aphid

Yes. I saw the glitch. I didn't have a counter and it wasn't on the screen, so I presumed it just "may" have been slightly out of time. But damn... they were still so hot.

Oh my goodness. I posted my note before I read the item about the judgment in "Skydive AZ vs Skyride et al". I am now doubly grateful that today, of all days, Betsy, you took the time to call me. J

Betsy, Publicly... thank you for your call and information today. Please express my thanks to Larry & Lil as well even though they may not have been directly privy to it. Whatever happens will happen. But I just want you to know, and would you please pass on to everybody jumping at Skydive AZ who have been so supportive, my deepest thanks for their offers of assistance and support. John (no reply or further comment is necessary)

Hey... I'm impressed they can actually go that fast/repetitive and not brain-lock. From my limited experience, that might be the most difficult part at that level.

Mine (but I'm not the rider in either pic - loaned them to some jump-buddies from NZ last winter in Eloy). 1996 custom (I built it) old-school hardtail HD, and, 2002 HD V-Rod (ser# ****0011 - and first one in Canada) Oddly, they both seem to spend a bit of time every winter inside the Bent Prop at Skydive AZ. John

Short Bros. Skyvan?

I'm with you. "3 years & 1200 jumps" does not constitute massive amounts of knowledge. Valuable opinions, yes. But experienced enough to advise others what to do (or not). Not on their life.

So... do I understand this correctly? You're upset because there is an innocuous banner ad appearing at the top of the page and a couple down the side for a service that you use extensively and freely? Or are you complaining about the Kokanee Beer banner ad that froze almost everybody's FireFox browser? If it's the first item - sheesh. Only in America. If it's the second item - yeah, that was a pain in the ass and Kokanee should fire their Agency.

Even in the third-world country of Canada, it's not "may", it is "MUST" under the Canadian Aviation Regulations. And also from Transport Canada. The current standard (which you can use "legally" for your W&B calculations) is Male: 206 lbs, Female:P 171 lbs. Every Canadian DZ does calculate and carry W&B reports for every aircraft and every configuration as required by Regulation, don't they? Of course they do... :( To say nothing of the number of certified seatbelts required which limits occupancy as well. I'd be very surprised if the "useful load", much less the max TO weight changed appreciably with the conversion. Climb, runway distance, yes. Payload, no. If somebody has the published statistical certified data approved by the FAA or Cessna, I'll shut my trap. I'm glad this isn't my DZ and my up-jumpers aren't on here bragging about the local jumpship with their limited aviation knowledge, which could so easily risk drawing the attention of the Transport Canada compliance officers. Non-compliance penalties can become very expensive, and losing your Operating Certificate is no picnic. It doesn't matter how fast or cool your a/c is when you are grounded by the authorities. John

Do you mean recording in standard-def as opposed to hi-def? If so, doesn't that defeat the purpose of buying a hi-def camera? John

Never heard of that before. Odd. John

A few to address: Yes, that is correct. It has become a standard since I did it in Spain in 2001 (the rest of them looked at me as if I was on glue back then) Ummm... for competition you can only use use video from one of the 2 (or 3 or 4) sources. Air-air events require a seamless time-code for judging. Pretty basic stuff if you know competition rules... I personally use the Sony HD tapes. Sergei uses the blue Sony's. Neither do we. Well, the OP was from Holland (cool and wet), and I also jump 6 months a year in western Canada, (cool and sometimes wet), so I don't think that is a factor either. And that is why we are still puzzled. Lots of good suggestions, but I just don't think they apply. Any more ideas? John

Actually, I respectfully disagree (and desperately wish it was only that simple!) Over the winter/spring, 4 of us at Eloy, all shooting HC's (5's, 7's and 9's) compared notes at various times over drinks. We ALL are having exactly the same issue. Unfortunately, cleaning doesn't do a damned thing, and yes, it was our first (and obvious) guess based on experience. We compared our various issues to see if there was any consistency or if a correlation could be deduced between us. Sadly no. These "freezes" seem to happen on a purely random basis and like the OP, not on every jump. Doesn't matter if it's on the exit, belly-fly, Tandems, freefly, freefall, opening... heck even in CRW. Also no relation to the in-camera settings for focus type, output settings, record settings, add-on lens or not, steady-shot or not, Hypeye Pro or Lanc remotes. Nada. And believe me, we puzzled it for quite some time over more than session. Two of us fly video for World Class teams, and between us, we probably have collectively 13,000+ video jumps, so needless to say, we have dropped the HC's for all competition. If somebody out there is determining something different than the four of us, I (WE) would sure appreciate answers/solutions to this problem. John (for Bruce, Gord & Sergei) Edited to add: I do have a Hypeye mini-D remote (no button or circuitry). I may give that a try to see if that has any positive effect.

