freefallin14

I seriously had a CT get in my airplane a while back and ask me where the "Chem Trail" button was... http://www.chemtrailcentral.com/, http://www.workingtv.com/chemtrails.html I wish I was kidding. I am not the only airline guy who has had this happen. Apparently there is a sizable amount of people who actually believe airlines (mine included I guess) are part of a conspiracy to spray them with....something. I had so many great responses brewing in my head for this wackjob but choose a more diplomatic (and HR safe) response .

Joe Bennet at Skydive Monroe is who did mine, I just looked up their website however and they have closed. Not sure where he is anymore, you may want to pm skymonkeyone, he is who led me to Joe Bennet several years ago.

Anyone (including CSC regulars) stop to think that not only was this guy putting himself and his student at risk, but also putting the entire dropzone's business at risk for his own self amusement? What would happen if he went in doing one of these "stunts"? We have waivers and lawyers but at the end of the day, the media gets their hands on a video of this stuff, and the entire dropzone is under the microscope. He can have an attitude of compliance, and stop after he got caught, but he still selfishly put other people's well being (physical, financial, having a home dz) in jeopardy. I'm sorry but if you are stupid enough to do this (as if the tandem business needs another black eye) then you deserve anything the USPA dishes out. The FAA would be even harder on something resembling this.

"Look at all these questions, yet all I hear is, “our planes are great because we have an onsite mechanic” … HOLY SHIT if that’s not the scariest statement of the century. So is this a burnout that couldn’t get a real job with the airlines…the jet engine too much for his reciprocating engine brain? I’d rather the aircraft are taken to a national company with the resources available than to Joe Bunda of the greesemonkey crew. Oh I know we all like Joe, but there is a reason Joe works for the DZ and not the big boys." Stateofnature, you sir, are a ..... Get your A&P, a commercial, maybe a few instructor ratings, and then come speak on this forum about how we shouldn't feel safe in our twin otters. You don't have a clue about the grounding incident, and you don't have a clue about the maintenance done at most dropzones. Talking about some burn out that couldn't get on with the airlines? I know this may come as a shock, but some mechanics would rather work in GA than commercial. Until you've been at both, you cannot possibly know the benefits/negatives to both. I would rather work on a Citabria than 737 landing gear assembly any day of the week. Find a DZ/owner/pilot/mechanic you trust and their word is the only true way you know if an aircraft is airworthy, because their eyes are the only ones that have seen the inspections done. Good thing it’s overhauled and upgraded … ummm can you tell all of us EXACTLY what that means? - sure, it means that the STC has been performed in accordance with the FAA approved documentation. What part is upgraded in the aircraft that makes it better and a non-upgraded one? -look in the STC/337, the FAA won't approve a major repair or alteration without some considerable research, engineering, and/or flight testing. Was there something wrong with the non-upgraded version that people have been wooled over for 30 years? -probably not, but the 737 has gone from JT8D's to CFM56's. There was nothing wrong with the JT8D, the CFM56 just makes better economical sense, and results in better performance. Such is the case with the twin otter engine upgrade. What parts are changed? -look in the logbooks, only way to know. How many times has the same engine been overhauled? See answer above.

Any riggers live downtown Chicago that can repack a Wings and Jav this week (needs to be done this week, am leaving for Florida sat and procrastinated until now.) Bret

Just wanted to say I saw the IMAX movie Adrenaline: The Science of Risk at Six Flags Great America last weekend and it was just amazing. Definitley worth seeing if you are at Six Flags anytime soon. Lots of freeflying (Alchemy) and base jumping in Norway and it just is awesome to see in IMAX. The sound and visuals are really somthing different to experience on a screen that huge. Birdman stuff too. Anyone know if this will ever be available in regular format?

I started my skydiving at skydive indiana where rodman was and a lot of the jumpers there had helmets painted by him. His work really is amazing. My girlfriend has a aviator helmet he did which gets complimets everywhere we go. I am planning on having him paint my batrak this winter. I believe in addition to airpseed he did the japan team helmets and a few others too.

Just got my 120 back from Joe Bennett at Skydive Monroe after having the H-mod done. Price was $150 plus shipping back. He got it on tuesday and it was back here this morning (friday) in Chicago. The works looks very good, and I am off to the dropzone for the weekend in a couple minutes. I will post a review after I get some jumps on it.

I have always thought that the song Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Exclusive Demo Mix) would be an absolutely awesome track to go along with skydiving visuals. It is off the DJ Tiesto - Nyana cd.

