bofh

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Everything posted by bofh

  1. If it is a secret, then it can not be patented. The whole idea with patents is that you get a law protected monopoly on an invention as a compensation for publishing how it works.
  2. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I don't actually roll the canopy when psycho-packing. I lift and fold it, while pulling slightly towards me (away from the container) to keep the lines stretched. Don't think it moves more or less than S-folds.
  3. It is of course more realistic with projectors and easier to configure per user. With head tracking (and only one LED), you have to reconfigure the system each time another user uses the system. You can also fool the system by moving the head up, down, left, right which makes it almost impossible to use in a hanging harness. Using two WiiRemotes and three LEDs on the head solves that problem, but increase the cost. I might use that in the future as that would be needed if one also would like to simulate pulls in the risers/leaning in the harness. That is not needed for students though. With head tracking, you can look straight down, up and all the way to left and right. To do that with projectors, you either have to have more than one projector or a sphere around the user. So it saves a lot of money and space. Without head tracking, the FOV is too small for the user. They can't look straight down to find the LZ after opening, they can't look left/right to see when to make the final turn etc. As an instructor it is also easier to see where the users look compared to using a wider projection. My system is only to be used to help teach flying and landing. The students will sit in a chair and use toggles suspended from the ceiling. I believe they will easily adapt between the simulator and the reality.
  4. This has been discussed before, you might find some interesting answers with the search function. Anyway, take a look at the AltiTrack. Its a digital altimeter with an analog face. After opening you can flip it over and see the digital display on the back. I find it easier to read in freefall than a viso because of the bigger display (which becomes really hard to read if the goggles leak air and you get some tears in the eyes). It can also be connected to a computer and then read to Paralog. After getting a really tiny main, the digital side became harder to read when in full flight since the higher air speed would cause the altitrack to flap around, so now I jump with a Viso too.
  5. I'm building an even cheaper system. I use a PC+monitor, a bluetooth adapter, a WiiRemote and some IR diods, resistors and batteries. I use FreeTracker/IRTracker-ish head tracking - you move your head slightly and the view on the monitor changes a lot. Not 100% realistic of course, but people grasp the concept quickly. As for input from the toggles, my idea is to control two IR diods via pulleys and record their position via the same WiiRemote (they can track up to four points), some weights will have to be added so the toggles feel a bit like on a real canopy.
  6. I pulled at 2800m at a really windy day only to discover a turning canopy due to a tension knot. I could stop the turning with the right rear riser. I did shake the risers trying to clear the tension knot, I tried stalling the canopy, but nothing fixed it. I flew it towards the LZ on the rear riser and decided that I should cut away at 1500m. Only problem was that I was too tired in my right arm that I could not cut away. I solved it by using both hands (it was an easy pull when I helped with the left hand), but it could have been a nasty surprise if I had used the left hand to pull down on the riser instead. I flew the reserve in deep brakes and landed at about the same time as the freebag and main, knowing where to find them.
  7. One of my regular riggers pack and inspect my gear in about an hour. For that he gets payed more than I make in an hour at my regular job, which I studied at the university for at full time for four years to get qualified for. Since then I've worked and improved my skills for about the same time as he has. My field is well payed and my salary is among the higher in the field. If he pays taxes, I think he would get slightly less than me after taxes. So yes, I think he's payed a fair amount. On the other hand he often does small repairs/works really cheap or even for free and refuse to accept payment. I only know of three riggers that work full time, one of them seem to be doing ok, the other two are his employees. On the other hand, I don't see many auto mechanics roll in cash and they probably don't even get a thank you call every time someone's breaks saved their life. I did tip my riggers for the two first saves, but not any longer. I do say thank you after every time he has packed it though and I do ask if/when he has time for it when dropping off gear. But what are we really talking about? If we count high, you would get one bottle for around 500 pack jobs. What about raising the price of the pack job with 1/500th of the price of the expected bottle and then complain if the customer doesn't say thank you when picking up the gear instead?
  8. If you buy a bottle of milk, do you call the farmer and say thank you if it wasn't sour? The worker that installed the airbag after a crash? Why should reserve packing be special? I write this assuming you do charge for your services.
  9. Here's some pictures. What isn't clear is that I try to put the free ends of the straps below the straps, so if one gets loose, the friction will still keep it put. The drawback is that even if one opens up both the fasteners, the friction will still keep the mounting attached.
  10. Not so good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA2R8tib-yM I'll attached some photos shortly.
  11. bofh

