FlyingBlueJay

Hey there everyone. I've searched and could not find much on the topic, and nothing since 2008, so I want to open the floor up to discussion about chest articulation. I am a freeflier/video flier/baby swooper and after many hours in the wind tunnel am fed up with my rig shifting around on my back. I'll be downsizing containers significantly but more importantly I want the rig to go where my body goes and not be moved by the wind. I'm getting floating laterals and hip rings but have not committed one way or the other to chest rings. Does anyone have positive or negative feedback about their custom fit rig with chest articulation? Thanks, -R PS - I have read the account of the hidden reserve pillow under a spinning Stiletto and will be getting a low profile D-ring regardless of what I decide about chest articulation There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I just bought an HDR-CX100 to replace my HDR-HC3 (my neck breathes a sigh of relief) and want the 2K box, but can't find a US dealer despite my best Googleing. I'd like to avoid their 35-55 Euro shipping charge if at all possible. Anyone know where I can find one stateside? Thanks, -R There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I just tried this with my rig. I was unable to "fall out head down" with a properly routed chest strap, but even with my bungy connected by a single line and knots as it was set, I was able to fall out in a sit fly position. I looped the bungy so that it was tighter and in a continuous circle through the connectors and was unable to get myself out of my harness. Perhaps that is a better option than the single line connector as it eliminates the possibilty of the bungy knots pulling through in the event of a premature opening. Also, wouldn't the continuous loop provide for a higher breaking strength? There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

Thanks for getting back to me everyone. I appreciate all the responses. I think I'll reconsider now that I know a bit more. Blues, -R There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

Right on, thanks... the good people at Wings just got back to me a little while ago too saying they didn't think that it would fit, but haven't tried it. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I have a Sabre2 170 and am looking at a Wings W8. I was curious if anyone has made that setup or an equivalent one work. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

So, despite graduating college at the worst possible time, I got myself a job! It's in Greensboro, NC, where I don't really know anyone. I'm moving in the next couple of weeks. Just wanted to throw a feeler out to see if any skydivers are in the area and might have some good insight as to where to live and jump. So far I'm planning on visiting Jonestown, Skydive Carolina, and Raeford. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I believe there are 3 person and 6 person dodgeball teams... I'm not the authority though. You might want to double check. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I'm still in shock about this... Dan was a perpetually smiling face at the DZ and a wonderful addition to our family. I will miss you brother... Blue Skies Black Death -R There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

My first jump which has led to my favorite platform, was out of a skyvan... I remember: My TM was Dave Pancake... Pancake: Are you ready? Me: Yeah! Pancake: You sure? Me: Yeah dude! Let's go! Pancake: Take three steps... The last one was a doozy! I'll never forget that feeling watching the plane fly away... though I love Otters now, the skyvan has a really special place in my heart. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

man, I've done that, sort of... I didn't jump up like that, but I'm pretty tall and when we first got the skyvan at CK, it took me a little while to learn to duck. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

We're natural skydivers! Our arch is built in! There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I had 50ish jumps, misrouted my right brake line so it caused a tension knot around the stow. I thought of cutting away, but I had enough altitude to practice on my rears and landed it without incident. FWIW, it turned out to be the right choice for me. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I just got it to work! The iLink Conv. HDV->DV was turned on. That seems to have done the trick. Thanks for your help! There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I have a NTSC Sony HDV-HC3 and have been using iMovie to import videos without any trouble until recently. Some of my imports would not be able to be opened/found by iMovie but would be visible on Quicktime. It says that the .dv file on some could not be read by iMovie while all of the other videos that do work are also .dv Now the picture will not come up on the import screen though I can still control the camera with the play/pause/seek forward, etc. buttons. When I import, no files are copied to the hard drive. I tried Apple's troubleshooting website but didn't find anything useful. I have not tried a different firewire cable, but as the controls are working, I don't think that's the problem. I have set the VCR to HDV and DV hoping that would fix it, but sadly... it didn't. Anyone have any suggestions? There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

Graduated AFP May 5, 2007 # 100 December 30, 2007 # 139 AFP Anniversary, May 5, 2008 # 239 July 27, 2008 It's been a good summer! There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

