F16Driver

Ninja Club!! LMFAO!! That has to be one of the funniest things I've read in a long time. I've got mad nunchuck skills, can I join? "I promise, I will never die."

You probably don't want to hear this. I ordered my Firebird on Jan 10. I just got it on May 9. Hopefully you don't have to wait that long. I was given a free upgrade to the R so I'm not complaining too much. Good Luck! "I promise, I will never die."

How often do the ribs break? If it does break, how long does it take to get it fixed? I am waiting on a Firebird-R that I was able to get upgraded for free from the standard Firebird. I'm hoping it doesn't break after a few jumps. Anybody with any stories or comments on this? "I promise, I will never die."

I saw a porno once with that scenario. The nurses cured the guy instantly. "I promise, I will never die."

Sorry, I read something different from your previous post. I see where your coming from, now. Only trying to help. "I promise, I will never die."

The difference is that your parasitic drag includes the drag from the lines, jumper and canopy, while I am considering the drag due to lines and jumper to be different from the drag from the canopy skin. In parachute applications, I think it is more convenient to separate them, even is it is not "proper." I think you're still confused. Parasitic drag is made up of form drag and skin-friction drag. The jumper, lines, and canopy all have skin-friction drag as well as form(profile) drag. It is basic aerodynamics. Since we are connected to the canopy, the drag we make is affecting the flight of the canopy. You could seperate the 2, but that wouldn't make any sense. I could also include Interference drag in the equation of parasitic drag. This is caused by the wake of one part affecting the drag of another. This value is usually only a big deal when dealing with larger aircraft or aircraft travelling at high speed. Form (Profile) Drag is a Parasitic Drag Skin-Friction Drag is a Parasitic Drag Interference Drag is a Parasitic Drag Add them up and you get total Parasitic Drag Add Parasitic Drag to Induced Drag and you get Total Drag. If you don't believe me, just google it. "I promise, I will never die."

I have heard it broken down into three types of drag, instead of two, which accounts for the discrepancy. Those are parasitic drag, which would be lines, jumper, PC, d-bag, bridle, etc; induced drag, which is the horizontal component of the lifting force (thrust on a canopy! ), and profile drag, which is the drag associated with the actual airfoil due to frontal surface area, viscosity of the air and the associated friction along the skin of the airfoil, etc. I didn't get the terms from a Fluid Dynamics class, though, just personal research. They could be incorrect. It is incorrect. Total Parasitic drag = Form (or Profile) Drag + Skin-friction Drag. Total drag is made up of Parasitic Drag + Induced Drag. "I promise, I will never die."

If you like flying, get a PPL. Once you get that you will realize that flying a Cessna is a lot easier than a large multi-engine aircraft. Your best chance for survival would be to get out of the plane. Taking the pilot with you, of course. "I promise, I will never die."

I just want to explain the "maneuvering speed" of an aircraft to make it a litle easier to understand. One persons explanation was right, but might be a little complex for others to understand. MANEUVERING SPEED INCREASES WITH AN INCREASE IN WEIGHT because it is a STALL SPEED. As you know, an aircraft will stall at a higher airspeed when you increase it's weight. Maneuvering Speed is the max speed at which you can fly where the wing will stall (high speed stall) before it over G's itself. Increase weight there, you also increase the stall speed. By flying at maneuvering speed, you know that you can put the stick right back in your lap and you won't over G the aircraft (aerodynamically impossible). When going through turbulent air, I fly slower than maneuvering speed. This is because maneuvering speed only gives you protection in the Positive G realm, not the Negative G. Flying a little bit slower puts you closer to the negative G maneuvering speed. So then you can have protection in both directions, since turbulence does the same. Great article, Brian. Something I think gets neglected a lot is how to identify key areas of turbulence. One DZ I jumped at the peas right next to its BIG hangar. When the wind was from behind the building, I stayed the hell away from the peas, those that went for it, we just sat back and enjoyed the show. The look on everyone's face when they are full flare 10-15 feet off the ground and still descending, is priceless. We told them about it before we left the ground. Luckily, their PLF's were good. Hope to attend your course in Tecumseh. See Ya! "I promise, I will never die."

Like I said before, there are other factors to consider when max performing a wingsuit. But you still have to use some of the 'theory' stuff to make it all work (Even though some of it is complex) "I promise, I will never die."

You've just left out the desity of the air. E.g. one tracing position is good @ 4000m and start stalling around 2000m. That's false. You DON'T change airspeed based on your altitude. If you were able to know what your L/D max airspeed was and were able to have a airspeed indicator to maintain it, you would be max performing the suit through all altitudes. EX: When an aircraft lands it flies an approach speed, lets say for this example 100 knots. At an airport at or near sea level, the aircraft will be at 100 knots when it touches down (IAS=TAS). At higher elevations (mountains), the approach is still flown at 100 knots. However when the aircraft lands it will be going maybe 120 knots (just a guess, I don't have the formula in front of me). This is because the TRUE airspeed is higher than the INDICATED airspeed because of the density of the air. Even though it touches down faster, the approach speed is still flown. This is about the simplest way I can explain it without getting into more detail. Dangit you guys, your making me remember all my college crap!!! "I promise, I will never die."

