cmnorris

It's time to start really looking forward to this boogie. Date: MLK, Jr weekend - Jan. 16-19, 2004 Place: Skydive Williston, FL (near the University of Florida campus) Host: University of Florida Falling Gators Planes: Super Otter and King Air Those who will definitely be attending: University of Maryland, JMU, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Embry-Riddle, UNC, and anyone else who can still party like a college student On schedule: 4-way scrambles, hoop dives, freefly and RW organizing, night jumps, bird-man flocks will be spotted, what ever else you would like to do, and tons of "after hours" fun http://grove.ufl.edu/~blueskys for up to date info

I don't know...I'm not sure if he's seen enough mountains this year or not.

Does anyone know how much jump tickets and registration is going to be? I can't wait to jump out of the CASA.

We teach our students how to pack after their second jump. It takes a little bit of practice to remember the sequence of things, but after about 6 or so supervised pack jobs you should be doing everything by yourself just fine. Packing is not difficult and you should definitely learn as soon as possible. I'm like you...there are only 2 other people that I trust to pack my rig and both are friends. I don't trust packers since most seem to be very busy and they want to make a lot of money, but I may be a bit paranoid on that front. I am sure there are plenty of great packers, but I don't want to find out the hard way if they were good or not.

I would like to submit a name change, just a little bit different to... "Flip the Pig."

I say forget about Collegiate Nationals....and come to our (University of Florida) Collegiate Boogie.

Green pepper has a sewing pattern for a rain/wind suit that looks a lot like an old skydiving suit. It would probably be good for the main parts (and you would have instructions as to how to go about making a jumpsuit) and it shouldn't be that hard to alter. Make your first one out of inexpensive fabric. Oh, and Seattle Fabrics has some great material (supplex, polycotton, etc) for making your own suits out of, plus you can send away for the color samples.

Why does it take so long to figure out how things work? Is the USPA that convoluted?

I had my PCL reconstructed a while ago. The procedure for this isn't nearly as good as an ACL surgery. Now, most of the ACL reconstruction can be done arthroscopically (ie. no more 5 inch scars down the front of your leg). I had a cadaver ligament placed in me and I didn't seem to have a problem. Here are some tips: 1. Use crutches as little as possible even if you get around a lot slower without them. Weight bearing exercises are good for recovery. 2. Pay attention during your Physical Torture sessions and specificall ask what you can do at home if they don't tell you. And then...do them. It's painful and incredibly not fun, but you will heal that much faster. It's amazing how much muscle can be lost in such a short amount of time....you'll also be fighting inflexibility issues. 3. Let your doctor know of any unusual swelling even months after the surgery. It turns out that my body developed an allergic reaction to one of the screws in my knee about 7 months after they had been put in. 4. Be patient, but also be aggressive in your recovery. 5. You may have to avoid sports that causes your knee to rotate from side to side for a while (eg. basketball, football). Good luck. I underwent surgery because the idea of having to wear a brace for the rest of my life was not something that I wanted to accept. I can still feel a little bit of difference between my knees after a few days of repetitive hard work outs, but I have no problem with running, snowboarding, skydiving, etc. I was able to walk a few days after surgery with a brace on. I could pedal a bike about 4 weeks after and I would say that I had a full recovery after 7 months. Keep in mind that the ACL surgery is different.

PD decided to do all of this when it was sent to them the first time. I'm assuming that they test jumped the canopy after replacing the lines and decided that a larger slider would help. On a side note, I put about 4 jumps on the demo spectre this past Saturday and it was wonderful. If PD can make my canopy open like this I will be beyond pleased.

I have an FT-50...biggest drawback is that you cannot easily replace the face. After about 20 jumps I had already managed to get some scratches on there. For our club, I am planning on buying a Galaxy simply because you can easily replace the face and the style looks good too (very similar to the FT-50). As for price, it depends on where you look, but they are about the same.

Our club has a Navigator 240 that just about every student has used at some point. No complaints at all, it's a very forgiving canopy.

What's strange is that after deployment I am vertical, watching the canopy inflate properly (and peacefully). It isn't until the very end, as in the last second, that the end cells inflate very rapidly and I am swung out from underneath. It is really unexpected. I just shipped my canopy off to PD today and I have to say thank you to Donna and Kolla for helping me out. I should have a demo spectre by this weekend so that I can experience the beauty just like everyone else.

Is this true? You are not allowed to screw up?

I wish that this was the problem. However, after jumping this past weekend I've decided that the canopy will soon be making a return trip to PD. Like I said, the openings up until the very end are absolutely wonderful. I don't mind slow openings at all since I am quite used to this canopy. This past weekend one opening was rather violent and I was flung forward at the end...not a characteristic opening sequence for a spectre.

I've gone through these possibilities. I've been packing the canopy the same way since I've had it. I have never tried doing anything to the nose. I also considered the possibility that it was my body position, but since someone else (way more experienced than I am) noticed the same thing when he jumped it I think it may not be me. I've always heard that Spectres were supposed to open beautifully and mine does until the very end.

I have a spectre 135 and a few months ago my openings were getting progressively worse. It would be a wonderful opening until the very end when the end cells would suddenly inflate quickly and the canopy would surge forward. I sent it in to PD and ended up with a new line set and a larger slider. The openings are better now than they were, but I still don't feel like they are as gentle as they should be. I still have the same problem, just not as bad (canopy opens wonderfully until the very end). I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a similar problem or if there are any suggestions on how to deal with this. Currently, I don't do anything to the nose and I don't think that this is my imagination (or due to bad body position upon deployment) since Jairo has jumped it and has noticed the same thing. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Fiji or Austria

I got it....thank you for including the line about the female reporter. On a somewhat related subject - I often wonder if some of my views are a product of being female. Such as, I wonder if my view of this impending war (hope it doesn't happen) would be different if I was a male.

agree....royal blue on black can be rather dificult to read

I'm planning on making my own as well. Check out this site: http://www.seattlefabrics.com They have supplex, 4-ply, cordura, among others and you can always request samples. Hope this helps.

Ummm...what does $20 as a non-jumper get you?

How difficult is it to replace the velcro on the oxygn helmets? My helmet is in desperate need of some new velcro and I've heard conflicting reports about this. Thanks.

QuoteNo offense, but at 110 jumps you need someone else to teach the course. Some who knows what a too soft harness ring is, why ripcord stops are bad, why slider bumpers should be tied down, what an unfastened quick link looks like after it's been jumped, etc. In others words some one with a little more experience. Quote None taken...however I feel that I should point out that you should not judge based on jump numbers alone. There are quite a few people around that are riggers, but don't jump and then there are others that have fewer jumps than one would expect. Thanks for the USPA tip, I hadn't thought of that. Anyhow, since this class would be for new skydivers (ie college kids) I don't know how wise it would be to potentially confuse people with more advanced concepts. I was thinking along the lines of going over what a thorough gear check is and some of the basic maintenance procedures, such as cleaning the cutaway cables. Many of these students have just received their A license or they are in the process of becoming certified. Another problem is that the closest rigger is about 2 hours away.

This would be a class for the University of Florida skydiving club members. I was thinking about just going over some of the basic stuff that many new skydivers are not aware of. Time isn't a problem...we can get a classroom on campus whenever we want. This idea has come up in meetings before and it seems like there is a genuine interest in the subject. Now, I just need to come up with the material.