boyfalldown

I've had one since 2004. It's ok, just ok. Heavy, a bit soft for a prime lens, lots of ca in the corners. 17mm is the perfect focal range for me, but if I had it to do over again I'd pass. A 10-22 may be a bit more expensive, but it kicks the dogshit out of the tokina any day.

If you can't get 121PM back home, at least one of her engines would be back...

Sparky for the win...

I would, but I'm afraid the constant whining about the anemic climb rate of the old 0-300 would about drive me insane. Lots of jumps from a 172 really make you appreciate the power and space in 182...

I was out there last month (getting a sportsman STOL kit put on the plane) and ran into some British military guys doing aff training out of a PAC.

I drove 2 cats from Denver to LA in a Uhaul. Not too big of a deal. I let them loose in the cab of the truck with me, and had a small litter box (shoe box sized) on the floor behind the passenger seat (had to move the seat all the way forward). They cried for the first 500 miles then began to relax. One of them sat in my lap for most of the ride. If you have a pet carrier, leave it open in your house with toys or treats in it for a few days before you leave. Put it at the passenger footwell in the truck, that way they'll have a familiar place to go.

"Story" here The PD 190 is a nice opening, mellow flying canopy with good (for f-111) landings when loaded at 1.1 or lower. While its no comparison to modern zp designs, it is still a proven, docile, good flying and landing canopy. My first hundred or so jumps were under a pd210 loaded at 1 to 1 and I put a few on 190's and 170's as well. To this day I wouldn't hesitate to jump one. Evolution of canopy designs has certainly given us better landing, zippier, slower opening canopies. That doesn't change the fact that a pd9 cell is still a comfortable opening, docile flying, okay landing parachute WHEN FLOWN BELOW A 1.1 WINGLOADING, that should last for 500 or so jumps 200 jumps is low to mid time for that canopy. Fabric is usually worn out when the lines are. 500 jumps is a fair lifespan. $300 is a very fair price for a canopy with 300 GOOD jumps left in it. That canopy would be a good choice for a light newbie thats strapped for cash and trying to put together a new rig. As to the comment about newbie jumpers training on Navigators and not being able to land a 9 cell f-111... most all of have an f-111 7-cell for a reserve, a few jumps on a pd-9 i(which has a better much flare than a 7-cell reserve) would be great experience to have before your first F-111 reserve ride. Heck the OP lists a pd-143 in her profile, It would do you a service to try the canopy before you get rid of it. Jim

My katana 120 (at a 1.8-2 wing loading depending on my diet) has opened in a pretty vicious diving turn that most certainly continues with no input on multiple occasions (maybe 10 times in the last thousand jumps). The turn feels as aggressive as a stiletto with a toggle buried pretty deep, and requires unstowing of the breaks and an aggressive opposite control to stop it. I don't think I've ever let it go past 3 or so turns, but have no doubt would continue with no further input. While it's a dream to fly and land, the katana is a VERY aggressive canopy that I'd never want to fly or land unconscious, ever. Jim

Put a piece of paper in the back of the ringsite, get a pencil and rub the lead at a 90 degree angle over the paper. The holes will show up as distinct circles, instant template. Tape that on your hemet in the position you want the ringsite and use a center punch to mark the holes. If you dont have a centerpunch put a nail it the center of the hole on the template and give it a light tap. remove the template and drill your holes on the marks from the punch. Make a pilot hole with the smallest drill bit you have (1/16") and work your way up to whatever size you need to end up with.

I prefer manual focus, and for that reason prefer the internal focus and zoom, as well as dig the benefit of a more weather and dust resistant lens. The lens looks plenty fast and the price is right, but at 13.9 ounces I'd have a hard time justifying the purchase. I've been shooting with a rather heavy Tokina 17mm fixed lens for the last 8 years or so and really like the focal length. While the weight is not too bad over the last few years I've noticed how much happier I am when I shed a bit of weight off the helmet (no video or no stills). Every ounce counts. If you can keep the same quality of glass with less weight over the long term the extra financial cost is well worth it imho.

