velvetjo

Mooch is the man! If we could all learn to relax like that, the world would be a better place. Lance

If you're looking for a small & cheap spotting solution, you might want to look into this. I got an eTrex Vista for hiking and found the Jumpmaster accessory while doing a firmware upgrade a while back. Haven't tried it in the air, but it looks simple enough. The downside is that you can't use an aviation database with this unit. For normal flying, I use a Garmin 196. I'd recommend a unit with an aviation database if you're going to be traveling much, but for a stationary operation, the Vista might work fine. Good luck with it. Lance

Is that something like getting your salad tossed? Gotta agree that there are lots of crossover skills between aviation disciplines. It was kinda fun watching my CFI flinch everytime I flared lower than he was used to while I was learning to fly. Lance

Good point! You can get a decent Chief, Champ, Cessna 150, etc. for the price of a PPC though. Those things run $15k+ new from what I've seen. Maintenance on the Rotax engines is salty too. For my money, I'd rather have a Champ or something I could fly in higher wind conditions. Either way, low & slow is a fun way to go! Lance

LOL! Gotta watch out from Chris more often now, he's pretty sneaky. Nice vid. Lance

They're a lot of fun to jump too. I've enjoyed flying in them, but it's hard for me to justify spending that much money on one instead of a cheap used airplane. It's all good though! Lance

Too cool! You guys rock. Congrats to Paula - is she an honorary Badfish now? Lance

Go over the Coach card in the IRM and get everything out of the way that you can before you go. Check out the evaluation sheets in the IRM too, they'll give you a great idea of what to expect. Helping teach first jump courses was good prep, and I learned so much from the other instructors at my DZ during that process. Also, going through the dive flows from the SIM in the air with a "bad student" before the course was helpful. Know your minimum altitudes and breakoff procedures, and practice giving your "bad student" hand signals in freefall as well as your recollection skill for debriefs. Like other folks mentioned, practice gear checks with your local instructors and develop a logical sequence for them. If you're more comfortable with it, you may even want to develop a written checklist. Andyman, my coach course was a very positive experience. Sorry to hear that yours wasn't. I was really impressed by both Elly & Bram Clement if you're looking for any future ratings. Lance

Like anything else, communicating & doing simultaneously is a learned skill that requires practice. Listen to your jump pilot's radio chatter during takeoff if you want a good example. Instrument approaches in an airplane are an even more demanding example. To support your point though, you'll find very few flight instructors asking brand-new pilots to handle communications during landings. Lance

Two time static liner here: Army Airborne and sport S/L progression. Lance

Not cool. I'm just a coach, but I wouldn't blame the student. Seems like it's more an issue of maturity than experience or ratings. Lance

A 207 is a very small plane?!? Jump an ultralight sometime, it'll change your perspctive on that. I've only jumped from a 207's cargo door, but it wasn't bad. You won't have as much room as with an Otter, and everything will be reversed since it's on the right side. Go over the exit at the DZ in any case with an instructor. Lance

Bram and Elly rock! I did my coach course with Elly and one eval dive with Bram this past November, and learned a lot from both of them. Both of them genuinely enjoy teaching, and they made the course fun. Lance

I had the hamstring graft for a torn ACL about 2 years ago. Took about 6 months of recovery with pretty heavy PT to get back in the air. I've been skiing on it for the last 2 seasons without a brace, something I was afraid would never happen. From what I understand, it's the bone growing back in around the new "ligament" that is the limiting factor for shock loads (like a hard landing). Take your time with recovery but find a good surgeon now - I saw a few botched ACL replacements during PT that made me glad I did. Look for a doc that specializes in sports medicine, they'll have a lot better understanding of your goals. Lance

I'll have to take a look at shortening the shaft that's pointing forward. I agree - the less to get under, the better. I did cut the ringsight shaft by almost half, it was pretty scary beforehand. Thanks! Lance

Thanks, Eric. It was good meeting you last year at Above the Poconos. I'll definitely clean up the wiring job with shrink tubing. Would you recommend gaffers tape to seal the gaps around the d-box, or something else? Lance

