AndyMan

I agree, Brian's book is an excellent reasource. Brian focuses on teach people how to fly a canopy well, which is a very different thing than "learning to swoop". This is a key difference, and a good path to follow. People who prematurely decide to swoop only get themselves into trouble, with predictable results. If instead somebody intends to learn to to be an great canopy pilot, then the step to swooping is relatively easy. Brians book is an excellent resource for somebody looking to be a great canopy pilot. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Sorry, I didn't realise that included jumps. $75 as "meet fee" is a lot more reasonable. In 4way, the NSL breaks out meet fees ($80ish), and then has jumpers pay their own slots. I was assuming this was similar. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

My entire 4way team pays $80 for a daylong meet, including coaching. $165 for one person is not reasonable, at least for me. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

500 feet, at least - unless something was pre-planned. Quite frankly, I don't see any reason why they should be remotely anywhere close to the same airspace as a normal jumper under canopy. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Falcons on the market today are usually very old, very well used, and have little life left in them. You would be well advised to try to find something newer, made of Zero-p fabric. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

You're free to think whatever you like, but as a factual statement - what you just wrote is incredibly wrong. It would be smart for you to re-evaluate the risks of skydiving. Unless you ride your bicycle through traffic on interstates, that is... Thank you for showing that some jumpers do not understand the risks. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've been thinking about competing for the first time at the amateur level, but a $165 meet fee would definately keep me out of it, no question. I don't know what the meet fees were in the past, but thats definately way higher than I'd be willing to pay. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Our heat is off most of the time, we live in a condo. The building HVAC is setup in a way that puts positive air pressure into the building hallways. This is a safety thing, and common of many condo buildings. The point of it all is to ensure that if there's a fire in a unit, the smoke stays in the unit to allow others to evacuate. The system vents fresh HVAC controlled air into the hallways, and vents in our kitchens and bathrooms act as returns to the system. Our condo unit is always getting a constantly changing supply of air from the halways. Even in the dead of winter, our unit rarely drops below 65 degrees. We'll occaisionally bump it up to 70 for comfort, but turning on the oven for a while often has the same affect. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They list the user qwerty233, which seems to work... I love bugmenot. With the Firefox extension, i don't even have to look stuff up and log in. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I would have major issues if somebody buzzed me without preplanning it. Preplan it, and in addition to me not being pissed off, I'd have my cameras ready. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I'd always wondered if he died in the initial round of bombing of the mountains in Afghanistan. After that we only heard second or third hand people claim he was alive. I was sceptical because Osama always liked having his face on TV, and if he was alive he would have prooven it to the world, if not just to create more fear. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

