Ron

I hope the plane does not crash.... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Think it was 12, it was back in 1995 or 96 when he was flying the winters at Keystone. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Sat after jumping there will be a free RW seminar at Clewiston. Two sections. 1. Mantis body position. 2. RW concepts. Bring a few bucks so we can order some pizza's. Plan on being around Sunday to try out the new ideas. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

If you think this kind of action helps the sport..... You and I clearly have different definitions of "helping the sport" in mind. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Am I third out of three, or third out of 20? Am I 20 out of 20? And that is always a good option. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The point is that you would not just ignore the traffic and do as you pleased. Even flying a Cub with no radio into an uncontrolled field can be done safely if you bother to pay attention to other traffic. And any pilot worth a damn is going to pay attention and not just follow the briefed approach if it is going to kill him. And if you will notice not once did I ever claim that a plan discussed before hand was not part of the answer (inspite of what some tried to claim). But in the end, it is being observant that will prevent a collision, not a great plan. Because it only takes one jackass to destroy a great plan... But the guy without his head up his ass can still land safely. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

The mantis will slow you down if anything. When people fly the mantis they sometimes have to add lead. To the OP... Get the booties. It sucks to have to buy two suits to get one good one. When you get ready to FF you can get another suit. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

My first rig had a Raven II main and a Swift+ reserve. The RII was 218sqft. At the time, I was about 140 pounds and had no issue with it. It would have to be inspected as others have said things could have happened to it while it was being stored. As others have also said.... Learn to skydive first. This gear is old style... But could be used safely if it is in good condition. But F111 wears out faster than zp.... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Why risk it? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

When you are on base in your Mooney for 36 and you see a guy on final on 18... Do you turn final on 36 anyway? Your fault or not... It is your ass on the line. I'd rather pay attention to what the guys below me are doing than just do what was briefed and end up dead. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You are the one that ignored the second part. Don't blame me for your inability to read past the first period. Don't run your mouth and you will not have to back peddle your ass from where your mouth took it. Ah, the best you can do is run your mouth, then run away and throw insults.... Got it. I guess you are the one guy that ignores the people below him and sets his own pattern no matter what is going on..... Take it or leave it. Huh, I guess thats why I had two parts. You would have known that if you had read past the period, or were not just trying to start a fight. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

And what if while in your pattern you see that everyone else is landing 90* off what you thought was discussed.... Are you going to follow your plan come hell or high water, or follow the people below you and blend into the pattern? "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You can easily do both in a day. They are about 30 mins from each other. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Damn..... I hate to see lack of MX. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Each instructor/student pair has a radio set that is on a single channel. Say: Instructor and student #1 on Freq 7 Instructor and student #2 on Freq 4. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Hell... I'll tell you I have done it and seen it done. Many years ago I was working at a SL DZ and the first student out had a line over. It was pretty clear there was a problem since we could see the mal and she was spinning like hell. She was the first one out and I was on the radio. I called the SL JM in the plane and told him to not put out another student (he had already stopped) and I tried to get the students attention. I told her all the usual things about checking her canopy etc..... Finally I just told her to cut away. She never did anything and hit the ground in the spin. Another DZ years later I was putting out a SL student and he had a line over. I stopped putting out students and the guy on the radio did all the same "check your canopy" stuff.... Finally he told him to cutaway and he had a clean chop and reserve pull. Now.... Does that mean it is a good idea to brief it? Nope. But I am hesitant to claim I would never tell someone on the radio to do it. The issue of multiple students on the same radio is a valid issue. The DZ I work at now has several radios on different freq... so it is not an issue there. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Typical lame attack from you. You ignore half of a post and act like the half you read was the *only* part. To acknowledge the whole post makes your rant moot and silly.... So you only pay attention to one sentence. Typical... You run your mouth then when asked to put up, you run away. Name the event or quit running your mouth. I don't know what's up your butt. But you ignore half a post just to start a fight and make accusations you are unwilling to back while throwing childish insults. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I am planning a DZ tour... Ya know when you start at one DZ and go to a new DZ for each jump. Rumor has it that both Lake Wales and Titusville are pretty much not flying fun jumpers..... Anyone care to comment? My original plan was 1. Zhills 2. Skydive Tampa Bay 3. Lake Wales 4. Sebastion 5. Titusville 6. DeLand. Maybe Palatka. But if the rumors are true... then I need to make adjustments. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

FL has many great DZ's. I'll give you my take on a few of the major hitters: Zhills: Great place for boogie style jumps. Organizers all over the place. Good bar and lots of fun. I lived on the DZ for years. DeLand: Amazing place. Great for team training. Fantastic aircraft and one tight run ship. If you are looking for fun jumps.... Well they don't normally have organizers and while there is some amazing talent there, they are normally training. I personally love the place, but not for "fun" loads. Lake Wales: Yeah, unless you want to do a Tandem... Go somewhere else it seems Titesville: Same owners as Lake Wales and seem to have the same issue. Sebastian: Great views. Bigger on Freeflying than flat flying. I have been there with my wife and done two ways since we were the only two flat fliers. Palatka: Fun place, been there a few times. They have a good vibe and I hear now have a Caravan. Art is a guy I respect. Clewiston: My current FL home DZ. A nice King Air and some really nice people. Skill levels vary but they are working on bringing the new folks up. If I could only visit one... Zhills. Close to a big city and they do a great job of being friendly. That being said.... come to Clewiston and I'll give you a free coaching jump. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You need to read the whole thing and not jump to accusations. Work on that. Please do. I don't need people who only read half the rules creating a dangerous situation. I'll put my canopy control skills up against yours any day of the week. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

You ignored rule #2 then. That's YOUR fault.... One rule normally does not cover every situation. You would think having been involved in a collision you would have done a better job of following rule #2 this time. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Like them.... "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

They wear 2 go pro's???? Can you show a shot of the setup? I can't really imagine two. But I know a few DZ's that only offer handcam footage, and the one I am working at now offers both. I still think the outside video is better footage, except for the interview right after opening... But can understand the desire to pack 2 tandems in a cessna with no video. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

Simple... You are supposed to land in the direction as the first person down on your load. You are taught that training. The people that didn't get the memo didn't ask and they failed in their prep. If there is a doubt which is the landing direction, you discuss this before you take off... Again taught in training. Not everyone is right. This is where you are missing the point. There are rules: 1. Land in the direction as the first person down. 2. Discuss the landing direction before loading. If you don't follow the rules, that is an individual problem, not a rules problem. It is like you claiming that a guy running a red light is cause for creating a new rule... The answer is to punish the red light runner, not make another rule he will ignore. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

I'd say a "failure" is when the unit was used correctly and did not work. * Jumper set the altitude incorrectly? The jumper failed, not the AAD. * AAD fired in the plane/trunk/ cause of radio? AAD failed. * AAD fired the reserve and the jumper tangled in the PC? AAD worked, jumper failed. * AAD didn't work because the jumper didn't replace the battery? Jumper failed. But we all know (at least I thought we all knew) that AAD's can and do fail. It would be great to have failure info.... Lets say an AAD has 500 "saves" but has misfired 100 times and failed to fire in 50.... That's not an AAD I would want. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334