I finally got back up to Chambersburg today. Between vacation, a short downtime because of some lower-back muscle pain, and a couple of long days handling merit badges, I haven't been able to get away. So I did today.
The left engine of the KA wouldn't start. The C-182 already had its engine out. Sat around for 3 1/2 hours or so hoping the mechanic would be able to fix the plane. No luck. Crap.
Monday, September 2, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
First jump with a license
After spending a couple of hours taking down the old satellite dish and putting up a new one with John, Mike, & Anthony, the weather finally cleared enough to jump. I checked in, got geared up,and got on load 1 at about 2:00.
Henry spotted, Vip was first out solo, I was second out. Turns out we were way early. Henry OKed the spot because the weather reports had some winds below us that were blowing toward the airport. Vip and I both tried to track some back toward the airport after we got out and saw how far off the end of the 24 end of the runway we were. I was over a cloud, and tried to track toward a hole. I wasn't going to make it, so I got neutral before sinking into it. Once below the cloud, I tried to make a little more headway toward the airport. Opened at 4,000. Had one complete 360 degree turn when the canopy opened. Weird, but no big deal. I was still off the end of the runway, so I aimed toward the hangar and stayed on that heading. I saw Vip come in straight with no pattern at all and land in front of the hangar. I was a little higher, but there was no way I was going to do a standard landing pattern. I stayed over the buildings, because I didn't want to be near the runway with the plane coming in behind me to land. Grant was level with me at about 1500 feet. He spiraled down and ended up well below me. At the edge of the hangar, I turned left toward the field, then turned right and landed on the far field in front of the hangar.
I talked to Dave afterwards about it. He said that sometimes the first load of the day tests the winds and that we really couldn't have known to stay in the plane longer. Poor landing pattern, but the fact that I was aware of where everybody else was flying helped. Nothing much I could have done, other than land way off.
Henry spotted, Vip was first out solo, I was second out. Turns out we were way early. Henry OKed the spot because the weather reports had some winds below us that were blowing toward the airport. Vip and I both tried to track some back toward the airport after we got out and saw how far off the end of the 24 end of the runway we were. I was over a cloud, and tried to track toward a hole. I wasn't going to make it, so I got neutral before sinking into it. Once below the cloud, I tried to make a little more headway toward the airport. Opened at 4,000. Had one complete 360 degree turn when the canopy opened. Weird, but no big deal. I was still off the end of the runway, so I aimed toward the hangar and stayed on that heading. I saw Vip come in straight with no pattern at all and land in front of the hangar. I was a little higher, but there was no way I was going to do a standard landing pattern. I stayed over the buildings, because I didn't want to be near the runway with the plane coming in behind me to land. Grant was level with me at about 1500 feet. He spiraled down and ended up well below me. At the edge of the hangar, I turned left toward the field, then turned right and landed on the far field in front of the hangar.
I talked to Dave afterwards about it. He said that sometimes the first load of the day tests the winds and that we really couldn't have known to stay in the plane longer. Poor landing pattern, but the fact that I was aware of where everybody else was flying helped. Nothing much I could have done, other than land way off.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Got my A license
2 jumps today. First was my standard warm-up jump. I dove out of the plane facing the wind, got stable quick. I tried all the things that I was supposed to do with Casey 2 weeks ago. Easily did 4 360s (2 each way) and 3 back flips. On 2 of the back flips, I finished on the same heading. I turned onto final just a little early and landed on the taxiway. Bill H gave me some tips on using brakes to slow down my forward speed and land where I wanted to.
2nd dive was my A license check dive with Bill Hanrahan. I spotted after a 6-way went out. He went in the door and gave the count. I dove out right after him. 1 360 each way. 1 back flip. Bill moved in front of me as I turned to face him. I closed on him and docked. We were still at 9,000 feet, so he signaled for a couple more 360s. Stopped at 6,000. At 5,000, I turned and tracked away. Opened by 3,500. Under canopy, I played with the brakes based on Bill's suggestions from the last jump. Again, I saw that I turned into final heading for the taxiway. The brakes stretched out my glide path instead of shortening it. I went over the taxiway, and landed in front of the other building. Bill said that maybe next time I should try deeper brakes. The 230 and 240 rigs are back in use, so I'm probably not going to be jumping the 280 anymore.
Final exam, some paperwork, and I have my temporary A license. First jump was 4 years ago yesterday.
