FrogNog

No specific offense meant to Vigil, but the appropriate term here is "bleeding edge". -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I thought a King Air had turboprop engines, not turbocharged piston engines. This thread's question is about conventionally-aspirated piston engine C-206 vs. turbocharged piston engine C-206. It is my understanding that turbochargers act as altitude compensators - as the air gets thinner with altitude, the turbocharger manages to jam about as much air into the cylinders on each stroke up high as at sea level. The result would be a lot more power at the higher altitudes, which should be a way better climb. Regarding your field elevation and air temperature, the big question is just how much more power the turbocharger can get you on the runway. (Assuming the increase in engine weight is minimal.) I have no idea the answer; I reckon someone who makes or sells the planes or the engines wrote this down somewhere. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Problem solved. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I'll try and remember to slide when turbulence collapses my canopy 10 feet off of the ground. I only slide if I'm moving straight ahead with my feet in front of me and I'm going to hit the ground reasonably softly. Oh, wait, that's a lot like the setup for my standup landings! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

An excellent recommendation for another emergency procedure to practice. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Was he blind? Because if he was, he wouldn't have much use for visual altimeters. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I pack my own. A hidden cost of using a packer is you get their openings, not your openings. I like my openings better. I do not work at the DZ, so not making every load is no big deal to me. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Oh, yeah, a second piece of advice I haven't seen here yet: read the SIM section on night jump procedures. I'm not going to say the SIM is the be-all end-all to procedures, but I see some questions and advice here that this SIM section addresses. Section 6.4 / page 123 in the 2003 SIM. (Don't know the 2004 location.) Section 6.4.D.6.c notes something I would be concerned about - cars in the landing area are things you can run into. (OK, I could run into.) 6.4.C.2 mentions the shadow you might see and should not hook-turn into the ground to get away from. 6.4.C.1.b - stuff looks different at night; known reference points may be useless. 6.4.F.1 - beer night jump should be solo. 6.4.G.1.a - (Group freefall) recommended for a full moon. OK, someone else said all night jumps are better on/near the full moon, and the SIM doesn't exactly say that, so I think the poster's advice is better.

I was thinking "where can I get one?" mixed with a healthy dose of "but how would they attach it", "sounds like it could interfere with opening" and "hmm, sounds like a joke; why does he think he can post jokes in G&R?". Followed later by "Oh, it's today." -=-=-=-=- Pull.

The version of that story I heard was he initiated his standing in the risers at 1,000 feet. That violates my personal altitude rule of "stupid shit under canopy stops at 2,500 feet". True, there is no guarantee that having 150% more time would have saved this guy, but it would have been a good asset. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Umm, isn't WD40 nylon incompatible, because it contains petroleum distillates? Wouldn't you want "food-grade silicone lubricant" instead? -=-=-=-=- Pull.

The hole is out of frame. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Safety day, 4k hop-and-pop in the beautiful afternoon weather with my lovely new (Feb.) Infinity. I am not wearing my suit because my rig was one of the ones chosen to be "sabotaged" for the rigging section of safety day. I had like 7 minutes after safety day completed to fix my rig and get in the plane. That combined with the first jump of the day combined a bit with a new pilot combined with this exit for the camera guy (not usual we have someone riding in a 182 taking pictures and not jumping out - he was working with the new pilot) which is still a bit of a trick for me, and I got quite the adrenaline nuke after opening. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Nylon is pretty resistant. Some things eat nylon, a lot of things don't. I couldn't say with regards to cigarette smoke. You need a quasi-chemist for this Q. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

My advice is "Get a night jump briefing from the S&TA" at the DZ before your night jump. That's what I plan to do. Water jump training already out of the way, now I just have to take my "B" license tests! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

I support multiple or divided landing areas. Sure, it scares the crap out of me when I see swoopers doing their thing, but that's just what they do. I think they should get to keep doing it (leaving any discussion of the risk to themselves to a different thread), just as long as they don't do it in the same airspace as "1k 3-leg" wusses like me. Similarly, people like me flying more conservative patterns should not get in the way of those other guys (and gals). Give me a big open field across the road and I will land there and walk back. Cool people can hook and swoop 10 feet from the packing area and I will see them on every other load (after I walk back and pack). -=-=-=-=- Pull.

