EEEEE!!! HAAAA!!!

Yes I will pay up my beer for this weekend.  I'm sure I could get hit up
for several cases but I think I'll just put up for the biggest of the
little events.  I did my first Mr. Bill this weekend.  What a blast!

A good friend of mine had done a couple of these in recent weeks with a
little 100 pound female jumping a small rig.  When he offered to do a
Mr. Bill with me I pointed out that there is a bit of a difference
between a 100 pound girl wearing a 20 pound rig and a 160 pound guy
wearing a 40 pound rig.  He said that it shouldn't be a problem.  So we
rigged up and hopped on a student load, after going through the exit a
few times first.

We got up to about 4,000 Ft. and climbed out.  I got in the V of the
Cessna 185, (a first for me...shut up).  My buddy got out in front of
me.  I grabbed his harness, wrapped my legs around his waste and off we
went.  I was a bit concerned, having heard all the stories about how
hard it was to hold on.  I actually had no problem hanging on through
the opening.

So there we are.  About 370 pounds of people and gear under this PD210
which was flying like a rock.  I can hear my radio man talking to a
student and so we decide we better get in touch with him before I drop.
My friend is trying to get the two-way radio out of his jump-suit, ...

"C'mon man.  What the hell are you doing?"

"The radio is stuck under my chest strap.  We're at 3 5."

"Stop screwing around.  I want to get out of here soon."

"Okay, I got it."  "Hey ground are you down there?"

"yeah.  What the hell are you guys waiting for? And turn around you
fruit-cake.  You're flying off the DZ.  It looks like you guys are about
4 grand."

"We're at 3 grand, Dan.  Let me get us turned around.  Don't do too long
of a delay."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Allright, 27 .. go."

I let go and dropped away.  Went off vertical and couldn't seem to fall
over.  Even kicked my legs once or twice like a flailing newbee.  Bent
my knees and rolled forward.  Dumped when the wind started sounding like
wind.  Took for ever for my canopy to open.  My buddy said that he could
see it trying for a long time.  " The three center cells inflated and
then after a while the next two decided to inflate and theeen finally
the end-cells opened."

From my point of view I could tell that I was under some kind of canopy
but it wasn't all there.  I waited the few seconds while thinking about
my handles and tentatively tugging on risers.

The only other interesting part of the day was an experimental exit from
the Twin-Bo.  I went front float with one foot on the wing and one in
the door.  My friend went rear float with me grabbing his right arm with
my left hand.  On "GO!" he stepped off and turned toward me.  I turned
toward him and dove off the wing.  I expected to blow it and flip over
the top but it actually went off a lot flatter than I expected.  The
rest of the jump was pretty mild.  Just practicing flying sideways.  I'm
finding that I can do well with rotational movements but translational
ones are much more difficult.  Mostly because I can easily tell when I'm
turning but can't tell when I am sliding or driving.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell folks about the Mr. Bill.  It was a lot of
fun.  Glad I finally got to do one.

WOW!  I just realized that my parents annaversary is coming up this
week.
Do you know what that means?  It's hard to believe, but I made my first
jump 15 years ago.  EESH!  I must be getting old.  NAH!  Can't be.