JohnMitchell

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Everything posted by JohnMitchell

  1. JohnMitchell
    Wow, looking thru this thread and considering my own list sure brings back a lot of memories. Here's the ones I recall. MX-2 Quicksilver Ultralight Piper Cub C-170 C-172 C-180 C-182 C-185 C-206 (Turbo 206) T-207 (Soloy turbine conversion) C-208 C-210 C-411 Skyvan Beech-18 BE35 Bonanza Cherokee 6 QueenAir R-44 Hughes 500 UH-1 Huey Helicopter MI-8 (Russian helicopter) Turbine Porter PAC 750 KingAir DC-3 Turbine DC-3 Twin Otter G-222 C-130 My favorite so far? Gotta be the C-130. But not always practical on slow weekends. During the WFFC days my wife and I were raising a young family, so we never got to travel much and jump the exotics, like the jets and the Connie. Some of the local jumpers made jumps from the roving B-17 bomber when it was up here a few years ago. Maybe some day.
  2. JohnMitchell
    Funny you said that. I was just thinking about how I was a newly wed when I hit the 10 year mark. Ahhhhh, what a great time. Big congrats to ya, Monkey. You've done much in your 10 years.
  3. JohnMitchell
    Very good point, because some will take away that things fall slowly in a vacuum. And no amount of discussion will ever convince them otherwise.
  4. JohnMitchell
    Me too. But we live in a country where 26% of the people think the Sun circles the Earth. To expect a high level of scientific literacy in the USA is to be disappointed.
  5. JohnMitchell
    Those guys were great. I took a picture of their office window just the other week when I was in Harvard square. Years ago I was a gear head and worked on cars a lot. I always enjoyed their analytical and philosophical musings. . .
  6. JohnMitchell
    Isn't that kind of thing blocked in the USA? I don't really know. We made all of our kids the old fashioned way.
  7. JohnMitchell
    We have a new home in the 'burbs. Spent an hour or so decorating the porch and carving the pumpkin. Got 3 groups of trick or treaters, maybe a dozen or so. One of the neighbors told me today that the kids like to go over to the newer subdivision with street lights and closer houses. What a bunch of weenies.
  8. JohnMitchell
    "Per Aspera ad Astra". Ahh, my prep school motto.
  9. JohnMitchell
    I think so. Sometimes, if I have the access and room, I'll actually run that seatbelt around my hips/waist and cinch it down. But usually you can't get the one next to you. The person between your legs wants it.
  10. JohnMitchell
    Very true. I like 'em tight. The loose seatbelts, esp. the single point thru the harness, look like little protection to me.
  11. JohnMitchell
    Nope, you're dropping. That "downward" arc you described means you are accelerating downwards. Read my post above for the real explanation of what happens when you jump from a plane.
  12. JohnMitchell
    Like asking Girard where he got that cool Airspeed jumpsuit.
  13. JohnMitchell
    Wow, you own an airport! What's your plans for it?
  14. JohnMitchell
    She's certainly not the first pilot to die at the controls, although I can't remember any previous incidents on commercial flights. I don't think this will change much, except for continuing to have 2-person crews.
  15. JohnMitchell
    Absolutely correct. It's simple physics. When you first jump out of an airplane, your vertical speed is zero and you begin to accelerate downwards. On that vertical vector you are weightless. That's why balloon and helo jumps are so fun.
  16. JohnMitchell
    Flying the body is just part of the equation, of course. The other part is to be mentally prepared to handle all eventualities, including malfunctions, off DZ landings, etc. That's where real safety lies.
  17. JohnMitchell
    Hmmm, isn't running up and down mountains rougher than skydiving? I had a doctor tell me to quit skydiving even though he said I was in perfect health.
  18. JohnMitchell
    Our son was a tunnel instructor prior to AFF. He did it in 5 jumps, could have done it in 3-4 with a little preplanning. He finished up his A license coaching me on some sit fly jumps. Too cool.
  19. JohnMitchell

    Exit Order Safety

    JohnMitchell commented on admin's article in Safety

    Thanks for the nicely written article, Brian. I esp. liked that you addressed not flying your canopy directly at the DZ after opening, but first waiting for any group between the DZ and you to deploy. I always do that. Prop blast, wind drift, whatever you want to call it. What we're really talking about is "forward throw", or "how far will you travel in the initial direction of flight after you leave the plane?" It's been the calculation of bombardiers since the first bomb ever left a plane. Basically, the lower your terminal velocity, the less forward throw you'll get. High winds at altitude exacerbate that with wind drift, but even in NO wind, NO drift situations, the effect is still there.
  20. JohnMitchell
    Do you have an transcript of the audio? In the voice track, someone says "Engines at 108%." Seems like someone opened the throttle a bit too much. I know that going above 100% is common for some launch vehicles, but it's a good reminder of how close to the edge of destruction these machines run, almost like top fuel dragsters.
  21. JohnMitchell
    I think more like 4 to 5 feet when people reach behind and thread a seatbelt thru their main lift web when sitting on Caravan floors. If able, I'll buckle it around me, even though around the waist instead of hips risks a broken back. Some seat belt usage I've had to do was, yes, just checking a square on the box. Safety was barely enhanced, if at all.
  22. JohnMitchell
    Absolutely true. No bureaucrat ever got fired for saying "No". It's that simple. I saw things in the FAA that disgusted me. .
  23. JohnMitchell
    Time to start thinking about a winter home down south somewhere, even if its just a condo. Hmmm, maybe so . . .
  24. JohnMitchell
    Super cool. Now, since he used a drogue, does Alex still have the record for highest freefall?
  25. JohnMitchell
    High- Retired, still healthy, get to skydive.