pilotdave

I wouldn't agree with that. It's about canopy control experience, not jump numbers or licenses. Someone with 1000 jumps only on accuracy canopies isn't an "expert" at canopy control... at least not for flying anything other than accuracy canopies. And until recently 200 jumps would get a D license. I doubt anyone would consider someone with 200 jumps on "novice" canopies to be an expert. Dave

New javelins are better, but older ones often have problems with main flaps and riser covers opening. A lot has to do with how the reserve is packed. I saw a javelin odyssey a while ago that had a reserve flap that just barely tucked in at the bottom. I assume there are tuck tabs on the sides like a vector so it wouln't easily open in freefall (is that true?), but it was pretty scary looking to me. Dave

Yeah. I think that's a really nice looking rig, but not 5 1/2 months nice. Javelins are good rigs but there are better rigs with less wait time. I dunno what the big attraction is. But seriously pccoder... nice rig! Hope ya like it! And since when does a DZ need power to jump? Deland was open with no power!

Guessing it's the same video as http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1584 but I didn't download it. Dave

I've had great experiences with them, in person. When I needed a new pilot chute, Marco (the owner) unstiched my old one from my dbag (dunno why it was stiched on in the first place) and installed the new one for no additional charge. Another time, I wanted to demo a rig but he didn't have one that would fit me (and a canopy I could fly). So he disconnected the risers from one of his demo rigs, connected it to my container, and let me jump it as many times as I wanted, for free. And since it was a brrrrand new canopy (I put jump #2 on it) and I had only packed worn out ZP a few times, he even packed for me... and wouldn't accept money for it. At the end of the day, he hooked my canopy back up for me. Finally, when I had decided I'd probably buy a new container, Marco measured me even though I was clear I wasn't ready to buy anything yet. He spent time going over all the options and pricing it all out for me. Didn't end up buying from them, but it wasn't because they treated me badly (and their prices were good too)! Sucks that you had a bad experience with them, but based on my experience with them, I'm willing to bet it was a mistake. Dave

You've been jumping for 10 years and haven't figured out paragear is one big scam yet? Alright... not a scam. Just sucky prices. They sucker in new jumpers by sending out the catalog. SHOP AROUND. If you can find something somewhere other than paragear (they do have a good selection), chances are you can find a better price. Dave

NO SOUP FOR YOU! Dave

~50:1:0 Somewhere around 50 minutes of tunnel time (5 hours with a group) in Orlando. 1 jump at Deland on Saturday. Also survived the hurricane on friday. That was fun. Relatively minor damage in the area around the tunnel, but closer to the airport, there was major damage. Got a pic of one of the jetways at orlando international completely destroyed. Fun weekend! Dave

My flight to orlando leaves at 6 tonight. Should I request the Southwest Shamu plane? Dave

I'm a system safety engineer for a helicopter company. Spent last week at a system safety conference... and of course brought my rig. Skipped out early one day to make a jump. Felt pretty strange walking by the conference rooms filled with people talking about risk management and all that with my rig. My coworkers, who are mostly current or retired military helicopter pilots, seem to be pretty entertained by my skydiving. My boss is actually pretty interested. He was at the conference for one day with me, and when he heard I had been jumping he started asking a lot of questions about it. Spent most of the time talking about it. Sounds like he might even try it some day. During our staff meeting yesterday, he even brought it up, and not in a negative way. Voice over the speakerphone responded "I still haven't figured that one out yet. ...only bird shit and crazy people..." Dave

Somewhere in the neptune manual it explains the need for a temperature reading... the solid state pressure transducer's output varies with temperature. It really has nothing to do with atmospheric conditions, but just calibration of the electronics. Protrack might not work the same way... Dave

Paragear shows $120 for the reserve PC, $105 for the freebag. So $225 plus shipping for those. I dunno what the handles cost, but I'm assuming you aren't planning to buy gold plated handles, so something must be wrong. Edit...damn, just checked what a wings D-handle costs at paragear... $109. Compared to $66 for a Vector handle. What's up with that? Edit again... NOTE: paragear blows. A vector D-ring is $55 from RWS. $45 if you have no RSL. Dave

I know the neptune uses temperature as part of its calculation. I'd be surprised if the protrack didn't work the same way. It probably just doesn't display or record it. Dave

Might wanna wait at least until you know if you fall too fast or too slow. A freefly suit might work great for RW for a heavier person that needs a baggy jumpsuit anyway, but would really be a detriment to a slower falling jumper that needs all the speed they can get. And booties are soooooo wonderful too.