2nd dive was my A license check dive with Bill Hanrahan. I spotted after a 6-way went out. He went in the door and gave the count. I dove out right after him. 1 360 each way. 1 back flip. Bill moved in front of me as I turned to face him. I closed on him and docked. We were still at 9,000 feet, so he signaled for a couple more 360s. Stopped at 6,000. At 5,000, I turned and tracked away. Opened by 3,500. Under canopy, I played with the brakes based on Bill's suggestions from the last jump. Again, I saw that I turned into final heading for the taxiway. The brakes stretched out my glide path instead of shortening it. I went over the taxiway, and landed in front of the other building. Bill said that maybe next time I should try deeper brakes. The 230 and 240 rigs are back in use, so I'm probably not going to be jumping the 280 anymore.
Final exam, some paperwork, and I have my temporary A license. First jump was 4 years ago yesterday.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
6 jumps - 1 brainlock away from my A
Weird weather day. Sprinkled on and off as I drove out. Got on load 2 first. After load 2, Alan (the pilot) said that we may as well tie down the plane because the weather's going bad. 20 minutes later, we had beautiful skies with some puffy white clouds. All under the 280.
Jump 1 - Solo jump in the King Air. Lots of tandems. Wanted one to shake out the cobwebs anyway. Spotted. Good spot, dove out. Worked on the swoop to get ready for some swoop-n-docks on my yellow card. Did some tracking perpendicular to the jump run. Rain in freefall, stung a little. Landed right between Grant and Wayne.
Jump 2 - Still lots of tandems, so I did another solo from the King Air. Had some miscommunication. The lights in the plane got worse. I was spotting, waiting for red light to open the door. Well, the red light was no longer working, and the signal to open the door was the flaps going down, but I didn't get that message. Casey called for the exit, so I opened the door, took some time to check for traffic and to see where the airport was, and dove out. Talked to Chad and Casey afterwards - not a big deal because there were just 3 tandems with no video after me, so nobody ended up long. Tracked & swooped, tried sliding sideways. Aimed for the grass in front of the hangar, but overshot a little. Ended up just a little further down the grass than I wanted, but still before the taxiway.
Jump 3 - 2-way with Wayne from the King Air. He was in the door, I dove out after. Lots of separation, so I guess I waited too long. Didn't close too quickly, and he gave me some tips later on how to get forward motion better. Closed, not quite level, turned, tried again, closed once, then broke off because we were at 5,500. Did a braked approach. I had already talked to Grant about it. Landed roughly where I hoped to land, but from 1/2 brakes, I didn't get much flare. PLF-ed and managed to end up with a step-through, which I haven't done in years.
Jump 4 - Coach jump with Casey from the King Air. Both outside, me toward the front, my count. I think I got too eager to turn and find him, and ended up upside-down for the first time in a lot of jumps. Got stable, found him, dove, closed. He dropped, and I couldn't get to him before our 5,500 break off. Landed in front of the hangar. Grant gave me just a little grief about my final. I honestly had no idea that there was an imaginary line between the runway and the buildings that I wasn't supposed to cross. Learned something, so that's good.
Jump 5 - Coach jump with JR from the King Air. He got in the door, I dove out. I dove down to his level, closed, broke off. He sank, signaled me, and I dove down again. Got a little low, floated up, closed a 2nd time. At 6,000, broke off while he did some celebratory 360s! Landed about 25 feet from JR in front of the hangar. Great skydive!
Jump 6 - Check jump with Casey from the Cessna 182. I swooped down to his level. I closed a little, then did a backflip, well, sort of a backflip, but it was mostly a backflip and I got stable easily enough. I was supposed to dock with him then, but forgot and started a 360. About 1/2 way around, I realized I screwed up, got completely stupid, couldn't figure out how to fix my screw up, and ended up somehow going upside down in the 360. Especially weird, since my first jump this spring with Jamie after not having jumped for 3 months included 2 beautiful 360s! Well, I got stable, checked altitude, broke off, tracked away, and opened. Landed right where I wanted to land in front of the hangar.
I'm down to a final exam and a check dive. Sat around bs-ing and drinking a beer (which, sadly, I was not responsible for supplying) and headed for home around sunset. Next weekend, maybe, or Independence Day weekend. I'm really that close.
Jump 1 - Solo jump in the King Air. Lots of tandems. Wanted one to shake out the cobwebs anyway. Spotted. Good spot, dove out. Worked on the swoop to get ready for some swoop-n-docks on my yellow card. Did some tracking perpendicular to the jump run. Rain in freefall, stung a little. Landed right between Grant and Wayne.
Jump 2 - Still lots of tandems, so I did another solo from the King Air. Had some miscommunication. The lights in the plane got worse. I was spotting, waiting for red light to open the door. Well, the red light was no longer working, and the signal to open the door was the flaps going down, but I didn't get that message. Casey called for the exit, so I opened the door, took some time to check for traffic and to see where the airport was, and dove out. Talked to Chad and Casey afterwards - not a big deal because there were just 3 tandems with no video after me, so nobody ended up long. Tracked & swooped, tried sliding sideways. Aimed for the grass in front of the hangar, but overshot a little. Ended up just a little further down the grass than I wanted, but still before the taxiway.