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/compressor-pumps/145-psi-3-hp-twin-cylinder-air-compressor-pump-67697.html

Wow that prop is HUGE! Nicely done. What kind of ground clearance are you getting with that?

Did your cards come bundled with the purchase of the camera? If so did all of the cards/cameras come from the same vendor?

I know I'm a little late to the game but if anyone else is looking for a servo motor I put one of these on my juki 1541.http://www.keysew.com/Sew_Green_FL-550.htm It uses the same mounting bolts and location as the old clutch motor and combined with there 2" pulley it slows waaaay down. $165 shipped to your door.

The last rig i oiled was when I was front float on a dc-3. Also oilied my jumpsuit and face. AeroShell W-100 I think...

Commercial or private? If its just for you and some friends (your plane) permission from the land owners, file a notom, and contact the controlling agency for the airspace is all you need. If your looking to charge people, well I can't really offer any advice there. Get familiar with 105 in the far/aim. Jim

I work with 3d for a living. I don't really like to watch it, but enjoy working in the 3d environment, both acquisition and display. As a camera flyer already it was only natural for me to give 3d a go in freefall. With fixed lenses and no way to adjust convergence(push or pull the depth) it was really boring, and didn't add anything to the viewing experience. If anything the 3d took away from the skydiving. Editing 3d content doesn't cost any more than 2d. In a pinch I've even used adobe premier elements to render a 1080i 3d side by side for playback on a 3d lcd. Jim

I get all my machines, supplies, and amazing service from Gregg at kestone sewing. www.keysew.com

I'll second the buy a plane plan. I knew going in I'd stick with it and couldn't justify spending $10,000 in rental fees for my first hundred hours. By buying a 172 my monthly plane payment is fixed at $260 , and fuel is $32 an hour. During my training I was flying about 20 hours a month for a total cost of $900. Add insurance and tie down and I'm at $990 a month. Those same 20 hours in a rental 172 would have been $2180. If your flying a lot its less cost out of pocket month to month to buy vs rent. Its cheaper to buy an older 150, luscombe, taylorcraft, or a pacer, fly it for 100 hour and sel it rather than rent. Owning also makes it possible to do something with a plane. Rentals usually have a minimum number of hours to take one for the day, 6 hours is the minimum in my area. That means $1200 to take a rental to the dropzone for the weekend regardless of how many hours you fly it. There are plenty of 2 place planes out there in the $15-$20,000 range. 150's Luscombes, Taylorcrafts are easy to find in decent shape with mid time engines in those price ranges. Early 172's and pacers can be had in great shape for low to mid 20's if you want to step up to 4 seats. Jim

There are a few ways to deal with the projectors. Cheap and dirty is to double stack (converge) 2 pjs on a siver screen, with a polarizer in front of each one H and one V. If you anamorphicaly compess both eyes 50% and lay them down side by side as one channel of video your timing is taken care of. Use sizing on the projectors to fill the screens with the eye you want to see. Put on your polarized glasses and enjoy. The other option is realtively expensive and would take a fair bit of space to explain, but look up dolbys color wheel setup. If your ever in L.A. do feel free to call. Regards, Jim

I use it for video, not still pictures. I clap my hands and use the audio spike in to sync the two timelines. As far as parralax/ocular convergance goes, I flatten the cameras out to more like two degrees of convergance. In that picture I was just happy with my crappy sewing getting the mount together. I use video projectors and lcd's to display my content. If your in the L.A. area I'd be happy to invite you to my office or hangar to check out some of the 3D work I've done.

Here is the rig Ive been using for gopro 3d

Final cut does a good job. All your realy doing is changing the opacity of individual color channels.

If your all that worried about entanglements, mount it with nylon screws. I don't get the overstated need for a cutaway on a lightweight openface helmet. The plastic latch on the chinstrap is very accesible and easily removed with one hand. Heck I've removed my optik illusion well over 1000 times with just two fingers on the chin cup. If the day comes that I need to remove my helmet as an ep I'm fairly confidant that muscle memery will come to my aid, and be quicker than locating a seldom used cutaway on the side of my helmet. By the way to the op, nice machine work.

$2900 installed. At least thats what my insurance company paid, plus my $100 deductable.