JumpHog

As someone who has very poor vision without corrective lenses, I can throw some insight on this. For most of last year, I wore contact lenses. On about 20 jumps throughout the season, I had a contact lens pop out in freefall. Although it was a minor inconvenience, I did notice that it was significantly tougher to judge distance. My videos would be farther from the subject than normal, and I would usually plane out too high form a front-riser dive. Down-low it didn't make as much as a differnece, as we usually use multiple cues to judge height, such as the objects around us. Even on my itty-bity canopy, I never 'biffed' a landing due to a lost lens, but it definately made landing a bit tougher. Now I've swicthed back to eyeglasses and plan on getting laser-correction sugery, so that I never have the problem again.

Curious as to the circumstances behind this jumpers "chute not opening", I looked back through the fatalities report for that year. Apparently, this was an experienced jumper (300-500 jumps) that was making his 3rd jump on a new Stiletto 135(exit wt 200+). This jumper was known for making aggressive hook turns on landing. At about 300 feet, he did a snap toggle hook that was hard enough to induce line twists. He never recovered from the twists and impacted on his back. This is a tragic accident that could have been prevented (by said jumper), but for the news report to imply that this accident was the dropzone's fault is ludicrous. I hope that someone is able to set the news station (as well as the public) straight about all of these 'incidents' at Kapowsin.

Yes. It was designed to be able to takeoff and land on an aircraft carrier. NASA's solution to this was to redesign the wings to create a LOT of lift and then strap four huge jet engines on top of them. I can picture it now... the pilot's calling "two-minutes" before the plane is even airborne.

When I win the lotto, I'll be buying NASA's idea of a 'Super' Buffalo.

Although it seems highly unlikely that a thin strip of velcro is going to hold an entire jumper's suspended weight, I believe that was the thinking behind putting the slider stow on the reserve flap. In the event of the main hanging up on the slider stow after a cutaway, pulling the reserve would open the top flap, allowing the slider stow to slip off of the flap.

The recording process itself doesn't take any more time than a VHS and, in fact, can be dubbed simultaneously with a VHS copy. The only additional time required is to 'finalize' the disc. This usually takes about 5-7 minutes and can be done either while I'm getting ready for my next jump, or while I'm in the air.

Yes. What we do is have our editor dub the leader onto all of our DVD's before hand as a seperate chapter. That way, all that I have to do is put the disc in the burner and start recording my customer's skydive. This also gives the customer an easy way to skip over the leader if they want to get straight to their jump (all they have to do is jump to chapter 2 on the disc).

While I can't go into great detail about our business tactics, I can give you some basics. We have one person who runs the video concession. This person is responsible for promoting and selling the video/stills and DVD package to every first-jump student. By doing this, the burden on manifest is lowered substantially. If the student opts for the video/DVD, they are given a video ticket stapled on top of their stack of paperwork. After filling out the paperwork, it is turned into manifest. All manifest has to do is take the paperwork and then manifest the student with a tandem-master and also with a videographer if they have a video ticket. This process works very smoothly.

$65 is a bit steep to charge for a DVD copy off of a VHS tape (which is going to look pretty sloppy). Starting last year, I provided DVD copies to any customer who wanted them. The cost was an extra $30. Also, instead of copying it off of the VHS tape, I ran firewire straight out of the camcorder, into my editing board (MXProDV) and then outputted in firewire to a standalone DVD burner. By doing this, the digital signal was maintained all the way through the editing and burning process, so the customer got a true digital master. The whole process took about 10 minutes per DVD, plus I could dub to VHS simultaneously, so the customer could leave with their DVD and VHS copy. This setup worked great, as I sold about 250 DVD's last year alone.

I don't know about this. On the October, 1971 issue of Parachutist, there is a picture taken by Carl Boenish, of jumpers leaving a Twin Otter(N7669) over Perris.

