pilotdave

1 [dropzone open in all of new england]:7:0 In the 30s all weekend, but perfect jumping weather other than that. Finally found gloves that seem to work well for me (Akando winter gloves with liners underneath), so I'm really enjoying the winter jumping. Love landing in the snow. Dave

Blower tunnels used for research usually have a diverging-converging section right before the test section. Expanding the flow then contracting it back down reduces turbulence in it. Screens are also used to reduce turbulence and straighten the flow. "In-draft" (sucker) tunnels are inherently more efficient, but they require long diffusers. When space is limited, blower tunnels can be made much shorter. That's why they make sense for smaller vertical wind tunnels. Tunnels that use pressure resevoirs can also be either "blowers" or "suckers," or even both. I think suckers (using a vacuum chamber) are probably much more common. I got to run a mach 2 tunnel like that once. Only works for about 10 seconds at a time, but it really SUCKED! It was pretty interesting... one end was just open to the room (when the valves were opened). Looked like you could just get sucked right in, but you could just barely feel feel the air in the room moving. The weirdest part was when it'd get shut down, all the noise from the air entering the vacuum chamber would suddenly be able to make it back up through the tunnel. (Sound can't travel backwards through a supersonic flow). Made the strangest sound. Dave

Yes, it'll be a lot more comfortable as it wears in. Mine was the same way when I first got it. After probably no more than 50 jumps it was nice and comfortable. The cypres also gets a lot easier to reach when the flaps and everything wear in and you just get the technique down. Dave

You can see a great shot of a baglock in the Skyhook video at http://www.relativeworkshop.com/PromoVids.html?Submit=View+Skyhook. The jumper is somewhere between stood up and on his belly. It's all going to depend on where his new center of pressure ends up in relation to his center of gravity. Dave

Hopefully back up soon. Experiencing some unknown server problems. Dave

quitter. Dave

ADs are written by the FAA. Sometimes the manufacturer absolutely disagrees with the AD. Same with SAIBs. Service Bulletins come from the manufacturer. Sometimes an SB is made mandatory by an AD if the FAA feels it's necessary. Dave

I almost always suggest to new jumpers to buy used for their first rig. Most people downsize pretty soon, can't pack slippery ZP very well, and are more likely to get their rig dirty, etc. But I started wondering... do people that buy brand new custom containers for their first rig keep their first main longer? How about brand new first canopy? Do they spend more time on it before they downsize? I'm thinking that whether the main is new or used, if it fits in their custom, comfortable container, they'll have less of a desire to go out and buy something else as quickly as someone with an ugly, non-custom-fitted older container. When people get tired of their container, they're probably more likely to look at getting a smaller main at the same time. People with brand new mains that finally get them worn in and are able to pack them might be less likely to want to go out and start over again with another new main. And they might be less likely to want to go from their custom colored new main to someone elses used main. On the other hand, maybe people with newer, more valuable mains are more likely to want to sell them while they still hold a lot of their value. They know they can probably put one or two size smaller mains in the same container, and they can make the downsize at very little overall cost if they sell their still fresh first main. So did you buy new or used for your first main and container? How many jumps did you put on your first main? Is buying new an effective way to prevent over-eager downsizing? On the poll, answer twice: first canopy and first container. Is my poll horribly flawed? Dave

Used to be 1 vote per ip but now it's 1 vote per username. Maybe easier to "cheat" that way but with dynamic IPs, people could already vote over and over again. Anyway, this way's better for anyone on a wireless network at a DZ or something like that where many people share one ip. BTW, it doesn't log individual votes... like I don't see "joe shmoe voted 3 stars for file 1234." I can only see"joe schmoe voted for file 1234" and "file 1234 has an average rating of 3.23 stars." And then average ratings are broken down by originating country. I put that in place specifically out of curiosity about all those 5 star votes for french freefly videos. It's pretty entertaining to see that most files get the highest rating from whatever country they came from. Not unexpected I guess, just sort of interesting. Dave

That sounds a wee bit much. ... and mine weighs in at 8kg (17.6lb), I didn't think there would be 7+ pounds different The extra "s" in the "cypress" weighs ~5 lbs. Dave

Missed it... I was at school. It's down again. Matt told me today that every time it crashes, it CRASHES. They have to cycle the server's power to restart it. It's no windows machine, so I'm pretty impressed. He's gonna try to upgrade the operating system tomorrow and see if that fixes anything. Dave

I don't mind the uploads... I mind it when a crappy freefly video from france gets ~50 votes for 5 stars to make the top rated page and other top rated videos suddenly start getting votes for 1 star from france to get them off the top rated page. How do you say "shenanigans" in french?? Dave

