nacmacfeegle

It looks like its dumping so much rain, the DZ wil be out of action for the remainder of the w/e anyway. Damn South Texas clay (not the notorious Atlanta Clay) and inefficient drainage, the landing area will be like a freakin' paddy field again... Cya D

"what does he have on under there?" Zip, niet, zilch,nadda, Nothing is 'worn' under my kilt, its all in perfectly good order . Cya D

"I feel your pain. " Yes, its very sore and all swollen....... Cya D

Hell Dave, I've seen a side spin video from Sibson, with the drogue round the tandem masters neck, the video guy swooped in and cleared it. I think he got some sort of medal for the save. Its quite a well known incident in the UK. I can't remember the individuals involved off hand, but I think Ronnie O'Brien was the hero...... Cya D

"I'm at work and now all I'll be able to think about is poontang!!! " No change there then

"Go sit in the corner until you stop spouting that crap!!! " [Barney Rubble] Uh okay Fred [/Barney Rubble] Cya D

Paula, No wisdom or advice, just some friendly encouragement.... So you packed yourself a bridle routeing mal--bad girl! Will you make the same mistake again, well (having known you since november) I don't really think so. I believe you are concienscous (sp?) and careful, and very safety orientated, this was an isolated incident, trust me they happen. For the rest of your skydiving career (may it be a long and glorious one little sister) you will be looking out for that same mistake. I'm glad you packed your own save, it would give me a warm rosy glow to know I did right in the same situation. Think debrief and look at the good points first. The only thing I can relate to this was holding a 300 ft fall in the Verdon gorge while climbing a few years back. A friend was at full rope runout, he fell, and all his protection zippered out as he went past me. Catching a fall like that is about the biggest test of one's belaying skills possible, and I felt really good that I held him and he didn't get hurt. We rapelled off that one and drank mucho beer that night. You'll be allright, in fact my res will be due before too long, do you want to pack it for me under Chris' tutelage? That's my money where my mouth is fer ya. Cya D

"so we now enforce the spotters rule" And make sure there is adequate separation too.... Ask for a go (get a) round if things get really hairy..... Cya D

Chat with the Tandem Master, and camera flier, they will give a whole list of dos and don'ts. Where you should be at various stages of the tandem, blind spots, explian the trap door effect, and potential areas of concern etc.... I would also practice with a few tandems before you do the one with your daughter, it will save you rushing, flailing, and possibly goofing a good photo opportunity. Plus what the guys said above.... Have a great time, I'm sure your daughter will love it. Cya D

Okay people, this has been a good thread with many valid points being raised and discussed in a civilised and polite manner, I'm impressed. What I'm getting from it is this, in no particular order. 1-Don't open higher than planned 2-Allow sufficient horizontal separation- we can't rely on the 45 deg 'rule', neither can we give a definite timing to space out groups or individuals. Exit timing is dependent on jump run direction and winds, and we must also consider wind direction at varying altitudes. 3-We are all responsible for our own spot, or we have to deal with the consequences ourselves, and this does not involve pulling high. 4- Bryan Burkes/Dave Brownells work is valuable, also Prof Kallend's excellent freefall simulator is worthy of examination, and digestion. 5- Be aware of zooming/floating potential of lo timers and newbies, and try to factor this in. (and hey I include myself in the zoomie bracket even after 1000 jumps, cos I flail head down). 6- Hard and fast rules do not work in this application, we should be aware of the influencing factors, and adjust exit order and separation to suit variable climatic conditions, and an infinite variety of mixed loads. A panacea for these considerations currently does not exist. I see no discussion of speed racers, surfers, and hybrids here.....therefore we need to factor considerations for these types of jumps into our typical RW/FF loads Please add anything that I have overlooked to the above list, in the interest of the common good. Lets all fly with our eyes open and watch out for surprises....wherever they may come from. Lets take care out there. Cya D

"DZ.com forums are much more fun than electromagnetic fields" I thought the CRT is all about electromagnetic fields...

"so why not go hang with new people if I can or can not jump" Yup, yup, yup. It looks like the Texas freaks will mostly be there, so who is left at home to jump with anyway? If this freaky weather improves, I'm heading off tonite, rig and shit is in the car for a quick getaway..... Otherwise, I'll be having a few cool ones in the local, then heading out there manana. If the weather is still pants, I hear they have some good outlets for some retail therapy up there. I wanna Davy Crocket hat, and some nice boots to take back with me.

Bottom up:- Nike Air trainers Boring socks A pair of Calvin Kleins A pair of Rohan strides An O'Neil sweatshirt My lucky bone Tikki My Casio altichron so I can keep an eye on weather change Issay Mishiakke cologne And a happy smile cos its friday.... It was raining at 6 this am, so I wore my Brit100 (UK RW record) jacket to keep the wet stuff off me...... I'm also wearing an air of anticipation, cos I'm heading off to a new DZ tonite for a weekend of freefly frolics, looking forward to meeting some old friends, and making some new ones

Safety nazi hat ---ON Be sure you can cut it away, using one hand, preferably a single cutaway point. Try and minimise snag points, become familiar with duct or gaffer tape, Use an audible, preferably two, Freeflying needs a different camera angle than that used for tandems, RW etc, it also needs a wider angle lens. Safety nazi hat---OFF Have fun, film everything, learn to edit like the wind, log your tapes so you can find the 'good stuff' later. Cya D

Kiera, Simon is a camera flier, a not bad one at that , not sure if he has a regular or home DZ as such Rem hehehe, I'm sure Swardy would take it in all in good humour, besides, he's older than me, so he's definitely getting on a bit

Aw shucks Rachel, that's nice of you to say so....Of course I'll stay in touch with pics of Nacmacanklebiter, post cards, etc, you guys mean a lot to me (a lot more than most of you may realise), and I will miss you all sorely. I would have been very lonely indeed without my Texan friends to hang with. It looks like my last w/e will be the same one as the 120 ways, so we should be able to hijack a casa and lig whatever parties are going down. Gotta go now and do some beer drinking with my boss, I'll catch up with you in a couple of weekends, unless you are going up to San Marcos for their freefly thing....... Cya D

Peggy dies, a sad day indeed...sniff Cya D

Cool, we may fit in that oilman jump yet..... Cya D

I never denied it.... The only folk who never 'bash the bishop' are liars or angels.... I'm no angel......But I got wings

"I think I might just enjoy that Casa where ever it is in South Texas" Yeah!!!! Thats what I'm talkin' bout. Tail gates, I luv em! see ya there Rachel, Cya D

Sorry I should take it a little more seriously, My MR100 is similar to yours, but my RW is, as you well know is rusty to say the least, in fact its positively corroded... So do I get a slot on the forthcoming 120 ways ? The numbers are meaningless Paula, leave that to the scientologists....... Gotta go now, Cya D

"what does that deduce about my currency" Umm dunno, but you should take real care packing my wee pal..... Cya D

Rich, if the Casa is at SDH in early June, are they open midweek?? I'll be around from the 6th onwards.... Cya D

"look how cute she is holding her beer" Ah yes, I remember that night, your right I'll increase my bid to $1, TWO pull ups, and a bottle of Patron...... Cya D

I see your dollar and raise you a Square1 pull up Cya D