My father was in the British Military in the early 60s and put many, many jumps on PCs back then. He hasn't jumped since then, but I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get him back in the air. Anyway, here's a story he told me as he told it to me... Well, my buddies and I were in Kuala Lumpur and when we were there we would usually jump a few times a day... in the morning and at night when the weather wasn't too hot. These were mostly training jumps for accuracy and such, we did a lot at night too, but one day we decided to have a little fun. This crazy Aussie pilot we knew suggested that we try and take the helicopter as high as it would go and jump from there. So, three of my buddies and I got our gear, got in the helo and off we went. (can't remember what kind of helicopter) We got up to about 15000 feet and the chopper just started boucning around, but not going any higher. time to gear up... I'm sitting on the edge doing up my legstraps when the guy next to me says "OK!" and suddenly I'm in freefall! That fucking crazy pilot dumped us! Oh my god... are my leg straps done, am I strapped in... I frantically check everything and in the process pull the ripcord... WHAP... I'm under a fully inflated canopy at 14000 feet... I was strapped in... Ugh, it was SO cold. After what felt like an hour under canopy in those goddamn uncomfortable legstraps, I finally land only to find that my buddies and the Aussie were sitting drinking a beer watching me go baaaaaack and forth baaaaaaack and forth... "So Rodney... What took you so long?" I am telling the story second hand but I thought you all might like it anyway Blue Skies, be careful out there... -R There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

This is good advice Marcel, thank you. I run through my EPs a few times before every skydive, but have never practiced actually going for the silver out the door. It is certainly a worthwhile exercise. I do a lot of hop n' pops and I will practice emergency exits from time to time now. Blue Skies everyone, stay safe up there. -R There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

"Where is this airplane going and what's in this backpack?" There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

A few weeks ago on an otherwise perfect day for jumping, the weather man (or woman) was calling for wind accelerating through the day. I made one jump early on with a steep, but uneventful landing and felt comfortable doing so. After I had finished packing up again, I stepped outside to find that the winds had indeed picked up significantly, now gusting to ~23/24 mph from speeds between 13 and 18 mph. The uppers were also honking along! (30mph at 3000) I looked around and most of the experienced guys were sitting out, and I decided to stay off the loads myself. Another jumper with experience and jump numbers comparable to my own said something I found interesting after I told him I was staying off. It was "How are you ever going to learn to jump in high winds if you don't jump in high winds." Though we shut down for most of the day and I waited until sunset when things had calmed down again to jump, I think he had a good point and it made me think "what if the wind picks up heavily while I'm in the plane one day and I don't know how to get myself down safely because I've never done it when I was prepared for it." It seems to me like it is yet another valuable skill to have in your arsenal of things that might save your life. Knowing the theory behind jumping in high winds is important, but is it something that we should put in to practice as well from time to time? I hope some of you more experienced jumpers might be able to shed some light on the subject. Have you ever jumped in high winds to prepare for a situation like the one stated above, or do you stick to the idea that it's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky than in the sky wishing you were on the ground. i.e. you would not intentionally jump in high winds. Hope you all had a fantastic weekend jumping and I look forward to the responses. Blues, -R edited to clarify a mistake There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

Baltimore to Cross Keys is 80 miles +/- each way. $35 in gas plus $20 in tolls... Yeah, I think about it. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

i am sitting in the library at my school right now, working on Statistics 2 for my final exam tomorrow morning... It's 1:40 AM and there's no end in sight! I keep on cruising the Skydive Forums hoping any of them have a new topic (except incidents of course), but no... I guess I'll just get back to studying. Just another week and a half until I have the whole summer packing and jumping at the DZ!

Re: [milehighpres] NEW tandem masters [In reply to] Quote | Reply All good advice no dought but I am going to give you the best advice here: Buy your T I/E a bottle of Kettle 1 and a extra large jar of Olives. From there everything else will fall into place. Oh yeah, that is after the case of beer for 1st student, and the two other cases for, well You Know.....Enjoy see you when the sun decides to shine again. There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

I am 6'1" and 215-220 lbs. My progression was AFF1-AFF3 Navigator 280. AFF4-AFF7 Navigator 260. I then jumped a Navigator 260 until my 34th jump. After that I moved to a Silhouette 230 for a few jumps until I bought my rig with a Spectre 230. I jumped that from #38 to #124 and it was a great first canopy for me. The way I made sure I was making good, safe decisions when renting gear and buying gear was asking each one of the instructors at the DZ their opinion and using that information to decide. Hope this helps. Blues, -R There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams

Packed my altimeter in my main last week. Hop n' pop at 4, dump... what the hell is that bird doing... oops, that's not a bird... that's my altimeter hauling ass towards the ground. I followed it down until my canopy decided to take me for a ride and my attention was needed elsewhere! There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, and try it. - Douglas Adams