DaveTheSlave

I'll be there. Great guys and gals to work on your RW skills at an awesome DZ!

I also have a PD 160R and had some concern if it was appropriate for me until I had a chance to jump one at PD's Project Orange event last week at Zephyrhills. My Main is a Pulse 190 and I feel it is a nice conservative canopy for me. I have a PD 160R in my old rig but I was a bit lighter when I was jumping it and when I got my new rig this year someone suggested I put a 160 in it also. They convinced me to do it but wasn't sure it was the right choice until I got to try one. The PD guys had reserves set up as mains for demos and loaded it up into my Vector for me. They also got me to enter into the Reserve Backyard Accuracy contest. Nice brisk opening and good flying characteristics! I like the performance envelope the canopy has. Full Flight was a bit faster than I am use to with my main but I was not uncomfortable with it. I was also happy with the stability in deep brakes. I didn't land in the hula hoop target but I did what I felt was a nice stand up landing in the backyard! I am not trying to say the 160 is the reserve for you but I feel that it is a good match for me. I would recommend to see if you can demo the reserve that you think you want. I think PD is doing a great thing by promoting the opportunity to jump a reserve in a controlled environment. It was a great learning opportunity and boosted the confidence I have in my equipment. It was a fun event and would definitely do it again in the future.

I'm extremely happy with mine. Its 2 months old and I have about 15 jumps on it. I never jumped one with the old lines so I can't compare. From opening to flare it performs as advertised and the packers like it too!

Change it up a little, practice side slips, 0 flaps, slips to landing. Hit the rudder stops, find where you run out of aileron, Are you flying different airplanes? Get a check out in something different. I highly recommend getting a tailwheel checkout. It will help you master your landings. The Dutch Roll maneuver Mr. Stark mentioned is also a great way to get ready for landings,

I have flown one with the door off for photos but I haven't used it for jump operations. I don't see it being an issue and it will sure climb great. Most jump doors have been done with a field approval so you will need an FAA inspector who will work with you and a mechanic that can do the job and the paperwork. I like the Rocket and flew my friend's for a while until he sold it because we didn't fly it enough.

Gary Dupuis inventor of AFF and Tandem Rocky Evans and Ken Coleman, Co developers of AFF Richard “Fang” Fenimore In the late 1980’s I was very fortunate to begin my aviation career at the sleepy old airport across the street from where I was going to high school. At the age of 15 I was very much interested in aviation and the Civil Air Patrol at the time but I just wasn’t getting the in the air time that I wanted. Flagler Aviation was the FBO on the field and they were being bought out by a skydiving operation run by Rocky and Fang. Along with aircraft rental and maintenance they were a full service DZ. I somehow got hooked up with these guys. My intention was to work for them so I could learn to fly but instead they taught me how to skydive and so much more. I somehow ended up taking off aircraft inspection panels, degreasing aircraft engines and scrubbing toilets for this company. Learning to fly would have to wait but what I learned helped me become who I am today. Gary taught me how to work on airplanes. I never knew him as a skydiver but many of the things he did made the sport what it is today. I would like to share more about Gary and I hope to write more about him in the future. When I was 16 Fang did my first jump as a tandem. Yup, totally illegal but Fang is dead and I was a minor so fuck off FAA! Fang gave me the name Dave the Slave for all the subservient work I did around the DZ. Fang did video for a James Bond film and was quite accomplished in his skydiving career. Unfortunately Fang met an early demise http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001207X04307&key=1 Rocky carries on the legacy of Ken Coleman by bringing AFF to be the best way to become a skydiver. Rocky was the sole survivor of the balloon crash that claimed Ken’s life. Rocky recently wrote about it and I highly recommend his book “Truth” http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Rocky-Evans/dp/1462066151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352024968&sr=8-1&keywords=truth+rocky+evans

D242 Gary Dupuis is alive and somewhat well. You have him listed as dying of cancer and that is not correct. He is currently at his home in Deland nursing a broken femur. Otherwise he is in good health.

I was also 16 and needed parental permission. Dad finally gave in and had my friend's mom notarize the approval (It felt like getting approval from another parent when she was notarizing the paperwork). My mom did not say much but I felt I had her support. Recently dad told me that both my mom and grandmother gave him a lot of flack for giving me his OK.

I have missed this sport greatly and I'm enjoying my long awaited return. I began skydiving in 1989. I attended my Sophomore year of High School across the street from Flagler Airport in Bunnell FL. I wanted to learn to fly but the guys at Flagler Aviation had something else in store for me. I worked there every day after school and most other days. I learned how to work on airplanes from Gary Dupuis and Rocky Evans. I learned to skydive from John Norman and Richard "Fang" Fenimore (Rocky and Gary had some input too). I did whatever was needed that I could deliver from cleaning the bottom of the jump planes to cleaning the bathrooms. I did this at near minimum wage and that is where my nickname from Fang was born "Dave the Slave". I was given the oppourtunity to skydive and I plead with my parents to sign the waiver to let me do it. I finally got permission and then did a tandem with Fang. Shortly after I put almost every dollar I earned back to the company to do the AFF program. I made 52 jumps that year and learned a lot more from my time at the airport. My parents had to move and at 16 I did too. I finished high school in New Jersey and learned to fly. I found an airport to work at but only jumped on occasion. I went to Tulsa in 1991 to formailze my aircraft maintenance education. I made another 50 jumps around Tulsa while I was there and then found my way back to Flagler. I got to live my dream for a short time. On a perfect day I would fly the first load work on aircraft during the day and jump the last load. I left Flagler near the end of 1993 and jumped a few times into a NJ cow pasture in 1994. I became a responsible adult after I got married in 1996 and I have been persuing my aircraft maintenance career. My loving wife noticed when I spoke of skydiving how much I missed it and for Christmas 2007 she paid for me to get back in the air. After a refresher at the local DZ in Sebastian FL I was soon back in the air. I made 2 jumps at Sebastian and I hope to keep the momentum going. I am looking forward to my renewed interest in skydiving. I love the use of this new fangled internet and e-mail to keep abreast of what is going on. I hope to meet and skydive with new friends and most of all I hope to be reunited with my old friends. If I jumped with you in Flagler or Tulsa please send me a PM. If you know where Rocky Evans is let me know, He saved my life a few years back and he dosen't know it. I'll tell the story after I thank him personally. I'm looking forward to seeing y'all in freefall. Dave