pilotdave

If you get fired don't blame me.

Depends on the computer (or firewire card). My laptop has a 4-pin. Just built a new desktop last night and it has one of each (bought the parts at newegg.com btw...great prices!). Dave

True. You can try it. But it won't work. Dave

Doubt it'll work, but you can try http://sdm.crocker.com. BTW, looks like the streaming media category is available to websense customers for an additional charge. No wonder why I can still get to my site from work... http://www.websense.com/global/en/ProductsServices/MasterDatabase/URLCategories.php Dave

S-58 would be my guess. A 76 is VERY expensive to operate and the only ones that can open their doors in flight are search and rescue models. Could probably hold 14-16 jumpers though I bet. There are a lot of other older models out there doing all kinds of different work. We were gonna get an S-58 (original radial engine model) out to jump this year (it was used once for a demo), but it never happened. Dave

I've been inside that one (on the ground). Don't count on jumping one of those any time soon... there are only about 6 or 7 of them or so actually delivered so far. And the worst part is the flight manual doesn't allow flight with the rear ramp open. A demonstrator for the military version is going through flight testing right now... I tried to volunteer to test jump it, but the guy in charge of the demonstrator laughed at me. Maybe some day... Dave

Skip the lobby and get to installing the motors!!! Dave

Oh? http://www.airliners.net/open.file/937236/M/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/902064/M/ http://www.airliners.net/open.file/887621/M/ And so on... Anyway, why would they get short noses? Something about weight and balance? Dave

Collisions between planes and freefalling skydivers have happened. A skydiver that hit a plane (breaking his leg and knocking the tail off the plane killing all on board) sued air traffic control for not providing adequate traffic advisories to the jump plane. IMO the pilot that got hit was mostly at fault (in that particular case), but the skydiver won the suit. A close encounter with a commercial airliner is a different story and could have horrible consequences. But the entire national airspace system is designed for the airlines, not for the skydivers. We don't need restricted airspace, we need empty airspace for short periods of time. Proper pilot/ATC/jumper procedures ensure it. And when DZs show up on cockpit GPS units, the world will be a far safer place for us. Dave

So whats the answer? Dave

That'd be yaw stability or directional stability. Longitudinal is pitch. Dave

I definitely agree that we need to look for traffic as best as we can, but I also believe we don't collide with airplanes very often because it's a big freaking sky, our pilots talk to ATC, and most pilots avoid flying over dropzones if they know about them. Not because we spot most of the traffic ourselves. I think people that believe we can spot all traffic that might come too close are fooling themselves. There's a LOT of sky to really look at carefully in a short period of time. And all of them are against a backdrop that makes traffic very hard to see. Some may even be below clouds, even when we have a nice big legal hole over the DZ. Again, I'm not saying we should trust ATC to tell our pilots about all possible traffic conflicts. We definitely need to look and spot traffic as best as possible. But we DO rely on things other than our own eyes to avoid traffic and we always will. On the bright side, technology will make it easier in the future. Traffic displays are already available for general aviation aircraft (though they're pretty limited). In 20 years I bet we'll have screens by the door that show traffic, weather, and let us check our email real quick while the group before ours is climbing out. Dave

Perfect. Just what I was looking for. I plan to add tape around the grippers, 2-colored grippers, and gripper stripes. There is already a pinstripe along the bottom of the front yoke... If you consider a squiggly little line a pinstripe. But it is colorable. Is there also a wide piece of binding tape there, or just the pinstripe? Thanks! Dave

So I'm getting close to buying a new jumpsuit. No, it will NOT be a Hot Bod suit. I started playing in photoshop to help me pick colors. Started with the ordering form, then eventually converted a Tony Suit line drawing to look like a bev suit and colored that in. Well I really wanted to take it one step further and make one of those Flash coloring programs. So yesterday and today I figured out how to do it. Anyway... I temporarily gave up on the program for the Bev comp suit, since I'm looking for a better "model" than a drawing of a Tony Suit. In the meantime, I put together a coloring program for the Hot Bod suit, since the graphic on the order form is at least slightly better. It's far from perfect. Needs a ton of work to add binding tape, stripes, etc, and look a lot better. Right now I'm just trying to figure out if the correct panels are colored together. Can some hot bod owners try it out and let me know if I have it right? Can't tell from the order form. Oh, and all those colors are based on the Nylon swatches on the bevsuit website. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/hotbod_template.html. You can see the comp suit at http://www.skydivingmovies.com/bevsuit_template.html but most of the colors I've added so far are the ones I'll be using. And I stole the image from Tony Suit, so tell them not to sue me. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2824 Dave

How do you do an immelman? Half back loop then roll over , flying in the opposite direction? Dave

Right click on the dowload button -> save target as (assuming you use IE). Dave

It's been proven over and over and over again that even though one design of anything may be superior, many other designs will work just fine, if not quite as well. I'm not just talking about pilot chutes, but everything. If you'd never read that post by Bill Booth, you woulda used that "defective" PC and probably wouldn't have noticed any difference. But that doesn't make it just as good. The post you linked to is one of the big reasons I chose a Vector. Why buy from someone that read the best way to make it when you can buy from the guy that invented the best way to make it? Dave

I only got to hear from a friend and the TM. I feel like I missed out! Dave

I didn't mean he shouldn't be involved. I just can't understand how he can be so involved in all the negativity associated with the sport and not jump to make up for it. I mean, I wouldn't like skydiving if it weren't for the, ya know, skydiving part. And bob.dino... no reason to speculate. 'Snot CO or even atlanta! ... not even nearby. Dave

Nobody was on in Australia/NZ when I made that one. Here's an updated version... still no NZ hits though. Probably since you're from so far in the future, it hasn't reached tomorrow's stats yet... Dave

I can't figure you out. You quit jumping cause of the bullshit involved. Yet you still do everything in skydiving except the fun part. And you still whine about the things you didn't like that caused you to quit! Why don't you freaking just keep jumping if you're gonna stay involved anyway?? Anyway... I still haven't seen the name of the DZ even mentioned (except in the original description that came with the video, which I removed before approving it). If you're gonna go and accuse a DZ of being unsafe and get yourself banished forever, ya might as well go all the way with it, right? This attempt was just half assed.

I use a firefox extension which allows pages to be opened in IE. When I come across something that won't work in firefox, I right click on it and hit "open in IE." Then I get the best of both worlds in one convenient package.

Chagrin Falls? I think I see ya. Dave

Yeah, all depends on your ISP's setup. AOL users appear in the center of the country they're in... Kansas in the US. My work address is off by probably 40 miles. But at home, I'm literally right down the street from where it shows me. Dave