F16Driver

It's not like you need to jump with an AAD. When one expired on one of my older rigs, I just took it out. I'll accept the risk until I get another one, maybe. Some DZ's won't let you jump without an AAD, so just a head's up on that. I do a lot of jumping out of a friend's Cessna, so I don't have that problem. "I promise, I will never die."

You'll think I'm lying, but I swear to God above. I was a STA in 8th grade for a third grade class. One of the kids names was.............Harry Bush! I will never forget it to this day. "I promise, I will never die."

I love chicks with crotch rockets! I wish I had a picture of my 2003 Yamaha R1 to post. "I promise, I will never die."

I've got a Raptor 30 (4 years old) and Raptor 90SE w/OS .91 C-Spec. I have my 90SE set up for 3D and I love how it takes everything I throw at it. Inverted Hover, Tick Tocks, etc. That all metal head is great. My next toy will either be a Raptor 50 w/ Hyper motor or a T-Rex. I still fly my planes once and awhile, but I have a lot more fun with my helis. "I promise, I will never die."

thousands of miles away and nothing changes... that's what i'm doing right now, bored and seeing what is going on..... stay safe........ p.s. if ya have any off the wall questions about your jet pm me and i'll answer em.... got a 7 lvl as a crew chief on em..... i know sheppard afb well, spent 7 months there back in 98/99. last timei was there in june 04 for 7lvl school we got the sp's called on us 6 diffrent times because we were being to loud at billeting..... The SP's at Sheppard weren't all that nice to us, either. You're better taking your chances with the local cops outside the base. "I promise, I will never die."

It's always better to be flying. Even though some of the missions are just as boring. "I promise, I will never die."

What are you doing there? Did you join back up or what? Hey F16, what kind of a living does netjets pay for there mechanics? I have heard some good things. Before the pilot TA passed, there were a lot of mechanics making more than senior captains. Not that way now, but the mechanics are definitely not hurting there. I hear they also have a decent schedule, and I'm sure they're hiring mechanics on a daily basis (just like the pilots). The company just seems to keep growing with no end in sight. "I promise, I will never die."

I'm game for poker. I don't know if I want to harass anyone in ATC here, though. They have their hands full enough as it is. The last thing they need is another pilot giving them a hard time. "I promise, I will never die."

The NATO students and instructors definitely give that place some character. My favorite time was when the German Luftwaffe flew in an Airbus full of food, beer, and a band, for Oktoberfest. Don't remember a whole lot from that night. "I promise, I will never die."

Actually, I was getting an F-16 no matter where I went. I'm in the Guard! "I promise, I will never die."

Sounds good, dude. You can always reach me through a PM. This summer I should have a lot of time on my hands, for the most part. Hopefully, I'll run into you at a boogie somewhere. "I promise, I will never die."

Jordan, I see your from Lawton. I spent Sept 2000 - Feb 2002 doing my pilot training and other AF courses in Wichita Falls, TX. I used to ride my R1 up to Lawton on the weekends because it was the closest place that had an Outback Steakhouse. Mmm.....Steak. I wish I could remember the name of the mountain just north of town that you could drive all the way to the top (the road wrapped around it). "I promise, I will never die."

I've already lost track of what day it is. Good on ya going to Deland. If I didn't have to do this trip I would be spending my winter months there. Oh well, there is always next year. "I promise, I will never die."

I don't know how any of us could survive over here without the internet. When we had a computer glitch a few days ago, everyone in my squadron freaked (including me). Everything's okay know. Everything, is going to be, O.K. "I promise, I will never die."

The mortars were pretty hot and heavy when I got here. Lately, though, it has been quiet. "I promise, I will never die."

Cool, I was in Al Udied 1.5 years ago. That place is Club Med compared to here. This place has turned into a mudhole lately from the rain. Oh well, things could be MUCH worse. "I promise, I will never die."

You have to love the old computer classes. In one of my college computer classes we were able to access a lot of porn sites. I don't remember much from that class. Except it had something to do with Japanese twins. "I promise, I will never die."

Hey everyone, just sitting here at Balad AB, Iraq, on 24 hour alert status. Not much to do except surf the net and see what the rest of the world is up to. A little bored right now so I thought I'd start a post. I can't wait to get home and hit some boogies this summer. My other job lets me travel for free and I'll have a lot of time off. Hopefully, I'll get to see some of you this summer. Take Care! "I promise, I will never die."

