miller

Were you trying to put it on at altitude or on the ground? Bonehead's "thermofit" liners definitely expand at altitude. Ask anyone who is breaking in a new flat-top pro. I've actually heard at least one person who put their helmet on on the ground and left it on for the entire ride to altitude because they couldn't get it on at altitude. If it was on the ground, and it didn't fit, I might agree that the foam just stiffened up due to the cold, or maybe your head grew? Mike

I've felt this way so often. My first set up was a Sony Hi-8 (floor model because I couldn't afford a new one), a pro-tec with sheet metal and more gaffers tape than a 3-m convention, and a football helmet chin strap. All of which I made in my dorm room over the sink for a work bench, including the indicator light, which took about 30 revisions to actually f-ing work. The sight was a sawed off piece of 1-inch pvc. Ah, the good old days. What's funny is that there is someone reading my and your story, going, "I remember strapping an f-ing VCR to my chest..." or "I had to reach up and actually push the shutter release button with my finger in freefall..." Ha. But really all it takes is a couple grand, one call to the store, and viola...instant camera man.....BAH! Note: of course I enjoy the modern convenience of the flat-top pro with two d-boxes, and two sony mini-dv cameras, a cam-eye, a real sight, etc. BUT I PAID MY DUES...(in my best grandpa Simpson voice). Mike

That's awesome.

http://www.boneheadcomposites.com/faq.htm http://www.boneheadcomposites.com/baking.htm Granted, it doesn't specifically mention the batrak, but I pretty much remember NOT baking my batrak shell, just the liner. I would think if you baked it and deformed it too much, the clam shell might not line up right, and the thing might close funny. I personally had great success, shimming, shimming, shimming, and baking just the liner. Mike

I received a call from a reporter the other day who is doing a story about her first skydive. She actually asked a lot of good questions, but the two that we (video guys/gals) get a lot are: what started you shooting video, and what do you like about it? For some of us, there are easy answers. For me, there's not a simple answer, but I tried to sum it up like this: I like giving back to the sport, I like making people feel happy about seeing themselves, I like experiencing students' first jump every single time I jump (this was also why I used to love being a S/L and tandem JM/I), I like the challenge of flying mixed with photograpy, sunny and blue one day, cloudy and dark the next, but the pictures better be good regardless because someone is schilling out a lot of money for them. So what made you want to be (and continue to be) a video guy (gal)? I guess the easiest answer is....(see attached). 1st photo - Jessica got proposed to when she landed (she said yes) 2nd photo - Student is RW flyer's mother doing her 1st jump Mike

here's a few we did this year mike

I would greatly appreciate it if any of you would post pictures of your microns or v3-m's, stating what size they are and what canopies you have in them. Thanks, Mike

Who's got a Velocity 103 in a Vector 3M series, what size is the container, and is the main tight or loose? I'm not interested in a Micron. I want a bigger backpad with a thinner profile. For my body size, I've got it down to a V339, which seems about right for a Velocity 103 according to all of RWS's sizing charts, but I was wondering if a Velocity 103 would be too sloppy in a V340. I'm interested in something a little easier to pack and softer, but not too sloppy. Thanks, and yes I'll e-mail RWS directly, but I was also looking for some unbiased opinions. Mike

Here's mine, St. Michael

Orbit and Echo

I had the exact same scenario with a customer's Dolphin last week, except the rip was only about 1-inch wide and did not travel across any of the support tape. This was the second repack on the rig, and I performed the first. Note: I do not use a packing paddle to deal with the pilot chute fabric. What I believe happened in this case was that a small bit of the mesh caught the bottom the spring where the coil is swaged together. This pilot chute did not have any rubber shrink wrap around the swage, as most pilot chutes do. Therefore, there was somewhat of an unproteched metal edge. This is what I believe caused the small rip. Anyway, called Altico and was told to go ahead and pack it up. Mesh is not really structural in nature, support tape takes the load, etc...but watch for the expansion of the rip in the future. In order to actually repair this type of rip properly (ie not darned by hand), the pilot chute would have to be mostly taken apart, and it's probably more prudent (financially) to buy a new one at that point. I typed a little note stating that the rip was found during repack on xxx date and that the manufacturer was contacted and instructed me that it was okay to pack....and then I attached the note to the reserve card. I think this accomplished two things: it makes the next guy who packs it aware that it's there and he'll know that I didn't miss it, and it let's the next guy know that it's not a blatant rigging error due to the instructions from the manufacturer. NOTE: your rip sounds a little more drastic than the one I was dealing with. Procede with caution. My 4 cents, Mike

Please excuse my confusion but: Due to the 1.6x scaling factor associated with the 10D, when determining your hyperfocal distance for a given lense and aperature (let's say a 20mm lense), do you use 20mm in the hyperfocal distance equation, or do you use 32mm (1.6 x 20mm). Should seem obvious, but I'm a little slow on the uptake today. Thanks, Mike

We've had a string of tongue switches go bad as well. Our solution that has worked very very well: Go to the local toy store and buy a bag of water ballons (little tiny balloons that when filled with water are about the size of a baseball). When you get a NEW tongue switch (ie one with no known holes) wrap one of them little water balloon / tonge switch condoms on it. It's worked for four of us, and we'd all had problems before. Also, they will stay on, so don't wrap tape around the open end because they will inflate slightly on the ride to altitude if there's no where for the expanding air to go. Mike

