dterrick

We hada a NOTAM for night jumps last Saturday. The lake effect snow was blowing almost horizontal. We called beer light and head into town for dinner. Had we waited until 10 or 11 PM we'd have had a chance to jump in 'borderline' night VFR's but we all agreed that it was no major loss that we missed the Frostbite Experience. We all jumped on Sunday... eventually. Seeing a C-182 "de-iced" with automotive grade scrapers and brushes - while the whine of an interior car warmer emerged through a jumpsuit-filled cowling is quite a site. Definately lo-tech, but environmentally friendly. I, after a nanosecond of intense thought, went back to bed until about noon. the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

I betcha most 'bigg biff canopies' are tired old ones like mine (a Raven II @ 0.95:1 that opens like a reserve, flies like a 747, and lands like a round). I also betcha those biffers (like me) are going to come out waaaay ahead when they have the money to buy something decent and the numbers to back it up. And, I betcha those pilots will, like me, will stay conservative on wing loadings but amaze people with what CAN be done with them. Yesterday I was loaned a Sabre 210 (fresh reline). We were on wind hold all day but all of a sudden, at sunset, the wind dropped to nil. Time for one hop'n'pop. The opening seemed SOFT (Sabre?). Working the risers like I did my Raven actually DID something progressive. In full glide I actually was GLIDING, not sinking, and it felt like I had twice as much manouver time as I should. The landing? COMPLETE control and a progressive flare that put my second (and final) step on the cookie!

Demo hop and pop Minutes spent in frozen air Damn my hands are cold Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Think Golf. Seriously. When I sit exit from our 182 I use a modified golf stance. Bend knees as near to 90 deg. as needed to stand on the step facing the tail. With a bit of practice you will find a point where you can balance on the step leaning backwards into the prop blast without any grips. I position myself 'hugging' a 3 foot diameter tree (or whatever) - sometimes my right hand grips the rear of the door frame for stability. A gentle 'hop' off the step and a conscious de-arching at the waist gives a nice stable sit. A flat torso (leaning back as you exit) will bring you into inverted flight. Both are cool. I learned the back layout when I started getting lazy at my de-arch. ...de-arched on a delta and found the closest thing to headdown I've seen yet! ...It's no wonder they emphasize arching during progression Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

One where a 100-jump wonder was spotting *** ..I resemble that remark.... mine was jump # 74, first load on Canada Day 2002. I've just come off a 3 day skills camp to get my RW endorsement for my A CoP; the weather has been into the 100's with high humidity for 5 days now. To boot it was a sports car racing weekend so I had two sets of Beerfests to attend. NOBODY was at their swiftest for that first load of the holiday Monday (July 1). My first RW as an A pending was the jump form our C-182 - which was not that impressed with the high heat and high humidity (can you say stall?) Our intrepid ex-RAF pilot Duncan pulls a hard banked turn over the target and shouts DOOR!! when he realize he's shorted the loop. Garth exits poised but this is my first go at entering crotch from the JM seat. As Garth is waiting hopelessly on the wing or me to exit, the plane starts to buffet and I get pissed. WTF is Dunc doing to me on my first legit RW? I thin kto myself... I didn't hearthe stall buzzer. We launch (eventually) and complete a decent 2 way but Garth signals breakoff at 4k and I turn and track (still kinda deltaing my tracks). Then and there I realize I'm 3 MILES from DZ at 2k and am not going to make it back. there's no sign of the second 2 way (we did this in 1 pass!) I had neglected to look at the windsock as the winds were light and I "trusted" Garth to spot well. I left a 75 foot streak in the alfalfa field as I landed, downwind, in a knoll between 2 stands of trees (so much for go for the middle of the field theory) I thought I was the only one to blow it. As it turns out, Garth pulled at 4k and ALMOST made it back. I was a solid mile and a half from DZ (they found me para-hiking the mile road) but the second pair were a mile further out yet!! *** We have an award at yearend called the "Helen Keller Spotting Award". With but 3 weekends to go Garth (and the pilot) still hold honors on this dubious honour. No injuries but to the Pride. Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Insane in the Membrane...Insane in the Brain! ...but did the cops come and rob your crops? Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Do tell... how bad has a load gone without a serious injury? You know the kind of load I mean - the one where right from manifest you KNEW the plane would break or someone would have a mal or a cypres fire. Mindcake posted a first cutaway thread over in s&t that sounds pretty good... first load, one dead engine, bad spot, jump lights not working, mal Dave ...geez at 'my' DZ there are no jump lights and if one engine is dead, well, we're a glider Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...sounds like "safety and training" poster material... you know, the one where that statement made is "Accidents are never caused by ONE thing alone but rather a series of events..." ...well, that one and the "there's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane"... the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

..."had" to chop while on a 20 second delay (IAD) and I bought beer. A week later, bought beer for my solo CoP. A week later, my "new" rig. Then.... well I'm up to 7 cases this season, a Century (PIE!!) and a B CoP. Whine not, it's a "bragging right" to but beer, legitimately the Dave PS: what is this AFF thing? More than me on the wing is RW !!! Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

