Eatgrass

My perspective is that proper punctuation allows the reader to better enjoy and understand what was written. This is why we do it -- for the benefit of the reader. Therefore, your idea that content is everything, but the means is irrelevant seems faulty. ------------------------------------------------------------ You mean lazy people or those withoutwithout imagination are the ones failing "to understand" I presume? ------------------------------------------------------------ 98% of writers agree, since they do indeed (try to) use proper punctuation, especially people in careers that depend on good writing skills. Try selling your thoughts on this to ANY employer. You won't get the job. Well thats what Editors are for, to correct, and of course one can fire their secretary if they cain't spell properly while transcribing....Truly great people are men of immagination and forsight, they see the big picture they let drones see to the grunge details. relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Only important in buisness, legal documents and diplomacy, Its like english dialects between common people....Anything thats understandable are acceptable as fair to good english except to the peculiar anals known as spel natzi's imoho relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

You have my condolances, I shipped over there in the early 1960's....looks like you are screwed, blued and tatooed both ways! Both duty wise & in a skydiving way. relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Jesus said it is MORE blessed to GIVE than to RECEIVE, and I believe he's right.

Depends on your values, which has a lot to do with the way you were raised. Type A's and Immature adults are more likely to be selfish....Theirs a lot of "Whats in it for me!" attitudes in modern America so you won't be alone if you are. If someone is over 60 or 70 years old or raised in rual life where neighbor helped neighbor, they may remember when the attitude of average citizens were different. Most believed in living by the golden rule as best they could. Many people or shall I say we all are selfish to some extent without realizing it, the occasional giving act is just a way of salving our concious. WHAT CAN I SAY DAMMIT? Yes and No depending on the situation; Theres an old saying~"no good deed goes unpunished"~ relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Don't follow that skygod jerk!! who said "all you have to do is follow me" Yikes

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim. Perhaps your friend had a weak spring in his reserve PC....I've seen them spring out so hard they let out quite a few stows then dent the sheetrock. I used mostly Senior riggers for repacks, mostly because they were handy and not overloaded with work. We had two Master riggers in the area though and every few Senior repacks I'd take it to a Master rigger for a repack.....They often notice things a less experienced rigger might not pick up on, like minute changes in spring tention....They were both older and more conservative and had been around for years, witnessing many sport and gear related deaths....Wise enough not to except a slim chance as exceptable for doing nothing. Your friend was lucky----bet it didn't happen on a cross country with a long long out either

------------------------------------------------------------ I've been thinking about this a couple of days now, first response --I misread the post......Ah well that happens when you get up into your 60's and 70's sometimes. RSL is a piece of safety gear...RSL latch or unlatch is your choice really I would unhook mine before landing out probably. For reasons stated in other posts. But thats personal experience & preference. As far as screwing them up----ain't figgured that one out yet. Maybe one of the crybabies on that load can help me out if they stumble through all these posts. Its not crew....people are going to end up pretty well strung out in the air.... so the main floating around is not a problem, its going to be doing that anyway Only thing I can think of is their afraid your reserve will come out so fast someone will run into you. Thats their problem they should be heads up and maintaining some seperation anyway.....The faint of heart tend to bunch up, follow doesn't mean be bumping somebody in the butt....Just nerves on their part probably----cross countrys are probably done less than night jumps because their opportunistic jumps, things you don't do on a regular basis tend to make you tense and you see booger men where none exist......Yeah NERVES I think, they were probably just projecting fear. A few panic stricken people on a load can cause mass hysteria. They should have talked it out at the pre jump briefing with the person in charge of the specialty jump so everybody would be on the same page Then the winers wouldn't be disturbing everybody else's climb zen...Nothing worse than to be packed in a cabin on the climb and have someone freak out.

I was talking with a friend last night about this. He said it's true. I'm amazed that people actually drink beer while under canopy. I wouldn't pack my parachute after having a beer, much less try to land while under the influence. I'm loopy after half a beer. I'm surprised the DZO or his S&TA didn't end that, beer rules may have loosened up now that a lotta young Alkys out there jumping & calling it fun jumping rather than what it is they do--> (party jump)Anyway these booze hounds have taken over a few DZ's by their sheer strength of numbers alone...Every DZ I was on in the 90's had strict rules no beer till last load left the ground and no booze on a jump aircraft at all. ~Don't get me wrong, I'm no tea totaller~ but theirs a time and place for everything. Blue skys is skydiving time. After last load lifts off, THATS PARTY TIME!!! Sayyyy you kids arn't making this up are you?....Their have always been people in the sport who drank and doped while jumping, but not in the air. They would sneak off between loads to get their fix, and if it was smelled on their clothing or breath they got grounded for the day. I just cain't picture a USPA rep or any DZO letting them do it in the open durning flight hours or carry unopened booze onto a DZ Aircraft to exit with. We used to use half full beer cans as wind drift indicators on first loads...S&TA or the pilot would check to make sure they were partially filled with water and not something else before they came on the plane...They didn't taste them, the DZ commics peeing in some of the cans put a stop to trying to be "too cool to believe!"

