pilotdave

They threaten it but I dunno how long it really takes. I have a hotmail account i set up specifically to give out to potential spammers and I've gone months without checking it. Still works, just always sits there at 100% full. Hotmail blows. Switch to yahoo. Dave

...one more. Took a lot of searching, but Janes All the World's Aircraft came through. Dave

There was a Super Sabre which woulda been a cooler name than sabre2. And I think if they're gonna stick with the blade theme, they should pick appropriately sized blades. Their next tiny little high performance canopy should be the X-acto or something. Dave

Great... I get to spend 5 days in RI in august for a conference. Wonder if I can sneak off one day for a jump. Maybe I should get a rental car...

I mostly agree with you. But I think the point that the original poster was trying to make is that the USPA isnt a DZ advertising agency (edit: well that may not have been the original point but whatever). They are supposed to promote skydiving. Since many USPA members jump at non-USPA-group-member DZs, those DZs shouldn't be ignored by the USPA. But I guess the "problem" with that type of argument is that the USPA is not a regulatory authority and has no responsibility over non group members. I think the fact that the non group member DZs don't pay dues (advertising fees as far as I can tell) is not a good reason to totally ignore those DZs. The fact that the USPA has no authority is a better reason. It comes down to the fact that USPA is for DZs and not skydivers, at least in some ways. I know there have been attempts to start organizations for skydivers and not businesses, but I don't think any have gone anywhere. By the way, the one non-group-member DZ that I've jumped at is great. All instructors are USPA rated, and I THINK they required USPA membership. They run a safe operation without being tied down by every BSR. An S&TA oversees what's going on at all times. So just because they aren't a group member doesn't make them any less safe. Maybe just more flexible. Dave

My altimaster neptune is in my town, on a ups truck, out for delivery right now (purchased from my favorite gear store via PM...can't be easier than that! Thanks arlo!). Another sporty's pilot shop order is waiting for me in UPS now to go pick up. HOPING very much I can pick up the neptune tonight since I'll most likely miss the delivery attempt. Not jumping this weekend but I still can't wait till tuesday! Dave

What makes you think they haven't done testing like that? Maybe that's exactly how they came up with the 12 year limit. Personally I wouldn't jump with a 12 year old cypres because it's illegal here AND because I have no clue how they came up with the 12 year limit. I don't know if there is a good reason why they can't just do a 12 year inspection and trust the built in diagnostics. If the manufacturer truly does not trust the units after they've been operating for 12 years, why should I? Nothing magical happens the day a cypres becomes a teenager, but 12 years is the longest airtec trusts all units will work reliably. Beyond that, plus a margin for error, I'm sure they've determined that some units, possibly those that haven't been properly cared for, will start to fail. So your perfectly cared for 12 year old cypres might work fine, but it might not. Why risk it? I'd rather jump with no cypres than a cypres that may fire when I don't want it to or not fire when I expect it to. (And sure, to some extent that's true of every cypres, but at least I know that misfires are rare and if it doesn't fire when I need it to, well, it's just not my day). Dave

Can they use a calculator? And what's the height of an equilateral triangle? square root of 2 times the lengh of a side? Geez if I could remember what I knew in 6th grade it might help. Then again they havent done geometry yet so I'd say not many will get it. Dave

I think its important for someone that doesn't know HTML at all to learn the basics in a text editor first. The graphical editors can do some funny stuff (at least the last time I used one which was a while ago) when you don't understand how they're translating what you want into html code. I think its fine to use an html specific text editor, that adds pretty colors to sections of code. Makes troubleshooting easier. But to dive in to web design without understanding how html works is a mistake. I personally use a program called Note Tab Light which is similar to notepad but has a lot more features (99% of which i dont touch). Most of my editing now is php code which can't be done graphically anyway. I don't see an advantage to a fancy editor for what i do. When I designed http://www.umdskydiving.com, I used adobe imageready to split up the corner image and generate the page template. Then did the rest in notepad to tweak everything just the way I wanted it. Dave

Research and Development. Designing a safe helmet that still has all the features that skydivers want could be very complicated and expensive. I would guess very little safety analysis went into the designs of the current helmets. For example, bolts or hinges used on flip up visors may concentrate loads when hit, instead of spreading them out which is what a helmet is supposed to do. Maybe they have been strategically placed in spots where hard hits are unlikely, but who knows. Could a kick to just the wrong spot be worse with the helmet than without? Dave

