Liemberg

What are they going to do? Stick out their tongues and say "Boohoo"? Bring it on! "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Then jumping a sony cx6/cx7 is also out of the question me thinks? Fail to see the difference from the look-and-feel of both camera's in the local shop where I - well, eh... touched and felt them. Both look like they are made out of plastic. Of course, with a Sony, one expects better quality plastic, but nevertheless...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12232578@N00/2115486014/sizes/l/ It IS what I always say, but I havent tried al the other brands. Have you?

Ah but you know how to pack 'em so as to avoid those scary turns... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Have you considered that there may be something else where these two canopies differ significantly? Slight variations in angle of attack, 'curve' (i.e. 'flatness' of the wing) shape of the cell where the air gets in etcetera may all have surprising effects on inherent stability of a canopy IMHO... Furthermore: when taxiing on our not so smooth grass airfield we find that the pilots that 'pull the stick into their stomach' and 'almost take off' are significantly less 'accident prone' (prop into the ground / damage to the front wheel). On the same note as rhys his example with those 4x4's , our chief-pilot, who oversees the pilots and hires the young ones fresh from flight school, invariably teaches them to speed up to avoid damage... He seems to have his reasons and himself never has a propellor in the ground - that happens to very slow and cautious taxiing weekend pilots ... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

As it happens, I consulted a repairman that I trust about exactly the same problem on a DCR-PC105e. He said that it depended on what the exact problem was. In our case we knew what the cause was, i.e. every DV enabled camera that had been connected with one specific computer (yes, the one @ the DZ that was used for most of the editing) was,eh well - not DV enabled anymore due to a faulty DV card. When I told my repairman this he told me not to bother sending the camera in, a faulty connection or wire he could have fixed but this would mean 'major surgery - more than the camera is worth'. I forgot what he had to replace but it was something they don't replace, they either toss the camera or say 'this one has no DV anymore - great second camera'... In our case, with other camera's that are DV enabled at our disposal, that is what we keep doing - the PC105e films static line exits or landings just fine but you have to take the mini-DV tape out and put it in another camera to upload to a PC - which is what YOU could do with the older TVR. It is a bit of a nuisance - and one more step to lose the footage in, but that's how we did things in 2007... With the PC350 as your primary camera working around it this way can quickly become an enormous nuisance, I'd imagine though. But cameraflyers have to be well organized people with ability to 'multitask' anyway so it's only gradual, me thinks...

As long as he's not downright suicidal, what is the harm in that? With more than 50 percent of the 'wanabee's' failing to produce consistently the images that we want (i.e that we can sell / that is as good as the video of their friend who was here last week / month / year) by the end of the day it is THE FOOTAGE that will decide. And you know what? I never met a trully unsafe wanabee cameraflyer that produced what we want. Because running before you can walk (as a characteristic) tends to ruin the footage anyway...

Actually - every cameraflyer I have jumped with was 'rated' on all of his jumps. Most of the times the TI's are also 'rated'. Of course, someone has to switch on the video, but from that point on it is unbelievable what you can see on the video's - the camera TELLS if the cameraflyer is somewhere in space and time where he should not be, the camera TELLS if the TI forgot to properly adjust the harness (they suspended TI's ratings on two seperate occasions in the Netherlands based on video evidence) I have seen a cameraflyer ´drop the ball´ during a malfunction of the tandem allmost killing himself in the proces, etcetera, etcetera. And this is not mentioning out of focus, filming against the sun, looking up and backsliding away from the tandem, filming with the tele in stead of the wide angle / all those things that won´t kill you, wont hurt your passenger but don´t produce good video either. OTOH I have had guys (usually blessed with a pair of ears on their head) that were rather early in their skydiving career who would LISTEN and do as they were told become accomplished cameraflyers coming in front of me faster and faster as well as closer and closer at almost every consecutive jump. Problem is however that not always the one who had 200 jumps more than the other proved to be the talented cameraflyer. (i.e. I have seen guys who were succesful from jump one with barely 250 jumps and OTOH guys that were not and never would be with well over 600 jumps. People that studied the camcorders manual and actually went to play with the thing filming on the DZ and filming every landing possible often were the more succesfull ones...) A a formal rating and a written test - just what the doctor ordered, that should bring about safe skydives and excellent video´s... (This not to say that any TI who would let someone with as little as sixty jumps come along with a camera should not have his head examined, but I trust that TI´s like that will ignore ratings also...) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

On a lighter note: did you all see (and HEAR) this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqPwLpi60Ag&feature=related Gives me the feeling that I can actually understand the Russian Language...

