pilotdave

I'm not saying it's a good idea, but a change in equipment can bring a change in best procedures. IF a skyhook (I said IF) gets the reserve out faster by cutting away than by firing the reserve under a low speed malfunction, AND it works reliably, couldn't it be a better option? A couple of RWS employees posted a while back that they would prefer to cut away in a situation like that than to fire the reserve into the mal... I don't know if it's the right thing to do, but just because it's not traditional doesn't necessarily make it wrong. Dave

All that matters is horizontal distance covered over a fixed vertical distance. Best glide ratio wins, regardless of horizontal or vertical speed. If you race for horizontal distance over a fixed time, you might get very different results. A freeflyer might be able to backslide REALLY fast in a head-down position and get an incredible horizontal speed... but a terrible glide ratio. "Tracking" like that won't work after breakoff, where you have a fixed vertical distance between breakoff and pull altitude. Dave

Yep, you can see it at http://skyvector.com. Says "CAUTION: Intensive Parachute Activity at or below 18,000 MSL Advisory freq 122.75 or SOCAL 134.0" There's another similar warning a little farther to the south. Another DZ at Skylark airport? Dave

I'm not sure I get your point, but anyway I was comparing static line to IAD, not AFF... Dave

Ya know non-member companies can promote their products at the PIA symposium, right? Vigil included... Dave

Never been to eloy, but they have 2 landing areas, right? If I wanted to land into the wind, I guess I'd land in the other landing area. I have no problem with landing direction being limited for narrow landing areas. But I do have a problem with direction being limited for the convenience of a swoop lane. Maybe swoopers don't get to swoop when the wind direction isn't convenient? No need for a knee-jerk reaction: let's just change all our landing areas so we only land in one direction... and stop offering AFF! That's not knee-jerk? Dave

Blame your DZ and instructors. I was shocked last year when one of the new jumpers mentioned that Scott Miller's course was just a review of what she learned in AFF. I sure as hell didn't learn all of that in AFF, but the ISP and instructors that have gone through canopy courses change EVERYTHING. Scott Miller is putting himself out of business every time he teaches an AFF instructor. Dave

So we should stop jumping when the crosswind is too strong instead of just landing into the wind? I don't mind making some changes to give the swoopers a separate place to land, but I'm not willing to go that far. I once watched a 152 land across a (grass) runway, onto a DZ, so he could land into the wind. Good thing it was too windy to be jumping that day.

Does your DZ teach the traditional 7-jump AFF program, or the full ISP? I might have agreed with you about canopy control and AFF when I did it, but the ISP does place a huge emphasis on canopy control. You get just as much canopy time in 15 AFF/ISP jumps as you do in 15 static line (or IAD... why does anybody still do static line?) jumps. No reason the same things can't be learned using either method. Under the ISP, certain (different) canopy skills are to be practiced on each jump. I was also a pilot when I started skydiving. I think knowing about traffic patterns helps a lot. But crosswind landings? I don't see the relevance. Without a vertical stabilizer, crosswind landing technique is completely different for a parachute than a plane. I do agree though that students shouldn't be afraid of crosswind landings. Our DZ is long and narrow, so we do them all the time when it's light wind. Dave

I think you're talking about a small fraction of swoopers and a TINY fraction of skydivers. MOST swoopers are just skydivers that end their jumps with some sort of speed-inducing turn. Those swoopers that mainly do hop n' pops to avoid traffic conflicts and make swooping their entire priority aren't necessarily a problem. Conflicts are caused when you mix two different traffic patterns in the same place. Swoopers may fly a very predictable pattern, but it is not the same pattern that non-swoopers fly. They can't mix in the same airspace at the same time. Hop n' pops are a great way to keep them from mixing, but obviously most swoopers swoop on normal skydives and some DZs discourage or dissallow low passes. Dave

If email won't work, you can upload to skydivingmovies.com... I'm sure a lot of other people would like to see how bad the vibration is. Dave

That's one solution to the problem! You volunteering to pay the lost revenue to the owner of this site? I prefer the "stop dealing with skyride so they go out of business" solution. Who cares how many websites they have after they stop answering their phones... Dave

I saw it done years ago very cheap, but I have no idea how safe. Rigger covered a piece of carpet padding with cordura, and attached it to the back of the pack tray. (I think it was just one piece... might have had more on the sides too). Very clean... dunno how he attached it, but it was easily removable. That a safe solution? Dave

