FrogNog

Mr. Penn, of the magic duo, had a nice experience going through the demarc and he wrote about it. I will quote briefly: http://pennandteller.com/sincity/penniphile/federalvip.html -=-=-=-=- Pull.

You mean Parapak isn't as durable and fades faster than Cordura, right? I don't think Cordura could be any less durable than Cordura... -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Lawmakers are paid to make new laws, not remember the failures or waning needs of previous ones. That's part of my cynical theory why lawmakers actually prefer NOT to solve anyone's problems, and gravitate toward the wrong answer as often as possible. It also explains why the 10th amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is the doormat to the (Federal) Senate and Congress: it says that regarding most situations the people in those buildings should refrain from making laws. As if! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

True, and oxygen is addicting - once you start, you can't stop until you're dead! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

BM rodeo him! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Color on a container matters to me... * on the ground, not on my back: a lot * on the ground, on my back: some * in the airplane: not much * in freefall: zero Plus, I'm just gonna fall in the mud when I land anyway. So unless I'm looking at a more realistic, stunning color of brown, I'll stick with cordura. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I totally agree with you that I need to spend more time jumping. And late Fall in Western Washington means high altitude and thin air are half a year away. I'm just thinking ahead to other stuff I want to do and higher altitude jumps sound cool, but hypoxia doesn't, and I feel there's a "gray area" of really thin air before supplemental oxygen is required, and just because everyone else thinks choking is cool doesn't mean I have to too. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I don't think it would be that bad. Just have to bring plenty of food and water, some sanitation facilities, a couple of mattresses and plenty of blankets and pillows, earplugs, etc.. Sort of like camping out. I mean, there's room in the back for all that, right? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Haw! Cut the guy some slack. It takes awhile before some of us gain faith that the canopy isn't made of tissue paper and thread. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Yeah, I tried to get my whuffo (but rock-climbing) gf to go on an observer ride. She was OK until I mentioned that the one catch was she'd be wearing a bailout rig and she might, in a highly unlikely situation, be required to jump and pull the ripcord to save her life. That really put her off. I tried telling her that once it opened she wouldn't have to steer or anything but that didn't bring her back. And she doesn't want to do a Tandem either. Sheesh. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Thanks, Quade, that looks like exactly the sort of system I was considering. It's not a slam-dunk, of course; jumping out of an airplane with a hard steel bottle somewhere on my body is different from jumping without one. And I figure I'd want to consult with some people in the know about bail-out bottles (and rigging them) to look at those entanglement and injury risks. But, I am seriously considering this for high-altitude jumps at other DZs which will tend to be higher than mine (16 foot MSL :). Edited to add: local welding shop sez they can do aviator's oxygen proper for about $.30 per cubic foot. Getting the bottles filled will be a bit tricky because they normally like to do bottle exchange which won't work on bottles only 12" tall and their standard minimum order unit is twenty cu ft (damn!), but the pricing isn't making this unworkable.... -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Yeah, I got a laugh about that. I can imagine being forced to do mathematics for 2.5 years again, and if there wasn't skydiving involved, I wouldn't do it. :) I would be interested in reading what they discussed about oxygen use from FL150 and FL100. A common theme here is that just because something isn't required, doesn't mean it isn't a good, or at least a decent, idea. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Rodeo exit. I don't know the details on doing this safely, but if you know what a rodeo is, basically the exit is just what it would take to do that, plus ducking. 2-person magic carpet - I believe each person holds the other's ankles. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

