pilotdave

I did my initial flight training at Northampton Airport in MA where the skydiver hit the plane. Years later, after I started skydiving, I found myself flying straight toward that airport on a sunny sunday afternoon listening to a different frequency. It didn't take me long to realize that was a bad idea. But If I hadn't heard about that accident and wasn't a skydiver, I probably would have flown right over without thinking twice. In theory ATC should have informed the skydiving plane of the traffic. But that plane could have been miles away when the jumpship was on the jump run. That skydiver sued the air traffic control and won. I don't agree with that ruling, but whatever. He broke his leg and everyone on the plane was killed. I think it was an amazing fluke that they shared the same airspace at the same time, so to speak. I pretty much think it's impossible for skydivers to focus on a jump and look for traffic, and I think it's futile for pilots to try to spot freefallers. It's all about looking for traffic before jumping, and hoping pilots are smart enough to not fly over dropzones above 3000 feet when there might be jumping going on (parachutes are easy to spot and avoid). Dave

But of course! /from_TV/4freefall_t1.rm It's the same video but probably from a different show. The narrator in this one says "...yeah, that's right, his friggin chute rips off..." I'm sure he was supposed to have an RSL. Dunno why it didnt work, but the main side JM probably pulled his main so the RSL would get the reserve open. Dave

When I did a night jump most of us only used glowsticks. They are DEFINITELY not very bright (i guess we werent either, huh?). I wasn't worried about collisions with other jumpers because of the amount of separation/staggered opening altitudes we were using. But what was scary was that the people on the ground couldn't see us until we were about 30 feet off the ground and getting into the headlights lighting the landing area. Each time someone landed it was like a surprise out of nowhere. Sure was fun though!

They will...eventually. At the very least, DC style ADIZs will replace the moving TFRs. It makes no sense that the distance I can fly from the president changes depending on where he happens to be. The security of the president is important to national security. But the threat isnt large enough to justify the restrictions. My point in all this isn't that we shouldnt protect the president when he travels. It's that we can protect the president well enough without affecting so many peoples lives. It's not just skydivers that are suffering. Flight schools, mechanics, banner towers, and all kinds of other flight related jobs are affected by this. And the presidential flight restrictions are only one of many different post 9/11 flight restrictions. Banner towers cant fly over disney world because disney basically purchased a restricted area. Security purposes? My ass. Dave

95:0 I think I've only even seen my reserve once. Dave

You really think AWACS has a problem figuring out who the bad guy is when all the good guys are flying on flight plans/clearances? But you are right. They do it to make their jobs easier. Well, I say make their jobs harder and let us fly. Dave

If someone's got a plane capable of launching air to air missiles, and they're shooting at air force one from more than 30 miles away, we've got much bigger issues to deal with. The 30 mile zone is not protecting the president from credible threats. It protects him from us. Raise your hand if you plan to kill the president. Well, we're the ones being kept away. I believe that if our country cant protect its president in a way that we can all realistically live with, then he shouldnt travel. He's got camp david. Oh, and camp david doesnt have a 30 mile restiction around it. It goes up to 10 miles when he's there, 5 when he's not. Dave

9/11 was an attack using airliners. They are the only ones still allowed to fly in that area. There is no need for an impenetrable security perimeter in my opinon. What is an ultralight going to do? How about an ultralight being flown by Joe Lieberman? Do you really think he's going to try to kill the president with his ultralight? So why not let him go flying? What harm is there? (No, he doesnt really fly ultralights...just making a point). If they know WHO is up there flying, and they know those people are not dangerous, why stop them? Dave

Air force one has way better defense than the whitehouse. It can move! Seriously, hitting a 747 in flight would be a hell of a lot harder than hitting a bigass building, missiles or not. Airliners are not grounded. Do you trust every airline pilot more than you trust your jump pilot? I've been through fingerprinting by the FBI and a background check by the secret service to allow me to fly within 15 NM of DC. Why can't I fly in Maine? I understand security. The problem is not the NEED for security, it's the IMPLEMENTATION. I believe that there are more important things in the world than the safety of the president. And so does the TSA. Thats why airliners are flying in maine and within a couple miles of the whitehouse at national airport. Sure, if there is a real threat to the president's life coming from the air (which I don't believe is true), protect him. But do it right, in a way that makes any sense. A 2830 NM^2 (thats over 3700 square miles, by the way) DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. That's larger than Delaware. It's almost as big as Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Dave Dave

I disagree that all part 91 flights must be grounded completely within the 30 miles. Why can I fly 15 NM from the whitehouse? Hell, I even have my secret pin number to fly within the 15 NM flight restriction zone around DC. I agree that a FAST, armed plane could be dangerous. But a twin otter or 182 is not fast nor armed. Give them a waiver. Even if they have to file a flight plan and get a clearance for every single load, it's better than not being able to fly at all. Anyway, this IS a fight we will win. This 30 mile ring around the president is a new (post 9/11) thing. Slowly things have been getting better (as far as flight restrictions go). They'll keep getting better till the next war starts. Dave

The AOPA and EAA are working hard on this issue. So far the best they're able to do is warn pilots of where the presidential temporary flight restriction area is and where its moving to (which was a huge step. Previously these presidential TFRs would pop up with no warning.). 30 miles is just a ridiculously large area. The TFR covers ~2826 square nautical miles. Something like a dropzone should at the very least be able to get a waiver. I mean, there is already a 5 mile radius prohibited (or is it restricted?) area around Kennebunkport. 30 miles is just insanity. Dave

There's an interesting article about (pilot emergency) parachutes in the latest Sport Aviation magazine. It's answers to frequently asked questions that pilots have about their chutes. They of course recommend not leaving a parachute in a plane, but if you have to, they recommend covering it up. All pretty obvious... but they also recommend that if you have to leave it exposed to the sun, leave it harness side down. They claim that if the color of the harness fades by 50%, chances are the strength has been reduced by 50% also. They don't talk about heat damage (other than UV damage) as a factor when storing a rig in a plane. They also recommend not dropping off an emergency rig at a dropzone for a repack. And if a rigger claims that a canopy is not airworthy, get a second opinion because a canopy should last at least 25 years. Dave

I agree that running out of fuel was the pilot's fault, with the ATC induced delay as a factor. I'm not sure what you mean about the flight plan. Within 30 nautical miles of DC, all aircraft are required to file flight plans. They are NOT normal flight plans however. You file them the same way, but the FSS doesn't keep them on file. They pass on your plan to ATC to generate a flight strip. Once that has happened, the FSS throws your info out, so to speak. In theory, the flight strip will be generated at the appropriate ATC facility so they know who everyone is. To make that happen they are requiring all aircraft entering that 30 mile ring to enter from something like 5 different places. Everyone coming in from the east, for example, enters over one particular airport. That way they are sure you will be appearing on the radar scope of the guy holding your flight strip. The problem is that ATC can't handle all the traffic, and for some reason a lot of flight plans never seem to get to ATC, or they go to the wrong center. So what happens is traffic piles up over these specified entry points. They are not flying in any particular holding patterns or flying at any specified altitued. And all they can do is fly around until ATC will even acknowledge them. They can't talk to each other because they must be listening to the approach frequency. So far one plane ran out of gas while trying to get ATC to let him into the 30 mile zone. Yeah, its the pilots fault. It will be the pilots fault when there's a midair collision over one of the entry points too. But that doesn't mean it couldnt be prevented if the TSA would get its head out of its ass and actually work toward a SAFE solution to security. Oh, by the way, airliners dont have to deal with this bullshit believe it or not. Dave

http://pcfil.com/matrix.html I dont even see the code anymore...

Not me. They should bring the 9 cell back. What good is some fancy shmancy high performance canopy to me?? Dave

Is that sarcasm or did I miss something? It seems to me that opening altitudes vary a whole lot between DZs. I open at 3500... or occasionally as low as 3000, never below. I was doing a 5 way on sunday (which very quickly became a 1 way with a front row seat to a 4 way). While we were dirt diving someone suggested breakoff at 3500. I said how about 4500 and got a dirty look. I said I open at 3500 and the one guy (who's been in the sport for 49 years) asked if I could open lower. Everyone else agreed on breakoff at 4500. A couple years ago I jumped at another DZ where 2000 foot openings were common. Where I learned to jump, 3500 was pretty much the standard for the low timers and 3000 was common for the experienced people. If I was jumping from a 172 that could only get up to 9,000 feet, I might really appreciate an extra few seconds of freefall. But I already get about 70 seconds. I'd rather have a longer canopy ride. Dave

The FAA has refused to stand up to the TSA (or they havent figured out the right phone number to call yet). AOPA has gotten nowhere with them and neither has anyone else. USPA is small potatoes to them. You think they care about a damaged parachute? The TSA bureaucracy has already caused (ok, was a factor in) a plane crash. And that hasn't changed a thing. Dave

Or a former student has some free gear. If my school's club owned gear, the school wouldnt have known anything about it. We were actually mistakenly given gear by a rigger that had another club's gear for years when nobody came to get it after a repack. Nobody at that school even knew they owned gear (till we gave it back). Dave

http://groups.google.com/groups?group=rec.skydiving will get you there. Dave

I don't know but I assume they havent been active for a while. My old club at the university of maryland has been keeping a list of other active collegiate clubs and we don't have USF listed. Maybe the florida or florida state people would know better. As far as discounts go, I think the bigger the DZ you choose the less likely discounts will be. Maryland's club gets excellent discounts in Delaware, but I don't think UF's club gets any discount. Dave

Wind direction is probably a bit less important to swoopers. Also swoop ponds dont get turned before each load. Since some swoopers come in at about the same speed as the planes i fly, i say use the friggin runway. And when it gets so bad that i start wearing football pads in case i get tackled after landing by a swooper, i'm quitting the sport!

Mine got a 21 but i'm not sure of all the details so that might not be an accurate coolness factor. wonder if a giant spoiler would help... Dave

THIS is for sale by a company inFlorida. Dunno the price or whether or not it's even certified in the US, but it would make one cool jump plane. Dave

I think I first found the site sometime between my first and second jumps....somewhere between '98 and '99 I guess (how long has the site been around, anyway?) but I didn't like web based message boards. I preferred rec.skydiving because I found it easier to use so I really never came here. Then in 2001 I started noticing some hits to my ftp server were coming from a post on dropzone.com so I went and took a look. The forums had changed a lot and were much easier to use and faster. Been hooked ever since!

just block the address Dave