pilotdave

So? Obviously any of us could die from a freefall collision, AAD or not. Why wear a helmet on a skydive if you accept that a kick to the head could kill you? Why bring a hook knife on a CRW jump if you accept a wrap could kill you? Why have a reserve if you accept that a main malfunction could kill you? Why is an AAD singled out as "different?" It's another chance to survive when you would otherwise be dead. It's not a cure-all. Anyone that thinks it is really needs to rethink things. Dave

I guess I'm a slow learner because I still can't understand it. I go on EVERY skydive thinking there's a chance that I might not be able to pull for myself. That's why I spent $1000 on a cypres. Sure, I'll jump without it. But that's only because I know the odds are REALLY good that I won't need a cypres on any particular skydive. A raft dive might be an example where the odds are swayed a little bit toward being incapacitated in some way. That might be enough for some people to avoid those kinds of jumps. Others accept that risk. Once they've accepted the risk of making the jump, then it becomes a pretty good decision to use an AAD. If things go to hell like you knew they could, you might just be saved. Would it be smarter to avoid the jump in the first place? OF COURSE! We'd all be safer if we quit skydiving too. But if you're gonna take chances, you might as well give yourself as many chances to survive as possible. Dave

Since we're complaining about Square 1-3, I also have a complaint. About 4 or 5 years ago I bought a bag of rubber bands from Square 3. They were really thin and broke quickly. The bag probably only lasted me 2 years or so. Another friend bought a bag there recently and had the same problem. BUYER BEWARE! Dave

I just like the title of this thread... Felix Christ. Could be a new nickname! Dave

I replied to your other thread in the bonfire so I figured you'd see it there. Too late now, but it's at http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1027 Dave

They were referring to the reserve pack jobs. How the reserve is packed can influence things like riser covers coming open... Dave

Any idea how many airworthiness directives exist for the Cessna 182? It shouldn't be released until at LEAST 2025! The neptune had some early problems, but the vast majority of people that bought even the early ones liked them. And the bugs were fixed for the most part through free software updates. Malfunctioning units were replaced for free too. The people that have had problems with their neptune don't complain as much as the people that have never even seen one! Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1027 This one contains a full interview with Felix about the jump... but it's in German. Sorry it wasn't searchable. I added to the description so it'll be easier to find now. Dave

You're suggesting that the USPA should officially recommend downsizing with each license? Why would that be better? I'm about to get my D license and load my canopy far under the recommended max. Why would USPA want me to downsize?? Dave

Hmmm... I need to look at a map. Edit: Hmmm... I thought Rockville was NE of DC. I only lived ~5 miles away for 5 years. You'd think I'd have looked at a map once or twice. Dave

From Rockville, your best options are gonna be Skydive Delmarva in DE (where I used to jump) and Skydive Cross Keys in NJ. The VA DZs are gonna be a much longer drive. Delmarva is very close to Ocean City/Salisbury. It'd be my suggestion, but you can't go wrong with Cross Keys either. Dave

That's the way it's done on rigs with narrow chest straps with no "fold-over" at the end. It can help stop the chest strap from coming undone, and it also puts the little elastic keeper on the short side with the hardware where it can't fall off. I don't like em either. Dave

Complacency kills... I guess you're a packer, right? If someone asked "did you cock my pilot chute," would you think about the answer or just say yes because you always cock the pilot chute? So what was the result? Were ya grounded? Dave

Forgetting to turn on a cypres isn't the end of the world. But not checking your reserve pin, etc is a big deal. I don't know that you missed that part of your gear check (which I assume you did before putting the rig on), but it's a good sign that you didn't open the reserve flap (I assume that's where the cypres is on a racer). If you were grounded, it wasn't for forgetting the cypres. It was for trying to get on a plane without having checked your gear properly. Bet you learned your lesson! Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=961 Dave

Looks like you want him to design you a logo? Don't exactly need a lifelong relationship for that. Don't know why you're so concerned about his organizational skills. I think you got what you deserved!

