Foursprouts

My 2 pence worth. Didn't read the whole thread as I am too lazy so may have been said before. I have lived in the US and many other countries. Most of the people who I have heard say things like 'I am glad I am an american because it is the only true free country in the world etc etc' have never left the US. If this is you you cannot make comments like that because you do not know what you are talking about. I loved living in the states and am not saying anything bad about the place I just hate the way so many of you say shit without knowing what you are comparing it too. England is alot like the states as far as what you can do, ok no guns but wouldn't you prefer to live in a country where the police carry wooden sticks because they don't need anything else. The only thing I disliked about the US was the stupid people who commented about other countries without knowing anything about them. Most developed countries have better points and also worse points when compared to each other and it pisses me off so much when people say shit without knowing what they are talking about.

Just a thought but if everyone was encouraged to take 6 inch hunting knives onto commercial flights wouldn't it make the flight safer as the person who managed to smuggle nail clippers on wouldn't have a chance of doing anything appart from clipping his nails.

I know there is the diverdriver website and it is a great resource but I think it would be useful to have a section here where people can ask question make sugestions etc. The plane ride is a big part of skydiving and still probably the most feared. I know you all would prefer not to have to get in a plane but until something else is invented you unfortunatly have to. You may think and are probably right that it would not get used much but you might be wrong.

Sorry for posting about something unrelated to the first topic but thought it is worth saying. As I said before, I have not flown an otter but again I assume the prop levers may also be the condition levers, if not I am sure that the fuel cut off is close. If you had the fuse pulled for as long as you say I would be amazed if at some point the pilot had not put his hands up there to tweak the engines or props, you would not have had time to stop him shutting one down. Obviously if he had noticed the oil pressure the first thing he should have looked at was the oil temp and then straight over to the pulled fuse but you say he is a bad pilot so he may have just switched it off. Very unlikely but people do weird shit sometimes. I have worked for four skydiving operations and I know how nervous the jumpers in the back are with a new pilot. I cannot believe that it is only you who think he is a bad pilot because for a long time lots of people would be watching him very closely. Even after six months at my current place of work I still have experienced members off staff who know about the plane (not always pilots) looking at me and what is going on with the guages. I am glad that they take an interest. Because other people at your center must also think he is not good talk to him or another pilot or the DZO and ask to have someone else in the right seat for a few hours to give him another check out. What I expect, as I am sure he can fly the plane or else he would not be there is that he has become complacent and lazy which can be very dangerous. All he may need is for someone to have a talk with him (pilot/DZO/experienced member of staff) and say that he needs to pay more attention. If after that he is still not watching what is going on the DZO would probably start looking for another pilot. I bet as soon as he knew people were concerned he would improve a lot as he would not want to lose his job. Your method put people in danger and you confirmed to yourself that he is not paying attention to what is going on. How has that helped make that DZ a safer place to jump?

Just noticed the date you posted this so I guess you already did it.

Skydive Las Vegas have stopped putting those weird claims on their website. New management but still having problems with the owner alowing fun jumpers. Haven't spoken to anyone from there for a while but I understand that they are trying to change it to allow fun jumpers. All the people who work there are really good guys and if you get the chance you should jump there. When I worked there it was a pretty firm weight limit, can't remember what it was. Things may have changed but I would phone ahead to make sure. They weigh everyone to keep the plane within its limits so don't think you may be able to slip through saying you are lighter than you are as you would probably lose your deposit. Go to Skydive Las Vegas it is the best place to do a tandem in Nevada.

If this guy is as bad a pilot as you think he is maybe he would see the oil pressure reading zero and think crap I am going to break a $300,000 engine and then without looking at anything else just go ahead and shut it down. If he is such a bad pilot do you really want to put yourself and everyone else in that plane in a single engine situation with him. I have never flown an otter but I bet it is just a case of pulling a lever back. You think if he went for it you would be able to stop him. Would he listen to you or would he wait until he saved $300,000. If he is as bad as you think, that could happen. The best idea would be to talk to another pilot to keep an eye on him. You may know how a fuse works but you don't know how his mind will. Pilots dont mess with your rig, how would you like it if he turned off your cypress too see if you noticed and then thought he had better turn it back on at 8,000ft because he didn't want you to jump with it off. He should have noticed but that is not the best way to see if someone is on the ball.

OH MY GOD, I can't beleive you are complaining about the price of gass in the US. I live in england and here it really sucks. About 90p a liter thats $1.62 a liter and yes there are about 4 liters to the gallon so that makes it a FU**ING INCREDIBLE $6.48 A GALLON. I am going to start riding a bike to work as food is cheaper.

As an elevator operator that is my worst nightmare. I hope I never experience it going down and then bam as I bet in my case the lights wouldn't come back on. I just hope everyone gets out in time if it does happen.

Thanks. I will wait until I have a few more jumps under my belt and on safe gear. Just out of curiosity, why is rip cord gear bad to FF on? I know I have alot to learn and I know trying too be cool gets people killed, that was not my motive, it just looks like fun.

