Cashmanimal

freeflying the Tandem Vid i think.. Was that Glen S as TM? Nope, sorry! Mike R from New Zealand. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0O3gKneGPY It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

http://youtu.be/610bwSf-i5g It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

1000+ Camera jumps on my Infinity, nothing but good things to say. I'm an especially big fan of the floating laterals. 2nd rig is on order at the moment... It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

$20... not exactly sure on AFF rates It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Byron is right there, too... we have nice new rigs, lots of awesome instructors, and an ultra-friendly environment. And seatbelts. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Technuically, you could look at any riser/toggle input as a type of weight-shift device, as applying one will change the drag profile of the wing, and allow the pilots weight to shift underneath and enact further change. At the end of the day, however, it is not a 'true' weight-shift craft, as there's no way to sustain that input for very long. In a true weight-shift craft (like a hang glider), the control bar is a solid point of attachment that allows you direct control over your position under the wing, as opposed to a canopy where all you can do is indirectly influence the wing to allow your weight to shift. Are you flying with no input before you change your position in the harness? It's been said many times that it might 'feel' like a change in fore/aft postion has enacted change, but what it really does is change the angle/position from which you apply toggle/riser input, and you end up alter that input inadvertanly during the change in position. What you would really need to test this is either some way to measure it during full , where the shift in position is the sole input being given to the canopy, or some sort of riser or control lock, which you could 'set', and in turn make sure that your position shift is the only chnage to the canopy. I'm sure both of those are true as well, which is why I suggested that there might be a way to fly the entire run leaning back instead of forward. You could realize the same drag reduction provided you could assume the same angle of lean, and you would avoid the big transition move at the end of the swoop. It's been said many times that the less you move in the harness the better, so why wouldn't that apply to the end of a distance run? There are obvious problems in reality with the idea, such as the main/reserve container being in your way preventing you from leaning all the back, it's just more of a 'theoretical' or 'what if' sort of idea. As far as soaring the Stiletto, my observations mainly refer to launches; running to the edge on or hitting the rears doesn't produce nearly the lift (even if just instantaneously) of leaning nearly out of the harness (usually no chest strap in the foam pit) with the same riser input. The hang glider example makes perfect sense to point to what is basically a compromise of our "craft." Just as these guys are cranking down their risers for XRW, perhaps some sort of locking device (AKA 'control bar') could be implemented here as a test device-- once the risers have been 'set' on plane-out, the pilot just sits still in the harness waiting for the transition to toggles? I think the ultimate point here is there is definitely a benefit to weight shifts (forward/back) in the harness, and we are ultimately just looking for the perfect timing and balance of all these inputs. **Realizing cranking down the risers is less of a permanent 'swing' input and more of a permanent control input, that experiment probably wouldn't prove a damn thing... but I'd still just like to -know- It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

You do. From a fore/aft perspective, you're just a side of beef hanging from a meat hook. If you hook a side of beef in the center, it hangs level from the hook. If you hook it to one side, the 'bigger' end on one side of the hook will droop, while the 'little' end will raise. If you look at it from the side, and imagine a plumb line exending down from the hook, you'll see equal mass on either side of the line. Same thing under canopy. You're always going to hang straight down under the canopy/3-ring, it's just how it works. Even if you could find some way to sustain an off-center position, the confluence wrap on the bottom of the riser will cancel out any forces you might be imparting. The risers don't become 'front' and 'rear' until above the confluence wrap, so any input intended to be specific to one riser or the other needs to be made above the confluence wrap. As it sits, the confluence wrap is above the pivot of the 3-ring, so you those two factors inbetween you as a hanging mass, and any discreet input to the front or rear risers. The benefit to the forward lean is aerodynamic. It's very slight, and reduces exponentally with the decrease in speed, but that's the benefit. More important than that is flying a clean approach, and maintaining correct control inputs during the swoop. I would venture to say that spending time learning to lay forward in the harness without perfecting the rest is probably a waste. Chances are that you're going to give up some distance jacking around your body position, so you're giving up one thing to gain another. Truth is, I wonder if laying back like a PG is the better way to go. As it sits, at the end of a distance run the pilot makes a huge move in the harness to pivot back and land on their ass. Some might argue that the swining motion might create a temporary pitch-up, but I would suggest that by the time the pilots are making that move, the canopies have 'given up the ghost' and are not going to be going any further. So if pilots could adopt a laying back position, they could remain still in the harness and maintain that position all the way to touchdown. That's limited to competition distance runs. For normal swooping, you do want to be leaning forward to get your weight out in front of your feet, and facilitate running out a landing. I would like to point out/make the argument that when most pilots are leaning forward in their harness, they are not actually suspended from the single attachment point alone (3-ring) but are usually using the rears and/or toggles as a canopy input as well as a point of leverage to move their weight forward and drive the flatter glide/lift which has been explained higher in the thread by a parabolic weight shift. Basically, the pivot point of their riser input acts as a temporary pivot point, even if minimal; similar to a swingset. If I understand your explanation correctly, your argument would result in a child just sitting in the swing kicking their legs back and forth, instead of using their hands on the chains to create those temporary pivot points that lead to weight shifts, and in turn, swinging. I too have experimented with this heavily in countless hours of groundlaunching and have come to this conclusion myself... I am not arguing against the aerodynamic benefits (which are undeniable) but I think the benefit to the wing and glide are being understated. The place of confirmation for me was not in examining HP approaches and landings, but very very slow soaring in close proximity to the ground. Yes, the weight does eventually center itself, but until it does so the benefits are clear. When soaring a 135 Stiletto, I'm sure the aerodynamic benefits are not as exaggerated as weight shifts, which make a very immediate and clear benefit to the glide path of the canopy. If I go from a fully leaned-out posture soaring 5 feet above the ground and then sit back in the canopy, I find myself sitting in the sand immediately. I don't have much competition experience, but I'm fairly certain that the primary reason for pilots to sit back on distance runs is because face-first landings hurt and they can extend their legs for that extra stretch, not unlike a long-jumper... not because of any last minute pitch-up. I'd like to come to a scientific conclusion on this if we could... I've heard this debate many times now, and usually results in an "explain why it works" versus "it just does." Those who have experienced the benefits recognize it, and those who haven't just aren't there yet. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

