pilotdave

/ban user BGill oops, wrong window. Gimme a free smoothie and I'll accept your apology. I'm looking for bad videos to delete to save some space... lets see, you're in a couple, aren't ya?? Dave

Naah, paying for stuff on the internet is for suckers. j/k premier members!! Dave

Type of hard drive? Oh with a big enough hammer, I'm sure Matt can get any to fit. j/k... he said a plain IDE drive is all we need. He recommended 200 gigs which would pretty much make this a one time only kinda thing. But I'm sure we can make due with something a little smaller if we have to. I just got a 160 gig drive for $30... kicking myself for installing it now. Hmm... 200 gig drive, 20 gigs of skydiving videos, 180 gigs free... lots of bandwidth... maybe I'll start a porn site on there too! Now accepting audition tapes... Dave

Yep, full! We've gone over the 20 gigabyte mark and filled the hard drive on the server. While we work on a server upgrade, uploads are temporarily disabled. I'm gonna try to clean the server up a bit and make some extra room (I can't even upload html files right now). I just wanna thank all those that have uploaded files recently. The number of uploads and downloads has really increased over the 9+ months that we've been on our current server. So of course I'd like to give a big thanks to Matt Crocker for donating the hosting and bandwidth that many of us have been abusing like crazy. Check out the attached chart. We've been on Matt's server since about March. Take a look at what's happened since then. Cost of server upgrades is gonna depend on how fancy we wanna get. Anything from a donated 100 gig hard drive (hint hint) to a new $1000+ server, fully loaded. Might open up a paypal account if that's the way I decide to go. Anyway, that's what's going on. Thanks everybody (except the guy that emailed me the other day to tell me I suck)! Dave

There are no wingloading restrictions in the US. It's not a difference in regulations, it's a difference in attitude toward safety. Dave

I nominate this for dropzone.com S&T quote of the year! Dave

Square, not cube. Going faster is a pretty creative way of creating drag to keep airspeed lower... doesn't work very well! Dave

It's an ad. ASC paid to be at the top of the list. I skip those when doing a search anyway, but I dunno about most people. Dave

Updated video link. Dave

Yes it is. I got "busted" (an overstatement) for posting whois info about many of the other skyride sites (address to which the sites are registered), but you can look up any website yourself using many different websites. Try http://www.allwhois.com. This particular one only has a phone number and PO box listed. Dave

The FARs (61.51) spell out exactly what needs to be logged for pilots, just like the SIM does for skydivers. I'm not suggesting that the USPA or the FAA should drop logging requirements for proving qualification for ratings. I'm saying that signatures are only required to be logged for flight instruction. When I go fly solo, nobody signs my log book. Of course I fill it out, but I don't need a witness. What is the value added in having your buddy sign your logbook after every jump (or a month later when you notice some unsigned jumps)? Does anybody feel that, other than because the USPA requires it or for sentimental value, we should get every jump signed? Dave

Not sure what you mean by that. Whether or not I've known anyone that has been killed jumping a canopy loaded higher than Brian Germain's WNE chart has nothing to do with how many people are killed that way. I was just saying that I really doubt enough people have been killed for that reason in the history of skydiving to substantially affect the results of a dropzone.com poll on the subject. It'd be a more emotional subject for me if I had known people that had been killed jumping canopies that they shouldn't have been, but it wouldn't change the numbers. Dave

Definitely not written by anyone with any education in aerodynamics! That was half funny, half painful to read. Dave

Right now, there are 72 more people that have voted that they are at or below the max wingloading according to the chart. How many people do you think have ever died due to jumping a canopy loaded above their experience level? How many would you estimate were on dropzone.com? It happens, but come on... it's not THAT common! Dave

Actually I was referring to russian piston engines, which generally turn counterclockwise (as viewed from behind). Russian (and french) helicopter rotors also turn clockwise, whereas the rest of the world designs em to spin counterclockwise. But yeah, counter rotating props are a smart design but it's usually just too expensive to build em unless they're absolutely necessary (V-22). Dave

Naah, just russia... Dave

Why? What happens if it doesn't? Is that what holds the whole plane together? Just falls apart after firing the 2nd missile? Kinda like a bee...dies after stinging something. Dave

