billo

i'd like to get my PRO rating as quick as possible. i've been dying to do a demo since last year at couch freaks when one of our CRW loads landed WAAAAAY off. miles south of the airport. only place to land in the congested city was in the middle of the high school football field. we all came down right on the 50 yard line, and "coach" gave us a ride back to the airport in his truck! nothing like hitting a stadium, can't wait to do it again! (legally)

at least i wasn't the only one weathered out. 0:0:0... i've been cleared to jump the past 4 weekends, and only 1 of those weekends has been jumpable...NOT good odds! oh well got a family weekend out of the way, so at least they won't hassle me to visit for another 6 months or so

yeah, i don't remember who was even taking the pictures...bright flashes, tequila, uhhh...but i think i owe whoever it was a few beers for repeatedly saying "one more time"!!! i definately got the good end of the deal!

what i'm curious about is, how the hell do they get those upskirt camera angles? lemme guess, some midget walks around with a pc9 and runs up to women, holding the camera down low? --- wearing freefly pants is not a crime --- b

*sobs* yeah it was a quality episode. i see the show once or twice a season, but i usually know enough people who watch it religiously that i also know what is going on... did anyone else catch it when he fell of the bed and yelled "SHIT!" um, can they say that on NBC? isn't language and nudity why people pay for cable?

my fav variation on the whole carw is the baton pass, but it is usually a beer of some sorts! doing it on the interstate is fun, but on a gravel road is even better! (just don't fall out of the window

definately have the speaker towards your ear during freefall. if you don't believe me, secure it so it is facing out and try it for a jump or two. it will be noticable, but not as noticable as i think it is designed for... the main time my pro-dytter hurts is when you go thru 1000 feet. simple solution - plug your ear with your index finger when you start to hear other dytters go off in the plane - they usually all go off within a few seconds of each other. this will protect your "non-freefall" hearing and will let you know that the dytter is working ok! --- wearing freefly pants is not a crime --- billo

or if you *really* want them to fall in your lap (pun intended,) when sitflying just go low and give a good looking woman your burble - she'll fall for/on you!

i think i saw a picasso like that once...

girls gone wild...i can see the video already!!!

airdrew, just a few things i've learned from dating... when it rains, it pours. if you're out looking, the chances of finding someone are nil. if you are out tending to your own business and enjoying your life, then some woman will come in and interrupt it all...but it is always for the better. in the meantime don't worry about women and concentrate on your headdown. things will make alot more sense! --- wearing freefly pants is not a crime --- billo

hi jess, yeah i remember this incident report catching my eye too, and it would have made me uneasy if i had seen it when i first was considering equipment off of student status. now that i see it, i think wtf, was this really the major contributor to the accident? first off i don't know a thing about the hornet, what it's made up of or how it flies or even how many cells it has. my big advice would be to DEMO canopies. and you don't need to get one. get acouple hornets for a month - one that would put you at 0.8 or something, a loading you would feel very comfortable at. if a weekend at 0.8 goes well, give the 1.0 a couple jumps. decide whether or not you'd be comfortable jumping either canopy in any situation (bad spot, low, under stress, etc) just my 2 cents...good luck! --- wearing freefly pants is not a crime --- billo

hell, i just gave a 5 minute speech on skydiving just the other day for a class i went to for work...supposed to learn how to become a "better presenter". anyhow, they told us that you should try to answer the first 3 questions that would come to mind to any general audience member, aka wuffo. the 3 i used are below. 1. why jump out of a perfectly good airplane? 2. isn't that dangerous? 3. isn't that expensive? make sure you have a clear purpose...inform, inspire, motivate, or something else. it really shouldn't be that hard, i had to cut mine short due to rambling! --- wearing freefly pants is not a crime --- billo

i always thought the number count was friday jumps : saturday jumps : sunday jumps, which would have been 0:7:4, but under this other system it would be a bit different! (although not too much!) the weekend at hinckley was great! i loved meeting everyone. was disappointed the big way rw didn't work out, but no biggie. we just need to get everyone a few more jumps then maybe try again during the couch freaks boogie over labor day! or even better, turn everyone over to the dark side and start freeflying! andy, i definately owe you some jumps! LMAO sunshine you and val rock, i had a fun time this weekend! glad i didn't live up to your previous expectations! so sad i missed the pieing!

what about the partying *after* jumping? that's always what does me in... no shit, there i was, should have died...we're racing the golf cart up and down the runways last couch freaks well after hours. so there were 10 of us on it or so and needless to say there were many factors involved: beer, fireworks, high speeds, more beer. i fell off during a tight corner and got my foot caught in the wheel well. twisted my ankle/leg all to hell, but that didn't stop me from jumping. very traumatic

yeah, the winds shouldn't matter too much... the thing that is bad about hinckley for my group is the fact that there is no weather station where you can see it that shows sustained wind and gusts. back home, if we start seeing the winds get choppy or high then the pilot will want to quit or jumpers may not go up. true, we'll stop our cessnas, but nothin stops the hinckley otters! we'll look towards the landing area and think "well, the wind blades are bent over, but the plane is still flying! put me on for the next load!"

ooooo hot tub! can you have visitors?????

8? 9? AM? that's crazy talk!

i'm surprised i haven't seen more people mention manufacturer reliability or customer satisfaction. or comfort? i would most want to go to a manufacturer that knew how to treat the customers right and then can back up the service with a product that is comfortable and well priced. if anything i'd say it's most important to look past the hyped ads and listen to people who own the rigs and deal with the manufacturer on a first hand basis. actions or stories can tell alot more about a rig and it's manufacturer than any advertisement.

nathan, i agree with everyone else, definately sounds like something is a bit amiss. i've got over 300 on mine and i can remember getting whacked once and line twist twice. go figure. for the most part though, it has been forgiving since day 1 when i bought it new. i'm wondering - your demo spectre was already broken in and the slipperiness of it was all gone, right? is your new canopy giving you issues getting into the dbag? if you don't roll the tail edge of the canopy much when you bring it around to cover up the nose i could see it slipping during packing and leaving the nose wide exposed. (i don't think this would be a big issue, i just let the nose hang) but yeah i remember that was a slippery little bastard when i first got it. after awhile it will behave alot better! other than that i can't think of anything too major. double check all the minor things. rubber band size, slider position/cloverleafing. if all else fails roll the shit out of the nose and see what happens. good luck!

are we *positive* that this is a reserve? remember we are looking at two items: 1. THE CANOPY. the super clean white lines would make me think reserve, but who knows it could be a main too. canopy appears to be solid yellow from what you can see, but you never know for sure. 2. THE D-BAG. this does not look like a reserve d-bag to me, but if it is whoops, o well i have only played with more modern container/reserve systems. this d-bag does not look in nearly of good shape as the canopy, has nasty rubber bands instead of bungee lockstows, and is missing the pouch for freestowing. oh and it is a boring rectangular shape instead of the often used "molar" shape of a reserve d-bag. it has also been mentioned that this is not a reserve bridle attached to the bag. my following guess is going to assume this is a main. lets say that one end of this line is attached to the d-bag, and the other goes to the canopy. what might this do? hell if i know. how about this...the line goes from the d-bag to your main riser french link. under an open main, this line would trail behind your line groups (much looser than a brake line) between your d-bag and risers. perhaps this could be used to raise a flag up behind your canopy? a system to have a camera hoisted up the line to take pictures? some sort of new crew innovation? a main d-bag release system? chris, are we going to have to keep guessing until someone gets this right?

will hold you to that! should it be one of those "after 2 days, 0 weather holds, 15 attempts, 24 kicks to the head, 10 funnelled exits, and one premature opening we finally got the dz.com illinois record and all i got was this crappy t-shirt" kind of t-shirt?

no sir, i don't like it. bill i see your point that complete certification of the main canopy connection process would not be immediate, but possibly, eventually, could happen thanks to the bureaucrats at the FAA. this concerns me on different levels. first, as a recent college student who is still the cheapskate jumper, my initial thought that comes to mind is, "would an advancement in quality such as this cost extra?" and also, "would my rigger charge me extra to perform such tasks that i was once able to do myself? such as hook up my main?" both these arguments seem moot when it comes to an equipment advancement/standard that would help ensure my personal safety, but they are gripes that will arise nonetheless. well hell good thing that i am working towards my rigging ticket anyhow. also, what about situations where connecting/reconnecting mains is inevitable? demoing a new main? find a rigger. switching between sport/precision/crew canopies? find a rigger. cut away on a windy day or let a friend borrow your canopy? find a rigger. this all sounds like a complication that i hope can be avoided. couldn't have said it better myself. best of luck to you bill, please continue to keep our thoughts in mind. billo

woo hoo! hell i'd like to start off by throwing my name in the hat!

cheers, you are right on there! bravo to all you vodka'ers who always put it in the freezer, it's the only way to go. also, my polish friend introduced me to carrying a glass of apple juice along when vodka drinking, it is the smoothest chaser that i can imagine! (right up there with pickle juice chasing tequila...serious, the pickle worm is goooood!) yum.