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Hartwood, Virginia definitely qualifies as small. In fact, it is so small that for the last year it didn't have a plane! But it didn't close. Before that it had a 182, and before that a Twin-Bonanza. Friendly, family, secluded, exciting, no attitude except fun! If you walked in Saturday morning with a twelve pack and a rig (twelve pack to the student fridge for apre jump, rig to manifest for tagging) you were taken in provisionally. Jump there for a couple of weekends and you became a full fledged family member. Helpful staff, snackbar, loft for those party weekends, and hot showers! Thanksgiving there is very special. They have a new owner, a new (for Hartwood) 206, and all the same fun. I am looking forward to going "home" and flying there again. Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Outside baro is 700', inside baro is 700', the cabin is depressurized. He is in a 15 degree nose low attitude, right turn, turning south according to what I can see of the runways, so it should be 625AM. Interesting thing is that Mojave field elevation is 2791', so he must have zeroed both altimiters on the ground. Seems like a steep turn to make ANY of the runways, but then again he just came down from a jump (drop) run... Funny, all those high-tech displays and construction, but prominently displayed (and thus used) are the jumper's altimeter, the kitchen timer, and the handleld GPS. My kind of pilot! Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Speaking as an AIRPLANE pilot (not a canopy pilot) my congratulations. That is EXACTLY where you should be with your procedures. Murphy can pop on the first jump/flight of the season, or the thousandth. Know the procedures, DO the procedures, handle whatever comes next. There is PLENTY of time for your hands to shake (spoken from personal experience) AFTER you land. Till then, be professional. Good Job!!! Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Pulled this off Avweb: If you're working on your instrument rating or you need an Instrument Proficiency Check (IPC), your world is about to change, and not entirely for the better, according to at least one training expert. _______________________________________________ Not pertinent to the original thread, but I'll go for it too. I rather like the idea that circling approaches should at least be LOOKED at every couple of years. The only time you will need them will be when the chips are down - low ceilings, non-precision approach, poor visibility, flying just below the clouds and just above the ground at half the normal pattern altitude, high stress, high risk. Much better to practice them when conditions are good and the pucker factor isn't high. Then again I think we should also practice spins on a BFR. Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

All of the following pre-supposes that you can afford it... Air Force pilot training had us going into instruments directly from the contact/aerobatic phase. When I finished the instrument section and advanced to contact/formation, I was amazed at how much more precisely I flew the plane even when I was looking outside. As a new Private pilot you should be budgeting at least an hour a week flying anyway. Go directly into instruments, and you will keep all that hard earned knowledge that you acquired for the PPL. Keep slugging away at it till you are ready to go for the check ride, then get an intensive week of flying an hour and ground work with an instructor for an hour each day. THEN move on to your commercial! You need 250 hours to earn your Commercial certificate, at which point you will be employable. Obviously you may not get hired just then, most places wanting at least 500 hours before they let you fly their planes. But you will be ready when that DZ you have been jumping at suddenly needs a part-time 182 pilot. All of my flying jobs have been "right-place/right-time" openings. Bottom line is to make someone ELSE pay for your time as soon as you possibly can. Fly Safe and Blue Skies! Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Not to mention the insurance implications. If you are flying a plane privately, that is one level of insurance. Once you start making money off of it, especially in a field like skydiving, the rates skyrocket. Crunch your plane carying skydivers on your personal insurance and I am sure that the insurance company will say you have voided the contract and not pay. Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

I will always do a go-around if asked, and I will never tell a jumper to jump. They're the ones who have to make an unpowered landing, and if they land off it is THEIR responsibility. That is not to say that I have not been pissed off at jumpers who hang in the door (thus screwing everyone behind them) or call for a go-around when my GPS (and my calibrated butt) is telling me that we are within 50 feet of the spot that has been working all day. But we talk about it on the ground after the load and over beers. The decision to go is the jumper's. I just strongly advise... Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

"It's too bad she won't live. But then again, who will?" Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Clark Gable was a Bombadier/Navigator Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Yee Hah!!! Congratulations to Ohio's newest pilot. 500 more hours and you can fly jumpers! Pilot rule # 2 - make someone else pay for your hours! Where did you get your lessons? I se Akron in your profile. Kent State? Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Do they need a pilot? :) Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Sounds like a potential CRW dog to me. I've thrown many a person out at 13,500' on a hot summer day. It's called a cross-country. Bring a coke and maybe some padding for those leg straps after you are settled under canopy. Enjoy the ride! Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Threw SkyMonkey One out a lot. Got my Hat. I only wear it when flying skydivers... Thanks Chuck!!! Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Hamburger Helper, with chocolate stars on the side. Wasn't into alcohol at the time, but leafy green Mexican vegetable mattter figured largely in the combination. Ahhh... The 70's. Oddest now is cold leftover Top Ramen for breakfast. No beer during the week though, or if I have to fly on the weekend. Hmmm. Are we flying tomorrow? Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Don't be a jerk. Don't be a thief. At two of the three DZ's I've flown for, the owners were both. At the first one, he was neither. Rock ON Harry! Be honest. Keep your promises. Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Disturbing. Very disturbing. And my cats Pratt and Whitney don't like it much either! No possibility that it was digitally enhanced? The timing looked a little bit off... Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Things were busy at the major airport and the tower was doing its best to sandwich as many planes as it could into the landing pattern. Airplanes were all on visual approaches, doing straight-ins and base turns to final. Tower: "Delta 756, slow your approach speed so that the United can come inside you." Delta 756: (A woman's voice) "Not without dinner and drinks he doesn't..." Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

