pilotdave

But you're at least INSIDE parachutist, right? Everybody who's anybody is in there... I'm on page 38 of the August issue. It's no cover but it'll do for this month... Dave

Here's another: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1210 Dave

Didn't think the parachute was gonna open, eh? Dave

I'm really surprised how many people use tools/knives to get rubber bands off. I always used to just break them off by hand. It's really not very hard. But every once in a while I'd have one that just wouldn't break so I'd have to find another way. Never ever used a sharp tool to get one off though. I finally realized that if you just don't tighten the knot so much either when putting a new band on or when trying to get it off, the closing pin will slide in easily and get the job done painlessly in a few seconds. Never done the pullup cord trick... it's all the way over at my container. The pin is right next to me. My gear bag is even farther. And I'm lazy. Dave

Started with AFF. Went to the first ever meeting of my university's skydiving club, learned about AFF and tandem (i had never even heard of AFF before that). Decided I'd probably like it and wanted more than just a ride, so I went for it. Finally did a tandem at jump #135 (new instructor not yet rated...his 7th tandem). Also did a couple IAD jumps when I had around 300 jumps or something to get a couple instructors current. That's some scary stuff! I don't think I have the balls to ever try a static line jump (not that I've ever even seen one done in person). Shoulda been outlawed years ago... Dave Dave

I still believe the slower group should go first. What could the time difference be between the opening of the HD group and the opening of the sit group? Probably no more than a few seconds, especially if the sit group went first. The HD group left way too soon if they have enough time under canopy to get directly under the opening point of the sit group. Dave

Make SURE you talk to the organizer/coach about that before doing it. Every organizer I've ever jumped with has instructed NOT to track off early. At breakoff time, people will be looking for you and don't want to lose track of where you are. Different organizers definitely have different "rules" for their jumps...be sure to ask. Dave

Exit order should generally be slowest to fastest (which is why the 3-4 way went first). She shoulda gone before you. It might not have made a difference, depending on the wind and how much time she took, how much each of you moved around in freefall, etc. But assuming there's some wind and jumprun is flown into the wind, generally the slower faller will drift further downwind... sounds like that mighta happened here. Dave

Not necessarily. Plane climbs faster for the last few thousand feet than it otherwise would have, and the tandem gear is down to get repacked while the plane is still climbing. Video guys can get packed up then too. I've personally never been to a DZ that puts tandems out first, but there are some good (financial) reasons to do it. At some DZs (depending on staff/gear), it may decrease turnaround time. Dave

Turning away the fun jumpers might be exactly what prevents them from going under. We need dropzones. Dropzones DON'T need us. Dave

To get broken rubber bands off, DON'T try to break them off by pulling them as tight as you can... that just makes it harder. Dig your closing pin into the knot wherever you can until knot is centered on the pin.... put your index finger and middle finger behind the pin on each side of the knot and pull....comes right out every time. Keep sharp pointy things away from gear/skydivers. Oh, and buy rubber bands at your DZ...chances are they sell em...everybody needs them. Buying them online is ridiculously expensive when you have to pay for shipping. Dave

Video: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2524. Dave

You can always just go to http://www.dropzone.com/dropzone/, type in your ZIP code and we'll show you where the DZs are around you at the bargain price of $0. Yeah but that's only good for the consumer, dropzones, you, and us! You need to think about the bigger picture here. And no advertising in the forums!

For anyone that hasn't seen it: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1707 Dave

Just read the fatality reports and make that decision for yourself. If you find any dropzone that has student fatalities every year, you might want to stay away from that dropzone. But for example if a high fatality rate is caused by swoopers screwing up and killing themselves, that won't affect you...safety-wise anyway. And don't forget that busy dropzones have more fatalities than small dropzones. More fatalities doesn't necessarily mean a higher fatality rate. But fatality rates aren't everything. You want a dropzone with good modern student gear, strict rules for safety, and just good practices. Properly maintained planes, people wear seatbelts on takeoff, etc. Some of those may be obvious, others aren't. If a dropzone doesn't FEEL safe to you, keep looking. Dave

http://www.batteriesandbutter.com They're a bit shady... they don't tell you the final price until AFTER shipping. Gotta buy at least 10 to get that low a price. Shipping turned out reasonable though, and the batteries seem fine. I've been selling them at cost or giving them away at my DZ. If you've got a few neptune owners, I'm sure you can easily order enough to get the bulk price. Even better price if you wanna buy 100. Dave