I know it is something that takes time to learn but is it dangerous to attempt sit, stand and head down using a rip cord rig. I know some are not safe as they have an exposed bridal but the one I am jumping does not, it is a vector container with a rip cord. I will soon be converted to a throw away rig and know that once on that it would not be safe. I expect that I will just end up all over the sky but still want to give it a go. Is it more dangerous also because the canopy is a Manta 240 (I think). Is there something else I should consider. I understand about freefall drift and that sort of thing as have been around DZ's for ages but have only just started jumping.

Vegas extreme is a rip off tandem factory just like VES. Youll jump from 15000 Ft !!! well...actually its 10500. Oh, and thats MSL. The airfield is 3000 MSL. So, its 7500, half what they claim. Try complaining and youll be told to Fuck off.

The reasons that are floating around for why he did it are 1) He has been doing it for 12 years without a break and has had enough. (I worked there for 11 months and in that time he never took a single day off, he went away for a day or two but it was always for some course to do with the caravan engine or something else to do with the business). 2) His new girlfriend has shown him that there is better stuff to do with your time when you are a multi millionaire than sitting in an office or sleeping in an RV on an airport in the middle of the desert. 3) He is about to lose another big lawsuite and wants to get out, transferr assets, protect his money. 4) He has fallen out with his right hand man 5) He does not have enough jumpmasters and cant find anyone to work there. 6) He is fucking crazy 7) He wants to start an Ostrich farm on the SLV property and the jumpers might hurt the birds, he will then take a mix of ostrich and cainine excrement and masturbate in it whilst sitting in a kiddie pool in the middle of the landing area. Going by what happened and his state of mind I thingk number 7 is the most likely, it would also be the best end to his legacy This is all speculation, gossip, whatever.

Ok, let me claruify. I do not spot, i just line up as best i can where i am told to when the winds are received three minuites prior. I can tell if i am way off but you are right I cannot see straight down. I always follow the jump lights if it is safe to do so. I am not a jumper and respect the directions of the jumpmasters. The problem that I had is that I was told to go around from a run that I know was ok, I did not argue I went around, the next run I was told to fly a crazy correction which I did. I then felt the guy spotting leave. When I landed I was replaced and drug tested. It was not my mistake and so fucking what if we had to go around, that is no reason to replace a pilot and drug test them for letting the guy in the back know you think he was being a bit difficult. I just think it is very unsafe to make people beleive that even if you dare to maybe dissagree with a senior member of staff they will try to get rid of you. I am not ragging on jumpers, I like most of you, I do not think I know more about spotting than experienced jumpers, I understand that it is you that are jumping not me, I am not a pilot who will say get the fuck out, I will allways go around for any reason or bring anyone back down who wants to. I am just saying how unbeleivably stupid it is to send out a message that if you question a senior staff member not only will they dismiss the idea that they could be wrong they will try to get rid of you and probly make your life hell untill they do, I havent found out about the last part yet. An air India 747 crashed a few years ago killing everyone on board because the captains attitude indicator tumbled on takeoff and he followed it into a mountain. There were three backups but no one dared question the captain. It is unsafe to be scared to question people senior to you and that is the message being put out at the place I work.

The weirdest thing happened to me today. I am still not sure what the f$%$ it really was. I disagreed with a senior staff member about the spot. First pass I was told to go around, second pass the senior jumpmaster gave me lights to fly away from the dropzone then jumped out I had turn turn back or last one out would be hosed. I landed to do a turn and was replaced by the other pilot, not my choice. About half an hour later I was given a random drug test (random?) and told I am on thin ice and could easily be replaced. I spoke to the other tandem masters on the plane and they thought the first pass was fine and didnt know what the F$@# was going on with the directions from the back on the second one. I guess that at the place I work you are not allowed to question the judgement of anyone in a senior possition or they will look for reasons to fire you. I think it is a very dangerouse message to put out to the other people who work there. Don't worry you wont be jumping where I work as you are not allowed. If anyone knows of a place that needs a pilot please let me know as I have had enough. 1500 Total time 700 jumpers 250 turboprop 160 multi CFI,CFII,MEI.

If a plane has one engine out and is holding level or even in a slight descent the worst thing would be to move 3500lbs to the back of the plane suddenly. A rear CG in one engine flight causes the speed at which you start spinning to be much higher due to the rudder being less affective. The pilot should be well above this speed but if they are not expecting their rudder to suddenly loose alot of force it may mean that no one gets out of a situation that could have ended with little problem.

You cannot get the bends on a fast asscent to jump altitude. If you scuba dive at 30 ft for 30 minuites you dont really need to worry about your asscent. That would be the equivelant of climbing out of the atmosphere in about 2 minuites, so going to 15,000 in 6 minuites will not affect you. As far as I can tell SLV is in buisiness to make money and is in no way interested in large numbers of fun jumpers as it is not as profitable and there are more lawsuites associated with it. Alot of the stuff on the website is stretching the truth but going back to what I said earlier, the place is there to make money and how many first time tandem jumpers would know any different. I am not saying it is moral but thats just the way it is. Their caravan gets to altidude and back down in 24 min full and in about 6 min with one tandem.