steelyeye

Just a few screen grabs. First is filming the first all lady 4 way over "The Jumping Place" in Saint Marys, GA. The second is a sit fly jump with another camera jumper. Must have been a real freefly jump since (# cameras)>(# jumpers)! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

John, You won't remember me, but Valinda and you coached me on a very early post-license jump. Your professionalism, friendliness and general skydiving abilities motivated me to become not only a skydiver, but a coach, instructor and coach examiner. Here are my thoughts (as a USPA coach examiner, SDU course director, AFFI): A lot of experienced skydivers really can not track. They really dive away from the formation. The first thing we should be teaching students is to have heading control away from the formation while minimizing vertical acceleration. This means adopting a "T" body position, extending legs (thighs first, then shins, and sweeping arms back to a stable 90 degree position). After they are comfortable with this position, we can "tweak" it in with arms further back, cupping the chest and shoulders, and extending from toes to head and refine their abilty to minimize vertical fall rate while maximizing horizontal speed. IMHO, most skydivers are not good trackers; they really delta away from formations. I think this is a major area of improvement for all skydivers. I was fortunate enough to be coached by people like you who valued tracking dives as an important part of the newbie skydiver training program! Having had this kind of background, I think this phased approach to teaching good tracking (not just delta refinement into track) is the right way to go. Blue skies - Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

All - I was only able to stop by on Saturday (with the newborn twins, dog and very understanding wife in tow...) AWESOME time! Got a couple of 4 and 6 ways in and even a couple of 10 ways in with the STF crowd (thanks Ken!). Sorry the POPS thing did not happen Saturday. Sorry I did not get to see everyone I wanted to (still have not gotten a chance to freefly with Psycho-Bob!). Chris - great job, and thanks to everyone that put it together! You all rock! Contact me via Spence for a submarine tour! Blue skies - Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

And that, in a nutshell, is why I would trust you to be my rigger.

Roger, understand the difference between tube and fabric and monocoque construction. Just answering the original poster's question if it would be possible to build a "glass bottom plane". "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Many competitive aerobatic aircraft have plexiglass panels under/around the pilot. (http://bjaffee.rchomepage.com/extrapage/images/300/extr300.jpg) "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Yeah, it might be time for a reline on the canopy in my picture - the flare on that thing SUCKS! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Had an interesting discussion with a couple of riggers and the master rigger I am training under... What, in your experience is the lifetime of a line set? The master rigger expressed that in her experience, lifetime was getting shorter. Whereas she was used to seeing 500+ jumps years ago, now it seems that some line sets need to be replaced much more frequently, like in the 300 jump range. I recognize that there are a lot of variables (WL, line type, canopy type, environment, etc). Any thoughts? (I tried a search and did not find anything, if there is a similar discussion, would appreciate a re-direct). "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

The latest Parachutist would suggest that there are three stages. In the pie chart on fatalities, there are "students", "novices" and then license holders. "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Sherm, I'm with you there, I have 300+, am an instructor and still consider myself a student. I take every opportunity for canopy control courses, freefall/RW coaching, camera flying coaching and freeflying coaching. Blues, Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Fellow instructors, OK, I recognize that I may be going off on a rant here and may not recognize the historical significance of the phrase, but it seems to me that we, as instructors, need to stop using the term "cleared off student status". By my reading of the SIM and IRM, it is pretty clear that skydivers can be broken into two clear groups - students and licensed skydivers. If a skydiver is not a licensed skydiver, then they are a student, regardless of what AFF level they have completed or whether they have been "cleared for solo jumps" or "cleared for self-supervision". A student is a student. Why am I ranting about this? Again, my reading of the SIM and IRM are pretty clear that students are only authorized to jump with instructors, coaches or appropriately authorized D license holders. Too often, I have seen skydivers "cleared off student status" getting virtually no supervision in their preparation, dive planning, or organization. Consequently they are not learning the basic freefall or canopy control skills we, and the SIM, expect them to learn. Additionally, I have seen students participating in group skydives with skydivers who do not hold instructional ratings and are not authorized to jump with students. In each of these cases, I have discussed the issue with the DZO, and it has been resolved. However, I think that the term "cleared off student status" is a contributing factor to this problem. As a student pilot and skydiver, it was pretty clear to me that until I had that certificate in hand, I was not a full-up pilot/skydiver. Where are we losing this? Now, you (and I) may agree or disagree with the SIM/IRM requirements, but they are pretty clear. I may not have stated my argument very clearly, but in the end, a student is a student, is a student. Rant over. Flame on. Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

I'll sign up for the VASST customized skydiving tunes CD, too! (There - now you've sold two, that should make all the effort worth it!) "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Lindsey has a bright, shiny new license in hand! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Thanks to everyone who came out! It was great getting to know all of you, and even better to see 20 canopies over St. Marys! For everyone that landed out on the first load on Sunday - 1. Sorry for the spot! (Damn weather-guessers!) 2. Thanks for not getting hurt! Wild Bill "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Hollywood - Yes it is, and I dearly miss my moco loco with two scoop! Shrimp and grits are just not the same... "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Mike - Can you direct me to that clip - there are a few folks that I know could use a look at it! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Whoa there, diverdriver - that would be Major Nelson (Air Force) not Lieutenant Commander Nelson (Navy)! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

If this topic has already been addressed, please forgive me, but I could not find what I was looking for. Our DZ is considering inviting some of the local news shows out to cover a charity event. Does anyone have any experience in providing skydiving footage for broadcast? All our camera jumpers have plain old non-HD video cameras. I assume this would work, just providing the tape to the reporter/cameraman. Any advice? "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Sacramento Bee reporter Bobby Calvan from his own blog, a long read, but well worth it: Clicky The comments after the blog are priceless. Also, interestingly, this same reporter has been highlighted by PBS: Clicky Great to know my tax dollars are going to support an organization that clearly recognizes superior journalism! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

I successfully modified a Sony DSC-V1 with the RM-VD1 remote to work with a bite switch (see attached pics - but bear in mind they were annotated for a non-skydiver). I can pass along details of how the mod is done if interested. I am getting about 20-30 pictures in freefall. At 5M, they are pretty good resolution and have gotten some fantastic 8X10s out of the camera. It is a bit heavier than other point and shoots, but I had it on hand. This method could potentially be used for other Sony point and shoots with a lanc/acc port (if it uses the RM-VD1 remote). I have not forgotten about you DSE, still working on the instructions! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

I've been using the time-lapse function on my HC-42 to shoot clouds passing by and sunsets lately (on the ground, of course ). It really works out well in the 1 second mode (so a compression of 30 to one). "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Just finished wiring up a bite switch to operate the Sony RM-VD1 remote control for a top-mounted DSC-V1. If anyone is interested, I can pass along the details about how I did it. Not hard with some soldering skills, but figuring out how to wire it in was tricky (at least for me!). It's not a DSLR, but I did have it lying around the house! PM me if interested. "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

http://www.usapr.com/ "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Koidl - Those are way cool! We have been tossing around the idea of filming a static line student on exit with the camera man hanging off the strut and releasing at the same time - any tips or warnings? "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."

Another favorite - Jared doing a credible job of formation flying his new Katana 120 with my big ol' Pilot 188! "Better a has-been than a never-was. Better a never-was than a never-tried-to-be..."