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Zlew

I fell off the camera step!

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I thought you guys might get a kick out of at least the first min of this video. The good news is that this was for my best friends birthday jump that I purchased. My pre-second time to ever fall off of an airplane without the intent of doing so. Editing has a few errors in it, but thats what I get for doing it at 2 a.m.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pP4SF5GEk

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If it makes you feel better, anyone who has been jumping for a while either falls off or gets knocked off at least once or ten.
:P



I second that one!!

Good job on the original poster.. never give up!! Looks like you handled the tumble, and back to work!!

My worst one was knocking another camera flyer off the camera step a couple years ago :(

I rushed out right after him and was a bit too eager to to get into position for MY shot and pushed him off the camera step :S
Lucky for us it was a freefly skydive, so all he had to do was wait for us to come down to him, although even for a freefly jump that takes a while if you have a 10 second head start.

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Be glad it wasn't the first competition jump at Nationals!:P

Nope, not me, but I saw it happen to some poor camera person this year at Nationals! I admit the thought crossed my mind when I got the Deland otter (a really narrow step!) for the first time in round 8 (and again in 9 and 10!!!)... I told my team do NOT get out until I am firmly in place, just in case!


"If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

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One of the JOS guys knocked me off not once, but TWICE because he kept thinking "like a cameraman" on the count. Third jump I decided that going steep and deep was the best thing. That's when they finally believed me when I explained this guy was leaving early and the base was falling apart in the door.

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Be glad it wasn't the first competition jump at Nationals!:P

Nope, not me, but I saw it happen to some poor camera person this year at Nationals! I admit the thought crossed my mind when I got the Deland otter (a really narrow step!) for the first time in round 8 (and again in 9 and 10!!!)... I told my team do NOT get out until I am firmly in place, just in case!


I know who you are talking about, she is a friend of mine and was devastated and it happened on round one... she never recovered from that. I had the same worries about the Deland otter. I am a short person and had to literally let go of the plane and catch the handle as I went by (if that makes sense). I got that airplane on round one and then never again. I ended up landing on my team in round 4 when I got the spaceland otter which the step was a foot and a half higher than the door. pushed my team out of contention for medals... Shit happens, and you deal. :$

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If it makes you feel better, anyone who has been jumping for a while either falls off or gets knocked off at least once or ten.
:P



Or hangs on for a go around...

Or has to climb back in on a 100 way at 18k with no O2 as the pilot powers up and banks for a huge go around then sees people from another plane give up and fall off and wishes she'd have just let go in the first place.
http://www.exitshot.com

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ope, not me, but I saw it happen to some poor camera person this year at Nationals! I admit the thought crossed my mind when I got the Deland otter (a really narrow step!) for the first time in round 8 (and again in 9 and 10!!!)...



My step-of-doom was the high Spaceland step. Hated that damn thing. The only step in the world that's nearly 6 inches too high.

_Am
__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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Personally I don't give a damn about the step. As long as I can find it and put a toe on it, I'm fine. Now handles are another problem. I hate the small, "drawer-pull" handles on some planes. Especially with organizers who like putting 8 people outside (one of whom is 6'6," 250 lbs., and shares my step and handle). I don't care if they step on my toes (lots of rear floats leave early anyway), but having my cold fingers crushed by somebody else on a higher-than-normal-speed, formation jump run ain't my favorite place to be. Give me one of those big, fat, 2" diameter bars that is two feet long, and I'm good. Even if it is only my big toe on the step. [rant over]

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Early on as I was asking about the finer points of flying camera, I was told a few things that have stuck in my head:

YOU WILL fall of the step - more than once.

If you do not bump into the group your videoing, you are not trying hard enough.

Get back up and do it again, this time do better.

Learn from others experience and mistakes as well as your own.

Sometimes the best footage is footage you might not have gotten otherwise.

- oh, and buy a Sigma 15mm - -- wait, that was in another threadB|

_________________________________________
Twin Otter N203-Echo,29 July 2006
Cessna P206 N2537X, 19 April 2008
Blue Skies Forever

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I had a fun little falling off the step or in my case wheel experience about a month ago. Fell off the wheel of a 182 that didn't have a step and the pilot forgot to put the brakes on! Fortunately i was able to hang on to the strut. Not the most comfortable way to spend climb out but managed to hang on long enough for them to get out and still get a good exit shot! Made for a funny video if you know what your looking at, I'm sure the tandem didn't even notice :D

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I used to jump a Porter a lot, and wheel exits were common. From the wheel, you are looking right in the co-pilots window, and the tradition was to knock on the window and flip off the pilot, and get one in return. Sometimes the pilots would remind us who was in charge by letting the brake go while we were out there. Usually not all the way to make us fall... usually just enough to let it slip, and give you that "oh shit!" feeling. Good times.

