fastphil

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Everything posted by fastphil

  1. fastphil
    So which would say has the greater spectator appeal; swooping is very cool to watch, but terminal freefall below 500' AGL is completely awe inspiring, especially when there is low background noise on the ground. I've made freefalls from planes, helicopters and BASE at 1000 feet but to freefall below a thousand feet while at terminal takes a different breed. All the oldtimer low pull artists I've known seemed to use Piglet (round) canopies...
  2. fastphil
    My canopy takes nearly 1000' to open and it can take me up to 500' to release and stow my RDS. I start my landing pattern at about 2500' for a swoop run. Hence the higher altitude request for some swoopers. Wow, I can remember my canopy taking 150 feet to open and then another 50 to pop the brakes; but I started the landing pattern the day before the swoop (not called that yet). I like this topic. When I jumped (70s and 80s) I was quite comfortable with pack opening by 2000 feet, but rarely saw reason to go lower. Doesn’t swooping take a little more talent then just pulling low???
  3. fastphil
    You mean the one that states skydiving is habit forming???
  4. fastphil
    Since quade takes exception to brevity: A Cessna 182 exit sometimes overlaps the jumpers vision of each other, so a good feel for the exit must be thoroughly “dirt dived” to achieve timing and consistency. I think you’re on the right track with the man in the door being the last to be ready, and also the logical one to make the approval nod, but the count should come from a jumper on the step. On teams I jumped with, even though we may have many jumps together, we would still often pull on gear and use the aircraft for line-up and exit drills, and our count involved motion (up, down, off). I started jumping 4-way with Scott Meeks, quite possibly the most thorough dirt diver ever…
  5. fastphil
    Only one problem with that...it's too logical. The phrase "Dirt Dive It" is just fine if you already have a plan and frame of reference. However, it does nothing to address the issue if your plan is just to take grips and give a count. It doesn't allow for recognition of the fact that last second aborts do occasionally have to happen. While brevity may be the soul of wit. Sometimes in the rush to be witty and wise, people leave out the actual information that was asked for. So, you recommend ad lib in the doorway at 12 five???
  6. fastphil
    WOW, maybe a record for the most belly warts in one picture...
  7. fastphil
    Dirt Dive it...
  8. fastphil
    Oranges and grapefruits are fun to toss around, they fall at a relative speed...
  9. fastphil
    I think Houston Metro Airlines started operating twin otters out of the STOLport in Clear Lake in early 1970, so you are probably right, but this was before my skydiving career. Found this interesting site: http://gratestshowonearth.com/spx/spx.html
  10. fastphil
    Now I'll have to find someone who was there to finish the story! Topics drifting, but: I would question anyone’s memory who was there that night, as well as my own, but as I remember wet t-shirts had nothing to do in the judging criteria and beer and N2O (et al) probably played a role…
  11. fastphil
    When CRW was new my buddy and I started doing CRW with round canopies (Starlites) just to show up the square crowd. As we progressed we started keying off each other at breakoff and pulling close to each other to save time on the initial dock. On one jump at a Z-Hills Turkeymeet we broke off at about 2500 and pulled right next to each other. As my canopy was inflating above me his was inflating around me, for a pretty good wrap. I was able to kick free, and then came right back for another dock. Extremely stupid???
  12. fastphil
    Be careful, my ex wife recieved number 5800 and later became hard to live with. Just a heads up... Congrats on earning your D.
  13. fastphil
    I remember a wet T shirt contest from '76, and want to thank you for turning in early that night Jim...
  14. fastphil
    Low pulls are extreme(ly stupid), but low jumps are kinda cool. I guess you're looking for something like the early BASEers...
  15. fastphil
    What are you laughing at, I've pulled off "extreme" plenty of times. Besides, skydiving is old enough that most the extreme has been use up...
  16. fastphil
    hmmm... It's usually explaining "going up" that creates the real controversy
  17. fastphil
    Gotta love that attitude...
  18. fastphil
    I know hard boiled eggs and beans are a volatile mix, but problems are generally during the plane ride up...
  19. fastphil
    any "other" Amusement Park ride??? He might as well go to the park...
  20. fastphil
    Luckily, skydivers are also "fluid and ever-changing", pre-empting anything related from seeming odd...
  21. fastphil
    I was 21. In my first summer of jumping I could go to the DZ after work and make three jumps, then go up the highway to the "Branding Iron" for a BBQ samwich and a beer, all for about twenty bucks...
  22. fastphil
    Dragging a two way outta the plane is what we usta call a "Dallas Pin". I figured it was because thats the only way they could get together in Dallas...
  23. fastphil
    Learn from their mistakes; they should'a run faster...
  24. fastphil
    Maybe the term you want is "toast"
  25. fastphil
    Here's my short lived incursion in skydiving photography. At the time I was doing some underwater photo work and my camera was the Nikon Nikonos II. I did a few handheld jumps with a pistol grip setup I used underwater (sans strobe and all the heavy stuff). Some of my most interesting shots were double exposures caused by the film not advancing or some other internal malfunction, possibly caused by pressure loss instead of pressure gain...