soulbabel

Very nice comparison. I really like the BOSS footage, especially compared to the cx115. However, should steadyshot have been off for the cx115? I'm not sure if that degraded the cx115 footage any. Also, can you upload the raw BOSS footage for that jump? Thanks.

I have the camera with a 10-22mm lens, and I love the tandem pictures that it takes. I also have a 50mm 1.4 for a walk around lens, and those pictures come out really nice. Here's a photo gallery from our last year's Wounded Warrior event, that shows samples of each. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.147574731993010.38863.100002214539052&type=1&l=90b88af907

I thought about it a few weeks ago to lighten up the helmet load, and then I saw this video where the guy gives a good critique of the hero2 stills quality. In the end, I went with the Sony NEX-5n, because a paying customer deservers better quality than a GoPro photo. Have a t2i w/ 10-22mm lens right now, still need to do the mods for the NEX. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzektEfL-nw

Skydive Suffolk's boogie is coming up this weekend. The weather is starting to look better for it the closer we get to the weekend. http://www.facebook.com/events/293991770654879/

After watching the raw files, I agree the footage is definitely impressive. Is it possible that the BOSS is actually making the footage even smoother?

You'll be fine with the straight legs. Usually when you move to a tighter suit, it will have spandex at the joints so that you still have a great range of movement. Tonfly Uno618 or Vertical Suits Raptor for example.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GLFSYQ Use coupon code 89ROAM89 to get it to $90. Use coupon code 82YNNB5U with a MASTERCARD purchase over $100 to save $10. They even give free one day shipping. There's a limit of two per person. I managed to buy it a few minutes ago, so the deal might be good for a bit longer. Source: http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/65600/amazon.com-contour-contourroam-handsfree-weather-resistant-1080p-hd-camcorder

Does the lens opening on your box fit really snugly around the front of the camera? Or is there a bit of a gap between the camera and the box opening? I had similiar vibration issues when flying headdown, but I jump a 2KC FF3 with Opteka .3x lens. I traced one major issue of the vibration to the lens mount on the CX100, CX150. Basically you can hold the body in place, try to move the lens up and down, and you can see the flex in the front portion of the camera body. It's not a whole lot of play, but it's enough to cause jittery footage at high speeds. I found that the people with the most stable headdown footage with the CX series, usually had cookie boxes where the lens was held in place by the box very snugly, and eliminating the camera front mount flexing. If there is a gap in yours, you might want to try padding the opening with something sturdy to see if it helps.

The tunnel will need support from the skydiving community to be built at its currently proposed location: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/sky-diving-tower-plan-oceanfront-hits-snag

I've had the Canon EF-S 10-22mm for about a year and I love it. It's got a B+W filter on it for protection. It's a fairly long lens though, so that can be a factor depending on your helmet setup. We recently had a charity event for wounded soldiers, so you can see some of the photos I've taken with the lens: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.147574731993010.38863.100002214539052&l=90b88af907&type=1 The other photos in the gallery were taken with a Canon 50mm 1.4.

In this situation, is the the updraft thermal like a steady current? I wasn't completely confident about the shape of a thermal, as to whether it was like a column or a bubble. If it was like a bubble, though, would it be possible that while the jumper is mid-deployment and the canopy is sniveling, he could pass through a bubble traveling upward, thus speeding the opening of the canopy? I assume this is highly improbable, but I thought it was an interesting situation.

Just curious, but what are the odds that a skydiver may pass through an updraft thermal during the deployment process? Is the column of air traveling fast enough to be of any significance?

Looks more and more like that's the case. I think I had too many incorrect assumptions before asking the question, so I think I'll give up it now.

I guess I was wrong, I always though a wet canopy opened harder.

I'm beginning to question that, too. If both your fall rate and your canopy descent rate increase due to the thinner air, it would seem like your canopy opening forces would be more or less equivalent.

Oops, I forgot I always tend to read high density altitude as high density altitude, and then I start thinking in terms of air density. You're right though, when I jumped at Colorado I noticed the faster freefall speed and canopy descent than I'm used to, but I didn't notice much of a canopy opening harder or softer. That's definitely true about the second jumper I packed for as he was in shorts and long sleeves. He did tell me he tried to slow himself down before deployment, though, after being warned by the first jumper I packed for. The first jumper was in a camera suit though, so I'd assume he was actually going slower. What are the chances these guys opened up in the updraft of a thermal?

