Aviatrr

Damn....there's a good poisoning? I had no idea.. Mike

When you figure out when you're coming down, let me know....I'm about 15 minutes from MCO, and if I'm off that weekend, I'll pick ya up at the airport and head down to Sebastian with ya. Mike

Tampa to ZHills....about 40-45 minutes. Closest airport to Sebastian with airline service is Melbourne(MLB) at about 25 miles. Not a major airport, but I think all the airlines fly mainline jets in there. MCO is the next closest, about 85 miles(80 of it interstate). Mike

She hasn't modeled the Pantz for you yet?! Don't worry....get her a few beers, and tell her to put 'em on...she'll be begging you to slap her ass.. Mike

Do you have an axe to grind or something? Give it a rest. This subject seems to come up every year or so. Try doing a search here and on the internet if you want to know what people think. Don't waste our time and HH's bandwidth. Mike

Well, that pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? You had never landed a canopy on just rear risers before...and I don't think this would have been a good time to find out whether you could or not. The winds were funky, and it was turbulent(I was there - the guy that talked to you just after you geared up, and tried to chase your main after you chopped). At least if you try to land your canopy on rears after a normal opening, you still have toggles available(and in your hands) to bail out to those if the landing goes bad with rears. Would I have landed it with rears? Yep....but I've done it quite a few times, so I'm comfortable with it. Losing a main, freebag, handles, etc. should never come into the decision making process. You also commented about following the main down....well, IMNSHO, you would've been incredibly stupid(and quite possible injured or dead) if you had attempted to do so. The general area it came down in is mostly trees, with maybe some small clearings. Everything may have been cool right up until you descended below the tree line and caught the rotors off the trees that can easily collapse your canopy. I guess there was no luck with the guy that went out looking for your canopy the next day, huh? Mike

It seems that there are many varying opinions on what the best deployment method is on an S3....full flight, full freefall, or somewhere in between...so I'm curious - what do all of you that are flying S3's do? Mine is coming in less than a week, and I'll be jumping it hopefully next weekend. I have not ever had any kinda of PC hesitation on my Classic, but I know the burble is much larger on the S3...though I thought the back deflector was supposed to give you a cleaner airstream for better deployments. My rig has a 25"ZP PC, 100" bridle, and open corners for better deployments in flight. All but one of my deployments have been within 30 degrees of on heading, and most are perfectly on heading. Mike

Yep....MD-11 Captain with FDX. Mike

I know the perfect job for you then....gear sales.. Mike

It seems that most mid level companies right now are short on A&P's, and having a hard time finding qualified people. The larger companies, such as the major airlines, will always have a fairly steady supply because they generally pay better than the mid level companies....but not a tremendous amount more it seems. Helicopters are pretty lucrative, because there is a pretty major shortage of good helicopter mechanics...unfortunately for me, they're nowhere near as lucrative to fly. Don't get too excited about working for a DZ unless it's a large, stable DZ with several aircraft....and even then, the pay won't be the best. Most DZ's that only have one or two small planes don't have a "mechanic" on staff.....they often have a mechanic/pilot/videographer/jack-of-all-trades....well, you get my drift...they have to be able to do much more than just turn wrenches. Mike

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Not that! NEVER use that phrase again! Mike

Why would you want a little pussy airplane like the 124? Go big or go home. AN-225 ... Mike

A good friend of mine has had an ejection from an F16. He said it was like "being kicked in the ass, face, and chest all at once". They were doing 300knots or so at 2500ft when they ejected. Luckily they had a chance to gain some altitude and slow down before ejecting. They were originally at about 200ft and doing about 500knots. He survived the ejection(and his student did as well) with very minor cuts and bruises....didn't get injured on the landing....but broke his leg when he stepped in a gopher hole while running over to the other guy.. He still hasn't heard the end of it...and it was at least 6 years ago.. Mike