In statistics 500 is nothing more than a sample to determine questions like 'will the democrats or the republicans win the next election'. It is a pretty worthless sample when you want to determine if it is possible that a stablehand who as a daily job has to remove the manure in the stable will receive a deadly kick from one of the horses. This is because things that don't happen verry often, they... well...don't happen verry often. When they CAN happen however, if they have grim and possible deadly consequences (like the horse 'that never ever kicks' killing the stablehand) it may pay off to change your behavior when possible. (like if the horse CANNOT kick you or the exces stow CANNOT interfere with the camerahelmet) YMMV. (Watch out Jarrett - they are all sharpening their knives right now

The manufacturers think you need the physical exercise every now and then...

You sure the DV of the PC350 works? (i.e. find someone with another DV camera and see if that one is recognized in Vista. Next try if those camcorders - your PC350 and the other one - can communicate with eachother through a firewire cable. (This of course assumes that at least one of the cams is also "DV-in" - but I believe the 350 being a high end camera should be...) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Owner of several 2 pin rigs innocently asks: *How much for that 'used'cutter?* (i.e. Yes , you can swap Vigil cutters easily. AND the two pin originally costs twice as much as the one pin...) "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

A long time ago (rec.skydiving days) the immortal and annoying "Snuffy" told us the following joke: A yuppie skydiver is planning to leave the DZ. He has almost put his brand new gearbag in the back of his shining new Audi A8 2.5 TDI stationcar when his eye is caught by a guy in a camerasuit that is eating the grass that surrounds the DZ's parkinglot. The yup speaks to the grasseater and find out that he is in fact a professional cameraflyer - who ran in a bit of bad luck with not enough demand for his services. "Poor man" the yup says "A talented person like yourself shouldn't be eating the grass at the DZ, Please do step into my car and accompany me to my house!" "O thank you kind sir" the cameraflyer replies "can a bring my wife and my three kids also?" "A but yes of course!" "And how about my colleague cameraflyers that are grazing overthere, across the road?" "This is an Audi stationcar! There's always room for more! Besides, my whuffo wife keeps nagging me about mowing the lawn ever since I started skydiving every weekend after my first tandemjump - so the faster its done, the better with me!"

Start me up "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

With all this blogging going on in cyberspace and me being an avid reader it gets me wondering if somewhere on the planet there's a 'mutual interest group' namend 'skydiving and literature', where one would be eligable having made at least ONE skydive and having read at least ONE book. (Not neccesarly 'Alice in Wonderland'; 'House at Pooh corner' or any other decent title would grant one membership as well...) Wouldn't become a member though. Groucho Marx wouldn't have been eligable and what good is a club without him? I looked up Robert Wyatt (former 'Soft Machine'*) drummer) in wikipedia. He should have gone skydiving in stead... *) ... just wiki it... Anyway kids - I found my old Soft Machine albums one and two back in cyberspace. Listening to them right now. Thought I'd share...

Since "the meat" usually prefers you to be not all worn out on their tandemjump it is not that selfish.

Though I agree with the first part ("becoming too engrossed") I don't think one would forget to pull handles. However, "becoming too engrossed" CAN send you spinning-drogue-side-down with the drogue half way pulled. ("Fast?" "Uhm....") Though it IS an invaluable "learning moment" I do think most of us would rather not go there.... Other than that - handcam has no "deathzone". Outside video has... In a former life I was too well trained in statistics to start 'comparing notes' here on the forum - but both handcam and outside video in all likelyhood probably have killed passengers... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

You are not supposed to say things like that here Rob. This is a public forum. Larger Than Life Real Hero Tandem Instructor do not nap on the way to altitude. Never have, never will. They meditate. "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Maybe this should go into 'History and Trivia' but here goes: Once, "somewhere on the planet" - I was standing in line with my passenger hooked up in a civilian 'Eastern European' MI8 helicopter that also had a few locals "as paying non juming passengers along for the ride", them not wearing parachutes. One of them was carrying a small kodak camera. (film in stead of cellphone

You thrillseeking daredevil!

