JohnnyZ

I new JVX is roughly the same price as a new Velocity, if you consider the extra line set you get with it.

Those are some really cool ideas. I like the German lawnmower engineered lines cut into the grass to mark the course. I bet it makes it a lot easier to see where you want to be to set up your turn.

Heres a link for the results to Meet 1 at Skydive Chicago. Thanks to those that competed and especially those that helped judge the events. http://www.skydivechicago.com/Forums/tabid/110/forumid/3/view/topic/postid/629/Default.aspx We all just agreed to use 5 foot gates mostly because my ass didn't want to get back in that pond a bunch of times that day. The winds were tricky for parts of the meet, and a crappy spot during the first speed round hosed Troy, Mike and Henry. We ended up having the same "top three" outcome as we did at the USPA Nationals Itermediate comp. 1st Place Karl Eakins 2nd Place John Zagoda 3rd Place Troy Church 4th Place Henry Wojdyla 5th Place Mike Macino It would have been nice to have more competitors show up. I hope we can get another good group up at Sky Knights next month. Thanks to Christa Cross for acting as cheif judge for the meet.

So far the weather is looking good for the weekend. Let's hope it stays that way. Everything will be available and Troy Church will be around on Friday to start getting the pond set up. Come out and get some practice on Friday if you want to. So who's coming? We've got myself, Troy, Henry and Mike Macino and hopefully a few more from SDC. It would be nice to get at least a dozen or so competitors out there.

I have a new Raynox 5050 I've been using for the past two weekends. The first weekend I had no problems. This past weekend I noticed that I was getting a fog circle in the center of the picture. I'm going to try to use the .37 to .37 plastic ring next weekend to see if it fixes the problem (maybe its between camera and lens). I hope it's not happening between the elements... I don't want to have to deal with exchanging it.

I wouldn't have a standard RSL, but I have 3 mals with Skyhook reserve rides. One mal was a twisting spinner on a Crossfire 2 129 loaded at about 1.7 and 2 were on a JVX 96 loaded at about 2.3 (another twisting spinner and one neck wrecker with several broken a-lines). The reserve deployment on the mal with the broken a-lines spun up about 1 1/2 revolutions, but it flew straight and I easily kicked out of it. I was impressed with the speed of the deployment on all three occasions and I can see where it could be very beneficial to those that like to deploy their mains at lower altitudes. I make it a habit to almost always deploy by 3500 to 4000 ft, which in all three malfunctions left me plenty of time to evaluate the situation, cut away and be under a reserve by 2500 ft.

I got mine about a month ago and finally got to jump it this past weekend. I'm using a Sony HC5 with Raynox lenses. The Raynox lenses are larger than most, but they do not stick out any farther than the cover. I'm totally digging the helmet.

Jumping from .9 to 1.4 would be pretty extreme. One thing that you could have done is take the 120 out of the rig and sold it or traded it for something like a 135 Sabre2. If you took it easy at first you would have probably been fine on that.

In my opinion it depends on how much you actually weigh. According to your profile you're only loading that 190 at .42, which is very very light. It's not very common for people to have a 1.0 wing loading for their first rig. How much do you actually weigh? I'm sure that you are used to KG over in Europe. If you google "unit converter", several websites will pop up. Pick one and find out your actual weight in LBS. Tale your weight, add 20 pounds for gear and divide that by 120... That will give you your wing loading on that canopy.

For top mount, I'd recomment a Cookie MXV with Cookie box. Sony CX7 is the latest in HD cameras. It records footage to a memory stick. They are supposed to be able to record 30 minutes of HD on one memory stick. The only problem with that camera is that it is not set up with a lanc port for a Cam Eye. If you want to stick with miniDV cameras, I like the Sony HC5. It records 1080i HD and is set up with a lanc port for the Cam Eye. I had the Cookie helmet and box with a Sony HC5 last year and really liked it compared to the Bone Head set-up I had for the previous 3 years. Cookie helmets are made in Australia, but there are several US dealers that stock them regularly. I know for a fact that Para Concepts has a pretty good stock of them right now. Hope this helps... Attached is a pic of my Cookie before I sold it

Ouragan suits are really nice, but really expensive. I've had two Michigan suits and liked them both. The first one was perfect right when I got it. The second one was built too tight and had to be sent back. They built me a new one and got it out to me within two weeks. All in all, I would say that they are a good company and put out a good product. I've also had a Flite Suit freefly suit and a pair of their freefly pants. They look good and last pretty long, but I'm not really crazy about their style of cuffs on the legs. Thats just my opinion though. I really like Deepseed suits now. I got a pair of their swoop shorts and was really impressed with their construction. I also got a pair or their freefly pants, a camera wing top and a freefly top that is second to none. Out of everything I've tried and seen out there, Deepseed takes my number one spot for recommendation.

