wolfriverjoe

You might call up some carpet installers. Usually they just trash the old carpet and padding. It will definitely be worn and stained, but what they are taking out and replacing with new may well be usable for you. I'd suggest commercial rather than residential. Usually bigger sections and usually less offensive stains. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

The stall is the same. The shape is different because of where the pull is coming from. The lack of pressure in the cells is far more from the lack of airspeed than the AoA. In a braked stall, the center cells aren't any more pressurized than the end cells, the end cells are getting the "pull" from the steering lines and there isn't enough pressure for them to keep their shape. The steering lines are attached to the outer part of the canopy. The rear risers are attached to all of the C & D lines. Try this: Lay the caonpy on the ground, bottom skin up. Put the container (and the lines) in front of the nose. Get everything nice and even, then pull on the rear risers. The canopy will (more or less) smoothly pull over. Next, do the same thing, but just pull on the steering lines. The pull will come from the back corners, not the entire trailing edge. The canopy should end up looking a lot more like the "butterfly." And a headwind (or a tailwind) will have zero effect on the stall. Your airspeed is the speed through the air. Unless you are touching the ground, how the air is moving is totally irrelevant. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Best post in the thread yet But this is the wrong way to approach this situation. The problem I have with this crash is that they did not need to think "outside the box". Without a computer thinking it can outsmart the pilots into avoiding a crash, it would not have put the events that caused the crash into motion. Maybe the FBW system is needed to keep pilots honest in their flying. Or maybe the problem is the overworked, overstimulated and under-experienced pilots being thrust into a situation that they or their superiors never dreamed was possible because the only thing they ever needed to know was how to control the computer. Bolding mine. That's what I mean by "outside the box." From the article: What he needed to do was revert to basic stick and rudder flying. If he had acted as a pilot not a systems manager, this wouldn't have happened. But in the middle of a thunderstorm, that would not have been easy. And having it pounded into his head over and over that the systems woudn't allow for this to happen make it very easy to understand how this happened. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'll agree with that. Spending a couple hundred hours teaching is invaluable experience. Both from the idea that you have to understand something to teach it and to have students pull the most amazing things on you. Toss in a few hundred flying jumpers where you have slow (or at least slower) flight with weird CG situations and odd control response from the airflow being disturbed by the floaters hanging off the side. But then the pilot has too much independent thought about how stuff should be done, has bad habits that need to be "unlearned" and all the other issues that the dedicated training was supposed to address. I really don't know the right answer. Maybe some non-flight emergency reaction or stress response testing. As in the "psychological mumbo-jumbo" to see how the pilot handles unusual situations, the good old "thinking outside of the box" kind of thing. That ability isn't something that can be taught very easily. you either have it or you don't. The problem is that that sort of response isn't easy to test. Sort of like simulator training, while very, very valuable, has it's shortcomings. The pilot knows that he is in for a workout. They don't spend money on sim time to see how well a pilot watches the autopilot. Although I would bet very heavily that future Airbus sim time will include the computers going into the Alternate Law situations. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm a student pilot who wants to know how in the world this sort of thing can happen. There's a lot to learn about exactly how. "Trust your instruments." Instruments aren't working. "Then check for outside cues." There aren't any. "Trust your instinct" Instinct says pull up. There are some fundamental issues that plenty of us are very interested in. It's as much psychology as anything (maybe more). The pilot was trained the full throttle and stick back would result in a climb and that the plane couldn't stall. He simply couldn't get his mind around the fact that it wasn't working. The insturments (other than the airspeed) were working properly. He ignored the stall warning, the extreme descent and basic piloting procedures because he fixated on the TOGO procedure of full power, full stick back. As soon as the captain realized the copilot was holding full stick back, he instantly recognized what was going on and initiated recovery procedures, but it was too late. As far as instinct goes, certain instincts have to be trained out. Kind of like how a canopy pilot needs to "unlearn" reaching for the ground to prevent a gust induced turn from becoming a toggle turn into the ground. Pilots need to build the instinct of pushing forward, even when the ground is filling the windshield and every fiber of their being is screaming "pull up." "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

