jcecil

Where I jump, after a student completes the FJC for staticline and jumps, they get a card they can redeem for half off of their second jump of the day while still on staticline. After they sucessfully transition to freefall, they get a similar card except the second jump of the day is free!

Never jumped a 182 only a 180, but I've seen 4 pretty large people in that 180, and the pilot still took off from our 2300' grass strip with plenty of runway left :-D

I've heard the other word mentioned in her direction. It wasn't pretty.

Found the camera dropping video. Like I said it usually spun like crazy. The last actual drop (next to last flight), the parachute malfunctioned and never inflated. The last flight the battery to the plane died right after takeoff, resulting in a less than stellar looking return to earth. That's the great thing about a styrofoam airplane, I can just tape it back together :-D http://studentweb.eku.edu/jacob_Cecil18/cameradrop.wmv

I'll take pictures when I get home, but I basically poked 2 small holes in the side of the fuselage, ran a rubber band out one, then a piece of wire attached to a servo out the other. I hit the 2 position switch on my remote, and the piece or wire either extends outside the fuselage to trap the rubber band, or retracts into the fuselage to release it. When the rubber band is held, the parachutist is held tightly to the side of the Beaver, but as soon as I hit the switch he falls away. Kind of difficult to describe, like I said I'll take pictures when I get home to better illustrate how it works. What was really cool was when I attached one of those tiny parachutes to a small wireless camera and dropped it. I only tried it one day, and had all the lines attached at one point, which meant the camera spun like a son of a bitch (line twists) the whole way down, but the video still looks neat. It was interesting flying that though because the camera and battery weighed about 3 ounces, made the plane a heavy bastard to fly :-D

Just now found this thread. The main jump airplane at my home DZ is a DHC-2 Beaver, so I decided to build a R/C Beaver, and make it drop jumpers. http://studentweb.eku.edu/jacob_Cecil18/remotejump.wmv The first takeoff was a little rough, but any crosswind is going to make the takeoff in a 12 oz plane with no ailerons interesting :-D

Exited at 1800' several times on cloud limited days, usually open by 1600' (went down to 1200' once, pilot cut WAY back on exit and didn't have much airspeed). These were mostly on a PD 9 cell, which usually opened from PC toss to full canopy in 500 - 600 feet at term anyway. Lowest ever open from term, we launched a 3 way from 4500 feet and waited til the last guy got in, then turned to track at 2500', dumped around 1700', had full canopy by around 1100'. Talk about ground rush, that's as much as I ever want to see.

I've only jumped a 180, a radial Beaver, and a Super Twin Otter, and I'll have to say my favorite is the beaver. Sure it only holds 8, and sure it takes 25 minutes to get to 9,500, but I love watching every single jumper exit at the same time (only one diver), and it's IMPOSSIBLE to take a nap on the way to altitude in the otter or cessna, they climb too fast

I moved from 288 square foot student Manta canopies to a 260 square foot PD 9-cell, and have been very pleased with it. It is responsive and fun if I want it to be, or it can be very slow and gentle. Very easy to learn the basics of propacking with it, as the material isn't determined to escape at every opportunity. Doesn't get very much drive once the winds get around 25 or more, but that just means I've learned to spot better. This is exactly the canopy I needed to transition from student to A license holder to my current status.

As an audible altimeter this performs just as someone would expect: When you reach the easily programmed altitudes in freefall, it beeps at you. Also accurately records freefall times and speeds, a nice feature. Only downside is if you make a hop n pop, you need to freefall 5 seconds or so first to activate it to record that jump.

I ordered a Tony Suit Swoop suit without booties, it arrived 5 weeks later and I've been happy with it ever since. Being tall (6'5"), I didn't really have anyone else's suit I could try before I buy, so I talked to the Tony suit people and other people around the dropzone and decided on this one. I have no complaints, other than I wish I would have ordered it with a little more room.

Jumped a second hand Vector II for a year now, very good rig. Have never had a pin flap come open in freefall, never any problems. My only issue with this harness, and its not a major issue, is that the riser covers are closed with velcro and have a tendency to come open once the rig is put on.

Only problem I've had was the OEM strap came unsewn, a few minutes at a sewing machine fixed that. Other than that a great, reliable altimeter that has given me zero problems.

I earned my A license through the static-line progression at the Greene County Sport Parachute Center. The entire staff's continuous attention to all aspects of safety impressed me again and again as I worked towards my license. If someone here tells you not to do something or to do something a different way, it's because they've probably seen it go wrong first hand and know it won't work. The aircraft are EXPERTLY maintained, as is all the rental gear. From the pilot's seat, most of the pilots can spot as well as the guy looking out the door. It's a great place to learn to skydive, or to jump if you are an experienced jumper with 1000's of jumps, as several regular jumpers do. There's always someone to belly fly or free-fly with.