pilotdave

I think you'll find that they're basically the same. Check what shipping costs on the cookie if you're buying direct from them. I know when I was looking for a lens, a WayCool was going to be $40 for shipping. You can probably put a filter on the cookie and not on the royal (at least not easily), but I wouldn't recommend that anyway so to me that doesn't matter. Dave

And that's why yours has lasted 9 or 10 years. People that tighten it on every jump destroy the collar. I do think the oxygn has a better system for tightening. The chin strap on the Z1 is basically useless because the helmet can rotate forward and off. I've seen people leave the chin strap secured and still put the helmet on and take it off. But it works ok. Dave

All of those are good and have the features you want. You'll really need to try them on to decide which one you like best though. I have a Z1. It's about 6 or 7 years old now with maybe 1000 jumps on it. Works fine... haven't had any problems. I see a lot more issues with oxygn visors... Problems with them coming open. Mamba visors seem to get scratched up really quickly. But they're all good. If you want to look like a 4-way pro, you NEED an oxygn. No question. Dave

Was there a problem with the cypres or did the pilot just descend too fast? It was the tandem cypres that fired? Did the pilot not realize that they fire at 1900 feet? Dave

They are still approved aircraft seatbelts, not the clips that squeak was describing. They just attach to the aircraft at one point. Dave

I just happened to order one a couple hours before you posted. $699 at amazon.com and free shipping. I also had $75 worth of gift certificates (thanks to the amazon.com visa card), so I ended up with a pretty nice deal. I like B&H, but I do most of my big purchases at amazon. Dave

That's odd... you need to open the box to turn the camera on? Doesn't sound like a step forward to me. I really like the FF2. I think it's got a lot of unique features you can't find on any other helmet that make it the safest side mount there is. But there are a few things I wish they'd change (like widening the flat top so a still camera actually fits without creating a huge overhanging snag). Drives me nuts when these companies "improve" their products in the wrong direction. Dave

I have an FF2, but I don't open the box to film landings. I just look through the viewfinder. The box doesn't stay open, so I find it to be a pain to try to use the viewfinder with the camera attached to the helmet unless I really really need it. Dave

There are a lot of dropzones in new england. I'd recommend going to the one closest to where you live. There are no bad choices. Dave

No. It can't even work that way a little. It's either stable or unstable in yaw. Canopies are stable. If you have a small sideslip angle and don't apply any control to correct it, it will not go out of control. It will self correct. That means it turns toward the relative wind. Again, forget gusts of wind because they complicate the situation. Just think about the canopy flying with a little yaw angle compared to the relative wind. Actually, forget canopies for a second and think about a plane. Planes are a bit easier to picture because they have a vertical tail. So picture this... the pilot kicks the right rudder pedal and then brings the pedals back to neutral. The plane yaws right. That causes the relative wind to shift slightly to the left of the nose. What happens next? Does the plane yaw farther to the right, increasing the sideslip angle, or does it yaw to the left, decreasing the sideslip? With a plane, it's pretty obvious that it will yaw back to the left, decreasing the sideslip so it flies straight again. Now imagine a plane flying backwards, so the tail is in the front. The pilot kicks the rudder and then lets go... the tail yaws over to one side. What happens next? Will it self-correct? No, the yaw angle will increase and the plane will spin around until it's flying the other way (backwards, not just flying in the opposite direction). That's the situation you're describing... a plane (canopy) that turns AWAY from the relative wind. Which of those sounds like the canopy you fly? Dave

One of each! Well, Spandura on one, not spandex. Bit more durable than spandex. Dave

Think about how hard it would be to control a canopy if they turned away from gusts. They'd be totally unstable. Forget a gust for the moment and imagine if the canopy temporarily flew slightly sideways through the air. So in other words, it's flying with a little sideslip. What will happen? The sideslip will reduce and the canopy will return to flying straight. In other words, it will turn into the relative wind. What would happen if the opposite was true. A little sideslip would cause the canopy to turn a little more, increasing the sideslip angle. That would make it turn more, and more, and more. It would either turn forever until you apply control to stop it, or it would turn until it's flying backwards. A canopy is stable in all axes. When disturbed, a canopy will return to a stable configuration. If you increase the angle of attack, it will automatically decrease. If you change the bank angle, it will roll out on it's own. And if you yaw to one side, it will recover on it's own to flying straight. Dave

