pilotdave

I've landed backing up and been dragged more times than I would have liked, but it happens. Even when the winds are steady, it can be tough to judge how you'll land compared to everyone else since most people will be jumping much faster canopies. I actually ran into the opposite problem yesterday. I planned my approach for relatively strong winds but they died way down while I was in the air. I lined up on final over the edge of the landing area (so I wouldn't cross a treeline on final) expecting to come down nearly vertically. Instead I got plenty of forward progress and had to S-turn to avoid landing long. I think faster canopies have less dependence on wind speed. You won't have to worry as much about backing up when you buy your own gear. Dave

nobody calls sitting in a boat swimming. I think you've got that backwards. Dave

He had a horse?? What the hell does a kid do with a horse? Who owns a horse?? Anyway, congrats to him when he soloes. Remind him to wear a shirt he doesnt like when he thinks its coming. Dave

0:4:at least 5 100th jump, first jump on demo equipment, first jump on a ZP canopy, first time packing ZP (ugh), and my first landing in corn (at least 7 feet tall...double ugh). Stood it up though! After trying out a Sabre2 I realized that F111 opens hard and lands hard. I already planned to get a new container but that got me thinking I better get a new canopy while I'm at it. The idea of packing brand new ZP just sounds awful to me though. And picking colors is gonna be tough. What a difficult life I lead...

The night before my first jump, one of my friends picked up my roommate's maxim magazine. It had an article about surviving dangerous situations, such as falling out of a plane. They suggested aiming for sand. Personally, i'd aim for the hardest thing i could find and hope i dont survive long enough to feel it. I wonder if i could even aim in freefall for the landing area though... Dave

Obviously I don't know you so I have no clue about why anyone thinks you mess up a lot or whatever, but have you taken a good look at your current skills? As I said, I'm not trying to say you suck or anything. I'm just saying the possibility is there.

Hehe a sabre 190 is a hotrod compared to the canopies i used till I had about 40 jumps. I am about your size and made my first jump on a 170, but it wasn't a sabre, it was a PD 9 cell. Then I switched DZs and upsized to a 230. Made a couple of jumps on mantas (288s) too. Why do ya want to downsize anyway? Dave

thats what PMs are for.... if its here, he must share with the class.

Those are called (by the top company anyway) ballistic recovery systems (http://brsparachutes.com/). They're widely used on ultralights and homebuilts now, and are certified for use on a few production aircraft. They come standard on Cirrus aircraft and will be standard on a new German plane. Also available for 152s and 172s. I think lots of homebuilt pilots have been saved, and at least one cirrus used it after an aileron failure. The aircraft will be substantially damaged by the landing, but the pilot can walk away. Dave

I was in the same situation for a while. I'm also light and was jumping a 230 till i bought my own 150 (still lightly loaded). I was warned about inducing line twists with hard turns, but that's about it and it never happened. I landed backing up a bunch of times of course, which sucks. I ran into a problem that I never did figure out. Sometimes when I'd turn hard, it would start off normal but after a couple turns i'd end up on my back, facing up. The PC would sometimes have gone over the nose when that happened (which never caused any problems). I won't advertise here but I have a container that might fit ya (and maybe a main too) for sale cheap if you're interested. Dave

I happened to read the official preliminary accident report yesterday. Said that both pilots were wearing parachutes. Dave

bonjour! Ok, since thats the only french word I know, I don't think I qualify. Dave

Salamone is national?? I never realized those commercials where everywhere... edit: oh, I'm from MA too.... maybe not. Dave

http://groups.google.com/groups?group=rec.skydiving Dave

After finally getting his reserve out, before he slammed into the ground, was he alright? From the video it looks like he was just fine at the end until he made a low turn. Did he not realize how low he was or what? Dave

Fandango 1.avi HERE. Dave

Pie hasn't scared me since I saw THIS. Dave

If the weather's good, I'll be there doing #100, probably sunday. I could probably come out after work on a weekday evening. No idea if they're jumping most evenings or not. Dave

When I was jumping student equipment (javelin, 230 main...), I'd gain 20 lbs geared up according to the scale at the DZ. Dave

I also got an email from Roger Allen (which impresses me VERY much) saying the O-ring and hand mount are the same as on the Galaxy, but will be made smaller and ligher in the near future since the neptune weighs so much less. My small fingers thank him. Dave

Any idea if the neptune hand mount uses the same size rubber ring (for your fingers) as the altimaster 3? I personally find the 3's very uncomfortable (too big and thick). The neptune's ground mode sounds like a nice touch since I don't wear a watch all day at the DZ, but if the hand mount is uncomfortable, i wouldn't wear it either. By the way, thanks for the review. My plan for a while has been to get one AFTER reading a bunch of positive reviews. I'll wait. It's sounding like the hardware is alright but the software needs a lot of work. I'm interested to see how this develops. Dave

I learned on a ripcord, but that DZ has since switched to throwouts only. I made my first jump with a BOC-mounted ripcord, not hip mounted, so the pull procedure is about the same as with a throwout except you don't throw. That makes a lot more sense to me than a hip mounted ripcord. It also puts the ripcord farther from the cutaway handle, preventing it from getting pulled by mistake. But yeah, ripcords need to go. I've had the PC get caught in the burble a couple times which is not such a big deal because we get taught to look over our shoulder at the deploying canopy to clear it. But that's just one more thing to unlearn since it can cause linetwists. I really can't comment on flat packing since I never learned how to do it, but if it makes it easier to understand whats happening as the canopy gets packed, I don't see anything wrong with teaching it that way. I know I had trouble figuring out what was what when learning to propack. If students that flat pack DON'T understand the canopy better, then I don't see the point of teaching it. Dave

Aside from getting paid every 2 weeks, i wish i was going back to school. The real world kinda sucks. The only thing that I REALLY hated at school was homework. Now when I get home, I'm DONE for the day. And having money is a nice change. This weekend I rented a plane, flew 220 miles to Penn State to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday. I brought with me $200+ worth of presents. After all that spending, I still came home with more money than I left with since I got paid on friday. Now I'm starting to think about grad school. The idea of working full time THEN going to class THEN doing homework just sounds awful to me. But maybe next year... Dave

Shit, can you get me a masters degree? How about a PhD? Dave

Looking at the manual, it appears that to switch from hand mount to audible will require a screwdriver and some tiny little screws. Is that correct? Dave