ernokaikkonen

I can see it now: ---- SOAP LAKE, Wash. (Reuters) - Tourist attraction destroyed in a splash - 12 killed by boiling goo The newly installed tourist attraction in Soap Lake, Washington, a 60-foot lava lamp, collapsed due to a fault in its design. Twelve bystanders were killed when they were hit by falling debris, were drowned in hot goo, and caught in traffic accidents caused by the event. Mayor Ken Lee was unavailable for a comment, and the whereabouts of the man responsible for the lamp's design, architect Brent Blake, were unknown. Local police is investigating the incident. ----

>I'm wondering how you are getting 6 anyways since the weight and >balence with 5 normal jumpers can't usually afford the weight for 6 >unless you have a 206 turbo or something. I haven't looked into the weight issue that closely, but manifest-list we give the pilot always includes the total weight of the load. Our chief-pilot(who works for the local aviation administration) doesn't have a problem with the weight limits, so I'm assuming we're going by the book. >basically you just slide a nut in the end of the rail and slide it to >where you want the belt then the end (...) Does the belt make a loop to a single attachment point? I mean, are both halves of the seatbelt attached to the same point? That's the only way I can imagine a solution that would actually hold a jumper. >Added trouble? its 5 seconds to strap in and 2 to unbelt. It's not the true added trouble, it's the perceived(=imagined) trouble that would keep people from wanting them.

>Yes, if you cannot skydive safely, you don't jump. Even if everyone else is doing it. There are many other safety features that could be made mandatory, ones that would make jumping safer, but it's not going to happen because the jumpers don't want it. It all depends on one's definition of "safely", and the risk one is willing to take. "Whuffo your jump-plane has no seatbelts?" >The impact of everyone refusing to jump without seatbelts >would be very noticeable. It's easy to say when you have a choice. You actually expect a whole club of skydivers to suddenly stop jumping(not switching DZs, but quitting) until seatbelts are installed? Really? Try to see it from our perspective. Seatbelts are an additional safety feature, one that has never been used in small jump-planes during the history of skydiving in my country. Also bear in mind that there are no commercial DZs here, only clubs. Only when majority of the jumpers wanted the seatbelts, they would be installed. We can't financially pressure a DZO into installing seatbelts.

Ok,ok, I got the point, hold the graphic explanations... To clarify: We have 1+6, that's the pilot plus 6 jumpers(5 jumpers only in the case the weight limits would be exceeded by adding a 6th). You're saying that with seatbelts it's practical to have only 5 jumpers onboard? So basically, adding seatbelts would mean more expensive jump tickets and the added trouble of wearing the belts... It's not going to happen I'm afraid. Most of the jumpers will not have them. Until it's mandated after the first crash of a jump-plane, of course. So how are the seatbelts installed? Anchored from a single point to the floor? A regular seatbelt buckle?

Ah, good point. Instead of mice and gerbils you'd just have slashed up daffodils and shrubbery waiting on the porch....

>Bringing and presenting game is a cat's way of showing love and respect. Yeah yeah, that's what you all say. I'm still convinced that cats do that because they feel sorry for you since you're such a lousy hunter.

The mental image of Blue trying to flush a smallish dragon down the toilet...

It's not much easier here either, there's one jump plane in the country(the Otter in Helsinki) that has seatbelts. Also the impact of a low time jumper saying "Could we get seatbelts in the plane, please" would be unnoticeable in most clubs.

>Am I going about it the wrong way or is there a different >way to finger a F chord? Bar-chords are a bitch but you're going to have to learn them sooner or later... better start now! If you absolutely don't want to play bar-chords at this point, you can always try and transpose the song...

wouldn't it be easier to just bite him back?

I don't think it's meant to be a replacement for seatbelts. I think it's more like "it's not going to help you much, but you'll feel better if you're doing something" That's why my first post included this:

The rules here in Finland state that a jump plane that holds more than 10 jumpers must have seatbelts. You can get a "type-certificate"(? direct translation of the finnish term) for a smaller plane to transport jumpers without seats or seatbelts. There's a sign in the back of our Cessna saying "OH-CWW has no seatbelts for the jumpers aboard. The jumpers are on board at their own risk", or something to that effect(in Finnish), followed by the appropriate regulation number.

Who the fuck is Clay? Nick, welcome to the forums. You're not the first jumper to dislocate a shoulder, it's been discussed on the Safety and Training forum. See this thread if there's any info you could use.

I think you're talking about two different things here. Two different types of aircraft to be exact. There's no doubt about the fact that you have to wear seatbelts in an Otter and other similar sized jump planes. Small Cessnas can be completely different. AFAIK(any Finn with knowledge to the contrary, please let me know) not a single Cessna(jump-plane) in Finland has seatbelts for jumpers. I've only jumped from about 4 or 5 of them though. The way the six people are packed to the C206 on my DZ, I don't think there is a practical way of installing seatbelts. There isn't enough room to even move. The "single-mass principle" is used as the emergency procedure: everyone is supposed to sqeeze as close to the front of the aircraft as possible. If someone has info on installing seatbelts for jumpers in a 206, please post the details, I'd be interested to see how it could be done.

I dunno, why don't women fart? and as he hits "post", he notices the answer, cleverly disguised as a sig line...

Or maybe it's the cats' way of giving hand-outs: "Wow, she's so slow and clumsy she can't even catch her own food. I'd better help."

You're an evil man, Viking...

Hey. I got an idea: Looks like there would be a big market for... get this.. Vegetarian cats! Anyone have a grade in genetic engineering?

Do they bring back the same corpses or do they go out and hunt down another pair of geckos?

Such is the way of "cute little kittens".

Aren't there about 250 million americans? That means that 6,8% of all americans is having sex at all times. That means also that on average, an american spends 6,8% of his/her time having sex. That's 98 minutes of sex, everyday, for every american. Of course, there are a lot of americans that don't have sex, most notably minors of course, but also most DZcommers it seems some times...). This means that the ones that do have sex, have to have even more sex to compensate. Assuming (only)20% of population not having sex at all, the rest must have 122 minutes of sex every single day. Either my math is off, or you're one lucky nation...

Got to level 24.

It's hardly surprising to me. There are so many american TV-shows and movies on the TV here... So actually, from where I'm standing, the Simpsons is a parody of America as shown on TV and the movies.

Ah, a "yellow card". I like it. A "You're this close from being banned" on top of every posting-form could indeed make people think twice about hitting "Post".

My thoughts exactly. I voted for "yes", meaning that we can change the world by starting with ourselves.