You might try talking to one of your pilots and have him take you on a good tour of the plane and its equipment. Of course, some planes might take longer than others to look at... Do an observer ride in the right seat and handle the controls a bit. I found that that helped some apprehensive skydivers. Or go out to a local airport and rent a plane and an instructor for an hour. In my pre-jump flying days, when I was flying a businessman and his staff around in rented singles, he had a secretary who was terrified of flying in single engine planes. One time I sat her up front, and as the boss conferenced in the back on the way to a meeting, I explained about all the dials and gages and radios on the panel. It was about an hour and a half flight. Later the boss said that she was much more comfortable about flying after all those complicated things on the panel had been explained to her. We all fear what we don't undersatnd. It took me till my fourth static line to realize that I would not be blown off the step by the wind. Stepping out that door the first time (in a 182) after thousands of hours of flying was one of the scariest things I have ever done. Now I understand it more, and will be far less apprehensive if I decide to take up skydiving (as opposed to sky dRiving) again. Blue Skies! Hope you get to feel more comfortable! "I may just be an elevator operator, but without me all you people are BASE jumpers!" Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Very true. The crash mentioned had nothing to do with the Otter and everything to do with dropzone operations. 1. IDENTIFY (DEAD LEG=DEAD ENGINE) 2. VERIFY (SLOWLY RETARD SUSPECTED ENGINE'S THROTTLE. IF NO CHANGE IN DL/DE, THEN:), 3. FEATHER! "There was a long discussion awhile back about the April 22, 1992 crash at Perris, CA involving a DeHavilland DHC-6-200 Twin Otter that killed 2 pilots and 14 skydivers, and injured 6 other skydivers. The September, 1993 issue of _NTSB_REPORTER_ has an article that states that the NTSB has adopted a probable cause for this accident. I thought the net might be interested in this. If you recall, the Twin Otter had just taken off from Perris Valley Airport for a skydiving drop flight. Immediately after takeoff, the right engine lost power, the right wing dropped to about vertical, and the aircraft crashed next to the runway. The NTSB investigation found that the pilots failed to sump check the fuel tanks after the aircraft had been fueled from the fuel truck. Fuel from the tank that had been feeding the right engine was found to contain approx 8 gallons of a heavily contaminated mixture of water, an emulsifying agent, and bacterial growth. Fuel from the airport's fuel truck (which had been filled from an underground storage tank) and underground storage tank contained the same mixture. The NTSB also found that the _LEFT_ propeller control was seized in the feather position and the left propeller blades had almost moved all the way to the feather position before impact. The NTSB had determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot in command's inadvertent feathering of the wrong propeller after experiencing an engine power loss, and the failure of the aircraft's operator to assure that the pilot was provided with adequate training in the airplane. Related factors were: water contamination of the fuel in the airport storage tanks, the operator's lack of fuel quality control procedures, improper fuel servicing, improper preflight by the pilot(s), and exceeding the gross weight/forward c.g. limits of the airplane." Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

We have lost a wonderful person. Never a bad word about anyone, and from all the posts here, never a bad word FROM anyone. I look at the Cross Keys site, and there was Paul's smiling face. Heck, I'd have loved to put in a resume to them to see if they needed another elevator operator, just to work with Paul. DAMN! Bill, my thoughts are with you. I am sure that you have lots of messages, but I will try some time to call. Thinking of you both, Bro. "When a man dies, an unknown world passes away." Antoinne St, Expury Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

I had the honor of throwing Paul and Bill out many a time at Reaford. One evening Paul got together with some Navy SEALS and decided to do some target shooting - out of the 182 at 1000' with rounds, their calls, their spots. The SEALS landed in the trees (at least one of them did) Paul landed in the center of the target in a standup - with a round! Blue Skies to Paul and Bill and Nicole. We're all pulling for you! Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

There are several mis-catagorized ads in teh classifieds. Home typing jobs don't belong in the employment section. there is one there now. Some may call them marginal, but if it is not skydiving related, or from a skydiver, it should not be there. Worse are the ads for selling stuff in the employment section. At least one is there now, selling DZ software. I wrote him suggesting that he had posted there by mistake. He wrote back saying that he had SPECIFICALLY mis-posted, because DZO's and managers looked there. I wrote a moderator about it and have gotten no reply, and the post is still there. Posting software in the employment section is as wrong as posting a DZ rant under equipment. The moderators are quick to shift (what they think are )wrongly posted threads, so why no policing of obviously and deliberately posted spam? Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Totally... Need a whole forum, which we could populate with pics, videos, etc. Honor to our friends. "A society is judged by how we remember our dead" Dune (I think) Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!

Good skydiver friend had his favorite eight-way jump tattood on his thigh (along with a LOT of other tattoos) You could recognize the people in the formation. But you have to have big muscular thighs for an eight-way. Maybe start with a two way? :) Hartwood Paracenter - The closest DZ to DC!