Avion

I have always thought since like 5th grade that a DC3 would make a great personal airplane

The first time my dogs went at it, I tried punching and kicking the aggressor to make her stop. She just glanced at me like, "Huh, your gonna piss me off doing that.." Animals feel pain differently than people. So, I realized I had to find another way. Hence, the birth of the blanket idea. When something blocks the dog's vision, removes the ground from under it's feet, and tightens around its neck, it disorients the dog so much in my limited expeience that it stops being aggressive. When some of the people I know found out that I had pit mixes, they started offering advise how to "train" them, apparently alot of people develop the killer instinct in their dogs by training them on cats. The cat posses little risk to the dog while providing a real kill. When my dog chomp on my cat, I thought she was gonna die. It was a horrible sight(I love my cat), the dog growling shaking it head back and forth with my little cat between her jaws, the cat howling away. Cats can make a suprisingly loud noise when they want to. When I finnally got them appart, The blanket idea worked for this too, the cat went and hide the the corner of the room, and was silent for a week. The dog, evidently had scared her sensless. She has since made a full recovery. Now, I keep 'em seper-ated As far as sleeping with me, my first dog slept by her self, until I got the second one, who like to sleep with me. Now they both will if I let em. It seems that I finally got a b#tch to sleep with me, and two at that

My bad, it was my popup blocker

I have the people whose skill I admire, I wish they be my mentors. Pete Allum and Dennis Rooke are my most admired skydivers. They have a very smooth relaxed Mantis style that I doubt I will ever be able to match due to my bone structure.

That exactly what I mean by steering it rather than trying to get rid of it.

Hence why they kept telling me jokes and singing to me on the radio... That's sweet

Only after I was an adult and got my first dog did I realize the amount of time and effort required to raise a dog right. Really, it's a full time job for months after you get a puppy. Cheers

LOL, I on occasion noticed that too: The smaller the dog the larger the attiude. It getsa really funny when you have a little Yorkshire going insane in front of a larger dog that just looks at it like, you've got to be kidding. It the same with horses and ponies. Ponies are more fiesty pound for pound than horses.

LOL Of course, because they were bred to hunt people. There's no stopping a rottie, its got a very short neck, hard to grab, and they're heavy strong dogs. American Pit Bull Terriers were bred to fight in the pit. Terries in general were breed as hunting dogs. Any dog can turn into a savage ferocious monster, especially if allowed to run loose, beaten, caged, chained, underfeed, and under loved. The fact that a lot of people want either a rottie or big pit so they can train them to be mean on command, just makes things worse. The only thing different about pits is that they can jump higher and bite faster than most other dogs. Responsible ownship is the answer. Be it guns, dogs or sub 100 canopies. Cheers BTW, if you want to get a dog to break off an attack, here is a way I found that works: Throw a blanket over the dog, so that its vision is blocked, then grab it around the neck in a half nelson and choke the sh#t out of it, while lifting it off the ground if possible, till it lets go. It will take a few moments before the dog realizes that the tables have turned against it. This works pretty good actually. I had to breakup my two dogs a few of times and once when one of them chomped on my cat. The cat scratched the hell out of me while I was saving it. Ungrateful b#tch Some might say, "This just proves my point about pits being dangerous." Well, I say, "This is my emergancy proceedures for any dog."

Dude, why would anyone want a tiny canopy that can do 80mph swoops? I have two pit half breeds. They both have shown an inherent ferocity, but that only happened a couple of times when they were getting used to each other. I got the second a year after the first. Pits are awesome dogs. I got mine mainly to have out in the woods when I go camping. They have a lot of emotion, the visiousness is just one side of that, same as a chow. Chows are one of the most loving dogs you can get. One of mine is the friendliest dog in the world, the other is scared of everybody because her previous owner used to beat her. Of course all that emotion can be turned bad by a bad owner.

After I get back flying down, I try sit flying

I read the other night on the Ranch's site that if you lose the radio contact during AFF, land using 1/2 brakes, without flairing, and PLF. I forgot to mention that the more I talk with experienced skydivers with hundreds or thousands of jumps, and read little tidbits like that, the more I get a sense of calm.

I try to watch Airspeed everytime they're here in Orlando. Where did you get videos of them in the tunnel?

The clickies for the dive pool and the rules are dead. I wonder if we could get something like this kicking in Orlando.

