pilotdave

Hey at least they didn't close the door! Dave

Sounds like this one coulda been worse. So easy to prevent though. I've occasionally let people off with the engine running (usually skydivers that have come for a ride), but I always tell them to get out and walk around the tail, no matter how many times they've walked around planes with engines running. It's amazing how invisible a propeller can be when it's spinning. Dave

All gone. Dave

Probably fine on paper (I haven't taken a close look at it), but not practical for the real world (for most people). The 45 degree rule is used because it's simple. Doesn't work, but it's easy. I think the way to do it is with some kinda chart, posted in the plane by the door. On the ride up, don't know how much time to leave? Yell the winds to the guy by the door and ask him to check the exit timing. Make a chart for each type of plane. May not be perfect but it doesn't require math!

Since when is skydiving hard work?

Naah, this was nothing automated. They didn't care what was on the site, only that it was using a crapload of their resources. I'm sure they checked to see what was on the site. In fact, when I purchased the hosting, they called me on the phone to confirm I had ordered it, and the guy, going only by the domain name, mentioned that streaming videos were not allowed. It was a good company. And I could get a dedicated server from them for only $90/month or something. Who's chipping in? Dave

My brother is a lawyer. I'll have him take a look. But I'm guessing I don't have much chance. Dave

Arlo, march on over to RWS and make sure my rig is gonna be done on friday cause if I don't get some good news soon, I'm gonna explode. Sydivingmovies.com has been shut down. The web host, with no warning, suspended my account. They consider the site to be a "dumpsite," which they say violates their terms of service. And that also means I can't get my money back. I'm paid up or a year. Edit: Well, looks like theres nothing I can do. I missed this in the terms and agreements: "Usage of allotted Resources. You agree that the use of the Plan(s) will not exceed the server resources (bandwidth, storage, e-mail usage, CPU) allotted to your Plan(s). If you use any resources that surpass the percentage or megabytes agreed upon, or if you exceed E-mail storage and attachment size limitations, Infinology may, in its sole discretion, apply additional charges, suspend the Plan's usage, or terminate this agreement. No shared hosting account is allowed to host scripts which consume more than 3% CPU and 7MB of memory per process. Infinology hosts production sites on production servers. Our servers are not to be used as a testing environment. Any website that causes downtime or heavy load on a server will be suspended without prior notification to you. Any site with traffic consisting more than 33% in file downloads (non HTML files) may be considered a WAREZ site and will be subject to immediate suspension without prior notice to you. In the event that Infinology elects to take corrective action, you will not be entitled compensation for any used or unused prepaid fees." In other words, skydivingmovies.com was a warez site and I didn't even know it. Most expensive mistake I've made in a while. Ugh. So that's that. It was nice while it lasted. Dave

Aerostore. Dave

I dunno, I always thought that one kinda sucked. In fact, lemme go delete it from the site... Just kidding. Awesome video. And one of the highest rated on the site, too. http://skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1280 Dave

Been looking around for good prices on the neptune. Best price I could find so far is http://www.tso-d.com, the skydive outlet at deland. Dave

Use windows media player. Dave

Minor violations here and there aren't gross negligence and not what I'm talking about. We've all flown through and jumped through clouds. That violates FARs and BSRs. But who really cares? Not the stuff I'm talking about. And I see why people wouldn't wanna listen to Bill. (Just kidding!

Glad to hear you're perfectly ok with those types of things happening where you jump. Hope you never plan to be an S&TA. And you keep mentioning that a DA will solve my problems if someone commits a crime against me. How does someone going to jail solve my problem? It's justice I guess. But that's about it. Anyway, I respect your decision not to ever sue anyone remotely related to skydiving for any reason. But damn, a lot of what you said scares the crap out of me (about you, not about skydiving). You seem to simply accept unreasonable (ie crazy) risks, just because they've happened before. I for one don't accept that a student rig could be held together with duct tape. I believe you that it's happened. And if a student was killed because that duct tape gave way, thats gross negligence and I hope someone sued, or at the very least the DZ learned their lesson and took better care of their rigs. Lesson learned. Are you suggesting that the skydiving community is incapable of learning from past mistakes? Or are you suggesting, as you seem to be, that all those horrible things you listed aren't mistakes, but rather just parts of the sport? edit: Bill, you've been around a lot longer than I have. I hope when I have as many jumps as you I'll be going around demanding better safety, not less blame for the poor safety. Dave

Hehe too late. I only deleted a few, that already exist on the new site. I can try to find the ones I deleted if you want. Dave

Oh, cool, thanks! I'll try now. Considering they've cancelled the comanche helicopter, I've got nothing better to do. Dave

I disagree that knowingly improperly maintaining an aircraft, to a dangerous degree, or lying about abilities, or packing a reserve while high on crack, or getting stabbed by a DZO with a knife, while skydiving, is human error. Dave

Well, I just got semi-offical word. Comanche is dead. Luckily it sounds like my job is safe though. I guess I'l be moving to another program. Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow though! Dave

I REALLY hope Sikorsky wins the presidential helicopter contract. That could be my future job. Am I the only one that would be embarrased by my president flying in a british/italian helicopter? Marine One just wouldn't sound appropriate for that. Dave

Yep, and while the real production for aircraft that will enter service is 2 years away, there are 4 Comanches on the production line right now, and 5 more on the way. It'd be a real shame to scrap 4 partially built aircraft, not to mention the 1300+ people that work on the comanche program, not including the suppliers in 38 states. Dave

Awesome. About 2500 downloads since last night. I'd say that's hit pretty hard. Dunno what'll happen when I open it up to the search engines and other sites though. Dave

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NWOK4KZCIXW1ICRBAEOCFEY?type=domesticNews&storyID=4417241 Hoping it's not true. Dave

So the DZ shouldn't be held accountable for any accident because they've demonstrated in the past that they are capable of doing stupid things? Dave

Having problems? The address to get in to the real site is http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2. Dave

What's your opinion on divorce and breaking wedding vows? Billvon, how about you? Dave