Professor

And I've landed off, lots of times, because of groups not getting out of the plane fast enough. And I had a friend die during an off landing. Spotting is important, and on DZ landings, with reasonable time to set up, are important. That said, I agree that exit seperation is an issue. proper exit seperation. Waiting an arbitrary amount of time, and ignoring the safety jumpers behind so you can have a warm fuzzy feeling, is crap. Granted, though, 2 seconds is not enough seperation, in all but the most extreme cases. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Right. And you must be responsible for not placiing others in an unsafe position. Everyone should take it on themselves to know when is the right time to exit, based on the plane, winds, and group sizes, not on some antiquated rule, or on what 'feels' right. It is certainly possible to leave too little space between you and the group ahead of you, but, I almost never seen that to be the problem. People leaving too much time is much more common. I can't argue with that. Peace~ linz Ted Like a giddy school girl.

More people have been hurt or killed by screwing up off DZ landings then by freefall or canopy collisions with people in other groups. Don't stand around in the door. Also, it's your responsibility to know the uppers, the aircraft speed, and to educate yourself about proper exit seperation. And solos don't need as much exit seperation. Your opinion about this may change in a few hundred jumps, when you're exiting late with a freefly 2 or 3 way, or shooting video for a tandem. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

That's kick ass. And a good precedent. Maybe we can get a Secret Service guy too. I'm sure he'd love sitting on the floor of our 4 person Cessnas all day Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I jump at Temple, which is actually in Salado now, and we're far enough away that we aren't affected by the TFR, but just barely. Although we have had an F16 roll in on one of our cessnas that got a little too close. I think y'all might be screwed. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Alright, this might be interesting. I'll use the stiletto as a baseline. My experience: 750ish jumps, almost 500 on a stiletto 120 @~ 1.9, (dumb, I know). Other stuff: Crossfire 2: flown: 119 (5 jumps), 109 (2 jumps) Openings: very nice, soft and progressive, but it seemed somewhat less tolerant of pilot body position errors than the stiletto. Throw stable. Toggles: similar to the stiletto, slightly more responsive front risers: much less riser pressure Easier to keep in a dive, and will build up a lot more speed than the stiletto. Doesn't do the auto-flare/'positive recovery arc' thing the stiletto does. Good bottom end lift. Very good swooper. Best HP canopy I've flown Cobalt: flown: 2 or 3 120's, probably 20-30 jumps. 2 150's, probably 10 jumps openings: Seems more unpredictable than my stiletto, and more sensitive to packing. Opens great sometimes, thrashes sometimes, pops sometimes. No slammers yet. toggles: Slower response than the stiletto. A cobalt w/ short brake lines feels like a stiletto w/ medium/long brake lines. spins just as fast, maybe a little faster. Front risers: lower pressure than the stiletto, but more than the XF2. Better diver than the stiletto, but not as good as the XF2. Lots of bottom end lift. Good swooper, but I'm not a huge fan of cobalts. Nitro/Nitron: flown: Nitron 135 twice, Nitro 108 once toggles: less toggle pressure than the stiletto, similar response. Risers: Similar pressure and dive to the cobalt. I didn't really get much chance to fly Either of these. The ones I flew seemed nice, but nothing special. Not as much bottom end as I'd like, probably about the same as the stiletto. Decent swooper. That's my opinions. But I'm right Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I nailed a tanker truck full of anhydrous amonia when I was in high school. There's nothing like the feeling of sliding into a vehicle w/ a giant WARNING: FLAMABLE sign on the back Ted Like a giddy school girl.

That's Bullshit! And you're an idiot!! the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Yeah, that's what I meant, completely out in front of the nose. It seems to help me, but, I didn't mention, I do have a pocket slider on my Jedei. I'm sure Brian is right about the theory part of it, but mine seems to open a little better w/ it in front. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