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I ended up landing on my team in round 4 when I got the spaceland otter which the step was a foot and a half higher than the door. pushed my team out of contention for medals... Shit happens, and you deal. Blush



Oh God! It was you! I'm so sorry! You guys, er sorry, girls, were mocking up the exit right after my team on one of the jumps, and I remember teasing you and telling you whatever you do, don't hit them. You told me 'I already did'. :(

I felt so bad! Sorry!!! I'll keep my mouth shut from now on! :)

One of the other camera guys from my DZ loved that freaking high step! I hated it too, but not as much as that toothpick of a step on the Deland plane!

"If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

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One of the other camera guys from my DZ loved that freaking high step! I hated it too, but not as much as that toothpick of a step on the Deland plane!



I've actually been on a step that was not only smaller then the deland otter but was perpendicular to the side of the plane as well... (i.e. not parallell to the ground...)

it was at a boogie so I'm not sure where the otter was from and I haven't seen it again... but that was an annoying step...

when ever I walk up to a new plane... I always look at camera steps... and I often will practice climbing out... :D
Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

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when ever I walk up to a new plane... I always look at camera steps...



Always a great feeling riding up in a plane you haven't jumped before when you realize you forgot to look at what it's got back there. I've scrolled through pictures I took before boarding trying to find one of the camera step and handles before. :)
I love the otter my DZ has had this season (from spaceland). Normal size camera step (small but enough room to share with a floater) and a huge outside bar that goes from way in front of the door to way behind. Barely even need the camera step... I could almost just hold onto the bar and stay put. :P

Dave

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I felt so bad! Sorry!!! I'll keep my mouth shut from now on! :)

One of the other camera guys from my DZ loved that freaking high step! I hated it too, but not as much as that toothpick of a step on the Deland plane!



Don't worry, it happens. Its part of the competition. I don't think I lost the medal for them... I certainly didn't help though...
Although I could barely reach the Deland step, I rather that then the high step on the Spaceland. With Deland you were low and back just like most otters. You time your exit based on a normal otter, you are slightly early and you track up hill no catastrophe. With the Spaceland you time your exit like normal its too late and you hit them.
I also climb out and test the step before I get on the plane. You should have seen all the 6 foot tall guys laugh at me struggle getting on the Deland, but I did it... Ultimately practicing climb out won't show you how its going to feel one second after exit. With my little experience I wasn't ready for the extra dead air when I exited higher than my team.
small steps, even smaller handles, its all part of the game. Everyone experiences it throughout their career and they learn, laugh and move on.
... it was great meeting new camera fliers at nationals. Thanks for the encouragement you and others gave me.

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My step-of-doom was the high Spaceland step. Hated that damn thing. The only step in the world that's nearly 6 inches too high.

_Am



Glad I wasn't the only one...



I loved that high step. The Deland step looked harder than it really was. I didn't like having it kind of under the plane, but it was easy to find. The hardest I've found so far was CSC's PAC, he wasn't giving us much of a cut so the prop blast was pretty strong (not at nationals).

Are you from either Tenacity or Neccessary Equipment?
"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

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>I admit the thought crossed my mind when I got the Deland otter . . .

I hated that thing. I never liked the Perris Otter steps, but after this Nationals I have a new appreciation for them.



Same here, Bill! More than just you and me hated that Otter at Nat's. Didn't fall off, but had a rear floater on an 8-way kick my foot off the step. Hung on by one arm and still got the shot. :o That floater must have known what he did 'cause the next jump (competition round 10) he said he was going to stay in the door and not hang out on the step with me. :P

btw, I love our Perris Otter camera handles. So easy to swing around and keep your grip!

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

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You gave me one of my favorite quotes from nationals, "Sometimes we go by 'The Nasties' because, you know, we're girls." Not quite as good as the girl who said, "I like the smell of skunk, it makes me happy." but it's close.
"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

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