Such as? I use my neptune as an audible. There's nothing wrong with the protrack, but I think the neptune is better. They both beep when you need em to, they both have data loggers, but the neptune is far more user friendly, has cheaper batteries (I pay $1.83 each, and it only uses 1), has swoop mode, and will have more and more features added in the future. Also no freefall time limit, no minimum freefall time to log the jump, etc. Dave

Enough people seem to know him that I don't see how his profile matters. He's real. As amazing as that is. Which is why I wanna meet him. Unfortunately, all the best crazies are freeflyers (coincidence, I think not!). Maybe we can teach each other CRW or synchronized swooping or something. Dave

I have to disagree... I think the ranch should be paying him! This is some great advertising. I hope nobody at the ranch gets the impression that any of this is bad for the dropzone in any way. He could be their new mascot! Dave

There is a "glitch" in the battery indicator of the latest software version. New software is in beta test right now which should fix the problem and add some features, as well as correct a whole bunch of other minor issues. Dunno when it'll be released... usually doesn't take too long. Dave

I'd consider it, but I'm busy every weekend for the rest of august. I'll be practicing for the CT women's RW record this weekend. Wait, that sounded bad... I'M not practicing, I'm helping women practice. Maybe september... Dave

You seem to be experienced in what you say... I need to meet you. I'll buy you a jump if I'm ever at the ranch (assuming they still let you jump there). I don't care what anyone else thinks. You're awesome. I wanna jump with you. DROPZONE.COM POSTER OF THE YEAR! Dave

I suggest the FBI, not the FAA. They're more into the attempted murder thing. Not really sure what the FAA could do for you. But anyway, even if someone did collapse half your slider, i'd hardly call that attempted murder. At what point in the pack job did you leave your gear? You mentioned you hadn't quartered the slider yet, so I'd venture to guess you hadn't even started yet except for setting the brakes (and uncollapsing the slider). How long did it take you to notice after you started packing again? Lets see, you started back at your risers, walked up the lines, and bam, there's the slider. Can't miss it. So lets say you did miss it. You threw it over your shoulder and began the rest of the pack job. Ok, time to quarter the slider. How could you possibly miss it then?? I bet I'd even notice if my slider was collapsed when I put my knees down on my cacooned canopy. "Hmmm, what's this bunch of fabric under my knee?" So come on. Get real. If someone collapsed your slider, they were trying to annoy you.... they just weren't very skilled at it! A nice step through or two woulda been way more effective. Or how about unstowing one of the brakes? That's something someone might just miss... Pointing it out after you get the canopy in the bag could really piss ya off. Gotta say though, your posts are AWESOME. I'm so entertained. I have got to get to the ranch... I'm only a couple hours away. Sounds like such a fun place. Dave

Well, I can't watch it right now so I'm going by memory, but I'm pretty sure it was in the piper family. An L-2 is early... woulda had the pistons sticking out the sides of the cowling like a J3. An L-3 is an aeronca champ basically...pretty different looking...different landing gear. The super cub has wood and fabric wings with metal leading edges... protection from debris. Imagine how fast a pure fabric leading edge would get torn apart. A J3 might have a plywood leading edge or something... I dunno. But I'm sure it's solid, not fabric. Dave

Actually I'm gonna be putting together some better tuturials...I really threw that one together. I really liked the compression in some videos that one person uploaded recently (Obi), so I asked what he was using. Software: Windows Media Encoder (free software from microsoft) Encoding Settings: Audio WMA 9.1 VBR 25 Video WMV 9 VBR 75 Keyframe every 4 sec 320x240 That's a starting point. You can play around and see what effect other settings have. But you'll end up with decent quality wmv files at a very reasonable file size. Anyone wanna help write a good video compression tutorial?? Dave