pilot-one

It isn't there. The first three are but not the head down video.

You are right freefalle. There's a particular TM that has been on anti depressants and has made many suicidal comments that I have witnessed myself. It's obvious he lied for his medical and still baffles me that he is allowed to take passengers.

I'm willing to be the Mirage RSL and Infinity RSL are not interchangeable. That makes each proprietary. Furthermore I didn't say they were all like that. I said that's how mine is. There are plenty of threads on this forum that discuss using an RSL and jumping a camera so I won't go there but I suppose there are those few that would enjoy watching their reserve opening up into the canopy that's attached to their helmet....to each their own.

If you're jumping any camera you should have the RSL disconnected. In fact at my dropzone the S&TA will disconnect it for you if he sees is hooked up. I have an Infinity rig and have never had any problems with the RSL coming out of the little horizontal pouch that it fits into. There is only one way it will fit. The RSL is proprietary to Velocity and has a creased and hardened spot in it where it folds and fits into its "pouch". There really is no adjustment or anything. It is very objective. What's left sticking out is what you get by design.

Sounds real good! Sign me up.

So my point being that the reviews are really worthless. There's really no way to know when the reviewer can't be identified. Maybe one of those was for real but has to be discredited because of the anonymity but people that do tandems would have no idea what dz.com is without some coaching. At least Brandon had the balls to make the review and not try to hide behind the computer screen. LOL It's obvious he had it out with Eric but that really should be kept between the two of them. Anyway no hard feelings. Salado is a fine place to jump and I have nothing bad to say about it. Probably the reason I don't make it up there is it's pretty far to drive from S.A.

I guess you don't look very good Wendy. Brandon Booker is one. Dropzone.com user name bsbooker and listed on your website as a tandem master. His review is one very near the top of the list. I'm surprised you missed that. I'm not going to waste my time pointing out others but I will ask that you look at 3 most recent reviews. All mention names at the dropzone, all are users with no profile or posts and of the three two of them registered the same day they made the review. Come on. How can you possibly not figure this is BS? I'm not knocking Skydive Temple whatsoever. I just made the point that a tandem master from your dropzone that left SSM in a disgruntled fashion posted a bad review. You can hardly deny his review isn't biased and at a minimum the 3 most recent as well? These reviews are not worth anything for the most part other than entertainment. You've got to go yourself or get references from someone you know personally. If I get anything from these reviews on SSM I get that Skydive Temple has a tandem master on staff that's got a bone to pick. Do I want anyone I know to be attached to him in freefall? I'll let you decide.

Don't go by the reviews. Most of them are from employees that were let go or employees from other dropzones. If would like to check that out for yourself take a look at the tandem masters at Skydive Temple and compare the names to a few of the bad reviews. I'm not singling out Temple just using that as one example. There is not a better place anywhere near that comes close to San Marcos for AFF. They have superior aircraft, equipment and facilities. Spaceland is pretty good too but that's not considered the same area. Good luck.

OK, You've convinced me. I will NOT be jumping at Waller. Simon, I think you've gone a little too far this time. Let's back up a minute here. 95% of free fliers are at SDH? Have you even been to San Marcos other than the little organizer gig you did for one weekend? I didn't think so. Why does a free flier have to be on a "team" to count? I can think of dozens of free fliers in San Marcos off the top of my head. And several that are MUCH better than you think you are. Why do you relate free flying to who did what on what team? Do you know that 95% of free fliers or more actually don't compete or even care about being on a head down record attempt? Most of that to begin with is about who you know not how good you can actually fly. I'm a free flier and I have no interest in being on a team nor do I want to jump with anyone on a team that is going to put themselves above me just because of that. Who cares? I think you really miss the point of what somebody may be looking for in a dropzone. That's great that you guys have a bunch of tunnel coaches. Too bad there's not a tunnel anywhere closer than 900 miles. I'm glad you have so many teams that make you so much better that the worn out Anomaly and the long forgotten Bling but you probably are too busy with your own thing that you probably wouldn't even notice a new guy coming in looking for a day of jumping. I know that Todd and Kristy would but I'm not too sure about you anymore. I don't know why you're so worried about Texas and the Texas record. Where the hell are you from? Oh, you live in Texas. And you've been here how long? Hardly a Texan do you make my friend. Don't throw the Texas shit around and if you do get your facts straight. Do you know where the Texas free fly scene began? Do you know who Brad Slager is? And where he jumped? Why don't you look that up. Do you know that just a few short years ago Waller was about to shut down? Why don't you look that up too while you're at it. How come you don't mention the plane at SDH? PAC 750? If you ask me an Otter is much better. I think you'll agree. What does Spaceland fly? How about San Marcos? Otters at both places. Why don't you mention SDH is several hours from Austin yet San Marcos is less than an hour? Your recommendation of dropzones doesn't hold any water based on your supporting comments. It sounds like you're selling yourself. And apparently you've become a legend in your own mind. I would wager a pretty big bet that if you were jumping somewhere else THAT would be the place to be. So that brings us full circle here. Let's go back to the OP's question and give him some usable information. There are two dropzones near Austin. Skydive Temple and Skydive San Marcos. There are free fliers at both dropzones and both dropzones are running turbine aircraft at this time. Temple is flying a Pac and San Marcos has an Otter and a Caravan. If you would like to venture out a little more Skydive Dallas is about 3 hours to the north and Houston to the East. Houston has two dropzones; Spaceland in Rosharon and Skydive Houston in Waller. Spaceland is huge by comparison flying several aircraft, SDH flies a Pac and I'm pretty sure Dallas is flying an Otter. If you're into the free fly clique thing and want to go somewhere where currently competing teams are located than you might like SDH or Dallas a bit better than the others but all are equally safe and priced the same and all have free fliers that would love to include you. I am totally sick of my DZ being knocked for lack of free flyers. I'm willing to wager a few more bucks with you Simon. I'll bet there are more free fliers in San Marcos than there are at Waller if you count all of us that are not part of any "team". "We" are the team. 30 jumps or 10,000 jumps, team or no team. If you think you're better just because of your credentials than I think most of us don't want to jump with you or at your DZ anyway. Teams don't make a DZ. People do.

