PROGRESSIVE

Get a little bit older and fatter and then try to stay up with the younger crowd. Jumpsuits can be your best friend in a time of need, especially with a little swoop cord! Pete

Take a small piece of webbing, big enough to stow a rubber band on it and stitch it to the nose of the center cell. When you bring up the slider, stow a byte of the slider in the band a couple of times. This would hold the slider up until the canopy begins to inflate. Just my idea.

I've been looking at John's sight, and others. The inflatible tunnel looks appealing due to the cushion factor. The other enclosed metal cage design looks a little scarey if someone screws up. But that's only looking at the pictures. Looks can be deceiving. Thanks! Pete

So my father-in-law saw this commercial on portable wind tunnels, and he has this crazy idea of getting me into the business. I don't think he knows the ramifications of such a business, nor the cost. I really can't say I know more than him other than flying in one is a lot of fun. Questions: What is the best portable wind tunnel? Where do I buy it? How much does it cost? How much does it depreciate over time? How much does it cost to run? What part, or mechanical piece fails most often, or requires replacement, and what is the typical cost for this part, eg: motor, gears, etc. Your input would be appreciated. Thanks! Pete

Rounds are fun! Its very quite due to very little forward speed. Practice PLFs, and know it well. Wear good boots with no hooks for ankle support, or at least tape up the hooks. If your light weight, you may be able to do a stand up landing if you pull down on the rear risers about 10 ft -15 ft off the ground. But you still need to do a PLF if your coming down hard. Finally, a little bit of wind, or forward ground speed is ideal. If your coming straight down its really easy to kiss your ankles and crunch in. Know your PLF! Rounds are very safe. I haven't read anything about dying doing a low hook turn, or swoop on a round since I started jumping in 79'

I like my Sabre2, but the pack volume is noticeable due to the extra material. No big deal. After the Sabre2 breaks in, 50 or so jumps, the openings seem to be consistently soft. It could be because I'm getting better at packing. This canopy is slightly eliptical and can do radical stuff if you want it to. Sometimes on opening it does this diving turn and then mellows out. No big deal. Could be my packing. Landings are fun, soft and easy.

When I started skydiving, everyone would yell on que, "blues skies..black death," during take off. I thought this was hilarious, especially jumping at Cooledge in the early 80's. When I recently got back into skydiving I got the impression that was frowned upon. Initially I was caught off guard when I'd get my helmet on and start checking my handles, and going over the dive in my head on jump run, everyone would start getting all touchy and feely...its like, don't bother me, I'm thinking! No one did this hand slapping when I started skydiving in 79. Now, everywhere I go, I just bite my tongue and slap the hands, or snap the fingers, or some combination there of, with some other shmuck that's about to huck themselves out of a perfectly good airplane. Back then, blowing a low hook turn meant getting the wind knocked out of ya. Times have changed.

The statement, "The devils in the detail" is especially true with skydiving gear. Thanks for clarification on finger trapping the closing loop.

Curious, how was the finger trap made incorrectly for the main closing loop?

I started in 79, at the age of 16. No one in high school really wanted to hang with me on weekends at the DZ...humm. First couple of static line jumps were with 35 ft T10s, direct bag deployment. Then I graduated to 28 ft. Cheapo. After that, I went with a Style Master harness with a Mark IV Para-Commander...I was HOT! Bad Company was my favorite group and "Buring Sky" was the song I thought of while climbing to altitude in the C180, that seemed to take forever and a life time just to reach 9500 ft. I really moved up in the world when I purchased the Rapid Transit Systems, made by Sky Supplies in Deland, and jumped a 26 ft piglet reserve and a Pioneer Merlin for a main. The first F111 canopy...and I was burning up the sky! I got thru a Texas dealer, Mc Elfish? My former jump master at the time said, "you can't slow the Merlin down!" He didn't like my choice of canopy. To this day, my non-jumping friends still don't want to hang with me on weekends. Oh well. Good times!

Yep, my first camara jump was last weekend. After all these years, I was walking out to the plane with my shining new FF2 helmet, Cam eye, camcorder, rig, but without my altimeter and googles...humm. I figured it out before I loaded up. On that jump I got some great pictures of the ground, the sky, ground, sky, etc. No people in the frame. My Newton eyesight is now on order, and a thorough checklist will now be place before getting on that plane.

Your new line, was it properly installed, such as through the slider?

Yep, early 80s. The added attraction appealed to the college student on a tight budget. Rita Volp, later Brown, Gary Brown's wife, I believe had this and was jumping at Baldwin Wisc. Everyone thought this was the next best thing to sliced bread. I think it had a snivel problem though.

Listen to your camcorder. The heads are dirty as indicated. I took a Q-tip swab and a dab of rubbing alcohol and wiped it clean. The lines disappeared, and I was able to re-play my footage and record. I spoke to a sales rep at Inkleys, in Salt Lake. He didn't recommend this method of cleaning the heads, but rather purchasing the head cleaner that operates the same as a cassette tape. Its a dry method of cleaning the heads. If you use alcohol, wait a few seconds before playing the tape, otherwise the camcorder displays a tape error, or something of that nature. When my camera was acting up, I immediately thought of returning it, or taking it in for repairs. After cleaning the heads, it works great!

