passion and > mystery he found there. The engineer said, "I like both." Both?" Engineer: > "Yeah. If you have a wife and a mistress, they will each assume you are > spending time with the other woman, and you can go to the lab and get some > work done." > > > Understanding Engineers - Take Nine > An engineer was crossing a road one-day when a frog called out to him and > said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He bent over, > picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and > said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will > stay with you for one week." The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, > smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you > kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING > you want." Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it > back into his pocket. Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've > told you I'm a beautiful princess, and that I'll stay with you for a week > and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?" The engineer said, "Look, > I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now > that's cool." >

no boobs.

190 loaded at 1.2 lbs/ ft^2

AD - I just got a new Wings container, and I wrote on my order form that I thought I would downsize in the relatively near future (although I actually will not be doing so now - Hornet 190 plenty of canopy for a long time for me). My d-bag fits very tight in the container, and it appears from their closing loop design and the design of the flaps that everything would fit together right even with a much smaller d-bag in there. Now, the fact that I think it would look OK does not in any way mean that it would open OK, but you get the idea. My advice - call Heather. BMcD...

So I was opening high most of this weekend, playing with my new Hornet and having a great time. It outperforms the crap out of the somewhat tired Sabre 190 I was renting before it came, and I opened above 13 grand on about 4 jumps prior to the JIQ (jump in question). I tried to lurk a group of freeflyers at the top of the dive, but keeping up was beyond impossible, so I opened at 11 grand (last out of the plane). After spending some time between 10 grand and 6 grand exploring the edge of its (and my) envelope, an idea for a new, totally cool canopy maneuver came over me. It was inspired by my experience hauling down on both front risers to get some speed, then flaring hard to swing WAY out in front. I would come up fairly gently on the toggles, and the recovery was rough, but not unmanageable. Then, the light bulb goes on. I'll do that maneuver, but at the top of my arc, I'll let up on one toggle more than the other, turn the canopy 180 degrees until it is pointed at the ground, while twisting my body around in the harness. Plan was to swing back underneath it facing the other way. Sort of an inverted Immelman or something. Many of you will know the outcome of this effort already. For those of you who do not: Due to an even more aggressive front riser dive and flare than any attempted before, I got WAY, WAY out in front. Cool. I started releasing the toggles, and brought the right one up about three inches more than the left one. I then torqued myself over so that I was facing the ground, and I saw my canopy rotating in the same direction. Cool. It was working. Well, not really. The canopy was about a fourth (I estimate) of its normal width, and went all the way around at least twice that I saw as I fell past the slack lines underneath it. I somehow got my left hand back up near the full flight position while falling past the canopy (perhaps as an instinctive response to having the slack risers in fron of my face), and the line twists instantly transferred to my risers. The right brake line was slack in my right hand, but the canopy was in a slow left turn. My left hand was trapped in the twisted up risers, and I started thinking to myself that none of the happy Hornet pilots on the Pisa website were doing this in any of the pictures. My altitude was a little over 4 grand or maybe 4500, and my descent rate was not very high (nor was my rate of turn) so I had plenty of time. I counted at least four revolutions as I kicked out, and at some point during the kicking, my right brake line got loose enough to return to its normal length and burned my right index finger on its way by. Sliding Spectra really does create a good bit of friction. Anyway, it ended well with a lesson learned. Answers to obvious questions: 1. Hell, yes, I thought about cutting it away. I knew my altitude throughout the process, and had I been lower and/or falling faster and/or turning faster it would have been gone. 2. Yes, I think I could have yanked my left hand out of the twisted risers if I tried. 3. No, I cannot explain why the canopy was rotating slowly to the left when the right toggle was trapped in the half brakes position. I think I just got lucky on this part. 4. No, I will not do it again for your video. 5. No, I would not have engaged in such an attempt any lower. So anyway, don't flare out of a riser dive on your Hornet then try to stall turn it at the top of the arc. You will wind up feeling like Wile E. Coyote under his ACME parachute. BMcD...

>>In reply to: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did you ever read what Ben Franklin wrote on exactly that subject? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes.

>>what do you consider a stall to be>Why do you think that it's important to stall your canopy in order to land it properly?

>>I mean, a year ago it would have been inconceivable that some crazies could hijack a bunch of airliners in unison and crash them into our cities

When I try this up high, I always get the feeling of a surge forward after I raise both toggles, accompanied by the feeling of being "behind" the canopy (lighter in the harness). I am not eager to practice this low to the ground to confirm this feeling. Am I just doing it wrong?

Curious - after one h&p on my Hornet 190, I feel like the toggles needed to move UP, rather than down. I was unable to stall the canopy with them all the way down, and the toggles were well below my shoulders just to plane it out.

Yeesh. If I looked out the window and saw that landing, I would probably miss the cool swoop and standup landing at the end, because I would be busy dialing 911. Looks like a need to go to a swoop competition and watch sometime.

I will definitely need to see video before I believe he got back under that.

I'm looking forward to meeting you. I'm the tall skinny guy with the sore butt and the new rig. If you need any non-skydiving extracurriculars, I'd be happy to point out the tourist spots. If your son is over 21, Beale Street will be crazy this weekend due to Lennox-Tyson fight. BMcD...

I just got called up to the front of our office to receive a package, and it is my nice new rig! Wings, Hornet, Tempo and Cypres from Roy at Rigs n Things. I'll be taking it to the dz this weekend to let my rigger assemble it. Woo Hoo!!!! I'll post a report once I have jumped it.

"Hang on, my zipper's stuck"

Two pieces of tunnel advice from someone who was just there - First, take your own jumpsuit. I did not, and the ones they give you are so draggy that you have to change your neutral body position a good bit from an rw suit. It took me a while to get to where I could stay still in it. Second, don't overestimate your ability to stay in there a long time. I did ten minutes, which was four 2.5 minute skydives with probably 3 to 5 minutes between them. At the end, my shoulders and chest were killing me. Have fun!

You are correct - it is two days. You pay $199 at the beginning, and if you don't get 13 or more jumps Mike cheerfully returns an amount that makes it so you paid $16 per jump.

This is part post-whoring and part shameless bumping of a thread about my home dz to the top, but there is also a real post here - I can't believe there is not more interest from THIS group in a dz.com boogie at a centrally-located dz that habitually gets kegs of Heineken at its boogies ... Where are the green bottle drinkers out there? BMcD... PS - If you're still not convinced, Memphis has titty bars that put Houston and Atlanta to shame. That should spark some interest. Oh yeah, and there's lots of farmland nearby.

I do not know if you guys read it, but the original article in the Orlando Sentinel (and the one that appears on the website of the Orlando Sentinel) includes a remark by a detective about the "stupidity" of those involved. What do you think of editing that here? I actually think it is valuable to let people know the attitude that the cops have about the subjects they oversee. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, though.