TheCaptain

Generally speaking, when one starts wingsuit flying their deployments may be less then optimal as you are learning how to deal with the extra fabric during the deployment sequence(plus learning a different way to pull all together). Also in most suits (minus the new Tony suits, and the Phoenix fly Prodigy) you can not reach high enough to unstow your brakes without either unzipping or pulling the cutaway for the arm wings. All that aside it is a personal decision and I have seen some start out with elliptical and be fine (no cut aways) but the safest choice is a canopy that flies well in line twist. Kirk He's dead Jim

I think you had a great solution in what you did with the Volley ball team, poll the parents and majority wins. This way everyone knows upfront the direction the team is taking. My son got into football in Fifth grade and since it was his first year as a parent my concern was with equal playing time and I am sure as time goes on and my sons skills increase I may push more for the win aspect. Kirk Kirk He's dead Jim

I not saying in this case, I just find it really interesting how everyone states they would never ever sue and anyone that would even consider it should not be in this sport, but the real reality when presented with it may be different Kirk He's dead Jim

I really think this falls more under you will never know what you would do unless you are in their shoes. I know most of us have this high ideal that we would never ever consider the idea of sueing if something happened. However: when you loss your job due to the massive amount of time it may take to recover, the mounting medical bills that can quickly add up to hundred thousands of dollars, the idea of lossing everthing, I would be willing to bet more than a few would turn to sueing. I sure hope I would not but I do not know because I am not in those shoes, (and hopefully never would be).

Lita Ford http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sa-4A7RrP8 Doro Pesch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVUpIdkCPyI&feature=related Nancy Wilson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LLaeRUsWr0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhigmNrfEsU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sa-4A7RrP8&feature=related there is the ever famous Tawny Kitaen in Whitesnakes video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKTiwCez6Zs or on the pop side http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIcWxFR4uh0

My comment was meant to say plasma is a little better than LCD

http://bestbuy-cnet.com.com/4351-12658_7-6583301.html There really is no correct answer to this question, however, I believe Plasma for the most part edges out ahead of LCD.

I believe that most people with high jump number learnt swooping without any digital gadget. I do respect them. You may call me impatient, but I do not want to go that way. I use digital gadgets as guides as long as I need them. Just remember those bounced without proper tools and techniques. So what do you plan to due if your digital gadget stops working (as they all will do at some time)or gives you a false reading after you have left the plane ? My Suunto Vector when the battery is too low the watch will reset itself in the middle of a skydive for 6000 ft and 6:00 PM

I agree 100%

A couple of years ago my son was into BMX racing and the full face helmets they use offered some face protection along with the normal helmet(that are lighter than Snell or Dot motorcycle helmet). Here is a link to Protec take a look at the Augar or the Shovelhead http://www.pro-tec.net/bike/main.html, or just go to a local bike shop that deals with BMX bikes they should have others similar. Kirk

I have a feeling we will never see eye to eye on this subject. I think digital altimeters are a great tool to aid a swooper, I just think it is a very bad idea to count on them as your only tool of how high you are. When I started to learn high performance landings I was taught to slowly progress the degree of turn starting out flying straight in on double fronts until you got that site picture right. Than progress to a 45° turn to final until you got that site picture right, and so on. I eventually bought a digital altimeter and use it for set up but my 180° is always done by site picture (and yes the digital altimeter helps build this site picture). Kirk

In a down plane both canopies are pointed away from each other and eventually end up pointing down more horizontal to you being vertical. Even though the canopies will accelerate you should still be falling faster so you would always stay slightly below the canopies. When you cut away you will just swing under the reserve like a pendulum That is unless you are talking about the situtation that pchapman was talking about two very different sized main and reserve with the reserve being much smaller than the main. Even in that situation if you cutaway when the down plane starts you would be fine. Kirk

High performance landings are something that should be done using a visual site picture not just a number on a digital altimeter. Even beyond initiating the turn is what that site picture looks like during the turn. A pilot will need to be able to assess if they are a little low or high while in the middle of the turn, this I think is key as there is still time fix it (and there is no time to look at your altimeter). I think digital altimeters are great for setup but I feel you should never rely solely on it for making that turn. I have watched people that usually do good high performance landing nearly bounce if their digital altimeter battery went dead on the jump. IMHO it is a very bad idea to use a digital altimeter as your sole gage of when to initiate a high performance turn. Kirk

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7995459&type=product&id=1155070318430 My wife bought me one for working out (a couple of years ago) and I loved it. It has an expasion port for additional memory and it has a built in FM radio too. I have bought one for my son too. I have since moved on to a larger 80 Gig Ipod classic but my wife still uses my old one. Kirk

I have a son who is 12 and while is not alot he has 22 minutes of tunnel time already Kirk

I would think the real issue is that Miley is idolized by a huge audience of young girls and boys (I would guess 8 to 16) that watch her on what most every parent would look at as a wholesome network " Diseny". I know my son who is 12 always tivo's Hanna Montanna

The cheapest one gets my vote. I use a EVO Z1 because I could buy it for $120. I really do not feel the EVO offers any real protection accept for riser strikes and noise reduction but it was the cheapest with a inside pocket for protrak. Kirk

I believe this helmethttp://www.boneheadcomposites.com/havok.htm will fit most glasses. The Z1 or the Mamba will accomadate low profile glasses. Kirk

Before buying any new canopy you should demo as many different ones in the same class. I would also add to your list the Safire 2. I know PD has a really great demo program, I am not sure about the other manufactors. Personally, I have never wanted to pay that much for a canopy so I look for a good deal on a slightly used one (100-300 jumps) Kirk PS demo, demo, demo

Can't forget about Terminal Velocity

When I got my policies I explained to them that I skydived and they stated they only had a suicide exclusion. They stated the reason they could do this so cheaply was because the policies had a cap of $100,000. I have looked through my policy and had another insurance agent (who did not believe it would cover skydiving) look through it too and the only exclusion was suicide so there are cheap policies out there if you look enough. Kirk

I was told the USPA needs the money from the IRM sales. I would think the USPA would not care but after buying the IRM to get the USPA tandem rating (I have been a tandem istructor for almost 5 years). There was a mistake made on my P-card while filling in all the pre-requisite stuff so I used a photo copy I had made for someone else. When I got the the course I was told, it was not acceptable and got a talk about how the USPA needs the money from the sale of the IRM. I pointed out I had already bought the IRM and if need be I would buy another. We found an exra IRM and used the orginal p-card, so take it for what ever you want. Oh, yeah the course was taught by the Vice President of the USPA and was done last month. In the end really is the $40 or what ever it cost for the book that big of deal (just a couple of tandem jumps) Kirk By the way loved the course. Jake Stokes is the man and does one superb job of teaching and really help me get through the little bit I needed without having to retake the entire course.

I was told that they are not accepted by the vice president of the USPA(that was 1 month ago). Kirk

I have two policies one for $100,000 at a cost of $25 a month and another for $50,000 at a cost of $15 a month. Here is a link to the companyhttp://www.greatwest.com/index.htm The policies only had one exclusion and that was suicide. Kirk