wolfriverjoe

Yes on the uneven loading. There is a significant difference in the tension on different lines during steady state flight. That tells me that the loading on those lines is different. No on the weight. In steady state flight, the weight is the weight. The only time the weight is different is if there is acceleration in any direction. Even in a fairly steep descent, you are at one G. You can prove this in an airplane with a spring scale if you want to make the effort. During any change in the vertical speed, the G-load will change. But once the vertical speed stabilizes (climb, descent or level flight) the G load goes back to one. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It can't hurt. Some places require a tandem jump first. It gets the "Holy Shit I Just Jumped Out Of A Plane" sensory overload taken care of under controlled circumstances. It's really common for the first jump to be more of an "experience" experience than a "learning" experience. And you can learn a lot on a tandem jump if you get an instructor who is willing to teach you. Many don't bother, because they know the "student" is a one-and-done deal. But if you make sure that they know you are going on to AFF, they can teach you quite a lot. Or your wife could do a tandem and you do the FJC for AFF. You don't have to both do the same thing. You wouldn't be "with" her for the jump anyway, except maybe on the plane, which is possible to do even if you don't both do the same type of jump. That would require a good bit of planning, so I'd ask the DZ about it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

In the "My profile" page, there should be an "add picture" button, upper left, next to the "Edit Profile" button. It's on the first page of your profile, it isn't on the "Edit" page. Oh, yeah. Welcome. Have you jumped yet? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Depends on your last name, Donnertcha know! I live in Wisconsin. Proud (well, sorta) home of both Ed Gein and Jeffery Dahmner. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yeah, but you can't toss family or friends on the grill with a little bit of salt and some lemon. Can you??? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

IIRC, a type rating requires a checkride with an examiner. Any rating that ends up on your hard card does. Multi, sea, type, whatever. I could be wrong on that, and if I am, someone please correct me. Endorsements are for High-performance, Complex, Tail-dragger, and a couple other things. Those are just logbook sign offs by an instructor. Including the Biennial Flight Review. I mention that one specifically, because it's been mentioned that a lot of these incidents are coming from experienced WS jumpers. Having a WSI setup would be one step, along with a standardized FFC. But would that be it? Or would there be a requirement for recurrency training? A BFR is pretty basic. An hour of ground and an hour in the air. Mostly doing stuff that is important, but isn't done in the course of normal flying. I don't WS, so I really don't have much of an opinion, but it's something to think about. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

For three jumpers (I'm gonna guess a tandem pair and outside video) your best bet will be a 182. Bigger motor is better, but they will all work. 3-blade prop is nice, but not necessary. Personally, I wouldn't replace a good 2-blade with a new 3, but if the 2-blade needed to be replaced, then I'd think long and hard about it. I don't know about the Horton Kit specifically, but I've flown a 182 with a kit on it (don't know which one) that had stall fences on top of the wings and the dropped wingtips. It climbed nicely, even with a 250hp motor. You could find one and do all the work, mainly the door, step and seat removal. Or you could find one already done. $130kUS is a huge chunk of cash. Here in the US, older versions (1960's era) are going for a lot less than that. $30-$40k is reasonable for one in good shape. The one I flew, 58 straight tail with the stol kit sold for less than $30k last year. Old, but very well maintained, recent overhaul on the motor. Hope this helps. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Her more vigilant and persistent stalkers already know. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It kind of depends. There's been more than one lawsuit that went nowhere because the instructor had no assets worth going after. Some jumpers won't instruct because they have too much to lose in a lawsuit. Others find and pay for liability umbrella (usually attached to their homeowners) that will cover that kind of lawsuit. Some just trust the waiver. Most of the time the injured party's attorney will read through the waiver and see enough that they won't sue. The clause where the jumper indemnifies the DZ and agrees to pay all legal costs, including judgements has been upheld in court, IIRC. It isn't just the instructors. DAOs, pilots, riggers, ect. are all vulnerable. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

The only liabilty insurance DZs have is on their airplane (covering anything the plane hits in a crash) or "trip and fall" insurance for anyone on the property. And not every DZ carries both (or either). There is no liability insurance available to DZs for jumping or for airplane operations (passengers). None. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

If true, the the spotting and accuracy sucks! C'mon, it's a balloon jump! You get out wherever the balloon has gone, which is wherever the wind has blown you. The only "spotting" I've ever even heard of out of a balloon is "do you see somewhere we can land?" "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Yes and no, IMO. There really isn't a lot of gear out with big enough main and reserves for beginners. It's going to command a premium. And it's going to go fairly fast. Try finding a Sabre2 170. Same situation (I know that one from personal experience). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

It's kinda fun, isn't it?? Congrats on your progress. One suggestion: Don't overdo it. Find some balance in your life. Burnout is a very real possiblity, and that would be a shame. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Normally the phrase "Hey, no jumping" is a bad thing, like this past weekend when it rained both days. But here, now, in this context, NO JUMPING is a good thing. This is great. It's fixed. Thanks Meso, you really do rock!!

