AndyMan

I don't think either a 9 cell or a 7 cell are great canopies. Both the PD 9 and PD 7 cell are made from a very old type of fabric that doesn't age very well. These canopies had practical lifespans of roughly a hundred jumps. Most PD 9 and 7 cells on the market have far more than 100 jumps on them, and are far beyond their practical lifespan. If you do insist on buying a PD 9 or 7 cell parachute, make sure to have it inspected by an independent rigger. Don't trust the word of the guy trying to sell it to you. Most PD 9 and 7 cell canopies should be used as car covers. Also, I'll echo what Bill said. I never recommend anyone buys a canopy before they get their 'A' license. Your choice in canopy will change radically over the next 20 jumps. Don't rush it. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The landing area is for landing. If a DZ wants to close a landing area, they're free to do that. It is, after all - their landing area. That said, I would hope that everyone on the DZ would be clearly briefed beforehand, through reminders being issued in the loading area, or announcements were made over the PA. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I did a free one a few weeks ago. It was into a little-league baseball game in town. I did it as a favor to the DZ, who does it as a favor to the neighbors. No beer, no food. It was fun. When I get paying demos, I get paid at least $100, but usually more depending on how much the client is paying. I usually jump with a team of 4, we all have matching canopies and jumpsuits. Some of them sure have been fun. www.windycityskydivingteam.com _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's really surprising. First, it's not very difficult to add a second set of rings to an existing TSO'd harness, or wear a second altogether different harness for the intentional cutaway. Either option lets you still be legal by having a TSO'd harness. Both options have been done countless times. Secondly, I presume this is all done legally, and the show producers received FAA waivers which allow them to jump from aircrafts without TSO'd rigs. To say that I'm surprised that the FAA did this would be an understatement, especially considering that there are perfectly reasonable options that don't require such a waiver. I'm still pretty skeptical. Does anyone know for sure that they jumped without TSO'd rigs? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You're comparing an almost new, low-end Chevy to an older luxury Audi. That makes no sense. I think a good approach is to first decide: Luxury brand or not. (Audi or Volkswagen. Chevy or Cadillac) New, barely used, or well used. Coupe, Sedan, Wagon, SUV, or Truck. Then, pick 3 cars that meet that criteria, and test drive each. If you really want to only keep it for 4 years, then consider leasing. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

So... He jumped from a chopper without a TSO'd rig? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The laws of Supply and Demand dictate the price for an I&R should go down, strangely. The demand of jumpers asking for them will decrease, while the supply of riggers wanting the work will stay the same. Generally, I'm a big believer in supply and demand. It is a very good way of estimating how prices will move. All things being equal, I never bet against it. I doubt very much that riggers who try to increase their prices will get very far. I suspect that those that do will get a lot of pushback from jumpers who are more then happy to take their rigs elsewhere. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Congratulations! It's been a long haul. Now go get a job, ya lazy bum! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Around here, most jump pilots are trained at Flight Safety in Toronto. IMHO, that's an excellent trend. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

No. Jumpers are entitled to professional well trained pilots on every jump - even the free ones. If the pilot needs more training, he shouldn't be flying jumpers. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

As a jumper, I'm not entirely comfortable in a fully loaded Grand Caravan using a grass 2600 foot runway. In my not-a-pilot opinion, it uses far too much runway. If you're looking to use a short runway, you might consider looking at a PAC. It seems to do much better. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Chicagoland Skydiving Center regularly gives low passes, even on their busiest days. To me, good customer service is priceless. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think this is a case where the casual jumper really should assume that the pro's know what they're doing! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've put a few camera jumps on a Katana and really enjoyed it. It is a very aggressive canopy, in the same way that a Velocity is. It's not for everyone. I don't know that adding a Camera to the mix changes this in any way other than what it would for any canopy. If you're qualified to jump a Katana without a camera, and qualified to jump a camera, then doing them both at the same time isn't particularly problematic. I loved the openings. Soft, gentle, all the way through. I loved them, partly because I'm not the kind of jumper who likes to open low. The most "neck friendly" canopy I've ever jumped.

For reasons that I really don't understand, they simply just work. When I switched from an Orange lolipop style site to one of Brents Concentric sites, my framing improved instantly. One thing I can put my finger on, is that because there's multiple rings, you can choose the proper distance to the group, by how the group fills into the different rings. It's really very useful, especially in 4way. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Yes. No matter how insanely long the shelf life is to start with, it'll be longer in the fridge. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The oddest part of this story for me is that someone who really has 2000 hours in a dangerous sport is smart enough to know his knowledge doesn't mean shit in a different sport. For example, I don't know of any 2000 jump skydiver who did his first BASE jump using his small elliptical. No matter how big of a skygod someone is, they tend to know that they're starting over when they try something different. People with huge bags of experience do some pretty crazy things, but they're usually smart enough to know that it's only because of those huge bags that they can get away with it. Given the situation, I probably would've even questioned his paragliding experience. If he really was that well qualified, he probably would've been smart enough to know he was doing something dumb. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I have 3 rigs: A Vector A Javelin An Icon. My favorite is the Icon, because it's the only one that was custom sized for me, so it fits best. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's very cool. Piriya and I missed all the announcements since we was in Florida. I'm happy to hear I missed good news!

__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

. Per Brian Burke: "If anyone can give me a convincing explanation of why a 180 is more dangerous than a 270, I’m sure the dz will be willing to ban those as well." _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

??? There are no battery costs. The batteries are warrantied for 8 years, and are expected to last much longer. Maintenance on the hybrid is actually a lot better than a gas car, because the Toyota system basically don't have transmissions, the engines take much less wear, and they never need new brakes. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

That's not why we bought the car. Toyota doesn't make or sell an equivalent gas powered vehicle. The closest gas equivalent is 70 horsepower less, and the 4wheel drive system is inferior. The Hybrid Highlander has a V6 engine, but it performs like a V8. The gas Highlander is not available with a V8. To get a V8, we'd have to get a much bigger truck, like a Toyota Sequoia, or a Suburban, or Yukon. The problem is that we don't want anything as big as a Sequoia, and we're biased strongly against American automakers, so that rules out most alternatives. The Hybrid Highlander was really the only option we liked, because it wasn't too big, but still had lots of power. For example, the Hybrid Highlander tows better than a Hummer H2. That said, depending on how much we drive it, 30 MPG instead of 18 should pay for itself in 8-10 years. Of course, we probably won't keep it 10 years, so we'll recoup most of the remaining cost when we sell it. There are plenty of studies that back up the economics of hybrids. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I know there's a few hybrid owners on here. IIRC, BillVon has two. Anyone else? Craichead and I picked up a Highlander Hybrid last week. I'm simply amazed at how that thing performs. In a nutshell, it does the quarter faster than my Honda Prelude did back in the day... I've managed to sustain 40 MPG in a 4000 lb 7 passenger SUV. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Many. Those who stick around for years are the exception, not the rule. Most skydivers I've known don't make it more than a few years. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.