I read the SIM's explanation shortly after the hard openings, and I thought I had found my answer as to why they happened. But then I researched density altitude, and I realized that the conditions of that day all point towards a decrease in density altitude. The high humidity, high temperature and lower atmospheric pressure would mean lower opening forces. So I was like, "WTF, maybe I am a horrible packer." Basically, I sum the SIM's explanation as "your parachute will open harder in the winter, than in the summer at your DZ."

For the second jumper, he said 4 people did hop and pops on his load, and 3 of them had hard openings. His canopy was the only one I packed, and the other two were by someone else.

The first guy was a camera guy, so he showed me his opening. His opening was so hard on his Xfire2, he had a brake fire and got spun into some crazy diving, line twists and nearly cut away. The second guy said he got pretty dazed on opening, and stopped jumping after that. He told me 3 of the 4 people who did a hop and pop also had hard openings, so he didn't blame me, but I still felt bad since it was the second hard opening in a row. They offered to pay, but I turned them down. I make all my money from packing tandems, so I wasn't really worried about the money. My main concern is figuring out if I need to start factoring environmental factors when I pack. If conditions are normal, then I pack without doing anything special. If a thunderstorm is coming, I'll do what needs to be done for a softer opening, even though I know it'll probably be off heading.

Can you rephrase that part? I wasn't really clear on the question. In regards to the high humidity, I'm wondering if the moisture is enough to wet the surface of the ZP and therefore cause it to trap air more efficiently. That could make it a contributing factor to a hard opening.

That was actually my first thought. I jumped that day too, so I downloaded the data from my Altitrack into Jumptrack and reviewed the speed graph. It didn't seem like a noticeable increase in speeds, though, so I started pondering other factors.

Two people I packed for complained of hard openings last weekend. I've packed for these people before and they say the openings are usually good when I pack for them. One jumps a Crossfire2 135 and the other a Pilot 150, so their canopies should be pretty forgiving even for a sloppy pack job. So I was surprised to hear how hard their openings were when I packed the canopies the same way I always do. I didn't charge them, since I felt pretty bad, but I couldn't stop thinking about why they would get such hard openings when hot air is thinner and therefore should cause the canopy to open slower. We jump out in Virginia, so the day was very hot(90 F), very humid, with an approaching thunderstorm about 2 or 3 hours out. When I consider the following variables: High temperature = thinner air (air molecules are more dispersed at higher temperatures) High humidity = thinner air (because water molecules are lighter than Oxygen and Nitrogen gases) Lower barometric pressure = thinner air (air molecules are less dense due to less atmospheric pressure) it seems that the weather conditions would provide them with the nicest, softest openings ever because the air would be so thin. Yet my two pack jobs managed to defeat all of these awesome conditions and give two people hard openings. They were on different loads about 25 minutes apart. So now I'm wondering if the approaching thunderstorm is the factor I really need to consider. Perhaps all that moisture traveling upwards into building the storms clouds is enough to cause the hard openings. I know that paragliders ride thermals to altitude, but is this the same thing? Has anyone noticed their openings were harder when a thunderstorm was approaching? I'll appreciate any feedback, whether it be personal experiences or scientific explanations, etc. Because right now I'm thinking if I know a thunderstorm is coming, as they frequently do during Virginia summers, I'm going to pack every parachute like I packed my insta-whack Monarch 175 canopy (push the nose way in, and roll the crap outta the tail).

If you are learning to freefly, I would suggest start out at Colorado. Contact Brad Cole and see if you can work out some cheaper prices for coached time. You'll be able to spread your time out across the day to reduce fatigue, and maximize learning. There's a cheap Extended Stay America across the street, and a lot of places to visit nearby. In the summer, Colorado's weather is beautiful and cool, so the tunnel doesn't get hot which can tire you out in the tunnel. The only hot things out there were the girls, and they were everywhere. Which ever tunnel you decide to go though, make sure you have underarmor (pants and long sleeves). It helps keep you cool and prevents suit rash which get pretty nasty after that many consecutive days of tunnel free flying.

Oh, if it's a laptop, then you'll want to make sure your power settings are set to maximum performance. If you set it to anything lower, than the cpu is likely to get underclocked as a battery saving measure. Download this application to watch if your cpu speed is reaching the maximum frequency when you try to render out a file: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html The field labeled 'Core Speed' indicates your current cpu speed. It will actually go down when the computer detects that it is idling, and should reach maximum speed when you start any heavy processing.

Is the computer custom built from individual parts, or was it put together by a major manufacturer? When I've put together my computers, sometimes the bios settings isn't optimal by default. For instance, the cpu speed may have been underclocked.