Although Skydive Temple isn't a bad place you may want to consider Skydive San Marcos while you are in Austin. The landing area is quite a bit better in San Marcos and over all is a little less "mom and pop". Suit yourself though. Either place is safe.

Three weeks later here I am. As discussed above Transition I is in fact the predecessor to the head down video. I originally thought it was the head down video too. It isn't nearly as informative as the back fly and sit fly video but nonetheless is fun to watch. I guess he wants us to be able to get to head down before we actually try to fly it. Lol

+1 It looks like your laterals are too short. Look where your hip ring sits. I think it should be a few inches more forward. I had a similar problem. Before I had it fixed it was very difficult to reach back because of the pressure on my shoulders. Once the laterals were lengthened it was much more comfortable.

I had one of those for a little while. It gets in the way too much so I just got rid of it. Maybe you'll have better luck with it than I did.

The Tonfly looks cool but Slovakia is a long way away. I would reconsider Liquid Sky. Whatever it is you didn't like about it I know Julio will change for you. .....Just sayin'

I watch the tourist industry in Texas like a hawk. It is my lively hood and my future depends on it. Although in time I believe it will rebound, tourism in Texas is down as much as 50% from last year. I also know some details that I am unwilling to discuss on a public forum. Like GR2 said. Let's check back in 2 years.

They're worth every penny. i only wish he would hurry up and and get the head down video released.

I'll believe it when I see it. These guys are known in the San Antonio area (nothing to do with tunnels) to talk it up just to see what kind of interest there is. It would be great to have and i hope it happens but it just doesn't make sense business wise. I'll bet there's a due diligence clause in the contract.

The riggers I know that don't like the Pilot have never jumped the Pilot. I'll bet this guy has never even jumped one himself. Just a hunch.

I don't think you'll regret it. For what it's worth Jenn has already been in contact with me after reading my post in this thread about the batteries not lasting. What more could you ask for?

My Neptune 2 is is great. I've had no problems whatsoever. My only complaint is the batteries run down fairly quickly. I'm not sure if this is a factor of the device itself or the batteries. I don't think you could go wrong with the N2 however the N3 is far superior. Rechargeable battery and overall much better.

What is the date of manufacture? Does it still have the original line set? Does it have any patches? Has it been jumped in the sand? What is the general condition? There are lots of variables to consider.

Hmmm....well I am still pretty young at 45 and I too jump the Pilot 168 ZPX. It is a completely different canopy than the Silhouette. If you demo a Pilot be prepared for a much more responsive canopy ride. In fact the Pilot is much more responsive than a similar sized Sabre 2 as well.

If he's a skydiver I guarantee he has a picture of himself skydiving. Or at the least in his rig boarding the plane or in the landing area after a jump or something. Of course there is always the exception to the rule. What about his log book? Every skydiver has one even if they don't write in it after getting their license. Ask him about that. That should seal the deal.

Are you sure you have an I-5? A Pilot 168 ZP packs easily into my I-5. I'm sure a 188 would go in there with not too much trouble.

The Magic Jack is bad ass. There were some issues but they have been worked out and for the past several months I've had no problems with the 3 I am using for my business. I'm not sure about it working on a P3.