pilotdave

Single biggest difference I noticed between them was the flare. Powerful flare made the sabre2 much easier for me to land. I was ready to buy a spectre after putting 17 jumps on a demo. Decided to demo a sabre2 just to try it... after 2 jumps, my mind was made up to buy the sabre2. Other people have had the opposite reaction after flying both. Only way to know which you'd like more is to try them both. Dave

Naah, I don't know exactly how many jumps are on the lineset, but it was fairly new when I bought the canopy and I haven't put anywhere near that many jumps on it. The brake lines were fine when the canopy was put in a garbage bag and stored in my closet. 3 years later, the brakes were scary short. I had them let out as much as possible without replacing the lower brake lines... still a little short, but it's safe now. Dave

Totally agree. I paid something like $400 for mine, about 7 years ago. That was probably too much, but I think I've gotten my money's worth. Course it sat in a closet for 3 years after I upgraded to a sabre2. But to me, it's value was too low to sell (along with the rest of the rig), but it still functions fine. Kinda feels like driving a bus sometimes. My only problem is that I almost always jump it with my camera helmet on, since I generally only pull it out to do back-to-back loads to video a 4-way team. It opens a little harder than I prefer with the camera helmet, but not THAT bad. If I start jumping it more often, I'll have to look into a different kind of slider. The slider it has is TINY. I prefer my smaller, faster sabre2 on no wind days. Comes in a LOT faster, but gets such a better flare. Sometimes I come down a little hard when I mis-time my flare with the PD150. Not too bad with some wind, but when it's still moving horizontally, those landings suck. Not as bad since I had the brake lines lengthened... they were so short after sitting in the closet for 3 years (no idea why) that the thing would stall if I held half brakes for more than a few seconds. Dave

Is it the new one with the big knobs on the outside? Pain in the butt... I like the old one much better. Either way, the only tool you need is a coin. But anyway, stick a quarter in the slot on the inside and push to compress the spring... then turn the knob about 90 degrees and it will pop off. Or hold the knob in place and turn the quarter on the inside... If it's the old design, use the quarter on the outside to turn the screw and use your other hand to compress the spring from inside. Dave

That would normally refer to the PD 9-cell 190. The 9-cell is no longer made (which is why it's not on their website anymore). It's an old F111 canopy. I have a PD-150... flies fine, but compared to a modern canopy it opens hard and doesn't flare well. But not too bad. Dave

http://www.unitedparachutetechnologies.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=27 Dave

If a pilot flies like that, he accepts the responsibility. The pilot knows how many cameras are on the plane. It's like the videos of tandem instructors messing around... they know they're being video taped, so they accept that those videos will be seen. Has any pilot ever gotten in trouble for something like this? Our DZ's (former) pilot got in some trouble (well, got talked to) for descending too fast in the traffic pattern. But when someone from the FAA came out, he specifically said he doesn't care how fast the plane goes from 14K to 2K, it's just what he does in the traffic pattern that matters. Dave

I got the Amazon.com visa card and do almost all my expensive shopping there. I know some people hate em, but I've never had any problems with them. Great prices, free shipping, etc. When I bought my camera, I priced it out on B&H and Amazon. B&H had the better price, but with shipping it was within a dollar of Amazon. And with the Amazon credit card, I get reward points, so to me the difference is worth it. Decided to pick up a new memory card and spare battery yesterday. Amazon was a bit cheaper for both (exact same stuff) and the shipping was free. I like B&H, but it's hard to compete with cheap and reliable. Dave

There are plenty of pics of skyhook deployments out there, but here are a few more I took yesterday of an intentional cutaway: http://www.skydivingstills.com/gallery/3302238. I've seen a bunch of videos of it, but seeing it in person made me even happier to have one in my rig. Wish I could have tried it myself, but all we could get was a demonstration this weekend. Dave

I considered a rawa as my second choice when I ended up with an FF2. There are a few things I don't like about the rawa, but they're pretty nice. I don't own one, so someone that does can correct me if I'm wrong on anything... Thumb screw holds the door closed and the camera in. If you want to open the door in the plane for example, you need to remove the thumb screw, which also allows the camera to fall out. Can be easily modified with a strap to hold the camera in though. But if you lose the thumb screw, you're screwed. FF2 has all captive thumbscrews (to hold the door closed and the camera on... two separate thumb screws)... they loosen, but they stay in place so you can't lose them. The thumb screw is also exposed on the bottom of the camera box... seems like a nice snag point to me. FF2 has the thumb screw under the padding, inside the helmet. Easy to get to, and the dbox is completely smooth and contoured to deflect lines. Rawa has no cutaway option. A must for stills, in my opinion. Camera isn't adjustable in a rawa. FF2 has a lot of adjustment, which also lets it hold a wider variety of cameras. Rawa has the soft forehead area... need a longer rod for a ring site, if you use one. But the Rawa is cheaper and a lot easier to get since they aren't custom made. I think they're pretty nice, but not quite as nice as the FF2. A little lighter too, but not enough to feel the difference once a still camera is mounted. I've held one in each hand and couldn't tell the difference. Dave

