everymansaved

Like others have said, there would be no functional shortfalls, but it would probably not be within manufacturer's specs. The only function of the rings is to make certian that is the RSL is activated, it pulls the reserve pin in a straight line. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Yeah, I can see how you'd make it work, it just doesn't seem as smooth in my mind. Maybe I'll have to try it with some up jumpers. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Yeah, I can see it being a bit harder @ 6'1"!! God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Well, I'm done! I accidentally deleted the pictures of the box before I mounted it to the helmet from ma camera, but I have some after it's mounted, which are attached below. Materials/Cost Breakdown: Fiberglass Cloth/Resin/Hardner: $25 Foam: Free Bondo: Can't remember, but I think ~$15 Paint: $7 Hinges: $3 Hardware: $2.50 Total Cost: $52.50 Tools Needed: Coping Saw Calipers Square Sandpaper Duct Tape Container for Resin Paintbrush(es) Acetone Spreader (for Bondo) Drill Screwdrivers, etc... for attaching hardware Lessons Learned: Be patient!! This is one one of my great traits, and I really had to try hard to be patient throughout the hwole project. Shaping the foam, letting the resin harden, sanding, etc... I could have dome more coats and sanding/smoothing on the Bondo for sure. Be Precise: I was actually quite impressed with the fit of the box. The camera has to be co-ersed into the box, just barely fitting height-wise, which is what I was going for, but still makes me a little nervous. If it had been so much as 1/8" shorter, the camera would not fit. Think ahead: I didn't account for the screws on the hinges when I decided to make it fit the camera exactly. There is absolutely ZERO room for two of the hinge screws. It's not a huge issue in this case, as one screw from each hinge is quite solid. I was lucky and found space for the screws to mount the box. Overall, I am quite impressed with how this project turned out. A functional product, for 75-85% less than buying comercially. Don't get me wrong, it could be better. I'm a little unhappy with the smoothness of the exterior, but that's my fault for not being patient and taking the "it's good enough" attitude while bondo'ing/sanding. This is minor though, it does not affect the structural soundness of the box. I also did not account for the width of the saw blade used to cut th box in two, resulting in a gap where the box closes. Again, not a big deal struturally. I anticipate that my skydiving career will span several cameras, so if I cannot find another PC120 to replace this one when it dies, or decide to switch lenses (quite possible) I'll have to do it all over again, which will give me more chances to do it better each time. If anyone would like more detail on an step, different pictures, or has any questions, feel free to let me know! PS: All prices in Canadian dollars. You'll have to convert to US pesos yourself! God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

This phenomenon generally happens when you and your canopy are turning at different rates, aka an uncoordinated turn. It usually results, (like was previously mentioned) by too much toggle input. Not nesecarily too much stroke, but the rate at which you apply it. If you hammer a toggle down as hard as you can, your canopy will start to turn extremely fast, and you body can't keep up, so the resulting mis-match of rotational speeds results in line twists. You can avoid this by making smoother inputs on the toggles, and also using lots of harness input in the same direction as your turn. Brian Germain taught me that a good way to assess how co-ordinated your turn is, is to look at your pilotchute as your turn. It should always remain trailing straight behind you if you're in a co-ordinated turn. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

I can see a few problems with that. First, you can't see all your students at once like you can when you're sitting beside the pilot. You may not be able to reach them all, but you can certianly get their attention. Second, the student's rig is right up agianst the controls. I know that most/all Cessnas have a control protector, but is it 100% effective? How about the student attacking the pilot with their rig when they turn around? That might not be an issue, I'm not sure how you do climbouts from that position. I also wouldn't be thrilled with adding the complexity of turning around into the climbout process. And lastly (I'm sure there's an answer to this). How do you move on to the next student. Perhaps it's just that it's winter and I haven't sat in a jump plane for a month or two, but is there a way to do it other than to shimmy back, let the next one go from the old man seat to the student position? God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Wow, that's a lot of info, thanks Phil! What is a good way to find out the real multiplier of a lens? God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Cool, thanks for e info guys, I'll just have to play around with it! God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