This is a market economy issue. If people want to give something away, or sell it for too little, that is their right, unless they are conducting anticompetitive business practices (and they are in an area where such practices are illegal). If there are too many jump pilots who want to fly, and some of them are willing to take (or volunteer) a pay cut to get the job, there will be downward wage pressure from having "too much" supply. IMO, this is why teachers are underpaid right now - too many people willing to be teachers for too little pay. The answer is either to find a way to need more jump pilots or reduce the number of jump pilots willing to fly for free / cheap. Options include using more small planes for jumping (which isn't usually a cost-effective decision for larger DZs), getting more skydiving going (woo!), or disincentivizing jump pilots from giving it away, e.g. by making their jobs so shitty they demand to be paid. Personally, I support good pilots who work to be the best they can be and enjoy their jobs in flying for free or cheap. (I don't think free/cheap pilots are a substitute for talented, responsible, and trained pilots.) If someone competent flies jumpers for the challenge and the feeling of helping their friends, that suits me. And if they get the benefit of additional hours on someone else's maintenance money, that sounds like there's some value there. BTW, in continuing the supply / demand theory, reduced pilot pay enables lower jump ticket prices, which lead to increased jumping (based on price elasticity of demand for jumps), which increases demand for pilots, which enables an increase in pilot compensation (as pilots flying 4 hours per day for free refuse to fly 8 hours per day for free, or a DZ with 5 free pilots needs 1 more and can't find one for free). Welcome to equilibrium - now open the door and let me jump. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

On a dark twilight jump, I almost did the same thing. The pilot was pointing out the door-window on the 182, and I had no idea what was going on. The other, more experienced jumpers in the back of the plane seemed interested in what was going on outside, too. I couldn't figure it out, so I shouted to the pilot over the engine "DO YOU WANT ME TO GET OUT?". He shouted back that we were trying to get a fix on some traffic. Glad I checked - we were over one of the "less ideal" places to exit. So that's my tale about the stupidest thing I almost did - doing a hop-and-pop over the local 600' forested hill at night, 3/4 mile from the landing area. Stupidest thing I did was not hook up my chest strap. Smartest thing I did about that time was get a gear check before boarding. Now I always check my chest strap _and_ always get a gear check! -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Glad you enjoyed your jump, but just to recap...you are a student flying an unfamiliar rig, attempting to freefly through clouds?!? Yikes! I would go back and read your SIM a little more carefully. Ah, 15 jumps is plenty to start freeflying. (1. I'm kidding. 2. It is possible he has not updated his profile in some time.) -=-=-=-=- Pull.

We're born Ordinary things are all a wonder Fantastic things are ordinary, boring, even painfully so Then fantastic things are a wonder again Then we sleep -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Way cool. I don't think we have thermals in Washington. Ever. My recent jump coolness was turning onto final... and seeing my own glory on the grass. Felt special to be making that all by myself - no plane. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Do they use cyanoacrylate or ethylacrylate? I don't know if medical grade superglue is a different chemical or if it is just purer or free from preservatives. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

She is also very fast in the vertical direction. Either that or she has her own altitude chamber and gave her pro-track a ride in it. -=-=-=-=- Pull.

Boeing puts together planes in Everett and Renton. If you end up living / working near Renton, Kapowsin is probably closer. If you are near Everett, Snohomish is like 7 miles away as the 172 flies in FlightSim 2004. Which DZ you prefer is about vibe and related details, so you should go to both, talk to people who like both, find out the "issues" with both, and go from there. And just so I don't seem too impartial, I would like to point out that Snohomish is 3/4 surrounded by a gorgeous farming valley and has good places to eat 3 minutes away (a.k.a. "downtown Snohomish", oxymoron though that be). -=-=-=-=- Pull.

It matters to me. I don't like the idea of "just wait" during a mal. I'd rather have the bloody fingernails to show I tried to unstitch the cordura on the reserve container myself. -=-=-=-=- Pull.