Rules like that exist (at some dropzones) because 1.17 at ~40 jumps IS dangerous. You CAN kill yourself jumping that. You can kill yourself jumping anything of course, but you are less likely to do so at a lower loading. I don't know where that nasty rumor came from that you can't have fun skydiving at lower wingloadings. I hit 500 jumps last weekend and have never jumped anything loaded as high as 1.1. And yes, I'm having PLENTY of fun. 1.17 isn't exactly a crazy wingloading for a first canopy, but it IS aggressive. You got advice to buy it and it sounds like you're able to handle it fine, so there isn't necessarily anything wrong with it. But do you think you'd have less fun, learn less, or be more likely to die under a 190? Dave

How many innocent bystanders have ever been killed by freefalling skydivers? The RSL/No-RSL issue has been discussed on the internet exactly 500,326 times. That's gotta be the wackiest argument for an RSL I've heard yet. Anyone got a "good" anti-RSL argument?? Edit: sorry, make that 500,327. I forgot one on the wuza.net forums. Dave

I burned it to a CD to test out my new car's mp3 CD player. Listened to it on the way to/from work today. Sounds professional... looking forward to the next one! Dave

This could be a friggin ad for a SkyHook equipped Vector 3. Nothing listed wasn't fixed by it. I'm curious... if you won a free vector 3, would you have it equipped with a skyhook? Dave

Mine was in for the 4-year just a few weeks ago. My rigger reinstalls the cypres when it comes back for free, so I had him put it right back in. I continued to jump without it while it was gone. It was actually kinda nice...one less thing to check/worry about on my gear. Aside from that, I didn't think about it. I definitely prefer to have one and wouldn't like jumping for an extended period without one, but a few jumps doesn't bother me. Dave

I've seen a couple people mount the neptune and an altimaster 3 on the same (custom made) hand mount. The neptune is toward the wrist, sideways... which makes it easy to read while holding your toggles/risers. You can also get a wrist strap for the neptune and just have it farther up your arm or something. Dave

Hehe, interesting. I hadn't checked. I was not bashing the DZ, and I wasn't comparing the DZ to skyride. I was comparing the reaction of the locals to the locals of SkyRide DZs. When they get bashed, the locals defend no matter what. But of course I was assuming that the marketing described above was from their website. It's apparently from somewhere else. But it's gotta be true! I read it on the internet!!! Dave

Well I coulda suggested that she drop it since bashing a DZ doesn't really do any good and even though I don't know anything about the situation, I can read enough to guess what's going on here. And so could everyone else reading this thread. But it was ONLY people from that particular dropzone that suggested she forget about it. Why is that? Why is it that only people from SkyRide dropzones stand up for them? I'm just entertained by it. I don't care about this situation. Almost every dropzone in the US has a website that stretches the truth about safety, their facilities, aircraft, staff, freefall time, etc. It's lies, but usually only little white lies. So why not say "yeah, the dropzone's website has some little white lies on it, but who cares, everybody does it" instead of "get over it?" I just did a google search for "70 seconds of freefall" to find some other dropzones that make the same claim. Most of em are fake Skyride DZs. But I even found a real one that claims "70-90 seconds of freefall" for a tandem. I also did a search for "skydive perfect safety record." Found one DZ that, in the snippet from google said "We currently have a perfect safety record (zero injuries! ..." To my surprise, when I went to that page to read more, they had changed it because of a single student injury. It IS possible to be honest about safety. AerOhio's site has a really good page about safety, that is pretty honest. Other DZs have qualified the "perfect safety record" comment by adding that no students have been seriously injured or killed. And then there are PLENTY of others that just say they have a perfect safety record. Impressive. Dave

It's funny how people defend their home DZ no matter what. It's like a cute mini skyride thread here. Anyone from ASC wanna tell her to drop it too?? Dave