pilotdave

I have the hard copy here. Want me to scan Fournier's picture? Dave

Its real. But only in my mind. Someday... someday... (that one is actually an industrial oven or something that i modified in photoshop) Dave

Don't you know the days of the professional packer are coming to an end? Pilotdaves Packmaster 3000 Automatic Packing Machine will change the world! Dave

That's some pretty impressive thinking for a student. That's what I told him. I probably woulda ran for my life and sent my reserve PC launching right back into the flames (or worse yet onto the powerlines). Dave

Yeah, a good rigger could probably make it into a 2 square foot canopy.

Now HERE'S a packing machine. Just hang the canopy up, select the canopy and container types and size, and let it go. I hear Perris ordered 5 of them. Ok, just kidding. I made it in photoshop. I think it's actually some kinda drying oven.

Sounds great but it sure is ugly. Will it come in different models? Dave

What happens if ya jump a part 103 powered parachute? Lines get blurred... Dave

I really liked the DZO at Skydive Williston, Chrissy. She really made my club feel right at home the second we arrived for the collegiate boogie last week. She seems WAY more interested in giving people a good time and making them feel welcome than trying to get every penny from them as possible. This is something I'm really not used to from a DZO. Night jumps out of a kingair at full altitude were normal jump price ($18), and they even gave us all the glowsticks and tape we needed. Chrissy spent most of the days driving around in the DZs pickup truck picking up skydivers that landed in the far landing area or off the DZ, and catching tandems. She stayed late every night to make sure everyone was all set with sleeping arrangements, and just overall was really nice. When one of my club members destroyed a rented canopy (see the powerlines are baaad thread in skydiving discussions), she not only didn't charge him for it, she even let him keep the remains. Thats one cool DZO. http://www.umd.edu/studentorg/cpsc/uf2003.html Dave

That banner was bought and reinforced by a rigger. It's some kinda thick felt material or something, reinforced around the edge and across the back witih webbing. Not a material you'd probably think about using making a sign from scratch. A new banner was made on F-111 to try it again, whenever they get a chance. The rest of the pics from that jump are at http://www.inform.umd.edu/studentorg/cpsc/bannerjump.html. Dave

Make it stronger than this... Dave

I'll have to open it up and play with it a little to see if I might ever do that, but I dont think so. I think it had actually been packed by a rigger when it happened this time actually (not that he couldn't have made a mistake). My thinking is the problem is caused by the size of my d-bag. When I bought the rig, the rigger I bought it from gave me a d-bag that was a size bigger than necessary to make it easier for me to get the canopy in the bag. I've never had any problems bagging the canopy, and I'm a really bad packer, so I'm guessing the bag is quite a bit bigger than it really needs to be. Just for the hell of it, while typing this, I decided to pull it open and take a close look. I pulled the pin easily, but I was able to lift the rig clear off the ground without extracting the d-bag. Assuming my PC makes about 70 lbs of force (a ballpark figure I've heard before), I can't imagine it should have too much trouble pulling the bag out. But should I be able to lift the rig off the ground like that? Dave

Last week one of the students in my club landed off backing up under a GIANT rented canopy (a 340 I think). He didn't see the powerlines right behind him until his deflating canopy had taken them down and started a canopy/fence/brush fire. The attached pictures show what was left of that massive canopy. Good thing he remembered to disconnect his RSL before cutting away and running! Lesson learned: powerlines are baaaaad! Dave

Thats something that scares me a little since I can't really see my handles wearing my Z1. Last saturday I came within about a second of my first cutaway. I touched my cutaway handle for my first time ever in freefall (Didn't use it... no beer

This dropzone really has the atmosphere of a little Cessna DZ, but with lots of people and a Twin Otter. I was really surprised by the number of people there on a typical summer weekend and the variety of things going on. RW, freeflying, wing suits, accuracy, etc, all going on. Only thing I didn't like was the outdoor (covered) packing which sucked on the 90+ degree days, and the lack of packers when I really didn't feel like packing. The DZ is located in a great spot on the airport with a perfect view of the landing area on one side, the runway on the other side, and a helicopter flight school across the ramp, which is fun to watch when you're waiting for a load. Great DZ!

Hehe. I actually know a single girl at new mexico state. Too bad I didn't know you were looking...

probably just missing a codec. You can download the Ace Mega Codecs pack in the /codecs/ folder which will probably solve your problem. (install at your own risk, blah blah blah, but i installed it with no problems). Dave

Landing at Andrews is no minor accident. He busted the TFR around DC to get there. There's no excuse for that. If he didn't know andrews was the wrong airport he's got major problems. Andrews is GIGANTIC. You might mix it up with Dulles which is a few miles away, but you'd never mix it up with any of the nearby GA airports. I fly out of an airport a few miles north of the TFR. I've been there after a pilot busted the TFR then seemed to have landed at that airport. About 3 or 4 police cars were there by the time I left with more on the way (they couldn't find the plane or the pilot). They do NOT mess around when someone busts the TFR. I think landing at andrews is a pretty minor part of this. Landing at Hyde Field, just a few miles to the south, should have gotten the same response since it's inside the TFR too. Dave

Some pics from the boogie HERE. Dave

Yep, guess you'd know pretty well! I'm uploading the video of a certain last-place-team's first round of 4-way scrambles to my site. Not gonna mention who mighta been on that team.

Great tandem after-jump reaction HERE. (right click, save target as...) Dave

Few more moved: 12 way Texel.mpg moved from /UPLOADS/ to /RW/ 12-way Texel.txt moved from /UPLOADS/ to /RW/ Compilado.wmv moved from /UPLOADS/ to /misc/ jjump2.wmv moved from /UPLOADS/ to /base/ djump2.wmv moved from /UPLOADS/ to /base/ joc skydive.mpeg moved from /UPLOADS/ to /misc/ Latvija_skydive_2002.avi moved from /UPLOADS/ to /freefly/ Dave

Is there a Michele? I think that was the name of the person I talked to when I ordered my weight vest a while ago. Dave

Alrighty. ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public/dropzone.com/ should be working. Did I miss any files? DZComRecord.mpg moved from /RW/ to /dropzone.com/ DZcom10-wayRecord.wmv moved from /RW/ to /dropzone.com/ Dz.comLaborDay02.wmv moved from /RW/ to /dropzone.com/ Dz.comLaborDay02.txt moved from /RW/ to /dropzone.com/ DZComRecord.txt moved from /RW/ to /dropzone.com/ good morning eloy.mpg moved from /misc/ to /dropzone.com/ BIG Dz.com-Eloy' 02-vbr.wmv moved from /misc/ to /dropzone.com/ wingnuts xmas eloy video.wmv moved from /freefly/ to /dropzone.com/ Dave

I just spent 4 days there. Both of my brothers live in Manhattan. We had 2 meals that cost around $150 for the 3 of us. Such good food though (and I didn't have to pay a dime my whole time there). The closest thing to a museum I went to was the wax museum near times square. Price to get in was $25 which is pretty insane, but it was amazing. Hundreds of wax people that look amazingly real. I'm not sure if it would be worth $25 to you, but I enjoyed it. One of my brothers works in times square (he's in the building with the gigantic curved TV on the corner and ESPN sportszone on the other size) so he was able to show me around that area. A number of TV shows are filmed around there. Dunno if you're interested, but when they aren't filming you can walk right up to the window and look in at the sets (such as the today show's set). One piece of advice. Take cabs! I would never be able to figure out the subway in just one day. It's nuts! Cabs are fairly cheap. Dave