pilotdave

I don't know if they show a price somewhere else on their site that's more current, but in March of 2006 an article in the press section of their site says "The plane’s current base price is $1.3 million includes a three screen Garmin G1000 avionics suite." That would be about the same price as a PAC750, but I would be very surprised if the price hadn't gone up over the last year. Also that's not the price for a plane outfitted for skydiving, which I would hope would run a little cheaper. Dave

Unfortunately the email server is still down after our hard drive upgrade. That means nobody can get any emails from the site, including registration and passwords. I'm sure Matt will get it fixed soon. I'd probably set the site up temporarily to allow downloads without registering, but the ftp server is down too, so I can't make any changes. Best way to get your password is to email me at skydaveg-sdm AT yahoo and please mention skydivingmovies.com in the subject line so it doesn't look like spam. Dave

I just had a great experience with them. I had a little problem with my vector 3 (cracked riser cover stiffener). Ended up in Deland for a day, and a friend had some damage he wanted looked at, so we went over to UPT's rigging shop. Pablo was incredibly helpful. My riser covers are being replaced for free (with a little redesign and new stiffener material) on my 3 year old rig. When I mentioned I needed my canopy relined, he had the PD service form printed out for me in about a minute. He cut away my canopy and handed it to me in the dbag with the pilot chute attached... I dropped it off just like that at PD, who will (when it's done), walk it next door to UPT to get reassembled. He really couldn't have been more helpful... Gave me a pile of elastic keepers when i mentioned I had just lost one. My friend had reserve riser damage, so he demonstrated on some webbing what kind of damage actually weakens webbing and what causes it. My experience by email hasn't been as good as in person... Haven't tried the phone yet. Dave

I've cleaned my sensor with just a little air puffer thing that came in a cleaning kit I bought from B&H. Take the lens off, point the camera at the ground and point the puffer into the opening (with the camera in the sensor cleaning mode), and puff away a few times. Really easy and cleaned all the dust off. I was looking at a bunch of skydiving photo galleries on SmugMug and I couldn't believe how many people were selling pictures covered with dust specks. It's really not hard to get rid of them. But it IS very annoying to find them on all your pictures after a weekend... Dave

For what? I don't think I could reach that tail rotor if I jumped while wearing stilts. Dave

They backed off on that last year and changed it to allow D-license holders too. But individual DZs can still require students to only jump with ratings holders. Dave

If you travel more (to boogies or just other DZs), you'll find more hassles. For example not being able to jump with non-instructors/coaches, and having to get an AFF instructor to check your card before you can jump. The things you still have to learn will also make you a better, safer skydiver. Those coach jumps are extremely valuable. I think it used to be pretty common to skip the A-license and move straight to a B or C, but with the ISP that's a bit more pointless... you still have to do all the coach jumps and you pretty much get your A automatically. Dave

Don't touch anything that moves. Don't plan to be in control for your first few seconds of freefall, so make sure you're getting enough altitude to get stable and track away from the rest of your group. Dave

No, the 350D (XT) doesn't have the sensor cleaner. It does have a sensor cleaning option in the menu, but that's to move the mirror out of the way so you can manually clean the sensor. Dave

I haven't updated it in a long time, but you can see a bunch of screen shots from malfunction videos at http://www.skydivingmovies.com/cutawaystills/. Dave

I left my vector 3 at the UPT rigging shop in deland a couple weeks ago to get the riser covers replaced (which they're doing for free, under warranty, on a 3 year old rig). Had a problem with the stiffener in the riser covers cracking. Anyway, I aksed about getting magnetic riser covers instead and was told it would require building a whole new yoke... not really a viable option. Dave

I have some friends in that area (working on base). Have fun hanging out at the Super Walmart on friday nights because they say that's all there is to do out there! But every day is like an airshow, if you like that sort of thing... Oh, stay FAR away from a place called Rosies or something like that. Ask a local... Dave

I don't think it was a released toggle on her reserve. I could be wrong, but I don't remember ever reading that. On the main, yes... I think she was practicing rear riser turns with her brakes stowed and knocked one loose without realizing it. I can't watch the video right now, but I'm pretty sure her reserve slider didn't make it more than about half way down. I think it was a tension knot or something. Videos: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=search&search=do&string=shayna&searchtype=allwords&click=1&sortby=datedesc Dave

People seem to forget that she had a real live reserve malfunction. I have no idea if it was something she could have fixed or not, but she really did spiral into the ground under a malfunctioning reserve. Yeah, she shouldn't have cut away her main, but that was a simple student mistake. I don't understand why she gets such a hard time and gets made fun of so much. I think she's actually brought some great publicity to the sport. Sucks that it took a bad accident for that to happen, but this really is a dangerous sport afterall. Dave

This is out of date so most of the links are broken, but every school on the list has had a skydiving club and many still do: http://www.studentorg.umd.edu/cpsc/OtherClubs.html At least 5 schools in Ohio alone... that has to help. Dave

That camera is 3.25 inches wide. That's over an inch wider than a PC1000. I don't think you're going to want it side mounted... Dave

Bill Booth's explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1J_zE3eFdw Dave

Bill Booth 1 Bill Booth 2 Dave

Skyride's alter ego Thrillplanet "partners with" E! Channel: http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/26725005cp.shtml Dave

When planning the time between groups, you need to take into account tracking. Bigger groups do tend to track farther, so you need to give them more time. The time we wait between groups of any size should take into account someone tracking straight toward you while you track straight toward him. You need to be far enough apart when you exit that you're still far enough apart when you open, after everybody tracks. If freeflyers go first, you increase the odds of the belly flyers drifting over the top of them. Bad in case of a premature and bad because groups will be closer at opening altitude. Because the big way will tend to fall slower, and therefore drift farther. And they tend to take more time to set up in the door, so going first gives them time to set up before reaching the exit point (assuming they go first). Dave

This one might: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2466485#2466485. Dave

It can be done, but it requires a lot of code... For example: http://www.codeproject.com/Ajax/AjaxWebServices.asp. Dave

Back up and running fast as hell right now. Still sorting out some problems though. If you get logged out, just log back in. I'm trying to solve that problem. Dave

I'd recommend returning it altogether and buying another from Miami (http://web.mac.com/miami78/iWeb/Site/Schumacher%20QuickShoe.html). You'll save $20, and he won't tell you it's supposed to do that. Dave

I think there's confusion between "drift" and "sliding." They aren't the same thing... Slower fallers have more drift (with the airmass), and whoever moves around more in relation to the airmass is sliding more. Billvon is saying that freeflyers slide more and belly flyers drift more. I'm not sure it makes a difference who slides more... encroaching on someone elses airspace is bad no matter who it is. But the whole idea behind putting RW groups out first (on an upwind jumprun) is that they are exposed to the wind longer, and therefore drift farther (away from the faster falling groups). It is unlikely (assuming an upwind jumprun) for an RW group to drift under (or over) a freefly group. They drift the other way. This is really important to understand... nobody should go suggesting that we change the exit order without understanding why it is the way it is. Dave