I think it's also important to point out that a parachute can't be landed "wing low" like a plane can to compensate for crosswind drift. The options are to land wings level with a little crosswind component, or turn to face more into the wind and finish off wings level. A parachute can't maintain a sideslip. Dave

It's a great game. I really loved the first version too. I haven't finished #2 yet, but so far IMO its been a little less creative than the first one. It's a little repetitive, sort of doing the same things over and over again. The first one seemed to have a little more variety, like in the russian campaign, you get off a boat and get handed ammo but no gun. You've gotta grab a gun off a dead body. Or parachuting in on D-day. Both versions have very similar game play. It's like being inside "saving private ryan." Definitely a "movie" feel. It also makes you feel like you're just one of thousands of soldiers...as if the game isn't based all around your character. I have the PC versions of both. I'm not sure how i'd like them without a mouse and keyboard. I'd imagine the control would be a little trickier, but I don't know. Don't play many console games. BTW, call of duty 2 worked great on my 1.5 ghz laptop. Not a gaming machine at all, but it plays smooth at 1024x768 (or down to 640x480). On my desktop I run it at 1280x1024. The only time I noticed a real difference between the 2 computers is when I spotted a bad guy on my desktop by seeing his breath coming out from behind a column. Online multiplayer is a lot of fun too. I had to stop playing it for the last few days when I realized it kept entering my mind as I was falling asleep at night. Play it with headphones on and the volume kinda loud... it REALLY sucks you in. Dave

So close... Revolver. Dave

'Proof' is available on SkydivingMovies.com. It's down at the moment (hopefully getting an operating system upgrade), but it'll be back up soon. It's NOT DVD quality though. But watchable. The scene from Fandango is also on there. Almost identical, word for word. Dave

Not sure what your point is. I don't believe the FAA still issues ADs for skydiving equipment. SAIBs are for information only. Without an AD, it's not mandatory. Not complying with an SB might be in violation of the FAR you mentioned. That's a catch-all. But the SB itself isn't mandatory and an SAIB doesn't make it mandatory, it alerts users/riggers to its existence. The FAA really isn't the expert on skydiving equipment. I think it's great that they don't issue mandatory directives anymore. They get things wrong too often... Dave

Do you want a reader of this thread to understand a little bit about exit separation, or do you want kallend to admit he was wrong? Get over it... Dave

I agree that the analogy is flawed for the reason you mention. But seriously, if anyone came to the conclusion that freeflyers will penetrate farther on exit than a belly flyer because freeflyers weigh more, well, they'd be pretty "special." Hmmm wait, maybe they'd be right... freeflyers fall faster too... must be heavier! Do we need an analogy here? Wouldn't a simple explanation do? This isn't complicated stuff. Dave

I just happened to be walking by a scale with my rig in hand a while back, so I threw it on there. Vector 3, sabre2 135, pdr 143, cypres, and a small metal hook knife: 19 lbs. How bout yours? Dave

Already disregarded. Well, ignored. Stopped reading those requests for help last night. I'm amazed how many people choose not to check the "remember login" box when they sign in. Gotta type your username and password in every time when you don't check it. That's a pain in the ass. Dave

I'd say a visual altimeter. I have serious doubts when I hear people say how well they can judge altitude with just their eyes. Maybe under ideal conditions at a familiar DZ, but change the conditions and it's a whole different story. An audible can tell you your altitude up to about 6 times (neptune with swoop mode). It tells you nothing when you're not at one of the pre-set altitudes. And it only tells you which preset you're at, not what altitude you're at. Ever had yours set for the wrong altitude? During a malfunction, a night jump, a jump over snow covered ground, a jump where the plans change at a particular altitude, etc, I'd much rather know where I am and not rely on my eyes completely. It's also VERY easy to get dependent on an audible without realizing how dependent you are. Ever have your audible fail when you can't just break off when everyone else does? I've had my neptune battery die on a night RW jump (my fault, I knew it was getting low) when it was my only altimeter (visual). After that, I went back to a glow stick on a mechanical altimeter for night jumps and put the neptune back where it belongs... in my helmet, as an extra backup. Dave

The site will probably go down later today while we convert over to the new format, SkydivingPornMovies.com. Just 99 cents per minute! Talk about hours of pleasure... No really, bump again. Inbox is filling and I'm even getting PMs about this. Also disabled uploads on the site cause they weren't working. Bubbles IX just isn't cutting it. Anyone need a hamster? Dave

Just wanted to bump this one up. Been getting tons of requests for help from people that can't log in. Just click the checkbox. It works. I'd put something on the page (or better yet get rid of the option to not check the box temporarily) but the ftp server is screwed up so I can't upload anything. Server's getting an operating system upgrade tomorrow which will hopefully fix whatever caused the problem. Dave

Alright, the problem seems to be limited to logging in without the "remember login" box checked. Should work when it is checked. Working on it... Dave