MakeItHappen

attorney fees because of what 6 stupid fuck BOD members did. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3582293 OMG! Someone creates something and lets you use it for free, lets all bitch about it Dude - I did not say that above quote nor did I complain about free songs. I said I did not like the song and that USPA has better things to do than promote some stupid music video contest. BTW, I did force myself to listen to the whole thing while I was writing the last post. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

OMG is right ?!??! WTF!? I couldn't even listen to the whole song. I had to turn it off. It's nice to know our dues monies are going for something useful in the sport?????????? I am starting a new organization: United Skydivers and Parachutists Association See details here. Oh I forgot to mention that you must be on a special 'good guys' list. I did not get an email from them - and I know for sure they know my email addy. And... there is nothing on the home page of the web site about it What's that about??? But they did post who got D-30000. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I'll have to try that. For the rest of the replies - you guys ain't any fun ;) I just know there has to be some nerd type, like me, that dug out their cube and tried out the instructions. Come on it's just like 4-way. The 8 move long blocks are like a 4 point dive with a flipper. Are the instructions ok? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Rubik's Cube for Skydivers or anyone else Terminology: Corner cube – those are the ones on the corners. Edge Cube – those are the ones in between the corner cubes Center Cube – those are the ones in the middle of a side. It cannot be moved and determines the color of that side. Location: a cube is in the right slot but may not be in the right orientation It's sort of like flying to a formation and before you turn to your proper heading Orientation: a cube is in the right location AND is lined up right with all the colors This is when you are in your slot and have the proper heading. It has nothing to do with whether you are straight, gay or bisexual. Hold the cube in your left hand with your thumb on a center cube and your middle finger on the opposite side's center cube, such that one side faces up. The side that your thumb is on is called the FRONT. The side that your middle finger is on is called the BACK. The side to your right is called RIGHT. The side to your left is called LEFT. The side that is up is called UP. The side that is down is called DOWN. Look at each side and observe that each side can be turned clockwise or counter-clockwise. Individual Moves: R means to rotate the right side clockwise. Ri means to rotate the right side counter-clockwise. L means rotate the left side clockwise. Li means rotate the left side counter-clockwise. U means rotate the UP side clockwise. Ui means rotate the UP side counter-clockwise. D means rotate the DOWN side clockwise. Di means rotate the DOWN side counter-clockwise. F means rotate the FRONT side clockwise. Fi means rotate the FRONT side counter-clockwise. We won't be doing any BACK side rotations in this lesson because that has been known to get people into trouble. But the notation would be B and Bi. The lower case 'i' stands for inverted. Each rotation designation means 90 degrees. The clockwise or counter-clockwise is always as you look at the side. Block Moves: Fi U Li Ui – used to orient edge cubes on the first side solved Ri Di R D – used to orient corner cubes on the first and last sides solved Ui Fi U F U R Ui Ri – used to position & orient edge cubes of middle layer U R Ui Ri Ui Fi U F – used to position & orient edge cubes of middle layer F R U Ri Ui Fi – used to position the cross on last side R U Ri U R U U Ri – used to orient the cross properly on the last side U R Ui Li U Ri Ui L – used to get the corner cubes in the right location on the last side The Build Sequence: 1. Form a cross on the first side you want to complete 2. Fill in the corners on the first side 3. Fill in the edges on the middle layer 4. Make a cross on the last side 5. Orient the cross properly 6. Place the corners on the last side in their proper locations 7. Orient the corners The Detailed Description: Step 1: This step forms the cross on UP side. Pick a side, any side, to solve first. That side will be UP, so hold the cube with that side up. Find an edge cube that belongs to that side. Look at the UP layer first. If you find an edge cube that belongs to that layer rotate the UP side over to the side that matches the other color of the edge cube. If the edge cube is flipped, do block Fi U Li Ui with the FRONT side being the side with the flipped edge cube. Next look for an edge cube that belongs to the UP side in the middle layer. Rotate the UP side and then rotate the side with the edge cube to put it in the right location. If it is flipped, use the block sequence Fi U Li Ui with the front side as the side with the flipped edge. A simpler way to do this is to always place the edge cube directly below the location it is supposed to be in and then rotate that side twice to put it in the correct location. Any flipped pieces can be corrected with Fi U Li Ui. After you finish this with all 4 edge pieces you will have a cross on the UP side and the edge pieces will match up with the right, left, front and back sides. Step 2: This step places the