DrewGPM

Please explain the difference between the 6 "having a malfunction then reacting too late to get a reserve canopy over their heads" and the no pull after PC in tow and no/low reserve pull

Since, according to your profile, you have 45 jumps that is a great to ask your canopy coach. If you don't have someone coaching you, I would suggsest getting one before playing around with this type of manuever. These high performance moves look cool, but they come with new dangers. Even trying this up high seems risky. For example...Stalling your canopy is a lot fun, and pretty safe at high altitude. But on certain canopies you can/will induce an unrecoverable malfunction. At 700 jumps I still ask for advice before trying new things under canopy.

He was concerned with RW, so it makes sense to post hear. My point was that there are different rules for each event. There are freeflyers and RW teams training at Skydive Chicago. As I posted, each discipline has it's own rules, so just looking at the RW numbers isn't accurate. Since he said he was hearing two different stories, I am thinking the other story might be coming from a freeflyer. At Nationals the RW and freeflyers are not on the same plane, so you only need to worry about the rules for that discipline. But during training they share jump run...so you have to pick a speed that works for everyone. If an RW team wants to train for exits at the higher end of the competition range, that speed is too fast for freefly competition. 85 knots is within range for both disciplines, so he made a good call. I'll have to ask the Furies how it compares with with jump run at Nationals. A few years ago I was told that Nationals used the upper level of the jump run speed for 4-way. Maybe someone from Perris can tell us what used this year.

you can email Betsy@para-concepts.com or call 815-434-6094. The book is $19.95 and they have a bunch in stock.

That is the rule for Formation Skydiving. Each discipline can have it's own jump run speed. Style and Accuracy rules say: L. Aircraft 1. A variety or combination of aircraft may be used. 2. Aircraft speed at time of exit must not exceed 87 knots (100 mph) indicated. 3. Any slower speed desired will be through mutual agreement of pilot and competitor. The same is used for all the disciplines at the Collegiates.. Rule 7-1.13 I don't see anything listed for the artistic events.

I don't think promiscuity is the reason the Pope prefers to exclude gays from the priesthood. That seems like a tangent from this thread. As far this thread goes...I look at the Pope the same way i look at the supreme court in the US. The bible is open to interpretation, just like our constitution. You need someone there to be the highest authority on the issue. That's what the pope is in the Catholic church. Under the current Pope, the interpretation is that the bible clearly stands against homosexuals as priests. That is the more traditional stance of the church. When a new Pope comes in, i'd expect any hotly debated topic to come up again. The same thing happens when the US Supreme Court changes members. Gays and Abortion are going to being debated for quite a while by the pope and the Supreme Court of the United States. Personally I have no problem with homesexuality. I don't think allowing them to be priests is a big deal. But the Pope says no. Gotta go with him, until someone convinces him that he is wrong.

They have copies at the ParaConcepts, the gear store at Skydive Chicago. I'm heading out there this weekend, I'll find out price info. FYI, we copied one a few years ago. It cost us $20 by the time we copied the pages and had it bound. We didn't bother trimming it, so it's an 8.5 x 11 book...not nearly as convenient as the original. I think I have all the pages in jpeg format on my home computer.

There is a group of jumpers from chicagoland going to Costa Rica in January. Nobody is planning to jump, but they'll be in the country. We can give you more feedback after that trip...since you're not leaving any time soon. One of our people lived there a few years ago. When she wanted to jump, they rented a 182 for the day and jumped. But that was several yers ago. hopefully things have changed.

http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#transcending or email Brian Germain...his address in on that website. The guy is skydiver, canopy design and a psychologist. Seems like he would be a great resource.

I assume this will be split off to a new topic...but it makes sense to have both DZO's and skydivers equally represented on the BOD. Both have interests in the future of the sport. Since there seems to be growing number of them, it also seems that full time staff jumpers should be represented. These folks work hard and have interests that differ from DZO's and up jumpers. Those three groups can work in a system of check and balances to avoid one group from dominating the decision making process. There are conflict of interest issues all the time, like DZO's voting on group membership revocation. There are plenty of ways to deal with that. I think the DZO's who recused themselves in voting on the SkyRide GM sets a pretty good precedent for how to handle interest conflicts.

thumpin' the bean

Way to go Nick...I knew my Illinois district boys would kick some ass!!!

