MWGemini

As we all know- gear can fail. What happens when the student becomes reliant on the radio and then the batteries die, or the signal gets jammed or something? Mike

Can't do Wednesday or Friday, taking my fiancee out to dinner, but planning on bringing a few cases for Saturday evening, still taking requests. Mike

Looks like Joeseph prefers the low carb/calorie stuff, so I have votes for Bud/Miller and coke. Anything else? Mike

Ok, that makes more sense now. I'll be e-mailing them tomorrow. LouDiamond- I had the same thought, the throat mic setup looks a bit weak. I've been looking for the military grade setups I'm used to using with the elastic band, but those are MUCH more expensive. $30 is almost worth it just to play around with, and I could probably rig it up to be VOX if the radio is capable of doing that. For some reason I'm really interested in seeing is this thing works in freefall. I'll probably end up buying one just to play with, and if it works, I'll post here. Could start a new trend even ;P I'll also contact Square One tomorrow. For now, sleep. Thanks, Mike

Definitely will have to look for it. Probably have seen it and never realized it. Still unanswered: times and preferred beer. Thanks, Mike

Yeah, my home DZ has radios in the student helmets too, but they are receive only, and the instructor has to be physically holding the transmitter (which is a bit big and bulky) to be able to talk to the student. In other words, no freefall communication, no canopy communication until the instructor lands. This could potentially make that easier, but then has the drawback of making the student reliant on it and less reliant on hand signals. Still looking for info as to whether these have been used successfully during freefall or under canopy. Thanks, Mike

I was bored and browsing e-bay, and found this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5720600386. Similar in concept to the ones I've used in the military, but nowhere near as high quality. Read a few reviews (yes, I really am THAT bored) and they seem to be good quality. My question is this: has anyone ever used these (or something similar) to communicate during skydiving? I'm very skeptical that they would work during freefall, even though they don't pick up ambient noise, but work off vibrations, but perhaps while under canopy? I may get a set just to play with, as I know one of my instructors always hated having to store his radio inside his jumpsuit and then remove it once he landed to coach the student down. Thought this might make his job easier, and if it works during freefall as well, could make for some interesting dives. Comments? suggestions? Thanks, Mike Edit: link didn't work

Well, *I* don't drink, so that makes it a little more difficult. Maybe a case of beer and a case of coke or something? Still- how late do most people usually stay on Saturdays? When you say right around the corner, do you mean inside the manifest room, or towards the student gear room? Maybe I should just announce I have free beer Saturday morning and see who comes to my aid ;P Mike

I'm a student with 19 jumps, and I was taught during ground school (after my 5 tandems but before my first solo) how to do complete gear checks, including cypress activation and deactivation. It was also suggested that when I pick up a rig that has a cypress on, to deactivate it and reactivate it if I did not personally turn it on that day, or personally saw it get turned on by someone else, since they have a 14 hour cycle and could have been jumped on a sunset load the day prior and turn off while waiting to board, etc. This is a rule I have been following since (and also informing other jumpers sharing the same rig if/when I turned it on and what the voltage was. On nearly every jump since, the instructor or coach has asked me not only if it was on, but the voltage, which I now make it a point to remember. I'm anal about safety and tend to ask the same questions of several different people just so I can get different viewpoints on the same issue, and I HAVE asked people to verify my cypress before (in addition to watching me do a gear check). Fear keeps you alive. Mike

This is to correct my previous post: Eric Miller: emmiller@email.unc.edu Joseph Kwon: joekwon80@hotmail.com David Jennings: dajennin@cs.ncsu.edu Ellis Lopez: skydiveelis@hotmail.com/elis.lopez@ae.ge.com Marion Grabarek-Matthews: mariongm@hotmail.com BB: blball@unity.ncsu.edu Dawn Stickle: dstickle@alumni.ufl.edu Mike Winters: MWGemini@planetunreal.com And now on to the questions: So beer light goes on after last load goes wheels up, right? (generally around dusk I am assuming). How late do you guys generally stay, where do you keep the beer during the day, and what is the preferred beer of choice (or should I bring variety?) I guess I could just get a cooler and keep it in the trunk with ice, but that may not keep them cold all day, and I've never seen anyone carrying cases into the place before, so..... Since I get paid Friday, I'll probably end up bringing a few cases on Saturday and see what happens. Now I just have to figure out how to break away from my fiancee for the evening... Mike

