Foursprouts

Not really, I wish I had put it diferently but if it is true I hope people will find out from this thread as companies should not behave that way. If it is false which I hope it is then I am incredibly sorry for posting it but still think they should have explained to their customers what the problems were . OK that is the last thing I am going to say as there are too many people who just don't get the point of this thread and my intentions when starting it. This is a forum and nothing on it should ever be taken as a fact, even if someone says it is a fact. As someone posted previously it is just a heads up on some strange goings on.

I agree that it sounded like an attack and for that I am sorry. It was not intended to be taken that way. It was merely pointing out that there may be a problem that customers should be aware off. I have been contacted be Sonic and they say it is a delivery problem so I now know 1st hand what they have said and will say no more about it. Just to clarify one more time, Sonic make awesome suits and would recomend them to anyone who asked my opinion, although their service towards my friends has been poor recently. Their service towrds my brother and his girlfriend a few months ago was very good and the suits are perfect. There is nothing wrong with not saying who I am, this is the internet and a forum. If you really want to know you could find out but would be very boring unless you enjoy pretending to be a PI

Thats the point!!! I am trying to figure out what is going on so that people don't make a mistake. Whats wrong with that? I am not trying to be a shit towards a company whose products I highly respect. OK, I guess that this is not a popular topic as people including myself hope it is not true so will ask a moderator to delete it.

A I said before, lets wait to see what those who have dealt with Sonic in the past couple of months have to say. It seems as though it is a recent thing. I have nothing against Sonic and think their products are awesome, would have got a suit if it weren't for my two friends who are having problems. I just think that if it is true people need to find out before sending money. As I know it would really piss me off if I lost that much. I hope it is BS as I will get stuff from them if it is. THIS IS NOT POSTED AS FACT. 2ND HAND INFO. Waiting to hear from people who actually know through own dealings.

I would never post anything without actually knowing a bit about it first hand. Which is that two rush orders submitted over two months ago have not arrived nor are emails answered. I am not writing the info about sonics financial situation as fact as I do not know that first hand. If it is true people should know about it before sending money. Just wait and see what people post who have first hand knowledge of dealing with sonic over the last few months. If it is untrue, which I hope it is as they make good stuff then we will find out in the next few hours. Why does it matter who I am? I am a jump pilot working in the UK. Done about 150ish jumps. My birthday is in a few days, I just had a sandwich (chicken tikka), I still have not done my daily poo, I am 5'11'', work overseas a lot, live in a hanger and am very bored as it is too windy to go jumping.

It dosent matter who I am. I do not have any connection with the clothing industry if that is what you are worried about. I was going to buy a sonic suit but did a bit of research and found out that info which if true should be know by people waiting or about to buy a sonic suit as it is basically theft if they cannot deliver. I would like to know it if I was about to spend 100s on a jumpsuit. I will not say where I heard it so don't ask. If anyone has recently received a sonic suit post here as would not want to spread lies about a company. What I do know as a fact is two jumpers at the DZ where I work have been waiting over two months for a sonic rush order and do not get replies to emails. That is why I started looking around and asking questions.

Just thought that I should post this. It is second hand info and I cannot verify it but it is from a source that would know the situation better than most. Sonic are in trouble and curently have no production. They are still taking orders but can not complete these requests as have no staff due to not being able to pay them. Rush orders sent over two months ago have not arrived nor are emails answered. As I said before this is second hand info but if true they should not be taking peoples money. If anyone has received a Sonic suit recently it may be wrong but I know lots of people who are still waiting months after ordering.

I would use my boarding pass for the shuttle to the secret mars base where all the women are hot.

Hi, Have just bought a laptop off ebay and thinking of upgrading the memore to 1024MB it currently has two 256MB installed. Here is a link to the tech page. http://vaio.sony-europe.com/view/View.action?section=Products_ITE&productcategory=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+Previous+Models%2FPM+FS+Series&productmodel=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+Previous+Models%2FPM+FS+Series%2FVGN-FS215S&productsku=VGNFS215S.CEK&site=ite_en_GB&page=ProductTechnicalFeatures Can I put in DDR2 type memory as have been told it is better? Also could you explain the PC2700 bit. Would it be best to buy I 1024MB module or two 512 ones? Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to answer.

Thanks for the replys. I am going to do at least 300 jumps on my current canopy which is a spectre 150, I should have said that in my origional post but if I went to a 135 without going proerly eliptical I would get a saber2 as I would be loading it close to 1.6 and have heard that spectres are not great with that sort of loading.

As I said in my post I am not thinking of downsizing. I want to be able to do everything I can on my spectre as if I can't what is the point of downsizing. I am just asking a question.

As I do not have many jumps I am not thinking about changing canopy as the one I have I am happy with and still have lots to learn on it. Just out of boredom and curiosity can someone answer this question. Is it best when downsizing from a saber2 150 to go to something like a Saber2 135 and progress on that for a few hundred jumps then go for a stilleto 135 or is it best to go from a saber2 150 to a stilleto 150 and progress on that for a few hundred jumps then go for a stilleto 135. The end result will be a stilleto 135 with about 500 jumps, which way is safer and likely going to end in a better pilot? As I have just over 100 jumps and am happy with my canopy I am not thinking of changing just asking.