We do one at Skydive Chicago every year too. Rook would probably be a good one to ask also. You can get to him through the Skydive Chicago website.

If you want an air-locked canopy, you can still buy a Samurai.

Kirk Smith of Para Concepts will be having a riggers course May 10th - May 17th. He really knows his stuff, not that other instructors don't as well. Para Concepts is located at Skydive Chicago. Their phone number is (815) 434-6094 or you can e-mail them at rigging@para-concepts.com.

As far as I know, the hard drive cameras don't work for skydiving. They will shut off when they get to higher altitudes... Something to do with air pressure and the hard drive. The latest and greatest camera these days for those wanting to get away from tape is the Sony CX7. It uses memory sticks... But it doesn't have a Lanc. Don't want to mess around with wings anymore... Check these out... http://www.deepseed.com/skydiving_equipment/camera/baggycamerajacket.html http://www.deepseed.com/skydiving_equipment/freefly/multispeedsuit.html

I did a search and nothing came up from the last five years... I'm just wondering if there is a particular grade of Sony miniDV tape that could be considered to be the best for HD recording?

The Century/Schneider part number is 0DS-FEWA-37. http://www.schneideroptics.com/Ecommerce/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?CID=1069&IID=1755 http://www.amazon.com/Century-Ultra-Fisheye-Adapter-Diameter/dp/B0000ALKDR I've been trying to find a deal on one, $285 to $300 is about as good as it gets for a new one. Once in a while you'll see a used one in good condition on E-Bay for $200 to $250. Sorry, I forgot how to make the URLs a "clicky", so you'll have to copy & paste it.

I love the new FF3. I only need to use a still camera some of the time, so this helmet is ideal for me. I'm using an HC5 with Raynox lenses. The lens is obviously big, but it doesn't stick out past the box.

After much deliberation between myself and Dan Raymond (not really), we came to an agreement on a NEW SCHEDULE: Saturday, May 10th, at Skydive Chicago Saturday, June 21st, at Sky Knights Saturday, July 12th, at Chicagoland Skydiving Center Saturday, August 9th, at Skydive Chicago I hope that this works for everyone...

More economical? When did that ever matter for the U.S. military?

I was just over there Saturday and asked Kirk about the new rings. He found a new supplier that will be producing rings very similar to the stainless rings shown on my Para Concepts RDS (see links). They are going to be produced out of an alloy and will be slightly thicker than the stainless ones. I had the older version that you were talking about. The newer version is much less bulky and easier to reconnect when packing. http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a382/jzagoda/ParaConceptsRDS003sm.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a382/jzagoda/ParaConceptsRDS001sm.jpg

Dan, Do you just want to make it a collective effort and keep the schedule at 4 meets. We can have two on the pond at SDC, one at CSC and one at East Troy? It would be nice if more people from CSC got into it.

Here's a list of swoop events to be held at Skydive Chicago for 2008: Swoop Club, Sunday, April 20th CPC, Saturday, May 17th Swoop Clup, Sunday, May 18th Swoop Club, Sunday, June 15th CPC, Saturday, June 21st CPC, Saturday, July 12th Swoop Club, Sunday, July 13th CPC, Saturday, August 9th Swoop Club, Sunday, August 17th Swoop Club, Sunday, September 7th Swoop Club Championships, Sunday, September 28th The Swoop Club meets consist of only 3 jumps per meet and are not on the pond. The course will usually be one of the three CPC events or something different involving kicking noodles for points or something else. Swoop Club is a more relaxed comp geared toward introducing newer or less experienced swoopers to competition. CPC meets consist of 6 jumps, 3 different events, held over the swoop pond.

I'm open to having the comps at other dropzones, but it looks like I'm going to have to be the one organizing for our district. I can and will make all of the comps at other dropzones, but I really can't make it an all day project hanging out trying to figure out the scores and dividing the money. If someone else want to take charge and be the Illinois district organizer, speak up and it's yours... We've got 10 swoopers from SDC that will compete for sure when meets are held here. Like myself, most of them have other obligations that make traveling a pain in the ass (instructors, camera guys, team training, etc.). Hinkley had Matty competing last year only when the meets were at Hinkley. Dan and G were good about traveling to other dz's to compete, and I think that Sky Knights had one other local compete when the meet was up there. What it comes down to, in my opinion, is we can continue to have the CPC travel between the three larger dropzones in the area and have 5 or 6 competitors show up or we can have the comps at SDC and probably have at least 14 competitors show up... And have the comps over the pond. Once again, if somebody else wants to claim the job, take it!

OK then... By request we're going to change the date of the first meet. The new (pending) schedule will be as follows: Saturday, May 10th Saturday, June 21st Saturday, July 12th Saturday, August 9th