corners of the first solved side. Place an UP side corner cube directly underneath the corner it should be located in. Hold the cube with the first build side up and the cube to be placed in the lower right of the front side. Apply block Ri Di R D multiple times until the cube is in the right location with the proper orientation. Repeat for the other corners. Step 3: This step solves the four middle layer edges. To solve the middle layer you need to flip the entire cube up-side-down. The first completed side will become the DOWN side from now on. Look at the UP side for an edge piece that belongs in the middle layer. This will be an edge piece that does not have the color of the UP side. Rotate the UP layer until that edge piece lines up with the proper color of one of the sides. The cube should now have a side that has a stack of 3 colors in a vertical row. Now find the location that this edge piece needs to be moved to. It will be in the middle row on the face that you are looking at. Turn the cube as a whole so that the target location is on the right side of the FRONT side. As you now hold the cube you will have one of two cases. Case 1: The top edge piece of the FRONT needs to be moved to the middle right location of the FRONT. For Case 1 execute the block move U R Ui Ri Ui Fi U F Case 2: The top edge piece of the RIGHT needs to be moved to the middle right location of the FRONT. For Case 2 execute the block move Ui Fi U F U R Ui Ri If you do this correctly the edge piece should be in the proper location with the proper orientation. Repeat for the other 3 edges of the middle layer. You should end up with two completed layers. Step 4: This step puts the cross on the UP side. Look at the UP side. It will be one of four possible cases. Ignore the corner colors and look for a top cross. If you have the top cross, then go to the next step. Don't worry that the edges are not in the proper location. You just want the proper colors facing up. If you have a bar – three across – rotate the cube as a whole so that the bar is running from the LEFT side to the RIGHT side. Then execute block move F R U Ri Ui Fi That should get you to the cross. Move on to the next step. If you have an L shape, rotate the cube as a whole so that the L looks inverted. That means that the cross will have completed arms at the top and the left, as you look at the UP side. Then execute block move F R U Ri Ui Fi That should get you to the bar configuration. Rotate the cube as a whole to get the bar running from the LEFT to RIGHT side. Execute block move F R U Ri Ui Fi again. That should get you to the cross. Move on to the next step. If you do not see the inverted L, bar or cross, then execute block move F R U Ri Ui Fi That should get you to the inverted L. You may have to rotate the cube as a whole to put it in the right position. Then follow the steps for the inverted L. Step 5: This step orientates the UP edges. Do not worry about the UP corners. Line up one of the edges properly by rotating the UP layer. The side that you line up is now the FRONT side, so make sure you hold the cube that way. Now execute the block move R U Ri U R U U Ri This rotates the other 3 edges. After each block move, check to see if the edges are aligned. Repeat until it is complete. At the end of this step you should have the UP edges complete. Step 6: This step places the UP corners in the proper location, but not necessarily in the proper orientation. Look at the UP corners to see if any of them are in the correct location. They do not necessarily have to be in the right orientation. If you have one, then rotate the cube as a whole so that the UP corner cube in the proper location is in the upper right of the FRONT. If you do not have any corners in the right location, pick any side to be the FRONT. Execute the block move U R Ui Li U Ri Ui L Check the corners to see if they are in the proper location. If you started without any in the proper location you should get one that is located correctly. Remember you do not care if the orientation is wrong. Find a corner in the proper location and put that in the upper right of the FRONT side. Repeat the block move U R Ui Li U Ri Ui L until all four corners are in the proper location. Step 7: This is the FUN step. This step changes the orientation of the corners. You need to pick a side as FRONT. The UP side should remain the same as before. In this step it will look like you are messing up the entire cube. Do not let that freak you out. Sometimes some of the corners will be orientated correctly. Rotate the cube as a whole so that a corner that needs to flipped is in the upper right of the FRONT side. The important part is to pick a FRONT side and keep it as FRONT during this entire process. Execute the block move of Ri Di R D repeatedly until the corner cube is oriented correctly. Make sure you do the D rotation. Once that corner is oriented correctly, rotate the UP side to position another corner that needs flipping to the upper right of the FRONT side. Do not worry about the rest of cube that looks like it is very messed up. Execute the block move of Ri Di R D until the corner cube is oriented correctly. Continue until you have all four corners oriented correctly. The cube will require one more UP rotation, that should be very obvious, to complete the entire cube. Woohoo! (Lemme know if something is unclear) . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

