Dutchboy

Good job Kelly! Sounds like you had an awesome jump, and you did it all on your own.

Had a real aviation oriented weekend. Drove down to the DZ (Skydive Atlanta) yesterday and did 5 kick-butt jumps (could have done more, but was too tired). Today I was supposed to get some flight time in and do a cross-country with the whyffo, followed by a flight to the DZ to see my kung fu teacher do his first jump. First flight didn't happen. I was doing my runup check and the plane failed. For the pilots who care, the engine practically died on one mag. So they ended up renting me one of those nice new Cessna 172's at the same rate as an old one. This is the nicest plane I've ever even sat in. Plush leather seats, lots of toys (hey for $180k you oughta get something!). Too cool to get to fly something so sweet for so little. It's a good thing too. Thanks to my buddies around the bussiest airport in the world (Atlanta Hartsfield), it took me nearly as long to fly there (at 130mph) as it takes me to drive. Of course, this is going in style! I got to jump right before my teacher with another student, the one who got me into skydiving. It was way cool.

Most of them do. They call it heavy weight cotton. It is good for slowing down fast fallers.

Don't know. I've spent lots of time in both Indiana and London. Neither of them has great weather, but I would have to say Indiana is clearly better than London. Also, way cheaper to live there.

How about Tracy the Tolerant for putting up with all this BS about innocently and accidently using somebody else's nickname.

I can understand how you would be tempted. Skydive Atlanta really is the greatest DZ in the area. That's why folks like FFF drive from out of state to go there. Oh, you didn't mean to say the FFF himself was the temptation. Did you?

Casa is nice every once and a while, but I really like the Otter. In a couple weeks Skydive Atlanta is getting a Super Otter which is really going to cut into my nap time.

Hopefully I'll actually get to jump this time. Unlike my trip to cloudy Southern California last week. I'll attempt to write up the experience. That's assuming they'll let me jump there especially with the foot and mouth stuff happening.

Seems I'm forced to go to Ireland in two weeks for my job. Of course, I have to skydive while I'm there. Anybody else have any pointers for me? I know there is a DZ an hour outside of Dublin.

Wow, I got my Hornet custom made in under 4 weeks! Can't imagine waiting so long just to try something.

No wind tunnels in Atlanta yet. Although I've been talking with some of my friends about it. As soon as we scrape up $2 million we'll get right on it.

Not much happening in the UP (yooper), eh? No need to get suicidal. Find some of those Escanaba girls and party.

If you want to warm up for this boogie you should stop by Skydive Atlanta that week. They are running 10-14 Super Otter loads on WEEKDAYS from May 12-20. They have the US 8-way CReW team practicing during that time. On the 20th Nemesis is having another 4-way skills camp. I say hit Thomaston Monday - Thursday, hit Monroe Friday & Saturday, and then back to Thomaston for the skills camp. Who is with me?

The effect is the same in the air as on the ground. However, fat people tend to be more aerodynamic because they are round (especially if they have a beer belly) so the drag force pulling up is less while the force of gravity pulling down is greater. At these speeds your drag force is normally porportional to your speed squared. The biggest factors in calculating your drag are area (mostly your upper body), slickness of your suit, and how square your body looks to the wind. So what makes you fall faster? 1. slippery/tight suit 2. more weight for the area you present to the wind 3. curviness (beer gut or big breasts)

Something to keep in mind is that the 300 hr wonder is probably safer than the 1000 hour pilot. If you look at the statistics you'll see that accident rates go down after 100 hours and then start to creap back up as people get more experience and complacent/cocky. Hours also are not a good measure of a pilot's skill. Many hours of cross country flight aren't going to hone skills as well as practicing more challenging things. Of course, there is also natural ability that comes into play.

I have all of these videos. Good Stuff is one of my favorite videos. The others I found educational. Pack Like a Pro is very dry and I wish they had things like psycho packing and ZP tips, but is a good affirmation that you are doing it right when first learning to pack. Now I just mostly loan that out to friends who are learning. The other two are good. Fly like a Pro has some good tips, but is a bit slow in places. If I had to rate these in terms of educational value I would say: Breakaway Fly Like A Pro Pack Like a Pro

Mirage is nice. Also nice and expensive. The big question I would ask yourself is how will you feel when you slide in on your back on that brand new Mirage? It will probably happen given your experience level. If you are OK with that and don't mind spending the money then go with what makes you happy. There are plenty of other rigs that are just as safe for freeflying including the Dolphin 2000 which is half the price of the Mirage. Also consider the fact that you might want something different in 100 jumps which may or may not require a new container.

The pilot is responsible for the safety of the flight, including insuring that the plane is in good condition. All jump planes must be disassembled and inspected anually and every 100 hours of operation (in the USA). Think of it this way. The pilot would be a total idiot to fly an unsafe plane. He has to fly it both up and down. Given that 30% of aircraft accidents occur on landing he is at greater risk than the rest of you. I have to say that my home DZ (Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston, GA) is extremely safety cautious. I think that the fact that the chief pilot is also the DZO contributes to this. Mike will ground a plane faster than anyone else I know for minor problems. He has to make the round trips and it's the reputation of his DZ on the line if there is an accident. In the end there is nothing you can do to guarantee a safe flight. Some times 'shit happens'. As skydivers our exposure from a ride up to altitude is pretty minimal. At some level you need to trust the pilot. How many of us know enough about airplanes to identify potential problems with the aircraft anyway? If you trust your pilot you should be able to sit back and enjoy the ride.

I agree with you totally, Froggie. I find it interesting that this happened in Australia. This is the sort of thing most people like to attribute to America. Everyone wants to be a victim and not take responsibility for their own actions. She got on the plane, she jumped. She did a solo jump, nobody pushed her. The wind also appeared to have nothing to do with her accident. When will people start accepting responsibility for their own actions?

I would recommend the Z1. It isn't known to open in flight like some of the Sky Systems helmets. It is cheaper than the Oxygen. It has two internal dytter pockets. The visor can be pulled up out of view under canopy. Only time mine ever fogged was when I blasted through 6k of moist industrial haze. I had water dripping from the helmet. It cleared almost immediately after I got out of the haze.

Congrats! They must really be cranking out those licenses. I can't believe they are up to 38000+ already. The Dutchboy A-37004

Cool. I didn't get to jump in Atlanta today, too windy. Winds were crazy 30 gusting to 35. Hopefully I'll see ya next week Friday (the 13th) when I'm up there.

Don't worry about it. Skydiving is like everything else, you have good days and bad days. Of course, normally the bad days are still better than working. At the moment I won't even bother to jump from only 5k. During the winter when I couldn't get anything else that was fine, but now I'd rather pass. It's not worth the effort to pack my rig from such a low altitude.

You won't do better than $40 for a Protec. If you want something nicer and/or a full face then I would check out the classifieds and auctions here and also checkout the auctions at http://www.sunshine-factory.com. I've saved lots of $$ buying stuff this way.

Augghhh!!! Sunny California my @$$. Nothing but solid clouds the past three days. Oh well, next time I go out there it will be better, I hope. The only thing skydiving related I did was drop some $$ at Square One one videos and clothing while I was there. I drove to Perris twice from San Diego (84 miles) to not jump once.