WINNER!!!!! I agree!!!! "I promise, I will never die."

Alright, I've lurked enough. I'll see if I can shed a little light on the L/D stuff. Based on the thread, I think it would take a lot of testing in a horizontal wind tunnel (like birdman uses) to get the best data to find this out. When you discuss some guys flying the same suit better, sometimes it is because they can get to L/D max better than the other guy. Being light on weight (in identical suits) definitely starts you at an advantage, though. The Total Drag curve (Parasite + Induced drag) is basically an inverted parabola. At the bottom of the curve is where you get the most amount of lift for the least amount of drag. This is because, as discussed earlier, as you speed up, you increase parasite drag (this will steepen your glide angle since you are trying to maintain that airspeed). As you slow down below L/D, you also increase drag because now you're creating induced drag (drag produced from the production of lift). This is due from slowing down, increasing the angle of attack through the air, and causing more air to plow around the wings (there is a little more too it, but this was the easiest I could make it.) This too will steepen your glide angle. The only way that we can "max perform" a wingsuit is by knowing what that L/D max airspeed is. Unfortunately, we would need to carry an airspeed indicator and try different airspeeds, or be lucky enough to get into a horizontal windtunnel, get hooked up, and check different airspeeds. Body position and wing position adds more variables to the problem, also. "I promise, I will never die."

The dial is stiff. I take mine off if I need to adjust it. It doesn't turn easy, but you get used to it. "I promise, I will never die."

Right here -> http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/sleep.shtml I forgot how funny it was! "I promise, I will never die."

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'm wondering, though, has anyone had a vectran line break during the increased G load on a swoop, or will they just break on initial canopy deployment? Any stories? "I promise, I will never die."

I'm glad I'm not alone. "I promise, I will never die."

I'm not interested in getting a Velo, or any X brace for that matter, for a LONG, LONG TIME, maybe never (I can't afford to bust my ass right now). I am curious, though, how long does a normal lineset last you guys/gals? With a X-brace being very sensitive to any input, how long do your lines last before you notice things going out of trim? I'm "guessing" it is less than other canopies, but I am curious as to what the average # of jumps is between changes. I tried to do a search and didn't find anything. "I promise, I will never die."

Quentin Tarantino has a part in a movie called "Sleep with Me," where he has a rant about Top Gun. It is hilarious! He talks about how the movie represents a man's struggle with his own homosexuality. I'll see if I can find a link to that script. "I promise, I will never die."

I'll accept any naked pictures. I'd like them to be female this time. Preferably human. "I promise, I will never die."

What do you want? "I promise, I will never die."

Welcome to America, capitalism, etc. If anything, it was worse when I started in the early 1970s. It was years before I ever knew of a pilot getting paid. They did it for time, and considered themselves lucky. There are many professions that share similar realities. Ii is a microcosm of the greater economy. Young guys willing to fly free or cheap is no different than the factors that drive outsourcing, or the current widespread transfer of jobs to India and China. Is a person who is willing to work for less somehow less of a person? I'd like a world where everyone made a great living, but it ain't going to happen. It doesn't have anything to do with working for less. The fact is that they think that they will pay their dues flying for cheap because something better paying is out there. The majors are still calling people back that were furloughed years ago, and don't let me get started on their paycuts (my guard squadron is made up of a lot of furloughed airline guys). The jobs that are reasonably paying are places like Southwest, FedEx, NetJets, and a few corporate jobs. The competition for these jobs is ridiculous right now. If these new pilots want to have a family, it would be pretty hard to make it happen with airline regional pilot pay. I guess what I'm trying to say is the big pot of gold isn't waiting for them at the end of their regional career. I know this current climate will change, it is just going to be a long time. If I didn't get with NetJets, I was going to work full time with my family's company, still doing 1 week a month with the Guard. I was surprised at how competitive the civilian market is right now. It was a definite learning experience. "I promise, I will never die."

The sad thing about all this is that pilots are a dime a dozen right now. There are kids leaving college that will fly for free, practically, to get twin turbine time because they "think" it will lead to better things. Regional airlines, for example, pay $18K to $20K a year to start, and it doesn't go up much from there. Guess what? People are still interviewing for these low paying jobs, and the industry is taking advantage of the situation. It will be a long time before things get better in the pilot profession. "I promise, I will never die."

My Crew Chiefs (I was a 21A) wanted to kill their stick actuators (Mx term for Pilot--see also "Flightsuit Insert" ) after that song came out... I forgot about that song. It's hilarious. Our crew chiefs love that song. We don't like pissing off our crew chiefs, because if you do, you no fly!!! "I promise, I will never die."

what i was talking about is that there is no targetting pod on the jet in P1010001.jpg just the pylon.... normally if there is no pod they always remove the pylon too.... ever heard these guys do the "fighterpilot song"? www.dosgringosrocks.com/ it is soooo freaking funny!!! Dos Gringos are legendary in the Viper community. My favorite is "2's Blind" and their "Jeremiah Weed Song". Funny stuff! "I promise, I will never die."