There is actually a MUCH easier way to fix the problem, only most people do not know the method. It does not involve lawyers. I used the method last summer to have some of my copyrighted materials removed from SR web sites. I tried every administrative avenue to let the people that still have copyrighted material improperly used by SR know about the method to remedy the situation. That got me the attached threatening letter and a call from CQ to get on the 'Jan Meyer Good Guy list'. See my avatar and post #3 in this thread on how to do it. BTW the court dates have been changed. They are now: Sept. 15, 16 and 17. Sept. 22, 23, 24 and 25 Sept. 29, 30 & Oct. 1, 2. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

FYI The court case of Skydive Arizona, Inc v Quattrocchi. et al United States District Court Case No. CV05-2656-PHX-MHM will commence the jury trial on Aug. 4 2009. It may take up to 3 weeks to complete. The case will be heard at Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse 401 Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85003 Anyone in the area may attend the proceedings and take notes. I am a plaintiff witness in this case. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

There is no record of this change in the minutes from winter 08, summer 08, winter 09. That change makes no sense. How does this relate to the insertion of the word undergraduate in 2.Section 7-1.2A3a ??? What was the issue that came up at the 08 Collegiates? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Who said that to you? There are only 3 positions that can speak on behalf of USPA: the ED, Prez and IPC delegate (only during & about FAI comps). When was this said to you? like in the past couple of days? . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I'll add in that I was not a jumper as an undergrad or even when working on my MS. I became a jumper after the MS and before entering a PhD program. . But if I'm reading it correctly, a grad student (under the old rules) over 25 years of age would ALWAYS be eligible. This doesn't seem quite fair--although I agree that making all grad students ineligible seems an overreaction. Not only PhD students but also 40 year old MBA students returning to school after 20 years in the workforce would also have been eligible under the old rules. Unlike many sports, a 40 year old with 20 years active skydiving experience is almost always going to be a better jumper than a 20 year old with limited jump numbers--or am I wrong in saying that? You are not reading the rules correctly. If you are over 25, been jumping more than 5 years and have more than 1000 jumps you cannot compete in collegiates. You have to meet all 3 of those conditions. The rules have never distinguished between undergrad or grad student. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Just to play devil's advocate for a moment--it seems at least plausible (I don't claim to know whether this happens in practice) that there are grad students who may have an unfair advantage because they have FAR more skydiving experience than undergrads . Skydiving isn't like bowling or golf where anyone can start at almost any age and even an undergrad may have a lot of experience. In skydiving, for legal reasons, usually one can't start until one is 18--which roughly corresponds to the beginning of college. So a college senior has at most 4 years of skydiving experience. OTOH someone in the 6th year of a PhD program may have 10 years of skydiving experience. And in this sport experience definitely matters. Doesn't that give the grad student a HUGE (and perhaps unfair) advantage over the undergrad? Again--I don't know if this is a common scenario or not. And I agree that helping to encourage a younger generation is very important. I'm just trying to understand the other point of view before I cast my vote--and I could certainly see that if perennial grad/PhD students tend to dominate the Collegiate Nationals, it would be discouraging for the undergrads. That is all covered with these rules: I'll add in that I was not a jumper as an undergrad or even when working on my MS. I became a jumper after the MS and before entering a PhD program. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Wow... I can't believe that rule change made it. It was done at the winter 09 mtg, so I had nothing to do with it. ;) I was at that mtg, but do not recall that change being mentioned, not as it is here: Note that the vote count is 0/0/0. Wonder why that is??? Anyway, I competed as a GRADUATE student in collegiates in 1986 in 4-way. My teammates were Greg Gasson, Jeff Root and Eve Burgey. IIRC, we came in 2nd and we even successfully launched a bipole exit from a C-182. We were the only team to do that. I think this will be easy to change back. What you need to do is get the Executive Committee (EC) to make an interim motion. Here's how it works. You send your request to the Prez. eg "Please delete the word 'undergraduate' from SCM Section 7-1.2A3a" The Prez sends this request off to the Comp Comm chair. The comp comm chair then asks the comp comm to discuss and vote on it. Their vote is passed back to the Prez, along with comments (pro/con). The Prez then requests that the EC discuss and vote on the issue. Usually, but not always, the prevailing vote by the comm is how the EC votes. My feeling is that there will be a lot of support to allow grad students to compete. Email everyone on the BOD to find out. Keep in mind that there are some on the BOD that refuse to answer emails from members, especially when sent to all BOD members. They need the 'special' hand holding of a personal email addressed to only them to consider giving a reply. Anyway you can use uspabod_AT_skydivehard.com to send email to the entire board. Replace _AT_ with @ Or you can overload the Prez. I'm sure he'll appreciate it. ;) It pays to talk to more than one director. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Well, it is still pretty hot in AZ in late Sept. so most outdoor stuff should be done early morning. Just about anywhere, the sunrise will be spectacular. The sunset comes up second. Not sure if they are going TUC->SD via PHX or straight across. I'll 2nd the Pima Air Museum, steak place in Marana and the Yuma jail. I'll add in Felicity - Center of the World Sand Dunes west of Yuma are impressive. It's where they filmed part of Stars Wars. Pichaccho(sp) Peak some Indian Burial ground outside of Coolidge U of A probably now has a memorial for Dick Scobee Sonora Desert Park/museum There's a tourist trap thing of the old western movie sets just outside of TUC. Patton Park off of I-10 - lots of WW2 army toys, near Chiraco Summit Joshua Tree Palm Springs - lots of things there - air museum, sky ride thing, golf all the obvious SD things Sea World, Wild Animal Park, SD Zoo etc. There is a dog park on Coronado Island that is a cool (literally and figuratively) place to be. And do not forget that the museum in Balboa Park has the 'famous Smithsonian' skydiving exhibition. They have to get us updated pics on that. Downtown SD has a Gaslight district for the tourists. restaurant row etc I'd also recommend carrying 5 gallons of water when crossing the desert and drive at night, early morning or late afternoon. Gas up on the AZ side of the border because it is cheaper. Quartzsite on I-10 and Yuma on I-8. Take the most western exit in both cities. Watch for speed traps on the CA side 20 miles of the border. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

