VideoFly

Did you at least tie his shoe before breakoff? What's with these guys whose shoes are always untied when jumping? Were they the kids at school who always had their shoes untied? Maybe it’s time for them to get velcro shoes…but that’s another thread.

If the jumper fell out and tracked away and you had planned to be an alternate, that might be fine. Personally, when someone goes low, I prefer that they stay in their slot, albeit low, and track at breakoff. This helps to avoid the mystery of where they are. I hate it when I’m filming and people disappear from my line of sight. I don’t know if the are safely away or if they are above or behind me. Also, I would hate to take someone’s slot and lose the video only for them to regain altitude and try to return to their slot. I don’t like to consider a low jumper out of the jump because he/she may get back in. In that case, you have lost the video and cheated that jumper out of their jump. As I have said before, my Do’s and Don’ts are a personal thing that I stick to. I have little problem with others doing as they like as long as safety is not compromised.

On RW jumps: DO be part of the dirt dive from exit until deployment and let everyone know where you will be during the jump. DO assess everyone’s canopy size and type along with their flying skills and style before exiting the plane and plan where you expect to be in the landing pattern. DO line up your shots during the dirt dive keeping line of flight, consistent heading, and who needs to be facing the camera during the jump (ie. someone’s 100th jump or birthday, etc…). DON’T fall into a burble and funnel the jump. DON’T break from the plan unless there is a safety issue. DON’T fly in and take someone’s slot because they didn’t make it in yet.

Not touching the instructor might be a personal thing, but mostly I don’t do it because the instructors I work with most have asked the videographers not to. Some camera flyers enjoy spinning a tandem pair while flying. In that case the TI’s ask that they grab the student’s hand, not theirs. I don’t spin tandems because without a wide angle lens, which is how I prefer to shoot, the angle is awkward and at that close range, the background is mostly obscured anyway. I believe that camera flyers should be somewhat stealthy and that other flyers should not have to worry about where we are. From a safety point of view, I don’t touch instructors because: 1- Instructors need a full awareness of what’s touching them and it’s best that any odd feelings can be attributed to a student’s body part or equipment possibly out of place. 2- I do not want to interfere with any gear operation. 3- In the event of a problem on a student jump I do not want to be responsible for or implicated as being responsible for a mishap or worse. By touching an instructor, I become part of a student jump and I do not have an instructor rating. Therefore, I believe I am prohibited from touching students. I guess my procedures are rooted within what I consider safe procedures. Maybe not for other camera flyers, but definitely for me. Also, I think this thread may be largely focused on tandem videos because part of the original question was "When flying with tandems, what are your top three "Do's and Don'ts?"

I agree with Phil. I leave with the tandem at the same time and fall at the same rate. The people watching the video get the feeling that they are in the jump instead of just watching it. This exit has worked well for me and I hear lots of ooohs and aaahs when people watch the videos. On the other hand, I have had several instructors leave without a count, and on those rare occasions, I certainly wait on the plane for the drogue release and then float down in front of the jumpers. It looks pretty cool too. My top 3 do’s: Help make the student feel special and totally cool. Keep the student dead-center and close. Get good shots from below and some from slightly above, showing the ground beneath them. Don’ts: Don’t touch the instructor. Don’t scare anyone. Don’t fly into a trap-door. Problems I’ve seen with new video flyers: Adding too many variables to a jump at once and becoming distracted. Pulling low. Thinking the jump is all about them.

I’ve used both for years. The big differences I’ve noted are that the AVE 3 only has one camera input port while the AVE 5 has 2. This is not a big problem for most work. Also, the AVE 5 affords you the ability to store still shots, which are helpful to make videos look good, particularly if you display the still while rewinding or fast forwarding to repeats parts of the jump in the video. One more thing is that the AVE 3 auto fades, while the AVE 5 uses a hand lever controlled fade. The AVE 3 works well and is relatively inexpensive, but I prefer the AVE 5.

I remember jumping with my older son when he did a tandem and I've filmed my daughter on two tandems. A great thrill was filming my younger son's AFF and doing coach jumps with him. Now, my son Atom and I do RW jumps often. It is a real blast!

My second Cobalt began to open a little slower than normal and seemed to be less responsive to inputs at about 700 jumps. It flew straight, but seemed to need more input to keep it flying straight and dive the way I wanted it to. Now that I’ve had it relined, it flies beautifully. The only problem I had with the new line set was that for my preferred flying technique, I felt like the brake lines were too long. I had the brake lines shortened 3 1/2 inches and the canopy flares and lands very well. I put 400 jumps on my first Cobalt, which was a 120. I’ve gotten great safe performance for over 600 jumps on my present Cobalt, which is a 150. When I replace my canopy again, I’d like to get another Cobalt.

You might want to speak to the instructors at your DZ and have them assess your concerns. You might have them jump the canopy to see if they notice any problems. You might be having issues with shifting in your harness or uneven brake input that an instructor might notice as you land or later while watching videos of the canopy being landed. Either way, it is probably best to work on this with your instructors who are there with you rather than seeking answers from people who only have your written description to work with.

I am not an AFFI, but I am a coach responsible for making log book entrees. When I fill out a log book, I do so for several reasons. First, I like to encourage the student with several positive notes. Second, understanding that there is always room for improvement, I add suggestions as to how the skydiver might improve performance. Third, I write for the next coach so they know what to expect and what they might want to focus on during their jump. I think these are important pieces of information for all involved. It is not helpful to me or the person I am jumping with when I read a log book and all I see are brief positive and sometimes irrelevant notes.

I am measuring mine to be 5/8 inch at the plastic base, however, the rubber plate on top measures closer to 11/16 inch. The advise to drill the hole smaller and use a tapered ream or high speed sanding tool is good. That will help to prevent chipping of the helmet’s outer shell. If you are using a drill bit, drill a small pilot hole first and then step up to your desired drill bit size. This will keep a larger bit from wandering about when you start to drill. Also, gently mount the helmet securely in a solid clamp or other mechanism. Holding the helmet by hand or between your knees can be somewhat unstable and may increase the chance of drill bit wandering. Concerning placement, I prefer the top front or rear on the left side. Placement on the left side is helpful if you are out the door looking at a blue light. It is easier to turn the camera into filming mode with your left hand as you are already holding a bar with your right. Reaching across to your right works, but you run the risk of having your left hand sweeping across your video. Once in place from the inside of the helmet, silicon works well to glue the switch base in place. Fiberglass and/or epoxy works, but it is more difficult to remove if the Cam-eye needs replacement. If you’re not sure about drilling your helmet or where to place the switch, you can mount it on the outside with good double side foam tape. This will give you the opportunity to move the switch later if you want. Also, you can get help from a plastic fabrication or boat-making shop if you want an expert to drill the hole correctly. Bring the helmet and the switch with you. One more thing, make sure the wires are long enough to reach your camera’s LANC port and field of vision before drilling your helmet and mounting the switch. It is helpful to run the wires inside the helmet so they don’t get pulled on by wind, risers, hands, plane parts, and other snag points.

A couple of hundred jumps a year on weekends while working full time during the week is very possible. It’s the girlfriend that’s hard to juggle.

If you are determined to make great skydiving videos without enough experience and flying skills and you do not wish to take the advice of experts, might I suggest that you just use magic or some type of invisible magnetic force field that will keep you in your slot no matter what occurs. That might work much better and will certainly be a lot safer than discovering the intricacies of video flying in a more appropriate manner. May the force be with you.

For several reasons, I prefer a blow switch. First, they seem to last longer and are far more trouble free. Second, to keep from loosing them in freefall, I leave my teeth in a drawer on the ground when skydiving. It’s an age thing, you know.

Come to think of it, that was a few months ago and I haven’t seen him since.