No kidding. That's what Twitter is for. I'm planning to make a fortune off robbing the people "checking in" anywhere except their house. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Pacifica is amazing, but not very good for beginners. It's big, and it's a commitment. I would suggest finding somebody who knows their way around Marina (Near SDMB) and take a trip out there. Very forgiving sand dunes, and you can learn a lot. I'd offer to take you out, but I just left til summer It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

This is my video from a few weeks ago... the vignetting is from the Peleng 8mm on the 5D, not an ideal combination unless you're flying inside (even then, still not perfect). It makes for cool footage if you're sitting in front of a big screen, but for the youtube's I think it's too much. I don't jump at Lodi a lot, so I can't really confirm anything about the king air other than the whole fleet seems to be a bit re-arranged. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

The LED's go out (the wiring, or something). I've gone through 3 now, and it's getting ridiculously frustrating. I called Trunk and he sent me new LED's, and they're really easy to replace... but it sure gets annoying. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

I've been having lots of fun with mine

Peleng 8mm, belly mount, friends, tracking dive, sunset... It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Too many words. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

I'd love some visuals on how this is done. I haven't found the week or so VSE needs to replace mine, I'd like to see some simpler, local options It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

I don't think so... if memory serves, he went in with a snivel, right? (Or had linestretch?). Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my book he went for handle so it definitely doesn't count. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Negative, we're strictly 18 and over... tell him it'll be worth the wait! Thanks for the kudos Tim! Still one of my favorite DarkSide's from recent memory... That student graduated that week; he came from overseas and said he plans to bring his buddy back out this summer to do the same thing. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCAjjVMhMNw It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Frame grabs, I just sat at Final Cut and hit shitft+n a whole bunch, and actually got some good ones, haha! I'll link the video if I ever upload it.... It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

GoPro shots from my 1,000th, shot video for a good friend on a tandem It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Come to Hollister, rumor is they have the coolest AFF instructors. We-- I mean they-- also have the biggest landing area on the planet, a definite plus for students. In the last month or so we have had 3 people come to Hollister from other countries because of our reputation for getting students trained in a timely (but SAFE) manner. For those who buy the entire package up front, i rarely see them take more than 2 weekends to finish AFF (not that package-holders take priority, it's more of a financial advantage--if you can afford to pay by the jump, it'd take the same amount of time). We've also been handling all the students that get chased from other DZ's, because AFF isn't a priority at all dropzones. I can't speak for or against Taft. I haven't heard anything bad, and can't give you a reason -not- to go there. I've never jumped there, either. Some of our tandem masters alternate between the two locations, and only have good things to say. As an AFF instructor, in Hollister, I gotta vote for the home team

Trying to send a payment to New Zealand for various goods and services... what's the best way to do this? I tried to find a way through my bank, but was unsuccessful. Anyway, if somebody could point me in the direction of a reliable and affordable way to send some $$ over there, I'd really appreciate it. It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

Damien has worked with us or nearly a year, driving the bus and living with us in the staff house since the summer; we finally got our very good friend up for his first jump. He released the ashes of his friend on the year anniversary of his passing, making it an extra-special occasion for him. The second one could be borderline NSFW It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye