Donna

I should think that an hour a page should be good enough. That gives you 36 other hours. You must be able to use a couple of them to jump. After all, that will help clear your brain of cobwebs so you'll be able to write a better paper. Right??? Blues, D

Congrats, Mark! Glad it all worked out for you and that you are still here with us! Blue ones, D

How about blue skies, nice warm weather and you had a stupid injury and screwed up your knee so could only watch others jump?

Yup!! I saw that with my kids and was thinking the same thing! My daughter was yelling out, "Oh can you and Dad get cool heart-shaped canopies like that?" lol Blues, D

I'm sorry but I think that if they won't do it after reading some accurate information regarding the sport then maybe they shouldn't be doing it anyway. They should try the sport after knowing the actual dangers and then making an informed decision that this is a risk that they are willing to take. Just my 2 cents, D

Hey Brad, I've heard nice things about the Spectre, too. I almost went with one but chose a Triathlon instead, mostly because it's suppose to be a bit easier to pack. You'll have to let us know how you like it. Blue ones, D

What are you getting for a main and a reserve, Brad?

I did most of my AFF from a King Air. You climb outside and hang onto this little bar. For the exit count you go out, in, out ..ARCH and go! On my level IV, my first time with 1 JM and no one to block the wind on my left, I got stuck on the first out. I leaned away from the plane and then the wind was blowing so damn hard that I couldn't pull myself back towards the plane to finish the exit count! That wind was just trying to rip me off the plane! I didn't know what to do because if I just let go my JM wasn't going to be in synch with me and he had been stressing how important a nice exit was. But no one had ever mentioned what to do in this situation! So there I am hanging onto the side of the plane desperately trying to figure out what to do! Plus I knew the rest of the plane was waiting for me to get the heck off so I wouldn't screw up the spot! Finally I decided to try one more time with all my might and if I couldn't do it to say the heck with it and just let go. Luckily I made it. Afterwards my JM gave me a tip that if you turn towards the back of the plane a bit so your back is taking the brunt of the wind, it helps. I tried that on level V and it worked great. I love the sound of that wind though, don't you?? Blue ones, D

Thanks, Alan. A couple people have mentioned that and it sure is good news. If I decide to go with a Racer that will be a big help. I still haven't ruled out the Talon or Wings yet either. Right now I'm in the process of sending the rig I have back to the manufacturer. They think they might be able to reposition the hip junction to move the rig further down my back. Maybe that will help enough and I won't have to get a new one, though I still like the idea of a container 3-5 inches shorter. It sounds much more comfortable! Thanks to everyone for your help! Blue skies, D

Very interesting how you got your name Skyslut! I like it! Thing is, for some strange reason I had assumed you were female until I clicked on your name. :o) Thanks for a good laugh, Greg! Some people think that I was named after a hurricane that we had the day I was born but actually my mom already had my name picked out before that. I do have a nickname, Ty, which was shortened from Tysca. That was a name I used in chat after trying a bunch of names that were already in use and I got frustrated and just threw some letters together. Looking forward to hearing your jump story, Tiger. I've written up all my jump stories on my homepage, some definitely embarrassing, especially the tree one. ( http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/7810 ) Blue ones, Donna A - 37295

I agree that it has to do with what progression you do. IAD and S/L are used to getting out that altitude so it is no big deal. AFFers get used to getting out high and are usually open under canopy by the altitude they are just getting out for their hop and pop. I did AFF and I dreaded my first low solo. During AFF we started pulling at 5500 and eventually worked down to 4500. This time I'd be getting out at 4000. ( They normally do it at 3500 but I talked them into the extra 500). I was so nervous that I wouldn't have time to get stable. I just kept picturing myself tumbling through the sky like some of my exits from the King Air. Someone told me that if you pulled quick that you wouldn't have time to get unstable. I couldn't get a hold of that rip cord fast enough! I ended up loving that dive. It was such an adrenaline rush and it ended up being my first stand up landing, too. My husband did his at the same time as me and was almost as nervous as me even though he had done S/L 20 years earlier. Since then he has done quite a few and found out that you really do have plenty of time to get stable before pulling. On one of them he got out at 4,000, counted to 10 (OK... maybe it was a fast 10) and checked his altimeter and it was still 3500! I'm sure you will do fine when it comes to be your turn, Mountain. Donna http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/7810

Well I wasn't there so I don't know either. I just thought people might like to know what I had read. Barry maintains the Fatalities Page. http://www.skydivenet.com/fatalities/fatalities_us_01.html Either way it's very sad. My heart goes out to his family and friends. Donna

According to Barry's incident report page and a post on rec.skydiving Bungy was not doing a hook turn and he did NOT have a toggle buried on impact. In fact, he didn't have the toggles in his hands at all. The following is copied from a statement by a friend of his at Deland: Stephane "Bungy" Drapeau died at DeLand on Good Friday. The newspaper article said, in part: > Observers said the 30-year-old from Quebec was making > a routine jump until he made a tricky high-speed turn > at an extremely low altitude as he approached the > landing area near the DeLand Municipal Airport. However, this was not a hook turn accident as the above implies. The bare bones information is this: Bungy was jumping a Velocity 85, and he did not flare. Related facts are that he was learning to perform/perfecting a rear riser flare, his toggles were not in his hands, but he was reaching upward at impact. Everyone wants to talk about what they can learn from an incident, but with rare exceptions, what we usually learn is that mistakes can kill you. We here at DeLand are devastated, because Bungy was a ray of sunshine on a rainy day. What I loved about him (one of the many things) is that he was almost always happy--even when things weren't going well for him, he'd shrug his shoulders, say "oh well" and keep right on going. The world is diminished by his absence. I will miss him always. Love to everyone, rl Hope this helps to clear some things up.