There are jumps that don't _require_ supplemental oxygen according to the BSRs, but that are definitely approaching requiring it. And I've heard people joke about "mild" hypoxia on these jumps, which I suppose is at least partially real. What would you do if you wanted to jump some high "low-altitude" jumps where the air will definitely be thin and you'll be sitting in the plane for a long time and you don't want to be on the edge of hypoxia? Obviously, breathing some oxygen from a bottle would help. But I don't suppose this is provided on such flights as a matter of course - I imagine they only make it available when everyone is definitely going to be using it. (And on high "low altitude" jumps, I presume most people are too cool to use O2 if they don't "need" to.) Could someone do their own supplemental oxygen? Do people do this? Or are there more comfortable rides to high "low altitude", complete with O2 for those who want it (and are willing to pay more, drive further, schedule loads more rarely, etc.)? I have this fool notion that when I fling out the door, I want my brain functioning as well as possible. Not just so I can better avoid waking up dead, but so I can perform in the air better and enjoy it more. (Yeah, I'm a bit backwards on that last one, I admit it.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I agree with the strict interpretation here; I agree that rear riser turns don't dive a canopy in the same manner or degree that toggles dive a canopy. However, I'm not sure I agree that rear riser turns don't dive a canopy. A while back I was practicing rear riser turns after opening and I gave a solid pull on one rear riser then let go after the heading change was initiated, and the next thing I knew I was looking at a whole lot of ground. My best guess is that I managed to slow down that side of the canopy a lot more than I realized, using the rear riser, and the result would have been just as crushing down low. If anyone sufficiently knowledgeable about canopy flight can explain this to me, I'd be happy to hear! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Yeah, if we land a few miles East of the student LZ, there's a hill of state land with 12 feet tall evil fencing, too. It's a prison. And one of the student jumpsuits is solid bright orange - try getting a ride back to the DZ wearing that! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Does that couple of seconds between cutting away your main and your reserve opening count? It seems kinda long... If not, then my longest was about 55 seconds, from the Caravan in the beautiful Summer. I was halfway through my S/L so I didn't know what lengthy freefall was about (I still hardly do). My JM told me to take my time because we would have a lot of time, like forever. He was right. Jumpsuit was a Flitesuit with no wings and regular grippers. Reinforced ass and knees for the students (not that I needed it personally as a student, mind you). Dive was my 360 turns dive, I think. Exit about 13.5, open around 4k. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

The only thing I can think of is being prepared for it to be missing sometime in freefall. That's true for almost any alti, though; they can get bashed against something when you're not expecting it, or fail for some other reason. But the poly plastic seems like it would be more prone to shattering or cracking off, vs. the webbing-based wrist-mounts. Do you forsee any wear issues on the webbing? It didn't look like it would have a problem, but I just have a picture. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Heh! Reminds me of trying to read my wrist alti on some of my early student jumps. I finally had to do ground practice where I flapped my arm and learned to read my altitude while it was moving. Eventually my alti got more stable. Must be when I bought my own, a different model than the student gear. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I did that on one of my solos. Maybe it was my first. I was nervous so I didn't want to do a bunch of stuff. I grudgingly did a flip or two and then decided I was done and I watched the ground from 7k to 5k. To me, the ground didn't seem to get any closer, it just seemed to STRETCH in the X and Y dimensions. Totally trippy. Didn't distract me from peeking at my alti every 500 ft, tho. -Eugene -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I've heard of people getting frostbite. The story I heard was an unexpected cold spell somewhere in California. The jumpers just weren't bundled up enough, I guess. It's been around -20 C a few days at altitude in my parts and we do OK with just a few extra layers. I'm so happy the suit I just bought has an extra insulating layer. Our hands and faces typically sting when we get to the ground but I guess as long as you're in pain, you haven't reached frostbite, right? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

What is the "Prop!" check for? Just to get your head back straight forward? 'Cuz once I'm in the door on a 182, the prop is a very small concern to me - the pilot can worry if it stays attached and keeps spinning. :) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Actually, double fronts can make you land longer, by shortening your time into the wind. The glide angle may remain about the same because although you are decreasing the angle of attack of the wing, the increased airspeed means the wing will produce more lift (which is proportional to the square of the airspeed). Of course, increased airspeed means increased drag, too. And I don't know which of these things increases more / faster, and I bet it varies by canopy (and with different linesets). I have found I can get a small "lengthening" of my final approach with double front risers, but I haven't had a shortening yet. However, this is a small and not very reliable effect. I have had much more success being a bit high and using half brakes high up on final (not too close to the ground, because the canopy has to dive a bit to return to full forward flight). I wouldn't want to do this lower than 250 feet, and even then only on a canopy I was familiar with. Keep in mind I have 41 canopy flights more than none, so that's not a lot.

I just go to http://images.google.com/ and type in the name of the airplane. Works well. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

You'll get stable about as soon as you relax.