Hi Milan, I know you and so I know you will jump the stiletto135. I know I am kinda new to the jumping as I was finishing my AFF when you were in the UK but I do know that you can really mess yourself up with a canopy like that. The guy you got the canopy off had to have metal put in his leg and he had 1000's of jumps. The other full time AFF instructor here still has a limp from a bad broken leg from landing a similar canopy and that was years ago and he also had 1000's of jumps, statistically you are far more likely to brake yourself than them. Because you want the canopy it shows you are agresively trying to progress in the sport which can be a good thing but also a quick way to hurt yourself if you go about it wrong. All I am going to say is be carefull and I hope you are not in a cast when we all come out to Serbia this summer as that would suck not being able to do a few jumps with you.

Dude its not a scam but because you broke the confidentiality agreement you wont get a cent. Unlucky.

Its just the way the world is. The thing I think is interesting is people are sucking more and more as time passes. Although I wasn't alive in the 40's or 50's it seemed like people were generaly better back then. I think it is because of the way governments are treating people and the way the law is evolving. So many people are growing up today seeing that you don't actualy have to do anything to survive, the governent will provide for you. This is making people lazy and not doing stuff for themselves it is also making people think that they do not have to give a shit about their surroundings as it wont matter. The way the law lets you sue for anything you want is encouraging the way of thinking that you can get rich for doing nothing. In general more and more people are thinking that their actions and the way they treat other people are not important as long as they are ok. I am not sure if it is the same where you are but here in the UK most parents seem to think that their kids are not their responsibility and it is up to the schools to raise them. The world is becoming insane and there are more and more shitty kids running around who will probably end up being shitty people. Luckily the majority of people don't suck so I guess the best thing to do is find them. If you get caught out as I am sure many of us have and end up trusting a sucky person who then screws you over somehow either emotionaly or financially don't get worked up about it as they will end up having a sucky life just because of who they are. If you are nice good things happen to you and you end up surrounded by awesome people. If you are a dick you will end up surrounded by other dicks because the awesome people will figure you out and not want to be around you. Karma is a very real thing and I think very important as it will decide what sort of life you have.

Ok sorry for being a dick, I should have clarified my experience a bit more. But what is the point of ripping into someone who is asking for advice on a forum, if they are doing something they shouldn't be don't you think they have already asked instructors and have been told not too and that is why they are asking here. Whatever you say is not going to help if it is negative as they have heard it before from people they know and you are just writing on the computer, what chance do you have in making someone think "ok they are right I will not do that anymore". It would be far better to be encouraging and say things like, are you turning 90deg to the flight line before attempting that. Are you controlled in a sit as that is the first step? Rather than saying you dick your dz is fucked. When I am turning I am not head down, I am angled slightly with my feet away from the center of the circle I am turning around, that is why I thought I was orbiting. I asked as I want to stop doing it. Picking point on the horizon worked and yes it was a point that would take me away from other jumpers.

If you want to call bullshit your friend that is up to you. I have not updated my profile in a long time and have since got FS1 and FF1 (bpa people will know what that is) and because I work on the DZ and get free jumps there are a lot of times when I jump by myself and want to try new things as it is boring doing the same thing over and over again. In reply to someone else, I know I am orbiting because I can see the horizon spinning round about once every one or two seconds and my head is pointing downwards, you don't need someone there to tell that. I asked the question because I wanted to know if anyone can give me any pointers and the first guy did, thanks. To the sherlock who went back over my posts and found out that I post about aviation well done you figured out something, I am not sure what but well done anyway. Don't worry, before you go telling me about how I can track up the flight path and kill people by going into their airspace I have already been told that and how to avoid it by an instructor at my dz before I attempted it. Did some back flying and back tracking today,do you want to tell me off for that also? Edited to point out that with only 1400 jumps don't you think a velocity 96 with that wing loading is maybe a bit much, you will probably end up hurting or killing yourself or even worse someone else by colliding with them close to the ground. Good luck, you will need it.

Hi Can anyone tell me how to stop orbiting whilst head down, it feels pretty stable but I cant stop quite a tight orbit. Any info would be great, Thanks.

The one I fly in the UK is on a US N registration operated under part 91 with one pilot. The owner bought it from a dealer in AZ (I think) before it was a jump plane it was operated by the US coastguard as a search and rescue aircraft in the florida keys. There are only 40ish left flying in the world most of them in Asia as military trainers for crews on their way to C130s. There are a few in the US, most of them up for sale as they aren't much good for anything apart from jumping out of. I beleive the center bought the one here for about 1/5th the price of an old caravan. It is an amazing plane. 8500lbs and our longest runway is grass and about 1800ft long, uses about 2/3rds of that to get in the air.

