Pele2048

Members
  • Content

    12
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never
  • Feedback

    0%

Community Reputation

0 Neutral

Jump Profile

  • Home DZ
    KFYJ - Middle Peninsula Regional Airport - Skydive West Poin
  • License
    Student
  • Number of Jumps
    2
  • Years in Sport
    1
  1. Buddy of mine is getting married and I'm the best man... He's never jumped before but has expressed interest, especially after the pictures of my first jump went up on FaceBook... My original idea was to get him a tandem jump... Kinda symbolic, as he's also jumping into something a few days afterward... Unfortunately, this is met with some criticism from the rest of the groom's party. 1.) Not everyone digs the idea of getting pushed out of a plane at 13,000 ft... 2.) Most of us will have already paid airfare from Washington to Washington... D.C. to Seattle that is... Plus a week's worth of hotel stay. car rental, and other vacation needs... Plus having suits tailored and other typical wedding preparations... The bank accounts will not be pleased... So I revised my plans... Vertical wind tunnel would bring the cost down significantly and many more were willing to participate. Unfortunately, I can't find a single wind tunnel within Washington State, Oregon, Idaho... And the only one in British Columbia, Canada, doesn't appear to be in operation any more... Any other suggestions? Tell the bachelor to pitch in? Roofie everybody, rent a truck, and haul them to the dropzone?
  2. ^ Good! I didn't know a commercial unit was available. Takes the long hours at the bench off of my back. I'll buy one when I get my gear.
  3. Would the added weight/volume of something the size of a small cell phone to the control handles of my main really compromise it that much? Is such a minor change really jeopardizing my safety? My idea is a small low power transmitter that constantly sends out my radio callsign either in recorded voice or morse code on the amateur radio frequency. Such a transmitter can be about the size of a book of matches, along with a pair of AA batteries to power it. If I have to cut away, land via reserve at the drop zone and go to my car where I have a receiver and a yagi antenna. Yagi antennas are set up to pick up signals in only one direction, so simply wave it around and where ever I hear my transmitter, start heading out that way. Not a perfect locator, but more of a "Hot/Cold" way of finding things.
  4. ^ Gotcha... I'll learn as I go along... I just wanna get all the knowledge I can get on the ground.
  5. Had to... My father gave me a 1976 Volvo 245DL Station wagon with a bad transmission and questionable engine... His words, "Whaddya want? It's a free car. Take it or get a job and buy your own car." You gain a lot of appreciation for a car after you've put blood and sweat into it... Even if it is 6 yrs older than you and a complete rust bucket. I actually will never buy a new car... Or one that will cost more than a few thousand dollars, ever in my life... Regardless of how much money I have. But that's another story for another section. Well, the reserve is packed by an FAA certified rigger, so I guess I trust the FAA... I did watch people packing mains. All the employees of the company I trained with had a specific procedure of folding and putting rubber bands around the bundles of cords... This as opposed to the people who brought their own gear. They were just shoving the canopy in the container. I might not know much, but I do know that a neatly packed canopy where the lines are all bundles nicely will unfurl much smoother on deployment than one that's just balled up and shoved in the container. Maybe I misspoke when I said I won't trust the packer... But I will watch.
  6. When on a reserve ride, if the main has not been deployed, do you still need to cut the main away? Those things are expensive and I'd hate to lose it somewhere. Maybe I'll just build a little GPS transmitter or something to attach to it... When I do get my own gear. (Licensed Amateur/HAM radio operator. Also a Radio Telecomm technician for a day job... I have experience tracking radio signals and building small scale GPS tracking gear.)
  7. From the ground or in the air, can you tell if someone has deployed their reserve rather than their main canopy? Is there a visual difference?
  8. ^ Whenever one of my friends buys a new/used car, I immediately go out and get the "Haynes" basic service manual from the auto parts store for about $20... That'll let me know how difficult various repairs will be when they inevitably come by for repairs... When I go out and buy a new/used car, I immediately head to the dealer for manufacturer parts breakdown diagrams, electrical schematics, and a factory service manual. A buddy of mine had a 1966 Mustang. It was the only vehicle he had ever had a shop work on. He had just gotten it from the shop after having the brakes readjusted. A short time thereafter, he got caught up in heavy traffic, went to step on the brakes... All four wheels locked up and he slid into the shoulder, wedged between the Jersey wall and a semi... If I'm not packing my parachute, I will DEFINITELY be watching whomever is packing it and I will not be trusting them 100%. Knowing how your gear works, IMHO is fundamental to using it... I want to know the right and the wrong ways to pack it. I assume that there are more than a few way to pack a chute, as I saw several different methods when I was at the drop zone. I not only like to know about my gear, but everyone else's too. in the event that I want to compare gear.
  9. So... I had my first Tandem: [URL]http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3736464[/URL] I want to go through the AFF training and get a license to jump... I think I'll start this spring. Questions: During my tandem, my jumpmaster had to pull the ripcord. I didn't realize what my altitude was and scrambled to find the ripcord... Given this, should I go on another tandem and request that I watch the altimeter during the descent so that I know when to pull and keep a hand on the cord at all times? (Training indicated that I should have kept my arms above my head...) Also... Gear: Rent or buy? This is both an economical and safety issue for me. Is packing a canopy part of instruction? Care and feeding of the thing that saves my life is kinda important to me. Nobody but me works on my car... It's a safety issue for me. Though I know what I'm doing under there. I have never packed a canopy. Then again, I've seen used rigs for $4g... How much is it to rent usually?
  10. I originally posted it to Facebook and to a Car Forum that I am frequently on... It was originally aimed at non-skydivers. I don't think that people who have not been in the sky will ever understand. I wouldn't have prior to this experience and I have been in the sky. (Flown Cessnas and such.) So I tried to best convey the experience as I could through words. Leonardo da Vinci was right... "Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you long to return." Everyone should try these kinds of things, at least once. Skydive, Scuba in a shark cage, Rent a plane, Drive over 100 MPH around a race track... People look at me and go WTF are you thinking? You're gonna die! My parents are afraid that I'll end up in a wheelchair, drooling all over myself, crapping in a bag. (In which case, I would ask for cyanide.) I maintain that everything I do is as safe as I can make it. And if I die, then it's my time... But at least I went out having a good time. "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting 'Holy Sh*t, what a ride!' " -Mavis Leyrer, Seattle WA, Age 83 Couple minutes here, couple minutes there. Note the lack of grammatical mistakes or typos. Cumulatively, I'd say 15 mins.
  11. ^ Actually did that shortly before submitting that post. :p I like to write. It wasn't that hard to Cut n Paste to here. Just thought it'd be fun to recount what went through my mind during the entire experience.
  12. Cliff notes: This is a repost of my writeup in the Off Topic section of the Mazda RX-7 club, a sports car forum I frequent. I've also put the same thing up on my Facebook page. My first skydive was this past Saturday. This is a recount of the entire experience. It's long. Without further ado: 9.81 m/s^2... The rate of gravity on Earth, neglecting wind resistance; However, I don't think humans don't offer much in the way of aerodynamic drag... The thinner of us, that is... That's the acceleration of 1G. So, start the stop watch as soon as you begin to fall. After 1 sec, You're doing 9.81 meters/sec. (21.94 MPH) After 2 sec, you're doing double that... 19.62m/s. (43.89 MPH) After 3 sec, triple it. 29.43 m/s (65.83 MPH) 4 sec, 87.77 MPH 5 sec, just shy of 110 MPH. At that rate, you have a 0-60 MPH time of approximately 2.73 Sec Slightly slower than a Bugatti Veyron. Faster than a Koenigsegg CCX, McLaren F1, and Ferrari Enzo. At that rate, you achieve top speed of 120 MPH in approximately 5.47 sec 120 MPH is the approximate terminal velocity of an average human being with proper parachute gear falling through the lower atmosphere. You can't get going much faster since the wind resistance drag is equal to the gravity pulling you down. Let me back up a little and start over at the beginning. I was actually slated to go Skydiving at Wast Point Skydive Adventures in Mattaponi, Virginia with my friend Matt last weekend. I had been pumped ever since he suggested it weeks ago. We had gotten behind because Google maps and the GPS didn't have the right directions. (I live in Woodbridge, VA approximately 2 hours away.) I had to make up time, so I did about 110-120 MPH down I-95. We had gotten almost to Richmond before they called and said that even though the rain was getting lighter, the cloud cover was just too thick and visibility was poor. Anyhow, this past weekend was beautiful. Sunny and 60 deg. So Matt and I set out. Arriving at the small uncontrolled KFYJ - Middle Peninsula Regional Airport, we were welcomed by a little old gentleman in loose clothing. He sorta looked like an aged hippie. He was starting a small bonfire. It occurs to me at the time of this writing that it was about 75 ft from the tanks that supply the airport with "Jet-A' Kerosene Jet Fuel and 100 Octane Low Lead Aviation Gasoline... We were shown to a small hangar. It reminded me of an old basement. Old ratty couches lined the walls. Gear was hung from the rafters and on hooks along the walls. There was old furniture around to sit on and relax. After filling out a myriad of paperwork including a covenant not to file lawsuit, acknowledging that they do not carry personal injury or wrongful death insurance, and advising me that I am about to partake in a potentially dangerous sport I took a look back in the waiting area before my ground instruction was to begin. There was a living room area with more ratty old couches and recliners.Various TVs were here for entertainment viewing. It kinda reminded me of a college frat house. The kitchen had essential appliances such as the two tap kegerator and a chilled Jagermeister dispenser with two empty Jager bottles on top of it. There was a beer bong on the counter and several fridges either saved from the trash or from the free section of CraigsList. The fridges were stocked with mandatory supplies like Pizza and Red Bull. One employee was obviously nursing a hangover, as he poured a little "hair of the dog" from a liquor flask into his coffee. These were the videographers and instructors of this fine establishment. I suppose these are the kind of people that are best suited for skydiving though. Thrill seeking, fun loving people. And where best for an after party but here. The airport has lots of space and there's nobody around to complain about noise. Ground instruction was short, consisting of about a 20 minute lesson regarding body positioning for mid-air control and to avoid smashing your dome into your instructor's face, rendering them unconscious. I asked numerous questions regarding advanced HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jumps, the minimum altitude where you can safely open the parachute, and the safety features on the parachute. I'm pretty sure I made some of the instructors and many of the first time students nervous... Apparel consists of a jumpsuit that fits over your existing clothes and a safety harness. The safety harness is similar to hazardous location rescue harnesses and rock climbing harnesses. If you've ever participated in Enclosed Hazardous Space training or gone climbing with any sort of belay or lowering device, you know what I'm talking about. Gentlemen, be forewarned that they will ride up your crotch and hurt your boys if you don't adjust the harness properly on the ground. Sit the leg straps in the crease where your thighs are so that the straps are outside your where your sack is. Tighten your legs together so that you don't smash your balls. Then make sure the straps are snug. Hat and goggles were straight forward and you get an altimeter on your wrist. Then it's onto the plane. The world looks so different at 13,500 ft. I've taken a few flying lessons in small aircraft. (Cessna 172 Skyhawk airplanes and Robinson R22 helicopters) At 1000 ft, you can still see individual people walking around. You can still tell what they're wearing, or what kind of cars are driving around. We dropped a few people off at 5000 ft in the plane I took. That's just shy of one mile up. At that height, you can make out the color of various cars and trucks driving around. Houses look like Monopoly pieces. At 13,500 ft, (That's a little more than Two and a Half miles up.) Houses look like grains of sand. Dense forest looks like grass. You can not see large trucks let alone standard passenger cars or individual people. You can see the curvature of the Earth clearly. There are policies that the military has regarding the closeness of men; Don't ask, don't tell... I'm telling: I feel I'm owed a dinner... At least if I puckered harder, I'd hang on tighter. Still, the benefits of doing a tandem jump with an instructor strapped tightly to you has benefits: -Ground instruction is short. -If you're so caught up in the moment, there's someone else to pull the rip cord... This was a good thing in my case. You're supposed to pull the rip cord at 6000-5000 ft. At the rate I was traveling at, I descended from 13,500 ft to 5,000 ft in approximately 45 sec. It felt much shorter. My house is 2 floors. When I go up on the roof to clean the gutters, I sometimes look out over the edge. I look down and see the driveway and get a little scared. I might fall and break my leg. At the very least, I'll dent the hood of my truck. It's my nature to back away from the edge. It feels unsafe and I don't want to be there. And this is only 20 ft up. A far cry from the 13,500 ft up where I was now. With the instructor strapped to your back, looking down at the Earth is when I had the only sensation of nervousness. I had already committed myself to this, the time for second thoughts was before I got on the plane. Honestly, I hadn't had a second thought about Skydiving at all when my buddy called up and said, "Hey, you know what I wanna try..." I was pumped and psyched up about it for weeks before. Still, it's kinda unsettling looking at something that's natural to back away from. You look down and go, "What if I fall out... Oh wait.. That's the point." But like I said, the time for second thoughts was on the ground. Long before I suited up. Long before I got on the plane. Long before I gave these people good hard earned money to jump out of their (questionably) perfect airplane. Once you're strapped to your instructor tightly, it's more difficult to walk around in a small airplane. Already, I had to stoop down. This was more like a crouched potato sack race. Get up and approach the exit door of the plane. Get down on one knee, grab the bar above the door and kneel. -Ready? Lean out the plane and look down. Rock back into the plane. -Set? Lean out again and check for other jumpers, make sure they're away. Rock back into the plane. -GoooooooOOOOHHHHHH SSHHHHIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first, you do feel the falling sensation. It's further enhanced by the fact that you're doing a somersault out the door. It takes about half a second and then you don't feel like you're falling at all. When traveling at 120 MPH in a car, you see the surroundings going by you. You feel the vibration of the tires against the road. You hear the engine and drivetrain propelling you. You are aware of your speed. With no surroundings, no tires for traction, and no drivetrain, along with a hat that covers your ears to protect form the wind chill (Static air temperature drops about 4deg F per every 1000 ft up you go. Couple with the wind chill of 120 MPH.) You actually feel like you're floating. There is no reference to speed. You have no clue how fast you're going. The descent from 5000 ft to the ground was much longer obviously. It felt like 15 minutes or more. There are two control handles for the parachute. Pull the left one, you go left. Pull the right one, you go right. Pull hard enough and you get to going in a spiral fast enough that you can swing almost a 45 deg angle instead of standing straight up. Pull both hard, (Called "Flare") and the parachute folds up and slows you WAY down. On landing, you're supposed to kick your feet way out in front of you. (Essentially in a sitting position.) Putting them under you may result in broken ankles or leg injuries. In a pinch, a fucked up landing can be saved by ending with an ass slide... A perfect landing though, you pull both control handles and you end up in a perfect standing position and hit the ground in a light jogging pace. Try it. Hold yourself from an overhead bar, then bend at the hips so that you're an "L" shape. It's good abdominal exercise. Now do it with a hard, round, planet shaped object that's rapidly heading towards you.