PiLFy

Cute cartoons, Namowal. Hey, I literally almost peed my pants on my first jump. Then, I almost puked when we landed... I walked away on shaky knees muttering "This is sooo not *@#^ing for me..." A few months later, I was back for more. If a once-terrified sack like me can finish a license & dig it? You can, too. Just try not to have any Quack Attacks in the plane. You'll piss people off .

Here is PD's response. I'll get to demo these sooner or later... Hi Kenny, It’s no bother. Kind of complicated though. I’ll try and pretty much address each issue in turn. 1) It is hard to discuss what an instructor has said because I don’t know what his/her perspective is to determine why they said it. In most cases a steeper glide path actually increases the flare power. When a canopy is trimmed flatter they typically don’t have as much flare. There is too much to explain here in an email about how all that works. 2) The reason it might be harder to get a good landing on a steeper trimmed canopy is timing of the flare. If this is the instructors thought process then it has merit. 3) The Pulse does not have as powerful of a flare as a Sabre2. But then with the exception of the Velocity and Katana, none of our canopies have as powerful a flare as the Sabre2. 4) This has nothing to do with the Pulse being a hybrid canopy. It has to do with the design of the canopy. The Stiletto doesn’t have as powerful a flare as a Sabre2, yet the Stiletto is all zero porosity. However it isn’t trimmed as steep as a Sabre2. 5) A Pulse with Dacron will probably open softer than a Storm with Dacron. 6) People on the drop zone can be well meaning, but with less than a full knowledge base to advise. 7) I think you should try both the Sabre2 and the Pulse and determine which one YOU like and go with it. I hope this helps. Regards, Xxxxxx Xxxxx Customer Service/Marketing Mgr Performance Designs, Inc.

Not according to their e-mail response to me. I guess you can still ask for it.

Ten Fingers of Death!? Sounds like a Bruce Lee movie... My hands were on MY harness, not my TI's. I wasn't anywhere near his handles.

What are brothers for ???

Pssst, http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=754 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3956356;search_string=audibles%20for%20students;#3956356 http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gear/review.cgi?ID=617

FWIW, I'm not an instructor, but have done three tandem jumps. I'm a fit & trim guy, but was unable to get my legs up enough for the first landing. For the others, I grabbed the harness above my shoulders, & used the TI's body to leverage against. The result was being able to swing my legs up effortlessly, bringing my body into an "L" shape.

Your wife's neck & back are probably in better shape than mine. A soft opening is a high priority for me. They didn't say good or bad about it. They just said it should open even softer than the Storm w/dacron. Why did the Rep advise against it for your wife?

Veddy in_tahresting... I just received a reply from PD. The answers included: 1) The pulse is available w/dacron. Lined so, it should open softer than a Storm w/dacron. 2) The Pulse doesn't have as strong a flare as the Sabre2. It has nothing to do w/its being a hybrid, though. It's the trim the chute is set @. 3) Other than two high performance chutes, the Sabre2 has the strongest flare of the PDs. 4) They concur. The steeper glide of the Storm could be problematic for Newby landings.

Damned Dirty Pirate Hookers are everywhere now...

Alright, but please don't post any pix of it. Seeing you in a bikini & heels would give me nightmares...

It sounds like you could do better in finding an ENT & GP. Either the whole world is wrong, or they are. Google how many tumpanoplasty surgeries are done every year in this country. Google the severe possible complications of a perforated eardrum. I'm not going to argue this w/you. You got lucky this time. Next time, you might not. Your choice.

What's Falling Skies?

This is poor advice. The tympanic membrane can heal partially open (perforated). Then, you suffer hearing loss, have a route for infection, & risk more serious complications. The smart move is to give it 2-3 weeks, & let it heal completely. Otherwise, you might be lucky to only need a tympanoplasty, & be left w/hearing loss.