That wouldn't work at my DZ. I was told that when I apply for my D license, not only will I need 500 jumps signed off, but every one of them has to have my accumulated freefall time, which I only grab off my neptune every once in a while and write it down. I'm actually going to have to back fill pages and pages of addition. I'm gonna have to read the USPAs logging requirements very carefully before taking the time to bother with that. I've never heard any requirement like that before. But signatures are gonna be a must, even if it means getting someone to sign a bunch of jumps from the past. Which is exactly why I think the requirement is pointless. Dave

Oh I don't plan to stop getting jumps signed. I just think it's a pointless requirement. My question wasn't should i do it or not, it was should the USPA require it or not. Anyone see value in the requirement to get jumps signed off? Dave

Do you see any value in getting jumps signed off? It always seemed like a big waste of time to me. I don't believe it prevents logbook padding one bit, and I just can't figure out what the value of it is. Makes sense for instructors to sign student logbooks... some confirmation that they actually got the instruction that was logged. But once you've got an A license, why (other than because the USPA says to) should anyone need to get jumps signed? I do get all my jumps signed because I'll need the signatures to get my D license. Pilots don't need to get their logbooks signed by witnesses... why should skydivers? Dave

There have been a million threads about this...do a search. But the bottom line in my experience has been that it depends most on head size/shape, not glasses size (as long as they're reasonably small). My Z1 fits great over my glasses...don't even need to take them off to put it on or take it off. But a lot of people with wider faces can't fit glasses under a Z1. Only way to know what will work for you is to try them on. Dave

Hehe not quite. Planes eat money ALL the time. There are two sides to operating costs. Fixed costs and variable costs. Variable costs depend on how much the plane flies...fuel, most maintenance, etc. Fixed cost can be any number of things. Insurance payments, tie down fees, annual inspections, etc. Those things don't care whether or not the plane has ever left the ground. Dave

We don't agree that Brian Germain believes there can be exceptions, which is the only thing that matters since he came up with the chart. Neither of us know what he believes. You're talking about exceptions to one guy's idea of wingloading limits. This isn't law. My opinion on the matter is irrelevant. I never said those limits are never to be exceeded. Now if you're asking if I think there are people that can safely exceed the limits on the chart, well, I have no clue. I don't have nearly enough experience to know that. My gut feeling is sure... I know of a student pilot that soloed a pitts special at age 16. He had exactly 0 hours of pilot in command time when he soloed the pitts. But was that exceptional skill? No, it was training. You don't solo a pitts when you've had all your instruction in a 152. You don't solo a pitts until you have enough hours to fly a pitts. But I bet if you trained in a pitts from day one, you'll be ready to solo a pitts with fewer hours in it. But we don't train for canopy flight by doing tandems. Everybody is at least to some degree self taught. What are the indicators that a person is ready to jump a particular canopy? Does an instructor always know, just by watching a bunch of well executed landings? Does a jumper know just by performing a bunch of well executed landings? How does somebody know that he or she won't screw up in a tense situation, where a lower wingloading might be more forgiving? Ron says test them. Make them prove that they can flat turn, flare turn, blah blah blah. Makes sense to me. But what you're really asking in this thread is, is that ok with Brian Germain. Only he can tell you that. Dave

How are potential student finding skyride? (google ad, search engine, phone book, fake dz website?) Seems like knowing that is step one in learning how to market themselves. Does the DZ have a website? Dave

Now wait, he never said a 182 cant break even (that i could find). He said: Now I'm not sure I believe that, but I haven't worked out the numbers. I'm assuming he's talking the same jump ticket price for both planes or it wouldn't make much sense. What confuses me is the 100hr maintenance part. A 750 is a newer aircraft and in theory should have less maintenance to be done at the 100 hour. But will the total price of a 100 hour inspection be lower? how about 5 or 10 years down the road? How does the cost of tires/brakes compare between the two aircraft? (I have no clue). What's a new prop cost when you have a prop hit a portable helipad (as our 182 did last weekend)? What's an overhaul gonna cost? And Dave mentioned he of course left off the cost of financing. That's a huge part of the operating cost of the aircraft. Right along with tie down fees, etc. Dave