darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. darkwing
    The G*spot looks like a good option for you, I think you could get away with two of them, but three would be better. They need to be mounted perpendicular to one another. The technical details of the G*spot are important though. What is its time and g resolution? If you have some electronics experience you could buy a single chip accelerometer and kludge up a recording unit yourself. The chips were inexpensive the last time I checked (which was a long time ago) Edit to add: In a brief review of its operation it seems that it records max g's, not acceleration as a function of time. It is a much less useful instrument than I originally thought. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. darkwing
    Be advised that not every rigger would be willing to replace the batteries and reseal it without a full inspection and repack. The rigger in this case may or may not. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. darkwing
    I got my ticket in about 1976, 3 letters. A friend of mine got his about two years ago, also 3 letters. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  4. darkwing
    While the number of jumps on it has some meaning, at least as important would be information about where it was jumped and packed. A thousand jumps in a dusty desert, and packed in the dirt, is far more degrading to a canopy than a thousand jumps in a grassy place and always packed indoors. I'd generally worry more about fabric strength than fabric porosity. A mfr or a well-equipped loft could do a pull test on the fabric for you. To get to your question though, I'd expect it to perform pretty much like a brand new stiletto. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. darkwing
    I jumped in the 70's and have met plenty of others who have also, many of them, like me, took a fair amount of time off. None of us had the attitude of the guy you describe. I was completely unfazed at bringing out my logbooks, getting in to the hanging harness, etc. In fact, I would have been disappointed if the DZO had not demanded those things. At that time I had about 1600 jumps. This guy is an anomoly, but I'll remind you that his attitude is exactly like some young guys today. It wasn't really any different then than it is now. Some people have way too much confidence in themselves. Often now referred to as a "pre-femur". -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. darkwing
    I'll be there, but I hope that doesn't keep others away. Gravity Bomb! -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. darkwing
    Where have you looked? Have you tried Square 1, Sunshine Factory, SkyCat, and others? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. darkwing
    I have seen similar damage many times. My educated guess is that it occurs just after the canopy is extracted from the bag, when the wind is most vigorous and can flap things around a lot. I think it comes from metal-metal contact between any of the candidate metal in that area: other grommets, the pin, and the rapide link that is often used to hold the bag on. I think that general flappage during normal flight is a less likely candidate. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. darkwing
    Not 1/2 turn, but 1/4 turn beyond finger tight. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. darkwing
    The last time I inquired about their insurance they wouldn't go above $2500, which isn't near enough. Now, on the rare occasions I'd be tempted, I just fedex it instead. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. darkwing
    there are several places you can get used gear. Here are some that I consider reputable, there are others also Square1 Sunshine Factory SkyCat Also, don't forget the Classified ads right here at DZ.com As said above, talk to your instructors before you buy anything. Much used gear can be shipped to a rigger you know for them to inspect before you buy. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. darkwing
    This is just plain wrong. Truly, there are some malfunctions that are not a result of any of those. There is some chaotic/turbulent airflow and processes involved in parachute openings, and sometimes it just malfunctions. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. darkwing
    Yes, They had a sneak preview of Adrenaline Rush at my local iMax here in Charleston, SC a couple of months ago. It was pretty cool, not awesome, but pretty cool. Edit to add -- It IS worth the price. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. darkwing
    I have 600 jumps on a spectre 190, and a teammate has about 400 on a 170. Each is subject to occasional "rocking" openings, usually front to back, and fairly vigorous. It happened occasionally from the day they were new canopies, and persisted even after a complete relining. I got pretty comfortable handling those type of openings, I just quit caring about it. They weren't very common--maybe 1 in 20 jumps. Probably less often for my teammate. I spoke with PD rep Vladi at Lost Prairie about this. He called it "bottom skin inflation" and said it can come from pulling the slider too far out in front, or rolling the tail too much. He might also have said it can happen if you stuff the nose, but I don't remember that clearly, as I never do anything to the nose anyway. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. darkwing
    Interesting. The movie "Blue Water, White Death" came out in 1971. How does that fit with the appearance of the skydiving phrase, BSBD? It seems consistent to me, as I don't recall hearing the phrase BSBD until at least 1974. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. darkwing
    There are dicks all over the world, and some of them even skydive. One of the hard things I try to get across to novices is that they need to learn to make decisions independent of some dick in the other end of the airplane yelling at them. Sometime even otherwise cool DZs have a dickhead who jumps there. I don't let an isolated dickhead ruin the vibe. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. darkwing
    Maybe you are holding it upside down and it says "7777"? (That's really just a joke. I have nothing useful to suggest) -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. darkwing
    You don't come out and say it, but reading between the lines it sounds like a Cessna DZ. In which case a big guy such as yourself (or me) actually displaces the 4th jumper on the load. That being the case, if in fact you are preventing another paying customer from being in the plane, I understand the DZO's position. That doesn't mean I like it, but I do understand the economic drive. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. darkwing
    Remember though, those charts are only rough guides. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. darkwing
    roughly 8 I'd say. But that assumes all the patterns are made, and all the builder has to do is cut and sew, and that they know what they are doing--i.e., they have done it before. Why, are you thinking of making a rig? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. darkwing
    There are several rigs that are both good and popular, both mirage and javelin are included in the bunch. Rigs tend to be somewhat localized, that is, one or two kinds seem to dominate at any given DZ. My dz is heavily mirage, with a mix of g3 and g4, but the general preference seems to be g3. I don't think we have any javelins at all. There are also several Infinities, which have a very loyal customer following--as do many other rigs. Really it boils down to wht you are comfortable with, how you feel about the customer service you can get from the dealer, etc. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. darkwing
    This is usually a very easy alteration. It should be done such that the alteration can easily be undone merely by picking out the stitches. Just turn the pants inside out and sew a row down a convenient part of the leg, and voila, no cutting or anything. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. darkwing
    It looks to me like he did a very poor job exiting, and likely would have hit the tail of virtually any aircraft he exited from--certainly a King Air and and Otter. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. darkwing
    It looks like a great boogie. I ran into Rich at Lost Prairie and heard him talking about it. By the way- aren't those photos on the web site actually at Lost Prairie? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. darkwing
    pH is acidic. As a rigger I would ground the rig and canopies until they were tested/evaluated by the manufacturer or a qualified loft. If it was my rig I'd probably just throw it away, as I wouldn't trust it. If I got my stuff wet in some unknown pH pond I'd certainly rinse thoroughly in clean, neutral water immediately. -- Jeff My Skydiving History