wolfriverjoe

Whatever works to get it up high enough to get your "fat ass" under it comfortably. Ramps, jackstands, curb, concrete blocks, 4x8s (jack it up and put them under the tires). Whatever you do make sure the car is solidly supported!!! I use jackstands and always push on it (hard too) from each side once it's up. If it rocks or wiggles or anything, I reset it. I also chock two wheels that are on the ground. It may be overkill, but I'd rather do a little extra work than end up underkill. When I change oil, I also make sure that the car it tilted towards the drainplug. (If the plug is on the right side, I lift up the left side). I usually only jack up one corner if I can get away with it. 3 tires on the ground is safer than 2 IMHO. "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

30 miles +/- to either of 2 182 DZs. 120 or 130 miles to a King Air or PAC DZ (respectively) "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'm not sure that is completely true and I'd appreciate any other pilots chiming in, but I feel if any commerce occurs during the flight, you have to have a commerical ticket. That would include coached jumps, AFF's, Tandems, and anybody using rental gear. Further splitting hairs, how about the reserve pack? What if the pilot was also a rigger who was paid to pack the reserve, but only has a private ticket. Could he fly any jumper with his reserve packjob? Taking it further, anybody who doesn't pack their own reserve is engaging in a commericial activity by skydiving, so 99% of skydives could not be flown by a private pilot. Bolded part is correct. If anybody is paying to be on the plane a commercial ticket is required. Even if it is fun jumpers paying for fuel, they are paying to be on board the plane, and a commercial ticket is required. For passengers to share costs, they and the pilot must be on the plane for a common purpose. Since the jumpers are jumping and the pilot isn't, the flight isn't for a common purpose. Who they pay and for what on the ground (repacks, rental gear, ect.) doesn't count. If a private pilot wishes to take jumpers up and let them jump out, it is perfectly legal, as long as the pilot pays for the flight. "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, but it would be best if I was wearing a rig." "Yes, but it would be easier if you were strapped right tight to me." "Yes, but come over and stand here." (go over and stand by the door, hold said exec in either a tandem exit or AFF exit position) "Out the open door, or through the little window?" Or... "Sure, come out to the DZ this weekend. I'll show you what a fifteen thousand foot view really looks like."

Technically a NOTAM (NOtice To AirMen) isn't required. 105.25(a)(3),(b) and (c) detail who must be notified (air traffic control facility having jurisdiction over the airspace), when they must be notified (24 hours before to 1 hour before) but not how they are to be notified. A simple phone call to the appropriate facility could be considered notification. Or an e-mail. Or a letter. The reason NOTAMs are used (and often considered mandatory) is that they are dissemenated to all pilots, not just ATC, and they provide proof that notification was made. And they are really simple to do. "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 that case how do you abbreviate "Assemble, Inspect, Repack" ? I was taught that if it's an assembly, then it is a A&P (assemble and pack - the assembly implies inspection). If it wasn't packed when I started, then it is a Pack, not a Repack. Different people do (slightly) different things. That doesn't make my way better than anybody else's, it's just the way I was taught, and what works well for me. Edit to add: Onlyski beat me to 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

Can you link the video? A true "Downplane" is 2 canopies. Either 2 seperate jumpers doing CReW or a 2-out situation. As others have said, it sounds more like a dive (or more likely a diving turn). Turns on opening aren't all that uncommon. The higher performance canopies will go into a fairly steep dive when they turn. Student canopies may still turn, but won't go into anywhere near as steep of a dive. That's why they are student canopies. Line twists on opening can put the canopy into a diving turn. Under a high performance canopy, this may develop into a spin severe enough to require a cutaway. Once more, under a student canopy, this wouldn't be a serious problem. Again, that's why they put students under student canopies.

How many observers does it take to qualify as "spectators"? Maybe the key word is "principally". That depends on the FAA. It really depends on the opinion of the guy in charge of the local FSDO. Around here (northeast Wisconsin, Green Bay FSDO) the FAA guy has said that more than one person constitutes a crowd. There have been a couple non-waivered demos that went spectacularly bad around here and the FAA clamped down hard. We've done a bunch of "off-DZ-non-demo jumps" in the past. File a NOTAM, get permission from the landowner, pilot in contact with ATC. Perfectly legal. (Search the term "Bandit Jump" for more). Mostly our jumpers arriving at a party in a rather spectacular manner. AC-105-2c, 15 covers demos, what constitutes a demo and when a 7711-1 is needed. SIM section 7 covers everything else. If there wasn't a crowd of spectators, then this wasn't a demo. Maybe not the best decision by a lot of people, but not illegal. "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

And hot pink accents too. With lime green trim. "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

AIR stands for "Air, Inspect and repack". There is some debate on this, but the rigger who did the last repack could certainly open it up, take a good look inside without pulling the canopy all the way out and close it up again. That shouldn't cost as much as a full A.I.R. It wouldn't "count" as a repack and wouldn't change the due date. If it was me, I'd do it for about 1/4 price. Partly because there isn't that much work involved, and partly because checking out stuff when there is a possibilty of a problem is something that should be encouraged IMO. "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

First off - Follow the advice of your instructors. What works for some may or may not work for you. (standard disclaimer) But to answer the specific question I quoted above - Yes. I went from a 288 Manta to a 190 Tri loaded at 1:1. Where I jumped there were no intermediate options. I was standing up almost all my landings, and was reasonably on target almost all the time (almost because stuff happens, and when in doubt, PLF). The first jump on the Tri was a high hop&pop, and I spent most of the canopy ride doing practice flares to get the feel. I didn't have any problems flying or landing. YMMV

