mattb

Note - this is not a classified, I've been online here for several years (if inactive for the past one or two) and understand the rules. I'm looking for thoughts on how to sell gear. The time has come to sell my gear - I haven't jumped in nearly two years. After moving away from Chicago several changes happened on the personal front and I lost the motiviation to jump. I'm looking at buying into an airplane and I no longer need to keep a good rig in my basement. I have a good-quality rig (Wings, Safire 190, PD Reserve, and Cypress) that could be jumped tomorrow except that the Cypres needs a 4-year (it's first) and the reserve needs repacked. Should I invest in getting the Cypres updated or not before selling it? I can see a new owner wanting to be able to jump it ASAP but also could see them wanting to get the work done themselves. What are your thoughts? Also - any thoughts on listing it here vs. ebay are appreciated. Thanks

Interesting - I forwarded this post to who I think the author is (a co-worker with the same name)

Ditto - I don't tip if there are fees added on to the bill - $2.00 delivery charge is a tip. Look at hotel room service - most places charge $1-$5 + 18% and then hand you a receipt with a line for tip. Are you crazy?

Vibe = Can somebody new show up and meet people, have fun jumps, and enjoy themselves? Facilities = Plane, landing area, packing area, food, etc. Professionalism = I'm the customer - don't act as if you are doing me a favor by running a dz.

Great article! For skydivers who may think that it is hard to believe a pilot could fly right over a dropzone without noticing trust me it isn't. As a student pilot I can't tell you the number of times I didn't see an airport until the last minute or flew right over a grass strip without noticing it. Airports (particularly unpaved airports) are not that obvious. If a pilot if flying a flight of a resonable distance - say 200 miles - he could easily fly over dozens of small airports in a state like Minnesota that has a plethora of public and private fields. Having jumped for several years before I started flying I consider myself very aware of the risks and agree the system is far from perfect. Good luck getting this data from the FAA and into the Garmin's that seem to be everywhere in GA now. Matt

Garmin GPSMAP 296 At least that's what I'm eyeing (as I work on my private and get advice from a father in law who is a retired 747 capitan)

Skydiving (first) - D License Pilot - Student Pilot

Recent favorite - Homer moves in with 2 gay guys Older - too hard to tell

see 49 across

as others have said - google and its free

Sorry, that's the airplane owner's problem. If I decided that I wanted to drive a Mercedes Benz 560SEL, should everyone increase their liability coverage because I want to drive an expensive car? No but most states mandate drivers carry enough in liability coverage to cover an "average car". Take that to mean that your insurance won't have cover a Learjet but a may need to cover a Cessna. Pilots carry insurance - why not skydivers? I'm not a fan of our litigous society but they way it stands you are liable for your actions. If one group of people repeatedly acts, causes damage, and fails to pay problems tend to arise. How many aircrafts would have to be damaged by jumpers, skyballs, etc. before AOPA took a stand against skydivers? Insurance sucks. Lack of insurance can lead to things that suck even more.

What happens after one jumper hooks into a private pilot's plane and causes $$$ in damage and the pilot goes after the dropsone? Do dropzones ask jumpers to provide proof of personal liability insurance in order to jump? I know some homeowners policies (e.g. State Farm) include a small umbrella liability policy and you can always purcahse more.

As a Chicago resident who has logged over 50 flight segments in the past 6 months I have one piece of advice - fly O'Hare. I realize ATA and Southwest don't fly there but if you want to avoid incompetence avoid Midway. Yes you can find a stubborn government employee anyplace - but if carrying your rig on-board is important to you your odds are infintely better at ORD. It's worth a few extra $$$. Even our anti-aviation mayor has publicly commented on the irregularities associated with Midway's TSA implementation. Without a parachute I have had enough problems that I simply avoid the airport. Matt

Any airplane experts want to speculate why so many wheels?

Houston and cool in the same sentence? I have been there and walking from the airport to the rental car bus generally results in me feeling like I've run 5 miles. Happy in the cold north - Matt

I'm training right now - it's hard. 11 miles is the longest run so far, tomorrow is a 12 mile run. (Supposed to be a Saturday run but I want to jump on Saturday.) Good luck - and consider Chicago it's flat and cool which are both good for marathons.

Most policies will as long as you are an amateur. If you get paid to skydive then you need a separate policy since it is occupational gear.

If you are going to donate it to Locks of Love go to one of their recommended hair dressers. A friend wanted to do the same thing and went to a normal stylist and gave specific instructions "cut 10 inches or more off in one piece an save the hair" and although she cut nearly 12 inches off her head it was mostly in 6 inch chunks useless for making a wig. The stylist explained afterwards that cutting it off in one piece wouldn't have given it the right look. Never mind her instructions.

That's what Roger would have wanted. I've been quiet on all of these threads so far because the shock is too great to write a seemingly trivial response. The media coverage stinks. So do the e-mails from non-jumping friends saying - "you next?" with a link. The most important thing in my opinion is that we keep on educating, responding calmly, and spreading the love. There won't be another Roger - that doesn't mean his spirit can't continue in the Chicago, national, and worldwide jumping communities. Matt

Not all the time. In the later AFP jumps you will see the instructor on the camera step of an otter and the student giving the count. My wife fooled a very experienced AFP jump master by throwing a little shoulder into ready-set-go and then not jumping for a brief second just to make him think "oh shit". I wasn't behind the plan but it isn't the only time I've seen students who are dating up-jumpers and are close to graduation get "advice" on how to mess with the jumpmaster.

Sosa got a standing ovation for grounding out - how sad is that. He made contact and he gets an ovation? I did enjoy seeing the the Astros walk Patterson to get to Sosa he he he

I thought I was going to be rigless for the weekend waiting for a new free bag so I made plans for home repair. Friday night the dz calls and the rig is ready. Sat. and Sun. are home repair and Monday I have to fly out early afternoon since I didn't buy the ticket until late on Friday. Hopefully the weather is this good next weekend.

I got certified in March on my Honeymoon in the Bahamas. Hopefully another trip this winter.

2 in 201 jumps one last weekend - one 2 years ago last weekend the chute just didn't want to open - no twists, but the slider was up and it wasn't going to come down - after a 1500 foot snivel it was time to say good bye forever to that freebag

I'm jealous! I'm lucky if my trailer sees me every other weekend. Something's wrong - I'm landing in the plane on over half my flights lately.