    FreeZR

    The helmet fits well on the ground and I can have my glasses under the visor. When tracking, the chin part gets pushed in a bit and my nose hits the visor. Not a big deal, but slightly annoying. What's really annoying is that the locking mechanism is made of two pins and two drilled holes in the visor. Sometimes it is hard to close it, but once it is closed, it stays closed. What's worse is that within 50 jumps, cracks had gone from the drilled holes to the edges of the visor. I contacted the dealer, he contacted Paratec and they sold a new visor to the dealer, which he sold to me at a price below what he paid. Really bad customer service from Paratec. With cold weather I often got some fog on the visor that quickly froze over so I had to open the visor for canopy flight.
  12. The mud flap is a bit soft on my wings rig, so I pulled the straps really tight around them so they deformed the mud flap slightly and then it could not move around even if a band came loose. It's been a while since I did this, but I know I only used the things from the helmet kit, since I had not bought more gopro stuff at that time. I don't think I've got a picature of it, but I can recreate it this evening and take some pictures. The major drawback is that it does not have a cut system. Its quite easy to remove on the ground, but its probably a different thing if a canopy is pulling at the camera...
  13. When flying on the belly people work with the arms up alot, where it is easier to get the shoulder dislocated. People are also not warmed up which probably contributes a little and since little physical strength is required, the shoulder muscles is probably weaker for the average skydiver compared to the average rock climber. People can still skydive with a weaker shoulder, but the same people would probably stop climbing or some martial arts. But I think it is largly a matter of selection. Since people most often can continue to skydive with a bad shoulder (after it has healed some), those people might mention it on forums. People in other sports will often quit and not write so much about it on forums.
  14. They answered me a couple of weeks ago in english.
  15. Great summary. I can't agree with his comment about the vented helmet strap though. They are great to use if mounting the camera on the mud flap. They are not so great for mounting the camera on a vented helmet though, since it is hard to tighten it enough to keep the camera from vibrating. At least when speed flying the camera vibrated a lot during take off. I've not tried it in freefall.
  16. A friend of mine had a toggle pop open and got a hard opening. The tapes on the back of the TruLock riser broke and the steering line tied a knot around the toggle in some way that prevented it from being released. He landed uneventful on the rears. I don't remember the specifics, but if the end had not been fixated with the pin, it would not have made the knot.
  17. I've only jumped a student paratec rig once and its risers did not use this system as far as I remember. But perhaps the NeXt Century rig does? After my first chop (including lost freebag+PC) I bought myself a pair of TruLock risers hoping they were better. I've had four brake fires with them. The excess lines of my canopies are so long that they did little to stop the spinning too. The main problem with the TruLock risers is that they don't put enough pressure on the toggles, no elastics at all, just relying on the shape of the riser to apply pressure. I've had them sewn tigher now, but I'll move them to my big safire when I get my new risers from Chutingstar.
  18. I'd say that Atom's newer, velcroless toggles secure the toggles better than velcro. Chutingstar will change other risers to be like them: http://www.chutingstar.com/expertadvice_en/rigging/53-russian-toggle-system-secure.html
  19. I've had a few cases of frosted visor, but it happened higher up and I just opened up the visor. Makes it a bit harder to see with tears flowing from the eyes though.
  20. That's a good reason. As a wearer of glasses, I would have liked an exception for flip-up visors though as I can't fit my goggles over the glasses and inside the helmet. Oh well, perhaps time to get yet another helmet.
  21. I'm reading the FAI competition rules for canopy piloting and among the general rules is: What's the rationale behind this?
  22. I do loosen my chest strap and extender before grabbing the toggles. With my old toggles it is really hard to grab the toggles again after they are released, they flaps around too much in the wind and I had to land once without having them properly in the hands due to that. I tend to wiggle back and forth when releasing the chest strap with toggles in hands, which I don't like. My new toggles will be of the stiffer model, so after I've tried them, I'll change my ways to release them before opening the chest strap.
  23. Icarus Reserve 149 @ 1.2 Used twice, worked great! Too heavy on the fronts without handles, so toggle hooked it the second time. 90 degrees from about 15-20 meters, was a bit high, didn't swoop far...
  24. And people wonder why there are so few women in skydiving?
  25. I once got hit by turbulence exactly as I was about to flare and found myself on the ground rather quickly. I had a straight leg that I landed on, the bones in the knee hit each other and got damaged. It only hurt for three months which was lucky according to the doctor. My shoes had some air bubbles in the soles that took up some of the impact force, they were flat after the landing. Barefoot or with shoes without any dampening would have resultet in a much worse accident.