pilotdave

I always thought so, but looked it up because of a comment in another thread today. Looks like (though I haven't heard anything official) its true that required crew members don't require parachutes for aerobatics unless a passenger is on board. "Unless each occupant of the aircraft is wearing an approved parachute, no pilot of a civil aircraft carrying any person (other than a crewmember) may execute any intentional maneuver that exceeds— (1) A bank of 60 degrees relative to the horizon; or (2) A nose-up or nose-down attitude of 30 degrees relative to the horizon." Dave

Interesting... never noticed that before. Did some looking and according to one guy, you're right: http://www.landings.com/_landings/Forums/as/as-aerobatics.html (scroll down near the bottom to "Do I have to wear a parachute when I do aerobatics?") Parachutes aren't required for any required crew memeber when doing aerobatics. Dave

Actually that's so that the air flows around scale models the same way it flows around full size aircraft. They usually do it by refrigerating the tunnel to increase the air density without changing the pressure. The reynolds number of the flow in a tunnel is nearly the same as it is in freefall. Reynolds number is not dependent on pressure, but rather density, viscosity, and velocity. I think the difference in the feel of one tunnel to another to freefall is more based on velocity and turbulence of the flow. In the tunnel, you adjust your body to match the tunnel speed. In freefall, the speed adjusts to match your body position. Throughout freefall, pressure and density and airspeed are changing. Can you tell the difference in feel between the top end of a skydive and the bottom end (starting at terminal of course)? Dave

You make that sound like a joke, but there are airplane owners out there that probably would buy a plane to fly at your DZ if you have the business to support it. You'd pay them of course, but it's not such a crazy idea. Dave

Explanation: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1609006#1609006 Dave

No (legal) need for a parachute in a homebuilt - unless you'll be doing aerobatics. Dave

I don't remember if anyone ever posted a reason for the reserve to be spinning, but the slider was at least half way up... not likely just an unstowed brake. Dave

No comparison. Lutz wins hands down. Lutz: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2885 Richardson: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3140 Dunno how you can even compare em. She had a reserve malfunction and got hurt. Mostly positive about skydiving and not nearly as innacurate as people make her out to be. Lutz, putz, period. Dave

How do you stow your excess brake line? Dave

No windows where I sit... might as well be snowing out. Good weather on a wednesday is just so pointless.

I agree with you... I think all that talk about the air feeling different due to the venturi effect (or really bernoulli's principle) doesn't make much sense. Air pressure isn't constant on a skydive, so we're used to flying at different atmospheric pressures. In research wind tunnels, there are 3 things that you need to have in order to properly simulate the air flow around the object you're testing... The shape of the model has to be the same as the shape of the real object... no problem there for us, since we are the model and the real object, minus the rig usually. Second, the mach number must be the same. We're using "full scale" wind speed, which is completely subsonic, so no issue there. Third is the reynolds numbers need to be equal. That's dependent on the size and shape of the objects and the air velocity, density and viscosity, which does vary with altitude. When testing a scale model in a wind tunnel, the air density can be adjusted in some tunnels to adjust the reynolds number to match the real flow you're trying to simulate. For a vertical tunnel, all the important numbers are really damn close to the real things. Objects in the tunnel will therefore behave the same as they will in "real life." That is, as long as you stay away from walls. Now if you're really big in a small wind tunnel, the walls will have an effect. I'm sure a 4-way in a skyventure tunnel blocks enough of the cross sectional area of the tunnel to make a difference. You start to choke off the flow at some point. Dave

I must have over 500 jumps on my Sabre2 135 now and I love it. Never had a really hard opening, but almost all of them are off heading. Doesn't seem to matter who packs it, and I have trouble believing I've only had a handful of openings in the proper body position. I'm just so used to getting swung around at the end of every opening that it doesn't even bother me... I just grab a rear riser and put it back where I want it. Always happens just as I'm thinking "wow, on-heading!" Then whooosh and I'm pointing in a different direction. Openings are nice and soft, but not excessively long (probably 500 feet usually). Course mine might be out of trim or something. Lines are still in good shape, recently checked by 2 different riggers, but I don't think they checked the trim. But I just love the way it lands. So easy to get it right... just fly it to the ground. Not like a spectre that I've found requires a lot more timing to get a nice landing. Dave

I soloed a plane before I soloed a car. Got my drivers license first though. Dave

Can you explain what you mean by that? Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=search&search=do&string=atmo&searchtype=allwords A search for "atmo" on skydivingmovies.com. Some aren't atmonauti but that'll capture most of them (sometimes referred to as atmonaut or atmo in descriptions). Even at atmonauti tandem on there. Dave

Closer to 7 to 10 100/200 series otters... Dave

Vertical water tunnels are used for aerodynamic research (flow visualization). Course it's really hydrodynamic, but it simulates air flow for many cases pretty well. A little milk injected into the water stream looks just like smoke in slow motion. But uhhhhh, I don't think that'd be very practical for skydiving simulation. Maybe for researching the flow around a model of a skydiver, but not for training. Not sure what advantage it would have over a wind tunnel, and it'd be a lot more complicated and more expensive. Research water tunnels run the other way, by gravity power. Dave

"I don't know, but I know where to look to find out." Works at least once. Use every checklist you have. Highlight all the local VOR frequencies on your sectional if they can be hard to find in the clutter. You'll need to find one while busy. And check the morse code after tuning it. I had the frequencies memorized... he didn't like that and made me look it up. Do clearing turns between EVERY maneuver... the examiner won't remind you and will fail you if you forget. My examiner was tough, but very fair. He went over the entire sequence of the flight test, in order, including approximately when he'd be doing the simulated engine failure. No surprises. I think the oral portion was harder than anything else. We started the flight portion off just great... almost failed the preflight when I took the first fuel sample. He asked if my checklist told me to do that. I said no. He said I need to follow the checklist. I reminded him that the checklist in the 1969 172 flight manual doesn't say to take fuel samples at all. He also wanted to fail me for bringing foggles instead of a hood, but he wasn't allowed. After landing he didn't tell me if I had passed or failed... I pretty much knew I'd passed because they are required to tell you the moment you fail. When he told me he was going to get his typewriter, i was pretty sure I must have passed. Finally he debriefed me... told me I came in too high on the simulated engine out landing (which was obvious), but he wouldn't fail me because another one of my instructor's students did the same thing the week before so clearly it was the instructors fault. He called the instructor in to chastise him at that point. Overall it wasn't really too bad... if your instructor says you're ready, you're ready. Just a bit stressful. Dave

I think there are some CPIers in that area... I'll find out for ya. Dave

I haven't seen any front/back symmetric skydivers yet. Dave

No, generally a wing with zero angle of attack creates very little lift, but not none. A typical airfoil creates zero lift at a slightly negative angle of attack. Dave

I live ~15 mins from there. New Haven has stuff to do... it's just to the south of north haven (believe it or not

If this was a real dropzone bonfire, you'd have laughed. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1834 Dave

True... maybe that's exactly what he was worried about. Dave