darkwing

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Everything posted by darkwing

  1. darkwing
    I use it to mean "hit the ground hard" It can be a synonym for the verb "femur", but femur is a subset of biff. All femurs are biffs, but not all biffs are femurs. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  2. darkwing
    Any manufacturer can make a rig that will fit you. I am biased though, and love my Infinity. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  3. darkwing
    I love mine, but if I didn't wear glasses I wouldn't have it. There are trade-offs for every helmet. I owned a Z1 before, and hated dealing with glasses. Havok rocks for glasses wearers, and for those who like the ease of communication (as with students) in the airplane before you close the visor down. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  4. darkwing
    Well I have mixed feelings, but it all boils down to communications. IF the DZ policy is that the DZO doesn't count towards minimums, then it is fine. It should at least be clear though. Maybe somebody should have told you. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  5. darkwing
    The world meet in 1979 was out of them. I had the dubious honor of jumping them. Not one of my favorite aircraft. Tough transition going from a C-182 for practice and the nationals to a nasty, high-speed tailgate at the world meet. My dislike may be clouded by my experience -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  6. darkwing
    sure, vacuum, and/or wipe out thoroughally with a damp cloth. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  7. darkwing
    if you jump a big, slow, or lightly loaded canopy, then a collapsible pilot chute is relatively unimportant. If you get zoomie, then a collapsible pilot chute will enhance performance. If you worry about forgetting to cock it, then don't get one, and don't worry. To hear some people talk, you'd think that before collapsible pilot chutes were common that square parachutes wouldn't fly. Most jumpers wouldn't even notice the flight characteristics were different if you switch out their collapsible pc. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  8. darkwing
    I'd recommend using whatever will get you there the fastest. Going to 15,000 msl on a hot day can seriously deplete oxygen in anyone, especially an anxious student. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  9. darkwing
    If I was going to be out of it for 2 years I'd sell my stuff now, and buy when I came back. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  10. darkwing
    I agree, it is just that very often people don't believe you without the numbers. Numbers are great, but until you fly it, the simulations won't really answer all of the questions. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  11. darkwing
    I have the 4-way pool from 1978 and/or 1979. PM if you want a copy. It is a scanned image. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  12. darkwing
    the quick answer for cylinder drag is that it is proportional to the presented area. Assuming the cross-sectional area of the line scales with its rated strength we determine that the 825 has 22% greater diameter than the 550 (if you care-- Sqrt(825/550)=1.22). So, for lines of the same length, the 825 will have 22% more frontal area, hence 22% more drag. I agree though that it is small potatoes compared to all the other drag factors, and isn't worth worrying about unless you are greased up, bare naked, have a disposable pilot chute and d-bag, and are shooting for a record. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  13. darkwing
    I was in a formation in freefall, next to a vertical wall of cloud. The sun was behind us. The shadow of the formation, with individual details, was surrounded by a glory (rainbow). -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  14. darkwing
    The Physics Guys sez - polarizing lenses block out one-half of "natural" light (ie, unpolarized light) They block out more of reflected light, since it is preferentially (but not completely) polarized by reflection from horizontal surfaces. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  15. darkwing
    I don't see a problem either. I have two audibles and one wrist-mount analog. Do we know that the person in question did not have at least one audible? Even then, I have hundreds of jumps without any type of altitude informing device. You get used to a couple of things--looking at the ground (should do that regardless of how many tools you have) and looking at altimeters of other people (which also is often easier than looking at your own). -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  16. darkwing
    The rigger and the physicist in me cannot see why this would be a problem, strictly from the perspective of exposing the canopy to low pressure, or due to compression. I will not comment on the unknown (to me) issues of how it is implemented. So long as there is not undue mechanical stress on the canopy, it shouldn't be a problem. I'd like to hear how practitioners do it though. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  17. darkwing
    I was very happy with the mystery dive I did on my 2000th. I designed the dive, and told each person what kind grip to take and on whom to take it. They knew nothing about the overall look of the formation, and I lined the exit up semi-randomly. It went very nicely. Have fun! -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  18. darkwing
    I have had a Havok for a few hundred jumps, and I live in a fog-prone area. If I apply the anti-fog solution every weekend I have zero fog problems. If I skip a week or two, I have fog. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  19. darkwing
    as early as the mid-1970's we had upside-down 4-way competitions at my then home dz in Boise, Idaho. At that time you had to build a right-side-up formation, then turn it upside down. Repeat for more points. The competitions went on for several years, and perhaps the rules evolved. I just checked my logbook and I have a 6-way star, to a 6-way donut, to a 6-way upside down donut in 1979. I don't have the earlier stuff convenient to look up earlier 4-way. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  20. darkwing
    Maybe it is a piglet rig, or perhaps a Handbury rig? 25 years ago I could have told you for sure! -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  21. darkwing
    Nope. The voltage will be just fine. The thickness doesn't alter the voltage. Kind of like with regular batteries, AA, C, D are all 1.5 volts. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  22. darkwing
    Wasn't a Viking a Pioneer semi-clone of a Cloud, but made a bit more RW firendly? I never jumped one, but I remember them (vaguely). -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  23. darkwing
    The flaming DC-3 looks familiar to me. Didn't I just see a "Real TV" or "You Gotta See This" segment with some video of a DC-3 burning up? I didn't see the whole clip, but where was it and what happened. I'm guessing it was during my marginally active years, that's why I don't recall it. -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  24. darkwing
    Yep ... A lot of Jr teams would probably loose the motivation to play. How in a world a team that just strated can compete with those who have been doing this for years and getting paid for their jumps? Having all of these classes seems a bit like what we do (for good reason) with little kids playing games--we take the element of competition away, so they can have fun without there being winners and losers. I still object in principle to giving gold medals to a team three categories down, and no medal to the fourth place team in the top category. We are big kids, and shouldn't need false, hollow rewards in our pursuit of excellence. Is it really the medals that makes the teams jump? -- Jeff My Skydiving History
  25. darkwing
    I think that owning a trade mark doesn't prevent the word or words from being used in other contexts, only in similar contexts. So I think that both Booth and VW can own the trademark for their purposes. Otherwise, the language would be consumed by trademarks. -- Jeff My Skydiving History