There's this guy who phones me up and goes on rather dramatically about wanting to do a tandemjump at a rather short notice, during the week in what is the beginning of our off season (half way in september) He does want to do his jump ASAP since he is diagnosed with ALS. ALS? He explains to me what it is (you'll all be able to google it - basicly its the doctor telling you "you're screwed! - screwed irreversibly, that is...") and since the disease also rapidly deteriorates his muscles he's in a bit of a hurry to go skydiving before he's unable to. I agree to be at the DZ and meet him to evaluate his abilities and wether I will take him on that jump - depending on wether I can control it and work my way out of the door with him. As these things go, i'm completely preoccupied with his physical limitations so in stead of a normal briefing that starts with the parachute system (and the way the student is attached to the parachutes-not-the-tandemmaster) I start with "how am I going to wrestle an 85 kg bloke out of a C182 when he's got such limited muscle capacity to help me with the task at hand." But we manage and though what he shows me on the ground doesn't even vaguely remind me of an arch it is satisfactory enough so we decide to give it a go. My passenger is going to die anyway within the next twelve months, so he's got a fatalistic view towards the endeavour anyway; if I'm willing, he's willing. In hazy and cloudy conditions we take off and much to my surprise the jump goes completely as planned. We come out stable, I throw the drogue, we make a controled turn in freefall and I pull. Then all hell breaks lose. Well actually, it doesn't, but the main parachute malfunctions, tension knots keep a slider and an outer cell in a firm grip and I start cursing as I'm wrestling with the mal. (You all been there: a few heavy jerks with the steering line and "phew" that was close...) But not this time; the knots stay, and so does the slider and one side of the canopy. So despite the hazy conditions that with some bad luck will result in hours of searching for this canopy I chop it - all the time not communicating with my passenger in front of me, who is still more or less in a free-fall body position or his best impersonation of one. As the reserve opens and I start to stuff handles into my collar he suddenly says: "Are you still there?" "What do you mean am I still there? But of course..." "Well I noticed it opened and then you started cursing and all and then I felt that I was in freefall again, so I was convinced - with my luck lately - that you chopped me from the parachute in order to deal with the problem..."

Since all skydivers are lone rangers in a sense: Who will be our friend that we can talk to from now on? (And how are we going to find out what year we live in? ) BSBD condolences to his family... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

In the vast majority of cases (and also the tragic incident that gave rise to this debate) the principal victim of the wrong decision is the person involved a.k.a. "the deceased". Of course it can be argued that even where that is the case "the sport receives a black eye". Indeed, any published incident "in the neighbourhood" does bring its share of cancellations from our appreciated tandemguests - but as many enquiries from "wannabees" so the endresult is a hung jury IMO. Anyway, with the caveat that their prerogative to decide should not interfere directly with my personal well being (or that of their fellowjumpers) I think it goes and I wouldn't want to have it any other way. For I always found that the most effective way of instructing-that-you-could-die-doing-this (or hurt yourself bigway) is tell people the facts - being blunt often gets you their undivided attention, so to speak... Once they are treated like grown-ups, only a few keep behaving like toddlers... And while I'm at it, being severe: without knowing exactly what went wrong with Race's WS jump, for most people he WOULD serve as a beacon "120 jumps wonder*) flies WS into the ground without any handle pulled" - "Hey, maybe this IS more complicated than I think at first glance..." What you know and what you don't know is often well covered from jump one on. The exception lies in that part of what you don't know AND don't know that you don't know... When I strap a passenger in front of me I'm pretty much on top of the game and AFAIK I'm qualified to get myself one of them wingsuits and go play. However - I wouldn't do that without seeking some qualified "hands on" guidance. After all, I DO have some experience in making parachutejumping a bit more "interesting" by adding a few complicating factors. In the case of tandemjumping the excellent training I got was hardly adequate against my natural stupidity and it is sheer luck I'm still alive to write this. But with that commodity the supply is limited. "There could be something in the 'I dont know' that could kill me - lets find out beforehand...." Then again, the total jump numbers of the guy I'd have in mind for giving me said guidance is about a third of MY total jump numbers. Minimum recommendations? I'll keep deciding about that myself on a case by case basis... *)Totally uncalled for derogatory qualification about someone I do not know - but when you have met as many "120 jump wonders" as I have and you were to imagine them in a wingsuit, you'd see a whole lot of DGIT's... "Whoever in discussion adduces authority uses not intellect but memory." - Leonardo da Vinci A thousand words...

Why would you want her on her knees? In c182 my routine is that I'm facing the tail (on my knees), pax comes to sit on my lap, open door, move sideways, exit... No need to have dear ol grandma on her knees, IMO... As we move towards the end of the season it might be a good time to step back, relax, count blessings, see what pays the bills - and show grandma a wonderfull time...