theplummeter

I'm in the process of changing canopies and have my container torn apart right now. I have been borrowing rigs from friends or using student gear at the dropzone and recently got a good look at a Precision kill line pilot chute. The bridle is much thinner than the one on my container (mine has no label so I'm assuming it's the one that came from Velocity). It's much smoother to cock and easier to fold when packing the pilot chute. Mine seems large and crunchy by comparison. Both are kill line ZP and 28 inches. I guess I'm wondering if it's worth the money to replace right now and how others, specifically Cazer, compare to the Precision. My rigger has said the current pilot chute is airworthy, but it can't hurt to think about replacing it either.

One more thing to throw on the fire: Most aircraft that are bigger than a very light piston have a variable turbulence penetration speed that increases with gross weight. Last week I was flying a Pilatus that has published speeds varying from under 130 knots at very light weights to about 160 near max gross. While these numbers are there to prevent structural damage and overspeed during a turbulence/windshear encounter, they do seem to demonstrate a correlation between wing loading and safe speeds that may translate to skydiving, although wing deflation is not a concern with airplanes.

I'm not on the Paleo diet, actually somewhere between that and Atkins. No sugar, low carbs, and high protein. I've lost 35 pounds in 3 months and can lift about 15% more than when I started, although I have a broken hand that has slowed that progress. I'm just on a cardio/weightlifting regimen and have always wanted to try Crossfit but we don't have a Crossfit gym here.

Are you doing the Paleo diet as well?

Eat a package of sugar free candy with Sorbitol or a package of Atkins bars with suger alcohols. By the time you feel your stomach twist it's too late, you're a texture gun.

It's not just skydiving, it's life in general. I have friends who won't take a road trip without a GPS. Even worse, I work with some folks (doing air ambulance flights) that are afraid to go to a VFR only airport at night due to the lack of approaches, weather reporting, and glide slope indication. I enjoy actually using the skills I spent so many years learning and refining to complete the task. Chuck, you'll be happy to know that when I bought a used helmet that came with an audible my instructors advice was to leave the thing off until my pattern is perfect, and then maybe think about putting batteries in it.

I have jumped both a Pilot 188 and a Pulse 190 loaded at 1:1 at a dropzone where the elevation is about 3500. They are very similar in glide characteristics, flare is roughly equal but starts at a higher toggle point and then tapers off more quickly with the Pulse, and they feel almost identical in flight although the Pulse turns a little quicker in my opinion. Both were great canopies, but I ended up buying a Pulse because it was about $300 cheaper and packs so much easier than the pilot.

FWIW while you're trying desperately to stay awake at the scope I'm desperately trying to stay awake at a hangar watching a pager.

METARs use inches of Mercury. 29.92in/Hg is equivalent to 1013.2hPa.

Funny - I had the very same experience. Practiced one way - on jump 300ish - had a spinner that I chopped with one hand on each handle. Had never practiced it that way. I can't explain it. But now I practice it that way. Maybe its a comfort thing? I'll third that. Trained to look at cutaway, locate reserve handle, pull cutaway (two hands), pull reserve (two hands), and arch. My first cutaway found me with one hand on each handle and thinking right hand first.

I ordered the Viso II along with the Elastic Wrist Mount. While I have heard nothing but good things about this altimeter and the customer service behind it, I have heard that the stock mounting leaves something to be desired. Looking at the stock mounts with the wax string I can understand those concerns. The elastic wrist mount is wonderful, it keeps the altimeter secure and stays exactly where you put it on your arm. I put mine near the apex of my left arm and I have a perfectly clear view of it both during freefall and under canopy. The first thing I noticed when I opened the box was how small the altimeter was. I was familiar with the dimensions, but was truly surprised at how tiny it seems when it's in your hand. The unit functions flawlessly and as advertised once you have learned to use it, which can be a task. Be prepared to read the manual with the unit on hand. Everything is controlled with three buttons (excluding the reset on the side) and each item in the altimeter must be gone through to change anything once you have it in the mode. I'm probably slow, but learning to access and change each of the settings in the altimeter took me a few hours with the manual open and the unit in hand. Once you have it down life couldn't be better, plus the indoctrination helped with figuring out the Optima II.

It's also not uncommon (especially this time of year) to have a temperature inversion or non standard temp lapse rates. Yesterday I took off at 34 degrees and climbed into 44 at 11000 feet.

The Parachute and it's Pilot is another popular choice.

$300/hour is not even close. I work for an air ambulance company and we budget 580/hour for the king air and 310/hour for a Pilatus PC12 and those numbers are excluding fuel. Any jet (the Dorniers are particularly maintenance intensive) will be much higher.

It's only fifteen times more sophisticated than a US pilots license ;)

I consider myself a Zombie afficionado and love the series. The best of the Zombie movies all focus on survival and human interaction post apocalypse which The Walking Dead does flawlessly.

The truth only hurts when it should.

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j224/mavericklink7/?action=view¤t=lolcopter.gif&sort=ascending

Welcome to the fold! I too work for Air Meatheads, but up north. Did you interview with a medical manager named Lance?

What company are you flying for?

Scrumtrillescent

I'd rent Turtle for cheap and use him to ask DD funny questions online.

No apology needed. Great video!

Where the hell did they get the picture of the "crash"... That is NOT an engine from a Piper Commanche... http://www.avsim.com/pages/1207/Commanche/pic_00.jpg Airbus engine, light Piper Twin, it's all the same :) And it takes a wee bit of time for the rust to achieve such a nice patina on the car... I was searching Google for articles about the crash. Lots of other articles, but *none* have photos. Apparently this particular website figures one crash photo can fill in for another.

fify Thank you.