The plane I fly is like a small otter with retractable gear and asume it has similar visibility out the front. Once you have been doing it a while you realize that although ATC provide a great service even though they are not required to do if you are VFR it is not something that should be relyed upon as they quite often don't tell you about aircraft that come very close. This may be because they are doing other things or the other aircraft does not have a transponder and they dont get a strong primary signal. The cruise climb idea although nice would probably get most jump pilots fired if they did it on every lift. Too many turns also degrades climb performance. If you move your head around you can see all the area from horizontally in front of you to quite a way below you either side of the nose all the way to vertically above you if you stick your head against the windshield and look up. The worst would be an aircraft comming slightly behind from the right and above on an intersecting course as that is where the pilot cannot see. It is one place that the jumpers can see as they sit by side windows. If you ever spot an aircraft and think it is comming close let the pilot know. The best way to tell if it is converging is it will not move in the window it will only get bigger. Never think that it is not worth telling the pilot about if it concerns you. An occasional turn is also a good idea to periodically check the area beneath and infront of the nose. If the pilot is just moving his eyes to look out the window he is not seeing as much sky as he should be. You should also assume that no other aircraft will see you. Included a pic of a jump plane that I still find hard to beleive no one uses in the US.http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=025878&WxsIERv=TNS%20A22O%20Abznq&WdsYXMg=Gur%20Sylvat%20Qhgpuzna&QtODMg=Ebggreqnz%20%28-%20Mrfgvraubira%29%20%28EGZ%20%2F%20RUEQ%29&ERDLTkt=Argureynaqf&ktODMp=Ncevy%2030%2C%201998&BP=0&WNEb25u=Rqjva%20Qbaqref&xsIERvdWdsY=A5190L&MgTUQtODMgKE=%28pa%20A22O-26%29.&YXMgTUQtODMgKERD=425&NEb25uZWxs=1999-02-26%2000%3A00%3A00&ODJ9dvCE=&O89Dcjdg=&static=yes&width=602&height=424&sok=JURER%20%20%28nvepensg%20%3D%20%27TNS%20A22O%20Abznq%27%29%20%20beqre%20ol%20cubgb_vq%20QRFP&photo_nr=27&prev_id=131295&next_id=NEXTID

I know that pt-6 engines require you wait before starting them if you just shut them down but I doub't a 207 has a pt-6 in the front. The engines I use at the moment require the tot to be below 150 before atempting a start but you are permited to spin them on the starter until the tot drops below 150 and then put the fuel in. Obviously not straight away as you would get turbines rubbing and stuff like that but after 10-15 mins it is ok. We try to keep them running as a start does more damage to the engine than a whole days flying and some engine components are limited to number of cycles.

If you want to do it and stay legal, taking the door off is not as simple as taking the door off. You need to have suplements added to the flight manual (POH) and approved by the FAA. New weight and balance done, not just the pilot figuring it out, it has to be weighed by an A&P and approved figures kept in the aircraft. If you did it with the door on you would have to make sure the 172 is approved to have the door opened in flight (I doubt it is) and also give the pilot a rig to wear. It is the pilot who will take all responsibility if the shit hits the fan so make sure he understands what he is getting himself into. You also said that the 172 stalls at 60, is that the speed you plan to fly to make it easier to open the door. If it is you need to think that when you push the door open it will make the plane slow down a lot. Because the door acts like a big rudder if the pilot did stall it he would probably also end up spining it if you had the door open wide enough to get out. Jump flying is not as easy as flying along and letting people jump out, it makes it harder if you also have a door being opened. You could probably do it and have a great jump but an inexperienced jumper and an inexperienced pilot are probably not the best idea. Edited to include: I went to pick a 182 up after having an inflight door fitted and had to wait for 5 hours whilst the FAA inspector checked all the paperwork and placards. I think you will find that if a door is intentionaly opened in flight every occupant must wear a parachute. That goes for every type of aircraft operated under part 91 not just some. I would still be happy to let someone jump out of a 172 I was flying if I knew them and it was in the US. The above is just things to consider.

Where I currently work we put tandems out at 10K if there are no paying fun jumpers on the lift and at 12K if there are. Tandems get out last as it is not such a big deal if they get a long spot and they also open higher. Almost all of them are first timers and don't know if they went from 7 or 30K. It works well and saves time as even though you would be lighter if tandems got out at 10 it would add on all the time saved in a faster climb by running in twice. With most turbines it is only the time in the air that goes towards 100 hour inspections so it is not that expensive to have them waiting on the ground for a few minuites, the 207 may not be like that as it is a converted piston .

That is in the FAR's. That means it is a law. If you had hit the glider and killed the pilot the blame would land on the pilot flying the jump plane for allowing you to get out. It is crazy and I do not agree with it but it is the law. There is no right of way rule that includes skydivers for the simple fact that once in freefall a jumper would find it hard to avoid a plane. The pilot of the plane would find it even harded to see and avoid a skydiver in freefall. That is why the responsibility is with the jump pilot because he has the most information and control in the situation. Because of the airspace layout in the US I bet that at any non military DZ it would be legal for a pilot to fly over it at 6,000ft not talking on the radio and without a transponder.

Just another bit of info that is wrong on the site although it is not a big deal but they say the 206 can carry 8 passengers.