pilotdave

I don't find that strange at all. There's just one set of standards. It's a short enough course that I don't see why it's such a big deal. Dunno where you teach, but where I went to college I have serious doubts many of my professors had any formal training in teaching. I still remember what my Statics prof said to the class after the average on his first test was a failing grade... "I understand this. I taught you! Why don't you understand this?" Dave

Hang on... lemme raise my prices real quick! http://www.skydivingstills.com/keyword/cpi-aerial#331184114_xnF78 And congrats! Dave

You're back in the lead! Dave

Here's your competition: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/684615[/url] http://www.usatoday.com/marketing/brand_mkt/openair/photo_contest/flash.htm. Dave

Something to keep in mind... I got my A-license not THAT long ago. AFF was 7 jumps. Then you needed 13 more solos and you were a licensed skydiver. There was a written test, but not a checkdive (at least I never did one). I took a packing class before I got my A-license, but I couldn't really pack myself. I did a couple of coach jumps with an experienced jumper, but they were optional, there was no curriculum, no pass criteria, and no such thing as a coach rating. I did a fall rate jump and a side slide jump. It would take a really sucky coach nowadays to create new A-license holders that are worse than most of us were when we got licensed under the old system. I am blown away by how much better new licensed jumpers are now and how much more they know. So are coaches the weakest link? Well, weakest link of what chain? They're putting out some durn good skydivers. Maybe better coaches make better skydivers, but do bad coaches really make bad skydivers, or do their students just not get all they could out of the coach jumps? Dave

http://www.usatoday.com/marketing/brand_mkt/openair/photo_contest/flash.htm I must have randomly checked at just the right time... I was vote #2. Dave

Actually all airplanes are certified for zero-G... it's an FAR. That's structural only of course. You're right about the effect on fuel/oil systems. § 23.337 Limit maneuvering load factors. (b) The negative limit maneuvering load factor may not be less than— (1) 0.4 times the positive load factor for the normal utility and commuter categories; However, I'll take an ATP over a skydiver flying me to altitude any day. Any time I hear about a plane regularly doing something that's within it's limits but outside of it's normal intended operation, I get nervous. Any plane can handle a zero-G pushover. But most planes are not designed to have their wings loaded and unloaded over and over again (aside from taking off and landing). A more extreme case of this has caused a series of wing spar failures in older aircraft that previously had no history of spar failures. Also gotta think about other stuff in the aircraft that could come lose. A blackhawk helicopter crashed years ago when a pilot was messing around at low altitude.... He pushed the nose over, a wheel chock flew forward and jammed a flight control. Zero-G is fun, but I can live without it. Almost went through the aft partition of a caravan and almost tossed my camera helmet when the pilot (who later got fired by the aircraft owner for other issues) did some unexpected zero-G. Another time we had everybody on the plane fly toward the tail. LUCKILY we were still low enough to have our seatbelts on, so nobody moved too far. That one could have been BAD... Dave

At 1200 feet, if you're AAD equipped, chances are your AAD will fire pretty much as soon as your main stands you up... even if you're still well above 750 feet. Dave

Damn it I wish skydiving Movies would just fucking work without any login. That's a pain in the ass. Did you click the link above? No login required when a guest pass is used. Having to log in sucks and keeps a lot of people out. That's why SkydivingMovies.com still exits.

I don't think those are any different. Just different shops calling it something slightly different. I have the lens and love it. It's not as nice as the 70-200L (4 versions of that one), but it's much much smaller and lighter and has a bit more zoom. You can see tons of landing pics I've taken with it on my stills site to get an idea of what it's like. I have heard a lot of people say that they can never go back after upgrading to one of the 70-200s though. The 70-200 f/4 non-IS is in a similar price range I think. Might be worth looking at. Dave

Thats the reason I was taught to put it on anyway (aside from the obvious reason)... Could be a myth... I never really thought about it. The reason didn't matter since it's on the checklist. Dave

Just out of curiosity, why no carb heat on descent? I've never flown a 182, but I always used carb heat when operating below the green arc in the 172s I used to fly to help prevent shock cooling. Different with a constant speed prop? Dave

Really thorough review and comparison with the 40D: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos50d/ Dave

Everyone's gotta make things so difficult... Dave

Step 1: Autofocus Step 2: Sports mode Step 3: Have fun ...Step 4: Review the settings your camera chose for each picture and learn what worked and what didn't. Once you have figured out what you'd like to change, you can stop using a fully-automatic mode on the camera and choose your own settings. Or do it the hard way and read a book and learn to use the camera before putting it on your head. Booooring. Dave

April to November would be pretty typical in the northeast for most jumpers and tandem operations. At our DZ in CT, we stay open all year. But only a pretty small group of jumpers keeps going all winter. We're the only DZ in new england that stays open, so we tend to get jumpers from all over in the winter. Dave

Here's a pic from an XTi using the built in flash. Too bad his sign folded in half... Dave

It's not just you... Here's a front view. Dave

Damn... that had to be the 5th cutaway of the boogie. First 4 were all our non-winged friends. Thought we'd defy the odds!

Sounds like I left too early, huh? My pics will be up at http://www.skydivingstills.com/gallery/5790152_iVTar#358489894_EZ992 Just a random smattering uploaded so far... haven't gone through them all yet. Dave

Don't be so sure... people have reported having digital altimeters lock up in freefall. Dave

That's what's on his camera, not mine.

From last weekend. Dave

Do a search on here. It's been discussed many times since the CX7 came out. DSE has listed which programs are compatible and which are not...multiple times. Dave

corey_18mm.jpg is a swoop on a Velo a few feet from me. It's not a great shot... just included because that's probably the most background blur I got with that lens. But that's autofocus as he came by me at close range. A better lens is better... no argument there. But to say that you can't use autofocus to take landing pictures with that lens is just wrong. It might just be my mission in life to convince you that the canon 18-55 lens isn't so bad. Dave