GM is now GMGMQ.PK I suppose that's for General Motors Government Motors Quandary . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I bought shares of GM on 6/1 - the day they went into bankruptcy. If I had sold the stock today I would have made 40% gain in just over a month. It's in one of my retirement accounts. So no real money for a few more years. I'm waiting for that time just before the government sells off its interest in GM to cash in. Should be around Sept/Oct. I think I will end up tripling-ish my investment gamble on the penny stock. As far as actual vehicles - I'll stick with Nissan. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

http://www.fai.org/parachuting/system/files/SC5_2009.pdf . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

I've read a lot about the systems of carbon credits. I do not see how it actually reduces emissions. I ran across these explanations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FFdZBahxWo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKYotFocS7A http://www.cheatneutral.com/ and here is something that was written on a rather boring youtube vid. so skydive neutral will mean paying the jumpers unable to jump or can't jump, not to jump. IOW, Martin & his jumpers can get paid by SDA in the winter not to jump. Then in the summer Martin pays AZ jumpers not to jump. As you can see, the total # of jumps remains neutral. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Sounds like an ugly mess. Watch out for kids and pets touching anything that was exposed to that stuff. Curling leaves sounds really bad. It would probably be good to document things. Take pictures & video. Start a journal and list daily observations. Try Erin Brockovich for info. Randomly call contractors and ask them what they think or who to contact. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

yes. I forgot to say that video was a CF WR done by Chris Gay & Mark Gregory. Video was Keith Thivierge, who is the best CF photographer I have ever seen. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

