pilotdave

I'm DYING for chipotle to open up in my area. Used to go at LEAST once a week when I was in college. You could spot the freshmen there easily. They didn't know how to pronounce chipotle, and they looked at the menu and asked questions. It's like the soup nazi. Figure out what you want while you wait in line, then order swiftly and efficiently. Step left. Step left. Pay. Chipotle is as far northeast as NY now. C'mon, keep moving! BTW, I go for the tacos. Soft tacos to go or crispy tacos when I eat in. Burritos are just too much food for me. Never heard of Qdoba though. Dave

My brother has a 32nd floor apartment with a balcony right near there. I told him he could sell tickets to it. His fiance didn't seem to like the idea. Dave

I like the analogy of 3 different aircraft, pointing north while the wind is coming from the west. Assume the same steady wind for each of them. One is a Cessna, one's an F-16, and the 3rd is a hot air balloon. At any given time, they will each have drifted the exact same distance to the east. But given any particular distance to the north, they'll each have drifted different amounts. 10 MINUTES into their flights, they'll all be lined up perfectly on a North-south line. But after 10 MILES of travel (due east for the balloon of course), they'll each have drifted a different amount. Same thing happens to skydivers. Freeflyers and belly flyers drift the same amount (not accounting for differences at exit) over a given period of time. But over a given distance, like say over a 10,000 foot freefall, they won't drift as far because they cover that 10,000 feet in less time. Dave

Cessna for the winter. Dave

CPI (connecticut parachutists) has been the only new england DZ open all winter. If the weather's jumpable, they'll be open this weekend too. http://www.skydivect.com. BTW, according to mapquest, it's only 88 miles from cambridge to ellington. Ewww, highs of 32 and 27. How desperate for a jump am I? It will have been 2 weeks.... I guess I can deal with the cold! Dave

Part 91 for everyone. Dave

FYI, the emails appear to have been sent through http://www.emailgarage.com/. Here's what they think about this sorta thing: http://www.emailgarage.com/html/k2_det_article.asp?id=109&refid=0&parid=11. Course, they are a spammer. Interesting that they're using a local spammer... Apparently spam is a very big deal in belgium: http://www.emailgarage.com/html/k5_arch_belgium.asp. I guess it's best to go with locals that know the laws. A little belgian law I guess: "Through the royal Decree of 4th April 2003, companies are prohibited from sending commercial mailings e.g. via email if the addressee has not given its prior express authorisation for receiving such mailings. If no such consent is given, such mailings are considered as “spam” which could expose the company to fines and payment of damages." So remember when you sent that "express authorisation?" Yeah, big mistake! Dave

BASE jump it! Seriosly though... I assume they just get a waiver from the FAA, right? Dave

That's funny... i was watching a show about that stuff last night and thought one of their helmets looked perfect for skydiving. I guess their standards are as low as ours, so nevermind!

Some of us don't even own a vacuum! Dave

Need help troubleshooting a page (not on my site). Something wrong with tables I think... Dave

I got it twice. I wrote back to the address it came from. They use a spam blocking service (a little ironic i guess), but your email goes through if you go to a validation page (just gotta type in a series of letters so they know you're a real person). I made them an offer for an alternative form of advertising... I guess I spammed them back. But they never responded. Spam sucks, that's why I only sell email addresses to the V1agra and pen1s pump people.... they pay the most and I think we all support their products. Skydiving spam's gotta stop though! BTW, I know where they got one of my addresses... off the alti-2 field service member web page. I get a bit of spam from that one. EDIT: Well I heard back from them. Looks like they're gonna take me up on my offer. So get ready to receive spam for the all new Argus Pen1s Pump! Only $29.95 if you act now! What synergy! Dave

An altimeter is one of those things that the place you buy it doesn't really matter. You can shop by price or by who you want to support. Your DZ might sell altimeters... might save shipping that way. But for online shopping, well, skydivestore.com (same site) is good people. They support dropzone.com and skydivingmovies.com, so I'd support them. Unless you hate it here... Dave

I just looked to see if I had... yep, the day I started grad school. Well, I graduated with an MBA last week so I can finally post that I'm out of school! Hopefully for a long time too! Dave

I added a database field to SkydivingMovies.com that some of you might be interested in... "Equipment used to make the video." This gives a place for video makers to let everyone know what kind of camera, lens, helmet, and software was used to make the video. It's hard to compare cameras since every video is compressed to the point where they all look about the same, but we can try. But knowing the camera/lens/helmet combination can give an idea of what will have vignettes or what loses focus during openings, etc. If you've uploaded any videos in the past and want to add that information to them, PM me with the filename and the equipment info. Coincidentally, my PC1000 arrived yesterday, an FF2 is on order, and I'm about to buy a lens. Wonder how I suddenly got curious what equipment people use... Dave

Just make sure you're eating it correctly: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-892542405730558424&q=sushi (watch the whole thing... it's great) Dave

Very weird. Try this one: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=r62m6 Edit: Oh, the other guest pass had expired. Looks like there's something wrong with the page that's supposed to say that. I had to edit the entire guest pass system for the World Team videos....musta screwed something up. Dave