I read about James-Lange Theory. I see where your getting your perspective from. They call maintain that the increase heart rate, raised blood pressure, muscular tension etc... is the actual emotion or in this case fear. From my studies in physics, I have acquired the skill of investigating a non-observabable factor through the observable reactions it causes in other things. Accordingly, I hold fear to be a non-observable factor and the the measurable physical quantities and disorientation you described as reactions to that non-observable factor. Although I maintain a different perspective than the James-Lange Theory, it is good to talk with someone that is rational and conversant about the foundations of their opinion rather than just being a butthead. Aside from our difference in the definition of fear, our approaches to dealing with it are similar, even if yours are more well defined

LOL, exactly, its all about stress management. The same techniques apply to any stress causing situation. Breath control, meditation and visualizations are being used to improve the performance of corporate officers to pro basketball players. Psychocybernetics and Raja(mental)yoga are among the things I have studies for this. You have to be able to fly your mind through the fear stream, as well as your body through the air stream Even with all this effort I still lose the ability to speak coherently and tend to drool in the presence of beautiful women Actually, I'm better than that now, I can get a few words out at a time, although I still carry a hankerchief just in case

You seem to be combining what I described as fear and an unrestrained reaction to fear together and calling that fear. Such a combination lacks a good point in regards to skydiving. This is however how the mind suppresses memories of an overwhelming event, and unless one is falling from the sky, it functions to help the psychi survive by insulating it from an otherwise seemingly uncontrollable situation. This is fear allowed to run wild. My point is that through mental training one can hopefully avoid letting things get that far out of hand, just as through physical training one can hopefully avoid letting a malfunction get too far out of hand. Thus, one needs to know what to do about malfunctions, and one needs to know what to do about fear, because they both happen. Am I making any sense here?

[reply I do not define what you are describing as "fear". That is the priliminary somatic experience of arousal. It has not been interpreted yet, and so has not affective tone. Fear is what happens when our egos get ahold of the arousal and add a layer of "story" on to what is happening. That's when things go from bad to worse. It is unarguable that fear increases our capacity for "Fight, Flight or Freeze". If the correct solution falls in one of these categories, we are all set. This positive outcome arrises as a result of pure luck. The percentage of experiences in modern life that such responses are beneficial is quite low. Most of the time, higher cognitive functioning and emotional intelligence is what we need, rather than unconscious, preconditioned and stereotypical responses. I refer to successful fear as: "Saved by the Caveman within". How often is the caveman really going to help you? I choose choice. + Hmm... You obviously have put more than the usual amount of thought to this. Could you give and example of 'add a layer of "story" on to what is happening.' The caveman is of little use here. I'm mainly concerned with coping with exiting aprehension and dealing with an unexpected mal. Of course happy visualizations or going to be a waste of precious time in the air, but remembering to breathe could help prevent panic/freezing. In regards to skydiving adreneline functions more as a recreational drug than a survival aid, although the heightened awareness, quickened responses, and increased strength I can only see as helpful in dealing with a malfunction. BTW It's a pleasure chating with you. I've been to the BIGAIRSPORTZ website and read some of your articles about a year ago.

I beleive there's a difference between fear and premonition, and that it's better to err on the safe side, if that can even be called an err

I tend to disagree. Fear is what triggers the adrenaline release in preparation for fight or flight(running away). That is its redeeming quality. Fear is a low level physical reaction to preceive danger, even subconciously preceived danger. It is maintaining rational control of oneself that becomes the task to be accomplished. Rather than eliminating fear, fear should be expected, recognized and managed/utilized. If one can avoid becoming overwhelmed by it, fear will boost ones abilities beyond the ordinary, exactly what it is meant to do. I have learned this from other activities. In my preparations for my first jump, this has actually become a much bigger issue and adventure for me than I had expected

I claim to know NOTHING! --------------------------------------- BTW here's how to say that in german and french: Ich weiss das ich nichts weiss. Je sais que je sais rein. They're a couple of my favorite sayings LOL

As I'm sure you've already been told, the tendons will heal slower than the bones, and the ligiments if they heal at all will probably always be less than were. I have had lesser injuries, and have rehabed them myself in a way that always make the doctors ask what I doing to heal so fast and well. Basically a lot of hot salt water soaks. That will bring the blood into the area, and blood speeds healing. The heat will also loosen things up so that when you stretch you will regain flexibility easier and faster. Always try always soak for at least 20 mins before PT. I soak injuries for 45mins three times a day. And work them for flexibilty as much as I can stand. In a couple of months you should be able to regain most of your original flexibility. When/if you can jog slowly for 2-3 miles, I would say your completely healed. Use ice after workouts in the begining to reduce swelling. Best Regards...

Ocean's 12 is a continuation of the story.

True, true. I just met PMS#1

Yes, I agree the tone here has gone in an unintended direction. It's just that I knew the answer for this question, and the reasoning behind that answer, having seen many beginning sitfliers experience that same problem during coaching and the instructors response. Whether I should have offered this information without having first hand experience with it is another matter. It seemed reasonable to me in this case. Rather than comparing myself to anyone, I was tring to say the experienced people, who should know what to do here, say lean back. I just tried to explain why, which is something the the experienced people hinted at but neglected to do fully. As you might preceive, I like to understand and explain things in depth. Many times I have been fustrated by an authority who provides an answer without a reason. Prehaps they lack the knowledge of the reason, prehaps they lack the skill to articulate it. In any case, I like to know the answer and the reason. That by the way has fustrated many of my teachers, it seems to shake their sense of security