nathaniel

WL regulations unsettle me in so many ways....even now that I no longer risk violating them as most frequently proposed * we should not automatically exclude jumpers of any experience level from WL BSRs. Dozens of incidents demonstrate that neither jump numbers nor canopy sizes are a panacea for bad decisions. This suggests WL vs jump #s is a poor indicator of risk. assuming anyway it is a good indicator of risk, * risk is an ethereal quantity that is difficult if not impossible to regulate in free individuals. Safety is an economic good, and the amount that people are willing to trade away is not wholly dependent on whether they can fly little canopies -- the word of the day is substitute goods. Even if there is a reason you or I prefer death by another means to death by landing injury, it is wrong to impose our preferences on others. Perverse / morbid, imo. * applying arbitrary WL standards such as all those I have seen proposed in this forum will inevitably have unanticipated consequences. It would affect canopy designs, canopy sales, USPA membership, etc. Three DZ's out of how many in the USPA? If this is willy nilly, I'm all for DZ's making their own rules. If they all come up with a uniform WL criterion I promise to personally scratch my head. Insofar as this is the status quo I am rather pleased with it (ie, no formal restriction almost everywhere)-- please not read this to mean I like it when people get hurt, it is only a reflection of my lack of confidence in measures such as this proposal...I wish with all my means that nobody gets hurt or killed. Back to the point, If my and all the other DZ's nearby decide on ruthless and arbitrary strictures I believe that is their privilege--I have confidence in them and their decisions about their own operations. Another thing that bugs me is I perceive a strong NIMBY quotient in people's responses. "The problem isn't me, it's the other guy." "I like your proposal but tweak the numbers so my current canopy is on the good side of my jump numbers" etc. I don't think any class of jumpers is immune from the hazards of small canopies and I think the assumptions belied by NIMBY arguments are dangerous. Lastly, the analogy with Mario Andretti and formula racecars is a great one -- Not even Mario Andretti is allowed to drive racecars on public roads. Only on closed tracks under carefully controlled conditions are they operated. Is this what we want to impose on our swoopers? I think the instructor rating + curriculum is a good idea, tho. I think it might work without restrictions on canopies a jumper can buy / sell / use. nathaniel always a contrarian, now with 50% more jumps! My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

Man Dies In Radio-Controlled Helicopter Accident maybe there should be licenses for these things too! My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

I think the British should pay reparations for kicking out all the pilgrims. Look at the mess that they created! nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

well, IMO the passenger airline business is in a tough spot. Even with all the madness an airline like El-Al goes through, it's not hard to imagine methods that 10, or 110 Evil people could use to wreck a plane from the inside out... the perception of security, rather than real security, is literally what's keeping the major airlines in the air. So I can understand if people get upset when somebody reminds us it's not safe. nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

Some DZ's have more than one manifest bitch. If someone screws up the data after a spat with the DZO it would be real nice to know who did it. Nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

lol maybe because they put the wings on upside down? in an link quade posted a few days ago there's a good-sounding explanation why the engine-low design is all the rage. nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

It should predict fuel loads, maybe prompt manifest to confirm predicted fuel loads. The logic and UI will be key in turning this from a mistake into a must-have. Go-arounds and generalized inconsistency in load times should be tracked and predicted. And multiple accounts per name if required. Sometimes packaged jump accounts are distinguished from regular accounts. User accounts for manifestors and 100% logging of all actions by manitestor, and reporting on the logs. Next door to this is auto-lockout after x minutes of inactivity. Maybe a staff screen for maintaining who's owed what and who is qualified to do what, eg, no tandems allowed in manifest without assigned + qualified TM. ACLs so only authorized users can access certain screens. The ability to export all data to tape or CD-R or DVD-R. The export should be in human readable ASCII based or similar format so in the worst catastrophe it could be easily recovered. Reminders if the data hasn't been archived every so often. The ability to export + import data to/from Excel, Access, Paradox, Quickbooks and other productivity software suites. On the accounting and money handling side of affairs I don't know whether you have any proper accounting experience...if you haven't then picking up a book on (sound) accounting practices would probably give you some good ideas. nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

This result makes me think that weights do more than just add to a jumper's mass. I'll typically add no more than 10% of my bodyweight in additional weights...this gives me only an improvement of 4.8% in terminal velocity...110 mph becomes 115 mph. I bet there's some aerodynamic benefit involved. I don't think it's just convenience that weights are worn on the belly and chest area. nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

worse imo: "I would argue xyz..." but you won't for some reason. or "It could be said that xyz is..." but it isn't. for the Good Lord's sake exercise your dominion over the written word nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