Upon looking through NASA's website, I came across what I would have to call the ultimate jumpship. It is a DHC-5 Buffalo that the folks at NASA decided to strap four big-ass jet engines on. It was designed to be able to take off from aircraft carriers. With a ballistic climb rate, a roomy cabin, and a large tailgate, I think that about fits my bill.

Hey all. Just wanted to remind you that Cross Keys is hosting Freeze Fest this weekend. The forecast looks promising, with temps in the mid-40's (the warmest we've had in nearly a month). So, who all is going to be there?

I have owned 6 Cobalts and currently own 3(two H-mod 85's and one stock 105). Every one of them have provided consistantly soft, on-heading openings. I fly camera for a living, and making 1000+ camera jumps a year will take it's toll on the body unless you have a very dependable opening canopy. I plan on jumping Cobalts for as long as Atair continues making them, or until they come out with something better(Onyx?). If you were unfortuante enough to have a Cobalt with a problem, Atait is known for going out of their way to fix it. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen

Remove the tape from the camcorder, and it will stay in camera mode without shutting down. Since you are running it through the computer, the tape is not necessary.

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It is basically like putting 4 passengers in a small car. One person rides in the front with 3 in the back seat. In fact, we took it up with 5 jumpers today. It was a bit crowded, but none of us had any problem getting in or out.

I have two rigs that are completely identical (except for the color of the main). They are both Javelin Odyssey containers built to the exact same specs with Cobalt 85 mains and Tempo 120 reserves. I also have a 3rd Odyssey with the same harness/handles that has a Cobalt 105 main in it for those night/demo jumps and all the other times that I need a third rig. It is nice to not have to worry about which rig I'm flying on this jump, and think about where the handles are located and how that particular main flies.

This is one cool jumpship! I made a jump from it this morning and was very impressed. To say that this thing climbs fast is an understatement. It climbs faster than any Otter I've ever been in. The picture that Kev attached is pretty much what this one looks like (minus the target on the side). It is painted in the same military-green color. I kept singing the M.A.S.H. theme song every time I watched it fly by. If you're in the area, you should definately stop by and make some jumps from it. Where else are you going to get $20 helicopter jumps? See you soon at X-Keys. Blue Skies.

2 miles (or about a 4 minute drive).

The Cobalt 25 is the smallest canopy I've ever personally seen. I was drooling over the thing wanting to take it up for an intentional cutaway. I hope Eric has some fun with it. Blue Skies, Paul Eriksmoen

I've made about 700 so far this year (since Jan. 1). I will probably finish out the year with 800-900. I'm shooting to make 1000+ next year.

I was wondering if anyone has jumped at Skydive Cottonwood outside of Sedona, AZ? If so, what did you think of the DZ. Was it very busy when you were there? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

From the TV Guide: Memphis: Burning Betrayal Federal Express airline pilots Holly and Mike Mullins seemed to be flying high when they first married. But as they soon learned, marriage between pilots has its ups and downs. Bitter divorce proceedings between Holly and Mike came to a sudden end when Holly's body was found in a burned-out van. When Mike eventually went on trial for murder, all of Memphis waited breathlessly for the verdict. Find out if he got away with murder.

I will be there from Saturday until Monday. Unfortunately, I will not be able to jump though, due to a broken collarbone.

They are a new type of bag that Sunpath is currently field-testing. Sebastian XL recently received a batch of them with their new Oddyseys. The design looks like it has some potenital. There is no velcro anywhere on the bag. The members of XL said that they liked the openings they were getting with these bags and their Velocities. They said that the time from throw-out to line stretch was very quick, but they were still getting nice, soft openings after reaching line stretch. Nonetheless, I don't know if I would want to try this bag with a canopy that is known for opening briskly, such as an old Sabre. Also, it is extemely important that the canopy be well matched with the size of the bag (not overstuffed). It looks as though an overstuffed bag could cause an out-of sequence deployment (line dump). Nonetheless, if this proves to be a good design, I would be estatic about not having to change rubber bands ever again.