I have a question about determining the aproximate focal length of a video camera with a wide angle lens. AFAIK, the focal length of normal sight is 50mm, correct? Does that mean that a video camera with a .45x wide angle lens equate to an aproximate focal length of 22.5mm (50mm x 0.45)? Is there some error in my reasoning? If this be the case, would setting the focal length on a still camera @ 22.5mm produce the same field of view as the camcorder with the .45x? Thanks. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Yeah, that's what I meant. If you're planning on getting a different Cam later then there's not much point though. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Looks nice. Too bad your plug couldn't be contained inside the box though... God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Yeah, I'd thought about the piano hinge, but I was worried that it would be too "thin" for lack of a better term. I also considered using pop rivets, but decided that I would have no other use for the gun and it would be a waste. Maybe I'll change them to rivets one day... God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Well, I'm so close now I can taste it! Over the past day or two, I have sanded, cut the box (gulp), removed the foam, made sure everything fit, attached the hardware, removed all the hardware, masked it and painted it. I'll go through it in a little more detail for those interested: Sanding: Pretty self explanatory. I probably didn't do quite as good a job as could have been done by a pro, but I think it's smooth enough to work. Cutting: This one was tough on hte psyche. I'd just put a lot of work into this thing, now I'm going at it with a hacksaw!?!? In all seriousness, it went a lot smoother than I'd expected. I made the cut loosely based on a Cookie BlackBox, as you can see in the photos. The important thing here is that no matter how you cut it, you need to remember to cut the hole for the lens with at least half of it on the lid portion, or you will be unable to insert the lens into it. I know that sounds kind of confusing, but trust me. I used an ordinary hacksaw I had lying around, drew the lines with a sharpie with the assistance of a square on both the front and back of the box, then cut. Removing the foam: When this method was innitially described to me, I was told that gasoline "melts the foam away." When I did this step, I was expecting a very dramatic process. What I got was the exact opposite. I found that the gasoline was very inneffective. I ended up just working my fingers between the box and the foam, and then prying it out. Both sides handled this quite well, with both pieces of foam coming out in a single piece. I was somewhat concerned, as I had not remembered to coat the duct tape on the outside of the mold with wax to expediate removal, but the duct tape removed easily on both sides. Making sire it fit: So next came the very suspenseful part of making sure the camera fit. I was very nervous about this, as the lens is not centered on the camera, nor is it completely at one side, so when the mold was made, there was a lot of measuring, and a mit of guessing as to where to put the lens. In the end, it worked! It fit perfectly into the box, exactly as I had planned. Attaching Hardware, etc...: Next came the hinges, box closure, tripod screw, and control access. The hinges are some regular olr hinges I got from Home Depot. I was able to attach them with botch screws on the box, but only one each on the lid, as the camera fit so tightly, there was no room for the screw! The closure of the box was an idea taken from Cookie as well, utilizing a piece of shock cord from my rigging kit. I then drilled a hole in the bottom for the tripod screw. I ended up having to measure and drill, but if you were to use one less layer of fiberglass, you could probably see through it with a flashlightand mark it that way. Then I used my coping saw to cut the access for the on/off toggle and record button on the back of the box, as I plan to use a Hypeye and not a Cameye. Masking: Now that all the hardware was on, and I was confident the box would work, I took it all off and prep'd it for paint. I decided to mask the inside of the box, as I didn't want paint rubbing off on the camera over time. Nobody will see it once it's closed anyway! I passed a piece of supertack through one of the holes for the hinge on each half and tied a screw to it so I could hang the pieces to paint them. Painting: For paint, I went with an epoxy based spraypaint, used primarily in painting appliances. I decided on this becuase it's glossy without having to use a clearcoat (gloss matches the helmet), and because the epoxy makes the paint quite strong, and more resistant to scratches and chips. I just hung the pieces from the rafters and painted. I've done two coats so far, and I think that will be enough. Like I said before, The sanding could have been done better, so there will probably be some ridges/imperfections, etc... in the paint, but I can live with that. I don't have any pictures of the painted pieces, because none of them turned out! The glare from the wet paint cause too much of a reflection. I'll try to get some pictures when it's dry. So, all that's left to do now is wait until the paint dries, re-attach all the harware and mount it to the helmet, all of which should be done tomorrow. I'll post again once it's done with an overview of parts cost, time spent, and thoughts about hos it could be made better, etc... God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Perhaps that has something moer to do with that particular jumper, and less about his nationality... God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

From what I hear, Mirage is nearing production on their owm main assisted reserve deployment device. That could just be rumor and hearsay though... God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Well, the final coat hardened, and I'm on to the "filler" stage. I decided to go with Bondo, mainly because I had it lying around, and was unable to get to a fiberglass shop to pick up micro balloons! It's actually in better shape than it looks in the pictures, believe me. It's quite smooth, and will probably only need to be sanded, one more coat done, then sanded and painted, etc... Probably, but not for sure. As for adding to the materials cost, I had the can of Bondo already, and am only using a very small amount of it, but the entire can was probably $10-15. I can't remember for sure though, it's been a long time since I bought it. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

