Ron

RW large to small FF large to small Tracking WS AFF Tandem "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

280 hours fixed wing 4 hours rotary wing 3.5 hours sea plane Just bought a Citabria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QY2w9Ypozw Saving up for a Pitts Special while I take some dual in one to prep for it. 6000+ jumps, mostly 4 way and 8 way, but AFF and Tandem I I also tech dive (cave/wreck/deep) "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Kinda a bad choice for a first cigar. Cubans and Dominican cigars are normally medium to full bodied. Lots of spice..... They are an acquired taste and most first timers don't like them. I have friends come over and they all want to smoke a Cuban..... But unless they are cigar smokers I talk them out of it and give them a stick that is much milder.... CT wrapper, Honduras or Nicaraguan filler.... Maybe a Gispert, maybe a Montecristo white wrapper. Or maybe a Davidoff 6000 series. I keep a bunch of Gisperts in the humidor for people who don't normally smoke cigars and that want to try.... They are pretty good and only about 3 dollars a stick. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

This is on the agenda of the BOD's next meeting. CALL the BOD and tell them what you think. Either the USPA BOD works for the jumpers, or it works for the rig manufacturers , or it works for themselves. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You will never be able to explain it to people who don't care to understand. My Mom called me years ago to bitch about my brother buying a motorcycle... She said, "You are the only sane child I have left!" A few seconds later I said, "Mom, remember I skydive".......... Her response? "You are still the only sane one" I SCUBA dive, but I also cave and deep wreck dive. My bubble watching friends think just diving is insane. My shallow reef diving friends think deep wreck or cave is insane. I fly. My ground based friends think I am insane. I fly acro and my pilot friends thing I am insane. Level of 'acceptable' risk is a sliding scale. And that scale slides throughout the observers life. After my Dad died, my Mom asked me to quit jumping. Before the loss she could handle it, now she can't Thats it in a nutshell. It is not jealously, they don't see the point. It is not fear of chasing a dream since it is not their dream. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

False, they stopped calling it Juvenile years ago. I have plenty of friends that are type 1 and became so in their 30's. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The style tuck did not slow him down. His body position change slowed him down. Think if an ice skater.... When they start to spin with their arms out and then bring them in..... What happens? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And does that matter? The fact I have been jumping 20 years - Does that somehow make me more of a person than someone with only 5 years? How about 15? Yes, yes... I most likely will know more, but that does not mean I did more. Natasha Montgomery jumped for less than 10 years and won a world championship. I do find it amusing to hear all the people who claim they will jump 'forever'..... Then to look around a year later and they are nowhere to be seen. But to somehow think any of that really matters..... Just can't see that. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The first response a joke.... Hence the "" This is a 'little' more serious.... Why do you care if more people 'commit' and who gets to decide what 'commit' means? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Well if I read this right, the goal of the dive was for the student to start a spin and stop it. So for that reason the 'I' did what he was supposed to do and see if the student could stop it. When he felt he needed to step in he did. But he was close to pull time and above the student so he let go. The instructor might have moved in faster, might have done a textbook spin stop.... But it worked. As for deploying in a spin.... Not the best thing in the world, but not likely to cause a massive problem (other than line twists) on student gear. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The short termer's ask questions to validate their own level of commitment in the sport/hobby. When you stop caring what others think of you... You have arrived. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If they were at 50% that should still be below what is needed for even level flight (I'd need a bunch more info to make a real guess). But the same concept applies, it takes time for a jet to spool up. So even at 50% power and they realized the mistake and fire-walled the engines.... It is still going to take a few moments for the engines to spool up to climb power, and it is going to take a few moments even after they get climb power to arrest the decent, level off, and start a climb. The basic operating weight (BOW) depending on the model of the 777 is between 300-370k pounds. Add fuel and PAX (200 pounds average weight used per PAX for W&B) and you have pretty heavy plane you have to change the momentum on..... 307 PAX at 200 and you have 61,400 pounds of people/luggage. If I cared enough, I could run a flight profile to guess about how much fuel was remaining....But we used to use 3k pounds of fuel just to start and taxi to the runway in a DC/MD-10/11. So you have a very heavy plane and it is going to take power and time to reverse the decent to a climb... They had neither. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

No, that would be ~ halfway between idle and full. The question is WHEN were the engines at 50% power? And was that 50% input, or 50% output? See if they found themselves low, they could of either: 1. Added power to 50% 2. Added full power but the engines only had time to go from idle to 50% before they hit. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

1. The engines have to actually spool up. That takes a few moments then a few more from the start of the increase to full power - It takes a time from firewall to usable thrust. 2. You have to arrest the decent and reverse that trend. A 777 has an awful lot of mass to change direction. Even at idle the engine produces some thrust... Enough to blow a little water around. At even partial power it is enough to make it "look" like it is making huge amounts of thrust, but that will not be enough to stop the decent and establish a climb. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Huh... I know people who do it all the time. 747-400's big enough? Seeing that the plane stalled, it seems you should tell the pilots of this plane of your knowledge. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