How old are the lines? My jedei's openings impoved considerably after a reline. Other than that, I didn't roll it too much, but pulling the slider all the way out seems to help. Ted Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Use whatever size the manufacturer says the canopy is, that's the number they used to determine the wingloading recommendations for that canopy. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Boogie fee? Jump prices? Do I get a T shirt ? How much are the balloon jumps gonna be? Is there a way to make reservations, or is it first come first served? Any Bird men up there? Want some ? Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Sweet! I love pics of me. I was wondering if we were going to try to jump thursday, but no one called, so I figured everyone was busy. My pics turned out to be pretty unexciting, there's one ok one of Bob, and one w/ you in it, barely, other than that, it was just my switch going ape shit, taking pics of the ground. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Lou, Thanks for coming up and checking out our little flock. Glad you had fun, and thanks for all the coaching and advice. Stop by again the next time you're in TX, and keep hoping on that turbine. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Ok, I finally got around to trying out some back flying this weekend, and it was completely intuitive

I fly wingsuits in Texas. That I know of, there's 2 guys in Dallas, maybe one at spaceland, and nobody anywhere else. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I've got a Classic, and I've been told that backflying w/ it is going to be very different than standard back tracking. I'd like to give it a try, so what should I be looking for? Any tips on how to get started, or proper body position? Thanks Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Hey reg, Skydive Dallas is going to have a chopper for a weekend, here is the email I got about it: HELICOPTER JANUARY 17 & 18 That's right, we'll be jumping from an Allouette II helicopter here on the weekend of January 17 & 18. There's no registration fee. Jumps are just $30! It will take four jumpers to 4,500' in about seven minutes. All four jumpers may exit at one time. There's no sign up, just be here! Sounds like a pretty good deal. You may want to call and check to see if there is going to be qualifications to jump it, though. Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Right, and the speed cancels out, so it's just horizontal/vertical distance, which is unaffected by weight (a heavier flier will go faster, but have the same glide ratio, all else equal) and also unaffected by air density (you'll have more drag, but also more lift, -ie- you'll go slower in both directions). of course, body shape and body position play a role. Wide open blue skies Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Hey man, Christian, Bob Futrell (don't know if you know him), and I all did some jumps. Chris, voodew and I bought suits, and Bob is planning to. One guy in San Marcos and one guy from Waller also tried it, but Temple is now Texas' premier birdman dropzone See ya in a couple months. PS Brains, If I'm down in SM anytime, I think you'd probably fit in my suit (or if you want to come up and do some wicked Cessna jumps) Blues Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I agree. There's plenty of good american beer, Sam, Sierra nevada, Shiner, Bell's (from Kalamazoo!) Lagunitas, red hook, pete's, saranac and tons of others. And plenty of bad non american beer: foster's, peroni, heinekin, tecate. Just because the Coors light sucks is no reason to Condem the whole contry. I dare say we have some of the best beer in the world here, not that I've been anywhere else, except Canada, which is basically another state. Blues Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Yeah, the crossfire 2 is a nice canopy. Demo as much stuff as you can. Also, there are numerous threads about the cobalt, and the stiletto. Generally, I find the stiletto to be more responsive in toggles, and the Co to be a little better diver and have more lift. PD has a very good reputation, Atairs is spotty. Cobalts seem to vary from canopy to canopy, while stilettos seem to be pretty consistent. Blues Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I've got two sky pimp helmets, and I definitely recommend them. Dave does a great job and his customer service is top notch (but I think the fact that I can drive to his house whenever I want something helps). The right hand mount has never been a problem for me, I've probably put 100+ jumps in my side mount, and it's always worked great. Blues Ted Like a giddy school girl.

Nitrons have non-cascaded lines, it would have been as simple as checking the two lines against each other to see that they were wrong. Theoretically, he could have corrected it himself also, not that I would have. Even w/ cascaded lines, the D section should still be longer than the C section. Blues Ted Like a giddy school girl.

I've seen tons of Cobalts, there's at least a dozen on my small dropzone alone. I've only seen two samurais, though, although everyone I've ever heard talk about them has said they love them. And nobody has really said much about jumping anything. I was sort of hoping people would talk more about what they voted for and why, but I guess not. Anyway here's my choices: XF2 stiletto cobalt jedei I like the XF2 because it's everything I like about the stiletto (quick response, good openings) w/ better riser pressure, more dive, and more bottom end. The cobalt is a little boring to fly, but lands nice. The Jedei is OK, but not as good in flight or landing as the others. Also, airlocks are a pain in the ass. I've flown a nitron also, but only once, so I won't comment on it. Blues Ted Like a giddy school girl.