pilotdave

See http://www.mailinator.com. There are other services just like it. Temporary, valid email address. Email addresses are not going to prevent trolling. That's part of why this site NEEDS moderation. I don't always agree with the decisions the moderators make, but I do recognize that this site wouldn't work without moderation. In fact, I would like the bonfire to be more heavily moderated... some people are getting annoying. Dave

Have you upgraded to the latest software? They have greatly improved the accuracy of the battery indicator, just in the last version. Dave

Maybe I'm just too tired or dumb to see this, but why? The equilibrium for terminal velocity is W=D, right? Gravity is part of W, but it is not part of D, so how does it cancel out? Dave

I wrote a whole long reply, then decided not to bother posting it. Now I changed my mind...don't ya hate when you do that? I'm not disagreeing with you that an object with higher inertia will have a higher terminal velocity, everything else being equal. But that just isn't explaining what's really going on. You don't NEED inertia to explain why a heavier object falls faster. Inertia is just a concept....you've explained it just fine... it's an object's resistance to a change in motion. It will take more force (wind resistance) to get a more massive object in freefall to stop accelerating, just like you said. But I think you can both simplify and be more precise by talking about the equilibrium of weight and drag. Drag is a function of velocity squared. At terminal velocity, drag must equal weight... no net force, otherwise there'll be acceleration (where newton's inertia law, F=ma comes in). If you increase weight, you must also increase V^2 for the equilibrium to exist. You've said the same thing... I just think inertia is a more complicated way of saying it, and doesn't really explain exactly what's going on. It's a force balance. Mass (inertia) is not a force. Dave

Scared myself on a night jump too. Got out on a 2 way and my neptune wasn't lit. I tried to signal to the other guy to not turn points and lemme see his altimeter, but he thought I was keying so he did a 360. At that point I decided I'd survive with no altimeter (he'd surely remind me when it's time to pull, right?), so I went and did my 360. After we redocked I checked again and the light was on. Just takes a few seconds to realize it's in freefall. I've never noticed a delay going into freefall mode after exit, but I really never check my altimeter right after leaving the plane. By the time I do check it, it's always been in freefall mode. I use mine as an audible now anyway. Interestingly, I had the audible work absolutely perfectly after leaving the Cessna at 4500 doing a couple IAD jumps (for the instructor's recurrency). Went off as soon as I left the step (set for 4500 breakoff). Dave

It's almost as easy to enter fake info in a profile as it is to leave it blank. What would be the point? Dave

If terminal velocity was just related to inertia, more massive objects would fall slower, since they'd resist the acceleration due to the force of gravity more, right?

I agree about night jumps. If someone CAN do them with just a B license, I never understood why they should have to do them to get a D. Most people only do a couple night jumps under extremely controlled conditions though. And almost always get a briefing right before the jumps. But swooping is very different from night jumping. Not everyone with a D license swoops. Why force people to start swooping earlier than they might otherwise start, if they ever do? I think teaching people that want to swoop correctly is important. But teaching people to swoop that don't want to swoop or otherwise wouldn't swoop is dangerous. For most people, it is very difficult to become complacent on night jumps. Most people don't have the opportunity to do them very often. But I think if front riser approaches are taught as part of every skydivers path to a D license, you'll see even more people trying to learn on their own too early or too fast and get hurt. Dave

Like what? Dave

The question was what would the FAA do, not what do skydivers think the FAA should do. An ultralight jump would violate more FARs than an airplane jump... but yeah, no license to lose. I'm sure the FAA has other ways to stop an ultralight pilot from flying though. The real way to do it legally would be a great big slingshot. I support any attempt of that type fully. Just as long as I get to see the video. Dave

He said there'd be no speed perpendicular to the ground... no mention of survival. Dave

Wait. Are you saying my AGP 2X isn't the latest and greatest anymore?? I JUST bought it, like only a couple years ago! Dave

Just curious... do you consider double front riser approaches a survival skill or a stepping stone to get into swooping? Dave

Can I change my answer to time travel? Dave

Negative G dive the whole way round. Dave

They'd probably be in orbit... Zero G flight. Dave

Doesn't take a lot of loading to get a powerful flare. I only load my 135 at 1.05 or so and it has TONS of flare power. My first ZP canopy jump was a sabre2 150. Popped right back up when I flared (and had plenty of flare left to finish for a soft landing)... something I couldn't dream of doing on my old PD150. Dave

My clicky posted 10 days ago wasn't good enough?? Geez, it's only a few posts up...

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2013 Dave

One word: Shrinkage. They (I) don't call him ShrinkyTink for nothing! Tink, is that a new jumpsuit or the same one you had in FL? And don't you own MULTIPLE full face helmets??

BTW, Gelvenor was at the PIA symposium promoting a new ZP fabric they have coming out. Lighter and more UV resistant. The guy said we can expect to hear about it "in a few months" or something. I asked if he had a customer and he said probably, but he couldn't say who and it'll be big news when (if?) it gets announced. Dave

Didn't see it, but you can ignore anything the narrator said about it. They make things up to make it more exciting. Dave

Yep... the Little John, with the 'Lady J' adapter. I can't imagine how desperate I'd have to be to use that. If it's too far to fly without holding it in, it's too far to fly.

It's worth the wait. Here's mine, but the only pic I can get to right now is from the day it arrived, packed with socks. Dave

Ya know how many people have asked me "have you seen this pond skimming thing? there was an article in___...looks like a lot of fun..." Even RealTV did a POSITIVE piece on swooping. When a speed skiier doing 100mph crashes on tv, do you think it gives skiing a bad name? I think swooping is great for the sport. But on the other hand, inexperienced jumpers learning to swoop without proper instruction could do all kinds of harm to the sport. But swooping in general has a very positive image, in my opinion. Dave