fencebuster

Members
  • Content

    530
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

Everything posted by fencebuster

  1. I looked into moving an operation to Martinsburg WV a couple of years ago. I met with the airport people and they were enthused. I had a meeting set up with the military and civilian FAA tower personnel, but the issue became moot because the rentable space for my operation was priced way out of the reason of profitability. I know that they flew in Class D at the operation in Myrtle Beach SC, but that place was closed because of locals claiming dangerous conduct (with which the FAA disagreed), which I believe is still in litigation.
  2. I ran a DZ with Navigators for my students. They were docile for the students on .8 wing loading. I am a big guy and I jump a Sabre2 260 at 1.1. I have also jumped PD Silhouettes 210 and 230 and they were a nice ride as well. I changed my Sabre2 lines to Dacron to be easy on openings. As long as you fly around 1.0 WL any of the above as well as a Pilot will all allow you some fun and not be too much to handle. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  3. i hate the one hand on each handle procedure. i know two people who have pulled the handles out of order and neither are skydivers any longer. one by choice after a two out downplane landing that resolved just before it was too late, the other due to serious injury arising from the out of sequence deployments. Under pressure, the opportunity to fuck up is too high, IMO. i have 5 cut-aways, all just like i was taught in CAT A. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  4. I have paid for a bunch of overhauls. Each time, I bought new engine mounts. It makes sense -- the mounts take a lot of wear. Failure of an engine mount on a newly reman engine would be a major bummer. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  5. You are looking at it the wrong way. Your goal should not be to get off AFF. It should be to get your A license. And it should be your DZ's goal to get you your A license. What will they charge you for the full course to A license? That is the question you should be asking. We have done 0-A license for $3200, assuming no rejumps/failures to achieve standards on a particular category. All you can do with "off AFF" is jump solo or with a Coach/Instructor. You don't learn much jumping solo and unless you are in the structure of the USPA ISP, your progress with random Coaches or Instructors may be equally unhelpful to achieving all of the things you need to demonstrate to get your license. We recently had an "off AFF" student visiting at my DZ with about 25 jumps. Since finishing his AFF at 8-9 jumps, he had been working on back-flying. Sometimes with a Coach. That was a disservice to the student, who should be learning belly group free-fall techniques, etc. and progressing with the things on the ISP progression card to make him a safe skydiver in the air with others with an A license. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  6. My understanding is that once the pilot chute is extracted by the student, the main side releases and goes away to assure clear air for the pilot chute. In the event of a problem, like student not altitude aware or no pull, main side signals student, moves student hand to handle and/or deploys main no lower than 4500 and then tracks away. Reserve side stays to provide stability and take any problem in the event that the student decides not to release the pilot chute, or pilot chute hesitation. Reserve side rides through until student extracted from his hand as main inflates in either case of student pull or main side pulls for the student. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  7. The wing spar does not allow you to run the bench all the way to the instrument panel. Much easier to sit on the floor and slide to the door. We have been running a Navajo for 3.5 years. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  8. PMs sent with photos. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  9. Yikes. Tandem side spin recovery is track. Not ball up. WTF? Over. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  10. Getting off your back is a CAT E student progression requirement. Go back and review CAT E; review your log book for your CAT E1 jump. This is a BASIC skydiving maneuver for anyone with an A license. If you have questions, seek out an AFF-I at your dropzone. Someone missed something if this is a question for you with an A license. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  11. We have S & TAs for a reason. One of their jobs is to prevent the ignorant from killing themselves on the owners DZ. 300 jumps, camera, ws, death stick: Nope, take it somewhere else, my friend. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  12. Like you, I couldn't believe it when I determined that my canopy wasn't controllable or landable on AFF jump 3 (CAT C1). Hard opening, broken lines, damage to upper and lower skins of the canopy (i.e., big holes). I wasn't scared, but I was definitely apprehensive about what was going to happen when I pulled the cutaway handle. It turned out OK and after that I have never failed to trust the gear. The first cut-away is definitely a signal event in a skydiving career. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  13. You were the parachutist in command and what you did ended up in a successful skydive -- no injury. The problem with a step through can be that if you release the toggles and start steering that the steering line can get stuck between the two risers in something other than a neutral position, putting you into a circumstance with a built in turn. Not a big deal unless it happens near the ground and you can't predict if and when it would happen on any given step through. I landed a step through once at about the same number of jumps you have, but I did a thorough controllability check at altitude and the toggles worked fine with no binding. Had they bound just a little, I would have cut away. Good job. No one should second guess a decision made by a parachutist in command in response to a malfunction or unusual canopy situation that ends successfully. Just learn from the experience. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  14. Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures and Training Center in VA right off I-81. Where are you located? Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  15. A couple of times. Once when the clouds required exit at 2500 feet after I had resolved not to get out below 3000 feet before I boarded the plane. I didn't have many jumps at the time. The next time was at a boogie and there were a lot of clouds below and I couldn't see anything on the ground I recognized between the clouds, so I decided to move aside and let the rest exit. The pilot was cool and dumped me out below the clouds where I had a good view of the DZ before I exited. Again, low jump numbers and my first away game boogie. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  16. Peek: I hope that is not the case that safety takes a back seat to "fitting in" or doing things right. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  17. I have Navigators, 300, 280, 260, 240 and they are pretty forgiving for students. We also have 2 Silhouette 210s that have been used will for students at light wing loadings. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  18. I have the same set up that I use for AFF when fall rate could be an issue. Like you said . . . dress for success. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  19. I have only jumped there as a visitor, although my wife worked there for a couple of months. It was pretty busy and while I may not have been aware of all the supervision, it could have been there and I just didn't see it. I agree TK is pretty on-the-ball, and we had some good chats. My experience was that there was a lot going on and the loading area was remote from the manifest area, etc. That is my basic point. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  20. I have one TI approved, but it took almost a year to get the waiver. I have another in-process and it is coming up on a year for that guy too. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  21. Z-Hills is a pretty big DZ and I would guess unless TK actually saw the newbie and knew his jump numbers, this could escape his notice with all the stuff going on there on a daily basis. Bad idea to be jumping a camera at 30 jumps. I wouldn't let it happen at my DZ, but there is almost no one who jumps there that I don't know and I am generally in the loading area for every jump. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  22. SIM says below 1000 feet with an un-landable canopy, deploy the reserve. Put more out, not less. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  23. We had a U-206B for one season that was seatbelted for 6 skydivers. We never flew six jumpers in that airplane because there was not enough room unless one jumper was in the baggage area -- which put the airplane in an aft of limit condition, so that in the case of a stall the plane was likely to spin in. It is a relatively comfortable ride for 5, but 6 doesn't work very well IMO, unless your jumpers are all six tiny girls. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  24. Three jumpers my DZ are jumping Chaos suits and all are pleased with them. They look good and seem to be wearing well. I have no affiliation with Chaos suits; this is my personal observation as a DZO. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
  25. There is a Pulse 170 for sale on the Facebook Page for Skydiving gear. The pulse is a nice canopy and fun to fly. I have had both a 190 and a 170 at various times in my skydiving. Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208 AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures