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I appreciate your, and everyone's, taking the time to share thoughts with me. I just bought an HC42 as I found a pretty good price for one and it seemed to be a model that kept coming up. I'll probably be back here soon seeking further advice on mounting v. lipstick cam and numerous other matters that I am sure will be mystifying me next. Thanks

I appreciate your reply Doc. Do you know anything about the ones I listed which Circuit City carries (TRVs 138, 280, 338 and 480 & HCs 21, 32 and 42 & DVD 92 and 101)? They don't seem to offer the PC-105. It's not absolutely necessary I make my purchase there but it would sure be nice. Also, in the event that I do just look at the PC-105 somewhere else, does it also allow you to take stills?

I'm interested in starting to fly a camera. But I'm pretty low tech and my eyes just glaze over when I come to this section and try to make sense of all the information, especially in light of the choices available to me through Circuit City, where I'd like to make my purchase (got a gift card that's been burning a hole in my pocket). I have only found one thread here pertaining to the models that seem to be available to me at Circuit City. They list the following: TRVs 138, 280, 338 and 480 & HCs 21, 32 and 42 & DVD 92 and 101 (the rest are kinda out of my price range for now). The only one of those that I have found any info on here is HC42. I just want a good choice to begin with which might hold my interest for a little while. I also want something that I can take digital still shots with on the ground as well. Finally, for just starting out, I am leaning towards using a lipstick cam at first so that I don't have to mount the thing on my helmet for now. I do realize that in doing so I will be compromising quality some. But I am on the low end of recommended number of jumps (about 250) for flying a camera on my head. So, given all of that info, wondering whether anyone can you make any suggestions, shed any light, or give me any sort of feedback at all? Appreciate whatever thoughts anyone might have.

I have had the good fortune to get to jump out at Spaceland a fair bit in the past month and have enjoyed the friendliness and camaraderie of all the extended family of the dropzone. On Sunday morning, before the first load of the day, I was particularly taken with the spirit and playfulness of one local character who was running around giving people backrubs, donning various items such as a mask and goggles and ‘becoming’ different characters, and just generally goofing around, having fun and making people smile. Rico just seemed so happy and full of life that he really did put an even bigger smile on my face than I ordinarily just naturally have at a dropzone. That is why the image of his lifeless body on the ground as I came in from landing after that first jump just struck me so profoundly. As I told Greg - who along with Chris and the others who gave such incredible care to Rico until the medics arrived that there is no question that he would be gone if not for their efforts – I wanted to add hysterical yells to the tears I couldn’t hold back. And on the note of the amazing care, I might add that it was not limited to attention to Rico. Once he had been airlifted out, Greg went around to myself and others who were in shock and gave many hugs and much reassurance, as did many others of the Spaceland community. My thanks to all of you for all your support throughout the tragic events yesterday. And to Rico, just know that your spirit touched me and I trust it is strong enough to pull you through this difficult time. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Could you imagine how the story would have been had they showed up on a typical summer saturday night? Hey, I tried to do my part by not showing up so that the good reputation of the DZ would not be sullied by the announcement that a defense lawyer occasionally jumps there (noticed our resident prosecutor wasn't mentioned either) ...

Yeah, we jumped (or were supposed to) at about 12,000 and he reached over to close the door pretty quickly. Funny thing was that rather than freak out, I found myself in a pretty calm but focused place, determined to figure a way out of the situation. I realized right off that although this was a very small drop zone, if I wasn’t off by the time he got close to the DZ, they would either have noticed me on the ground and radioed him, or one of the people I was jumping with (one of whom was the S&TA) would have hurried down to alert them to the situation which would have at least bought me some more time to work on tearing away. Unfortunately I didn’t jump with a knife at the time and I realized pretty soon that ripping the boot was the only way. I had even resigned myself to the fact that it was probably going to do some damage to my foot, though that turned out to be minimal. Seemed like a lifetime that I was in the situation but like I said in the original posting, was off by 6ooo.

You would think, wouldn't you? But I asked him and he said he had no idea I was there. And I was rolling from one side to the other pretty vigorously. You wouldn't believe how well that little bootie was attached to the suit.

Doing a 4 way out of a Cessna 182 a while back - I was in the door, with my foot on the step. At launch time, I gave a hearty leap back only to see my mates all go by me. Turned out the corner of the step had wedged between the edge on the bottom of my bootie and my foot. I was hanging from the step like a foxtail on an antenna. Possibly the loneliest sight I ever saw was the pilot reaching over to close the door and realizing he hadn't noticed me hanging out there. Knew there was no way I was pulling myself up to free my foot, so started to wrench vigorously from side to side in an attempt to rip the bootie off or something. At about 6000, I finally did just that and the whole situation ended well.

Sorry, forgot the link. Here it is: http://theworldteam.com/news/video/0206/0206.mov

Here's the video. Pretty good stuff ...

After reading all the postings, and seeing more people singing the praises of Wings than others (Mirage being a close second), I was surprised to see, when I looked at results, that Wings is in 4th with only 11%. Conversely, the leader, Javelin with 25%, was not as represented in posted comments. Whaddya make of this?

Does anyone know anything about something called the SportsCam Video System? I am interested in getting into camera flying, but have had some hesitation over having gear on my helmet. This looks like it might be a gentle way to get into the discipline if it's any good. Appreciate whatever feedback anyone might have.

Again (and finally, as this could go back and forth ad infinitum), the comment is not made as a statement of fact but rather as an admittedly perhaps exaggerated claim to try to open a non skydiver's mind some small bit. And, again, I would love to see the numbers when (note my comment to Kris that this statement is made, perhaps, idealistically) you take away incidents due to any skydiver's carelessness. I guess that would leave mostly things like weather related incidents - and that too is a function of being careful. On that note, I will try to refrain from further verbal tit for tat on this subject.

To make myself feel better??? See my subsequent response to Kris to put my comments and the intention behind them in context.

Wow! Not sure how you pack or skydive, but can only imagine given your comment. I assume you are exaggerating, as am I, to a certain extent, when I make such a statement to a nonskydiver. Generally just trying to make a point to someone who doesn't know anything about the sport, in order to open their minds some. But I'd be interested to see the statistics if they were available. Of course, to truly assess how close to accurate the statement might be, you would have to weed out the people who drive as you have suggested (at least in so far as they were a danger to themselves; their victims would have to stay in the statistical group), as well as the skydivers who have incidents due to carelessness in packing or flying. Point is, everyone doesn't drive responsibly and that is the reason for a large percentage of the danger of driving. I guess my statement is an idealistic one (note the reply I made to one person who selectively omitted the part about responsibility). I think that, going back to comparisons, if you eliminated all incidents due to an individual's own carelessness, and due to another's carelessness, my statement (which, again, is not said as a statement of fact but rather to make a point) might be more palatable to you. Peace ...