AndyMan

Again, not only have I never had problems with my drivers licence/birth certificate at border crossings, nor have I ever had a problem being let into bars with my Ontario drivers license. But then I look like I'm 40, anyways. I spent today in Detroit renewing my TN visa. As proff of citizenship I used my d/l-b/c and had no issues whatsoever. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

While that is all true, it has NOTHING to do with safety, and has no place in a document called "Basic Safety Recomendations". I'm concerned that if the BSR's are used to pursue a agenda unrelated to safety, they will become useless. If they're used to pursue agendas (and they are, aparently Bill Booths), then dropzones will be kicked out of the USPA for political reasons. Once a DZ is out of the group program, there is no reason for them to follow ANY BSR's. Whenever a good, respected dropzone exists outside of the group membership, it sends a message to the public that: a: it's ok to jump at non-group member DZ's. (Fandango, anybody?) b: we're incapable of regulating ourselves. In a country where the federal government has left us nearly completely unregulated because of a strong central association, it's unnaceptable for major dropzones to exist outside of that unbrella without a very good reason. Bill Booths long running crusade against minor jumpers, while understandable, is not a good enough reason to have unregulated dropzones. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A consistent complaint I hear from jumpers and board members alike is that the executive committee frequently acts in secret, refuses to disclose pertinent information, and is commonly referred to a "good ole' boys club". Do you believe there is adequate transparency to the workings of the executive committee? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think the real issue is that the BSR's should be concerned with safety. Their scope should be limited to a set of commonly accepted rules pertaining to safe skydiving. Protecting DZO's, gear manufacturers and the organization itself from litigation and does not pertain to safety. Age limits have no place in the BSR's. Take out the age limitation, 3 popular DZ's would probably be group members. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I was toying with the notion of picking up base before this forum, and I'm still toying with the notion of picking up base after reading the forum. You might take that to mean that it's had no effect on me. However, I am now much more knowledgable about what I'm toying with doing, which is a good thing. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm a Canadian living and working in Chicago. I regularly fly between Toronto and Chicago. I do not have a passport. I have always used simply a photo ID and birth certificate - which togeather form proof of citizenship. It is the same for Americans traveling to Canada - if you can prove proof of citizenship without a passport, that's all you need. That said, Canadian birth certificates are wallet-sized, so they're a bit easier to bring around with you. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

For the rest of us, a picture of wire cutters on a Bell Long Ranger: www.bellhelicopter.textron.com __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Can you point to any fatality or near miss where this played a role? Yes, I understand the physics of it. No, I don't think it's a very common problem, even among slightly heavier guys like me. I'd much rather see people installing hard cuttaway housings into their risers then be swapping small for large. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm surprised it hasn'e been mentioned yet. Parachuting: The Skydiver's Handbook, by Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568600623/104-8637294-7980757 _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I jut wanna know what the Icarus Space program is. I thought Atair made the Space...? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Hmm. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/uclickcomics/20021113/cx_nq_uc/nq20021113 _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I saw something like this when I was down at aggieland over the summer. I forget the guys name - Freaksisters ex. Very cool setup. I wondered at the time how smart the setup was, but if PD's selling it, I guess it's been through a lot of testing. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Thanks Craig. Are you sure you've got all the US ones? I'd been thinking this was going to be a very bad year, but it appears to be better then we've had in a while. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Dildo Newfoundland is one of the most interesting towns you might ever get to see, but has nothing to do with its current meaning. It's right down the road from Placenta Bay. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Very true. Take a lookat the switch: http://www.pia.com/fxc/astrindx.htm#Calibration _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You could also check out Slashcode - www.slashcode.com - the format might not fit perfect, but still very feature rich. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'm not aware of any malfunction that has been attributed to a packer at my DZ. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Indeed. I can now search for sewing machines to my hearts content. I am happy. ObSewingMachineRef: selection at sears sucks (SSS). _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

First, a bit of geek history. There's a piece of open source software called GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program, but commonly goes by "The Gimp". (Don't ask what GNU means, if you understand recursiveness you probably already know what it means). The Gimp is a graphics editing tool for linux. It's the open source alternative to Photoshop. It's been worked on for years, was pretty basic originally, but is now surprisingly complex. It's a good replacement for Photoshop. Secondly, for years we've been hearing about Open Sources progression into film studios. We know that companies like Industrial Light and Magic have chosen linux for their rendering farms. We know that movies like Shrek are rendered entirely on linux clusters. What has been pretty much completely hidden from public is the software these guys are using. Well, here's one of the missing pieces: FILM GIMP. The geeks in Hollywood have literally taken the (free and open) source to GIMP, and rolled it into a video editing tool. Just as The GIMP is an alternative to photoshop, FILM GIMP appears to be an alternative to Premiere. http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT7096363910.html Worth a read, and a check out. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Skydive Gananoque in Canada has one paragraph on a 5*7 card, small enough to fit underneath all your contact information. I was kinda disapointed. I told my dad on the way to the DZ from his cottage, "just wait until you see the waiver...." Then it turns out to be about 25 words... God bless Canada, and countries without American lawyers. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That said, both the places I mentioned, bhphotovideo.com and dbuys.com are NOT like this. They've both got great compeditive prices, sell new in box, in original packaging products, that ARE covered by warantys, and come with all the proper accesories. They also both offer good customer service at an outstanding price. When I ordered my PC120 online at 6:00pm eastern time, I was awoken by a fed-ex guy at 8:00am central time the very next morning my gear. That was cool. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Big hardware I buy from Dbuys - www.dbuys.com Small hardware i buy from BH - www.bhphotovideo.com Helmet and mounting gear I buy straight from Skydance, the manufacturer of the one I'm using now - www.pia.com/skydance The stuff they make themselves is cheap and good, the stuff they resell is overpriced. Everything else, general skydiving gear and skydiving specific video gear (like a cat-eye) I'll buy from my local DZ if the prices are compeditive, otherwise Square 1. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Funny. Traditionally the fact that you can not easily turn it off has been one of the biggest advantages to the Cypres. I do worry that using an Astra instead of a Cypres will become a status symbol among novice and intermediate swoopers - as if anyone but those flying the smallest canopies would even approach activation speeds. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Actually, the angle will NOT be correct. Aproximtely one second after leaving the plane, the jumpers will be about 30 degrees off the horizon. They will never get more then 30 degrees (roughly, depending on conditions) off the horizon. For a really good explanation of why this is the case, I strongly recomend you go through Kallend's website, at http://www.iit.edu/~kallend/skydive/#resources A good place to start is the powerpoint presentation. The Interactive Freefall Tragectory Program is also good. In the attached image, notice that a: the angle of the jumpers is constant from shortly after they leave the plane, and b: they never get anywhere near 45 degrees. __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I had 12 jumps I think when I made my first visit to a different dropzone. It was also my first BOC jump, and first jump without an AAD. How fun! This began my awareness of the fact that there are "good" dropzones, and there are "bad" dropzones. I made another trip to another DZ when I had 18 jumps, there I was actually trained how to USE a BOC rig, jumped with a Cypres and an instructor who wanted me to do a check-out jump. There I learned that DZ's aren't just "good" and "bad", but varrying degrees between them. This DZ I've consistently labeled one of the most profesional I've been to - Aerohio. Visiting different DZ's as a student is a lot of fun, but it leaves you at risk for not being able to properly evaluate the DZ. I supose this really isn't any different then when you chose your first jump DZ, but still. It can be quite an eye opener to who different places are run. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.