How about: "I think experienced jumpers who can't/don't pack are lame". _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The number of times I've had to teach newbies how to simply turn off a Cypres, never mind the dificulty of doing so - shows me clearly that there is room for improvement in one specific area - turning it off. The fact that Airtec recently released a "swoop" Cypres shows that there had been room for improvement in that specific area, too. The fact that Airtec recently released version 2, which was different than version 1 shows that Airtec beleived there was room for improvement. No device is perfect. I see a bunch of people arguing that the Cypres is perfect. Quite frankly, that's absurd. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Oh for gods sake. Are they morons? A flashlight is mistaken for a bomb?!?!?! Aparently this has happened before, too. http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/news/2003/10/14/News/Flashlight.Bomb.Scare.In.Fort.Douglas.Building-527828.shtml _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Less posting. More Sammiches. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They remind me of the Westboro Baptist Church. They're getting acclaim in Illinois for protesting the funerals of dead soldiers. No, not because they're against the war, or because they're pacifists, or because they dislike torture... nor do they think GWB is a war criminal. They're protesting the funerals of dead soliders because god hates fags. In hindsight, it's obvious, isn't it? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/lake/chi-0601110254jan11,1,7514629.story _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It really depends where you are. In many US states, you're employed "at will" of the employer. In many states they can drop you in a heartbeat, with no excuse, without any severance. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I think this is key. USPA ratings themselves are the only thing I've ever seen that actually requires a rating. I've never been to a boogie that wouldn't let you in with 50 jumps, 'b' license or not. I've never seen a DZO refuse to let someone on a night-jump or high-altitude jump, as long as that person had enough jumps to 'qualify' for the rating. I've never seen anyone allowed onto a big-way jump because they got a certain license. Unless somebody is intent on getting an instructional or PRO rating, there really isn't any benefit to having a higher license. The only reason to get a rating is so that you can get a higher rating. Now that I think about it, it seems a bit like a scam! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This part is easy. BillBooth concedes that Aerodyne Miniforce rings are better than his. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1636917;#1636917 __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I really don't care. I do know the catholic church becomes less relevant every day. I don't really care about that, either. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's not a matter of angering the snobs. If anyone wants to waste their money on a toy, I really couldn't care less. If anyone really wants a toy, then go ahead and buy one. Please do us a favor though, and let us know how it works out. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The cost of jump tickets in the US is somewhere around $20-25 now. What price point is too expensive to jump? Let's say prices doubled. Let's say jump tickets cost $40-$50. Would you still jump? Would others? Remember that that's the current price of jumping in Japan, and some parts of Europe where jumping is still popular. I think it's clear that even if US jump prices were $40-$50, many people would still jump regularly. Many wouldn't, but still - many would. So lets take this arbitrary number as a hypothetical point at which a lot of people stop jumping. How expensive would jet-fuel have to get before jumping got this expensive? Well, it's commonly accepted that Otters burn roughly two gallons of jet fuel per jumper on a normal lift. At current prices - $3/gallon, that means each jumper burns roughly $6 of fuel on every load. Airplane leases tend to eat up around $12/slot. So consider these two scenarios: lease $12.00 fuel per passenger (gal) 2 cost of fuel $3.00 cost of slot: (lease + fuel cost*fuel use) $18.00 price of slot: $22.00 profit: $ 4.00 lease $12.00 fuel per passenger (gal) 2 cost of fuel $17.00 cost of slot: (lease + fuel cost*fuel use) $46.00 price of slot: $50.00 profit: $ 4.00 So, with all other numbers staying the same, we would need to have $17 jetfuel before the price of a single jump would double. The price of fuel would literally need to more than quadrouple before we'd get $50/ jumps. While I have no doubt that jet fuel will some day cost $17/gallon, I don't hear any forcastors speculating that'll happen any time soon. When it does eventually happen, inflation will dictate that we all make a lot more money then we do now anyways, so we'll be in better shape to afford it. Skydiving is clearly a rich (wo)mans sport. It will continue to be that, too - but it will be within the reach of a great many people for a long time to come, even with radically more expensive fuel costs. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Personally, when I have a sinus infection that causes conjestion, riding a few floors in an elevator is painful. I would not consider doing anything at all that involves rapid pressure changes. It's more than jus a pain thing, people can get seriously screw up their sinuses by jumping. I really don't know how dangerous a hop n'pop would be, but my ass would be firmly planted on terra firma. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I read them last at least a few years ago. I really don't know if they've changed at all since then, nor do I remember them all.

Most Wingsuit coaches are rated, and they teach a standard curiculum. That's a great example of how canopy coaching could work well. I'm not thrilled that wingsuit ratings are handed out by a manufacturer, I'd prefer it be done by the national associations to ensure consistency accross manufacturers. Right now, there's nothing stopping me from offering swooping courses, and I assure you that I would not be wise for customers to pay me for my knowlege. I don't know nearly enough to teach anyone meaningfully. The problem is that if I chose to do so - my potential clients would not have a good way of judging my abilities. Even if I was a far better canopy pilot than I am now, I stll might not be a good teacher. With the exception of maybe 3 or 4 individuals nationwide who have good reputations, jumpers have absolute no idea who to take advice from. 3 or 4 people nationwide is not nearly enough to teach the 10's of thousands of active skydivers in America. Local instruction does not need to be given in 12 ounces, nor does it need to be paid for. Both, if done properly - are fine. The key though, is that if its to have any impact, it needs to be local, and it needs to continue beyond the end of the camp. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.