What part of "The plane was flying too slow" do you not understand? If he was looking in he had TWO airspeed indicators he could of looked at. And what part of "VFR" do you not understand? And even flying VFR you are supposed to look at the airspeed to make sure you don't stall. There is no reason what so ever that the pilot should of allowed the plane to get that slow. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Which does not work when flying a VFR approach. The ILS was inop, so there were hand flying it. It is pretty clear that the pilot tried to fly a stabilized approach and simply slowed too much. I'd be interested in seeing what the past aircraft he was flying's approach speed was. When they realized they were low, they tried to add power. But since a jet takes a second or two to spool up - It was not soon enough. Then they did the last thing the could and tried to pull up to slow the decent as much as possible.... It worked. If they had maintained the same profile, they would of most likely slammed into the sea wall with more than just the tail. There is no doubt that the pilots made a mistake. Same way you do it with steam gauges... You cross check other instruments. Also most large planes have secondary static ports.. You could switch to those to see what happens. In some planes the pilot and the co-pilot have separate static ports. So you could check your instruments with the other pilots. So there are ways to check. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Went from a Raven II 220 sqft 7cell after about 370 jumps to a Stiletto 120..... And hooked it right in the ground on the 4th jump. I DID work my way down borrowing canopies and had gotten to the 97 Stiletto, but ordered the 120. Seems I was still a bit premature. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Did it for my first ever jump (West Tenn Skydiving, Fast Eddie) Did it for my tandem cert. Did it once for someone else's cert. I don't do them anymore as a PAX. Personal choice. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

This is really the only way to get a good comparison. For a while I toyed with the idea of 'distance traveled', but that made it even more difficult. Simply put anyone that tries to compare skydiving to another mundane activity to show how 'safe' skydiving is.... Is trying to sell someone (maybe themselves) on how safe it is.... It is not a safe activity. The risks can be mitigated, but to claim that it is 'safe' is false. When you jump out of a plane, you start a chain of events that unless you perform, perform correctly, and your equipment works correctly.... You WILL die. I can't think of another activity that works that way. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Why do you feel safer? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

It's not about that Doug... It's about the thousands of hours, all of the money, the numerous sacrifices that I've made to participate in this sport and to continuously evolve and push myself to get better; all of that. All of that for some people to chalk it up to a crazy, risky suicidal activity that's nothing but a waste of time and money and has no goal. It's aggravating, that's all. It's not about HEY look at me I skydive. And people spend as much and work as hard to learn to do a large number of other activities. Hell, I know people who spend WAY more time playing video games than I have ever spent skydiving. Your problem about other perceptions.... To put it gently, is YOUR problem - Not theirs. And what you have said that it is not about the 'I am cool, I skydive' attitude.... 'It's about the thousands of hours, all of the money, the numerous sacrifices that I've made to participate in this sport and to continuously evolve and push myself to get better; all of that....l' Does not seem to support that position. If you are expecting anyone else to give you validation..... You are in for a rough life. Most people are going to look at you like you are crazy. So much so that most of the people I work with have ZERO clue I skydive. I don't tell them. Some know because I don't HIDE it, but I never mention it unless asked. You want validation for your efforts? Buy a puppy and take it for a walk. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

IMO, 1.3 -1.4 is about the best WL for a traditional canopy. Fast, but still loaded softly enough to allow for normal landings without added speed. I'll give an example, I am 1.6 and just for fun I decided to do a traditional accuracy approach last weekend. I turned to final and went to half brakes. I used my brakes to fly the wire to the pea pit. I have maybe a thousand of these approaches on demo canopy's. When I got about 75 feet I went to full flight to have speed for a flare. I would not have needed to do this on a 1.3 loaded canopy, but at 1.6 the landing would have been 'firm'. IMO, a 1.3-1.4 is about the highest WL you really want to use for a traditional canopy... Yeah, I am at 1.6. I have to make sure I have enough speed to get enough flare. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You first have to define your dream..... Then recognize that "the dream" changes at different points in your life. When I was 20 all I wanted to do was chase women and skydive. When I was 25 I wanted to chase a World Championship. When I was 30 I wanted to make sure I had fun, but made a good living so I would not be broke and poor. When I was 35 I wanted to be with my wife, have some cool hobby's, and make sure WE are not broke. Now that I am 40 I want to continue to make my Wife happy, want another aerobatic plane, and want to make sure WE can retire someday. In the process I have done *almost* everything I wanted. I didn't get a World Championship, But I have won 2nd in Open, won second in 16way/10way. Won the GodFrog and Judges Choice awards.... Plus a bunch of Demo's, taught numerous AFF and Tandem students, and met meany cool people. In addition, I have a wife I love, a house, a dog, an aerobatic plane, and an actual savings account with money in it! At 20 if you had offered me my 40's dream, I'd have laughed at you. But if you offered me my 20's dream today, I'd politely say no thanks. In the end, the only person you need to make happy is you (till you get married or have kids). So define what you want... What you REALLY want, not just the flashy dream, the WHOLE dream. And then be flexible enough to know it might (will?) change. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I started with a 0.7 WL (Raven II 220sqft) put 200-250 jumps on it. I then transitioned through a bunch of canopies (Blue Tracks, Sabres, Batwings, Esprits...etc) working my way down to a Stiletto 97. I then up sized to an ST120 at about 1.4 I then put ~600-700 jumps on the ST120 and worked my way down through a bunch of canopies to an ST 107 (~1.6WL). Then I started with the FX series of canopies. I had an 88, and put some jumps on the 69. (1.8 and 2.3). this was back in 1996. I found the 2.3WL was a stunt each and every time I jumped it. I could not do AFF since a bad spot was a BIG deal at a 2.3WL and 4way was so much work that for me doing 4way and then a super hot landing was just so much work that either one or the other suffered. The 1.8 was better, but the damn thing opened like crap so I went back to my ST107 that was still in the closet. I went to a Velo96 (1.7WL) and it was great. But I needed two canopy's and I had two 107's so I got rid of the Velo. I now have over 3000 jumps on Stiletto 107's. While I'd like to buy two new Velo 96's.... I am doing less and less jumping and more and more flying and I'd rather spend the few thousand dollars on buying my next plane. So I continue to jump Stiletto 107's at ~1.5/1.6 since I am really comfortable with them (+3k jumps) and too cheap to drop several thousand dollars when I would rather save up for a Pitts S-1. Further, since I only do 200ish jumps a year now... I should stick with what I know. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334