It has been discussed before. They have to block each site individually, and do so when someone points out another skyride fake DZ site. It'd make things a lot easier if google wouldn't advertise for scam websites, but that's a different story. Same problem on SkydivingMovies.com... and since they give different ads by location, I can't even see them to know they need to be blocked. Dave

My FF2, with cutaway and cameye installed, was nearly $600 (US) including shipping. But worth it! I haven't found another side mount helmet that's more snag-proof. The cutaway adds about $100. Dave

I have to agree... no reason to fight dirty when they could be put out of business (or forced to change their tactics if they wish to remain in business) so easily. All it takes is for the greedy or misguided DZOs to just stop doing business with them. What DZs? Well, here's an incomplete (and hopefully outdated) list I received a while back: Air Adventures of Clewiston Alabama Skydiving Center Alaska Skydiving Center Arizona Skydiving Coolidge Atlanta Skydiving Center Bay Area Skydiving Boston/Hartford Skydiving Center at Danielson CT Canton Air Sports Carolina Sky Sports Central Arkansas Para Center Cleveland Parachute Center, Inc. Colorado Skysports Desert Skydiving Center Eugene Skydivers Florida Skydiving Center Freefall Express Skydiving Greene County Sport Parachute Center - KY Pacific Coast Skydiving Pacific Skydiving Center Parachute Center at Lodi Paradise Skydives Skydive California City Skydive Greensburg Skydive Hawaii Skydive Idaho Skydive Lake of the Ozarks Skydive Mesquite Skydive N'Awlins! Skydive San Francisco Skydive Skyranch Wright Brothers Skydiving Anyone have updates? I heard a rumor that Boston/Hartford dropped them, but haven't confirmed. Dave

In the US, we're required to use approved (TSOd) aircraft seatbelts... just like the ones in airliners. Dave

I think the fact that a skyhook will produce a slightly quicker reserve opening compared to a standard RSL is one of its least important benefits. If I'm low enough that it matters, I'm probably too scared to cut away anyway. But the skyhook does fix many of the problems/concerns associated with a standard RSL. I can understand why Bill Booth would have a different opinion of the Skyhook (regardless of who invented it) and a standard RSL. Dave

Here's a free program that should be able to convert them to avi format, which you can then pull into movie maker: http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm. Download Rad Video Tools. Dave

I can't remember if I've tried this with my PC1000, but can you just plug it into your USB port and let the computer treat it like any other digital camera? Or just buy a cheapo memory card reader... mine was about $5. I'm not sure there's any reason you need sony's software. Dave

I dunno... I put one jump on a raven 170 (dunno which model that is) to test it when someone was complaining of a built-in turn. It opened MUCH harder than my PD150, which I'd say opens fast but not "hard." I've been jumping the PD150 all winter while my Sabre2 was getting relined. It's like slamming the brakes in your car. The raven was more like hitting a brick wall. The sabre2... ahhhh... jumped it saturday... it's like jumping into a pool of jello. The raven flew fine... like driving a bus I guess. Landed ok, for an old 7-cell. Dave

He finally graduated from medical school, huh?? Congrats! Dave

I think your argument is stupid, but I still think you're right. Not all skydivers track as if their lives truly depend on it. And on an average jump, we can get away with not tracking very well. But there are BASE jumps where the jumper will literally die if he doesn't track flat enough. There are plenty of skydivers that can't track well. There aren't any BASE jumpers making jumps that REQUIRE good tracking that can't track well... well, some might make one jump like that... Dave

Riva uses ffmpeg to encode, which can't convert the later versions of WMV files. I think it can convert up to windows media 8 or something... can't remember the details. I ran into that problem a while ago. It would just take an extra step... convert to avi (or whatever) and then from there convert to flv. That only applies if the wmv file is one of the latest versions. I know there's a version of ffmpeg out there that can be compiled to convert the later wmv files, but you have to compile the source code yourself. Dave

Does it matter? There's not much reason to mount a camera on the right side, and I'd recommend a purpose-built camera helmet if you do want to mount a camera... you will likely end up with a huge gap between the camera and the helmet, which is a huge snag point. I prefer a side-mount myself, but most of those helmets give me the heebee geebees. Dave