aeromobile

I couldn't agree with you more. It seems carbs have a bad name, and people believe that there's some mystical thing about carbs that's bad. Loosing weight is all about eating fewer calories than you burn. Carbs and protein have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram. I think the Atkins diet is easy to follow by limiting calories by not eating the french fries or bread associated with your meal. Again, it's about limiting the calories not the carbs. I also believe there is a lot of hidden fat in carbs that people are not aware and there are additional calories in carb type food, but blame it on the fat not the carbs. I know that there are a people out there that have lost a lot of weight using the Atkins diet, and that's a good thing. However, it's a start to eating a more healthy diet.

Do you want some wine with that cheese? Oh, I'm sorry you alredy have.

I just happened to be looking through some old Parachutist, June 2003, and came across a letter written by Mr. Farely. He was complaining about Drop Zones requiring Tandem Jumps prior to starting AFF. He wasn't directing his displeasure at any one Drop Zone, but just the general idea of spending the extra money for the greedy Drop Zones. In the July issue a Drop Zone owner wrote a reply that after paying the tandem masters, packers, manifest, and plane rental, a lot of drop zones break even. I'm not trying to make a point just a observation that he had this idea at least 5 months before showing up at WTS. I didn't check Skydiving to see if he gave them the letter.

When I started jumping in the early 90's at West Tennessee Skydiving, we had a black female named Nanet Baker who was a news anchor on the local TV station. I think she moved to Saint Louis to get her Law degree. Presently, we have a guy named Robert who just started skydiving who bought his gear before he purchased a car. I think thats great! I have also flown my airplane during demos for the Triple Nickles. http://www.triplenickle.com They are ex-military jumpers. I don't think they have a home DZ other than the military base, but they jump modern sport rigs and do tandems during their reunions. David

I like the way you think. When you are waiting for the engine to warm up, the whole airplane rocks in rhythm when its idling low, and you can hear every exhaust valve open and close. Whump, whump, whump...

top Hot Chocolate or Hot Coffee?

Heard that from Mike did ya? Its just that the 'N' number ends in 'HW'. People like to continue continue the story.

Hey, don't forget the other part of the team. Brad is a great mechanic. He makes sure we are safe too.

It would be fun to play name that airplane, but I know there's people out there that already know. It's a 1953 Cessna 195. The original engine, a 275 horse power Jacobs, was replaced with a 450 horse power Pratt and Whitney. Its a blast to fly. Although I've only jump it once because I'm always flying the jumpers like it too.

The "Chuck Wagon" our jumpship when we're not falling out of the kingair.

I'm on my 7th airplane. Wouldn't be much help on the cost of ownership since I'm an aircraft mechanic and inspector. I don't factor my time into maintenance cost, and have a deal with hangar and fuel price. I think you wrote 'we' as if you are purchasing the 172 with a partner. I would recommend purchasing a partnership agreement. You can find them in Trade-A-Plane. You can discuss who's taking care of scheduling the mx, keeping the flight schedule and keeping the books/paying the bills among other things. Before you buy an airplane you should have a mechanic perform a prepurchace inspection. This should be similar to an annual inspection. Above and beyond the prepurchase inspection, there are certain areas to look at on cessna aircraft, such as corrosion, especially in the wings, but look in the belly and empanage too. I look at the landing gear attach points otherwise known as the saddles for cracks. Another area to look for cracks is where the tail attaches to the empanage. Finally, I look at the nose gear where it attaches to the firewall for bends where it may have had a nose wheel first landing. These are big ticket items that should be right before you buy the aircraft. I don't get too wrapped up in panel lights inop and cracked interior pieces. They can easily be fixed. There are several books on owning an aircraft, but I can't think of the titles right now. Aviation Consumer will fax an article on the 172 for a slight charge. You can use it to decide which model 172 is best for you. After you found your airplane, but before you buy it have a title search performed and request that they send you the 337's with any damage on them. Look for Title Searches in Trade-A-Plane. The title search will show if there are any liens on the aircraft and if there are any other problems with the title. The 337 search will show if there are any major repairs that the owner is trying to hide or may not know himself. Afer you buy it, don't forget to register it with the FAA. Hope this helps. David Paschall

ouch

I never understood Franken's humor. I remember as a kid seeing him on TV as a stand up act. At first, I thought, oh boy a comic, then I realized he wasn't funny at all. After that, I turned the television to another channel whenever he was on. Also, I know he was a writer for several television shows. Didn't he write for SNL during their off years?. I couldn't imaging buying his book.

Here is Garmins answer to your question. http://www.garmin.com/support/faqs/faq.jsp?faq=83 See Quade's answer also.

The other post about Fedex got me wondering how many people do we have that work for Fedex out there? UPS, Airborne, or USPS? Me, I've been at Fedex 23 years in the aircraft maintenance department here in MEM.

Hum, favorite wine. Here goes!!! Get in, sit down and shut up, and on jump run I go, get the hell out of my airplane.

Never dreamed of skydiving. Why would anyone jump from a perfectly good airplane? A flight student of mine jumped and asked me to fly the jumpers. After a few months of flying skydivers, I thought if they can do it I can do it.

It holds 6, five jumpers and a pilot. We take it to 12,500 agl in about 12-20 minutes depending on how hot it is and the size of the jumpers. I have put 6 skydivers in it once or twice, but they were all small. Also, we've gone to 14,500 and flew a formation load with the King Air a couple of times.

1953 Cessna 195 with a P&W 985 = 450hp. Its our regular jumpship at WTS when Mike's King Air is gone. David

I've had it and love seeing without my glasses:20/200 to 20/25. I had the procedure done in the winter and had no problem jumping by spring time. It felt funny for about a month because it felt as though I had my contacts in, and I didn't rub my eyes. Now its just as though I've never worn glasses. Its amazing walking in the doctors wearing glasses. One hour later walking out of the office with blurry vision, a 3 hour sleep as recommended by the doctor, and that night I was reading a menu at the bar without glasses, COOL!!!

You can coun't me in. David Let me know if you didn't receive this e-mail.

Talk to Andy when you get to the DZ. He is the "tower master"; however, he will not be there on saturday. He has a demo to do in Jackson, MS.

I had a package shipped to a UPS location "Hold for Pickup" and they couldn't get that right. I went to the station three times after they said my package was there. The forth time they called I didn't bother going back. They shipped the package back the the shipper. What gets me is they don't care. I even had a station manager call me to let me know he couldn't help me.

I assume you've already looked in the back of 'Skydiving' and 'Parachutist' magazines. Other than these I would buy a subscription to 'Trade-A-Plane' (www.trade-a-plane.com) magazine for $15 a year. You'll get unlimited internet access and a hard copy mailed once a month. Trade-A-Plane is a good place to start and it will lead you down other avenues and to other internet sites. It also has a price evaluator where you can get a rough idea on how much an airplane will cost based on total time and installed equipment. There is a search engine where you can type 'skydive' or 'jump' and get the skydiving planes for sale. On the other hand, you can buy a unmodified plane and convert it to skydiving use. However, you sound like your new to aircraft ownership. I would try to find a skydiving plane for lease. Of course leases come in all different sizes and shapes, but one where it is operated buy someone else and you don't have to worry about maintenance. Maybe you know a jumper who is a pilot that would like to own an aircraft.