pilot-one

So I'm not sure who handed me the card this weekend at the San Marcos boogie but thanks for that. What is the protocol going to be with the tandems? 1 pass for everybody? 1 pass for tandems and 1 for sport jumpers? And what altitude are we going to get? I'll let somebody else say the number for a jump ticket but what I heard was really, really cheap.

I would skip the magnetic risers also. I know 3 people that have those on Vector containers and all three have problems with them coming open in free fall. Two of them had cutaways because the toggle and brake line came out and wrapped around the risers.

Rest assured these guys did not spend thousands training.

Where is the Caravan coming from?

Try a speed skater's suit..... I'm not kidding. Take a look..........

This isn't exactly comparing apples to apples. Free flying takes a substantially higher investment to learn than belly flying. I know of at least a couple of belly flyers at nationals this year with under 200 jumps. I'll bet there's not a single free flyer with under 1000 that's really competitive. Furthermore, from my perspective anyway, it seems most really good free flyers are professional skydivers and most belly flyers it seems have other jobs that most likely pay substantially more. Just my 2 cents worth.

Don't waste your money on something that will be hard to sell. I guarantee you'll be ready for a new container in a year or two. That means the Racer is out and most of the cheaper rigs. Stick with something more mainstream like a Vector, Javelin or Infinity. The Icon is a really good rig too but is still up and coming.

What series Navajo is the aircraft? Is is a PA31-310? -325? -350? There are other variants as well. There's a turbo prop version as well with -28's. It makes a huge difference. There's no point even talking about it until an identification is made.

If there was a demand for this type of aircraft, why aren't there more of the Allison powered Soloy 206s flying? The Allison puts out just as much horsepower. What type of prop would you use? The standard 3-bladed Hartzell barely has enough prop clearance on a King Air. Also, have you given thought to Weight & Balance. A -20 fully rigged weighs 340 pounds + 180 for the prop. This is more than a 206 with an IO-520 - IO-540. For an aircraft that already requires full UP Elevator to keep it off the nose wheel at landing this could pose a problem. The Mark 1 is the Soloy. And it's 420 HP not 400. I have 2000 hours flying these aircraft in the Alaskan bush. It would make a bad ass skydiving plane. Climb rate is close to 2000fpm. You can literally hang the airplane on the prop.

How many Mark 1's do you see in skydiving? I think that should answer your question.

That is what I hate about skydiving. I know this guy personally. I neither condone nor defend his action. I can say he is very safety conscience and looks out for others pretty well. Definitely more than the average. It doesn't surprise me either that he would do this but that's the nature of is personality and not indicative of his normal safety habits.

This stunt doesn't prove or disprove anything. That's thinking with a very small mind. It is what it is. He may be dangerous but maybe not. It is completely impossible to tell from this tiny little part of a snapshot into one's skydiving career.

You sold your rig because it is hard to sell? That makes no sense. Of course it makes sense. The older it gets the more it depreciates. And in the case of RI I think in general the depreciation is compounded. All the more reason to buy an Infinity or something more mainstream.

Funny you should say that. My love affair N3615C a 1954 180 lost a main tire taking off from the beach near Scorpion Bay in Baja. That was a trip to talk about. Tail draggers are not immune. Ever land that sucker somewhere like Mojave? Or more accurately try to taxi somewhere like Mojave? Or worse taxi somewhere that has high wind but no wing walkers much less know what they are. Fun. I love my tail dragger, I love my tail dragger.........

I would go with Infinity as well. As for your main the Pilot is, apples for apples, a more fun canopy to fly. In other words a 168 Pilot flies much more aggressive than say a Sabre 2 170. The Pilot has a much nicer opening as well. On heading and without end cell closure like the Sabre 2. Just my two cents worth ........oh...I've attached a photo of my latest Infinity for your viewing pleasure.

and www.wunderground.com are one and the same.

As NWFlyer said US Airnet is really good. I find their wind forecasts to be a little low most of the time. www.wunderground.com is also excellent and actually provides a wealth of information if you dig a little bit. If you're lucky you can find a weather site reporting that is close to your dropzone and view real time info on what they call "rapid fire" Wunderground's weather history information is unbeatable. Their database goes back many years. Get your pilot's license and you can have access to tons of info beyond the scope of this post.

I didn't make the post for fodder. It is what it is. On the good side of SDH is the owner Todd Bell. He is a nice guy. I also like the fact they recently added a Pac to the fleet. I wish them well.

Which includes getting the shit kicked out of you by members of the staff.....No thanks. That's totally unacceptable for any reason whatsoever.

Yes Skydive Houston is in Waller TX

As promised #7 of 12 limited edition Liquid Sky designed Infinity I-43. Thanks Julio! And Kelly! And Tony!

You guys, Bryan and David, are very similar in your free fly philosophy. This is almost exactly what you've been saying to me Bryan ever since I started jumping with you. Very Kewl.

I beg to differ. The Hot Bod suit is OK but the difference is in the details. Granted Liquid Sky or Ouragon cost a few more bucks but there's really no comparison. You get what you pay for.

This is really bad advice. The fit is more important than ever for an inexperienced free flyer.

In Brian Germain's canopy control course at least one of the jumps is canopy proximity flying including bumping end cells. I had about 100 jumps and my "partner" had about 45. There was absolutely no problem with this in my opinion or Brian Germain's for that matter. As long as you're not sneaking up on somebody it's a great way to learn what your canopy is doing, what is can do and how it reacts to your inputs.