pilotdave

This isn't skydiving related, and it's a few weeks old, but I thought it was appropriate... http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050508-115742-7464r.htm Makes me think about what might be lying around in a jump plane... And a useless fact: an empty black hawk weighs more than a fully loaded twin otter. Dave

Landing on/near a runway isn't necessarily dangerous. Planes do it all the time, right? It's not a good thing to do... airport managers don't like it, pilots don't like it, and it could be unsafe if there are any planes trying to use that runway. But if it's a runway with no traffic nearby vs dense woods, water, buildings, powerlines, etc, I'd take the runway. Sure it's best to avoid the situation altogether, but under some conditions, the hazards associated with a runway landing might be less risky than the alternatives. Just freaking get off the runway ASAP and buy your beer... Dave

That just makes CPI 15 minutes more attractive, right?? When you coming up? Dave

SFW version: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=964 Dave

Wooohoooooo!!!! I can't believe how generous everyone has been! You guys are really amazing. I'm in shock... Thanks so much to everybody that donated or plans to donate! And of course thanks to Matt who donates his time and LOTS of bandwidth! The site would have been long gone without him so keep on donating. Those bandwidth bills are only gonna get worse when the server runs faster... Dave

Well I saw a whole VH-3D (marine one) yesterday but thats not as entertaining. Dave

I saw marine one today. Well not officially since the pres wasn't onboard. And it was only an engine inlet being repaired. But close enough...

Apparently you haven't tried Ultra Low Drag Sitfly Shorts Dave

What contract is that? Sikorsky is designing the CH-148 Cyclone (S-92) for the canadians right now. I just finished up some work on it. It will replace all the sea kings...eventually. As for the Cormorant, well, you should hear how canadian pilots, etc talk about that thing (they dislike it, to say the least). And yet the same basic aircraft will carry the US president. It's amazing. But yes, I know that the ability to drop jumpers is a requirement for the air force contract. Somehow I doubt they'll let me play. Dave

Hey the test made me feel really dumb so I had to find some way to debunk it. Dave

You can donate using paypal without having a paypal account of your own. But I don't think Matt can take credit card donations without going through paypal at all. Dave

C'mon people... http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm Edit 1: Grrr, beat me... Edit 2: But Wendy's doesn't work so I win! Dave

If anyone has trouble registering, PM me or send a request for help on the site. Dave

You guys are awesome! Dave

There is an ad on the site already. All ad revenue goes to Matt's bandwidth bills. So far they've barely made a dent, but anything helps. BTW, PM or email me if you want to send a check instead of paypal. Dave

You might have noticed a lot of downtime and very slow page loads on SkydivingMovies.com lately. The current server, a dual Pentium II machine, simply doesn't have the processing power needed to send out so many files, serve so many pages, and run so many database queries. Matt Crocker is donating plenty of bandwidth, and we've got over 130 gigs of free hard drive space. A suitable server is going to cost about $1000. Since it's not a money making site, we're asking for donations toward the purchase of the new server. When the donations reach $1000, Matt (the host) will buy and install the new server. Donations go DIRECTLY to the web host. Make a donation here I've started things off by donating $100. We're 1/10th of the way there. Who wants to help? Edit: If we got 1 penny for every download, we could have almost 8 new servers already. All we need is 7 cents per user (if everyone donated, which they won't, so donate more!) and we'll send you a picture of the video you are sponsoring . Your donation will bring smiles to the faces of thousands of skydivers around the world. Think about the children! Dave

Most dropzones will give your money back if you kick and scream enough... especially for tandems. I tend to leave money on my account though in case I ever come back... it's a nice surprise. Course some dropzones, like a certain one in DE, are a little more stingy when it comes to refunds.

I'm currently uploading a small version (30 megs instead of 100) for those that don't want to download the big one. Bout 30 mins left... Dave

You won't find any sympathy here when it comes to the weather hold. Happens to ALL of us. More often in some parts of the world than others of course. As for the rest of it, well, at least it was your second jump so you know it could have been better. Different instructors have different styles, and by the end of a long day, your instructor might just not have been in the best mood. Go back for AFF and you'll never have to worry about having too little to do on a skydive again! Dave

Video: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2330 Dave

And if not you could just carry a 182 inside to connect the static line to... Unfortunately I don't think parachute dropping is a mission requirement for the canadians so we'll have to win another contract. Dave

I'm trying! The military version is competing for an air force search and rescue contract. Maybe they'll need to assess it for parachute suitability one of these days... It would be awesome to jump. Big rear ramp, very high tail rotor (pictures are deceiving... you couldn't reach it if you wanted to), room for probably 25 jumpers...maybe more. Never heard anyone call it the Sea Queen though... Must be what Norsk is calling it or something. Edit: FYI, there are only 10 or so of them delivered to date. Only one is privately owned so far. Dave

I scared myself the first time I used my neptune for a night jump. It was a 2 way. I didn't reread the night mode section of the manual before the jump since I was pretty sure I just had to enable the back light and it would turn on in freefall. We got out, planning to do some 360s and redock between them. Well after exiting I noticed my altimeter was dark. Crap. Shoulda read the manual. I tried to signal to the other guy that I was looking at his altimeter, but he turned and did a 360. I figured there was no harm in doing one myself... by the time we redocked, my neptune was lit up. Whew. Worked perfectly, staying lit till I touched down. Dave

Add me to the list of PLF fans. Avoided injury with a PLF yesterday when some nasty turbulence dropped me from about 20 feet. I don't know if I just got lucky or if training took over, but I know it all happened too fast for me to even think about a PLF. I slammed into the ground, rolled over my side onto my back, and thought "hey, that was a PLF! how'd I do that??" Got up totally uninjured. My legs are still a little sore, but unhurt. Dave

I don't have my neptune handy right now to play with it, but if you can't do it yourself, see if there's an altimaster field service member nearby. I think it can be done easily with the neptune control panel software they use. I haven't tried that but I don't see why it wouldn't work... Dave