Dutchboy

I'll do my best. Too bad you can't be there. Maybe one of those last minute sales will pop up. One nice thing about living next to the busiest airport in the world.

Just spoke to someone from the DZ. They are going to do something special for all of us dropzone.com'ers Saturday. I'll tell you more when I find out the details. Then again, maybe it will just be a surprise.

Probably not. I don't think they want the liability. Also, you are not familiar with their DZ. I do know of one DZ that allowed this, but the person in question was a USPA member. I think this is normally a requirement at USPA DZ's.

You don't have to have that vision, just be correctable to it. If you aren't already within the limits you will be required to wear corrective lenses while flying.

At least in the US this is not true. I think this is a myth the stems from military pilots that must have 20/20 in both eyes when they start. I know I couldn't do it because I had 20/25 in one eye. According to my airmen medical I had yesterday I have 20/25 near and far vision. I actually wear glasses when I'm working since I have astigmatism (sp?) and the UV from staring at a monitor all day is bad for my eyes. I know your vision can be as bad as 20/40 (corrected or not) to get a 2nd class medical for a comercial pilots license. Not sure what the exact numbers are for 1st class (ATP license).

I actually did just this a while ago. I got a top mount for cheap on an auction (Sunshine Factory). I haven't jumped it yet, not because of the way it turned out, but because I have a very old, heavy camera, and want to get some more experience before I jump with it. OK, and it is still a bit cold and I like my full face helmet.

Real briefly, it is a Zenith Super Zodiac 601HDS. Low wing 2 seater, side-by-side seating, all metal, big bubble canopy. Cruises around 130mph, climbs 1700-2000fpm. Standard kit, about 600 hours into it so far. Just the small stuff left < 200 hours (I hope). Website http://www.zenithair.com. E-mail me if you want more info.

I'm afraid to admit, I actually bought the DVD. I bought it haven't not seen the movie before, and knowing it would probably suck. I thought it might have some cool shots though. Anyway, on the booklet that came with the DVD they mention that the actors did sneak away and become licensed skydivers.

You certainly picked the wrong weekend to drive up. The weather was aweful. Did they even get a single load in? Mike & Dawn were still out of the country and left Rachel in charge. I think they should be back before this weekend. I hear that Billy Weber is an awesome skydiver. I wonder if he's ever going to come out with a new version of Pack Like a Pro that includes things like psycho packing, and better techniques for dealing with ZP canopies.

Unless the weather completely sucks for the entire weekend I will definitely be there and will probably stay all weekend. I try to be there when my friends are doing a first jump and so far I have four of them doing so that weekend.

If you want a proper RW suit figure at least $150. You don't really need an RW suit though. If you want to jump with other people some loose coveralls might do for a while. Altimeters are normally $120-$200 new depending on brand and hand vs. chest mount. Chest mount is normally more. You might be able to get a used altimeter for as little as $50. Helmets are anywhere from $40 for a Protec (open face) to $300 for a fancy full face.

It's official. The Unofficial Dropzone.com Southeastern USA Boogie is planned for March 24 & 25 at Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston, GA. This is just an excuse for us dz.com'ers to get together and skydive and have some serious fun. The DZ has camping if you're coming from a distance. At a minimum we should have a twin otter and a Cessna 182 to jump from. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me.

I don't know when the next boogie is in Thomaston. So let's make our own. The Unofficial Dropzone.com Southeastern USA Boogie Date: March 24-25 Place: Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston, GA At a minimum we should have a twin otter to jump from (and a Cessna 182 if you prefer). I already have another batch of friends that are going to be there that weekend for first jumps. If you can't find me there just ask for Phil. All my gear is black and royal blue. I have a black Dolphin with royal blue logo and pop top. My jumpsuits are also black and royal blue. They have a bunkhouse and camping for those who are interested. This should be loads of fun.

I have had a pilot's license for nearly 10 years. I haven't been flying for the last 7, however. That will change in a few hours I decided to get current again and have a flight review this afternoon. For many years I never understood why people skydive. I think in flight school they teach you to think skydiving is stupid and infringes on YOUR airspace. Last year a friend of mine (Broken Eagle) convinced me to try it once. I did and found out just how much fun it is. I think that skydiving has helped encourage me to get current again with my piloting. I've been building a plane for the last four years and am nearly done. I really want to finish the plane soon. I think that skydiving has gotten me back into aviation again. As to which is more fun, there is no comparison. Skydiving wins hands down. Why? Because you get to fly your body. You won't find a more complex machine to fly anywhere. You also get to do aerobatics and formation flying. To top it off you get to fly a wing for a couple of minutes at the end. Also, you normally get to land into the wind and don't have to worry about crosswind landings because of where the runway is. Skydiving is also much cheaper than flying. Just my medical exam cost me $85. I'll probably spend a few hundred today. Getting my license cost me about $4k, and that was ten years ago. My friends doing it now are spending closer to $6k. Flying is more practical though. It is nice to be able to hop in a plane and be hundreds of miles away in no time at all. I like to fly, but I love to skydive.

No GA-Georgia skydivers live on the east coast. GAY skydivers live on the west coast in California at your home DZ. Just kidding

This is certainly true. If you are passing through here on your way back I'm sure there are many people who would be happy to jump with you at either Thomaston or Monroe and wouldn't expect a thing from you. Some day (far far away) I want to be a JM and I'd love to teach anyone what little I know. There are many more experienced people who feel the same way.

I noticed that there are quite a few GA skydivers online here. I also noticed that the largest number are from Skydive Atlanta. There are also several from Skydive Monroe. The other two DZ's seem to be virtually unrepresented. If we get a few more maybe we can talk Mike & Dawn into having a dropzone.com corner in the hangar like the Atlanta Freeflight people. LOL

My record so far is 6 jumps in a day. I just can't pack fast enough to do more. Perhaps in the summer when the weather improves and the jumping day gets longer I can do better.

There were a couple articles in Parachutist a few months back about owning a DZ. A decent 182 will cost you at least $30k and possibly up to $60k depending on what is in it. Student rigs probably cost you $3-4k new, tandems about $10k new. A hangar is going to cost you. If you go to the right place you might be able to get a small hangar for a few hundred dollars a month. Of course, some things can be financed, but you might have to put up something else to get the loan.

I'll try again tonight, but this is on my machine at home that has been sitting without me using it for at least 12 hours. I guess I'll try to log out and back in if that doesn't work.

They only thing that will make you spin is unsymetric air deflection, not how hard you arch. Arching harder seems to be many JM's answer to everything. I remember one of them telling me I was potato chipping because it didn't arch hard enough. I was forced to do a couple of my AFF jumps with Chris Wagner (Golden Knights) and he told me this was BS. I was potato chipping because I had either my legs or arms out too far and didn't have equal lift on both halves of my body. Another thing he told me is that arching gets you stable, but symetry keeps you stable. Most of my problems have been due to not relaxing. When you relax you normally release some tension in your body that had you locked into an asymetrical position and everything gets better.

Not to take anything away from sis, but the Hornet is a great canopy. Forgiving, but also a bit fun if you load it over 1.2. I love mine, even after 50+ jumps I have on it.

Nope, Broken Eagle and I both study at the Eagle Claw Kung Fu center in Midtown http://www.yingjowpaiatl.com. This is a bit of a drive for me (30 miles), but I try to make it down there at least twice a week. Last night was hilarious. It was the tough conditioning class. A couple people watched but didn't know that it wasn't a regular class and got scared and left.

You have discraced me, and the Shaolin temple and now you must die. Actually, my style of kung fu is well known for locking techniques and lots os sweeps. If you are fighting someone from our school you will probably end up on the floor alot and we don't want anybody to get hurt. Some of our forms actually have break falls in them as well.

Thanks for reminding me. We are also looking for a Java developer to work with our web-based GUI for our products. We would prefer somebody with C++ and CORBA experience (Oracle would be nice too), but these aren't absolute requirements.