darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. darkwing
    You need more options. I sometimes let riggers-in-training pack my reserve. Also, if I am visiting another DZ and need a pack job I might have the local rigger pack my reserve. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. darkwing
    Hey, don't blame me for your questionable skydiving skills. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. darkwing
    Bill Booth gave me a free rig once. I consider that a good deal. I also got a free main and reserve from ParaFlite. It was a good year. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  4. darkwing
    It might be you, it might not be. It requires a hands-on inspection. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. darkwing
    The 1970s was the real decade of non-approved gear. That is because the sport was transitioning from military surplus to its own industry. the fact is the FAA was pretty much unaware of it, so at least for a few years I'm sure that more jumps were made on unapproved gear than on approved gear. Then in the 1980s the system started to catch up, and manufacturers got their gear TSO'd. At some point the DZs started to care, and it became more important to have TSO'd gear, otherwise you might not be able to jump at some DZ. As said above, approval has pretty much always been required, but for a while it was just ignored. I owned several rigs that weren't tso'd: Guardian, Top Secret, SST (I think), and maybe others. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. darkwing
    I made at least 400 jumps without an altimeter back in the mid-1970s. It was easy at my home dz, but harder when I visited elsewhere. Remember, on most jumps you can see the altimeters other people use. Another plus is that not having an alitmeter MAKES you pay more attention, which is good. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. darkwing
    I prefer F-111, because that's what PD prefers. They are smarter than me. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. darkwing
    Interesting. I am reasonably well traveled, but not extremely well traveled. The last time I was asked for my logbooks was when I re-entered the sport 4 years ago after a multi-year layoff, and the DZ I was starting at didn't know me. I have jumps signed occasionally, usually by someone I haven't jumped with before. Signatures weren't required when I got my diamond wings. I am not aware of any up jumper that routinely gets sigs in his logbook. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. darkwing
    No. Either way would be a big no-no. Only McGyver would do it, but then he could make a turbine engine with a gum wrapper. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. darkwing
    Roughly speaking, swimming in gasoline would be like swimming in water but with an extra 30 pound weight tied to you. Of course the details depend on your size and density, but you get the idea. The calculation is not difficult, but I'm lazy. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. darkwing
    I guess I'll chime in with my vote. I don't think we need to do anything. USPA is a fine organization, attempting to herd cats, and getting by. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. darkwing
    I carry a compass in my jumpsuit pocket. It is for use after you land, not before. I'll wager it is the same case for the jumper you saw. I have been in many situations where I was glad I had a compass. Suppose for example you land out, and so do others, including in the dense swampy forest nearby. If you take a compass heading on them before you get into to woods, you might actually find them. Same for finding cutaway mains. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. darkwing
    I did some googling and it seems he is a 1st Lt in the Air Force. He got a Master of Science in Cost Analysis from AFIT last year.... Maybe someone in the AF could pin him down better. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. darkwing
    Many new gear dealers also sell used gear. Check them out too. It saves some anguish as opposed to dealing with an unknown individual. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. darkwing
    There is a typo in paragraph 4.3.2, which says "The ripcord, including all joints, shall not fail under a straight tension test load of 300 lbf (1337.7 N) applied for not less than 3 seconds. The reserve static line, if used, must not fail under a straight tension test load of 300 lbf (2667.3 N) for not less than 3 seconds." 300 lbf can't be both 1337 and 2667 N. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. darkwing
    I think that is a common fallacy. Check out this page from NASA for example, which says "At NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now renamed Johnson Space Center) we had a test subject accidentally exposed to a near vacuum (less than 1 psi) in an incident involving a leaking space suit in a vacuum chamber back in '65. He remained conscious for about 14 seconds, which is about the time it takes for O2 deprived blood to go from the lungs to the brain. The suit probably did not reach a hard vacuum, and we began repressurizing the chamber within 15 seconds. The subject regained consciousness at around 15,000 feet equivalent altitude. The subject later reported that he could feel and hear the air leaking out, and his last conscious memory was of the water on his tongue beginning to boil" -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. darkwing
    It is largely in the exit. Sacrifice some cleanliness on the flying for the sake of getting in quickly. Pay attention once you are in, as others may be closing "briskly" and you might have to fly hard to avoid a funnel. Read this article about 10-way -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. darkwing
    Here's what I want to know 1) What is the tear strength? Remember why PD said they wouldn't use ZP for a reserve? I'd like to know the fast and slow tear strength of this fabric. 2) Tensile strength. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. darkwing
    It is unlikely that you will ever pinpoint a cause for this. There are several potential causes for slammer openings, some causes leave evidence and some don't. Sometimes they just happen, with no "cause" in the sense that there was something wrong in the packing or body position, etc. That is the nature of the beast. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. darkwing
    One great danger is that you cut the wrong line. Flyability after you cut the correct line depends greatly on which line. Generally speaking if you give a couple of shots to get it to release, and the canopy isn't landable as is, then I'd cut it. Of course this assumes you have opened with enough altitude to do anything. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. darkwing
    Smart money is now that the "round" guy wearing the piggyback, second to the right end is Ralph Hatley. Next to him, the tall guy in black is Gene Brent. Standing on left end is Larry Warner. My source is saying about 1970, but we'll see. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. darkwing
    I just checked, and I have 246 jumps out of that airplane. Yes, it had a cool, bubble nose, much more blunt than a D-18. Sitting in it made me uncomfortable being so close to the propellors. It also had a small trap door on the floor, just forward of the door. You could open the little trap door and look out the bottom of the plane. Actually I would have guessed that it was taken well prior to 1974, maybe 1971 or 72. I'm referring this photo to another guy from that time and place. He predates me by a couple of years. Also, does the guy wearing the piggyback rig look like a very young Ted Mayfield to anyone else? Maybe I'm just having a bad dream though. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. darkwing
    I think the guy kneeling, second from left, with yellow trim on his reserve container, might be John Crist, who was a pilot and jumper. Also, the tall guy standing on the right, looks like it might be Lyle MacIsaac? No clue about the girl. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. darkwing
    I have done that sort of thing. You can either add cells on the end, or in the middle. Personally, I found it easier to do it on the ends. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. darkwing
    The photo suffers from being too small and when I download it and enlarge it there isn't any resolution. I'm pretty sure the aircraft is the AT-11 (Twin Beech) that was owned by Wally Benton, at Star, ID then. I seem to recall it had a square door like that. Can you rescan, and make it a jpeg maybe, or just send me a better version via email? I'd love to look at it more closely. -- Jeff My Skydiving History