ppolstra

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Posts posted by ppolstra

  1. JerryBaumchen

    Hi dork,

    Quote

    Where did my favorite option (with no work) Jim Cazer go?



    Larry Chernis bought his patterns.

    https://www.skydivestore.com/collapsible-pilot-chute-by-chernis-custom-zp-colors/

    https://www.facebook.com/ChernisCollapsiblePilotChute/



    http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4673910;search_string=Larry%20Chernis;#4673910

    Larry does post on here. I do not know his handle.

    Jerry Baumchen

    ETA)

    Larry Chernis
    18718 CR5739
    Castroville, TX 78009
    210-313-6342
    [email protected]



    I have one of these and am very happy with it.

  2. It's really a matter of wear you want to go. Don't feel like you have to get caught up in the downsizing game.

    I have been jumping a 190 (loaded about 1.2) since jump 14. Occasionally, people will make comments about my "huge" canopy. I really don't care. It's my body that has to land under this canopy and I'm not itching to up my risk factors for injury. I think many people race to downsize without first fully exploring what they can do with their current canopies. Just my opinion.

  3. Eagle7222

    After 15 years of not jumping I have decided to get back into the sport. Looks like I should be ok taking a level 1 Aff. Maybe 1 day class and a jump with instructor? Anyone else ever come back after years? Left with 170 jumps back in like 2003 or so.



    I have recently come back from a similar time off. Stopped just under 150 jumps. Was planning on pushing through to the 200 jumps for D license at the time, but life got in the way and jumping stopped for me for 15 years. About a dozen jumps back in and loving it. Did a little time in the tunnel too, so my first jump back I felt very confident.

  4. JohnMitchell

    *** Over the last two years an-overly-ambitious airport manager and under-ambitious air traffic controllers (Nav Canada) limited skydiving at Pitt Meadows Airport (CYPK) so many times that they could not pay their bills. Many sunny Sundays (over the last two summers) saw zero parachutes over Pitt Meadows! That DZO closed forever on Sunday, 2017, September 23.

    In conclusion: Americans are wise to resist privatized ATC because privatized ATC will routinely deny clearance to jump-planes, forcing DZs out of business.

    Thanks for the first hand report. I've seen a few too many lazy controllers over the years. A privatized worker may have NO incentive to stick his neck out for jump operations. That situation SUCKS.

    Once in the U.S., in Class B airspace, we got crap service. After landing, I called the facility and lodged a complaint. Next load up, new voice, great service. ;) As a govt. agency, they are mandated to serve ALL of the public. As a private corporation, I shudder to think. :o

    Even with the current situation things can be difficult. I live under the traffic pattern for a small untowered field. I have been talking to the airport manager recently to just feel her out about the possibility of some skydiving operations there from time to time. The response was that anyone operating on the field needs a $1M liability policy that names the town as an insured. I'm certain that this policy is not enforced for everyone on the field (including some powered parachutes), but this is the kind of things you are up against now when local governments control the airfields. If you throw a private company controlling the airspace on top of that it will surely not make things better.

  5. Above the Poconos Skydivers in Hazelton, PA (KHZL) is holding a canopy course with Brian Germain as the instructor on October 28-29 (Saturday-Sunday). Limited seats are available. More info at http://paskydive.com or https://www-1554b.bookeo.com/bookeo/b_paskydive_start.html?ctlsrc=1507575088504&src=02b

    Disclaimer: I'm attending this class and have just posted this here without asking or being instructed by the DZ to do so. Just thought some others in the area might be interested.

  6. gowlerk

    Quote

    Why are they inherently unsafe? What scientific study have you done to reach that conclusion? Do you have any personal experience with them? I'm just saying that in the world of aviation (not just skydiving) there are many opinions that are based on absolutely nothing. No exposed bridle on the Dolphin and a good patch of velcro holding it in place.




    I've had lots of experience buying, selling and using Dolphins. They changed somewhat over the years. Newer ones at least have bridle cover flaps, but they still lack handle security. FF friendly containers have much more secure pin protection and much better riser covers. The lack of these protections make Dolphins unsafe for FF.

    I'm not telling you not to try sit jumps with yours. I'm merely trying to make sure that the OP or anyone searching the topic in the future does not rely on your advice. Many of these lessons were learned they hard way. I really hope that does not happen to you.



