Meux

Not sure it has anything to do with anything, but this morning I had breakfast with Bill Weaver. He's the guy who survived an SR-71 breaking up at 78,000' and mach 3+. Super nice guy who has some amazing stories. Going back into stealth mode.

22+14=36 WAYS!!!! WAHOOEY!! CAN'T WAIT

Get back to work Asshole

This was a couple weeks ago. Just landed in the main landing area. To my right, about 20' away was a teammate. A guy from the group ahead of us was about 20' away from me in the other direction. We were laughing and yakking about our jump when I heard a short shreek, and a sick thud, thud. Turned around to see the guy from the other group laying on the ground knocked out cold and a jumper from the group behind us on the ground screaming. It seems that this jumper hit the fella square in the head, knee to knoggin contact. I was the first person to him, he was out cold, not even breathing, eyes wide open. I thought he might be dead. He started breathing again and in a minute was up and staggering around. Lesson learned for me; keep your head on a swivel ALL the time. Heck, it could've been me. On landing I automatically turn to face landing direction to make sure no one is coming at me. The problem is that I then go about my business of toggles and such. My new practice is to keep looking all around and check every direction. (ever see people landing in more than one direction?) One more observation. The guy who got hit still had his full face helmet on with the face shield taped shut. The velcro release strap was on the ground side. I was very reluctant to move his head to remove his helmet. Thankfully, he woke up and took it off himself. The point is, I open my face shield under canopy, not sure I like the thing about leaving it closed (and taped shut). To each his own.

I flew NWA 727s for 14 years. One day I timed a takeoff from brake release to flap retraction at 1,000' and on that day it took 2:15. Once the plane is cleaned up I'm sure you could easily maintain a 3,000 fpm rate to 10,000' so my estimate is 5:15ish. My best ever (civilian) time to climb was in an empty 757-300 where we went from brake release to level at FL 390 in 13 minutes. That was fun.

Recently I read another story from Brian about the slowest he ever flew the Blackbird. Funny as hell. Wish I could find it to paste here. Will look.

I was stationed with Brian at Myrtle Beach in the late 70s. He is a great guy who has done some incredible things. I sort of loved playing racquet ball with him. He had a way of making me think I was doing alright, and then he would just kick my ass. Mercy, it was sick how accurate his shots were and how fast he moved on the court. Years later I had a chance to fly against him when I was going through A-10 school at Davis-Monthan. He was flying the Smurf Jet, AT-38, that we trained against in Dissimilar Air Combat Tactics (DACT). Again, I had that feeling of doing ok, then suddenly I was getting my ass kicked. I like his "Because I Fly" piece. Great American!!

There's a ton of good information right here. Look under the safety tab, you'll find dozens of really good articles on everything. It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground. Have fun!! Mo

ask in Billy's Sick and Twisted Thread, looks like something that crowd would know about. :)

Me Woo Hoo!

Watched it on TV then ran out on the front porch and saw it for about 30 seconds. This is from Panama City, quite a distance. Loved it.

You're number two, need six more.

Congratulations!! Last Friday I just barely missed a hole-in-one, by five strokes. Here's to the next one!!

cool

The Moon will be nearly full, perhaps enough people could get together for an NSCR. And then there are the VSCRs too. Woo Hoo

The AN-2 program is still pretty close hold. Not every one who says they've seen or flown in an AN-2 has actually done so. I think they have them in Area 51, for sure.

Part of my pre-jump routine is to touch all my handles, including the RSL disconnect. Mine has a small tab on it, so it is fairly easy to find and pull in the correct direction to get an easy disconnect. That way you're not fumbling for it, on the plane or in the air. Great discussion, great experience, learned a ton. Lots of things went right. The pilot did an awesome job of handling an engine failure with a full load on a warm day. It was a single group of experienced jumpers. The weather was perfect, the exit point was near perfect, everyone stayed calm and followed directions. Change some/one of these variables and everything changes. Imagine a caravan instead of an otter, or a mixed load with some tandems and AFF students on board. Not being able to get back to the airfield or a suitable landing area. The organizer brought everyone together afterwards to debrief, great learning experience!! This thread has offered some more good thoughts. This might sound whacked, but I'm glad I was there to get one of the best lessons I've ever had. Mike

Not sure how often they do it, but I've gone to 22,500 at ZHills. B license required.

Xlnt!! Congrats. The centerline thrust thingy on the T-38 is a restriction. You can only fly multi-engine planes that are centerline thrust, something to do with the blue line. Anyway, continue climbing on course!!

Consider "The Skydiving Handbook" by Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff. Parts of it are dated, but there are some really good basics. There is a lot to be said for hanging around a dz as well. Blue Skies Mo

And Nate Pond Jr was 6969. Pretty cool Who was 10,000? I hope 30,000 goes to a regular skydiver. Mike D-29365

Excellent!! Best of luck. If you have a choice I'd vote for the Hornet. Not that the Harrier is bad in any way.

Congratulations!! What is your follow on?

If you ejected at night and landed in a tree the advice was to wait until daylight before you began your descent, just in case you were in a really tall tree and hit the end of the line before your feet touched the ground. I've got about 2,500 sorties with that stuff. Thankfully never had to use it. (the 25 million dollar skydive)

Here's to gunpowder and pussy live by one die by the other love the smell of both Oh, and night blooming jasmine I liked the smell of approaching rain in the desert (Las Cruces, NM many years ago)