Jump 3 - 2-way with Wayne from the King Air. He was in the door, I dove out after. Lots of separation, so I guess I waited too long. Didn't close too quickly, and he gave me some tips later on how to get forward motion better. Closed, not quite level, turned, tried again, closed once, then broke off because we were at 5,500. Did a braked approach. I had already talked to Grant about it. Landed roughly where I hoped to land, but from 1/2 brakes, I didn't get much flare. PLF-ed and managed to end up with a step-through, which I haven't done in years.
Jump 4 - Coach jump with Casey from the King Air. Both outside, me toward the front, my count. I think I got too eager to turn and find him, and ended up upside-down for the first time in a lot of jumps. Got stable, found him, dove, closed. He dropped, and I couldn't get to him before our 5,500 break off. Landed in front of the hangar. Grant gave me just a little grief about my final. I honestly had no idea that there was an imaginary line between the runway and the buildings that I wasn't supposed to cross. Learned something, so that's good.
Jump 5 - Coach jump with JR from the King Air. He got in the door, I dove out. I dove down to his level, closed, broke off. He sank, signaled me, and I dove down again. Got a little low, floated up, closed a 2nd time. At 6,000, broke off while he did some celebratory 360s! Landed about 25 feet from JR in front of the hangar. Great skydive!
Jump 6 - Check jump with Casey from the Cessna 182. I swooped down to his level. I closed a little, then did a backflip, well, sort of a backflip, but it was mostly a backflip and I got stable easily enough. I was supposed to dock with him then, but forgot and started a 360. About 1/2 way around, I realized I screwed up, got completely stupid, couldn't figure out how to fix my screw up, and ended up somehow going upside down in the 360. Especially weird, since my first jump this spring with Jamie after not having jumped for 3 months included 2 beautiful 360s! Well, I got stable, checked altitude, broke off, tracked away, and opened. Landed right where I wanted to land in front of the hangar.
I'm down to a final exam and a check dive. Sat around bs-ing and drinking a beer (which, sadly, I was not responsible for supplying) and headed for home around sunset. Next weekend, maybe, or Independence Day weekend. I'm really that close.
Monday, May 27, 2013
2 solo jumps
Talked to JR first about refresher training. We agreed that I'm good. DZ was very busy today. First good weekend in a while, so all the backed up tandems and CAT A students showed. Still no 230 or 240, so I was fighting for the 2 280s.
Both jumps were from the King Air at 13,500. In both freefalls, I worked on turning quicker, tracking, and forward motion.
First landing was a little poorly planned. Got into the pattern late, turned into base leg late and went quickly into the final leg. Plenty of altitude to get level, just not the best pattern. Slid in.
Second was better. Landed about 25 feet from Amy, who said, "Nice landing."
Both jumps were from the King Air at 13,500. In both freefalls, I worked on turning quicker, tracking, and forward motion.
First landing was a little poorly planned. Got into the pattern late, turned into base leg late and went quickly into the final leg. Plenty of altitude to get level, just not the best pattern. Slid in.
Second was better. Landed about 25 feet from Amy, who said, "Nice landing."
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Weather. Ugh.
Arrived about 3 minutes too late to get on load 1. Should really have remembered to empty the dishwasher last night, which was why I ran it early.
Got geared up for load 2. About 2 minutes before we would have walked out to the plane, the wind went from 7 to 19. I'm off. Another 19, then 22, lots of gusts, radar shows the rain coming. I think a 3rd load went, and that was about it. Rained for half my drive home.
Got geared up for load 2. About 2 minutes before we would have walked out to the plane, the wind went from 7 to 19. I'm off. Another 19, then 22, lots of gusts, radar shows the rain coming. I think a 3rd load went, and that was about it. Rained for half my drive home.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Back in the air with 3 jumps
27 days after refresher training - next week would have meant another round of refresher training, and not free!
Very little wind today. Flew the Cessna 182 all day. The 230 and 240 rigs are getting new AADs. I didn't want to downsize, so I pulled the 280 out. I really forgot how that handles. Lots of toggle input to get it to turn fast. Flaring sends it back up and stops its forward motion.
Jump 1 - Cat D2 with Jamie. I went out on the step, he gripped me, and I did the exit count. Stable fast, one PT, 360 right, slow 360 left. At that point, we were at about 6200, so I signaled to stop maneuvers. He flew around to my main side, watched me wave off and pull at 5000. I landed in front of the FBO building (bldgs on the left). Jamie wanted me there in case I overshot, which would be bad, because the field beyond the picnic area just got covered with manure.