I've been all about JD from the beginning of the show. He's obnoxious, but in a rock star kind of way. He's confident, bordering on cocky...it makes for a cool stage presence. He belongs as front man of a band, I think INXS knows that. His re-writes have been great, except that one queen tune...OUCH! The song he wrote is awesome...I look forward to hearing Pretty Vegas on the radio some day soon. I LOVED Ty...I'm very upset that he didn't make make it farther. He would be a great fit for the band. I think he had a point when he commented that people weren't voting for him because of race. Nothing worth dwelling on, it seems the world may not be ready for a black man to lead a rock band. I hope some other band picks him up...he deserves a shot. I liked Marty, but he's proving to be way too dark and brooding for INXS. I didn't like it when Kurt Cobain did it and I don't like when does it. Very deep and emotional guy...unfortunately I want INXS to be a fun band Last night was the first time I didn't like Mig's performance. He had been my #3 choice from early on in the show. It will be interesting to hear him perform an INXS song for the first time. Suzy is great, but I don't see how she would add much to the band. She's had help from Marty and JD along the way when it came time to do original stuff. I don't see her being much help writing new songs or reworking old ones. She's a great cover artist...but as lead singer of a band doing original stuff...i don't see it.

Without the vert, Stardian is an easy block. Someone once told me that you don't need vertical moves until your team is averaging more than 10 points on dives from the NSL A class. The vert move is fast, but has risks...so unless your team is pretty good, the reward isn't woth the risk. If someone is looking for easy blocks, I assume they aren't ready for vertical moves.

I'll add star, even though is trickier than most people think. The Stardian is an easy exit too. Bunyip is pretty solid, but it's not a random. Don't know many 40 way blocks, but of the 4-way blocks I find the easiet to be: Stardian-Stardian and ZigZag-Marquis. Canadian Tee and sidebody donut-sideflake donut are pretty easy, but they are slow. SideBuddies and Cat+accordian are straight forward, as long as you stay on-level.

The document is color coded, so pasting the text seems pointless. I converted it to a jpeg...hopefully you can see that.

I'm going with the "spanking the monkey" as the tie in to the sport. Q. "why'd you start skydiving" A. "I got bored spanking the monkey all the time, I needed something else to on the weekends...." A case could also be made for the origin being someone being told he looked "like a monkey fuckin' a football"...as during a funneled exit.

I agree That's why I like the WFFC! :) If my home dz had a pond I would go ten times as much. Have you been to the pond at Skydive Chicago yet? It's longer drive for you...but it's worth the trip to get over the water!

your reply made me think of this...it made me laugh http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/endofworld.html

That is some funny shit right there! Thanks for the laugh!

Getting your butt kicked at the CPC level isn't enough for you? Now you're gonna let pro folks kick your ass! Couldn't happen to a nicer guy! At least you take a beating well. PS Try to keep your drivers license and plane ticket with you this time!

I'm no pro, so this doesn't affect me...but I agree with Chuck. Any competition listed as a PST event and using the pro course set up should earn some points toward currency. The points don't have to go toward PST season standings...that I could understand. But why wouldn't they count as performance points? He's still performing in a Pro class competition. Just my $.02 on the subject.

I agree with those that say you should try both. I spent 7 years at Chicagoland and the last two at Skydive Chicago. They both put up a lot loads on the weekend. The quality of the skydives is great at both. If you are worried about feeling like a number, Chicagoland is your best choice. They make you feel like you're part of the family right away. Skydive Chicago has a great facility, but it took me a while before feeling comfortable there. Your concern about "absortion" makes sense to me and it is why it sounds like you have more of a Chicagoland type of personality. Friday is team day with discounted jump prices and Sunday they just started offering $15 jumps in the afternoon. I'll be at both this weekend, let me know if you want a guided tour.

The guy said parked next to an existing obstacle. So he made it into a bigger obstacle...I don't see a problem with that. If he parked so that it created a second obstacle, I could understand the objection.

Knowing why panic happens is an important step in controlling it. The best book I've seen on the subject is Transcending Fear by Brian Germain. He's not just canopy designer, he's a very knowledgable guy when it comes to the psycology of fear. http://www.bigairsportz.com/publishing.php#transcending