I was seriously looking at getting a Phi. After a lot of emails and phone calls I was talked into ordering a Firebird instead. This is because a lot of experienced wingsuiters and instructors I talked with said they enjoyed flying it a little more than the Phi. Get what you like, just thought I'd share what I learned. I really like the looks of the Phi, but I want to get something I'm going to enjoy for a long time. Hope this helps. I haven't recieved my Firebird yet so I can't give you a review. I'll post pictures of it here first chance I get. Hopefully, it will be waiting for me when I get back from Iraq. "I promise, I will never die."

No. Firstly, it will differ greatly with changes in desinty altitude. Second, the size and shape of the load will effect the no wind speed, not just WL. It's just too dynamic to be meaningfully measured, and even if I could, I can't see how it would be relevant. The only time I find it canopy airspeed relevant is when I compare it to the winds. Just gives me an idea if I'm going to go backwards under canopy. I measured mine just by using a little $20 handheld windspeed indicator I got at a kite shop. I just held it out into the undisturbed air under canopy. You are right when you say that there are too many other factors to make hard numbers for speed and wingloading. "I promise, I will never die."

Yep, but some of us has one that is louder than the others' Won't disagree there! My a$$hole gets pretty loud sometimes. Usually after Taco Bell. For the previous post, I was only using 100 jumps as an example. I should have clarified. "I promise, I will never die."

Definitely go with the collapsible pilot chute. If you ever get to jump the same canopy with and without a collapsible you'll notice a difference. I liked it mostly because it gave me a longer flare on landing. Even on a 190 you WILL notice a difference. As for the wing loading, you shacked it earlier. Your instructor knows you and what you're capable of. Bad advice, good advice, doesn't matter. You should do what you feel comfortable with and just except the risk (as we all do!). Remember, only you are the final authority when it comes to your safety, no one else. I jumped a 1.1 on jump 14. I also jumped an elliptical loaded at 1:4 on jump 38 (still own this canopy). It wasn't a big deal for me, but most people on this forum will freak (even though a few have done the same as I). However, a lot of my experience as a pilot (civil and military) was helpful. Landing a hot canopy is "kind of" like landing a jet at 180 mph. You just have to know when to flare

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> True! You can count on one hand the number of jet airliners that have landed, engine-out, off runways and been flown again. "What does a plane with a bad glide angle need to land?" An ejection seat! Most military jet fighters have miserable glide angles engine-out. They have such high wing loadings, low aspect ratios and horrific descent rates that they need to generate plenty of thrust on final approach to minimize descent rates. Heck, even most civilian, twin propeller planes need to generate a significant amount of thrust on final approach to minimize descent rates. And the primary reason older jet airliners (i.e. Boeing 727) are bing retitred is because they are too loud (generating too much thrust) on FINAL APPROACH. That's not entirely true on the glide angles. The F-16 can glide at 7 degrees with the engine flamed out. It doesn't "drop out of the sky" like most people think. In fact, one of our currencies we have to keep up on is Simulated Flame Out Patterns. They are not that hard to do at all. I had a pilot friend of mine (civilian pilot) in our simulator and I killed his engine. I talked him through everything and he easily landed it. It is nice to have an ejection seat, in case. On normal landings, we don't generate horrific amounts of thrust to slow descent rates. My power settings on final are just above idle on approach and idle about 500' from the threshhold. All you do to slow descent rate on any aircraft is to pull back on the stick and maintain the appropriate airspeed. The only time thrust is going to be the primary means of slowing your descent rate is when you are WAY TOO SLOW and your on the backside of the power curve. This is not a good place to be because it means you're "hanging on the thrust". Meaning that thrust your engine or engines are making is the only thing keeping your pink butt in the air. If you lose an engine in this case the plane WILL stall and you better hope you have enough altitude to accelerate to glide speed and recover the aircraft. As for landing a wingsuit. The designs out now, as discussed before, require a significant amount of forward speed in order to generate enough lift to just level off (i.e. birdman's rocketbird project). If you have the airspeed, you can flare out to level flight. However, as Chuck noted, you better have some way of stopping your butt. "I promise, I will never die."

By the way, I'm looking at getting a bonehead optik illusion with d-box when I get back. "I promise, I will never die."

Well, after searching everyones post here I decided to get an HC42