Thanks for all your help. I ordered an FF2. What's funny though, is last night they were offering the helmet at a locked in price of $350 US currency, for December and January only. During my research, (web surfing) the dollar went up .2, making the dollar weaker against the pound. Tonight, 2K Composites, changed their web site to adjust to the changes in the currancy rate. I ended up paying about $21.00 more due to my 24 hr delay. They changed their mind on locking in the price. But, after all my research, the FF2 is the most appealing due to its sleek design. We'll see how it performs. And I thought skydiving was expensive! Throw in photography, now I'm really broke!

So what is the cost and the options for the Rawa helmet? I figured 2K Composites would cost me $400, including shipping and a 2 month waiting period. So its really between Rawa and 2K, depending on cost, quality, etc. A fully enclosed cam helmet, I think, is the way to go as far as protecting the camera and reducing snags, etc.

Sounds like its a huge chunk of change getting a fully enclosed Bonehead helmet for a camcorder, $400 +. Reading prior posts, it also sounds like the problem with side mounted cameras is if your a belly flyer, your limited with a fully enclosed cam helmet. Less flexiblity, as opposed to top mounted camera helmet. I don't really understand why this is, but ok. Finally, although purchasing a helmet with a built in, fully enclosed camera case may reduce entanglements, a simple aluminum "L" bracket screwed to the side of a helmet may be just as good as anything else for a fraction of the cost. Any problems with this idea?

I know the Sony PC350 is a new camcorder out there, but is there a helmet manufacturer that is manufacturing a good quality helmet for this camera for a decent price? I am interested in a fully enclosed case for the camera. I am currently using my PC350 for hanggliding videos, but I want to incorporate skydiving footage as well. If so, where, who, how much? Thanks!

Yep, I've had the same problem. As long as your software from Sony is properly down loaded, and you set up your PC350 for USB stream, and switch that little switch on the cradle to USB to "on," you'll hear a chime from your PC that your hooked up. The program is menu driven from your PC. You'll also need to make sure your camcorder is on the edit/play menu too. The software from your PC will drive your camcorder, and you'll see what is being recorded onto your hard drive. Picture Package I am finding is very limited as far as editing and burning a DVD goes. My Pioneer DVD burner won't recognize the program. I can't burn.

I got mine for $940 from american-deals.com. I received it within 1 week. After I ordered it, the price went down to $915, for a couple of days. So far, I am happy with the deal. ($913 right now)

I too purchased a Sony PC350 Camcorder. My question is this, is it really necessary to purchase a $400 helmet to fit this camera into, or would a camera condom and a "L" bracket suffice. With all the little buttons and electronics, would the camera condem and "L" bracket expose the camera to harmful elements, such as a 120 mph wind, and just be too much of a hostile of an evironment?

I'm watching your thread. I just purchased a Sony PC350, and I'll definitly be getting a fire wire and a new pc that will support the software, the fire wire, etc. I'm clueless too, but getting educated from this thread. Keep asking questions...thx!

I remember back at Baldwin, Wis, when Randy Iverson owned the dz, I was 16 (1980). Gary Hoffman, his wife Christy, Swede, T-Bone, Vickey Churches, Quasy, and others would sit in the hanger and watch these old flicks and wait for thunderstorms to pass. By the time the ceiling lifted we were overdosed on these hot skydives (for that time), and horny to skydive, and we would find ourselves funnelling an 8 way from 9,500 to 3,500. Of course, our 8 ways were from Randy's 182 and Glen Timmers 180...aahhh, those were the days.

No, I won't take it personally, I purchased the PC350 for $940 off the internet from American-deals.com. After talking with Inkley's, a shop here in Salt Lake, it sounded like I could get the best of both worlds, quality stills if I wanted it, and video. So rather than purchasing the product there, I went on-line and got a good price for it. I purchased other stuff as well, such as a 45mm wide angle lens, filters, etc. My hang gliding business is pretty much ran from my Jeep. I go out to the desert and either tow up into a cloud, or fly off some remote mountain top. I charge $150.00 for a tandem. It would be nice to have a store front, quit my full time insurance job (claims) and hang glide and skydive for a living, but It does get cold here in Utah, and people tend to hibernate in the winter. Maybe a ski and snow board shop in the winter? As far as a printer, or power inverter goes, I don't know at this point. I know there was one at Inkleys for about $100.00, an HP. I'll be sure to find out what kind of wave it kicks out before I buy. Better yet, I'll post my idea first, than go from there. PS: How much does that helmet weigh that your holding in your picture. I bet your chiro loves you!

You suggesting doing stills for my hang gliding business is exactly what I had in mind. I purchased a wide angle lens for my Sony PC350, and have the wireless remote. And the suggestion of getting the stand alone printer maybe exactly what I need for this specific operation. Generally speaking, I would take a tandem passenger for a flight. Land at the bottom of the mountain, hook up my camcorder to the remote printer that's working off a power inverter in my Jeep, and crank out a few pictures, before I say bye, bye. Definitely seize the moment. What I've done, however, is I purchased a camcorder that takes 3 mega pixel pictures when its in camara mode, so I have limited myself in good quality stills. a 5 x 7, or 8 x 10 picture maybe pushing it, but I don't know for certain, in getting a good photo. I know for skydiving, this camcorder will be more than adequate for video. My goal was to get full utility out of my equipment, but I may have sacrificed some quality on the still shots. Well see. I guess in a perfect world I'd have lots of bucks and get one real good digital camera and one real good camcorder, each designed for its specific purpose.