One of my only beefs with it, but the whole thing is just too awesome to really crap on. Well, they maybe could have come up with a ram-air canopy. With all the prep work and camera work that went into it, having a seamstress or rigger make a little square canopy would have been a very nice touch. But I agree that those tiny little beefs are insignificant compared to the total awesomeness of the whole thing. That is a really cool video. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Kinda like moles when you fill the burrows with a garden hose? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Actually, so did I. According to Wiki, in dry air at 68F, Mach 1 is 768 mph. Felix reprtedly hit 833 mph. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound Far more math and physics than I want to go into on a Monday. I'm sure Professor Kallend could explain it far, far better than I. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I read that he hit Mach 1.24. Well above the speed of sound. Rmember that the speed of sound is slower at higher altitudes. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

That's a lot better. The faceplant link still "pops" in, but it's now along the left side, so the only thing that jumps is the left side ad. It was really strange before. On the "Forum" page, it would load in the center, alongside the "Forums:Dropzone.com:" header, which wouldn't make it jump. In each individual forum and in each thread, it would load under the header and would make it jump. The top banner ad is still making it jump, but I can live with it. It didn't do that before. The page would load with the top banner space empty, and the ad would just fill the empty space without a jump. Now, the page loads without the space and when the ad loads, the top space changes size to allow the ad to fit. Again, I can live with it. Thanks for taking care of this stuff. Monkey is right. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

You look very lovely in the dress. That's a much better pic. You look like you are having a lot of fun. Thanks for posting the pics (all of them). "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Ok, I'm probably wrong... But I seem to remember that he was going to use a mechanical AAD because they didn't trust an electronic one to function properly in the extreme conditions. And there's really only one mechanical one out there. Ok, I was wrong. Specially modified CYPRES2. http://www.redbullstratos.com/technology/backup-safety-systems/ "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

Have you seen the "Throwback Uniforms" that the Packers wear? "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

I tend to be a bit (or maybe more than a bit) cynical when people make gestures to "support" things. Wearing ribbons or a particular color strikes me as really stupid and pointless. IMO, if you want to support something, either donate money to a charity that makes good use of it (high percentage going to the acutal cause) or volunteer time and energy. Volunteer to drive someone who can't, volunteer at the hospital, offer to cook a meal, clean the house or do the dishes or laundry of someone who can't becuase they are suffering the effects of treatment (I've done dishes a few times for a friend going through chemo). Wearing pink to "raise the awareness" for Breast Cancer is kind of ridiculous. How many people aren't aware of Breast Cancer? And watching football today, it's pretty silly how much pink is out there. Shoes, towels, the pads on the goal posts, the shirts on the on-field security guys, the cheerleaders' pom-poms, even the referee's whistles. And they are selling a ton of stuff too. Auctioning off gear that was actually worn, plus all the pink hats, jerseys, and everything else. And how much of the money from all the sales of all this gear goes to the American Cancer Society? FIVE PERCENT. (that is the licensced gear, not the stuff that is auctioned off). So if you buy $100 worth of licensed apparel, $5 goes to the American Cancer Society. If the article I found is correct, $45 goes to the NFL as profit. Really? Really? http://jezebel.com/5950971/the-nfls-campaign-against-breast-cancer-is-a-total-scam This article isn't totally unbiased, but I've heard these numbers before. I was just curious how other people felt about it. For the record, I don't own any licensed NFL gear and really don't plan on buying any. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=4385188;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; Lots of discussion here. And somebody got banned over it. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

This. I know many of the cops on the force in my (small) town. They are dedicated, professional and fair-minded. The training sergeant is one of the nicest, most laid-back cops I've ever known (and I've known more that a few). And I live in a sort of "interesting" neighborhood. There's been a few neighbors who have had the cops at their house, and a couple who seemed to have them there once a week. One in particular had her sister living with her, and the sister had a "love-hate" relationship with her boyfriend. The cops were there a lot. I was talking to the sane sister last week after a different neighbor had the cops come by to "discuss" a domestic. The sane sister agreed that the cops were really professional and nice to her, but she knew perfectly well that she was now that house and that the cops knew who she was. The cops have always been professional and courteous to me. If I am outside when they are there, or if I come home and they are there, I will usually wait until they are clearly not in the middle of something, idenify myself and where I live, and ask if this is "anything I need to worry about." The usual answer is "no", but every once in a while they will ask a specific question about the neighbor that they are dealing with. I've also run into a few who were jerks. Full of themselves and their power and authority. But they tend to be the minority. "There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy "~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo