craigbey

It may be tight, but I had a Samurai 120 in mine and it fit fine -- airlocks included. Can you get a demo Xfire? The Neos 109 was crazy tight! Don't recommend that.

Learned that one many years ago at a small DZ and exchanged it with others at CouchFreaks. Had not seen it in a while until last year when I was at another DZ at the opposite end of an Otter from someone I've known for a few years. The tradition was usually to flip someone the bird and say very politely, "Have a Nice Skydive!". It was fun in this recent situation to just flip him the bird and smile.

I know what this is... This is an espresso machine. No, no wait. It's a snow cone maker. Is it a water heater?

Even if you put AggieDave under it?

Local enforcement is certainly a fundamental part of the solution, but how do you export the successes from one DZ to another? What specific educational or regulatory processes did the successful DZ's employ that need to be implemented elsewhere? You mentioned there are some examples of idiots being banned. The DZO's or S&TA's had specific reasons for such actions. Why not make those formal rules and tie them to required education and ongoing training that could have prevented the jumper from getting to that point? I think the development and implementation of canopy w/l and type restrictions together with ongoing educational requirements and skill certification prior to advancement is the formal version of the common sense measures you have described. A formal process that is recognized and accepted by the USPA and member DZ's is the way it gets pushed out to more DZ's. No, it's not going to get implemented everywhere. No, it's not idiot-proof. But we might still have a very talented tunnel rat flying his Pilot or something more appropriate. And we would have more DZ's working together to provide more structured CC training and oversight.

Make that happen everywhere in a consistent manner, and you've got a winning plan.

Updated link to the incident thread... www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=1751346;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1TMqJLk4U8&feature=player_embedded

You sure you want to advertise this, or is this a 'learning opportunity'?

If you were still 275, I'd suggest a 'Bro'. Very sexy under a jumpsuit.

Do these same people at your DZ use the 45 degree rule?

Beautiful jump and great video with a perfect audio selection.

$100? Why not $500 ... or $20? Obviously, no one in the FAA or GAO actually crunched the numbers and came up with $100 as the appropriate fee. So, other than pulling a number out of their a$$, how did someone come up with $100? Seems rather arbitrary and random.

http://www.sky-science.com/Sales%20-%20Removable%20Slider.html

Not just at Elsinore. That's an advanced skill that can be found in other experienced pilots!

Wow! How old is the jumper with the B12 snaps on his legstraps and the GoPro on his mellon? Seriously ... Great picture!

SDC, CSC ... they're both great! But directions from O'Hare may be different.

I think the post implied that after the HnP's, the only jumpers left on the plane were tandems. I'm not a TM, but I'd imagine it could be difficult closing the door on some planes with the student attached to you. That being said, every experienced jumper should be ready, willing and able to operate the door in any situation.

+1

Not a repy to anyone in particular, but some observant members of a few religions will consider any tattoo inappropriate. That could force a lot of cool kids off the DZ.

Back in 2000, I got a Pro-Track. After 13 years, 2000+ jumps and a lot of rough treatment, I finally had to replace it this spring. It was -- and still is -- a good investment.

Years ago, I participated in a jump that could best be described as part science project, all cluster-fuck. 2 'researchers' exited the side door of a small aircraft while seated on a plastic PlaySkool seesaw similar to what's in the attached pic. Both jumpers were able to hold on during the exit and there was a brief moment when it looked like it might actually work. The 2 were actually teetering back and forth. Then ... it happened. The seesaw went sideways and started spinning wildly. Good times. There were others on the jump including video. Not sure what became of the video, but in slow motion -- and edited to include the opening music from Star Trek -- it was quite comical. So perhaps it wouldn't be suitable for legitimate research...

You're coming out of your turn, canopy on heading, everything is Zen ... and then SCREEEEEECH!!!!

True, but unless you already have thousands of jumps on a wide variety of high performance canopies, you have to start by flying a new canopy within its performance envelope and slowly work your way towards the edges. If you wanted to explore the performance envelope of your running skills, you wouldn't just jump out of a car going 25 MPH. You work your way up to that.

You also had another advantage ... a Sabre1 @ 1.6 with 300 jumps is aggressive, but nothing like a Katana @ 1.9. You had a wing that you could get back under quickly when you made a mistake. You probably made a few but survived because of the way it flew and responded. IIRC, you moved from the Sabre to a Stiletto107 and put a TON of jumps on that before going to a xbrace. Not popular canopies or a popular progression for people wanting to swoop now, but the time and # of jumps you put on these canopies allowed you to build up a set of skills that kept you from having to rely on luck. Part of your success has been due to your choice of canopies, how many jumps you put on each and the skills you learned along the way. I would bet that you also took your time after switching to a new or different canopy to ensure that your skills and technique were acclimated to the canopy before laying down a fat, sexy turn...