Have one, tested it, and it failed miserably. Works fine after a little modifying. I can't imagine why someone would NOT test it. BTW, testing it doesn't just mean pulling the cutaway handle. Gotta have it under load. A lot of people believe that the regular release mechanism (without a cutaway) will work fine when they need to get the helmet off... but they don't take into account how it will work with a serious load on it. Dave

Again, I would be shocked if max preferred 100 phone calls over one post by you. Is that what you're trying to accomplish? Are we all supposed to email him and call him and then keep the big secret answer to ourselves so the next guy can learn the big secret on his own? To me, that's rude. Dave

Hopefully he's not practicing on tandems like some people do. This thread is heading in directions that scare me... luckily the original poster is scaring me less than the people giving suggestions this time...

Google doesn't like abuse of their system. There's a lot of money involved... it's understandable. From their program policies... Now obviously dropzone.com isn't responsible for threads like this, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be held accountable if there was a significant number of fraudulent ad clicks taking place. But more importantly, why stoop to skyride's level? Let them be the ones doing something wrong. I can see threads like this being quoted all over their next lawsuit. Dave

Not if they want to jump elsewhere... ever.

Google ads can be varied by location. If you're near atlanta, you'll see ads for ASC. If you're near philadelphia, you'll see ads for PA. Skyride probably has ads for every part of the country. I also hope that threads like this don't threaten this site's ability to display google ads... they don't care for that sort of behavior. Dave

So much for taking the high road, huh? Just wait for dz.com to get sued next... Dave

Ugh, I'm out. Didn't realize it's a 4-way competition weekend for me. Can't get out of that... Dave

You can try contacting them directly... http://www.gelvenor.com/ Dave

I actually have that exact same backpack too. Definitely no room for a helmet... mine's absolutely full of everything else I need though. Still camera, cleaning stuff, batteries, tapes, chargers, docking station, LOTS of wires, some blank DVDs, pens, telephoto lens, flash, laptop, paperwork, bidness cards, some tools, video camera remote, etc... No wear issues on mine at all after at least a year and a half of use every weekend. Only problem I had once was picking it up off the floor with the bottom compartment unzipped by accident. Still camera fell out and smashed the ground (plywood floor) lens first... shattered a glass filter on it, but the camera and lens survived. For my FF2, I use a "Brand X" helmet bag from square1. Fits perfectly. Best part is that I didn't buy either bag... backpack was a gift and helmet bag was won in a raffle. I used to use an insulated lunch bag for my camera stuff and a sturdy plastic shopping bag for my camera helmet. I've slowly upgraded over the years... Dave

Don't need to break a riser... Here's an example: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6292 One of his risers just released on opening. Don't know why... connected by a rigger weeks prior. I believe the white loop was not found to be broken. Cutaway cables were long enough, etc... He doesn't use an RSL, but that video shows about what it would have looked like if the RSL-side riser broke or released, since he either pulled his reserve or knocked the handle loose by accident before cutting away the other side. Dave

I believe the theory is that a canopy will turn TOWARD a gust. So if you're flying north and you get a gust of wind from the west, the canopy will turn slightly to the left. But a decrease in wind will act like a gust in the opposite direction. So if you're heading north in a decreasing west wind, your canopy will behave like there's an increasing wind from the east and will slowly turn to the right. A canopy has to turn toward a gust to be stable. If it turned away, it'd be unstable and want to fly backwards. Dave

Anyone know the fuel burn of a PT-6 at idle? How much fuel do ya really burn in a few minutes of idling? Can't find any info online. Our DZ used to have to pay $50 per startup to the plane's owner (due the the wear and tear involved in cycling the engines). We figured (when gas was a whole lot cheaper) that we could let the engines idle for quite a long time before we burned $50 worth of gas. Dave