I’ve been reading this forum for a while now as I’ve been planning to put together a camera helmet. Thanks to everyone who posts here regularly, you’ve shared a wealth of great information. Between that and the experienced camera folks that have given me advice at the DZ, I hope I haven’t screwed anything up too badly. Anyhow, I finally got all of my stuff together and assembled the helmet over this past weekend. I’ve attached photos – any comments are welcome. Here’s a list of what I used for components: -Bonehead Optik helmet -Sony HC-40 camera -Royal Stealth 0.5x lens -Bonehead D-Box -Cameye II -Brent Finley articulated ringsight mount -Brent Finley cross sight I’m looking to start using it for fun video on RW jumps initially, but I may start doing tandem video eventually. I’ll definitely be getting with experienced camera flyers for advice at my home DZ before strapping this thing on. Hopefully this weekend’s weather won’t be too crappy! On a slight tangent, is it worth thinking about adding a still camera to an Optik? From what I’ve read here, a Digital Rebel seems like a great option as a camera, but what would be a good mount for it? Would a Goldmember leave too much camera bottom exposed on either side if top-mounted on an Optik? I’m also interested to know if anyone has used a bent plate or bracket to mount a Digital Rebel on the forehead area of an Optik successfully. A few things I learned so far: -nylon screw heads will shear if you force them -nylon screws are a bitch to get out without their heads -melting a nylon screw to get it out of the threaded piece of a ringsight mount will weaken the steel spring (d’oh!) -a Dremel tool is your friend -the LANC plug needs a pretty big hole to get through the helmet and into the D-box if you have big fingers Thanks again for everything you folks post here. It was very helpful. Lance

LOL! Dar, I actually thought of you as soon as I read the question.

I just got a new HC-40 and went through the same process you're asking about. I'm not looking to do any fancy editing, so I picked up Adobe Premier Elements for under $100. It seems to do the basics fairly well on my Windows XP machine, but then again I'm just learning to edit. I'm sure that the more powerful versions of Premiere and other editing software packages have a lot more options & features, but it might fit the bill if you're just looking for a basic tool. I think it's relatively new - I came across several good reviews of it after looking over the available low-end editing packages. Lance

LOL - Getting the packing removed is NASTY! I almost passed out from the smell, no wonder the doc left the room and had me do it myself. Try to breathe through your mouth until its all out and into a sealed trashcan. Yuck. Mine was a septal plasty resulting from a moment of distraction during a boxing match, but it sounds like a similar procedure. I don't remember the pain being too bad, except during another boxing match later that week (not a good idea). Hope your recovery is quick & pain-free. Lance

I agree with Rob's comment about hip rings. I'm 6'1" and 240, and my Mirage M6 with hip rings is way more comfortable than the rigs I've jumped without them. I jump mostly from Cessnas, so any additional comfort on the ride up is welcome. Lance

Got any "freefly bitches"? That could explain it. Lance

ACME, "see and avoid" works pretty well, you'll get more used to it as you continue to fly and jump. Some of us are pretty comfortable flying in airspace where radios aren't required. If I remember correctly, you're looking to become a corporate pilot. We all have to share the same airspace, and the last thing we need is more regulation telling us how to do it. Try flying in the ADIZ around DC and you'll see what I mean. TCAS or some skydiving equivalent is not the ultimate solution - even the big guys with that equipment have accidents too. Your best defense is to develop constant awareness of your surroundings. Back to AggieDave's topic: what if we had inflatable bags attached to our harnesses with compressed gas charges that could be activated if you had a double malfunction? Kinda like pre-inflated airbags... Lance

I'd fly it. As long as it has a slow enough stall speed and reasonable glide ratio, seems like it could be fun. That's the one feature of most light aircraft that redeems their lack of redundancy. Ever notice that most twins & turbines, while very reliable, are designed to glide like bricks? Then again, I'll fly most anything that will get me off the ground, given the chance. Lance

I'm about your same size, and I just went through this decision while ordering a rig this summer. I like B-12 snaps 'cause they're easy to put on quickly. Unfortunately, I found that they were in an odd spot on most recently manufactured Mirage G-3's that I checked out before ordering. Seems that Mirage keeps them closer to the main lift web than I like, and a custom length was pretty expensive compared to the benefits. I understand their reluctance to change manufacturing standards for this item, but they wind up in an uncomfortable spot, plus they're prone to pressure in a direction that wants to open the snap closure on someone my size. Bottom line for me was to opt for hip rings instead, going for better overall comfort and fit. You might have better luck with another manufacturer for B-12's, but I really like what I ended up with. Hope this helps. Lance