I'm still on student status (6 jumps to go!) but have been at CSS pretty much every weekend since July 4th. My name is Mike Winters, and I'm the skinny white guy who asks all the dumb questions :) Mike Winters: MWGemini@planetunreal.com Also- how late do you guys generally stay on weekends? I always leave before dark, but I hear thats when things start getting interesting.... Thanks, Mike

Hehe, nice. I guess I'd better stop by the store on the way next time...... Seriously though, I don't stay late enough for the beer to come out, so I don't even know if the people at my home DZ drink and party or just wrap it up and go home. I guess I should find out. Speaking of which, does anyone here jump at Carolina Sky Sports in Louisburg, NC? Thanks, Mike

Bottom line: I will not downsize until both my instructors and I feel it is safe to do so. That being said, I'm flying a Hornet 230 now, and will probably be flying 210s when I get off student status around November. Since I am planning on ordering the container (if I decide to go that route) at the end of the year, I won't be jumping it (and the 190 in it) until spring, by which time I will have 60-70 jumps total (if not more), and will have attended at least one Scott Miller canopy course. Also, a 190 would give me a wing loading of about .81, and I would probably put at least 100 jumps on that before even considering downsizing to a 170, probably more along the lines of 200. Part of the reason I'm planning to wait until the end of the year is to see how well I can fly the 210s and 190s at my DZ (that I cannot fly while on student status, but my instructor has told me I am ready for a 210). At any rate- this is NOT a safety issue. I will not downsize any sooner than is safe. I just want to make sure that the container I buy is not only safe for my skill level, but will also last me for as long as possible before I have any need to get another one. Judging from the info on the Mirage site, if I can get the M4/M5 combination I discussed above, I will probably be able to use this container forever, since it will be safe now and still allow for a lot of downsizing in the future, over many hundred jumps and several years of experience. Thanks, Mike

So who do I owe beer to, why, and what is the tradition for that? Seems like any time it's "the first" you owe beer, but since I always leave before dark to do things with my fiancee, I'm never around when (and if) the beer comes out. I don't drink anyways, but eh, tradition is tradition. Mike Edit: Fixed typo

Today was my 18th and 19th jumps, landed out on my 18th due to bad spot (far upwind) in 30mph winds. I was floating my way back to the DZ in about 2/3 brakes, but that just wasn't doing it. About 4 or 5 jumpers had already landed in a field near me. I had three options: 1) follow them 2) try for the next field on the wind line, where one other jumper had already landed, but it looked to be much taller grass or corn or something 3) push for the DZ, which I MIGHT have been able to make, but would've probably landed downwind and short. I chose option 1, since there were more jumpers already there, it was a larger field, and I wasn't sure about the ground for field 2 and was almost positive I wouldn't get back to the DZ. Another student, with a lower wing loading than I have (larger canopy) flew right below me and was able to make it back to the DZ, however, but landed crosswind. I landed safely, as did everyone who landed off. Had about a two mile walk back to the road, but that gave me the opportunity to talk to my coach about the jump as well as the other jumpers. This may be better suited for the training forum, but I'm not really worried about my performance on that jump. I think I made the right decision, and would make it again. landing off isn't such a bad thing. I came out a lot better than the jumper with over 1000 jumps who had a hard landing and got carried off in an ambulance (no idea what happened there, but I heard he was turning to get into the wind from the long spot and didn't recover in time, all the more reason I'm glad I didn't push for the DZ). So- does this mean I owe somebody beer or something? How does that work? Thanks, Mike

Something the senior instructor/rigger told me today is to ask Mirage if I could get a container made with an M5 reserve container (for the PD 176) and an M4 main container (which suits my canopy skills and progression better). We discussed the pros/cons of M4 vs M5 for a while, and finally settled on an M5 due to the reserve container size, but if Mirage can make the MT-X series with vastly different main and reserve containers, I would think it wouldn't be too hard to make an M4/M5 combination. I'll be e-mailing them tonight. Thanks, Mike