This is a really common question. The "Brand Wars" are no different than cars. Some people claim "their" brand is best, but in reality, all of them are pretty good. Chutingstar is a well respected gear dealer, and they have a lot of good advice. The link takes you to their answer to your question. The Gear Articles tab here on DZ.com has a few articles on it too. Short answer: Appropriately sized canopies (both main and reserve). A harness/container that fits those canopies (and you, although that can be reworked if it doesn't fit you). AAD. Finding a complete system that is "perfect" for you may or may not be practical, but piecing it together is always a possibility. Trying to do this without knowing what you are doing is a recipie for disaster. Either ending up with junk or something totally inappropriate for you. Your first move should be to talk to your instructors and a local rigger. Random advice from strangers and weirdos on the internet (including this advice) is worth exactly what you pay for it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Supposedly a true story... A cop on patrol sees a car hung up on a snow bank. The car is sitting there, but the front wheels are spinning. The driver doesn't seem to realize he's stuck. The cop pulls up behind the car and lights it up. The driver sees the lights. panics and floors it. The car doesn't move. So the cop gets out of his car, goes up to the drivers window, runs in place really fast and pounds on the window, telling the driver to pull over right now. The driver sees the cop "running" next to him, gives up and shuts it down. He sat in jail (he was well over the limit) trying to figure out how the cop was able to catch him on foot. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

No. I don't go overboard for specific holidays. He gets treats, chews and toys fairly regularly throughout the entire year. And tummy rubs, treats and a good walk daily. He does have a "Christmas Scarf" that's just a triangular piece of fabric with a Christmas pattern on it. He's not too fond of wearing it, but I put it on him when we go anywhere this time of year (and he goes lots of places with me) "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It's a new version of the old scam. The fraudulent payment they make to PayPal will "clear" immediately, You then send off the item. After PayPal finds out that the payment is not valid, they take your money back. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It's pretty cool to see someone else in freefall isn't it? The enthusiasm of the beginners is really cool. Not "dorky" or "nerdy", but kinda hard to read. Paragraphs help. Congrats on the jump!!!

Don't know where he learned to jump, but I have a pull up cord, $20 and a bunch of rubbers... never know where you're gonna land! (I haven't landed off since AFF though and it wasn't my spot!) I also keep some rubber bands handy Bad Spot / Off Landing 'Survival Kit' contents check. In it you'll find: one forty-five caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination 'Wuffo' phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings. ~ AND a pull-up cord... Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. He still wouldn't have had any stow bands. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yep. Carrying a couple heavy gearbags? Nothing. Carrying toolboxes and spare parts? Nothing. Carrying two cases (or even 2 six-packs)? A bazillion jumpers will ask "Gee that looks heavy, do youi need some help?" Nice jpb Namo!! The landings will come in time. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

A lot of sellers won't respond to overseas inquiries. Too much hassle, too high of a chance of getting scammed. I'm not implying that you aren't for real, but if you look through the scam forum, you'll see how many come from the UK. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Landing on rears with only 10 jumps? With a tangled brake line so that the canopy is already at half brakes (essentially in slow flight)? I can see a lot of ways that could turn bad. And - http://www.skydiveradio.com/ And to the OP - How in the world didn't you know that a case of beer is 24?!?! Sheesh, kids these days. Nice job on handling it too. You kept your head and thought it through. You decided the canopy wasn't landable, kept track of your altitude and didn't bust your hard deck. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Unless I'm reading your post incorrectly, I think you don't follow the lingo here. "Hot" refueling refers to fueling while the engines ARE running. No, I understand the lingo perfectly. Read post 15. It's a pretty long rant that includes the phrase "Personally, I will not board any aircraft while the engines are running." I don't know if he meant during a hot refuel or not, but it reads (at least to me) that he doesn't even want to board the airplane at all while the engines are running. I wouldn't board the plane during a hot refuel. I wouldn't want to be on the plane during a hot refuel. But I'll board while the engines are running (but the plane isn't being refueled). That's been standard procedure the few times I've jumped out of a turbine. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Some of the Superbowl ads were pretty good, but this one was one of my favorites. It was shown first during the Daytona 500. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJV487KmR_4 "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Once more, it's from a web site. They are not MY quotes. You people can condone this practice if you wish. Should you lose your life during an exercise like this, don't go bitchin' to the devil. It's not a quote of what you said, it's a quote of what you quoted. We're throwing your own quotes back at you. The thing I quoted a few posts back about flashpoint was taken from the wiki page you linked. It wasn't what you said. but it was what you referenced. Hot refueling of turbines is a hazardous, but accepted practice. I fully agree that I wouldn't be willing to be on board an aircraft that was being hot refuled, but I would (and have) get on board one while the engines are running. Post 15: Your words. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Your right, it's worse than gas. Throw a match into a 5 gallon of gas, what happens?? Now lets consider the tempeature add that into the equazion all of the sudden things look really different. Even NasCar takes extreme caution when refueling during races, there have been very deadly incidents during refueling in NasCar, but you take a look now. In fact they only allow 1 man over the wall to refuel the car. You obviously didn't visit the web site and do any research. I have personally witnessed Sikorsky 76's virtually explode on heli-decks during refueling, even when things are done by the book, it's still dangerous. I encourage you to visit the web site. I don't care how many of you turn a blind eye, ignore or just aren't aware of what can happen, this procedure can literally costs you your life. Personally, I will not board any aircraft while the engines are running, you have to add in the heat of the exaust to the ambient temperture, you'll be surprised how hot it really actually is. Add in the static environment of jumpers, flight suits, etc...then get back with me. From your own link: Jet fuel is not worse than gasoline. I'd be uncomfortable boarding while a hot refueling was being done, but not just while the engines are running. I've done it lots of times. It's hot while in the direct exhaust, but not that hot, and you aren't there more than a few seconds (10 or 20 tops if there is a hold up ahead). And hot refueling can be done safely if done properly, by well trained people. Properly means using all the safety gear and having a pilot in the pilot's seat. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