On my first cross country, we had 10 people go out with a full briefing by experienced jumpers. We were also advised to unhook our RSL's. We were told that not only do you not need one at that altitude, but in case an aircraft is heading at you, you want to be able to cut away and fall well out of its path. If your RSL is attached, you deploy reserve immediately on cut-away and are still in harms way. Actually had a commercial airliner fly straight at me at 12/5 once, wasn't a cross country....We had a Mr. Bill fad going on at the time and I played Slugo for all the lightweights, well naturally they were not strong enough to hang my harness so I end up at 12/5 under canopy....so I'm flying along there and here came a 4 engine jet right towards me out of the city, so I'm watching him come on towards me, try turning away at a angle, here the sucker comes turning with me. Unhooked my RSL and waited. Lucky I didn't pull cuz he finally put a wing up and turned away....then give a little wing wiggle. Guess they may have been coming over just to look at the dumbass under canopy at 12500 ft. Gave me pause for thought----Mr. Bills were over for me. for more reasons than that...Another reason was the uppers at that altitude can really be ripping along and if you don't pay attention and use some technique ya might need to ride a Greyhound Bus to get back to the same county the DZ's in...... besides the banty ass's were leaving knuckle prints in my chest trying to hang on durning opening shock. ~don't say this belongs in Bonfire cuz the post that bought back memories is in this forum, where I've been following the RSL aspects of the conversation and throwing in my 2 cents on the subject~

I don't agree with this advice. You are potentially robbing yourself of so much performance from your canopy by only assuming it will make it back in one mode of flight. If you've got a strong tail wind, then yes flying in brakes is a good way to make it back. But flying one's rears can increase your glide a lot. Instead of being a passenger (continue to fly with your brakes stowed), why not be a pilot and use all of the tools available to get back. This next comment is not directed at MotherGoose, but people wouldn't be so afraid of Cross-Country jumps if they spent more time flying their canopies and less time worrying about getting back. Get up there and pull high more often and learn what sort of range your canopy has. High pulls are not to be feared and they are a great way to not only learn more about your canopy but they are a great way to enjoy the incredible view from up there. I agree with you Canuck, except half brakes is better than no brakes or full brakes, nothing beats working the rear risers to slightly pitch the nose up just enough to trim her out to improve the glide for distance. I tried it all three ways working my way back from long spots on the old F111 9 cells and was so impressed with milking the rear risers I had a Master Rigger sew hand loops on my rear risers (split slider's help also, they not only give you 25 percent more flare power but let the canopy spread out and grab more lift when its flying----every little bit helps if one is strugglin to get back without walking.....Can't speak for these modern epp's and stuff like that, wouldn't want to..... their kind of twitchy like their owners. A lot of the overloaded ZP people who made fun of my clunky old gear & one to one F111 material canopys use to have climb the fence after walking quite a spell to get back on the DZ though! ~No I didn't rub it in~

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim. indeed - the wind was powerful enough to pull my buddy on the ground, but did nothing to the reserve bundle when he cut away. Lucky thats all---IMHO Out there in the bush, alone why take a chance? Your buddy probley landed under ideal conditions on his feet if you are a liteweight it don't take much to pull you over, the repack may have been fresh and tight....out there alone in totally unknown winds not even the direction in a tight landing spot, why take a chance when operating a RSL is such a simple thing? In 94 or 95 I had bag in tow, chopped it when it stood me up in the air. Damn thing fell at least 8,000 ft landed between the runway & peas (GOOD SPOT) still bagged. Serious bag lock from bag in tow type line twists yet have fought a open reserve on the ground in winds blowing at only non student levels It like to have whipped my big butt till I pulled the line group in on one side, lost the toggles in a kind of tumble then slide-----I think your'e just hoping to earn some reserve repacking money around your home DZ kid ALSO Ever consider why they designed the RSL to be so easily latched & unlatched you can do it with one hand while suspended? bsbs relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I fought a R3 reserve durning a off airport landing on my 48'th jump. Reserve PC's are spring loaded----that and the bag are coming out for sure cuz if the PC's out the reserve flaps are open so the bags going to fall out....I've had to field pack my main and walk in more than once...thats bad enough in the hot sun and stickers out in the wilderness with fire ants trying to eat you and your gear up Trying to field pack the whole damn container providing you have enough pull up cords along would really suck. And the reserve or any part of it comes out---thats a paid repack job! Nope I pulled the brass thingy whenever in doubt about the ground wind situation on DZ or off. Whats the madder don't they teach them to pull both handles RSL or not in the modern USPA or even how to unlatch one while hanging harness? Or do modern skydivers depend on cypress to do all the pulling? Its the njumpers choice anyway----let them learn the hard way if they want! blue skys be safe....think about it before you make that XCif you are still follwing the thread original poster----talk it over with your S&TA or a rigger...one would hope the S&TA is briefing that particular load just as he or she would a night jump because cross countrys arn't done that often anyway Old rule of thumb kids: "PLAN YOUR DIVE AND DIVE YOUR PLAN" key word being ~P L A N~ relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

