pilotdave

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Everything posted by pilotdave

  1. pilotdave
    http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2467 Who's that crazy guy trying to tell everyone he's not crazy? Dave
  2. pilotdave
    My mom saw it too. She kept talking about how dangerous it is and how crazy those people are. She hasn't been to a dz many times, but she's seen some swoops before, but she was talking about it like she hadn't. I reminded her of all the swoopers she saw the last time she came out to the DZ to watch. She said "oh I thought they did that by mistake..."
  3. pilotdave
    Ok, this should speed things up... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2463 Dave
  4. pilotdave
    Trying to get it up on my site for them, but I can't seem to get more than 14 megs of it to download for some reason. I stayed up till midnight thinking I was downloading the whole thing last night, then realized the link in Kris's post is to the wrong durn video. Anyone already downloaded the whole file that can upload it to SkydivingMovies.com? Don't need a description or anything, just upload the file... I've got the rest. Dave
  5. pilotdave
    I offered Bill Booth a home for it when I saw it at the PIA symposium. I like the skyhook so much I'd even host it for free. Dave
  6. pilotdave
    Oh come on. You can't compare the skydive orange sites with skyride's sites. I don't like what skydive orange did, but it's just internet marketing. They are 100% clear as to where they are actually located and how far it is from maryland (which is a big part of their market). Besides, you ever seen the dropzones that are actually IN maryland?? (My first jump was in MD, btw). Dave
  7. pilotdave
    The PD factory team 180 front riser turn training video: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2386. THAT's how the pros teach it. Dave
  8. pilotdave
    Now don't be unfair. Almost every dropzone in the country is certified as a safe dropzone by the NSA. You're probably just jealous that yours isn't. http://www.skydivinginfo.com. And remember, Skydive ONLY at SAFE approved skydiving centers. Dave
  9. pilotdave
    Exit separation has little to do with pattern separation. I often get passed by people in later groups. If I pull a little high (3,500), I can easily be passed by tandem video guys. Swoopers don't bother me much. Where I jump, there'll be maybe 3-5 people doing real swoops on any given load, not 10 or 15 or more like I'm sure it is at a lot of dropzones. They're easy to pick out from far away, I know about where they're headed to make their turns, and once they make their turns, they drop right out of the sky. As long as I'm on level or above them when they start the turn, I couldn't hit them if I tried. And everybody's good about not doing anything crazy when there's a lot of traffic below. I just don't fly my final where I know they set up if I can avoid it. Dave
  10. pilotdave
    She was asking you a question. You said that with 300 canopies in the air, it's probably necessary to limit the pattern to 90 degree turns only. She was asking how many canopies need to be in the air, in your opinion, to justify requiring a "standard" pattern with only 90 degree turns. One otter load, 270s are ok. 300 way, 270s are not ok. Where's the line (in your opinion)? Dave
  11. pilotdave
    I implemented basically that same feature on skydivingmovies.com. It definitely slows page loads (especially the way I did it, loading the entire description of each file, not just the first few words). In my case though, I think it probably overall reduces the number of page loads, since people will be less likely to click on a file they aren't going to want to see. It was especially handy when the site was running REALLY slow to begin with, since each page load took forever. Definitely something I'd like to see here, if it's doable. Dave
  12. pilotdave
    SEND MORE DEMOS!