If I was building a custom canopy I'd choose bright and contrasting colors. For visibility under canopy, not durablility. I used to jump a standard color "rainbow" Triathlon. I got a couple comments about how easy I was to spot while under an open canopy. These comments came from other jumpers who were in the air at the same time. I really liked that. I currently jump a blue/white/purple Sabre2. Ironically it was one of the canopies that was in the air when one of the "easy to spot" comments was made. The Sabre2 was the "other" canopy that wasn't as easy to spot. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It's called "icing the kicker." The timeout is called from the sidelines a split second before the play starts. As you argue, once the play is in motion, the play must continue. But in this case, the timeout is called just before the play starts and the players aren't aware of it, so the play continues. The kicker is often aware that timeout has been called, but they usually prefer not to interrupt their kick. It's regularly argued by the commentators as to whether on not it is fair, or if the rules should be changed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires. It's funny as all hell to see the kick after timeout was called miss, and then the "real" one be good. Last weekend, someone (I want to say it was the Cowboys, but I'm probably wrong) called timeout on themselves just as the play started. The kick that didn't count was good. The subsequent kick, the one that counted, wasn't. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm not sure what you mean by "under the table." Private party purchases are perfectly legal. At least they are here in Wiscsonsin, they aren't everywhere. That's why I made the statement. Wisconsin has no provision for registration of guns or owners. There's no "Firearms Owner Identification Card" or weapons registry (again, other places have these things). Again, I know a few people who have fairly extensive weapons collections, all of which were (100% legal) private party purchases. There was zero government involvement. And while there is a provision for licensing concealed carry, it is legal to open carry with no permit, permissions or government involvement. None. So (again, here in Wisconsin but not necessarily everywhere) it is perfectly legal to exercise the right to keep and bear arms with absolutely zero government clearances. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I chose an Infinity because of the pin protection, the riser protection and the fully enclosed reserve pilot chute. There is a good bit of debate about the reserve pilot chute being fully enclosed or partially enclosed (like a Wings). I did my research and made my choice. YMMV. Whichever you choose, you will have a very nice rig. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

So, I have to assume that you are opposed to having to register for gun ownership. You want to own weapons? You have to earn the right by registering. You want to vote? You have to earn the right by registering. You want to XXX? You have to earn the right by YYY. Welcome to the U.S.A. I don't have to register to own firearms in any way, shape or form. Not in Wisconsin. I can purchase any (legal) weapon in a private party purchase without any government involvement. I know a couple people who have purchased all their firearms from private individuals. The government has no idea that they have any guns. That's a little bit too paranoid for my taste, but that's their decision. If I purchase from a FFL holder (gun dealer), I have to fill out the paperwork and submit to a background check, but even that isn't registration. The background check info is supposed to be destroyed after a period of time to prevent it from being used for registration purposes. If I wish to carry a concealed weapon in public, I have to obtain a license to do so, but that is to establish a minimum of training (and it really is a minimum in Wisconsin) and pass a background check. The weapon that I choose to carry isn't required to be registered at all. And registering to vote is far more establishing that I am eligible to exercise that right than doing anything to earn it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'm not completely opposed to allowing those with a felony conviction to vote. And I always believed rights aren't "earned." Earned implies you have to do something in order to get them. All I had to do to have the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution was to be born here (and I didn't have any choice in that matter). I was just answering the question about criminal gangs organizing and electing other criminals to office. And there was massive election fraud in Chcago during those times too. And I'm pretty sure (although I could be wrong) that during the worst of the Chicago political corruption, convicted felons weren't allowed to vote. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I'll never eat salad again. How about a Cucumber? Potentially NSFW. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo