craichead

This site has a particularly interesting history of Easter. I love this part: Since eggs are also symbols of fertility and rebirth, eggs have always been an important feature of Springtime celebrations. The Orphic legend of the origin of the Universe has the Earth being hatched out of an enormous egg (the "cosmic egg"). In a broad range of ancient societies, from Egypt and Mesopotamia to the British Isles, brightly-decorated eggs were (and still are) presented as gifts and charms to bring fertility and sexual success each Spring. This all comes together in our Easter customs in the pagan tradition of Oestre (Estre), the Goddess of Spring, etc. In that pagan story, there was a great bird who intensely desired to be a rabbit. The Goddess Oestre (Estre) graciously turned the bird into a rabbit, and in gratitude the rabbit (who could still remember how to lay bird eggs) came each Spring, during the Festival of Oestre (Estre), and laid beautiful eggs for the benevolent goddess. This is exactly how we got a supernaural, egg-laying rabbit god in our Easter tradition. So THAT'S where Cadbury cream eggs come from! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

So, if they had known why it's called Easter, it would've certainly added an interesting twist to the church show. The audience would probably be full of BDSM Furries... _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

He jumps a Stiletto 150 at about a 1.7 wingloading (It used to be 1.5... He's gained a little weight since we got married. He just let himself go! ), and he does exactly as you guessed. The four cells on each side rolled toward the middle cell. Then he flattens the middle cell on top of the rolled cells..."spreading" it so that it's the first cell to catch as much air as possible. Does that make sense? He says it gives a nice, soft, on-heading opening every time! You can PM him at AndyMan if ya like.

Yeah...I had to! It was blinding, even in the photograph. Although, I remember that Nathaniel discovered the original picture. _Pm P.S. -- Here's a more incriminating RoadRash photo: Gorilla Love __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Speaking of her huge tatas...here they are getting felt up by Dan at tunnel camp. They're on the far left end of the picture! http://www.skydivecsc.com/csc/gallery/75_tunnel_camps/42.jpg _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Another reply to my question, from Aubrey Easterlin of Aerodyne Research: Piriya, I've seen this technique used before, it seems that there wouldn't be any problem using a vacuum to take all the air out. The only issue I could think of would be the possibility of damaging the canopy with the business end of the vacuum head. If you think of the most common method used to get the air out of a canopy, laying on it, I do think you see a lot of damage there, when canopies come in for repair or relines and get a full inspection, you often see the most damage on the T5 (top center cell on a 9 cell) which I'm sure is due to friction and sweat damage from packing, so in theory the vacuum method could add a little life to your canopy (less touching of the coated material). The question to be answered would most likely be: does this affect my pack job negatively in any way? Lets take a quick look at a pro pack job, a lot of people don't know. PRO is an acronym for Proper Ram Orientation (I think the term was coined by Billy Webber) it is the recommended pack job for most of todays ram air canopies. It is the preferred method for all of Aerodyne's main canopies. The basic point (I'm not going to write out a packing class) is to get the lines organized in the center of the pack job and to get the fabric neatly arranged in-between the line groups to the outside of the lines, with the whole thing oriented in such a manor as to facilitate easy on heading inflation. So if you can do this lay the canopy down and get the air out by any means without distorting the lines (by wrapping them around the back of the canopy when you are getting the canopy sized to the right width for the bag), and still ensure that the slider grommets are against the slider stops, and the slider is still quartered, I would guess you would be fine using a vacuum. Here is the catch on this advise, coming from the manufacturer. Aerodyne has NOT tested the vacuum cleaner method, therefore I will not as a representative of the company endorse it. Nor do I see the necessity of buying a vacuum cleaner to make your packing better. And personally if I had an extra $100 to spend I would not buy a vacuum cleaner to aid my packing, I would buy 5 jumps or an extra set of risers so that I could change my risers out after 400 or so jumps, or take my girlfriend to dinner, anything other than buying a vacuum cleaner, and I'd just continue to pack the way I do now, wearing a T-shirt to prevent sweating on my canopy. Thanks for the question, hope I could be a little help. Aubrey Easterlin Sales Manager Aerodyne Research (if you choose to post this on the thread you started, please do not post it in part, post it entirely or not at all thanks...) Posted in its entirety! Thanks, Aubrey for the detailed response! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Okay, here's the first reply I've received...from Chris Martin, Precision Aerodynamics: I've seen it done before and seems to work very well... ...although I never have used it as a regular practice because I've found that with practice, a person can learn to pack quicker without the extra appliances. But if it suits ya, go for it! Chris Martin Precision Aero. Thanks for replying, Chris! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Here's a fun read from a Snopes article...

There is a series of books called "Big Secrets" (Book 2 = Bigger Secrets, Book 3 = Biggest Secrets?) or something similar that has an entry describing the process of making Twinkies. I think it's written up in Book 2 of the series. There is supposed to be little difference in the ingredients of a Twinkie and a roll of film... Yucky. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Nah... Remi, you probably didn't get it because you're Canadian. AndyMan didn't get it, either. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Awww, I'm sorry. Don't feel stupid! The reference is probably more obvious if you've read the book (I thought the movie was awful). The book is a series of journal entries and progress reports (like Bill's little spoof here) after Charlie has his operation. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

You mean the spoof on Flowers For Algernon? I got it, but I thought it would be better if I kept it to myself and laughed at those who didn't get it. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I've always had the "Copy Shortcut" link on my PC at work, surfing on IE. I surf on IE on my Mac at home, and the link didn't show up until about a week ago (I think?). It doesn't seem to work on my Mac, though...probably because I'm still running Mac OS 8.1 and Mac IE 5.1. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

So, people who have consistently packed their mains with a vacuum have noticed no ill effects on the fabric or the canopy as a whole. Our rigger at Hinckley seems to have started the practice, and the method has spread around the midwest, but a lot of people haven't heard about it. I emailed the folks at PD, Aerodyne and Precision to see what they have to say. Hopefully they will post here or I can report back soon! Thanks for your input, everybody!

Last year, purely by chance, Andy and I met Matty Wright (one of Hinckley's videographers) and his GF on our condo building's rooftop. We were all up there using the communal bbq grills. I happened to be wearing my SkyVenture t-shirt at the time. Matty saw this, and said, "Hey! Do you guys skydive?" Of course we all got to talking...one of those conversations that involved saying, "Oh yeah? Cool, me too!" a lot. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I had to pay extra to take a packing course. It wasn't really included in my AFF training. One of the problems with my DZ is that throughout AFF, often times a student will get a different instructor on each jump. Who would the student go to to learn how to pack? There is an illusion that everybody is so busy (and many times, this is true) that they can't take to time to walk the student through a proper, thorough packing course. So, the packing course "concession" comes into existence, and it's usually run by the head packer. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Ah, you see, I actually asked to get my pack job money back...the times I DID pack on my student jumps, they said to me, "You're supposed to learn how to pack anyway to get signed off for your A license. We're not going to give you your $5 back!" So, I figured I'd get my money's worth. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

Ahh, I think I get it now. Interesting. I'd really like to see this pack method in person! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I learned how to pack after I did my AFF Level 2, just because it was a crappy, overcast day at the dropzone, and I had nothing better to do. The A license proficiency card from the USPA has a section where you must get signed off by your instructor on packing. It says something like "Pack a main parachute without assistance." _Pm Edited to add: Even though I knew how to pack, I didn't do it very often on my student jumps. The cost of a pack job was included in the student jump price... __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

That, I'm not so sure about. I've never seen it done, but my husband has. I think it involves inserting a vacuum hose attachment into the nose of the canopy, sucking all the air out, removing the vacuum hose, and then packing it as usual (pro pack). I'll ask AndyMan to describe it when he comes back from the DZ... _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I've searched all of the forums and can't find a thread on this (maybe because of misspellings?), but I've seen it mentioned a few times in other threads. Some people talk about "vacuum packing" their crispy new ZP mains to get it in the bag. While I can see how this method saves a lot of time and frustration, I've also heard that it's not very good for your canopy. What do the riggers and manufacturers say? I know of one rigger who doesn't see anything wrong with it, but I'd like more opinions... Thanks! _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I've packed about 6 times in my skydiving career (not a very long career, I only have 25 jumps). My first pack job was on my AFF Level 3, and it was a slammer. My subsequent packs for myself on student gear were decent, but I packed a slammer for my husband once. This turned out to be a good thing because he opened low on that jump. After he landed, he came back to the hanger and taught me how to roll the nose on his Stilletto. As of today...I can't pack my gear at all since I have a new ZP canopy. My hubby has offered to teach me how to psycho pack, which I think is the only way I'll be able to get it into the bag in a somewhat orderly manner. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I haven't read the article, yet...but I imagine that the negative comments would be based on its history rather than recent events. AndyMan is going to get a copy right now...maybe he'll be able to scan it in from work. Cross your fingers. _Pm Edited to add: Front-page Reader articles tend to be REALLY long, so it might not be possible to scan and post... __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

What?! You didn't like this one, where it looks like you're geeking the strut cam? Or, how about this one, when you hosed our very first two-way together? _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)

I'm going to this thread just to emphasize the other one. I prefer option #1 or #3, but I really wouldn't use option #2 since I don't give my dz.com email out that often. _Pm __ "Scared of love, love and aeroplanes...falling out, I said takes no brains." -- Andy Partridge (XTC)