It's certainly not a fear of flying. I'm afraid of heights, though, and I think that has something to do with it. However, I did more rappels and fast ropes in the military than I could count, from towers, buildings, and especially helicopters, mainly UH-60 Blackhawks and CH-47 Chinooks. I was generally nervous for those as well. It's not something that's going to stop me from jumping, I enjoy the feeling I get when fighting my fears. They say mind over matter. This is one of those times when what is in my mind (fear?) doesn't matter. I've always thought that a healthy amount of fear is what keeps you alive in dire situations anyways. Mike

I use Trillian (www.ceruleanstudios.com I belive) and have all 4. You can even connect to IRC with it, but I use mIRC for that. Mike

I hate waking up. Especially when I only crawled into bed a few hours prior. The only part that makes it bearable is that my fiancee is the one waking me up. As for the allergies, take some Sudafed or something and go out and play. I have to pop a few before every jump or I get massive headaches afterwards.

Texas Pete hot sauce, garlic powder, cumin, a little bit of ground meat, pretty much anything you can put in there will work if you season it right. That also depends on how spicy you like your food and what flavor ramen you get. If you do decide to go the ground meat route, what I would suggest is getting like a 5lb roll of it, since it's cheaper that way, cook, say, 1lb of it, season it, etc, freeze it all, and then you can just use it slowly. I used to do that, and after cooking it, would divide it into meal size portions and re-freeze it. Only adds about 5-10 minutes to the cook time. Mike

To answer Hazard- I really won't know until I get there, but since it is a large expenditure of money (that I have to sell my car before I can afford a rig anyways), I want to make sure that it is as versatile as possible. I will probably want to get into freeflying and wingsuit flight later on down the road, and this container SEEMS like it would be great for both, and if it is versatile enough to accommodate several canopies, then it will last me much longer. FYI, I load a 170 at about .91 and a 150 at about 1.0. I am a conservative pilot and will not go over a 1.1:1 for a long time, if ever. Even assuming I DO decide one day I want to swoop, after seeing video of Steve Miller (I think) swoop a navigator 220, I figure that any canopy I could fit into this container could be swooped if I had the skill to do it with. GravityGirl- Why do you recommend against upsizing for elliptical? Many of the threads I have seen on here recommend just that, or MAYBE staying at the same size when going elliptical. Also- my home DZ gear store has a good, low jump Spectre 190 that would be perfect for this. Not sure of the price, but talking to them yesterday, it sounded pretty good. Thanks, Mike

Thanks, I'll contact them soon. So much to learn, so little time.... Mike

Yeah, I don't want to downsize sooner than is safe, but I want to make sure I'm buying the right container for what I want to do and for my skill level. If I can put 190 down to 150 in it, including the HP ellipticals, I figure thats close to 1000 jumps right there, and if it could go any smaller than that (which I doubt) I may not ever need another container. So, just to confirm, an M5 can hold a PD 176 reserve, and also a 190 down to a 150, correct? Can it be pushed any larger or smaller than that, or is 190-150 the complete range? Thanks again, Mike

So would an M5 be a better bet then? One of the instructors at my DZ has told me that even if it is sized for a 170, I could go 190 pretty easily and 210 if I REALLY tried. As to the 190 main vs 160 reserve, I probably won't be jumping a 190 long, and will hit a 170 pretty quickly, but I'd like to have about a 170ish reserve, at least for starters. Assuming I go M5 instead of M4, what would the canopy progression on that be? 190, 170, 150, 170Hp, 150HP, done? Thanks, Mike

I am a student looking into buying my first rig. Since Mirage has the 50% off deal going for the troops deployed to Iraq, I am strongly considering getting a new container from them, as I could get it custom built to my needs. My question is this: is the following canopy progression realistic for a Mirage G3 M4: * Sabre (or similar) 190 * Sabre (or similar) 170 * Sabre (or similar) 150 * HP Elliptical ~170 * HP Elliptical ~150 * and maybe even as low as a high performance elliptical at ~135 Assuming that an M4 can fit all those canopies, this is probably the route I will go, since I will most likely put 200 jumps or more on each of those canopies (especially the more high performance ones), and I expect to average about 200 jumps per year, so at that rate, this container could last me 5-6 years or more before I would have any need to downsize, assuming I even WANT to downsize further, which I doubt I will. Thanks, Mike