quade 3 #1 October 28, 2003 Just to contrast and compare. Here are the camera flyer's offices of the 2003 Nationals Fleet. For the most part the aircraft were incredible with great set ups and "officially" all were declaired to be "identical", but there were a couple of noticable differences between two of the aircraft with respect to the rest of the fleet. Check out the camera step placement on 9YK!!!quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #2 October 29, 2003 Did you like that YK step? It looks like it might work good looking down on the exits. Must've been hard to overcome the muscle memory of the usual step placement "Where's the damn step!? D'oh! It's up there!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #3 October 29, 2003 9YK was "interesting" in that you stepped UP to it. They ended up putting a lable back there telling people to NOT climb on top of the otter -- very tempting.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deuce 1 #4 October 29, 2003 You know, until I saw the sticker telling me not to do it, it would never occur to me. Now all I want to do is climb over the top of 9YK and drop off the other side of the fuselage. "Uh, how did you get that picture?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blazetailman 0 #5 October 29, 2003 Quade, you bring up a good contrast for video flyers. At the 2001 Nats at Perris, I was video for 4way team Blaze. First nats for me. I went and checked out all the planes first thing sat morning. I was familar with a few planes having jumped them before. Some had otter handles 2 or 3 others had pegs. I climbed up on all but one. I looked at it and said its just a peg. And walked away. Well the plane rotation put me in that plane in the middle of the day. I climbed out got into postion and nearly fell off as the handle was farther forward than the rest of the planes putting my weight forward instead of leaning back I held on got a good exit shot and didn't f**k up. Lucky me. What did I learn. Climb up on all the planes no matter how similar they look.www.canopyflightcenter.com www.skydivesac.com www.guanofreefly.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 1,623 #6 October 29, 2003 Aren't those long external bars nice? Pity cheapo places like Perris won't put them on their Otters. A nice handle for front-front float is a good idea too - saves having to grab the flap hinge.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airgord 1 #7 October 29, 2003 When I first climbed out on the acft with high steps I have to admit it threw me off for a second, but my best exits were from those two. The interiors and outside bars made me think I was back in Oregon on the SDO Otters. At least we were'nt stuck on the floor. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #8 October 29, 2003 So would you guys perfer the higher steps over the level with the door style?Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #9 October 29, 2003 Quote Aren't those long external bars nice? Yeah, the spotted Otter (223AL) is my weekend office. The long floater bar is new, the week before the nationals they just had a small handle. I do like the new additions. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #10 October 29, 2003 As far as I'm concerned N100AP was about as good as it gets on the outside, but it's not so much what we'd prefer, but rather what year the Twin Otter was manufactured. The "older" Twin Otters have the smaller rear baggage door which makes the higher step an option, but the "newer" Twin Otters have larger doors that make putting a higher step on it difficult. Another thing I didn't document with photos is that some of the planes had inside floater bars that were not at the right angle with respect to the door and created a pinch point at the aft end. On my first climb out I got caught up on it, but once I was aware it was no longer dangerous, just freekin' annoying. As to retro-fitting other Twin Otters to "match" these, well, I'm all for that, but it simply isn't going to happen. Some drop zones just don't have the spare Krugerrands burried in the back yard to do that. Yes, it's a pain in the ass to deal with all the different set-ups, but I think of it more like a different baseball field or golf course. It does suck when they're different during competition and you get stuck with the odd one though.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #11 October 29, 2003 N100AP was my weekend playground for the better part of a month this summer and I noticed the pinch point also. I got bloody knuckles from it at one point untill I learned my lesson. That float bar on the outside is just so nice and usable! What did the camera flyers think of the way the rear benches stowed away? I initally had issues with 100AP's until I figured out the trick to it.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #12 October 29, 2003 The rear benches were nice, perhaps a little too high because my rig kept catching on the baggage bulkhead door and I couldn't really sit upright with my camera helmet on either. Gave a few extra inches of longitudinal playing room, but the stowage thereof is my rear floater's problem. Didn't really seem like it was ever an issue for our team.quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rdutch 0 #13 October 30, 2003 QuoteYou know, until I saw the sticker telling me not to do it, it would never occur to me. Now all I want to do is climb over the top of 9YK and drop off the other side of the fuselage. "Uh, how did you get that picture?" I loved that sticker! I've done that a few times, it made for very angry pilots, they don't like you on top, or over, but planned ahead its pretty cool. I was on that step a bunch at Nationals, and training, it definitely was different, but having jumped over 20 difft Otters they are all different, as well as many caravans, cessna's and king air's you have to approach them all differently. Delands, Chicago's, Eloys, and especially, Zhills 3 completely difft otters. None are the same You learn to Improvise. But I would prefer the same step every time, I cant say I did my best textbook exit shots from the different steps, even Airspeeds guy got Nj'd. And Graham from Majik said it almost cost him. Funny thing I noticed is the Antenna got busted during 4way, someone must have grabbed it, it was there in the begging but not there in the end, and I saw video of people grabbing it during judging, I dont see why, when the handle was a bar, almost too much to grab, Im used to a little handle. Ray Small and fast what every girl dreams of! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #14 October 30, 2003 Quote . . . even Airspeeds guy got Nj'd. I'm so freekin upset at Tim Wagner for NOT doing this year's Nationals video. I don't know what to expect to see from the AirZone(tm) guys. I really wanted to look at all the exits from the Open Class and try to figure out what the hell was going on with the judging. OK, clearly Stevie busted and busted badly for Airspeed -- Double J (although the judges give it a J and an O so it's scored as a three point total bust?!?!)-- BUT can somebody, anybody, please tell me how Majik round 5 wasn't a J? Wanna see it? Download it HERE and let me know what you think. So, Double J for Airspeed knocks them from 1st to 3rd and the J that never was for Majik still keeps them in 1st by one point, but what if . . . Just my opinion -- I could be wrong. Oh and for the record, I think Stevie has the most gold of any camera flyer out there, so if he can Double J then -anybody- can. As for me . . . I had a clean Nationals 3rd year in a row. Woohoo!quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #15 October 30, 2003 Hard to stop in synch with the 2nd point, but it -looks- like all 8 gloves were visable in one frame. ltdiver (member of the 'no J club' at Nat's too ) Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
quade 3 #16 October 30, 2003 Well, I'm not the only person that thinks it was weird, you read THIS letter -- no?quade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #17 October 30, 2003 QuoteWell, I'm not the only person that thinks it was weird, you read THIS letter -- no? Nope, but I have now. Interesting... ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ltdiver 3 #18 October 30, 2003 btw, which Otter was both Majik and Airspeed's round 5 out of? Anything unusual about the camerflyer's office on that paraticular plane? Looks like the 4-way had no problem launching, but 2 very experienced cameraflyers did. ltdiver Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyhathaway 0 #19 October 30, 2003 It was wierd using the different heights of steps for exiting. It took some getting used without much time to get used to it. But for me, I only did 6 jumps with my team from the otter this year and a few hundred jumps with them from a porter so I was just happy to be able to move around freely! -TonyMy O.C.D. has me chasing a dream my A.D.D. won't let me catch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