... a Vybak 2 ply ... Hey, it was over my head, was crowned on the top skin, flat underneath, and kept me dry. Max speed was about 90 mph, and by my calculation it was about a 16 sq ft. Landing, however, required that I flew it first, and THAT required that I DROVE it off a cliff It was the convertible top from my 1965 Triumph TR-4A IRS (no, not THEM). I still own the car but I have no money to restore it since I've started skydiving. Oh well... Swoop THAT, Hutch The Dave ..wait till it's on the road with the Judson supercharger, even Dan J. won't be able to catch me Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...my gig was sports car racing (terminal in 2-D, 1.25G's)... right next door to my dropzone... I hear ya on the 3-D thing bro, it's been THE challenging element for me too. Flying a ragged out F-111 7 cell has made consistent landings "work" rather than fun at times but I've not yet missed so much as a weekend due to injury. the "pain" of risering a reserve canopy (think Volvo bus... boxy and safe but it'll still get you there at decent speed) to get performance will be a great grounding for the faster canopies I'll be into ...eventually... I think I was lucky that I started finding the Edge with a GT-2 Datsun 240Z on racing slicks and not a canopy becuse I had several "off's" at terminal velocity that "learned me" to practice practice practice and to downsize with a view to landing under POOR conditions - not the conditions I "expect". Sounds like you found out the harder way...I don't speak M.D. but wishes for a speedy recovery

To get my B CoP (CSPA) I needed to demonstrate swooping to a formation (Coach 2) with a 1-2 second delay. This I have done and (as you all know) have found a 2 second delay swoop takes a long time to dock. Once, though, I broke at the waist and went virtually headdown

Completed my CSPA B CoP requirements at Gimli Manitoba this weekend

Three tomatoes are walking alomg the Main Street - Papa tomato, Mama tomato, and Baby tomato. Baby tomato is tired and starts to lag behind the parents and this makes Papa tomato very angry. He turns around, furious, and SMASHES baby tomato into the pavement and says... "catchup" the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Pete.... I'm jumping at Gimli today, winter or not. Just bring more clothes. Be you can't wait for ParaSki in March, New Years (location TBA) and Rememberence Day at Brandon The Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Troll with better bait. (sorry) Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Do a "Dive Recovery Drill" with toggles and risers ... For eg: From full flight at an "observed" altitude, CRANK a 180 toggle turn, release, FLARE IMMEDIATELY. Now note your altimeter reading. You now know what will happen if you decide to get out of a downwinder at an altitude less than the altitude you lost doing a fast 180 toggle. Credits to Rob Hutchinson (DZO) and CSPA (he helped write "the book"). I've use flat turns "a lot more" on final after seeing a friend hook in three months ago and jump only a handful of times since due to injurues. With a 250 foot dive on my Raven (big, slow, tired) I now know how close to I thump I would have come in the past getting home from a long spot and decided to crosswind instead the Dave OH YA, ALMOST FORGOT.... BRING THE BEER!! Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

(best cheesy German accent please...) Two peanuts were walking down the road and one of them was assaulted.... Killer joke? Obsure reference? Neeh! the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Samsonite makes a cool "gear bag" which is really intended to be a Backpack/carryon. The label says "COC126" "310" (circled) and "898 Samsonite Sports" if any of those numbers helps at your local luggagery. The bag is black cordura and has a 16 x 20 footprint, just big enough for my Racer. Two large pockets (10 x 15 x 5"deep) hold all the ancilleries including spare clothes and gear. $50 C$ ($30 US) shouldn't cost that many quid. BTW, the coolest thing is the backpack function - you can wear your gear like gear, even when it's "just gear" the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Gonna ace my group freefall endorsement, write and pass my B CoP exam, then I'm gonna jump with a full planeload

...just wouldn;t have made it as a jok if he'd have said "a 255 cubic inch Jaguar" would it? JULES Well, if you like hamburgers give 'em a try sometime. Me, I can't usually eat 'em 'cause my girlfriend's a vegetarian. Which more or less makes me a vegetarian, but I sure love the taste of a good burger. (to Brett) You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in France? BRETT No. JULES Tell 'em, Vincent. VINCENT Royale with Cheese. JULES Royale with Cheese, you know why they call it that? BRETT Because of the metric system? JULES Check out the big brain on Brett. You'a smart motherfucker, that's right. The metric system. ...Metric saves the screenplay yet again the Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

...mmmm, Manitoba November 11 I have typically attended the Rememberence Day services held in Winnipeg (they fire the Big Guns). this year I've been invited to Brandon Mantoba to jump. Every other year it's bloody cold and we have enough snow to wear boots. The other 'other' years I have been golfing in a light sweater and windbreaker till about the 20th. This year? Who knows. I've been shopping for waterski gloves (amazing how non-skydiving equipment gets used isn't it) to keep me warmer than the batting gloves I normally wear. That @#$#@$% white stuff? Well, despite the lack of depth perception it offers it only hides the frozen ground for a short time . and we couldn't have Para-Ski without it. Now tell me, is my first chopper ride and first para-ski competition gonna be one case of beer or two?!? The Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

If you're in the mood to upgrade your video card I suggest the ATI Radeon series of cards. My "First generation" All in Wonder card (video in and out, tv in and out, runs digital monitors, etc, etc, etc) is more than enough to do everything you want. I'll bet you could find some gamer that just hasto have the latest and greatest and will sell you one cheap. Full driver support right up to XP for even the early cards too! the dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/pie.htm ...should I give away the ending? the dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

Marine investigators and agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are looking for a possible saboteur POSSIBLE sabotage? ...Must be the fabled "Military Intelligence" at work Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)