__________________________________________________ YEAH THAT ONE HAS ME STUMPED ALSO! How will it mess them up? RSL's are life saving devices. If you pratice your basic emergency procedures and DRCP's its just added baggage really. But I always unhooked mine if it was going to be a boondocks landing on long outs. For this reason alone, no windsocks....no knowlege of ground wind etc.... Everything might be fine windwise BUT if you get on the ground and the canopy takes control and starts dragging you, you don't know or never have been trained to release one toggle and shower down on the other you might try to cut away before ya get to many stickers in your butt. or say you are on the ground and injured, the RSL is hooked up THE RESERVE's going to come out and then you have another canopy to try and fight. THINK ABOUT IT!!! I think the people hollering about not unhooking the RSL. don't understand old technology nor do they think things out before a cross country. And what was the other one that gave me pause? OH YEAH! Some kid said he could see the DZ but it was a long way off. THATS NOT A CROSS COUNTRY/by early 90's standards, thats just a long spot. relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

[email] TFI kid, I knew George Sr. was or had been a member, Just mixed up the Universitys because I also knew George Jr. held a degree from Harvard. Hope floats! seems as if that particular political Gene pool is degrading even with educationQuote relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Depending on the distance, think about your wing loading. Try to fly the canopy flat, gently hanging rear risers will pitch the nose up just enough to flatten it out. Take some extra pull up cords (to field pack) & quarters (for pay phone or cold drinks) with you in case you land out. Have a cell phone? Take it along. The arrogant asshole that said "Just follow me" did you check if your cells & wing loads ere the same? Some canopys are faster than others you know. a few more tips; Check the uppers & ground winds before boarding Use the thermals when possible, fly down paved roads, across plowed fields etc....Last but not least do follow the crowd....This might be like a wind dummy load, the uppers tend to change you know

I thought he went to Yale. http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html But then read that his Masters was from Harvard. No problem their both solid Ivy league schools. One would assume he would have come out of either or both with more polish and or grace. I said Harvard because it was reported on some program that he had been a member of "Bones" blue skys, be safe relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

kicking must be natural for some reason, I saw a lot of people kicking as they tried to come in, course they had hundreds of jumps and the rest of the falling body had somehow had unconsciously learned to compensate for the airflow imbalance. it caused. Some seemed to kick only when they drove forward or made a tight turn like a 180. For myself on the student levels I found I had to think harder about my legs than hands and arms..never noticed myself doing it in the video's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since it bungled from the exit to 11,000 I'm thinking matthias's main problem might be nerves, he needs to learn to relax on exit-probably still has tunnel vision since he's a student. Don't rush it. Be ready when you get to the door, have a clear mind, present to the wind and just step out or off. I saw exits funnel because one or more people on the float lept off the step rather than simply stepping off and letting go while the rest simply let go. No need to be forcefull, you let go of the airplain and its going to leave you relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Doesn't that just make all terrorists want to damage us all the more? They want to and have damaged us anyway Bush don't seem to smart for a guy with a Harvard education at times but I'll give him this....its best to take the fight to the enemy rather than set at home and wait for the next attack....Another old trick that works both in street fighting and war is piss the enemy off to the point they begin to make mistakes, keep them off balance....just keep sticking them hell they want to hurt you anyway.....what ya got to loose? In my younger day I was in fights where people were knocking the hell out of each other trying to get at me. Nope I don't like Bush, didn't vote for him or his father but in his own bumbling way he's doing the right thing by dissing their radicals & keeping the pressure on those butthooks over there...The civilians getting killed is a tough break...but war is that way more noncombatants die in every war than fighters do. If it was me I'd let the IDF finish it off, most of the collateral damage is already done besides every Hamas they kill is one less thats going to bother our boys in Iraq....its all a network/a shame really because most muslins even though they might not care for the west follow the Koran and are peaceable...Their held hostage by these radical young jerks... like pay hommage or die ya know? These Terrorist types follow one radical leader or another and don't study their own Koran or follow it's basic principles, I saw a vet group intell report that said many of the foreign fighters coming into Iraq are paid fighters....plus they are willing to kill each other over denominational things, like about something that happened centurys ago....Their kinda like our own worst case Christian fundamentalists; pick one thing out of the book that fits their needs and ignore the rest. relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

