Aviatrr

My favorite one liner..... Shut the fuck up. Mike

That's right....and because of an incident with Icarus a few years ago, I refuse to ever jump any of their products. They did something incredibly stupid, lied to me, and damn near killed me in the process. It goes both ways. That said, I jump a Precision canopy. I love it. I'm pretty much dead set on Precision and PD. Mike

Selfish bastard! Mike

Just remember....no matter which route you go for the diving thing....the crucial rule for all is...DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH WHILE UNDERWATER.. bad things can happen if you do while ascending.. I hope they explain, at the very least, that important tidbit for those BOB courses. When I did it, I admit...I didn't pay attention to the briefing.. I told 'em just show me where the throttle is.. Mike

I call the travel desk at my company....they get "special rates" with all the airlines....plus, they punch in a departure, destination, and date.....and they get ALL flights(and prices) in the Sabre reservation system for the given places and date. I guess you could say I use a company paid travel agent... Mike

Hmmm....I think the underwater case for your camera is actually an investment for future opportunites!!!! There's not enough room in those BOB things for what you're thinking of.. I tried one of those things once...it was OK...more of a novelty than anything else...I was a bit afraid to take it deeper than about 15', but then again, I normally dive with total redundant systems - those don't have such systems..so I was a bit nervous to begin with. Mike

I think you probably misunderstood....what they said was....you ARE a bigger tool than most porno stars.. Mike

Where is there an Extra in the area? I'd love to get checked out in one...but I haven't found any around. I do know of one Pitts that I can rent, but it's down for a couple months for a big inspection.. Mike

No letter designator...you just get a symbol...it's a fish on a hook... Mike

You better remember after I gave you such a hard time about ignoring all of us at Eloy.. Why the panhandle? Got a job prospect up there? What area? I make it up to Marianna fairly often....about an hour west of Tallahassee.. How YOU DOIN?! Mike

Quote#3 An airbatic introduction to yankin' bankin in some birds designed for this purpose with instructors that know what they are doing. Probably cheaper than the GPS idea, but he will have to drive to John Wayne or long beach. Quote Long Beach is a great place in SoCal for entry level aerobatics and basic spin training. There is a school there called Hart Air(www.hartair.com) that has several Robin Sport aerobatic trainers. I have spent a fair amount of time training in those...they are great entry level aerobatic/spin trainers. I used to take all my students up for mandatory spin training prior to solo....and about 95% of them continued on with some form of aerobatic training. Hart Air used to have a Pitts S-2B and an Extra 300 that I used to fly on occasion...but I don't see them on their current website...so they may have gotten rid of them. Mike

PM me closer to that time(like 2 or 3 days before), and I'll be there! I can't say I'll remember it otherwise... What kind of jump do you want to do? You are going to be naked, right? Mike

Honestly....if it didn't show our jump numbers on our posts....I wouldn't have mine up there...it's irrelevant for most issues...but I have it up there because otherwise it looks like somebody that has 0 experience, and I don't want people to discount what I say(in serious skydiving forums) just because it doesn't have a jump number. However, if you discount what I say based on the fact that you think it's BS....well, that's fine.. Mike

If you end up in the Orlando area....well....I'M here! When are you coming down? Mike

Ok....I have to ask...WHY is this a MUST in the IFR environment? IFR certified aircraft have 2 radios to begin with. In well over 6000 hours of flight time I've been NORDO once....and that was due to a lightning strike frying the entire electrical system. The only time I find a handheld COM a necessity is when I'm flying the Pitts S-1 or the Skybolt(neither of which have an electrical system) in or around a controlled environment. I think the GPS is a good idea. Lisa, something to consider is finding one of the large pilot supply shops and getting a gift certificate/credit with one of them so that he can choose a GPS. I'm sure if you ask around here about specific GPS systems you'll get good feedback and be able to make a good choice, though. A few good places are.... Sporty's Marv Golden This place is in San Diego...right next to Montgomery Field Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Mike

Can't help ya with the room....but what are you training for? Since you're planning 3 weeks...I'm guessing just a fixed wing private certificate? Mike

Wing loading also has an impact on how much of an effect turbulence has on a canopy, also...as with an airplane. An airplane with a higher wing loading(such as the T-38) experiences much less turbulence for a given area than an airplane with a lighter wing loading(such as a 737). Also, sheer surface area has an effect to some point...though, not as much effect as the loading of that wing. Mike

On a flight that I was on last Wed, there was a woman that was getting pretty unruly....refused to sit down(just minutes from landing) when the FA's told her to...and continued to berate another passenger she thought was being mean to her sister(they were both drunk, and very loud). After it escalated a little bit, and the woman told an FA "don't make me teach YOU a lesson too", a couple of us started to get up....when....lo and behold....a guy flashes an FBI ID and a pair of handcuffs...and the bitch sat down and didn't say another word... Mike

I haven't seen the video(I'm away from home, so on dialup), but good to hear you're OK. I had a very hard opening during the Mardi Gras boogie, and I had serious pain in my back for several weeks. I haven't jumped since then to give it time to heal...and it's feeling OK now, so time to get back in the air. The chiropractor told me it must be muscle damage(after taking xrays to check), but was worried that one of the discs may be a bit out of alignment...but apparently that's not the case since the pain diminished. I got spanked by a Sabre2...the second hardest opening I've ever had in my life...the first was back in '95.....when a Sabre broke two ribs on opening.. Mike

1.4 for me. I've landed a reserve at 1.75....and it was a beautiful landing....but it was ON DZ...and I would have hated to land off in some small field with that canopy. Because of that, a couple years ago I bought a rig that holds a 120 main, 160 reserve. I'm now jumping a 103 main at 2.15 and a 160 reserve at 1.4. Mike

Cool...I wonder if any thought has been given to letting us set our own titles? Another website I frequent allows that, and people come up with some interesting titles(not in a bad way)...though, some moderation would likely be in order for that. I think my title(based on recent performance) would be DIG, DIG, DIG! Mike

Trust me, man....I understand that completely....I witnessed one such incident, and I was the pilot in another. I'm certainly not one to push anybody into releasing a design they feel is not sufficiently tested(especially since such an instance damn near killed me once)...just trying to get an idea as to when I may be able to try this "super swooper". Mike

Fair enough. Any guesstimate as to when you may be making the Sensei(info about it at least) public? Mike

Brian, if you're talking about a crossbraced AND airlocked canopy....what type of pack volumes would we be looking at? I'm jumping a Xaos-21 103 now, and it packs about the same as my Stiletto 120 did. The Xaos-27 98 packs almost like a Stiletto 135.. I, personally, have not found the need for airlocked canopies....but once the Sensei comes out, I will jump it and see what I think. I have jumped the Sam, but I didn't like it at the higher wing loadings(1.8+)...I felt crossbraced was the way to go when loading that high. I loved it at a 1.65 or so wing loading, though. What kind of flight characteristics do you expect from the production Sensei? The Sam has some serious oversteer when in brakes, and light(in my opinion, that is - some say moderate) oversteer in toggle turns. Mike

I, personally, didn't see any real difference between the two as far as the dives go. The openings are much better on the Nitron, though. I was jumping a Stiletto 120 and a Nitron 135(215 exit weight) at the same time, and found that the dive was roughly the same...actually, a bit less on the Nitron, but I attribute that to the slightly lower wing loading on that canopy. Great canopy...just recovers too quickly for me. Mike