Sorry Hook, but this guy is bs. Making that strong of a statement (Atair makes some of the worst canopies on the market) without ever jumping one is complete crap. Now add in the fact that he is obviously telling other jumpers, other jumpers who might take his word since he works in a gear store, that really ticks me off. But since you are correct as usual in saying this is a cobalt opening thread I will go on to say that my 120 has been sweet. I have about 300 on it. The openings have actually seemed to get better over time. In those 300, I had 2 that really slammed me. Like base canopy opening. I have no idea what caused them. But that hasn't happened in over 150 jumps. The openings did take some getting used to, but are great. I have a lot of good video of mine opening and if I ever figure out how to post it I will. They are an elliptical canopy and need to flown through the openings. Bad body position caused my only real problems with it. 3 times early on I had line twist start to spin the canopy but I got out of it before things got real ugly. I have never needed to chop it. I pack the nose wide open and roll the tail quite a bit. I am considering getting the canopy H-Mod'ed. I am still considering this but not because of opening issues.

I have seen a few of these jumpsuits out there and they look awesome. Anyone know of a contact or website for them? I know Brian Germain had one at the convention and I have seen a couple around CSS. Thanks Bret

If you've never jumped any of them, than I am sorry to say it but you have no business saying they make some of the worst canopies on the market. The sabre 2 and pilot open and land better huh? And you know this how??? Someone told told you? You watched someone land one better? You can't say they are the best beacuse you have nothing to compare them to. Quit bashing Atair and actually try one before you form an opinion and make a statement based on other people's experiences.

"Ive seen the rebel 2000 for as low as $145 recently." Where???

I am in process of quitting, so I try not to buy my favorite. Makes it that much harder. I buy my least favorite (anything non-menthol and cheap) when I must have one, but my favorite used to be Parliament menthol lights, otherwise known as P-funks.

Try to find the new remix of Coldplay's Clocks, the ilicit remix. Brand new, very very good. Bret

Have a cordura BOC on my wings with hackey. Never had a problem with a hard pull, etc. Articulated harness is extremely comfortable, most comfortable container I have jumped, jumped pretty much every popular one. The wings (this is my 2nd) are the only ones that were custom made for me though, so take the comfort coment with a grain of salt. Bret

First of all, where are you planning on jumping? If its not a huge farm field or something along those lines, with 50 jumps I would be very cautious about what I was doing. As far as actually doing it, I know this guy who has made a bunch of the jumps you are talking about. I, I mean, this guy, has jumped and flown jumpers out of a few different aircraft you mention with friends over various places (private grass strip, farm field, open park area, etc). The 172s we took the door off, the 182 was not modified at all. Was gonna try a 310, but after practicing on the ground it was not gonna be jumpable, the horizontal stab was way too close to the exit point. You can open the door easily in flight if the pilot is experienced enough to be flying at the slow airspeeds you need to do it. Moved the front right seat as far forward as it would go, and left from the back seat. Just watch your f*^%ing handles. As far as the pilot thing goes, I am not sure I would want a low time private flying a 182 right near clean stalling speed (the closer to it you can get and maintain the easier it is to get the door open) I am sure he could do it if he is a good stick, but he should be very profecient at slow flight. Do not use flaps. The notam stuff is very easy to file, just call 1800WXBRIEF and tell them you want to file a notam for jumping. Have a sectional with you so you can give them the location of the jumping off some radial of a VOR, (i.e. 15 miles off the 180 radial of the Boiler VOR with a radius of 2 miles.) Tell them its your first time doing such a thing and they will walk you through it.

Yeah, a TRV18,25,27, etc etc.... I have a 25, basically the same camera as a 101 but in a TRV body. I choose the 25 because I was going to top mount whatever I ended up getting, and the 25s were a good deal cheaper than the 101's. Bret

180ish jumps on my cobalt 120, spun up about 3 times over that time. 2 times due to bad body position on deployment (got lazy) and the other time... who knows. Each time it spun up I was able to kick out of it, although 1 time it was starting to rotate pretty quick as I got out of the last twist. Overall a good canopy for me. The cobalt imho is no more or less touchy to body position than any other elliptical canopy in its class (stilleto, crossfire1&2, etc) Bret

