castrodavidd

Anybody with positive news.

Does any know for sure if they allow jumpers at the ballon festival?
Is thier anyone on here that has actually done it?
How recently?
And last but not least how hard was it to convince some one to take you up.

I usally take it and get to jump. I went to Niagara Falls in July. did 5 jumps in 4 states in 3 days. I dont know what the hell I was thinking this time,

Anybody else gone on a trip somewhere and then kick yourself in the ass for not bringing your rig. I'm in Ft Myers, FL and didn't bring my rig becasue I planned on doing some spear fishing. Now that I'm here the water isn't clear and I should be up at Z-hills jumping. This sucks!

i forgot to say in my pm dont pay up front for the whole course. When I went I would give them a check for 5k at a time and when my account got low I would write the another. I been to the school in watsonville. Seemed ok but but the cost of living there is crazy. Also watch out for the weather there you could spend months at a time not flying because of fog.

Rock:
Rage- ...Fuck it, cut the Chord.
Reminds me of cutting away.

Country:
Tim Willson- I'm driving an eighty-nine pontiac, I'm supossed to be a flying sex maniac, ... so where the fuck is my jet pack

I think the real point here is how much this guy is going to get paid when he wins his two law suits. One check from Toyota and one from the state.

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Feeding the troll here, but what do you think is better with the infinity?

No exposed reserve pilot chute, Better riser protecton, wider leg straps, better customer service. and all around more comfortable. Plus If you compare the options of an infinity to any other manufacture the infinity will be cheaper.

I have also heard lately that wings have a tendency to have hard pulls if you dont beat the hell out of the BOC

Hum, the only risk I calculate is how often I can go skydiving before my wife divorces me. Which means she would take all the money and then I wouldn't be able to skydiving anyways. Hows that for a no win situation?

The best option you can get for a wings is not to get one and buy an infinity insted.

I was taught from my grandfather never lend family or a friend money if it will ruin the relationship if they can't pay you back. That being said my grandfather loaned me $235,000.00

Really guys, sell the house, wife throw in the kids, TV, car, Beg, barrow, steal, anything but the rig!

You guys are to damn picky I just want mine cold!

Get her into skydiving thats how most of us lose our job, house, spouse, money...etc.

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A glider has a fixed and solid wing. You fly an airfoil. Can you see any difference???

This is great! Can you explain to me what you think the differences is between an airfoil and a wing? I would love to hear it.
Also no one has answered my question on how you can use a polar curve to explain the difference on why two different canopies glide differently. Some one please explain.

I like this pevious post but I think the jump numbers should go. Jumpers should be able to pass a canopy piloting course prior to each downsize and durring swoop progression, but it should be based on ability not a number.

Ok, Since I guess were gonna start this up again. Your profile says your a professor but you are trying to explain glide ratios of two different canopies by using a polar curve. YOUR AN IDOT! There I said it.
A polar curve is a tool GLIDER pilots use to change glide ratios for a single aircraft. One polar curve chart will not work to explain why two different gliders have different glide ratios. If you cant understand this, go back to school. My sugestion is start with aerodynamics 101 because this is some pretty basic stuff.
How much does that say?

I'll drink to that. Beer Light?

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I have only about 3 years experience as an Aerospace Engineer in Advanced Design and have been looking at drag polar curves on a daily basis. Not to mention everyday in Flight Dynamics class. Seems like a pretty common thing to me.

Name: Michael Bradfield
Occupation: student, aerospace engineer intern
Why dont you put your real qualifications when you post.

OK I want everyone to read this and see if you think this can be applied to the difference in your speed vs. distance between two different canopies. Also would it be pratical to use this in flight under those canopies.

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I think you MISREAD my post. castrodavidd said HE hadn't heard of polar curves

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You may be thinking, "This is all very interesting, but how do I use it in the air. I'm not going to carry polar curve charts with me in the glider and draw tangents for each condition I encounter." You are right. The information derived here must be converted to cockpit displays and/or rules of thumb to use in flight.
First let's discuss headwinds and tailwinds. You have to estimate their values so a rule of thumb is as good as anything. If you were to evaluate several different wind conditions graphically, you would find that the tangent point moves about half as far as the origin. Thus, a good rule would be "Add about half the estimated value of a headwind, and subtract about half the value of a tailwind from the Speed to Fly determined for lift or sink."

For lift and sink we have an instrument in the glider to give us the necessary information. The process used to determine Speed to Fly gives us the sink rate of the air mass and the sink rate of the glider within the air mass. Their total is the value that would be indicated on the variometer. We could select a few representative values of Speed to Fly and stick them on the panel adjacent to the corresponding variometer readings, using a label maker. A better method is to invest in a speed ring for the glider/variometer combination we have. The speed ring is adjustable, but for our current definition of Speed to Fly it should be set with the arrow on the ring pointing to "0" on the variometer. Then when the variometer points to any rate of descent it is also pointing to the corresponding Speed to Fly - the one that will produce the flattest glide under those conditions. Our example shows Speed to Fly varying from 42 kts in still air to 62 kts in 3 kt sink.

Quote is from kallend's link to a site on polar curves.

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Poor definition. The air striking the airfoil has an indeterminate direction due to the presence of the airfoil. The reference direction is the free stream direction of the airflow.

Once again sorry, I just copied and pasted the definition from the text book. So that there wasn't my opinion just an acutal definition.

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I was thinking REAL aerodynamics, such as is taught to those who design airplanes and helicopters. Has stuff like differential equations in it.

Sorry I was thinking of the practical application of aerodynamics that us skydivers actually use in flight.

Thanks for taking the time for such an in depth answer.

The reason I ask is the label that all canopies 150 square ft and below are considered high performance. We have a jumper at our DZ that wants to buy some gear. She probally wieghs less than 125 out the door. So should she really start with a 170 so she can fly backwards on landings in our Oklahoma winds?

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How do you think it feels when someone who came to you for advice, gets seriously injured or dies? Do you think you might kick yourself forever for not having done enough to show them they were pushing too hard?

I do know that feeling I had two friends get in piece of shit airplane after they asked my opinion of it, and I told them not to. They both died on it's first flight after the wings folded up. Doesn't mean I wont continue to tell the next guy the same thing.

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What should we do about it? Tell them they are fucking up? Other than that, we have no teeth.

REALLY? So the S&TA at your drop zone doesn't have the authority to ban someone from jumping for 30 Days, or do they just not have the balls to do it.

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You ever think how it might feel to hold someone as you watch their last breath bubble out between their lips?

Oh and yes to this too. I had my daughter die in my arms thank you very much.