I didn't use the technique till chasing the falcon and eagle later, after a hundred jumps or so trying to score the falcon you get tence specially when you saw suckup AFF grads jumping with more experienced people rather than each other qand scoring falcons pratically by the time they got the A .....we were typical dumbass's jut off student status thought all you had to do was chant ready set go to altitude and the points would come easy WRONG! Finally some of the old 20-way deguello types saw we weren't going to go away or butt smootch. For some reason they admired our determination and the fact we stuck together for and started giving us tips...that was just one, the others were creep the dive, clean up your exits that piece of advice went something like this-----"QUIT JACKING AROUND IN THE DOOR ASSHOLES!" Then one day at about 175 jumps BAM we did a 15 point falcon. The local gods were so impressed they invited us into an 8 way and damned if we didn't make 6 points! Course their were 4 competition divers in that formation, but us goomba's managed not to embarrass ourselves by missing grips or falling out at key points.....so its my belief you can overcome anything in the air by taking advice, working hard using video on key jumps to see what the problem is and mental tricks like that relaxing and positive thinking on the climb...Skydiving is more mental than physical anyway. Control your mind and the body will develope motor memory, hell Grandma's can do it. Airtime Airtime Airtime bsbs relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Thanks for the info Wendy....Paula already e-mailed that her mike was the Not Mike Smith guy [email] relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

I find I am just the opposite, I am raising my 3 boys 7,9,and 14 to think for themselves. I am not going to insist that they jump from airplanes or run from scary religions. ....mike

Makes sense to me, who would want to jump if it led to induction into the Rooskie army? relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Agreed sort of Except the goose that is laying the golden egg is still alive and well. Yeah well sometimes its a slow death Think Tandem & AFF. Thats all the DZO's and the "Pros's need. "Giving back to the sport" dates back to at least the 60's not the 90's. ~Stayed around quite a while then~ It was around to about the time that BOD put in the coaching clauze & froze the good ole boys with D's out. I saw many JM's get tired of the grind, give up their rating and just go out and jump with newbies cauze it was so much fun, their still pumped at that stage you know No offence to the DZO's or the worker bee's they have to go where the money is . As long as the DZO's can have worker beee's and worker bee wanna bee's and the super $$$$ there will be fun jumping. eventually all the real skydivers will be sitting home showing everyone the video of their skydive (their 1 one tandem). And the goose with their golden egg will continue to line up for their One skydive and video. HAHAYHAHAHAHAHA good one! Attendence at boogies is dropping off for fun jumpers but the goose with the golden egg is still attending the boogie and the industry is still happy $$$$. A successful boogie used to be counted by # of plane loads. Now it's counted by number of tandems and video. Follow the $$$$. Fun jumpers are tolerated at boogies for the atmosphere they provide to the Geese. Not bitching at the DZ, just the way i see it. Don't wanna believe it? Lets see what happens in another 10 yr's. I hope I'm wrong again. R.I.P. As far as the boogies, most of it was about jumping aircraft not avaliable locally....And big ways not to mention partying. I went to Quincy in 1995 just for those first two reasons....plenty of partying on my home DZ back then.....In fact if you made last load all the green bottle beer was likely to be gone before you gathered in your canopy. Fun jumping was becoming blured....When I started it ment just getting your knee's in the breeze....About 1994 I knoticed it had changed to drinking up all the student beer First loads started getting off later and later cuz of the hangovers. First thing you know, people who didn't sleep over on the DZ on weekends started showing up after lunch. Sucks if you be an up jumper relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

Well said, I agree....its killing the goose that laid the golden egg, I wonder if the newbies are getting value for money sometimes with low time C's coaching now, back in the early 90's many of the things they pay for was passed on freely as a given...it was called "giving back to the sport"...but as others have said---skydiving isn't for everyone You have to be willing to sacrifice relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs