pilotdave

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Everything posted by pilotdave

  1. pilotdave
    Yup... main side tracking off as soon as the student deploys... reserve side sticking around till the student goes YOINK. Lots more pics on my stills site... if you're THAT bored.
  2. pilotdave
    Not my best shots, but here are some from this past weekend... First one is kinda cool... hard to tell if he's upside down or right side up. Last one is a guy waving off on a recurrency jump... first jump in 6 years! He did a great job. Dave
  3. pilotdave
    http://www.styleandaccuracy.com/ I don't do it (though I've been trying all year to get someone to sell me his old accuracy rig), but there's a bunch of accuracy jumpers at my DZ. It's definitely something you'll want to find a mentor for... Very different... looks like fun, in that geezer sort of way.
  4. pilotdave
    That's more like 90+% of the time for me. I've had them back the machine up and have someone else take a look at the x-ray, but I don't think I've ever had them actually take the bag off the machine and look at it, let alone swab it. At most I've gotten "is that a parachute? Thanks! We've never seen one before!" Most of the time my rig doesn't get any more scrutiny than my bag of dirty laundry (on the way home, of course). I always wonder if they're so well trained that they instantly know to let it through, or if they're so poorly trained that they don't notice there's anything funny about that bag. Dave
  5. pilotdave
    Landing in jump planes can be scary because we're not used to it. I really don't like it. But in reality, you're much safer landing in the plane than jumping out... ESPECIALLY in gusty conditions. 182 wings don't collapse in gusts. Dave
  6. pilotdave
    I always always always carry on. Never had any problems, even flying international. Well, I was over the weight limit for carry-ons on Swissair (by a pound or so). But they eventually let me on when I started asking about insurance for checked bags. Dave
  7. pilotdave
    Well, the waiver isn't needed for a 16 year old with parental consent. Our DZ has trained a bunch at the age of 16 (skydivers' kids and grandkids only). Dave
  8. pilotdave
    Yeah, unlike all those other quick releases out there that DON'T require you to buy something new when you get a different camera... Dave
  9. pilotdave
    Yep, it's the instructor's call... I didn't meet the requirements when I chased my first tandem. Probably had 250-300 jumps or so. I didn't know the manufacturer's rules at the time though. Dave
  10. pilotdave
    Well that was about as useless a peice of advice as I have ever read. You guys need to understand that people are going to do these things whether you approve of it or not so unless you can give something more constructive then "Don't do it, it's dangerous" don't waste anyones times by posting. "Don't do it" is a valid answer if that's what they believe is the best advice. If someone asked about jumping out of a plane with no rig, "don't do it" would be a pretty good response. But I know that they'd come back with "don't tell me not to do it, just tell me how to do it safely." Dave
  11. pilotdave
    UPT says: 500 RW jumps or a tandem or AFF rating 100 jumps within the last year And if you want to bring a camera along, you need those requirements plus at least 100 camera jumps. But in the end, it's up to the tandem instructor to decide. He's the one responsible for the student's safety. Dave
  12. pilotdave
    But where do ya mount the cameras??
  13. pilotdave
    Any format will work fine if the resolution is high enough. Jpeg isn't necessarily the best as far as quality goes, but it will work fine and keep the file sizes reasonable. You won't be able to tell the difference in format after printing. Dave
  14. pilotdave
    Well, there's an amazing variation in actual read/write speeds between brands and types of compact flash cards. Can't go by what the packaging says. I'm sure it's true of all types of flash memory. There are reviews online... I don't remember any particular sites off the top of my head. I just know to avoid cheap brands because I don't like losing pictures. I've heard people say that their cameras take pictures faster with the latest and greatest technology... when in reality their cameras don't even support the higher write speeds. Reliability is going to be more important than write speed. Dave
  15. pilotdave
    Do you have the camera yet or are you trying to choose a camera based on the memory cards it takes? If you have the camera already, you can narrow down your search... Dave
  16. pilotdave
    Buy the kind that fits in your device.
  17. pilotdave
    Not for a while (if your DZ is into that whole safety thing). How many jumps you'll need will be up to the tandem instructor, but at least one manufacturer of tandem equipment requires 500 RW jumps before you can come along. Jumping with tandems isn't something you want to be doing until you're really really in control. They can be weird to stay with... and being in the wrong place could kill all three of you. I've seen a couple very experienced jumpers end up on top of tandem pairs... not a good place to be. Dave
  18. pilotdave
    You can't jump with a defective cypres in your rig. You can remove it and jump without it if you want. But you can also try to get a loaner unit while yours is being repaired. I don't know how hard it is to get one, but I know my DZ got a few while ours were out. Most of the cypres2s must have been fixed by now, so I wouldn't be surprised if they had most of their loaners back now. Dave
  19. pilotdave
    Why? They work great... ...for belly slitting and in urchin processing. Dave
  20. pilotdave
    FYI, Paul Quade has an article on why adjusting the sight to nearby objects is a bad idea... http://www.futurecam.com/sightingIn.html Dave
  21. pilotdave
    I hated to do it, but i finally disconnected my skyhook when i added a ringsight to my camera helmet. I don't remember hearing any camera entanglement stories, but there have been a lot of ringsight entanglements including fatalities. Skyhook got reconnected today before a 2000 foot hop n' pop though! Dave
  22. pilotdave
    I'm sure that was just what the last couple people that went in were thinking right before they hit... Dave
  23. pilotdave
    Can't say I've found too many people that agree, but for me, the more dogs the better. Dropzone dogs. Dave
  24. pilotdave

    A- 145945

    pilotdave replied to auburnguy's topic in The Bonfire

    Not a valid license number... A's are in the 50,000s now (in the US). Dave
  25. pilotdave
    http://www.skydivingmovies.com/cutawaystills/ Dave