"You prove my point that Yank TV panders to non thinking morons" That may well be true. I haven't been a TV watcher in 15+yrs. While TV nowadays is crap. When I've sampled UK TV over the years. It has been crap2. We weren't arguing. We were having a fun exchange. Then, you threw in an insult. Right back at you, sunshine... Edit to add: The BSG series a few years back rocked!! Caprica showed promise until it was wrongly canceled as well. I'm not sure how much of those were Canadian, though.

Yeah, I'd buy a new car from him.

I already said that bogus, biased smear-tactics should get squashed. I've no more interest in reading them than anyone else. If there already exists a thread w/the info like I mentioned here. Please show me where. Granted, I haven't done a general search for one on the forums. Why? Because it seems pointless. Every time a thread gets started. It disappears almost as quickly.

Bill, I already covered this one in follow-up posts. If I jumped to the wrong conclusion? Fair enough, that one is on me. For the record, I don't have it in for Aviacom. I have seen & heard things about their responses (& even more important to me, their non-responses) during & after the bannings. This, & my level of low-timer understanding of the Argus, lead me to not want to jump their product. There are some on this board who seem to love to jump on Aviacom. I mean regular posters, not the plants w/a clear agenda. What may have been misunderstood about my posts on this, is my growing frustration. I had posted a link to an NTSB report about people being killed by an AAD. Until someone had brought that report to my attention. I had no idea about that incident. I doubt many other Newbs had ever heard of it, either (including a friend who recently bought one for the same reasons I would have). I come to these boards, in large part, to learn how not to get seriously F'ed up &/or killed. This is info I need to make gear choices. I know a wealth of knowledge is here on the board. Yet, whenever an AAD thread gets started? It's like someone wants to discuss the virtues of kiddy porn or something... It gets squashed/deleted almost immediately. I don't understand the unwillingness of putting just the facts out there. Emotions run high on this subject. That's clear. How about a locked thread w/only official reports on it? Then, A) We can see the different incidents that have occurred. &, B) We can discuss them w/our mentors. The discussions don't have to occur here @all. Is it sponsorship issues, advertisers, what? It's paradoxical that a board whose function is to disseminate info, refuses to do so on this one topic. What is the problem?

Anti-fogging solution ala motorcycle visors.

I'm already done w/it.

No, it isn't just him. British TV has always been wanting. I like UK, & the British people. W/precious few exceptions, your TV has always been pretty bad stuff, though. FWIW, you've always had very good musicians, though.

OY?!?! You forgot Fred Dibnah. What a glorious bastard he was !!

Aviacom's piss poor track record is well-known. IMHO (& many others), it's indefensible. You got yourselves banned. I didn't do it to you. In this instance, a technical problem was brought to your attention. Rather than answering it here, out in the open. You chose to PM the user. From the user's original post about this. It appeared that YOU signed off on a unit, & shipped it out as being ready & safe to jump. He, & we, still don't know if it even was still active. His followup reply gave more info, clearing that part of it up. For that part, I retract what I typed. I remain thoroughly unsatisfied w/Aviacom's products & practices. I will never trust my life to an Argus. Nor will many, many jumpers w/thousands of jumps a piece. Don't get testy w/me because you work for them. If you're honest, & just trying to make a living? I feel bad for you. If you condone their business practices? You made your own bed. You can lie in it.

"I just recieved a PM from the same person at Aviacom that QA'd this specific unit, and he very promptly gave me the resolution. It was somehow set in a "logging" mode, or "diagnostic" mode. I'm sharing it so if anyone sees this on theirs, they can resolve it quickly. My comments were made because of what YOU posted, friend(?). From your wording of your last post. It sounds like the factory released the unit improperly configured. Then, they sent you a PM, rather than post a technical issue in the open. You then re-posted here (as it should have been the first time) so others could learn from it. If I missed something, Chris. It's because you didn't relay it. I've been around this board long enough that people know I'm not a phony w/a not-so-secret agenda. As for my not liking/trusting Aviacom w/my life being unfounded? I've got a lot of very experienced company in that. You can share your PAs w/them, too...