Great great advice. Especially the part about watching your own video. When I was first learning, I would constantly pester the experienced camera guys to watch my stuff and critique it. You need to be humble, and you need to be willing to accept criticism. It's part of learning. I still ask people to review my stuff, and I've got close to 1000 tandem videos (I know, not a huge amount, but pretty decent for living in a state where we only really jump 6 or 7 months a year) The beautiful thing about camera flying is that your product is immediately reviewable. Use this to your advantage. Thanks Ray! Mike

http://www.freefallaccessories.com the altimeter you're referring to is on the opening page, but check out the face plates tab for custom order stuff.

Tempo 120 with me around 195lbs. (weight vest, full face camera helmet, video, stills). Didn't really flare hard. Just kind of eased into half brakes Landed okay. Stood up, but my feet stung a little bit. PD-113 with me around 180lbs. (no weight, cameras...) Flared pretty quickly to about 3/4 brakes, somewhat cross wind (off airport landing). Landed exceptional. In fact, I was blown away at how well it landed. I know that if I have to land this with my weight on I'll have no problems. Both rides were at my home DZ which has a field elevation of around 800ft. above MSL. Mike

I'm looking for a place where I can purchase small (25yds or less) quantities of high cycle, low strength velcro. Particularly Hook#65 (300 hooks per square inch) and Loop#2000 (un-napped). I'm waiting for a reply from Jumpshack, but in the meantime, I thought I would try here. Anybody? Thanks, Mike

It looks just like the buckle on the new Parasport Italia Z1 EVO, which I bought about a month ago. It's not bad. It's a buckle. It serves a purpose. And by "gay" do you mean like Fred Flinstone "we'll have a gay old time," or homosexual gay, because the buckle itself actually has a male end that's inserted into a female end, so I'd think that would be the opposite of homosexual gay. Please detect my attempt at witty sarcasm above. Mike

Since I started jumping ellipticals: Stiletto 120-600 jumps Stiletto 107-200 jumps Vengance 120-200 jumps Vengance 107-250 jumps Comparing same size canopies, the Vengance has slighly faster forward speed, very similar, if not better glide, more dive, longer recovery arc. I had opening issues with my 120 when I first got it. It was shoved in a container that was built for a non-airlocked 120. However, after I switched it out to a slightly larger container, openings got much better. My 107 opens much better than my 120, though. Both of mine tend to open a little quirky now and then, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I'd say they pack one size bigger than a stiletto, but I don't think the airlocks really affect packing. If you're used to a Stiletto 135, a Vengance 120 wouldn't be too much different. I think the most noticeable difference between the Stiletto and Vengance is in the flair. I feel (just one man's opinion) that the Vengance has a much better bottom end flair, and will slow you down much better towards the end of a swoop. However, I don't think that you get too much more distance out of a Vengance than you do a Stiletto. If you're used to a Stiletto 135, demo a Vengance 120. If you have the experience, I think PD's advice of stepping down one size is pretty good. BTW I could care less about airlocks. I just like the way the Vengance flies. If it's like that because of airlocks, great, whatever. If it flew and landed like it does without airlocks, I would have still bought them. I personally wouldn't base my decision to buy a canopy on airlocks. My (more than) two cents. Mike

Chopped my vengance (airlocks) yesterday, and it was fully inflated at the time of release. (mad spinny line twists. got out of one and two more magically appeared in quick succession). After cutting away it did not stay inflated. It just balled up and drifted like any other cut away canopy. It landed about 300 feet from the free bag. just thought that I'd add my two cents to the fairly recent airlock discussion. mike

yup, that's exactly what I'm talking about

Who's using what, and what's fairly affordable? Are lower end systems like Casablanca even worth the time and money, or should I just consider upgrading the PC? Thanks, Mike

For Memorial Day Weekend: Saturday and Sunday: if the first load is wheels up by 8am each day, slots on that load are $8.00, with slots for all jumpers the remainder of the day at $16.00. Monday: again, first load by 8am, slots for all jumpers the rest of the day are $15.00. The fine print...minimum load for the 8am/$8.00 jump is 12 people. This load can be pre-manifested and pre-paid the night before. Should the 8 AM load not go in time, or not have enough paid slots, jumps for that day go back to the regular prices. All prices reflect cash only. So come on out for the holiday weekend to camp and take advantage of some great jump rates! Coming this June 18th, we will have our first 'Blue Flu' Wednesday. All experienced jumper slots will be $14 (cash price only) all day long. So mark that date on your calendars, and come out to spend 'hump' day in style! Also, Every Friday $15 slots for all experienced jumpers...again this price reflects cash.

check out [/url]http://www.tomrenshaw.com[url]

Are you only intersted in a sidemount? If not, check out the recent thread about the Sony TRV-19. Quade gives quite the good argument for price verses value. At $568 (US) I'm contemplating buying one and sticking it in the closet until my good old TRV-8 and PC-1 meet their eminent doom. Mike