nikosd

Johnny, Just to make sure I understood correctly: Do you mean something like a standup motion before clearing the door, instead of just "dropping"? I have to train those quads I guess :-)

Many thanks Craig, Rhys, Martin, Rich and Dave for the constructive feedback. Some comments from my side: Fully agree with the difficulties of the Porter, but it's still my favourite plane, even for tandems. The student was thoroughly briefed about importance of arching. I have to admit that I didn't notice his leg position. I was already committed to the exit, but I probably wouldn't notice anyway (being the newbie that I am and focusing on other important stuff like handles) Exactly. I did in fact get into a belly to earth position at this point, but I felt the momentum from the tumble and decided to wait until controlled stability. Absolutely. "Scared" is maybe a bit overstated, so let's say it got my attention. Mainly because this guy is actually smaller than me and still managed to take me for a ride. That seems to be the key. So far I have found it easy to setup in a straight out position and make the turn while exiting, in order to present to the RW. But in this case the RW caught the surface of his outter leg, so I didn't manage. As you know, getting an angle at setup is challenging because of the weight, but for sure it will increase the chances for a stable exit. This wouldn't help a lot. Typically for the Porter, the student keeps his legs hanging outside the step, not on the step. So the standup practice is not really applicable. Good point, haven't thought of that. FWIW, the student took an AFF course and did an excellent job!

Hello, Newbie TI here. Recent jump that got me a bit scared: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky0tJ7oHGKk Fellow TIs, any ideas about how this could haven been prevented or better controlled?

I strongly recommend you get in touch with Jan (Wasi) Wawrzyniak at [email protected] Excellent freefly coaching from beginning backfly to advanced headdown. Hard working, but relaxed attitude, he will bring out the very best in you. If he's available, don't miss the opportunity. Cost will be the same, but 100% worth it.

Ok, I'll try to spare the technical details. Most of the people here are unlikely to be interested, so I'll take this to pm. In my view, even from the economic perspective, the cellular approach does not make a lot of sense. You will have a hard time convincing an operator to make a 50K investment at or near a dropzone and point antennas to the sky, just to get a couple of HSPA subscriptions. Expected revenues cannot justify the case, given the fact that flat rate models are used more and more for this type of connections.

It will take a while before cellular technology can be used for high quality video streaming. The 14.4 Mbps rate you mentioned is the maximum rate that can be achieved under very special circumstances (i.e. excellent coverage, adequate capacity in the base station, very few subscribers using the cell, etc). It is definitely not guaranteed bandwidth. Note that also the 14.4Mbps rate refers to downlink only, while uplink is still in the range of 384kbps to 1Mpbs (similar to fixed broadband type of access). Obviously if you are using cellular technology not only for receiving, but also for transmitting, you have a bottleneck in the uplink part. Last but not least, it is very doubtful that you will get any cellular coverage at altitude. Depends very much on the specific network, but most of the times I have not been receiving a proper signal on my mobile, after 3000ft.

Hi, I got a Wings some weeks ago. I got stainless steel (standard), articulated harness, collapsible PC, cut-in laterals and RSL. Out of those, stainless steel is rather a cosmetic issue, collapsible PC is recommended for canopy performance. Articulated harness adds a bit to comfort and it also increases resale value, but it is not required. Same for Cut-in laterals, but I think they are for free these days from SRI (Wings manufacturer). RSL is definately recommended, especially if you have no cutaway experience. For color, what Tonto said. PM me if you want to know about other options, but people at SRI and dealers are also very willing to help. Nikos