    I would agree that if you are going to do any serious head down flying a FF handle for the PC is a must modification. I would point out that none of the more expensive "mainstream" containers ship with a FF handle by default. If you are doing some sit flying and your rig (including the Velcro) is in good condition the protection offered by the newer Dolphins seems about the same as that offered by the other containers that don't have the FF handle modification.

  7. BigMark

    I would trust it's reserve deployment ten times over a WINGS.



    I can say from personal experience that the reserve deployments on the Dolphin works just fine. No experience with the Wings.

  8. gowlerk

    ***I have a Dolphin from 2000 and have never had any issues sitflying with it. Your mileage may vary, but I would be careful about opinions from people who have never owned and/or jumped one. Yes, they have a lot of velcro which must be maintained, but that doesn't make them inherently unsafe. I will say that the only time I ever had a problem with mine was when I paid someone else to pack it and they did not follow the recommended pilot chute packing procedure which allowed the PC to start working its way out a little (maybe an inch) on a jump from 23k.




    I do not know what you are a professor of. But your sample size of one is not adequate to rate the free fly performance of a Dolphin. Dophins are not considered FF friendly. Period. They in fact ARE inherently unsafe for ff skydiving.

    Why are they inherently unsafe? What scientific study have you done to reach that conclusion? Do you have any personal experience with them? I'm just saying that in the world of aviation (not just skydiving) there are many opinions that are based on absolutely nothing. No exposed bridle on the Dolphin and a good patch of velcro holding it in place.

    Just sharing my personal experience, not just random wisdom with no basis on facts.

  9. I have a Dolphin from 2000 and have never had any issues sitflying with it. Your mileage may vary, but I would be careful about opinions from people who have never owned and/or jumped one. Yes, they have a lot of velcro which must be maintained, but that doesn't make them inherently unsafe. I will say that the only time I ever had a problem with mine was when I paid someone else to pack it and they did not follow the recommended pilot chute packing procedure which allowed the PC to start working its way out a little (maybe an inch) on a jump from 23k.

  11. evh

    ***
    Indeed. Care to make them for sale? It would be worth a pretty good price to get one for our pilots who have the same problems.





    Thanks for the compliments :-)

    But no, I don't want to sell these, I don't have the time right now. Maybe in the distant future.

    On the other hand, I would be happy to share the design and the software with anyone who wants to try it. Its not hard, it just takes some DIY skills and time. So just let me know if you are interested.

    I would love to see this as a starting point. Did you use an ESP8266 for this or something else? I'm also happy to share designs for things like this. I was just trying to see if there was interest beyond my DZ for a product like this for those who are not into DIY. This is going to be the next project for my daughter and I on her Daddy & Daughter Electronics YouTube show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHqar1f7oQY I would love to take what you have and add an automatic mode as well.

  12. evh

    *** We're trying to make it automatic where I will detect the opening and closing of the jump door based on pressure changes.



    I'm wondering if the pressure changes very much when you open the door, to be honest, I don't think I can even see this on my altimeter.

    Second problem is the time it takes for a GoPro to make a Wifi connection and turn on, this can easily take half a minute, maybe enough to miss the exits. Unless you keep it switched on, but that drains the battery.

    There should be a pressure spike when you open the door as the pressure is lower outside the plane (due to the curvature of the fuselage). I know that I could do a microswitch on the door, but we want this to be totally portable and unattached in order to make the FAA happy. Our strut camera mount is actually STCed and the DZ owners would not want a microswitch in the door that had to be installed every time so as to avoid the regulatory hassles of having this permanently installed.

    You may be right about the startup time for the camera. Perhaps the camera should come on before the door opens and then we could start recording a bit later. Have to give some thought to that. It is not unusual for us to let people out at different altitudes either.

  13. The whole idea is to make this automatic. If the smart phone app could do this I would be super happy with that, but as far as I can tell it does not. If I'm wrong please tell me so. There is enough going on at our DZ that a significant amount of the time the camera doesn't get activated because the pilot is talking to ATC or one of the other airplanes at the exact wrong time.

  14. I like your solution. We're trying to make it automatic where I will detect the opening and closing of the jump door based on pressure changes. Pilots don't record all the jumps because it is low priority and radio calls, etc. seem to happen at just the wrong time...