jgladish

Hey Camman, Glad your feeling better about things. I'm not trying to insult you, just clear up some inaccurate info that was given. This sight is famous for over speculation without the facts. Anyone in doubt of our safe aircraft practices, I urge you to look at our aircraft safety records & other Cessna DZ's. We are above par for the coarse, not having an aircraft incident in over 10 years! This maybe because we will shut down to test fly & fix things before continuing, which in-turn causes concern to customers. I sincerely apologize if you didn't not receive an answer to your satisfaction & we will discuss how to improve this in the future. Also, the term "whuffo" is a common term used jumpers to reference non-jumpers (no offense intended). It's origin comes from the common question...."what for you jump out of perfectly good airplanes?" At the moment I'm sitting in the pilots lounge waiting on the mechanics to replace the magneto in question. The aircraft will be 100% for the coming weekend. Come out & play!!!

Hi, I am Jeff & am one of the pilots that was flying that day & I'd like to clear up any misconceptions about what was going on. First off, the 182 was powering up on the runway & coughed once... the pilot decided not to leave the runway, he let everyone out, sumped the fuel, topped it off & flew solo to recreate the problem with no luck. After checking everything possible the pilot decided the aircraft was safe for flight. He is an extremely experienced pilot & I trust his judgement. After he left I flew the 182 for he rest of the day after that (9 loads) with out so much as a hiccup. As for the 206, on my 9th load of the day it sounded like a small bird strike at around 1000 ft, then did it again higher up. No abnormalities in the engine instruments & no power loss. I decided to let the tandems out & shut it down to figure out what was up. Luckily, the local A & P was passing by & after I explained what it sounded like he suggested a magneto problem. I ran it up to a very high RPM on the ground with no reproduction of the problem, so I flew it alone, with full power & climbing at 90 I switched to the right mag with no problems, I switched to the left & the engine suffered quite a bit of power loss. We had found the problem & obviously decided not to fly it until it was fixed. The DZO & I made that decision together, there was not any hint of trying to continue in an unsafe aircraft. We announced on the PA that we were on a temporary hold until we determined how it would be dealt with. Unfortunately for the fun jumpers we had tons of tandems that day so the 182 flew them until sunset. I'd also like to add that the DZO here is very anal about his aircraft, when something breaks he doesn't just replace it, he upgrades. I've never had him try to talk me into flying an unsafe aircraft. All jumpers posting on this thread..... you got misled by a whuffo!!! The aircraft here are either 100% airworthy or grounded, no in between!!! The DZO is more than willing to answer any questions about this event & can be contacted at archwaydz@aol.com or (618)-283-4973 his name is Jason.

Thanx for posting those.... classic Wagar!

I'm pretty sure Maggot & crew took some pics of some tagged objects, It would be nice to start a BASE NINJA album or thread. I still can't get him out of my head; starring at a cute girl, explaining in detail how he wanted to just wrap it! I'm scarred forever!!!!! R.I.P. Maggot J.C's got you now. See ya up there!!!

Ok, mine did it again too, and I noticed the humidity was a little higher than normal. I put the camera in a bag with silica (moisture absorbent) gel and that fixed it, at lest for now. When I was in FL it stuck almost everyday. I'm starting to put 2&2 together.....hmm. Let us know if sony has anything useful to say please.

Ya , I get the same thing sometimes. It sounds terrible but if it's sticking I turn on the camera and give a little tap with my finger close to the lens cover and that usually will help it open all the way. The problem is not consistent for me. Someone had a great suggestion : super glue it open! If mine continues to get worse I'll eventually glue it but watch out for the glass. If anyone has any better solutions, I'm all ears!

Curious if anyone is using a regular mac book (upgraded to 2 gig memory) to edit or are the rendering time too long?

Sorry, Idon't check this often. e-mail me jeff@freedomofflight.tv

You can find info on Freedom of Flight team / school located at Skydive DeLand at www.freedomofflight.tv

When I did my first(upright) tube jump I was told " get it as far away from you as you can, then deploy". I found out the hard way to hold it to the side not in front as the tube can wrap itself up in a sniveling canopy. Not a big deal unless you get line twists but even then just let go! Head down tubes being attached to the feet are different. Make sure you have a cutaway handle in an accessable spot ( belt line). The head down tube is behind you as your deploying but a spining canopy or line twists can wrap it up. Don't wait too long to ditch it in a bad situation, Have funn!!!!!! Jeff

I'm pretty sure Paxton from Freedom of Flight is going to be there organizing and coaching. I think there is a whole mess of freeflyers from KC going too. It's been fun every time I've been there.

I still have the ACE 240 in the original steering line configration and it is still an on-heading machine!

Just a word to everyone in OK and surrounding areas; Any DZ that Jack touches turns to gold. If you all want to have a great time you must go! I don't know if people there know Jack Reeves but he is one of the best instructors, DZO, pilot, ect, ect....in the world. Not to blow smoke up his ass but, he's very personable and knowledgable. I just want people there to realize the amazing resource they now have at Cushing. My 2cents, Jeff

I don't know what your looking for in a DZ but DeLand has lots of loads, lots of training, and lots of manufacturers.

Freedom of Flight is having there 420ish Boogie in DeLand on the 15, 16, and 17. Jimmy T, Paxton Vinyard, Hunter Roberts, Chris Hayes and Jeff Gladish will be organizing. There will be raffle tickets with registration to win % off of gear and cool stuff. The Pink Mafia is throwing an 80's party on Sat night with Ron Solo spinning. Freefly big ways on Sun, if we survive the party. We look forward to seeing everyone!!!!

Thanx to everyone who helped me in a time of violent sickness. Everyone was very understanding. Aside from that, I had a blast!! Next time we'll all be on the look out for the elusive yet vomit seeking picklefish. Thanx to all. Jeff

Man, I'm sure glad somone belived in me when I started BASE jumping at 16, I think I had 100 skydives. I think it depends on the perticular youngster we are talking about. Can she fly her canopy well? Land on target every time? Does she have confidence in her ability? If dad has 4400 jumps I bet he could tell if she could handle it better that anyone. On that note if you have any doubt in your daughters ability just wait until you both are confident (obviously). You could teach a monky to jump a bridge and throw. It really comes down to one question: Are you at "one" with your parachute? Just because one guy with 500 jumps can't fly his canopy sensibly does not mean some one with 100 jumps is subject to suck just as bad. Everyone is different. I will always stick up for young BASE jumpers, don't forget we all started somewhere!!! Jeff

Legal demo??? I'm a base jumper in cen fl. e-mail me at jeffreygladish@yahoo.com sounds great!!