Yup! Very cold Thanksgiving! I was there, too, though not jumping. I had hurt my back on a jump with a bad spot where I ended up in a tree. (I'm not usually this injury prone! I swear!) My husband was jumping in that frigid weather though. I actually wasn't feeling that bad for myself because I couldn't jump. And yup! There are some great people at Jtown! I think I'll have to pass on the night jump. At the rate I'm going I doubt I'll have 50 jumps by then. Plus for my first night jump I prefer that big, huge, sandy bowl out in the middle of Orange. I'll take you up on it some day though! Donna

I jump at Jumptown in Orange, MA. but my in-laws have a cottage in Milton. NH about 5 minutes from Lebanon. My husband and I checked it out last summer when we were up there. We were in the middle of AFF then and decided to wait on jumping there until this summer. We both got our A licenses at the end of last season. We have been eagerly waiting to get jumping again now that the weather is getting nice. Unfortunately, I trashed my knee while painting! of all things at the DZ a few weekends ago. (A counter I was standing on collapsed and I fell) No jumping for me until at least June. We will be up that way 4th of July though so will stop by. Hopefully I will be able to jump again then. Maybe see you then! Donna

Geez! I was having a good laugh here until you all started talking about your ages! Wait until you're 40! But about the driving thing... last summer when we went on vacation up in NH with our kids I got the idea of hanging out the window on the uncrowded highways up there. I tried it and had a blast and then had to let each of my kids try it. I only let them go part way and I was hanging onto them and they had a seatbelt still kind of on them though they were on their knees. I, too, was also experimenting with just turning my hand or arm slightly and feeling the difference and how the air flowed around it. It was really fun. I'm happy to know I'm not alone here! Donna

Night jumps at Lebanon seem a bit nerve wracking to me. There's a lot of woods surrounding that small landing area. I'm trying to work up courage to jump there in daylight! :o) I bet it is really beautiful though! Hopefully I'll find out someday. Donna

That's great news, Craig! I'll definitely check into it. Thank you!! Donna

I'm leaning towards buying a Racer for quite a few reasons. The one thing I am hesitant about it is the 2 sided RSL setup that they use. Jumpshack seems to strongly support the idea of it but everyone else I talk to says to stay away from it. They do say you can hook both snaps up to the same side and use it as a single sided one but that concerns me. I had planned on using an RSL but now I'm thinking if I go with Racer that I won't use one. What do all you other Racer owners do?

Thanks to Pammi, Mike and Sis, too for your help. At least I know I'm not alone. I agree, Sis, that so much of the gear is made to fit big guys. That is the main reason I went with new because everything I saw used wasn't the right size. So then I was so disappointed when my new stuff didn't fit! At least I've learned a lot from all this, though it was a very expensive lesson. Thanks again! Blue skies, Donna

Hey Wingnut, I never said you had to be female to answer! :o) I have heard about the Racers with the NOS option. Nancy and John from Jumpshack have been very helpful and think they can solve my problem. They can truly custom build a container and harness system to fit my body. We have a lot of Racers at my DZ and a very competent rigger than is used to working with them. I don't mind the 2 pin CYPRES even though it means I have to sell my new 1 pin one already. The only thing that is holding me back from getting one is the 2 sided RSL. I have read all the articles on jumpshack.com about it and know those at Racer truly believe and trust in it but everyone else tells me to stay away from the 2 sided option. My other choice would be to just not use an RSL but I'm not sure I want to do that either. I'd be very interested in what other Racer owners have to say about this. Thanks for all the help! Donna

Geoff and Whiskeychick, I did check out Mirage but they aren't sure that their container would fit me any better if I stay with the same size canopies that I have. Like I said in my reply to Lisa, I really want to stay with the Tri190 for this summer anyway. They are a nice container and I wish they would fit but I don't dare take another chance on getting one with the same problem. Thanks for the idea! Donna

Hi Tee, Thanks for the information about the Talon. I tried one on at my DZ this weekend and though it was a bit smaller than the size I would need, it felt really comfortable. Most importantly it seemed to be cut back a bit in the yoke area and didn't bother me at all there. I have some correspondence going with Riggings Innovation now to see if they think they could help me out. Does your Talon have the velcroless toggles? I am wary of them because I have heard stories of them coming unstowed and even saw a cutaway on a night dive because of one. Thanks for the help! Donna

Thanks, Lisa. I've decided to downsize my reserve but I don't feel comfortable downsizing the Triathlon yet. A recent knee injury makes it even more important to have a bit softer landing. I have decided to get a different container and have narrowed it down to 3, with Wings being one of them. Thanks for the help. Donna

No, it was a fatal mistake.