Chris-Ottawa

Because I'm getting married after I proposed on a skydive yesterday. Enjoy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4da89qdg_S8 I totally failed on the jump though. The plan was to propose in freefall with a sign, and then meet her on the ground to make it official. Unfortunately, the sign blew apart on exit (my fault), so we had to do the failsafe option on the ground. There's a link in the video that shows what happened to the sign. Aside from the sign blowing up, everything else went according to plan as far as I can tell, and I managed to keep it secret for several weeks while the ring was made and the planning was ongoing. "When once you have tasted flight..."

It's my turn with her now. Leave her alone...or else! "When once you have tasted flight..."

There is no aspect of driving a vehicle that would equate to shifting ocular focus while inhibiting peripheral vision. Perhaps if you equated it to trying to inspect a piece of dirt in your eye in the rearview mirror while driving.... Rearview mirror doesn't occlude a large part of the windshield, doesn't affect peripheral vision, and doesn't require the eye to refocus. All that, without managing the data acquisition/processing. While I completely agree with the blockage of peripheral vision, and that they shouldn't be used on flocks, your comparison is absurd. Last time I checked, the Recon didn't dig into your eye and occupy one or two hands to hold it there ("dig it out"). The comparison of looking at your radio or GPS in your car would be more accurate. Your eyes are removed from the road, you glance at the radio/gps screen, acquire the info you were after (time, speed, odometer, track, station etc), and you return your eyes to the road. Let's not make this Recon thing a personal vendetta to not see them in the wingsuit world. If someone goes on a jump and stares at it to improve their speed/glide etc....yeah, in that case, it's no different than "digging something out of your eye", or putting makeup on, or reading your cell phone. I still agree that the Recon seems like an inferior solution, but I do think it's very cool and would be useful for solo flights. I will almost certainly be buying a Flysight. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Thanks! I'm curious now, what's the different between the Flight HUD, and the one on the website? They seem to do exactly the same thing. Based on this thread, I'm leaning towards the Flysight, but the novelty of the Recon gear does still interest me. It would be nice if I could attach it to the visor of my Z1, and then when the visor is open under canopy, my sight is unobstructed. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Are you sure? Their store is still live, and they released a new version of it, the MOD Live? I just added one to my cart and it says in stock. http://shop.reconinstruments.com/product-category/mod-live-products/ "When once you have tasted flight..."

Pretty simple question, why would someone buy one over the other? I can't believe no one has asked this before. Here's what I know: Flysight: Real time flight data via beep tones (much like a vario) Price $249 Recon Real time flight data via small HUD Price: $199 (MOD), $299 (MOD Live) To me, the Recon seems like a clean sweep, but I'm not sure if it logs, if there are accuracy differences (ie: 5Hz), or the fact that the Recon is goggle mounted could be cumbersome. I'm curious what others think! Also, has anyone managed to mount a Recon on something other than a pair of goggle? IE: inside a Z1 or something. Thanks! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Cool story bro! It doesn't really matter what you think, SOMEONE (read: not you) asked the questions that they though would be valuable to their research. Congrats on unnecessarily being a dick. "When once you have tasted flight..."

http://precision.aero/TrimSpecs/trimspecs.aspx Everything else is here, but the Xaos 21 88 shows nothing...interesting. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Fair enough...but when it's winter and you haven't jumped in months...when the pilot says jump, you jump. When he pilot says, I'm going to hover and make you guys practice...we hover and practice. I think almost 30 loads went up that day and no incidents, the helicopter performed perfectly well. It's a jump.... "When once you have tasted flight..."

If it's helpful, I've got 2 Argus AAD's and would love to see them come back to the market. I'm an intrigued customer... "When once you have tasted flight..."