Jump 2 - Tried swoop-n-docks with Doc Larry. I waited a little too long after he went. I went right into a steep dive, and didn't flip. Not sure what was in my mind, but I turned before getting to his level and blew past him. I turned toward him, and tried to close. I know I was forcing things at this point, and probably over thinking and not just doing. I didn't pull my arms back far enough for good forward motion. I didn't stick my legs out straight enough for forward motion. My legs were spread apart. I had a great track at 5000, got stable, and opened at 4500. Larry gave me some good feedback afterwards about just doing the maneuvers rather than thinking about them. He also said not to worry about crashing into an instructor - he'll get out of the way in plenty of time. Landed standing up in 0 wind right in front of the hangar.
Jump 3- Solo jump to remind myself about how to get good forward motion. At 10,000, it was Jamie and Casey doing an E, and me. Casey got a little anxious, so we went around a couple of times. On the third time, Casey and Jamie got out, but slowly. I waited the 15 seconds that Jamie asked me to wait, then did a poised exit off the step. Flipped (rare these days), got stable in probably 5 seconds after exiting, and worked on forward motion perpendicular to the line of flight. Felt good. When I opened, I was way the heck over Shatzer's farm, so I turned toward the airport and just flew straight. Crossed the road at about 1700 feet, so I was fine. Had some time to play with the canopy, then got into a wide landing pattern because I was getting closer to Casey's altitude. No problem, she was well below me. Casey and Jamie were in front of the hangar about half way between the pad and the runway, so I aimed a little to their left and landed straight in front of the hangar.
Feels damn good to be back in the air!
Very little wind today. Flew the Cessna 182 all day. The 230 and 240 rigs are getting new AADs. I didn't want to downsize, so I pulled the 280 out. I really forgot how that handles. Lots of toggle input to get it to turn fast. Flaring sends it back up and stops its forward motion.
Jump 1 - Cat D2 with Jamie. I went out on the step, he gripped me, and I did the exit count. Stable fast, one PT, 360 right, slow 360 left. At that point, we were at about 6200, so I signaled to stop maneuvers. He flew around to my main side, watched me wave off and pull at 5000. I landed in front of the FBO building (bldgs on the left). Jamie wanted me there in case I overshot, which would be bad, because the field beyond the picnic area just got covered with manure.
Jump 2 - Tried swoop-n-docks with Doc Larry. I waited a little too long after he went. I went right into a steep dive, and didn't flip. Not sure what was in my mind, but I turned before getting to his level and blew past him. I turned toward him, and tried to close. I know I was forcing things at this point, and probably over thinking and not just doing. I didn't pull my arms back far enough for good forward motion. I didn't stick my legs out straight enough for forward motion. My legs were spread apart. I had a great track at 5000, got stable, and opened at 4500. Larry gave me some good feedback afterwards about just doing the maneuvers rather than thinking about them. He also said not to worry about crashing into an instructor - he'll get out of the way in plenty of time. Landed standing up in 0 wind right in front of the hangar.
Jump 3- Solo jump to remind myself about how to get good forward motion. At 10,000, it was Jamie and Casey doing an E, and me. Casey got a little anxious, so we went around a couple of times. On the third time, Casey and Jamie got out, but slowly. I waited the 15 seconds that Jamie asked me to wait, then did a poised exit off the step. Flipped (rare these days), got stable in probably 5 seconds after exiting, and worked on forward motion perpendicular to the line of flight. Felt good. When I opened, I was way the heck over Shatzer's farm, so I turned toward the airport and just flew straight. Crossed the road at about 1700 feet, so I was fine. Had some time to play with the canopy, then got into a wide landing pattern because I was getting closer to Casey's altitude. No problem, she was well below me. Casey and Jamie were in front of the hangar about half way between the pad and the runway, so I aimed a little to their left and landed straight in front of the hangar.
Feels damn good to be back in the air!
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Refresher Training
Nothing much to say. Today was the free AFF Refresher Training. Hopefully, it's the last time I have to do that.
No jumps. I still have a cold, and my ears felt pressure coming down the hill from South Mountain. 10,000 feet was really going to hurt. Anyway, by the time we were done with training and ready to jump, the wind had picked up from essentially 0 to 20 mph in 30 minutes.
No jumps. I still have a cold, and my ears felt pressure coming down the hill from South Mountain. 10,000 feet was really going to hurt. Anyway, by the time we were done with training and ready to jump, the wind had picked up from essentially 0 to 20 mph in 30 minutes.
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