I believe that. Confidence definitely matters. But choosing to use an AAD or RSL says nothing about one's confidence. I've made over 600 jumps and never had a cutaway. I'm so freaking confident in my ability to pack my main that I don't think I need a reserve. I don't have to worry about malfunctions at all. Well, obviously I don't really think that way. How many low time jumpers survive a few jumps on a canopy that's way too small and then get the confidence to try a new trick like breaking a femur? Confidence might help performance, but it can also give a false impression of skill or risk level. Guy with 4000 jumps at the WFFC last year had never needed an RSL on any of his other cutaways, so why would he need one that day? Backup devices are for after you've screwed up. If all goes well, ya never screw up. Accident reports prove skydivers at all levels do screw up though. It's great to have the confidence to know you're different from them, isn't it? Dave

The FACTS of both accidents are jumpers failing to deploy their reserves in time. The REASONS are unknown. Don't assume you know why either one didn't pull their reserve in time unless you have information that didn't make it into those accident reports. Those accidents prove my case as much as they prove yours. Guy with 4000 jumps loses altitude awareness during a malfunction and dies. Guy with 600 jumps reading this is wondering why anybody would ever take such a long delay before pulling a reserve. The answer will never be known. I don't assume a guy with 4000 jumps was less prepared for that malfunction that I'd be. Ugh, the device dependence crap again. Refusing to jump without an AAD could be one symptom of a jumper that lacks training or confidence. But it's irrational to assume it. If coughing is a sympom of ebola, you don't go assuming that everybody that coughs has ebola. On the other hand you can assume everybody with ebola coughs. You can't just flip flop the order. It isn't logical. History has proven that AADs increase your chance of surviving any given jump, with exceptions. It is logical to choose to use an AAD. When participating in a jump with higher risk, it makes even more sense to have an AAD. Jumping without an AAD proves nothing (nothing useful anyway). I'll jump without an AAD or an RSL and think nothing of it. But that's only because I'll happily accept the slight increased risk of hitting the ground really really hard. If someone chose to sit out when an AAD or RSL wasn't available, they'd miss some jumping. When they're back in the air, they're no less safe than you are just because they chose to be RSL/AAD equipped. Now if they are lacking some skills they need to survive like the ability to pull both handles or maintain altitude awareness, then they're less safe. But that has nothing to do with the RSL or AAD. Dave

Easy solution: Go to tools, options, then downloads. Hit the plugins button. Then disable the acrobat plugin. Now when you try to open a pdf, it'll give you the option to open it or save it. When you open it, it opens in acrobat reader instead of the acrobat plugin. The file will have to download completely before it opens though. Dave

And this is where you draw the same, IMO incorrect, conclusion as Ron. Choosing to use an AAD or RSL says nothing about confidence or training. Sure, it CAN. But I don't believe it's true for the vast majority of jumpers that choose to use those devices, which have proven themselves over time to save lives. Both have killed too... an important thing to know before choosing to use either one of them. But far more have been saved by them or could have been saved by them than have been killed by them. It's a personal choice, at least in the US at most dropzones. Choosing to use them is not a sign of poor decision making or training or confidence. Based on accident reports, it's a pretty good choice. Dave

I totally agree. But take those guys at WFFC last year for example... How sure are you they weren't really up on their emergency procedures? Seems likely that they weren't. But do you know that? Do you know that they didn't share your opinion about RSLs and training? Maybe they thought that they were so well trained, there would never likely be a situation where an RSL would make any difference to them. Until I'm convinced that well trained, current skydivers don't go in from low cutaways or not pulling both handles, I won't know how people manage to die that way and I'll choose to stack the odds in my favor, which means both training and using a skyhook. When I find out only idiots need RSLs, I'll disconnect mine... Course they probably didn't think they were idiots either, huh? Dave

Not sure it's bad advice, but you come across as very anti-RSL. You could be pro-better-training without being anti-RSL. You're in a position where people listen to what you say (or at least would if you didn't sound like such an ass ). That's great if that gets them to practice emergency procedures more. That's bad, IMO, if it gets them to disconnect their RSL because they believe it's a death trap. If you really believe RSLs are death traps, then maybe that's what you're trying for. I just don't think that's the case. How many people will choose not to use an RSL and then not go practice their emergency procedures any more than they would have if they kept the RSL? I think most people, RSL or not, don't practice emergency procedures, other than touching their handles as they board the plane or before exit, as often as they probably should. Last thing I'd wanna tell them is to disconnect their RSLs! Dave

I may be wrong, but I believe the number of people killed because they had an RSL is tiny compared to the number of people that could have been saved if they had one. I'm not opposed to training and practice. An RSL isn't a substitute for those and nobody that advocates the use of RSLs believes that they are. But do you have proof that hanging harness training prevents these types of fatalities? I personally think they're caused by the fear of pulling the reserve unstable. Practicing "cut away, get stable, pull reserve." If those people practiced what they were taught at their FJC, they'd probably be alive. Then again, they'd be doing the same thing an RSL would have done for them. So recognizing that trying to get stable before pulling the reserve has killed many people and RSLs have killed few, I choose to use the safest RSL available, the skyhook. It's got the same problem you mention about every RSL... it removed the choice to get stable before pulling your reserve. That's the point. Dave

No skyhook? March right on over to RWS and get that added! Dave