indyz

I think it's probably because you had never done a jump that didn't keep you busy for the entire freefall before. I didn't get scared on my first solo, but I did notice for the first time how loud it was, that I could see the ground coming up at me if I looked down, and that the altimeter did seem to spin down awfully fast if I just stared at it. The first time I got scared in freefall was about 4 jumps ago on number 27. There were 3 of us exiting a C-182 at about 10,000 feet. Cloud tops were at about 3,000. The first two went out in a two way freefly. I gave time for seperation and then dove out. The freefall was fun, just screwing around with backloops and stuff. A little bit above 4,000 I saw the first group's canopies opening out of the corner of my eye. I glanced down and the clouds were hauling ass in my direction. It was a total "holy shit!" moment, I waved and pulled and was under canopy around 3,500. I knew in the logical part of my mind that the clouds wouldn't hurt me but I freaked out anyway. Anyway, I won't pretend to be experienced enough to give advice about how to fix it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to all of us at one time or another. Update: The first sentence makes sense now. -- Brian

When I was younger I apparently enjoyed Old Milwaukee quite a bit (see attached). Now I'll drink whatever, but I sorta have a thing for Killians. -- Brian

If I recall correctly a stamped A License Profiency Card is considered a valid A license until you recieve the real license from the USPA. In fact, I was advised to save myself the $20 and not bother sending anything in until I get my B. Update: The bottom of my A card reads: "This stamp, when accompanied by the signature of a USPA AFF, Static-Line, or IAD Instructor, verifies that the applicant named on this form has completed all qualifications for the USPA A skydiving license and performed satisfactorily on the USPA A-license check dive. This temporary USPA A license expires with the holder's USPA regular membership or when replaced by any registered licensed issued from USPA Headquarters." So there you go. -- Brian

http://www.skydivingmovies.com -- Brian

I like to face the tail and just step off. From there you can tuck up and do backflips or just let yourself fall on your back and watch the plane. -- Brian

I'm still an engineering student for the next few weeks at least. I suck at math so I'm going to find some other major that interests me. -- Brian

I think I saw it in somebody's signature: A friend will bail you out of jail. A best friend will be in there with you. -- Brian

Hard time in a Federal "pound me in the ass" prison. -- Brian

The key word here is "rights." By definition, you, me, and a guy who wants to nuke Washington all have the same rights. They aren't rights if they can be taken away just because somebody is suspected or accused of being a terrorist. -- Brian

It's dutch. It seems like it is about adjusting line trim. "Rekken," for example, translates literally to "lengthen." If you have time you could pound out a literal translation using the Freedict Dutch-English dictionary. -- Brian

Are you sure he didn't have it set to show feet per second? 185 fps is about 126 mph which seems a lot more plausible (IMHO). -- Brian

Really? I'm pretty focused on one particular mental image. -- Brian

What is "fairly low?" Did anything leave the container, like the pilot chute, or was it a total malfunction? He could have simply been too low for the reserve to deploy properly. It makes for better TV to say "the reserve parachute failed to open," than it does to say, "it probably would have worked fine if he cutaway a few hundred feet higher." -- Brian

That's the question I forgot to ask! Does somebody at Sky Knights make those or something? Just about all of the RWers that I saw were wearing them. I even saw one of the JFTC suits; AggieDave and fellow members of Skydivers Against Pink Shit would have heart attacks if they saw it (not to mention the matching pink ProTec with those streamers that go on bicycle handles). -- Brian

I'm just in Urbana for school. Right now I'm at home in Gurnee (drive straight north from Chicago to Wisconsin, then back up about 5 miles). -- Brian

I'm actually a lot closer to East Troy than I am to Hinckley. I have no intention of becoming a member and getting involved in the DZ politics, which is where I hear most of the problems are. As it stands, I am happy with the dropzone and plan on going back. -- Brian

3 photos taken:2:4 Firsts: 1. First time at Sky Knights. 2. First time on a throwout PC. 3. First jump on semi-elliptical (Sabre2 170 @ 1.1:1) 4. First time starting the weekend numbers thread. Sky Knights was a blast. I was worried that I would have a hard time being an unlicensed jumper from another DZ, but they were great and got me all set up. Did a nice evaluation jump then a fun two-way that didn't exactly work out as planned. I like using the throwout (I lost 4 ripcords in 26 jumps). The Sabre2 was a hell of a lot of fun. I put my feet down during the plane-out on my first jump and took a nice fall. The second landing was way better, I got a good plane-out then shut it down for a stand up. Wrap up: Sky Knights = good. I will return. Sabre2 = fun. Throwout = cheaper than ripcords. Weekend numbers are: humps:jumps:beer owed. -- Brian

How the hell did I miss this thread? Anyway, I assistant manage a "Virtual Reality Zone" for a national virtual reality company which has had three different names in the last 12 months. It's a profit-sharing deal located in a major theme park in northern Illinois, which is both cool and incredibly annoying at the same time. But I don't really do any work for my money and a good friend since the 3rd grade is my boss, so I can't complain. -- Brian

The dumbest was "I can make it to the other side of the runway." I pulled it off, barely, but if there had been any aircraft trying to land.... The kicker was I ended up chasing the canopy to the other side of the runway because it reinflated after I stowed the toggles and went to gather it up. So I basically needlessly endagered myself and any aircraft that happened to be in the area and then did it again because I couldn't keep my canopy under control. Lessons learned: Don't cross the runway at low altitudes, and have fabric in your hand before dropping the toggles on a windy day. -- Brian

I am an associate professor in Science, Technology and Society at the University of Wollongong, I own and operate the Brian Martin Cattle Company, I attend UNC, I am a Ph.D (Immunology) with a bunch of published papers, I have Gulf War Syndrome, I took a silver medal in doubles luge at the Nagano Olympics and have held two World Cup doubles luge titles, and I have a law firm. As if that isn't enough, I am also a meteorologist, a judge, a minor league baseball umpire, a physicist, a geologist, an expert on hackers, an executive with American Capital Strategies, a Harvard graduate, a police sergeant in California, and a television news anchor. I am also a Pro Putter (professional mini-golf league) with $1,046.83 career earnings and a lifetime stroke average of 30.68. Less than two strokes per hole, pretty good if I may say so myself (minds out of the gutter, people). I have been credited on no less than 9 successful computer games. During my search I found a page entitled "Semen Sales from Brian Martin." Disturbing, but interested parties should feel free to send me a PM. -- Brian

It says: # Crew: 1 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: Which means one crew member on board, no fatalities, no severe injuries, no minor injuries and no injuries of unknown severity. -- Brian

When I applied (via email) for a job last fall at the university I gave the guy doing the hiring the web address of my resume. Of course, my student site had skydiving pictures on it and he found them. He was actually very interested and I got the job even after I admitted that I was working mostly to keep me in jump money. -- Brian

If you have access to USENET, lots of ads end up on rec.skydiving. -- Brian

kingbunky is correct! -- Brian

See attached. Right out the window is a little sliver of my yard and a lot of my neighbor's yard. Across the street is Boulder Park, and some more houses beyond it. If I panned the view to the right a little bit, you could see a little cove on Gages Lake. -- Brian