That's an interesting description on how to side slide. Usually, I describe it as tipping one side of your body down in the direction you want to go. The easiest side slide under canopy can be done with toggles only. What you want to do is tip the canopy to the left or right and not change heading. As you know, if you pull right, your heading will turn right. So to counter the heading change you need to pull left, but not as far because you want the canopy to tip to the right. Remember that both toggles are moving. This is not a pull and hold type maneuver. To see this in action watch http://omniskore.com/comp/2007/usnats/media/fscwr.wmv I would not describe a flat turn like that. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

You have to look at the trajectory. Double fronts makes a steeper approach, compared to full flight. And as you note, it also increases airspeed. Deep brakes makes a steeper approach, compared to full flight. It reduces airspeed. If you are high on final, you want to make your approach steeper. (Let's rule out the s-turns. That is not a good technique.) You have options. You can go fast or you can go slow. Here's the Goldilock's answer: 1. Full Flight - toggles all the way up will have 'almost' the flattest glide slope at a moderate speed. 2. Double Front Risers - will have a steeper glide slope than (1) and have a faster airspeed. 3. Deep Brakes - will have a steeper glide slope than (1) and (2) and have a slower airspeed. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

'Flying a canopy sideway(s)' and 'crabbing' are two distinctively different concepts and maneuvers. You cannot crab in a no-wind situation, but you can fly your canopy sideways in no-winds. QED. ditto what DanG said. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

[n00b question] How, exactly, do you fly a canopy sideways without flying crosswind? [/n00b question] The same way you fly sideways in ff. You maintain the same heading and move to the right or left. The way to do it under canopy (a rough explanation) is to pull some right toggle, then some left toggle such that the left toggle trails the right toggle and then neutralize with both toggles at the same deflection position at a deep brake or smoothly returned to full flight mode. All toggle movements are slow and smooth, not jabbing, stabbing crap. For instance, you pull 4 inches on the right and then pull 3 inches on the left and then as you continue pulling right you also pull left, but don't catch up to equal pulls on each side until you want to stop the offset or sideways movement. It's easier to explain in person with motions than in words. By contrast, s-turns are a toggle turn R (or L) that changes your heading and you keep until you let up on the R (or L) toggle, followed by a turn in the opposite direction. By contrast to braked turns, you are moving both toggles in a sashay, but only one toggle in a braked turn. This is not a really complete explanation either. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Well, you could fly in a deep brake or double front risers configuration until your trajectory came up short of the obstacle. Technically, sashays and s-turns (aka your 180 degree turns method) are not the same thing. Sashays offset your trajectory to the left or right with minimal (or very temporary) change in heading. S-turns change your trajectory as well as heading for a significant amount of time. S-turns in the pattern are frowned upon nowadays because of the collision hazard they pose. Sashays are more like flying your canopy sideways, whereas s-turns are flying your canopy in different directions for a certain amount of time. This may be a language barrier question, but in the US, 'final' generally means the lowest 300-ish ft AGL. or the leg when you turn into the wind or determined landing direction. The pattern starts at 1000 ft. You get to do downwind, base and final all under 1000 ft. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker

Apparently the $3000 trade-in is only if you pay the MSRP. The dealer did offer $500 for the vehicle trade-in, but they still wouldn't come down on the price far enough so they've left the lot for now. That is why you should sell directly to a 'collector' or 'fixer-upper type'. You should also check the price you'd get from a salvage type lot. Parts alone are worth a lot more than $500. I sold a Mustang for about 3x what a dealer would have given me. It was not running because a 'bona fide' mechanic installed a timing chain wrong. AutoTrader.com is another good place to find cars. If you get someone to check out the car before you buy (if you don't know how to do that) you can get better (buying) deals. No dealer warranty and more paperwork, but you save a lot of money. Did I mention that you should never finance something that depreciates? Besides your son should be buying the car, not you. May I suggest a Nissan Frontier? c 2000 ish I've had three. The one I liked the best was the one (1998) totaled a few years ago by an old guy driving on the wrong side of the road. Prices from individual sellers were much lower than dealers (by thousands of dollars). I actually made $ from the insurance settlement and got a newer Frontier with less mileage. . . Make It Happen Parachute History DiveMaker