Man...you are digging yourself a very deep hole. It's one think to come on here asking for info, but you came guns blazing and are being a total [PA removed by slotperfect]. You have no experience and you're trying to get ammunition against your DZO? Really? The guy who "allows" you to jump from his planes? If I was the DZO...you have done more than enough to get banned from my DZ. Comments like this: This proves you are "THAT GUY". You are the type that will try to sue the ass off any DZ for something being their fault even if it wasn't. You're the type that'll run to your mommy because the DZ broke your ankle. Let me give you some advice, 28 year old Eric "The Big Kahuna" Roberts from Charleston, SC Reference: http://www.meetup.com/Lowcountry-Xtreme-Adrenaline-Junkies/members/5225010/ How's your work going at AAI Corporation? BTW, what is the full name of your job title (EIT)? Electrical Integration Technician or something? Reference: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/eric-roberts-eit-pmp/54/430/499 Oh, and you don't happen to live on Club Course Drive and have a phone number that starts with (843) 760-****, do you? Doesn't all of this make the internet just a bit more REAL? Anyways, back to my point. There are a lot of people on this forum. I GUARANTEE some of them know you. If I cared so much, I'd quickly be making sure to inform all the DZ's in your near vicinity that you're being a complete douche and are a liability to the dropzone. How would you feel when all the DZ's in the area decided to ban you because you were too much of a liability for them? Who are you going to cry to then? And trust me...they don't give a flying fuck to lose money from one person, if it saves the future of their DZ. Sit back and think about that for a second. How are you ever going to fit in with your "Xtreme" buddies if you're banned from all the DZ's. Don't think for a second that people don't care enough to do exactly what I said above. I'd be surprised if they hadn't already. Here's to hoping you chill out and learn to listen to the advice being given to you. You seriously need to sit back and cool off. Good luck! Seriously. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Here's a video you may like...we jump the R44 a bunch here and the pilot wanted to "train" everyone how to exit while doing a low hover. Should be a great answer to your question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ObadAA-Mc There's some 3rd person video of it, and then I do it with the camera running, then we jump it later in the video. Enjoy! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Not US but here in Canada, it's been $35 ever since I started. It was $35 including tax, but as of 2 years ago, it is now $35+tax. Works out to a grand total of $39. That same $39 will get you 9,500 ft at some DZ's, and 12,500 ft at others. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Thanks for the input everyone. I don't like the idea of modifying an existing rig for a purpose which I'll rarely use. I also can't justify the creation of another set of gear just for this purpose, and I definitely wouldn't charge friends to use the rig but I'd happily share. I still believe that the easiest, and safest way out of everything mentioned so far is the second harness. This is the route I'm going to proceed down and rig up something that will be suitable as time permits. One question to the people who have shared pictures. Both pictures show the cutaway canopy hooked up to the inside of the secondary container yoke. While it may be more comfortable, I seem to feel that once the canopy is deployed, it would be putting tension on the yoke and pulling the other rig off of your shoulders. It seems logical that if it was on the outside, it would hold allow it to expand outside the restriction of the top container and it would be clear for the cutaway. Care to share any specifics on the choice to keep it on the inside? Thanks! "When once you have tasted flight..."

I completely agree, but here's why I think the second rig method is "safer". Sewing another D-Ring onto my harness is permanent (well, relatively). That means, every single jump I do after that point, I have extra hardware attached to my rig. One more thing to go wrong, one more thing to be attentive to. With the harness, it's only there on jumps when I expect to perform something with it, and will not impact me on any other jumps. To me, as the majority of my jumps will be done without this, I'd prefer not to have permanent remnants on my daily use rig(s). "When once you have tasted flight..."

Hey Rob, What made you change your mind on the legalities of this? Here's a post you made in 2006 indicating that many people do exactly this, and you also indicate that it is perfectly legal: Found here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2164905#2164905 Also, the jumper you referred to who was choked is completely irrelevant to this discussion. An intentional 2 out using 2 rigs is very different than what I am proposing. Can it happen? Of course, but I firmly believe that it is terribly unlikely considering the deployment handle for my main will be on he complete opposite side of my body. All this to say that I've spoken with several people, including jump pilots and the word coming back is that as long as I meet those specifications ("at least" one harness, main + reserve) they have no issues with it. Of course, when it comes jump day, it'll be up to the S&TA to make the call along with the pilot. That can go either way at their discretion and I accept that. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Thanks! The airworthy bit was in regards to buying an airworthy harness...I wouldn't care what the containers condition is. Now I've just got to locate an older container for cheap and get this all together. Anyone have a source of crappy containers or willing to part with an old one from the back of a closet for cheap? Thanks everyone. "When once you have tasted flight..."

