flyboy62000

On Real TV right now a guy is going to try to catch an airplane in freefall. Some of you may have seen this before, but it looks cool. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey Dutchboy, I'm a pilot also, that's a great story. Congrats on being current again. I know what you mean about most pilots not understanding why anyone would jump. All the instructors here, except mine, think I'm crazy. My instructor is the youngest of all the others and he is more open, in fact I think he might jump this summer. Actually the guy that owns the flight school I got my Private Pilot's license at had a part in my desire to jump. He didn't know why a person would want to jump, but he used to fly jumpers and told me a story of one. She was there to do her first jump on the static line progression and he was the pilot. She was a small girl and was kind of scared to jump. She finally climbed out onto the step and got ready to go, but kept hanging on. He put in a little bit of power to maintain altitude and when he looked over she had jumped. When he got back on the ground she told him how great it was and thanked him for the help. He didn't mean to blow her off with the power, but being small she did blow off. He told me she went on to be a professional skydiver with a demo team for a beer company, Coors I think. Sorry for the long post, but I thought it was a good story and was the first time I really thought about trying a jump. Congratulations again on your flight review. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey All, I rode the plane down once. It was for one of my student jumps, I can't remember which one, though. On the ride up there was a pretty good haze layer that looked really thick on the way up and I made the decision to ride the plane down. While on jump run I found that it was not as bad as I had thought and I could see the DZ clearly, but had already made the decision and it was too late to change my mind and jump. The ride down was almost as much fun as the jump, which I made on the next load. If you decide to ride the plane down because of something that makes you uncomfortable it is a good decision. Better to make the jump later than to have something clouding your mind. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey everyone, here's me in a nutshell 1. Obsessed with Skydiving/Flying 2. very easygoing 3. optimist Blue Skies, Adam

Hey Monk, Good to hear you will be back in the air this weekend. I don't know where you are going to jump this weekend, but I'll be at Coolidge on Saturday and Sunday if I see you I'll be sure to say hi. Sorry to hear about your friend, it is always sad to hear of a fellow jumper having an accident. I can't imagine having a friend get hurt. Glad to hear you will be back in the air, though. Blue Skies, Adam

This thread is hilarious. Good work to those that came up with these. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey Greg, I'll be jumping in Coolidge this weekend and Eloy on Monday. If you are there during one of these days say hi. I'll be jumping my butt off. I'll probably be the youngin' there. If I have my RW suit on it is black and blue with silver grippers. If I decide to do some freefly attempts I will be in jeans and a sweatshirt. Maybe I'll see you. Blue Skies, Adam

I agree with diver 123. I know I get pretty excited/scared on the ride to altitude. Not anything that is really bad or would cause me to not jump, but if you think about it skydiving is all about trust and knowledge. When you leave that airplane you put your life in your own hands and trust in your equipment to work properly. The experience of flight is worth it and we all make choices to make our dives as safe as possible. It will never truly be a safe sport, but with proper training and the right equipment we can be safe in a sport that is inherently dangerous. We are the luckiest people in the world to know what it means to truly fly. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey Skreamer, I don't have a scanner for my logbook, but I put everything into a computerized logbook on my computer for an extra copy. I also keep photocopies of both my pilot's logbook and skydiving logbook. I figure that way if I ever do lose one I have a record to show for it. That is a good idea with the scanner. Hmmm, maybe that would be a good excuse to get one. Blue Skies, Adam

I think someone mentioned this before. A big disposable helium balloon you can hook to your rig and float up to altitude then release and have some fun. Wind drift would be a bi*ch to predict, though. Blue Skies, Adam

Congratulations on getting to jump. I'm sure you will have a total blast with AFF. Have a great time and be safe. Blue Skies, Adam

Alex, The characters you see as periods show up to me and some others as a copyright symbol. I don't know why this is, though. Probably the character set you are using, as Craig said, is different from ours. Maybe someone else could shed more light on why this is. Blue Skies, Adam

The Cessna 206 is a Stationair, the 208 is the Caravan, and the 208B is the Grand Caravan. Blue Skies, Adam

I'll definately be at Eloy on the 19th, maybe I'll see you there. Blue Skies, Adam

