pilotdave

If you're gonna quit, quit because skydiving isn't for you for whatever reason. Don't quit because of nasty comments on a website. And if you don't quit, don't leave dropzone.com either. Maybe quit posting if you want... but read the skydiving forums! You can learn just as much there as you can from the SIM or anything else. There's no way you can read those forums and not come across any concept which you haven't been educated on. Skydiving without keeping current on what's going on in the sport is like jumping with your eyes closed. Open em. Dave

Yeah, I was trying to get a continuous shot from sunrise to sunset without interruption... but the playback speed varies between about 22X and 88X depending on how much action is going on. Maybe I need to speed up the boring parts even more to shorten it a little. Dave

Don't worry too much about the number of cells. Read up on the particular type of canopy you're looking at. Find one that seems to have flight characteristics that you like. Then see if you can try some different types of canopies out. Dave

Yeah I fully realize macs are better. It's just the software availability issue that keeps me from ever buying one. Win XP is far from perfect but it's the best windows ever by a HUGE margin. I really like it. Dave

Those operating system stats are from over a 3 year period. Windows 3.1 is SO 2002. About 4 years ago I had a summer job where I had to work on a Sun workstation running a windows 3.1 emulator in solaris. That was like the worst of all worlds. Dave

Any other ideas? Dave

Just don't forget what crazy things can happen... http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050508-115742-7464r.htm. Dave

I once went 100 days between reboots in win xp. My mouse crapped out on day 98, but I was too close to 100 to give in. I'd say I typically restart every 3 to 4 weeks. And this computer has been running nearly continuously for the last 7 years. Upgraded the processor, motherboard, and memory a few years ago, but the boot hard drive, power supply, fan, etc, have all been running nearly 24/7 since I started college in 1998. And I don't think I alienate mac users. I upgraded the upload system to be mac compatible. I don't choose what format uploads come in as, unless I'm uploading a file myself. I make either wmv files or divx encoded avi's, whichever is easier for what I'm doing. Usually wmv lately... windows movie maker just makes it too simple to get a nice, highly compressed file with presentable quality. Dave

There are over 15,000 registered users. I wouldn't even know how to send an email to that many people (I'm surprised yahoo hasn't cancelled my account already for suspected spamming). It's a good idea though... All future donations will go toward our new spam direct marketing department. Dave

Just got word from Matt that about $1500 has been raised for the new server! It's already there and he plans to install it later this week. Thanks so much to all those that have donated or still plan to donate (there's still lots of bandwidth to pay for)!!! I'm really amazed by how generous sooooo many people have been. Your names will be engraved on a plaque on the server. Ok not really. But seriously, THANKS!!! Dave

Should be working now if you got an error before... Dave

I'm working on a little video experiment... Need ideas for background music. Suggestions? http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2368 Edit: Doh, database server crashed. Try again a little later... Edit 2: Ok, database server is being a pain. But we don't need no stinkin' database server: www.skydivingmovies.com/cpi_webcam_6-4-05.wmv Dave

I assume those were search engines crawling the site. Or really bored web admins. Dave

Used to have the email address pilotdave@email.com, which I only used to post on rec.skydiving and for my website/ftp server to keep the spam out of my main email address. But email addresses get used like usernames in newsgroups, so it kinda stuck when someone on here referred to me as pilotdave before I was even registered. Been like a year and a half since I last flew a plane... damn skydiving getting in the way of all my fun! Dave

I think this should answer the question... Dave

Skydiving doesn't cost $11,000. It costs every penny you will ever have! Unless you plan on quitting when you get a D license, you'll be spending a whole lot more than $11,000! Dave

What year? Dave

2004 kicks butt over 2002. What didn't you like about it? My computer just isn't quite fast enough to deal with the latest freeware planes for 2004. There are some really incredible aircraft available for free. But it's freaking hard to land an F-18 when your frame rate drops to almost nothing on short final. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2361 Dave

Yep, only a couple though. As I said, both a vector and any other rig does the same thing with about the same reliability (any rig with proven inferior reliability probably wouldn't last long). So when someone points out a safety feature or an improvement in one rig, you just say that it solves a problem that doesn't exist (like the pin cover example above). I honestly think RWS does a very poor job of marketing their product. Their website doesn't explain a lot of their options and design features for example. A few things I like about mine (which may very well all be found on other rigs too) are the secondary riser covers (which some people don't think are necessary, but they sure as hell keep the toggles from every coming out in freefall, which I've seen on other rigs), the collins lanyard, the right side RSL (which again might be useless since risers dont break very often), the spandura BOC pouch, the closing loop attached to the bottom flap (one less step in closing the container), the scrunching bridle for the kill line instead of having the kill line exposed in the bag, the linkless canopy/dbag attachment, and the perfect pull up cord pocket on the back of each shoulder strap (whatever you call that area behind the mudflaps). Generally I like knowing that if I have a question about any design feature, I will get a real answer to my question because theres a reason for everything and they are happy to explain what that reason is. They all work fine, but that doesn't make them all equal, in my opinion. Dave

I just love knowing how well thought out the Vector 3 is. I'm sure I couldn't convince you that it's a better container because you've made up your mind that it's not. But if we put our rigs side by side, I guarantee I could show you features that at least I would consider "better," as well as differences in quality control. Do those differences make it "better?" Well, they do the same job with probably similar reliability. So if you want to call em equal, that's fine. But I definitely think a Vector is worth the extra cost (over any other rig... and it's not the most expensive). Dave

Happy skyride customer: http://www.henryherald.com/articles/2005/05/31/news/news4.txt Isn't that cute? Dave

You sure? I've never even seen a rig with soft housings that I can remember. They are not common anymore. Vector 3s most definitely have hard housings. Dave

Well, the ground will cause it in the descent case, right? Like if you pushed over till you impacted. You're counting the upward acceleration caused by the earth, right? Dave

Nope... not necessarily. The pilot could start in a climb and push the nose over and end up level. The loading would just go from 0G to 1G. If the pilot nosed way below the horizon and had to pull up to avoid slamming into the ground, he could pull any number of Gs. Dave