TheCaptain

OK, What the f**k? Is there a real statement or question you are trying to make? First and foremost always demo as much as possible in the area of canopy you want to buy. Kirk

Skydive Oregon has 13 Sigma rigs with all Precision 365 Mains (very similar to the Icarus mains). Packing takes a little getting use to but they fit fine. Kirk

Maybe you should have put that in the question. (ie. "Top 10" Turbine DZs") The way it was phrased makes it sound like a Cessna dropzone can't be good. I'm sure that wasn't the intent, but it does come across a little that way. Blues. Oh My God, give me a break. This was a simple f**king question and now everyone has turned it into something else Kirk

My experience is slightly limited and biased as I have only been to 3 DZ's and do the vast majority at one DZ. However; it is my home and I love it here Skydive Oregon is my top one Out of the other 2 only one had more than a C182 and I was very disapointed. Kirk

The problem he is going to run into is most all sport harness containers TSO'd for a weight total of 250 LBS, so subtract 20LBS for gear and a jumper needs to be under 230LBS. I know some miltary rigs and some modified tandem rigs can be used for heavier jumpers. Kirk

Right click on an empty space on bar and uncheck mark the hide tool bar Kirk

Off subject Yes, low and slow have the right of way; however it is everyones job to fly a predictable pattern and keep their head on a swival while in the air and until they are off the landing area. Many times I have seen large canopies fly their pattern right over the top of the landing area and doing "s" turns on final. Kirk

I have a couple of mp3 players and each have high points and each have their downfalls; however, most manufactures of car stereo's now release versions that will control an Ipod from the car stereo. Yes, you can hook other mp3 players up to a car stereo but you have to use the mp3 player to control the music. I personally only bought a Ipod video for one reason to put it in my glovebox and have my entire library of music on my car stereo and not have to mess with plugging the unit in and out and hiding it everytime I went somewhere. Kirk

I have an Ipod and a sansa mp3 player, both are great and both have features I like and dislike. I bought the Ipod mainly to have my entire music collection in my car. New car stereo's have an interface that will work with an Ipod so you can control the Ipod through the car stereo face and keep the Ipod in the glove box (for this I love the Ipod). I find in general I like the Ipod alot, I love the fact you can download most album cover art but I do not care alot for the wheel I find its sometimes difficult to pick the exact artist I want. As far as price from what I have seen once you go above 8 Gigs the Ipod is in the same price range if not a little cheaper than the others. One last thing with the Ipod transfering movies from your own DVD to it is a very laborsome project. Kirk

Wow, that is amazing to me that some DZ have less than great video flyers. The DZ I work at is extremely picky about the quality of the video and hense we have incredible video flyers. Kirk

Just a thought about that. A sidewinder has next to no snag points as it stands and does not have a cutaway system, by adding a still camera you are adding snag points for lines and there will still be no cutaway system on it (this could end in a very bad situation). I started out with a Sidewinder 2, then after a while I wanted stills. I thought about modifing my sidewinder but choose to buy a different helmet with a cutaway system before adding a still camera. Kirk

Safety wise it makes the most sense to have tandems get out after fun jumpers. The time it takes for the other jumpers to get out a tandem instructor should be able to get hooked to the student(if they are low enough to not have started hooking up). Also tandems openning altitude is higher and usually the canopies take longer to open. Let us not forget the money side of this (tandem and students make up the larger part of the financial side for the DZ so if anyone should get out lower it should be the fun jumpers). Kirk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LgKrtdKBsng&feature=related Kirk

IMHO, buy and new suit fitted to you. Buying a use ill fitted suit can cause you to pick up bad skydiving habits to compensate for the ill fitting suit ( When I started out I bought a used RW suit that was a tad small. The measurement from the shoulders to the crouch was too short, so I got used to having to really arch hard to fly. Later on someone pointed it out and I eventually ordered a suit to fit me. As soon as I took it up I was flying much fast so much so it became an issue and I had to start learning to fly dearched all over again.) When ever possible dress for success (buy the right suit for what you want to do) Kirk