Switch to slew mode by hitting Y. Then hit F4 to increase your altitude. When you're high enough, hit F2 to stop climbing and Y again to go back to regular flight. Dave

Skydiving specific helmets are not tested to any standards (or probably at all). I don't think you'll find any relationship between price and safety. I don't think you'll find any data on safety at all. Some day skydiving helmet manufacturers will advertise safety instead of style, but that time hasn't come yet. R&D and testing are just too expensive for them now. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1006 for the clip from ER. Not realistic but it makes skydiving look fun and easy. None of the "pull yellow, then red, not red then yellow!" bullshit that they've done on a lot of TV shows. Dave

Yep, thats what I was thinking. He was really busy and behind schedule at work so he didn't think it was smart to take half the day off. He only got like 2 minutes in the tunnel which would probably kinda suck. Dave

Yeah I was in MD last weekend. Holy crap those things are disgusting. Can't walk up to my friend's house without stepping on at least one or two EVERY step you take. Most are dead, some are twitching and stuff. Plants are covered just like in the pics. The lawn was covered with holes where they came out from. Those things might be harmless but damn they're gross. Dave

None of em jumped... just tunnel time. One of em was sooo pissed to be there. Shoulda forced him to do a tandem.

It's a school night for me. Economics for three and a half hours after work. Almost as fun as poking myself in the eye. Dave

Nope, my water training was provided by a former golden knight that had done actual water landings (can't get better training than that), and he didn't charge a thing. And he had to travel a decent distance to get to us. But I can assure you we took up a nice collection and took him out to dinner. I mean, we're talking Perris here, right? Am I wrong that Perris has a pool? And beautiful southern california weather? $50 to give a few tips and watch you jump into the DZ pool wearing their old shit gear? I'm willing to bet a better deal can be found. I'm not saying an instructor doesn't deserve to get paid, I'm saying be a good consumer. There are lots of instructors out there that can teach water training. Dave

A charge for freaking water training? Geez... it shouldn't cost more than a 6-pack. Waiting for water training sucks but I'd say find another instructor. Dave

I THINK (hope!) he meant an improvement over the vector 2, not the current version. The old vectors had a lot of velcro, which can open in freefall when worn out, exposing the risers, bridle, pin, etc. The vector 3 probably has the best riser and pin protection of any rig. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=203 You can still post links... people just have to log in then click the link, or log in using cookies and links will work normally. Dave

Hopefully the piston DZs wont be affected for a while. Avgas is only produced once a year then stored, so the price doesn't vary as quickly. What has the increase been in jet fuel so far this year? Dave

Smooth is relative I guess... the aircraft will be destroyed. But any landing you can walk away from... They've been used for years on ultralights and homebuilts, and saved hundreds of lives. Only new thing is putting them on certified aircraft. The idea makes a lot of sense for an ultralight or something else that is likely to suffer a structural failure. Wouldn't make any sense to try something like that on an airliner. It would be extremely dangerous actually. Just imagine an inadvertant firing. BAAAAD. I'm skepticle of their usefulness on Cessna 152s and 172s. Structural failures almost never happen, it probably won't save you in a low altitude stall/spin situation, and a deadstick landing may be a better option in the case of an engine failure, depending on what terrain you're flying over. (same reason we all use square reserves nowadays) I think bigger news is the new use of airbags in aircraft. They're mounted inside the seatbelt. A couple small plane manufacturers will be offering them very soon, and they'll be appearing on airliners in bulkhead rows very soon. They allow the airline to put seats closer to the bulkhead, so they can fit an extra row. How wonderful. Dave

http://www.tridenthc.com/ReflexSizes.htm Dave

I think "world class" is all about benchmarking. It is comparing a person's or ogranization's skill at something to other people or organizations that are considered to be the model for what they do. For competitions or world records, benchmarking is easy. A competition is a benchmark. It's more difficult to benchmark instructional programs. But I'd say when it comes to dropzones, world class is referring to facilities, aircraft, equipment, procedures, and instructors that match or exceed the "best" dropzones out there. A little cessna DZ is never world class because the world has better dropzones to offer. But a little DZ that has the same instructional program and instructors as, for example, skydive chicago, may be considered to have world class instruction. It is of course completely subjective because it assumes that the "best" of whatever is agreed upon. Dave