Won't be very accurate, but you could just match up the pressures you found to a standard atmosphere table. It will give the standard pressure at each altitude. Just check what altitude (MSL) is associated with the nearest pressure to each data point. Doesn't take into account all the variables, but it might be as close as you can come if the pressure and temperature that day was somewhere close to standard. Dave

Cool, I'm in the tunnel friday night too. With a group 6-7pm and again either 9-9:30 or 10-10:30. Then I'm in again sat and sunday mornings. I gotta go figure out how to install windshield wipers on my Z1... Dave

Yep. If you really want your ass covered, you'd probably want to know for sure that the area of woods you're dropping over is uninhabited and that you're definitely capable of dropping it so that it lands where you expect. But as long as your precautions are "reasonable," you can do it. Dave

It's actually perfecty legal... well... it can be anyway. You just have to ensure that it won't cause damage to persons or property below. You might break a litter law... I dunno about that. But as far as the FAA is concerned, dropping stuff is legal. Dave

You have got to be kidding. I'll be in Orlando/Deland this weekend. Tomorrow through Sunday actually. I appreciate florida's effort to cool off for me, but this is just ridiculous. Dave

Don't know anyone, but saw a great video of it once (10 mins after his jump). The guy was there with some of his frat brothers. Came down from his jump, talked about how cool it was and all that. Then his video guy came over with the tape. So he put it on for his friends to see. Right from the second he left the plane he was in a complete panic. He wasn't breathing, and he just kept pointing to his mouth, signaling that he couldnt breath. Then he started pointing up, toward the plane, signaling "PUT ME BACK IN!" Then back to pointing at his mouth for most of the rest of the freefall, looking just as silly as could be. His friends had a nice laugh, but he was a good sport about it. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1629 Dave

Scott Miller threw this one onto the tape of my landings after I finished his canopy course yesterday. Thought I'd share... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1628 Dave

Yeah, I was nervous when I first got my Vector 3 about that. Because of the routing of the cutaway housings, it's much thicker at the shoulders than some other rigs, and the housings are at the bottom, against your shoulders. My Reflex is much flatter at the shoulders. The vector was pretty uncomfortable on the ground, but not noticeable in the air. After a few jumps it started to get broken in, and now, after maybe 70 or 80 jumps, it's much much more comfortable. I'd get something different for my next rig though... if it packed itself! Other than that, I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with Vectors. BTW, read the vector 3 reviews on this site along with the micron reviews. That issue is discussed in some of them. Dave

Soloed when I was 16, got my private at 17, first jump at 18. Both are fun, but very different kinds of fun. I know of pilots that have given up flying for jumping, and jumpers that have quit to learn to fly. Flying is definitely more "useful," and can easily be shared with friends. In college, until 9/11, I loved to take friends for rides over campus. That campus is now inside the washington DC flight restriction zone, so circling over campus would probably get you shot down. But for me, skydiving is starting to really take over. I used to have a 2 hour drive to the nearest DZ, or a 45 minute flight. I chose to fly as often as I could...especially since I didn't have a car until my last year. That was a great way to mix up flying and jumping. But now I have a shorter drive and jump every weekend, so flying has...well... temporarily dropped out of the picture. I'm still paying lots of money to be in a flying club, so hopefully I'll get back in the air soon. But right now, I'm having too much fun jumping to take a weekend off to go flying. Dave

The changes between your old and new one are the new features! I LOVE the thinner ring...sooo much more comfortable. And they found the metal plate wasn't necessary. I think the plate was causing cracking in some situations or something. The cracked screen sucks, but I bet they'll replace it for free. Saw a brand new neptune last weekend that was showing a high altitude while on the ground. I hit the "i'm on dz" feature to zero it out, and then realized that the temperature was showing -189 degrees, which would probably screw up the altitude measurement pretty good. They've got some issues, but as you know, they are great when they work correctly. I ran into one thing today with mine. Realized that when I rode a plane down last weekend, it logged it as a jump (0 freefall). But I didn't delete it out of the logbook before jumping again. Can't find a way of deleting it out of there now. Anyone know if theres a way? Dave