  13. pilotdave
    This has to be the most boring thread about anything as cool as this... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1932. Dave
  14. pilotdave
    I don't know, but this was it... On floats in costa rica. http://www.pc-6.com/history/908.htm Dave
  15. pilotdave
    Not quite. It means the L/D ratio is lower, like you said before. More drag, not less lift. The lift equals the jumper's exit weight (on a main, anyway). It's not quite true because of the vertical component of drag, but it's close enough. Lift + vertical component of drag = exit weight. Also assumes unnacelerated flight, so of course it's only true when you're sitting there flying straight. Doesn't matter if you have a xaos 21 or a manta 288... Dave
  16. pilotdave
    Aerostore (Marco) measured me for a rig that I knew I probably wasn't going to buy from them (and I told him that). Takes 5 minutes. Some people are just nice. Don't think you can blame SQ1 for not doing it, but you can't credit them for being nice either. I try to do business with companies that are nice. I'm probably not alone, so companies should think about that sorta thing... Dave
  17. pilotdave
    See http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1575 to get an idea of what it looks like to cut away one riser and then pull the reserve. You can really get an idea of how violent it would be after the first riser releases... Dave
  18. pilotdave
    I live right next to bridgeport and jump at CPI. There's a little crowd of jumpers that come up from this direction every weekend. The drive is only about 1:15. You'll like it there! See ya! Dave
  19. pilotdave
    You kidding? The standard pattern entry in the US (it's different in some other countries) is a right turn into a left hand pattern from 45 degrees off the downwind heading, entering downwind halfway down the runway at pattern altitude. In reality, planes enter the pattern from all over. The biggest help for planes is that the pattern is always single file and almost all planes have radios to announce and listen to each other's positions. A small airport could never support a twin otter load of cessnas in the pattern at once without stretching it out 10 miles (or doing it "oshkosh style." Dave
  20. pilotdave
    Spin training in a citabria or extra 300 might not be much like a real inadvertant spin in a mooney (though the "backwards" tail on mooneys is all about spin recovery), but any pilot is probably better off having some exposure to spins in some aircraft, even if it's not what they normally fly. Stalling a canopy teaches you something about canopy flight. Sure, if your canopy won't stall without taking wraps, you probably won't ever stall it by mistake. But does that make the training useless? A stilleto's a different story. Fully elliptical canopies are likely to spin up when stalled. That's like choosing to do spin training in a plane with a big placard on the panel that says "spins prohibited." There's a reason that sign is there. I'm not trying to argue that stalling a canopy is the most important thing anyone could ever do. I'm just saying that it's one more thing anyone can learn about canopy flight. Dave
  21. pilotdave
    Not sure how they're similar. I think there are a lot of problems with mandatory spin training. First of all, avoiding a spin is MUCH more important than recovering from one. The situations where planes inadvertantly enter spins are usually too low for recovery. But anyway, you're a more knowledgable pilot because you took spin training (they are fun!). You're a more knowledgable canopy pilot because you've stalled your canopy. What's the problem? Dave
  22. pilotdave
    Take her to a dropzone, talk to some instructors, and let her see what it's all about. Might really either change her mind or lock in her opinion that jumpers are insane. Worth a shot though! My mom never understood why anyone would jump until she came out to watch. She met a couple doing tandems for their 50th birthdays. They looked so NORMAL. She couldn't understand why in the world normal people would do something so stupid. But when she saw them afterward, she really started to understand. She'd never do it herself, but she can at least now see part of the attraction. She loves watching videos of my jumps now too. Dave
  23. pilotdave
    If you have to take a wrap, clearly you aren't learning a stall point you'll ever encounter under normal conditions (not flying with your steering lines wrapped). But you don't see any usefulness in learning how your canopy behaves as it approaches a stall? It also lets you know how much margin you really have between a full flare and a stall. I don't need to take wraps to stall my canopy, but even if I did, I'd still like to know how far from stalling I am when I'm holding a full flare. I've only fully stalled my canopy, to the point of collapse, once - during scott miller's canopy course. Glad I did... learned something that I didn't know before. If I had to take wraps to do it, I would have learned just as much. Dave
  24. pilotdave
    How? Prolly had to stall once or twice to know that, right? Dave
  25. pilotdave
    Just remember that what someone with 4000 jumps says he'll do in a particular scenario is not necessarily the best course of action for someone with fewer jumps. Someone with many cutaways might think very clearly during a malfunction and decide to spend a little more time trying to fix it before cutting away. You or I may not be clear headed at all during a malfunction, no matter how many times you've thought it through. It's just best to keep it simple when you're in a really dangerous situation. Don't expect to be able to think at all when you're having even a minor malfunction. Know EXACTLY what you're gonna do, and practice it over and over. You simply can't practice what you're planning to do. You can practice cutting away though. Reserves rarely malfunction. It's just my opinion... everybody needs to make their own choices. But this is something you might consider chatting with your instructors about if you haven't already. Dave