Is the signal from the XM to the FM fading or is it the signal from the satellite to the XM? If the former, is the output antenna on the XM hooked up right (if external)? Is there an "Antenna tune" for the output antenna? The one I've used gives you the option to pick the FM station, so that any local stations can be avoided. Sometimes one seems better than another (you said you've tried multiple stations, so that may not be it). Have you tried moving the XM around a bit so it is "viewing" the antenna differently (closer may not be best). There may be an electric field from something in the dash that is masking the signal. Some of the output signals are pretty strong. More than once, I've been able to pick up the signal from a truck parked a couple spots away. Kinda nice when you are at a customer in the middle of nowhere, although the station choice isn't always the best. I don't pretend to be "knowledgable", but those are my thoughts. "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

Pretty regressive. The percentages paid (of net worth or income) would be worse than they are now. Poor would pay huge percentages and rich would pay small. Rich people don't buy that much more clothes or food or cars. Yes, more and yes, more expensive, but I doubt that the Gates household buys several million times the stuff that the "Smith" family does. "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

Your Youtube link implies the the answer is "Alex Trebek" but everyone knows that "Dick Clark" is the real thing that has never changed and never will.

FIFY Really we're going to derail another thread with this shit? This website has become a joke. We can derail it if you would like. You are well beyond the recommendations of the manufacturers, Brian Germain, USPA (what little they have), and most of the experienced guys on here. In Europe (some of the countries there, anyway), where they have rules on canopy progression, you would be in violation. There are DZs (including mine) that would not allow you on the plane with that canopy choice. THAT IS YOUR CHOICE. But if you are going to come on here and publicly state that you are making this choice, then there are those that will call you out on it. If you don't like that, then don't publicly state that you are doing these things. They've seen "you" too many times. You aren't as different as you think. "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

Maybe I'm misunderstanding some terminology here, isn't a hard foam helmet something like a standard motorcycle helmet? ...and if so aren't they basically a one hard hit and done, sort of impact protection? I was always told to ditch a motorcycle skid lid if going down with it caused any kind of visible damage to the shell. What I consider a soft foam helmet is more along the line of a ProTec, which seems to rebound the foam when compressed. Am I off the line here? No. You are right "On the line" AFAIK. That's the exact same thing I was taught. The hard foam in M/C helmets is designed to deform in an impact. It isn't designed to rebound. It's a "One And Done" deal. The manufacturers all say (and so do a lot of "experts) any impact, including dropping it from more than a couple feet up, will potentially damage the helmet enough that it should be discarded and replaced. "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

Damn. You beat me to it. I have a Pro Tec and a Bonehead Echo (the cheaper fiberglass one). I wear the Pro Tec most of the time because it's more comfortable. "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

His profile and previous posts. He admits he's way ahead of the recommendations. But thinks he has the training, supervision and skill to be ok. Others have different opinions. "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

No, I think he meant that the student wanted to do another cutaway. "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 hope you reconsider. Yes, there is a lot of bullshit here. There is a ton of it in this thread. It distracts from, but does not eliminate the very, very valuable lesson here. And I appreciate that you took the time and effort to at least try to share your experience. Just like everywhere else, if you let the jackasses run you off, they win. If you ignore them and continue doing what's right, everyone else wins. "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

So you're going to finance your 8000 hours in the tunnel by bootlegging Tim Tams? Good plan. "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

Reminds me of an old Bugs Bunny cartoon! Chuck Heavens to Murgatroid! "Exit Stage Left" was Snagglepuss, not Bugs Bunny. Damn, I'm old. There's a NASCAR/Coke commercial where they do the "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" song. I rememeber the original. "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'm agnostic, (I just really don't care). But that paragraph shows a misunderstanding of the concept of faith. Faith is predicated on the fact that there is NO PROOF - it's the definition. So the only reason to ask for proof, is just to be obnoxious and insensitive to the basis of the other's belief. Whether faith is based on reality or is just a comfy blanky or placebo doesn't really matter. It's the effect it has on the faithful (each individual, not any group, etc) that I watch. As for the effect it has on cynical large organizations, well, they are all eventually become crooked, so what if it's a 'church' or a political party, or a PC global effort, etc. No, you misunderstand my asking "Why?" There is a poster on here who has faith in Jesus because he believes Jesus appeared before him and "Saved" him. I'm cool with that. He has what he believes to be an authentic spritiual experience to base his faith and beliefs on. I personally have experienced a number of "miracles." I base my faith and beliefs on those. They are entirely subjective. They are my experiences. I don't try to convert others to my way of thinking because they haven't experieneced the same miracles that I have. My experiences can be summed up by the restaurant scene in Pulp Fiction. Jump to 1:25 to hear Jules's description of a miracle. There isn't any "Proof." And I'm not asking for any. I am asking why people believe what they do. I've repeatedly asked why a particular poster believes that the Bible is literally, factually true and why science is wrong. But I have yet to hear an answer. "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

No matter what she says, I did not send her PM's requesting pics in a French Maid costume. Oh... We're not supposed to do that? Oops... "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 don't try to belittle and destroy the faith of anyone on here. I simply question it. The logic and reasoning behind it. I also really question those that ignore science because their faith says something different. Or their interpretation of their faith (or what they were told to believe by someone else, which is essentially the same thing). The ones who have found the "One True Faith" are a group that I like to ask "Why?" Why are they right and everyone else is wrong? The "True Believers" hate the question "Why?" They usually only have the "Because I Said So" answer (or "Becuase I Was Told So And You Should Believe It Too"). I'm still waiting for an answer as to why the Bible is literally, factually true. I asked the question repeatedly in a now deleted thread and never got an answer. And I question the hypocrites, especially those who proclaim their faith in Jesus, and how they have been "SAVED" by him, yet are willing to do some pretty ugly things to their fellow humans because of "war". (yes, I am referring to someone specifically). "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