Here's the back side of my FF2 after getting painted recently with the logo of the company sponsoring the 4-way team I'm doing video for. Dave

The original source: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3353. (I know, cause I'm the one that converted it from VHS

They reverse images very often in all kinds of magazines. It often helps keep the reader's eyes flowing around the page the way they want. For example, pictures of moving objects are usually oriented so they look like they're moving ONTO the page, not off of it. So if they want a picture of a plane on the far left hand edge of a page, they'll want it flying to the right. Sometimes they have to reverse pictures to get what they want, which looks silly when they leave in details that make it obvious. Dave

Ummm, maybe a new XL for the price of two 2nd hand caravans? At least in the US... Dave

Don't know. I assume it's in the flight manual, but I've never checked. But yes, either way, the plane is owned by someone else that insists on it anyway. And we can't hot fuel because it requires approval by the town fire marshall, who happens to hate us. We use a battery cart for starts. Dave

Our DZ's been using a 208B with seatbelts for 21. We limit to 17 due to a short runway. Climbs slow enough with 17 and it's tight enough... wouldn't want to find out what it's like with 21 on board. We had a super otter before the caravan. One difference is that we have a mandatory 20 minute cool down after every shutdown with the caravan. Super otter could start right back up. Since we aren't allowed to hot fuel, the cool down time can make a big difference to us on busy days. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6062 Thanks! Dave

Aircraft certification is pretty complicated... new versions of older designs can follow the rules that were in place when the original version was certified. The manufacturer has to work with the FAA to determine what certification basis they will be using. There are tons of aircraft in production now that could not be certified if they were designed today. I'd bet that most aircraft in production now don't meet the latest and greatest standards. Dave

I put 6 or 7 jumps on an Optimum 143 demo this weekend. Loaded at around 1:1 (or maybe a little more). LOVED it. I've demoed a PDr 143 before (never had a chance to jump my own), and I thought it was great. The Optimum flies even better. First jump was a hop n' pop. I was a little nervous about how hard it would open at terminal. Had it in my backup rig and just planned to do a few hop n' pops between other jumps. Well, I ended up needing that rig for freefall, so I bit the bullet and took it to terminal. Opening was GREAT. Ok, I guess I wouldn't fault a reserve for opening a bit hard, but this one opened considerably softer than the PD 9-cell that usually lives in that rig. I thought maybe it was a fluke or the guy that packed it knew what he was doing better than me, so I packed it myself and jumped it again. Another perfect opening. Not as soft as my Sabre2, but definitely not hard or even brisk. Jumped it with my camera helmet at terminal with absolutely no problem. Played around up high with it a bit. Felt a lot zippier than the PD-150 (course it is smaller). I could easily do a front riser 360... can't do that with the 9-cell. Not that I care about front riser turns. Flew great in deep brakes too... Did a bunch of practice flares on my first jump... Hard to tell how the flare will be up high though. I knew it'd have more flare than the regular PDr 143, but I was still surprised. It's not as much flare power as my sabre2, but it was still really easy to land, even slightly downwind. The flare started off nice, but I was expecting it to kind of drop me at the end, like my PD-150. But nope, it gives a really nice flare all the way through. Someone watching told me he was shocked it didn't stall and drop me on my back at the end of the flare, like some reserves have been known to do. I just wish I could keep the demo as my main in my backup rig! Oh and having one for a reserve would be kinda nice too... In case anyone's wondering, the going price these days seems to be around $1260 from most dealers. Dave

If I remember correctly, that one was absolutely due to a maintenance deficiency. I heard a talk by the NTSB investigator on that accident a couple years ago... I'm pretty sure the airline hadn't been lubricating the jackscrew properly.... Or something like that. Dave

Actually, for Part 91 operations (non-airline-type-stuff, like skydiving), following the manufacturer's recommended time between overhauls is not mandatory. I'd bet a lot of turbine engines on jump planes are well beyond TBO and still operating legally and safely. Dave

Did the price of the FF2 go up? I believe mine, with cutaway and cameye installed, was just under $600 shipped. I guess the carbon fiber version might be $100 more? Dave

I'd recommend the FF2 over the FFX. Way more convenient. Really no increased snag hazard due to the door. Dave

Stamford. No DZs right around there (I wish there was...that's near me). The Ranch and Connecticut Parachutists are probably the closest DZs. Neither one would be easy to get to, unless you can find a ride. Hour and a half to two hours. Also skies the limit... similar time. Dave

Nope. Both compartments are pressurized anyway. But even unpressurized, it won't hurt the altimeter. Dave