AndyMan

C'mon Bill. I know both you and I didn't see that plane at eloy until it was right on top of us. If the pilot hadn't called the go-around we woulda been right on top of it. Visual spotting is WAY too error prone to be dependable. Sure, it helps, but relying on it as my primary means scares me. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

As a foreigner, the entire concept of a "Pledge of Allegiance" has always seemed Orwellian, and contratictory to the freedoms that America seems to never stop bragging about. Quite simpy, I'm surprised at not only its existance but its survival for so long. I'm also surprised at how ingrained it is to the american psyche. It seems to be a holy cow, that the sheer suggestion at its removal brings expressions of disbelief. If I didn't know better, I would've thought federalist Americans would celebrate the freedom of not having their thoughts dictated. Those who truely love their country, do so on their own terms. They don't do it because their school tells them so, or how. Something to think about, _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Don' be so quick.... I dated a whuffo for over a year while skydiving. If you love her, then try to make things work. Compromises are the basis of every relationship. I don't mean give up skydiving, but with my ex I would spend one day of the weekend with her, usually sundays. I'd spend friday night and saturday at the DZ. Only cuttaway if she's not willing to be flexible. You need your airtime, and she needs to understand that. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

http://www.square1.com/Manufacturers/Square1/cat514.html __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Even though she won't jump with me, I guess I can take the high road and wish her a happy skybirthday. Val will beat me up if I don't. Happy skybirthday, sunshine! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Welcome back! Glad you had fun. I can't wait to hear about the big news.... Spill! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

A geek term. Read The Friggin Manual. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Sheesh lisa! you're suposed to recomend the stuff you sell! I picked up a pair of Wiley-X at square 2. They seal real well because they've actually got a foam seal on the inside of the frame. They're not cheap, either. http://www.wiley-x.com/eyewear/product/xl1.html _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That just kinda begs the question... why wear a parachute? It's hard to tell distances from the picture... but I'm pretty sure I used to jump of cliffs that high when I was a kid. I didn't need no stinking parachute! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't blame you. In IE, go to the Tools menu, select "Internet Options". Under the section that says "Temporary Internet Files", click the button that says "delete cookies". Hit 'OK' in the confirm box that pops up. That should do it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

http://www.dropzone.com/columns/ManIowesomuchbeer.shtml is the original column. This link works. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Here's how I pack my stiletto. 1)Stow brakes 2)Uncollapse slider 3)run up lines 4)flake nose, put between knees. 5)flake inner cells 6)pull extra fabric of stabilzer to outside. 7)wrap tail 8)minimal roll on the tail, just enough to control it as I lay it down. 9)no rolls in the nose. 10)do NOT stuff the nose to the back. Just let it hang. 11)s-fold, bag it, done. It's currently taking me about 10 minutes. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Cool! I'll let you know what the boss says. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

On my laptop it's quite dificult to see the difference... Sorry! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Hey!?!?!?! WTF??? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Number of DZ's (2):10:1 I drove down to the Illinois Valley Parachute Club for their 'Jumping Jack Flash Boogie'. To call it a boogie was a bit of a stretch, but Mullins was flying so it was fun. Sadly, Mike spent a big part of the day on the ground, cause there weren't enough jumpers to keep him flying. Oh well. I did a bunch of jumps with Sunshine and Val, plus some awesome coach jumps with Andy Anderson and Jeff Mullins. Andy was also helping out tremendousloy with my swoops, which I'm slowly turning up. Thanks Andy! At about 4 sunday, I ditched IVPC and drove up to Chicagoland because I wanted to drop my rig off for a repack. The sunset load was loading when I pulled into the parking lot, of course they held it for me while I geared up. A sweet head down followed by a lame swooop.... All was good. The only first was for being at IVPC (minier) _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I heard reports of a fatality at SKyKNights in east troy last weekend. I heard an experienced jumper with 40 jumps was doing a recurrency dive on student/rental gear. Aparently he brain locked and did not pull. The cypres was either turned off or not functioning. Can anyone confirm this? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That sucks Dave. I hope everything works out for ya. I was working on dialing in my swoops on the weekend, Andy Anderson was a great help. On one jump after a 120 degree turn I dragged my left foot, my sandal got completely ripped from my foot. We're both jumping high performance canopies, I know you think your canopy didn't do this to you, but do you really think you woulda popped your knee if you were under a 288 manta? or a Raven 4? We always need to respect the canopies we're jumping. Even ones that we think of as being relatively big and safe can bite us. Be careful out there... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Have you done much work under XP? I put XP on both my mother's and grandmothers PC, and they both get along quite fine.

See? I KNEW IT! Bill and LIsa are really one person, and Val is less then 0 angel. _Am "I wanna be a canopy nazi " - rhino

Yeah. Seriously. I still say she's down below 5. What Val doesn't know, is that I'm about to hop in my car and head down there. Surprise Surprise! ;) _Am "I wanna be a canopy nazi " - rhino

Ok. This is important, and if nobody else is going to do it, then I guess I will step up to it. HH? Your site or mine? _Am "I wanna be a canopy nazi " - rhino

Dammit, I have a Freak Brother number too. I just went through my logbook. Sorry jess! _Am "I wanna be a canopy nazi " - rhino

Just out of curiosity.... Why is Derek not coming to your defense, I wonder....? _Am "I wanna be a canopy nazi " - rhino

rhino, I've laid off because I didn't want to stir shit, but because you posted this, I'm gonna jump in. Yes, I'm one of those who's given you shit for your canopy choice. "you're nuts" is the words I used. Of course it's perfectly all right for you to jump whatever you want to. It's your choice, I can't stop you, nor would I want to stop you. You can do whatever it is that you want to. The size of your canopy concerns me, loading upwards of 1.9 with your experience and currency is literally asking for trouble. Before you blow me off, trust that unfortunately I've got a pretty good track record of predicting major injuries. However, it's not just the size of your canopy, it's your attitude. I don't see any of the real canopy experts here claiming that they won't get hurt. I don't see Chuck, or Derek insisting that they're the safest canopy pilots there is. I see Chuck and Derek admitting that they love the rush of a high speed landing, and they accept the risk of doing what they do. You, on the other hand, never skip an opportunity to insist how good you are, how good your training is, and how safe you are. You don't seem to understand that jumping a 87 square foot canopy is by definition, NOT SAFE. You've stated that you honestly think your 87 is just as safe as a big triathlong, which tells me you really don't understand the basics of aerodynamics. I understand small canopies are fun. I jump a stiletto at 1.5, which to me is a whole lot to handle. I also admit that it's quite risky, because I know that if I screw up I'll get seriously hurt. I RESPECT my canopy, that it can and will hurt me if I don't keep on top of it. Quite simply, I don't see that same respect in you, and that's why you're on my list of people I think will get hurt (or worse) if you continue down this path. _Am "I wanna be a canopy nazi " - rhino