Cool, maybe I'll see you there. I have a black and royal blue RW suit and jump a Javelin that is Black w/ blue, purple and teal. If you see me be sure to say hi. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey everybody, I'm starting to get my stuff together for my trip to Arizona. I will be arriving in Phoenix on Friday night Mar. 16 and am going to spend the weekend at Coolidge, Monday and maybe Tuesday at Eloy, and then the rest of the week at my grandparents' in Sedona. If anyone is planning to be at Coolidge or Eloy between Mar. 17 and Mar. 19 let me know and I will look for you. Also, if anyone has information on balloon jumps at Eloy let me know. Thanks. Blue Skies, Adam

When I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio for school I already had my private pilot's license and the school did not have enough flight instructors. They decided to put me on hold from flying to let the people that started with no flight time get further into the program and hire some instructors. During this layoff from flying I was getting altitude withdrawl and decided that if I couldn't fly I would try jumping. I called up the dropzone and scheduled a tandem. Needless to say I totally loved it and was hooked. The next day I did two more jumps and after two weeks I was off student status. I love skydiving and can't wait until friday when I go to Arizona for spring break. Blue Skies, Adam

I guess it all depends on the preference of the individual. I always do a thorough gear check before gearing up to jump. I like to get a pin check before exit, but some airplanes can be so cramped that room to get a check is pretty non-existent. If possible I like to have another jumper give me a check before exit just to be sure the pin hasn't started to work its way out while sitting on the airplane. This is just my preference and I'm sure that others have different practices and opinions on the subject. Blue Skies, Adam

Zennie, It depends on the DZ whether or not they will let you jump. Big DZ's usually require an A-license to jump. If you visit a smaller DZ they will usually require you to do a dive with an instructor. Example, Skydive Arizona requires an A-license for visiting skydivers. I went to Arizona Skydiving Coolidge with 18 jumps and they had me jump with an instructor and then said have fun. If you plan on visiting a DZ without having an A-license call first and see what they say. I hope this helps. Blue Skies, Adam

If it is a Cessna and the pilot owns it and wants to drop you you need to do a few things. Most single engine Cessnas can legally be flown with one door removed without special permission. You just pull the pins out of the door hinges to remove it. The exit would be the same as any other jump Cessna minus the jump step. It is possible to jump from a Cessna with the regular door on, but it is difficult and there are a lot of potential problems associated with it (read it's dangerous). The pilot should file a NOTAM for parachute jumping and get permission from the airport manager if you will be jumping onto an airport. The pilot must be in contact with the agency controlling the airspace and notify them of his intentions. That's about it. If you can find a safe airplane to jump from and a pilot that will meet these requirements for the flight then go for it, but paying to jump at a regular DZ would probably be much easier and safer. Blue Skies, Adam

Hey Craig, Don't worry, I'm still waiting for my March issue. I figure it should be here within a few days. Blue Skies, Adam

I have been flying for about 10 years, seriously for about 3 years. I am in a collegiate aviation program to get my commercial pilot's license. When I entered the program at the college this fall they had too many students for the number of instructors so I had to hold off on my training for a quarter while those that were just starting got the instructors. I was tired of sitting around and decided to try skydiving. I loved it. I love flying and want to do it for a living because I love it. If I had to choose between flying and skydiving I would keep skydiving. This is only because skydiving is much more exciting and fun. Now if I was flying a fighter it might be a different story, but between the flying I'm doing now and skydiving there is little contest. Also when I'm skydiving I get to fly with other people and be out in the elements, not stuck inside a flying box of metal. As far as the similarites and differences the only real similarities are in canopy flight. The differences are pretty obvious skydiving is much less restrictive as far as rules go, you get to fly your body, and you don't have anything holding you in. Flying is great, but IMHO skydiving is more fun. Blue Skies, Adam

wow, that's a lot of jumps in a day. That would wear you out by the end of the day. Blue Skies, Adam

Carrie, While Geos are sold by GM the cars are actually produced by a japanese company. If you look the Geo Tracker bears a great resemblance (read exact same vehicle) to the Suzuki Samuri. Transmissions are pretty labor intensive and expensive to rebuild, but you could probably find a good used one from a salvage company to replace your broken one. I'd look into this to see what you can find out. Blue Skies, Adam

When I went to Coolidge over Christmas I did 6 in a day with no problem and packing own rig. I could have done more, but I hadn't jumped for a while and was really feeling it by the end of the day. If I had two rigs and someone packing for me I could have easily done over 10 in a day. When I go back to Coolidge and Eloy in a little under two weeks over spring break I will try to do between 6 and 8 a day. On a normal summer weekend day at my home DZ I could probably do 5 or 6 jumps a day. Blue Skies, Adam