"There is nothing the FAA will do for just flying through a DZ. Now if there was a collision then the FAA might site the pilot for trasgressing an active DZ and for not checking his NOTAMs. But that's only after the fact. And I agree that is sad" Chris, Couldn't this be a textbook example of 91.13? Careless and reckless operation?? I would think the FAA could slap that on this guy in a heartbeat, especially if it is proven he has done it several times, each time interferring with a jump run. I could also see in a stetch them violating him on 91.111, which is titled operating near other aircraft. It states that no person may operate an aircraft so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard. Now this guy probably isn't getting close to the jump plane, but I could see a pissed off fed bringing this one on him since he is in fact creating a collision hazard. My advice to the people there is to video this guy any chance you get, show him doing any number of things wrong, to build a case. This asshole makes all of aviation look bad, and he needs a serious asskicking (but don't let him get that on video) Bret

My buddy in the skydiving club here at Purdue is also in the camera club here. So needless to say, I picked his brain for photography information. He sent me a great email which could be useful to any people with still camera questions. Here it is.. Bret If this camera is to be used for jumping, I'd look for something cheap and durable. most of the features on the Ti will not be used as you won't change any settings in free fall. the only thing i like about the Ti and the Nikon N 65 is the metal lens mount. (this is where the lens mounts on the camera body). The plastic lens mounts on the Rebel 2000 and G is very strong too.. In a lens catalog, the number after f/, such as 50mm f/1.4, is called an f-number (maximum aperture). This value indicates the brightness of the lens expressed as the focal length of the lens divided by the effective aperture. The smaller the f-number, the brighter the lens. A single lens usually has a small f-number, whereas a zoom lens usually has a large f-number, so the view through the viewfinder appears dark and MANUAL( which you wont use often)focusing becomes difficult using a zoom. In an AF camera ( like the Rebel 2000, G and Ti), however, focusing is automatic, so even if the f-number is large (i.e. the lens is dark), the camera easily takes a sharply focused picture. The advantages of a bright lens: ( helps only if you intend to use the camera for manual focussing. which you won't) Ample light entering through the lens brightens the viewfinder view to facilitate MANUAL focusing. Since faster shutter speeds could be used under such conditions, a bright lens effectively reduces the likelihood of camera shake that blurs images (especially of moving subjects). Depth of field: This is the photographic zone of focus.For example, when focusing on someone facing the camera 1m ahead, the camera also focuses on everything within a specific zone extending from an imaginary line in front of that person to one behind the person. This zone circumscribes the camera's depth of field. If the camera-to-subject zone of focus is wide, depth of field is "deep". If the camera-to-subject zone of focus is narrow, depth of field is "shallow". Depth of field depends on aperture, focal length, and shooting distance. Also, the depth of field is shallow to the line closest to the camera, and deep to the line farthest from it (the ratio of 1:2). a 50 mm lens is called a standard as this is how the we see things.. so if you read 2X magnification on a lens, its 100 zoom.. fixed focal length lens are expensive as they are hard to manufacture.. and you'll need to buy many of them for a wide range.the advantage of having a zoom lens is that you can adjust to any zoom you want.. yeah , skydiver's prefer a fixed 24 or 28mm, but you might have also seen some skydivers with a zoom (28-80mm) lens with some tape on it(this is to prevent it from moving or changing focal length). I'd go for a Rebel G if its REALLY cheap.I'd prefer the 2000 if its only a little more expensive. the 2000 has a great resale value and good features you can use when not skydiving too. i'd go for a 28 fixed lens(price depends on the f-number). watch out when you buy, sometimes the camera kits( camera with lens) work out cheaper than buying the body and lens separately.

Check out my thread a few down titled Rebel Ti. bmcd308 had a great reply to it which covered a lot of my questions, and it seems like we are in the same boat. I have decided to go with the 2000 myself, going to but the body alone and pick up either a fixed 28mm lens or a 22-55mm lens. Bret Bret

Is the Canon Rebel Ti worth spending the extra money for over a 2000 or even a G? Primarily for tandem and also for freefly shooting. Any thoughts appreciated. I am going to be purchasing one of them soon, and also would like to know if I should just buy the camera body and pick up a fixed 24 or 28 lens or something in that range instead of getting the 28-90 or 35-80 that comes with them. Thanks Bret

Does it matter what side your TRV is on vs the still camera on the top of a batrak? I am guessing it is pure personal choice. I have my dbox for the trv mounted in the middle for when I wanna just shoot video, and will also have the holes drilled for switching it to one side so the still camera can sit next to it when I want to shoot both. But before I did anything, I wanted to hear if there were any (I am guessing there aren't) pros and cons to what side each sits on. Bret

for more info... www.purefuture.com Bret