pilotdave

I don't disagree that it would be better if all DZs were operating under part 135, with our current jump prices and dropzone availability. I just don't think every dropzone could or would be able to comply, and jump ticket prices would go up everywhere. Is that a fair price to pay for an increase in safety? Depends what the safety increase would be. Jump plane crashes happen sometimes. How many recent accidents wouldnt have occured had they been operating under part 135? I think thats an impossible question to answer. Dave

You looked at FAR part 119? To fly part 135, the DZ would have to become a part 119 air carrier (as far as I know, anyway). It's long so I won't copy it, but look at the requirements of §119.69 Management personnel required for operations conducted under part 135 of this chapter. Every DZ would need a Director of Operations, a Chief Pilot, and a Director of Mainenance. To be the director of operations, you need to: have at least 3 years supervisory or managerial experience within the last 6 years in a position that exercised operational control over any operations conducted under part 121 or part 135 of this chapter; or 3 years of pilot in command experience within the last 6 years under part 121 or 135. It goes on and on... the chief pilot needs 3 years experience also, the director of maintenance needs to be an A&P, etc. As I said, no problem for a big DZ. They probably have all these people already. But what about the little cessna DZs? I mean this is just one little detail. Parts 119 and 135 are just full of these little things that would just be a pain in the ass to comply with. It could be done, but I guarantee this is a mountain of paperwork and increased operating costs. How many DZs do you know of that have extra money lying around? Dave

I'd much rather see the USPA audit group member DZs, "forcing" them to comply with high standards. Part 135 just simply contains way too many regulations that don't make sense for skydiving (or sightseeing for that matter). The huge florida or CA dropzones could probably do it pretty easily. But what about a little cessna DZ or something in between? Dave

Requiring DZs to operate under part 135 would shut down all but the biggest DZs. Or maybe jump tickets would go up to $50. It'd be bad. Dave

How about Scimiter? According to dictionary.com, a sabre has a similar shape to a scimiter. Or how about Scimitar? That's a completely different kind of sword than a scimiter. (The c is silent in scimitar, but pronounced in scimiter). Dave

Silhouette has me pretty stumped. I've managed to find references to a Lunds Tekniske (or Silhouette) SA-60 Silhouette. (The FAA has an official designator for it, SILH, the same way a Cessna 182 is C182). I'm guessing it's a homebuilt of some sort. But it exists! Dave

Actually Excalibur was the name of one of the VS-44s. The other two were named Exeter and Excambian. Here's a pic I took of the Excambian, the sole remaining VS-44, as it was being moved into the New England Air Museum near the end of its restoration. Dave

PARACHUTIST INK IS MADE OF PARACHUTISTS! Dave

Whoa! When I put in my cell #, it shows a map of wherever I am at the moment! Ok, just kidding. Dave

You're kidding right? Gath helmets are made for bumping into water!

I should learn to read, huh? But down at the bottom of that same page: (1) IN GENERAL--Subject to paragraph (2) and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the information contained in the records of contents of any airman certificate issued under this section that is limited to an airman's name, address, and ratings held shall be made available to the public after the 120th day following the date of the enactment of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century. 2) OPPORTUNITY TO WITHHOLD INFORMATION--Before making any information concerning an airman available to the public under paragraph (1), the airman shall be given an opportunity to elect that the information not be made available to the public. Maybe? Dave

It's something they started allowing only a few years ago. I wasn't given the choice when I got my license either. But there's some form you can fill out to be removed. I'll see if I can find it. edit: damn the FAA has improved their site. Found it in about a minute. http://registry.faa.gov/airmen.asp#Releasability Dave

Pilots may opt-out of appearing in publicly accessible databases. I assume riggers can do the same. Just because a rigger isn't listed doesn't necessarily mean he is not a rigger. Or is that not the case? Dave

That might be true at the big DZs, but generally not the case at the little places. I tried to buy my container locally but found out they are only dealers for mirage and sunpath. I believe I got a better price, and better service by shopping 1000 miles from here. I'll bet that would be more true as you keep going farther and farther north. Dave

I dunno about canada, but The Skydiving Outlet-Deland has had the best price on every piece of equipment I've gotten quoted that I could find. The customer service has been... well... pretty unbelievably great. I'm waiting to give my full review till my container actually arrives at the end of the month, but lets just say I'm happy with them. PM arlo! Dave

Ok, then I disagree with whoever convinced him to delete it. Sorry!

I totally disagree with whoever took it down. You gave fair warning. We happen to be a group that spends a whole lot of time walking around airplanes. Those pics make a hell of a point (no pun intended) to be careful. Still totally grossed out though! But you don't owe any apologies. Dave

I know how ya feel. Luckily I got to jump in florida last month. I just found out I'll probably be going on a business trip to orlando around the end of this month. Doubt I'll have a chance to get a jump in though, and I'm sure the tunnel is booked solid. But right now, any warm weather sounds great, jumping or not. Dave

The upload functionality of the website is still in progress, so there's no easy way to upload it directly. I added souleh's mp4 version though. If you can get it elsewhere online, I can add it myself, or you'll have to wait till the user upload function is complete (which will be fairly soon). THANKS! Dave

hehehe... I'm trying to get the video on the site, but there's no longer an ftp server. It's completely web based now. Probably ready to open next week sometime. Dave

Alright, we all know it's been posted 50 bajillion times, but here's a serious question... anyone know where a NON-streaming version can be found (or a way to download the source)? Dave

I had mine shortened when I bought it. It fits me fine, although I've never had a custom fit rig to compare it to. 20 more days till I do though! By the way, I won't "advertise" it in the forums, but my rig will be going up for sale (with my old canopy) as soon as the new container arrives. PM me if you want details. No idea if it'll fit ya, but it's small! Dave

I agree. I'm DEFINITELY no expert, but I was able to at least get php to talk to mysql with an apache server. It might have helped on the SQL end that I do a lot of database stuff at work, which includes writing SQL queries, but as far as the setup and integration with html, the online documentation will definitely get you started. Dave

How do you define swooping? On a no wind day, my sabre2 will "swoop" for a little bit whether I want to or not. It may not be a very long swoop, but I've leveled off on one side of the peas and touched down on the other. Is that a swoop? How do you know if I meant to do it or not? Is pond swooping more dangerous than swooping over the ground? How do you define a hook turn? My issue with an awards or license based system is cost. When I see USPA, I see $$$$. Not that it HAS to cost a lot. But unlike an SCR award or any other, this one would come with privaleges so it would be a totally different ballgame requiring verification and all that. To me, a logbook signoff by whoever is deemed appropriate would have the same result and would be much simpler. But I agree anything that's done needs to be implemented at the DZ level. If a DZ lets people jump with canopies that they clearly aren't ready for, and doesn't even ground them when they NEARLY hook it in on jump 30, the problem won't go away. Dave

I can host in on skydivingmovies.com, which should be opening soon. The upload script is in progress. Dave