skydiverton2

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So, Ive seen it first hand, and also know other people who have seen the same thing at 'various' dropzones...
Im not going to name any DZs as thats not what this post is about (or me for that matter).

But is it right that there are no 'logged hours' per day for instructors or similiar (in the uk at least) as Ive seen a Ti have to do a tandem before DZ close after a 6am till 6pm working day....and he could barely keep his eyes open before going on the plane!!

Also, Ive heard of and seen AFFis who have done very loooong days (12 hours plus) possibly with a late night before, who have done an AFF or two on the last lift...so 13 hours + of hard working day.

On at least one occasion I know the AFF went bad (nearly really bad) but luckily all ended ok.

My question...

Should working hours be regulated more tightly by the DZO?
As most of them, certainly in the current economic climate have a 'we HAVE to make money' attitude, that I think is putting safety second to making money.

What are your experiences/thoughts?

Lorry drivers have tachometers to ensure they can only drive a certain number of hours...

AFFis and TIs have only their conscience at the present time

That is why I sleep in the plane

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I am jumping the CX-7 in a cookie box side mounted. The flutter in the head-up orientation is horrible whether I am in a sit or a stand.

Two weeks ago I did some 20+ way head-down jumps and got an unacceptable amount of shake in some of those videos as well. It might be because of the much higher formation airspeed compared to an 'regular' undocked head-down jump. I don't know.

I do believe that AVCHD on Flash storage w/ OIS may be on all of the quality cameras we want to jump in the future so I definitely want to find a fix. I don't think the CX-12 is going to fix it.

I am going to try a two more aerial tests this weekend. If I don't make any progress, I am going to have to take apart the CX-7 and glue the stabilizer.

A box is still relative open for airflow. Perhaps a rubber (neoprene) cover might help somewhat as it dampens the airpressure fluctuation in the camera somewhat.
I'm not sure, just an idea

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We just got a brand new tandem gear from Paratec Germany.
Next conteiner, Speed reserve, main is Twin 372 elleptical and cypres 2.
Very cool gear.

A twin is ok till you jump an icarus, besides that there are several features I do not like with the next, like the width of the rig and the primary relaese which sticks out from the side of the rig.

Not my first choise

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Do a search, has been discussed a lot.
Since 3 weeks I jump a HDR-HC5 in a waycool glove and a .25 lense. (check the waycool website for explanation, including camcorder recommendation)
http://www.waycool.com.au/page.html?chapter=100&id=18#sony

Some people consider the HC5 also to be big, Once they see the total height in the glove and footage their comments disappears

Attached some frames when I shoot in HDV mode

Do you edit in HDV? Do you find capturing longer while shootinbg in HD? I just bought a CX12 but have a Royal .2 non HD lens. Im just shooting SD thinking Im losing HD with the lens so I might as well just shoot in SD HQ.

I shoot in HDV. this allows me to take framegrabs from the camera after the jump. ( I e-mail these framegraps to the passenger as bonus without charging extra money for it. You can print them in 10x15cm (4x6inch) in an acceptable quality) I edit in 16:9 DV mode.
I use the .25waycool lens which shows small corners when playeds on a laptop (nothing on DVD or in 4:3 mode)
For the moment I'm ok with this lens, but I'm open to buy a better grade for a reasonable price in case this one does not show black corners and has an size acceptable for handcam

Do a search, has been discussed a lot.
Since 3 weeks I jump a HDR-HC5 in a waycool glove and a .25 lense. (check the waycool website for explanation, including camcorder recommendation)
http://www.waycool.com.au/page.html?chapter=100&id=18#sony

Some people consider the HC5 also to be big, Once they see the total height in the glove and footage their comments disappears

Attached some frames when I shoot in HDV mode

what is a USA

Maybe your PC1000 did not like to to tandems with you any more

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I've never been exposed to direct bag SL, and thought that pilot chute with static line assist was the norm. Am I wrong?

In The Netherlands, any other method than direct bag is not allowed. So....

Not forbidden as far as I'm informed, simply not used.
For the first couple of jumps, I would not use a diffent system than direct bag. The chute will open, even when the student grabs the line or exits instable.
For the freefall preparation jumps, the student is able to exit stable. For these jumps IAD can be considered as this allows the student to perform the pulling exercise somewhat more relaxed.

(There are 2 types of IAD. 1 where the PC is in a pouch halfway the line. The other one is only a line with the container closure pin and a break rope that pulls a spring loaded pilot chute. The last one is very scary, as an instable exit might very easy result in a PC entanglement)

Hey and you americans still think you can come to europe by car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRf49dlFS0

Here my best (and for the moment only) shots.
I know still a lot to learn.
Sorry for the corners at the moment I prefer a safe low profile lens. Shots are made with Sony HC5 in 16:9 and waycool .25

My first camera jump was jump 4.
Used one of these

http://beslist.bellatio.nl/?page=details&id_product=15135

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I have to add that in France we teach a different solution, in this situation , the tandem master has to pull the reserve without cutting away..

