pilotdave

Posted some info yesterday in talk back, but it gets lost so fast in there... Skydivingmovies.com is currently undergoing a complete redesign. The new site will be completely web based, with no ftp server. I'm now paying for professional hosting, so it should be fast and reliable. Subscriptions will start at $20/month. Just kidding. Site design is being done by dz.commer Lingobaby, and is coming along great. It may be ready for some beta testing within a couple weeks. The videos from the site are temporarily being hosted by Cornholio at ftp://ftp.jaffie.com/. Bandwidth is limited so please don't go downloading all the files. I'll be sure to let everyone know when skydivingmovies.com is ready for the public! Dave

Bump since a bunch of people have asked since I posted last. Dave

As it's been said, flight experience helps a LOT when it comes to canopy control. I wore a radio on my first jump, but the instructor told me with my flight background I probably wouldnt need it and he wouldn't say anything if I was doing alright. He didn't say a word. Course I didn't stand it up either, but came close.

I'm going the opposite direction. When I bought my first rig at 40 jumps, I got a 150 main and 120 reserve. I've since downsized to a 135 main, but the 120 still seems small to me. I'm not worried about landing it on the DZ. By this point, I'm pretty sure I'd have no trouble handling it under ideal conditions. It's an off landing in a tight area that I worry about. So my new rig will have a 143 reserve. I just don't see any reason to push my limits when it comes to a reserve. Dave

Nice video! Dave

Skydivingmovies.com is undergoing a complete redesign as we speak. When it's back online, it'll be WAY better than ever. The new site will be completely web based. No more FTP server at all. It'll be searchable and far more user friendly than before. Best of all, it should be faster and more reliable than ever. I VERY much appreciate the free hosting I've been getting for the last couple years, but I decided that if the site is really going to work, it's just going to cost some money. So I went ahead and ordered professional hosting. Site design is being done by dropzone.commer Lingobaby, and it's really coming along great. I have no timeframe for the grand reopening, but I'm hoping we can at least do a decent beta test within the next few weeks since I only have a 30 day money back guarantee if things don't work out well

I don't have booties on my suit, but I think I'll get them added soon. I did some tunnel time last week with Joey Jones from Deland Majik, learning the mantis position. I'm not kidding when I say he sounded like a bootie salesman (no, not a pimp). He definitely made it clear that they give a huge advantage for RW. He went as far as to say they're like cheating, but legal. One guy in the group I was with at the tunnel, who had 19 jumps, borrowed a bootie suit for the first half of his tunnel time, then had to switch to one of the tunnel suits for the second half. There was an unbelievable difference in his flying abilities with the bootie suit. It made me a believer. Dave

A parachute is a parachute, not an aircraft, ultalight, balloon, or anything else. When a plane has a close call with skydivers, a lot of people can be blamed. It's not really all that different from when two planes have a close call. It is EVERYONE'S responsibility to see and avoid traffic when flying in VMC (visual meteorological conditions). Even IFR aircraft are responsible for traffic separation when they're not in instrument conditions. It is very unlikely for a pilot to spot a skydiver in freefall. It's about as unlikely for a skydiver to spot a plane from freefall. Under canopy, everything is pretty equalized. Skydivers have better visibility than just about any aircraft though. It is by no means illegal for a plane to fly over a dropzone. It's not smart, and I bet the pilot could be charged with reckless flying in some cases. But dropzones are not restricted airspace in any way shape or form. They are labeled on charts, and skydiving operations are announced on local frequencies. But there is no rule saying pilots need to carry charts or use radios (depending on the airspace). In my opinion, a pilot is MORE responsible than a skydiver or jump pilot in a case like this. But he is by no means 100% responsible. We're all sharing the same airspace, and the same responsibility to stay away from each other. When a freefalling skydiver hit a plane in massachusetts 8 or 9 years ago, the skydiver sued air traffic control, and won. Just another case of a stupid jury that doesn't understand the system. Dave

Back to cold ass CT after 4 days of jumping and wind tunnelling in FL. 16 jumps, including one at Deland and the rest at the collegiate boogie in Williston. Met a few dz.commers, including arlo who came rushing from home when I emailed her from the bar at Deland. Got to check out Relative Workshop, although they were closed at the time... just a couple people working. Never seen so many sewing machines in my life!