Thanks for the input guys, I seem to think that the "2 mini rings on a standard big ring" would lead to issues in cutting away. IE: if one ring tucked under the other canopy, couldn't cut away, or only half cut away. It seems like added risk to me. The second harness seems like the cleanest, least risky option, even over the Tridem system or other 3 rig systems. Those must be deployed in sequence, have special cutaway configurations etc. Yes, a 2 out situation could turn badly very quickly, but that seems terribly unlikely unless it was intentional (which is what I understand happened on the jump you referred to: intentional with unexpected results.). I can't forsee many scenarios that would result in a belly deployed canopy, to cause the PC in the BOC to deploy resulting in 2 out. The part that I'm stuck on right now is the legalities of it. Apparently, the CAR's (and FAR's) mention a "single harness". I am under the impression that those are referring to a tandem harness, and preventing the use of BASE gear out of an aircraft. Here's the Canadian Reg: Subparagraph 623.38(D)(2)(a) requires that each parachutist wear a single harness dual parachute pack, having at least one main parachute and one approved reserve parachute when conducting a parachute descent over or into a built-up area or over or into an open-air assembly of persons. That can be read a few different ways, but the way I read it is that I will be wearing a single harness, dual parachute system, except I will have a second harness as well. I think the reg is to deal with Tandems (dual harness, dual canopy), and restrict base rigs (single harness, single canopy). I don't want o get the pilot in crap if something bad does go wrong, but I'd like to still see if this is at all possible. Thanks "When once you have tasted flight..."

Morning everyone, I did a search and came up with surprising very little on this topic. I read 2 threads that were helpful, but not any more than the knowledge I already have. I'm looking to setup a cutaway rig, and the only design I can come up with that is relatively feasible and seems that it may be a decent option is as follows: Buy an airworthy container, cut off the main and reserve trays, leaving only the harness/3 rings and cutaway mechanisms. Wear this harness UNDER my normal gear, with the 3 rings and canopy connected outside of my normal harness. The 2nd main would be deployed from a belly mounted (or held) d-bag via a standard pilot chute. Exit on my back, deploy PC, fly until bored, cutaway 2nd main, deploy standard main. I'm wondering if anyone is willing to share their insight, any experiences, things to watch for etc. FWIW, I am a Rigger in Canada (equivalent to senior rigger, not master). I intend to do this for any number of reasons. I'd like to jump a blown up canopy, see how it flies, or jump a smaller canopy, hook a canopy up backwards. Basically just learn, try, play, experience etc. Any info is greatly appreciated as I would like to do this as safely as possible given the added risk of doing this in the first place. I'm also curious about legalities of wearing a second harness in this fashion. Thank you! "When once you have tasted flight..."