There's lots of posts on here regarding camcorder choices. As for the cheap part, eBay, eBay, eBay! I just picked up a like new PC-120 with a boatload of accessories for ~$225, and that was by no means the only one available. You have to look through the mini DV camcorders manually though, if you just type in "PC" into the search, you turn up nothing. You could search for "PC109" or "HC28," etc... you might find something though... God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Hmm, they told me @ the fiberglass place that cloth was better for curves, etc... Weird. I just put the outside coat on, and used mat. I decided to forego pictures because in all honesty, they look just like the first two coats, just a lot smoother. I'm planning to let it cure for a day or two, then get out either the Bondo or resin with micro balloons as was suggested earlier and do some cosmetic work. Well done on the aluminum box! God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Sweet, thanks guys, I'll keep you posted. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Well, the second coat is complete. I still don't have this thing completely down pat, but I'm getting better... I think. Instead of dunking the cloth in resin and then squeezing out the excess with my fingers, this time I laid it on dry, then brushed on the resin until the cloth was completely saturated. It worked way better! I was able to make it adhere where I wanted way better. Not perfectly, but better. I've laid out and made the cuts in the piece of cloth I'll be using on the third and final coat, but unfortunately, I won't be able to apply it while the second coat is still tacky as I'd hoped. I'll have to wait until it dries so I can work some of the rough stuff out first. The "roughness" can be seen in the pictures below. For those who have done this before, did you find 3 layers to be enough? It's sure seeming like it will be, but I have this eerie image in my mind of watching my camera get ripped off the side of my head on opening or something... PS: What are micro balloons? God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

You know, I never even thought of using bondo to make it smoother, that's a great idea, I'll probably use it. Thanks! God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

I've also heard of the combination of stainless steel hardware and resin coated webbing causing slippage. Is this the combination this rig has? God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Basically the only cost so far has been the $24 for the fiberglass cloth, resin and hardner. The foam was free scraps from a construction site, and I already had the glue. I had to buy a coping saw and the caliper, but I don't really count that towards the cost of the project, as they are tools, not materials. As far as I can tell, the only other costs will be a hinge (with fastening hardware), 4 screws/nuts to fasten it to the helmet, and paint. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

Well, the winter is long, and I decided I'd try my hand at fiberglassing my own box for my PC-120. If anyone ever tells you fiberglassing is fun, I want you to punch them in the nose! In all seriousness, the basic elements of the project are pretty simple, but putting it into action is a little interesting so far. I decided to use the lost foam method, which basically entails making a foam mold of whatever you want to make (in this case, the camera), and then setting up your fiberglass on top of that, then disolving the foam out with a solvent such as gasoline, acetone, etc... I also found out (after an untterly failed first attempt!) that if you opt to use the blue construction foam which is readily available as I did, that it's important to cover the foam with something such as duct tape so as to prevent the resin from disolving the mold prematurely, as happened to me. Below are pictures of the first few stages of the project. Everything from the raw foam up to the first coat of fiberglass. The foam mold was created by taking two pieces of blue construction foam (one was not wide enough) and gluing them together using Elmer`s spray adhesive, which takes about 15 min to dry. (Picture 1) I then spent a couple hours with a caliper, a square, a coping saw and some sandpaper and made the mold. I made mine quite form fitting, even including the lens, so if I get another camera or lens, I will have to make a new box. It would also be possible to make more of a generic mold that would hold several PC style cameras. I forgot to take any pictures of the completed foam mold, but I did get some of it once it was coated in a layer of duct tape (Pictures 2 & 3). Next came the fiberglass... All I can say is wear gloves! I only wore one pair for the first coat, and for the next one, I will definetly change them 2-3 times, as they get very goopy and resin coated. To begin, mix the resin and hardner as directed on the package. I used polyester resin which is suitably strong and far cheaper then it`s counterpart, epoxy resin. I noticed how well the width of the duct tape worked for covering the mold, so I cut strips of fiberglass cloth (not mat, which is more suited for large, flat areas) into 2 inch strips. I then fully coated the stips in resin, then squeezed out the excess before laying it up on the mold in the same fashion I did with the tape. (Picture 4) The hardest part is definetly the corners. The cloth doesn`t want to lay flat on the corners (as noted in picture 5) so before the next coat is applied, I`ll have to cut off the pieces that have stuck out at the corners and then make more relief cuts in the cloth before dunking it in resin to allow it to lay flatter. From my understanding, I`ll need three coats, and possibly four. I`ll attmpt to guage the strength and thickness after the second coat and find out if I need 3 or 4. I plan to lay up every coat except the last coat in strips as I did with this one, and do the last one in one large sheet with plenty of relief cuts to achieve a smooth outer surface. Another trick I`ve been told is to coat a piece of vapour barrier or similar plastic sheeting with car wax and adhere it to the outside of the box after the last coat, before the resin is dry. Once the resin has dried, the car wax makes it possible to remove the plastic, leaving a smooth finish. I`m off to work now, and will be quite curious to see what it looks like in the morning once it`s cured. I will continue to take pictures of my progress for the benefit of others who want to do this, so that you may learn from my mistakes. If anyone else has done this, or any other fiberglassing and has any tips or tricks, etc... feel free to add! God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

I know a guy that has an HC96 side mounted on an MXV in a BlackBox, and I shudder every time I see that back corner that diablopilot was talking about in your last picture. I'm really not a fan of sidemounting HC's. They're too wide and long. God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.