From the US Navy Safety Center's 2004 Safety Planner: Dave

Just travelled with my rig to/from the DC area. Had the letter and southwest airlines' parachute policy printed and ready to go, along with my cypres card. Didn't need to pull any of them out or even say a word. No probs at either end. Dave

And there are non-uspa DZs that require USPA membership. Dave

"I assess risk for a living, so I try not to do anything dangerous." That line is in the commercials for the movie Along came Polly, but it sums me up. Well, cept for the dangerous part. I'm a system safety engineer for a helicopter company. My coworkers find something very ironic about the fact that I skydive, but I just explain that the fact that I keep surviving must make me a safety expert. Dave

I said 40 even though I've jumped in less than that. 30s on the ground is just uncomfortable, and less than that has to just be painful. It's only my hands that bother me though. If I could find decent gloves I dont think temperature would stop be till it got real cold. Dave

Yeah, non-uspa DZs are listed on this site. Nothing wrong with em! Dave

I know what a horny gorilla is, but I don't know what a fruit loop is. I'm just talking about 2 or 3 way horny gorillas. It's really easy to get them to work great. Leave the plane with legs locked (for 2 ways, i like to sit in the doorway and just roll right out), holding upper arm grips. Tumble around for a little while, then when you're oriented vertically, let go with the arms and lean back. What's a fruit loop? Dave

I'm not really into the combat sims. I have flown a comanche helicopter simulator. It has guns, missiles, and enemy tanks. Hell, if they put those things in arcades, we'd have thousands of trained pilots by the time the comanche goes into service! Dave

I think MS flight sim is far too complex for a gaming system. I mean, it comes on 4 CDs, and you need a keyboard worth of controls for it. I'm sure they could do a much more basic version that only covers a small area. But I think the main problem with it is that theres no object to it. Theres no way to beat it. And there are no guns. The average gamer would get very bored very fast. I use MS flight sim, but even though I'm a pilot in real life, I rarely fly "realistically." I don't care how realistic it is, cross country flights are boring! On the other hand, when I'm going to do a flight in real life I've never done before, I'll often fly it in the sim first, usually in a much faster plane than I really fly, just to get an idea of what the terrain will be looking like along my path. It's amazingly realistic for that sort of thing. I even chose some landmarks to navigate by from the sim, and they were just as easy to spot in real life. Dave

Me too. My favorite is to take new A-licensees for their first horny gorilla. They've been working so long on getting their exit just right and getting stable as fast as possible, flipping out of control and falling back to earth is suddenly so much fun. Nothing like seeing that smile! Dave

Heard one of the creators of Google speak at a graduation last month. Definitely had a sense of humor. Started his speech with something like "I've never given a commencement address before, so I decided to search the internet. Naturally, I started with MSN, and here's what I found: 'Fellow countrymen and Romans...' But I decided that wasn't really appropriate for this audience, so I tried a search engine I'm a little more familiar with." His prediction for the future is that we'll extend the average lifespan by one year, every year, meaning "you'll live forever unless you do something stupid." He said, "so my advice to you is always wear a helmet!" Definitely better than the jackass that spoke at my graduation, the president of Fanny Mae. Dave

I can see that being used more for research than actual training. It just couldn't respond fast enough to really add a real time simulation of G force to a simulator. Dave

I'll be in there at 11am that day. Look for the guy that really looks like he knows what he's doing. I'll be in the tunnel with him. Dave

Hey now! You're gonna skew the stats. All the women will suddenly love vibes! Dave

Ok, I know most people will disagree with me (I assume), but here goes anyway. Please note this post is written at least slightly tongue in cheek. I HATE the "I need some vibes" threads, filled with half a million posts that just say (((((((((((((((((VIBES))))))))))))))))))). I have no problem with people venting or whatever, and I have no problem with anyone replying with kind words to make them feel better. But {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{VIBES}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} just pisses me off. I guess I don't really "believe in" vibes. I don't find that to be a valid way of expressing concern for another human being. I found them funny and kind of nice at first, but now it's like reading the same post over and over again. Anyone agree with me? And please understand I'm not suggesting that anyone that likes these threads should stop contributing. I'm perfectly capable of skipping any thread I don't want to read. But when it comes to someone being sick or getting injured, I usually like to read through the thread and see if anyone has an update. But I just have to wade through page after page of >. Doesn't anyone have an original way of saying "I care?" Those that have received [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[VIBES]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] appreciated the gesture I'm sure. But would actual personalized messages have been nicer, or are ////////////////////////VIBES\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ exactly what you needed to feel better? Dave

UNforutately? Geez, am I the only one that would prefer to see MORE threads deleted?