I think you're worried about sending money to someone you don't know, versus how to get the rig into Canada. Here's some info that I've learnt. There's always some risk, but here are a few things you can do to minimize the risk 1) Use a proxy, which has already been mentioned. They send the rig to the proxy, you send the money to he same proxy. When the proxy has both, they resend the pieces to each other. That way, no one gets screwed. It'll cost you a few bucks to do this, but it's worth it. 2) ONLY pay with Paypal. This way, you know they received the money, it's traceable etc. There's no reason why someone can't/won't accept paypal nowadays. 3) Require them to send the rig with tracking (same if you opt to send cash/cheque/money order). This is your insurance that it's on it's way and proof that it was delivered. 4) Get as much info on the gear as you can (via email). Pictures, serials, general info from the current owner. If it goes bad, you have evidence that they discussed with you and promised you a rig in exchange for money. Ask lots of questions. 5) Get an itemized list of everything that's included, don't rely on assumptions. If you got the rig and it was missing a reserve pilot chute, or a cutaway handle, these are added expenses that you will incur. 6) Get a rigger to check out the gear once you receive it to ensure it's airworthy. It's surprising how many people are willing to jump a rig because it "looks" ok on the surface and the reserve seems to be in date. People can be shady, I've seen some rigs sold that had stitching coming out that were jumped until the repack date arrived. Scary! 7) Duties suck. If someone sells you a $4000 rig and they mark that on the box, be prepared to spend an additional $200-$300 on duties/taxes. It sucks, but if they lie and say it's only worth $50 for example...guess what happens if the box gets lost/stolen etc... You get $50, and you're still out the $4000 for your rig because it was delivered. It's not worth the risk on a big purchase, just accept that you will be paying it. Also, you can save yourself about $60 by clearing it yourself. It's quite easy, but UPS does it for you and they charge you $60 to do it. For more info on that, google: Self clearing packages canada. There are guides all over the place on how o do this. "Generally", most jumpers are reputable, resulting in little problems. Be cautious with overseas purchases, and with people who are difficult to get information from. If they are selling a rig, they should generally respond quickly, and with the exact info you want. If they hesitate, or never give you quite what you're asking for...be wary. When I bought my first rig, I sent a few emails back and forth, asked my rigger and they said, send the money. I sent a bank draft in an un-tracked envelope, and a few weeks later, received a rig in the mail. Worked out great, but I could have gotten hosed really bad. Dumb decision on my part. I've since bought hundreds of things from the states from personal collections, and businesses. Thankfully, I've had great luck. If you want more info, feel free to respond or send me a PM. I should also mention that I'm a rigger so I can probably share some other info about gear if you need any assistance. There's a lot more to gear than is on the surface. Good luck and be sure to share what ever you end up getting. Also...fill out your profile. It let's people know your experience, where you are, and that you're not a spammer etc.. Thanks! Hope that helps you out! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Well that's a helpful comment now isn't it? Congratulations on being a douchebag! Anyways, what I saw in the video from a purely beginner swooping aspect wasn't completely horrible. He was generally coming out high, with obvious mistakes. If it wasn't in traffic and the turns were 90's I don't think there's anything wrong aside from the fact that he could benefit from some coaching to increase his chances of making it through this agressive learning path. Here's awhat I did see that I disagree with in the video: -TRAFFIC - What the F*CK? Dude..that needs to stop! Nothing more needs to be said, just don't swoop in traffic. -Left riser, right riser, left riser, cutting off the other traffic along the way. Again, not much to say here other than that is completely not swooping. If you want to swoop, do it properly, even while learning. -Target fixation...It's pretty clear that you should probably do some landings focusing more on the landing than the swooping. Most of your landings veered towards a target that you were clearly fixed on. Yeah I know, you were "aiming" for them and were spot on, right? Wrong...don't aim for objects in your path. Once you get good and start working on gates, you'll know better by then and it's done differently. -Degree of turns. Dude...90's are more than you'll ever need for the next 500 jumps. I'm 500 jumps in and still only do 90's, but I've learnt to better control the canopy and the actual swoop as a result. By no means am I an ace, but I'm taking it slow to learn as much as I can on 90's and I still have plenty to learn. -TRAFFIC - This needed to be mentioned again! How do you think you'd feel if you crashed into a friend, they died and you got to live? I'll tell you...you'll feel the worst you've ever felt in your life because it would have been preventable. I started out much like you, but I had a bit more common sense to avoid traffic and I wasn't learning while on vacation at boogies with hoards of other canopies around. "Floating" above everyone else will help, but what about that small girl who is unintentionally "floating" under her 288, and you don't see her. Guess what...you just killed someone, and maybe yourself too. Get some coaching, even from one of the swoopers at your local DZ if you don't want to take a full course. Just get someone to give you some guidance, but most importantly, STAY AWAY from other canopies. Go to a cessna DZ where you can easily count the other canopies. Good luck dude...keep at it, but use what's available to you! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Awesome, Thanks a bunch! So, I checked the article out, but it doesn't really show how the slinks were "closed". I'm assuming based on lack of knowledge of that jumper, they were simply slipped over the "stub" without passing through/underneath as I am suggesting above. This would indicate that they held in this scenario. Does anyone else have additional testing on this? Any riggers ever done drop tests in the loft with an incorrectly installed slink, or am I going to have to do it? Hehe. "When once you have tasted flight..."

After becoming a rigger and spending some considerable time with our trusty S-Links, I became anal about their installation. I will usually check them several times before I'm satisfied that they're installed correctly. I just think of how shitty it would be to look up at your main/reserve and only see 3 risres (or worse) and have absolutely nothing you could do about it except wait. So, has anyone jumped (intentionally or not) a misrouted or incorrectly installed S-Link, and what were the results? *By misrouted, I'm talking a standard installation of a S-link, minus the locking hitch. The S-link would simply be looped twice as normal, and then slipped over the "knob" instead of passing through under the knob, then over it. (See attached picture courtesy of PD's Install manual) If it was summer, I might be inclined to test this myself (after strapping on a tertiary of course). Thanks! "When once you have tasted flight..."

Hey, I've checked out quite a few of the brands and cameras out there and settled on a Stealth Cam Unit OPS. The main fact is that you'll have to pay to get reasonable quality...don't expect amazing quality from a $100 camera. I've attached a picture taken this week. I'm really impressed with the camera, and while I haven't tested the video yet, I'm impressed with what I see on youtube and the testing in my house. If you're simply looking for a recommendation, check out youtube. Check out the qualities for video, or just google trailcam on google image search. What issues are you finding, or what are you trying to find out specifically? "When once you have tasted flight..."

How about a Youtube demo video showing how it works and how to pack it? I couldn't believe that there isn't anything on youtube for this. Marketing man! "When once you have tasted flight..."