I recently watched a fairly new jumper try to impress us on the plane by hanging a leg out of the door while climbing to altitude. When he stuck the other leg out his body got whipped around so he was on his belly with the lower half of his body out the door. He reached for anything, but there was nothing to grab onto. Two other jumpers grabbed his arms and quickly pulled him in. With his eyeballs bulging, the look on his face was priceless. It was a Kodak moment that I hope he won’t forget. Over several years, we’ve also had two people lose their helmets out of an open door because they got careless letting them roll around unattended.

I just had my rigger and friend put some gear together for my son’s first rig. Of course, he refused payment so I mailed him a check for $100.00. I hope that was fair.

No need to apologize for a long post. It was worth a million words. I am glad that everyone is pretty much okay. Many of us have gotten on the plane with doubt in our minds and sometimes it is difficult to get off of a load. I remember one of the first rules of skydiving I learned, which said "Know when to say no." Unfortunately, it’s one of the hardest rules to follow. Thanks for the reminder. It can save us lots of grief.

In spite of the many words of warning, cameras seem to be becoming standard equipment on the helmets of young skydivers. Looking at this from another perspective, it seems like some of those skydivers are thrilled to get video memories of their jump and their friends are also thrilled to see themselves on film. These are normal reactions. With a fair number of video jumps behind me, it is rare that I see myself on film, and when I do, it’s really cool to me too. In respect to flying skills, my concern is that while for young jumpers mediocre video is still really cool documentation of their jumps, as the camera becomes standard on all jumps, flying skills may fail to improve. In other words, when one becomes satisfied with focusing on haphazard photography, the improvement of flying skills seems to become delayed. In those cases, young jumpers wearing cameras may actually slow their progression toward masterful flying. In turn, later in their jumping careers, when skydivers could have had opportunities to become great flyers, they may still be floundering, thus, cheating themselves out of the rewards of ever making great videos. Ultimately, this trend can easily lead to more overconfident, but unprepared flyers in the air. Concerning your personal safety and the safety of those around you, read the threads, take the advice of more advanced flyers, and be careful. When the unexpected occurs with an inexperienced camera flyer on a jump, life gets real interesting fast. When the expected occurs with experienced camera flyers life too, gets real interesting real fast. The difference is, experienced video people have a greater chance of safely overcoming such hurdles.

Everyone leaning back is a safe way to take off and travel. It helps take the stress off of your body on a steep climb and helps keep the CG forward of the wing. So for safety reasons, it’s a good thing. For social reasons, it keeps us close together, knowing that we are a team whose members rely upon each other. If you are in front of me on a crowded plane, your rig will often help to support my camera helmet. I appreciate that assistance. Tight seating and leaning on one another on the plane is part of skydiving…nuff said.

Another perspective on this question is concerned with others in the landing pattern next to, behind, below, and/or above you. Safe turning levels should also be regulated according to the expectations and experience of others in a landing pattern. Just because a canopy or a pilot can safely make low turns does not eliminate risk to that flyer and to others. Part of your answer is hinged upon the fact that we typically share our air space with others and in that case, safe turning practices in a pattern must not only be based on what that pilot can and wants to do, but must also be viewed as a vital link in a complex chain of events involving others in the air and on the ground. All to often, people push the limits of their canopies and experience levels at the expense of others. Sometimes, this type of behavior manifests itself in disruptive, hazardous, and possibly tragic conditions. It’s not always about "what can I do", but instead, it’s "what should I do".

Pay attention to the wing flaps. They should be down before exiting, and ideally, the engine thrust should be decreased. A slow level plane seems to be the safest to exit. Sometimes, pilots may not slow the plane and/or lower the flaps during exits. Be really careful in those situations. I any case, roll out to the side or drop down and out, using the relative wind to transition you to a free fall position. Do not jump up. Yes, you can strike the tail on some planes. I saw a friend strike the tail of a King Air with tragic results.

I've had a 120 Cobalt and now fly a 150 Cobalt. I love both of them and will buy another one when I'm ready to replace mine.

We have a craft store called Michaels around here. I bought one-foot squares of thick leather for my booties there. The leather comes in brown and black and they run about eight dollars each. After making my new booties, I Shu-Gooed them and they will last for years.

Give it to another jumper's kid. They love playing with their own parachute.