I doubt the soft reserve handle was a problem....unless he was a schmuck and had it tucked under the MLW and never checked it before exit(and after donning the rig for that matter). You make it sound as if he didn't deploy his main OR reserve....which makes it sound like much more than a case of a soft reserve handle problem to me. I've had several cutaways with a soft reserve handle. I don't use an RSL. My Cypres never fired. I pulled the handle every time...and it was just as easy as pulling the cutaway handle. I'm a believer in the soft handle for all of my freefall rigs. CReW rigs are a different story. Some people swear by soft handles....some swear that they are nearly impossible to pull....others are somewhere in between. I've had people tell me that a soft reserve handle will kill me someday. I've seen video of a guy getting his reserve deployed at about 160mph, head down. He broke his pelvis on the opening. Luckily the reserve didn't blow up. Somebody went for a harness grip, and got his hand inside a D ring. Everybody says that you can solve that problem by not jumping with people that are not capable of taking a grip without compromising your D ring....well, these guys had several hundred freefly jumps together, and thousands total....and were doing a normal part of their routine. Shit happens. The bottom line is...it's your choice. Choose what you are comfortable with, NOT what other people say you should be comfortable with or they think is safe. Mike

Deland is kinda clique-ish....it's a big team DZ, and then there are some sub groups of fun jumpers. Try some of the other local DZ's.....Lake Wales, Sebastian, ZHills...all very friendly and primarily fun jumpers rather than teams. Mike

The two I jump at most are 70 and 85 miles away. There is one that is 21 miles away, but I won't jump there. There are two others that I go to occasionally, that are 90 and 65 miles away. All are turbine DZ's. There are actually a couple more within 100 miles or so that I have never been to. Mike

Actually, we do have a swoop pond at Sebastian.....ask Stacy about it...she was in it a few weeks ago.. Mike

Show 'em the video from the Bytch Boogie.....if THAT doesn't make them want to skydive, nothing will! Mike

I've got a 25"ZP PC on a Sabre2 150....great openings, no PC hesitation. I have the 100" bridle, and I deploy in full flight. Mike

Sure do.....wish I could've joined you guys for the tandems...but it was an awesome flight! Can't wait to get my S3.... it should be in Deland in less than 2 weeks.. Mike

I keep hearing that....but unfortunately I don't remember a large portion of the night....and I only saw the first 20 minutes or so of the video before I had to split cuz load 1 was on a 10 minute call... I also keep hearing about a certain portion of the tape I took the camera away from Katie(which time, yea, yea, I know) and kept zooming in on...ahem...something Ivan would go nuts over if I mentioned the word....but I have not yet heard WHO it was I was zooming in on.. DOH!@# Hope I got some good shots at least.. Mike

Sorry man....I knew it was one of the Canuck screen names....for some reason I was thinking of the wrong one...but I think the massive killing of brain cells may have had something to do with it... Oh, and I never got to see that video of our 6 way....was I in it for a couple seconds zippin past you in a fast head down? I thought that was you I passed on the way down to the base shortly after exit.. Mike Mike

Nice one man! What did you use to get the deployment video...one of those special camera setups, or did you rig your camera up for it? I'd love to get a few of those....especially some of my wingsuit deployments. There will be plenty of flocking going on at Eloy to make an entire full length video with nothing but wingsuits....I'm bringing my camera...you gonna make it? Mike

Whooops...this was wrong...Steve is CanuckinUSA...sorry Steve.. Somebody brought this to my attention, but it's too late to edit it. Hey, I know your name and had PART of your screen name right....that's a lot after all those brain cells I killed off this weekend! Mike

4 jumps at the Bytch Boogie...1 solo to try out my new Pantz(great for tracking and head down)....1 kick ass 6 way freefly with Canuck278, Katie, eeneR, Skydiverbrian, and Skymama....2 Birdman jumps with SM1, TB99, and a guy named Ed I had never met before... Mucho jello shots, beer, jim beam, vodka and red bull, and rum runners consumed.....I only got to see part of the video Katie shot, but she said SM1 and I seemed to make the most appearances in it....not sure if I should be scared or not, because I don't remember much of it.. Mike