IIRC that's called enthalpy of solution. Personally I vote for magnetism...GIS for ferrofluid nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

night jump #2. Three way belly planned. We flubbed the exit but nobody let go and funnelled basically all the way from 13.5 to 5...I think at no point during this jump were all of our bellies toward the earth at the same time. "commando-style" nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

I grew up with a maine coon with colors like that... so pretty. congratulations nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

That's awesome...diamonds are so manufactured, they are like velveeta and disney. If she insists on a clear gemstone go with topaz unless you're into disney and cheez wiz... nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

not a reply to you in particular, but the problem with giving panhandlers food is it just lets them spend their food money on drugs (incl alcohol). The whole business of "earmarked" funds is bunk, imo. I grew up in NYC where dealers would accept food stamps for drugs. The supermarkets are supposed to check the person using them is the same person the stamps were issued to...but many of them don't... I think you just have to accept that even the most secure charity systems are going to be abused here and there...and the least secure systems, eg, handouts from strangers, will be abused most. $0.02 nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

not really answering your question, but another suggestion if you haven't dismissed it already: maybe you could make a faq post always be the first post in some of the sections, like Q: should I downsize from a manta 280 f111 to a sabre-2 135? I'm 6'6" (2m) and 240 lbs (110 kg) and I have 11 jumps. I stand up all my landings! A: no Q: what gear should I buy A: we don't know, ask your instructor and your S&TA Q: do I really need an aad or an rsl A: depends who you ask etc for the gear + rigging section My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

I popped someone's pin once after he asked me for a pin check. His main flap was tight and his closing loop was loose (and the pin was sideways). Using my finger to got a better grip on his main flap I dislodged his pin and that was it. Fortunately this happened on the ground.... nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

$0.02 don't worry about it... your emergency procedure works, don't fix it! If you're really concerned about the way you look after a cutaway, get an extra set of handles and keep them inside your jumpsuit nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

uhm...Erica, I jump a 150! If you want something snappier than your spectre get something intermediate and used. save your femurs and your 401k. edit to add: think of it this way, would you feel OK landing it crosswind on the side of the west road? (ie, the side w/o the power lines) I had to do that saturday. nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

toward the end of the convention I remember manifest saying they had a helmet and an altimeter in their lost + found.... probably more than one got left behind ... nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

hold on a sec pal, dogs are omnivores...they can survive on plants alone too... Cats on the other hand, pure carnivores. not that I'd force a dog (or a human, for that matter) to go without meat if it didn't want to... nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

I was a vege for 3 years in college...less for moral or health reasons than due to the fact I was terrified of the allegedly meat-based dorm foods. I'm hooked on pork these days tho...pork chops, ham, pork sausage, pork chops.... mmmm nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

at my work (I work for a bank) we had an office line that rings all the phones.... turns out the number used to be for the Cook County Medical Center's accounts payable department. Cook County Medical Center as in community clinic getting stiffed by Medicare and can't pay its bills. We got several calls a day from bill collectors collecting on old debts... It was apparently also one or two digits off from the Cook County Juvenile detention center and a Cook County parole officer's number...coulda had fun with these ones... doh! finally we just got the number changed... nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

unqualified opinion: I don't think there's any reason to believe that a sabre-1 is more likely to slam you than any other canopy--the design was and still is immensely popular. One reason you might not hear too much about wicked openings under a [canopy X] is probably that [canopy X] hasn't been on the market as long or isn't as popular as the Sabre was/is. It is true that any canopy can hurt you. Pack carefully, quarter your slider, dont dump in a track etc are your defenses. I jump a sabre-1 and it's given me bruises a couple times, but each time I can think of a reason why that doesn't include the canopy design.... I pack it with a textbook PRO pack... $0.02 nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

maybe new means it hasn't been used and is in good condition...not necessarily new as in fabricated recently...still in stock. I bought a sabre that was manufactured '96 but it was still new as in slippery and hard to pack since it only had 100 jumps on it. nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

I know you mean well, but I think this maybe came out a little wrong...I don't think anyone would be pleased if the pilot bailed mid-flight b/c his time ran out... Maybe most # of hours you could put on a flight plans per pilot per day? In commercial aviation I thought there exists already a 40 hr / month cap or something like that....am I way off here? nathaniel My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?