Thanks Bill. John

I've come to this conversation a bit late, but could you please be more specific regarding the two following statements as I'm not sure I understand correctly: #1: "Canopies are designed to be dynamically stable when flown hands-off. They will weathervane into the wind and recover airspeed if they are slowed" I thought from my experience that unadjusted flight allows/causes the canopy to turn and run with the wind, and, #2: " I think the best turbulence-penetration speed will generally be the canopy's trim speed." Do you mean, a) hands all the way up (designed full-flight), or, b) a modest input of the rear risers to encourage clean flight (pilot-trimmed flight)? I look forward to your reply. Thanks John

You also might consider monitoring the CSPA web-based Forum... and perhaps posting your questions there... http://www.cspa.ca/forum/ John

My apologies Bill, This gentleman dissed my country and my judicial system. I consider THAT a personal attack. I did use a phrase to address him that you decreed inflammatory. I have edited it to call him a gentleman. Does that suffice? John Guess it's not really a Speaker's Corner after all. (Y'all might want to check a real Speaker's Corner in London, UK the next time you're there.)

It's Canada. You don't live here. You don't work here. You don't pay taxes here. You don't vote here. You didn't study Law here. God knows, you don't support charities here. As a person who willingly does all of the above, I respectfully suggest you kindly keep your opinion about our Legal & Parliamentary systems to yourself. Or would you rather that every foreign subscriber to this site point out you how the fuck your "freedom loving" political, judicial, and military systems have screwed up repeatedly? John Do I like the verdict? Not necessarily. But it makes a shit-load of sense in OUR system which I don't expect Americans (or unschooled Canadians for that matter) to understand. And no, I will not get into a DeeZeeDotCom debate about it. If this gentleman responds, Andrew, I leave it you.

A LONG time ago I learned a valuable lesson. It involved my female roommate's Siamese Tom... a large brown heavy-paper Safeway shopping bag... and some really decent BC Bud. (It WAS a long time ago - now I only consume single-malts and large-breasted blondes). I learned... Don't screw with cat-lovers. EVER! (I'm pretty sure the cat had a good time, though he did eat a weeks supply of Purina Cat Chow in under an hour!) John (edited for punctuation)

(Disclaimer: I financially support JFTC through a couple of Canadian ladies) Don't know what you're driving at. Speaking only for Canada, NO major chartered bank* charges a fee to cash or deposit a cheque. No matter where it's from. * You know, the "highly regulated banks in that socialist country to the North", who have not required - yet - taxpayers money for a bail-out. John PS: While I too will sorely miss the magazine, kudo's to Mike for winding down his company in a truly honourable fashion complete with full refunds for his subscribers. Sadly, that type of integrity likely wouldn't get you a cup of coffee on Wall Street.

Absolutely correct Rich, on all counts from both your responses. That's why you're a first responder EMT firefighter... and a surviving experienced jumper. I'm stunned that some people still can't make sound decisions when faced with just the simple evidence. John

He'll be paying the price for the next 4-6 months. If he had been less fortunate, I wouldn't have uploaded it. John

I captured this footage mid-January.

Along with the previous suggestions... Maritime Museum featuring the St. Roch. Grouse Mountain Skyride for an unbelievable view of the city... especially now with all the snow. Dinner at the top of Harbour Centre. (pricey, but again... the VIEW!) Granville Island for the shopping, artisans, and micro-beweries. The Planetarium (provided they're doing Pink Floyd which is customary over the holidays) Vancouver Trolley Company: great little way to see the downtown sights. Science World (awesome for kids, but even adults can have a hoot there) Deeley Motorcycle Museum. The Canadian distributor for Harley and former factory racer built an awesome museum with over 250 bikes from the last 100 years, representing some 60 different brands. That should keep you busy for 2 days. John

OMG Rich... Only YOU would know those places by name! Too many hockey tourney's in Canada for an L.A. firefighter, methinks. John