Yeah, he's right it is an individual thing and so are the consequences. The incident forum is filled with the special people who were ahead of the curve and knew they would not get hurt as others who rushed things because they are "special". The lucky ones end up with bruises and broken bones the unlucky ones end up paralized, quadraplegic or dead. In eight years in this sport anyone I have seen (myself included) that rushed to downsize and go eliptical ended up getting hurt. Kirk

As everyone else has mainly said "used gear" is the way to go for first rig. The reality of this is most people will down size their main several times especially in the first few hundred jumps. Containers have a limited range of canopies that they can fit ( a container made for a 170 main can usually squeaze a 190 very tight and a 150 loose). My first rig cost me $1500 and in 100 jumps I bought a smaller main for $500 used. Here is just one example http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/detail_page.cgi?ID=56282;d=1of things in the used market. I see you have listed Skydive San Diego as home DZ , when you get some money set asside ask Blake if he could help hook you up. At most large DZ 's there is usually always people downsizing. On the subject of funding skydiving, I personally picked up a second job to fund it. Kirk

Falcon 195 (1.1 to 1) 10-100 jump # Safire 1 169 ( 1.46 to 1)100- 250 jump # Crossfire 2 130 (1.85 to 1) 250-600 jump # VX 109 (2.1 to 1) current canopy had for awhile Xaos 27 cell 98 (2.3 to 1) 800 jump # Kirk

I do not know about AutoCad but in Keycreator (Cadkey) you can import Dxf files into a new part file and can import as may dxf files as you want, the parts need to be made so the do not overlap each other . Kirk

I can not talk about new VX's as I have a 1999 made one. I have a 109 and 98% of the time I get great opennings. I PRO pack it and roll the nose and for the most part get great results. I did notice that I have a very large slider and I jumped a later model 104 which had a considerably smaller slider than mine. Kirk

Plant Earth is an amazing collection http://imdb.com/title/tt0795176/ Kirk Kirk He's dead Jim

Personally, I carry a spare keys to my car in my wallet, Gym bag, and skydiving gear bag. Kirk

One of the women from the truck was the woman in the store at the begining that left to get her two children who were left home by themselves. I did not reconize any of the others in the truck. Kirk

I have a limited experiance with Xaos 27 cell, which is to say I bought one a put about 50 jumps on it. The 27 cell has this one issue that sometimes when it opens the end cells inflat while the middle of the canopy is deflatted and the end cells fly together ( creatings a fortune cookie shape). If stable (not spinning either way) all you have to do is pump the rear risers and the canopy fully inflates. I have had this small fortune cookie shape start spinning up and it spins up pretty quickly (I kicked out of it but before I could pop the rear risers it spun up the other way) I eventually got it open. There is a way to pack to avoid this happening, expose the center three cells and just fold the other three cell either side back 180°. I found this would keep the canopy from doing the fortune cookie thing but I always ended up with a very fast 360° turn on openning to which ever side inflated last. After flying it for 50 jumps I did not feel comfortable with the opennings enought to put it as my main rig (which I wingsuit with).I loved the performance of the Xaos 27 cell after it was open(light front riser pressure, great dive, fast turns) What I stayed with is a VX. Packed properly it always opens nice and in line twist it flys straigtht. Kirk

If this was a different time way back when before men were held accountable for there actions, I would agree if a guy cheats with someone elses date then they deserve an ass beating. Now in todays world, cheaters are the lowest form of humanbeings on earth and they are not worth the trouble. This guy is now probably facing jail time, a lawsuit over a low life cheating woman (definitly not worth it !!!! if this is what really happened). That is IMHO Kirk

Most every relationship I have been in the woman has had children so I am really do not know how to answer for those men who run from it. Personally I love kids and it really never mattered to me if they were mine biologically. Just this year I adopted my step son. Being with a woman with kids brings an entire set of additional areas to make sure your compatible with. Such as ideals they will be raise with, discipline (along with that is how the woman feels about you stepping into this role), do they sleep with the mother. The discipline one was the biggest hurtles to get over and find someone that I could be compatible with. OH, yeah, at first when the overnighters happen you are always seen as the intruder to their world. This is a tuff hurtle to get over especially if the mother allows the children to sleep with her. Kirk