kkeenan

The skydiving opening for the Titusville airshow was canceled because of high winds. This crash happened a bit later. Wx looks good tomorrow, so we'll be jumping then. - Kevin http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/BREAKINGNEWS/70316020 http://www.local6.com/news/11272719/detail.html _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

It sounds like you did not do much of a pre-flight of the gear you were using. Did you even know what you were looking at ? Did you ask for assistance ? And you made the very wrong assumption that all V-3s have Skyhooks. (Where did you even get that idea. V-3 was in production long before the Skyhook.) Are you sure that you know all you can about the equipment you are currently jumping ?? I started to comment on the guy who didn't pull his reserve handle, but your statements about gear knowledge are way more scary. I realize that you're new and enthusiastic, and that's great. But in the long run, it's knowledge that will keep you alive in this sport. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I would certainly like to see that Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Swoopers can't stand to fly with brakes stowed. I think your sequence sounds fine. A word of caution about going for rear risers during deployment. If you get a quicker-than-expected opening and your hands are close to the risers, they will get whacked. I've seen anywhere from bruises to broken fingers from this. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I suggest not watching the video and just signing the petition if you are against inhumane, unnecessary slaughter and the elimination of dwindling species. The quote below has special meaning if you watch the video. The video - http://www.glumbert.com/media/dolphin The petition - http://www.petitiononline.com/golfinho/ ¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º¤º°`°º¤ Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome. -- Isaac Asimov _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Make sure you remember the part about "letting go". There's nothing worse than reaching down for a canopy with a toggle still in your hand. The violent spins will remind you that it was a bad idea. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

It's generally considered safe practice to start a takeoff at the end of the runway. In the event of a power loss after takeoff, a pilot has the chance to set down on the remaining runway rather than crashing into the trees. You, yourself may benefit from this one day. If this is up to the Town Board, I doubt that they will change the rules, feeling that it may leave them open to legal action. There's an old saying that there's nothing more worthless than "runway behind you". And, yes, the term "intersecting departures" sounds more like an accident description. "Intersection takeoff" is the correct term. Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I think that any canopy, regardless of type or wingloading, can produce twists that may inhibit a cutaway. That said, I'm sure that the percentages favor highly-loaded elipticals for dangerous spin-ups. I suggest riser inserts for any canopy. They are a harmless, passive system, which may not be needed for many jumps. But if they're needed, and you don't have them, you're toast. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Balboni was actually over at Lake Wales with me and the rest of the CRWDogs watching the clouds there this weekend. So he missed it too. So, we're both still on the POPS Fla. Record. Woo Hoo ! _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

As a record holder from last year's jumps, I was sad not to be able to attend this year. I was sure that they would get it and remove my name from the Golden Book. Well, I'm sorry that the wx didn't cooperate, but hopefully I'll be there for next year's completed record-breaking jumps. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Judging by your avitar, you have a relaxed, confident look on your face. Just try not to fart. They hate that. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Are you aware of what those things are actually worth these days ? I'm guessing it's probably less than it used to be. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

That certainly was a long-ass snivel. That was the scariest part of the video. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

...and you have a dime for a phone call if you land out. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

I love my slot. I own my slot. There is no better slot on the whole dive.

Over 60 people are signed-up for this weekend's CRW event at Lk. Wales. This will be one of the official try-out camps for the 100-Way to be attempted in November. Woo Hoo Kevin K. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Yeah, this was totally the wrong thread to have going on my machine when the boss stops by the ol' cubicle. At least there were no photos... _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Some years ago, there was an accident at Homestead FL. involving a Cessna 205. In addition to some tandems, there was a lady who was doing a lower hop and pop. She was on the step on jump run at about 4k when the pilot allowed the airspeed to drop too low. The plane stalled, then entered a flat spin. (A normal spin is not hard to recover from, however, if the center of gravity (CG) is too far aft, this results in a flat spin, which, as it sounds has the airplane almost level. You can't recover unless you lower the nose and regain airspeed - and you can't get the nose down with too much weight in the tail.) As the spin progressed, the centrifugal force pushed the jumpers farther to the rear making the spin even more unrecoverable. The lady on the strut hung on for a couple of revolutions, then was flung off and pulled. The C205 continued to the ground in a flat spin. There were no other survivors. The DZO, who was a TM on the load, was known to hire low-time, low-pay pilots (I know because I flew for him with a fresh Commercial certificate). My speculation is that this pilot let his airspeed bleed off too much while he was distracted by the student on the step. The fact that the aircraft was overloaded and out of CG was sort of a function of the DZO's business practices. Most specialized types of flying have their own skills and tricks. Flying skydivers is probably not the most technically demanding flying there is, but it's not simple, either. Beware of pilots who take it lightly. Kevin Keenan C-AMEL-Inst. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Do they teach a lot of RW in the Army ?? _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Hi Space Fans. Well, it turns out that Mother Nature is a real Bitch. The STS-117 External Tank (ET) is pretty F-ed up. There are about 4,000 dings in the foam. That used to be a big deal, but since the Columbia accident, it's a super-huge deal. The damage is also in some of the more high-stress areas of the foam that the designers have been worried about. There is a certain amount of repair that is possible at KSC, but I have a feeling that this damage is so extensive that it will have to be fixed at the Michoud LA facility that makes the ET. Those folks are still backed-up from being out of operation due to hurricane Katrina. There's a new tank due at KSC in April. Oy-Vey, what a mess this hailstorm has caused. Anyway, here's the word from NASA: Launch Complex 39 experienced a severe thunderstorm on the evening of February 26, 2007. The thunderstorm included a significant amount of localized hail, which resulted in damage to the STS-117 vehicle on the launch pad. A comprehensive assessment was made on the morning of February 27. The results from that assessment indicated that there are several thousand impacts/damage sites to the External Tank foam and approximately 30 small impacts to the tiles on the left wing of Atlantis. This is the worst damage to a vehicle at the pad due to a hail storm to date. There have been two previous instances of hail damage that resulted in rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB): STS-38 in 1990 and STS-96 in 1999. In the case of STS-96, approximately 650 areas of damage to the External Tank foam were repaired in the VAB prior to flight. The consensus is that further evaluation of the damage to the External Tank is necessary. This evaluation cannot be done at the pad, and so the decision was made to roll back to the VAB where there is access to the entire External Tank acreage. Hypergolic propellants that were being loaded in preparation for a mid-March launch must be offloaded prior to rollback. The S3/S4 payload will also be removed from Atlantis and moved into the Payload Changeout Room at the pad. Based on this work, the rollback to the VAB will most likely occur Sunday or Monday. The consensus is that the March window is no longer feasible, and that the next launch opportunity is no earlier than late April. The next launch opportunity will be predicated on the results from the damage assessment. There will be a press conference once today’s session of the Flight Readiness Review is complete, no earlier than 4:00 pm Eastern. The press conference will be carried live on NASA TV. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

There are a lot of things that have to be done at the pad between roll-out and launch, such as loading the payload, fuel, etc. The vehicle is pretty well protected against weather when it's out there. The Orbiter is mostly enclosed with only the External Tank and SRBs exposed. Normally, that's no problem, but yesterday's storm contained some bad hail and that's about the only thing that can really physically damage it. The External Tank is covered with insulating foam that is similar to styrofoam. Rain won't bother it, but hail is pretty bad. We had problems years ago, when a bunch of woodpeckers started pecking holes in the insulation. There is a lot of info on Shuttle ops on the KSC website here: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/index.html _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Your profile contains the following: Number of Jumps: 3 How would you interpret that if you were reading it ? And, yes, I did read the rest of the profile. I'm sorry I overreacted, even though the DZ discussed is not my DZ. I agree with you that the training should not be "cheap" at the expense of quality. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Certain jumpers are shut down occasionally for Safety Meetings. I'm not sure how they would make it through Safety Day. _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

Yeah, the damage is pretty severe, and will require that the stack be rolled back to the VAB for repairs. The length of time that this will delay the launch is unknown. However, this year has a lot of launches scheduled, so this will definitely throw a wrench into the schedule. New launch date is no earlier than 4/22. We get some pretty gnarly storms around here this time of year. Kevin _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?

That will really mess up your fuel calculations... _____________________________________ Dude, you are so awesome... Can I be on your ash jump ?