They told me always cutaway after you pulled the releases

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Yes right........

As a videoman you must be quite happy with the dark passenger google I think

Im not sure what you mean by this ? Why would I be happy ?

The thing that Im most happy about is when the customer has decent goggles that arent all over his/her face.

Best expression on the passenger/student face is caught with clear goggles without a coloured binding (flexvision for example). With this simple measure you get a better image of the paggengers face. Eyes are visible, no coloured lines. (off topic)

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What about a TI who's a bit to friendly during free fall and his hands aren't where they are supposed to be?
.

LOL

I was thinkin of this thread right after I shot the photo attached.

When exiting from the frontstep I sometimes take harness grips or sometimes push the tandem a little with my hand..
This time the photo looks like Im grabbing her tit.

I did however show her the photo afterwords and sort of apologized and explained it was not my intention..


(edited to add the attachement)

Yes right........

As a videoman you must be quite happy with the dark passenger google I think

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Sorry I meant the doors on the camera's breaking. Not the airplane door.

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The HC 3's 5's 7's are like carting around a football. The ones I've seen used for hand cam broke really quick and had problems with the doors.

I'm not really worried about struggles with small doors. I only jump from a caravan. No C182.

Want to start handcam soon. Thinking of a HC5. Good idea??

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I've seen lots of 40 year old cadmium plated hardware that shows zero corrosion. I can take a piece of mild steel, dip it in salt water, then clean and dry it an hour later and it doesn't really show "rust". I think the cadmium plating is fairly thick and wouldn't be worried about it - of course you should inspect your rig after it dries. Many rigs these days come with stainless hardware and it is reasonably immune to saltwater corrosion.

And I've also seen a lot of cadmium plated H/W corroded after a couple of years due to salt-water. (both skydive hardware as airplane parts)

As someone else mentioned rinse it with clean water to get the salt out before it dries. Saltwater itself doesn't damage the nylon. I don't think the problem is so much salt expanding as the salt crystals cutting the nylon strands in the webbing and such. There were some tests done on salt damage and letting it dry and manipulating webbing had a significant impact on the strength.

-Michael

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A couple of days ago i had an incident during a 4-way jump.

A badly executed block resulted in a crash which made my reserve handle come loose.

After my main was deployed, i noticed that the reserve pilot chute and freebag was trailing behind me. The main (Katana 120) was flying perfectly.

I decided to pull in the reserve and freebag, stuff it under my suit, and land my main. It was quite a struggle, and i didn't have control of the situation until 500ft, where i was able to release the brakes and steer my canopy to a landing.

I have heard suggestions of cutting the main canopy after opening or to deploy the reserve before deploying the main.

What would you have done in a situation like this?

You did the right thing. Reserve might open with an extreme linetwist due to the tumbelling bag.

Airbags in cars should be forbidden also,
Remove the ABS system from your car.
Away with the seat belts.
Throw away your motorcycle helmet.

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Thanks all for these infos...
The jump is planned in about a month, haven't jumped for about a year, I'm kinda excited

I thought using a bit of light soap on the rinse could help?

I hope you are joking. Get current first before trying these kind of things...

About the salt water. Use a very old gear and throw it away after. Salt water has the potential to destroy almoste everythink, from fabric (also in the seams) due to the small cristals, till corroding your metal hardware/altimeter (even if made from cres of cad-plated)
I will never jump into saltwater with my own skydive gear

Will very likely to start doing hand cam on tandemjumps in the very near future. (We get more video requests than we can handle). Need advise on glove, lens and camera type (I do not have a camera yet, prefer low height)

Thanx in advance.
With a little over 1000 tandems I meet the requirement to do handycam, so this does not need discussion
Reacties uit nederland zijn zeer welkom

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ok i have a question that has me wondering......

if you have a canopy that has a continuous a/b line ,how much load (theoretical) would those 2 lines hold before breaking? in other words, if you have an A suspension line made of say 600lb material(vectran spectra whatever) that attaches to the A line attach point on the canopy,then runs down thru the connector link then back up to the B l.a.p.,would it be able to take 1200 lbs? or would it break at 600?

1200lbs if you make the connection at the bottom strong enough

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Not 100% true. Shipping to Europe, customs and taxes can add up to 40% on the starting price.
We just ordered some gear through para-gear.
In total it was price ($) = price(euro).

Only if you pay the tax
get a ticket to florida and a bit of good luck at customs.........

And the dollar lost 30% against the euro. I don't think US gear is really expensive in euros.