hodges

+1 for swoopware. Set it up once, reap the rewards on every jump thereafter. Mick is a legend and delivered an enhancement for us within a matter of days. It's also super cheap considering the time he's put in. We have 2 PCs with i7s and SSDs and don't bother with graphics cards. They spit out 8 minute videos in well under 10 minutes with each PC rendering 2 videos at the same time. Customers leave with a USB on the day. We could easily operate with one PC but the second is more for redundancy. Actual touch time is a minute or less per video. It can be much less if you know the camera flier has cut the clips well in-camera. This happens less now though because everyone flies gopros and they have to turn them on 2 miles out ;) We use a simple template with a little intro and outro and some basic animated lower thirds to introduce the customer etc. You can take your time with this as you only ever have to do it once. However, the less you do, the faster it'll render. For music, we bought licences for some generic stuff that isn't too opinionated. Still, the guys who do the edits are sick of it. Definitely consider not using music if it works without it!

Some canopies with positive recovery arcs and low loadings will climb a little after they recover though, right? I doubt that'd be the main cause for popups though. It's usually because you have to turn them super low and you're almost stabbing out to get a swoop out of them.

KA120

For tandems, I like something that is trimmed steeper so I can pitch straight after they deploy (to ensure I get back) and can be down well before them with ease. I borrowed a Stiletto for a back to back once and I couldn't get the thing to land. You come out of a turn on those things higher than you start it. I rotated it the whole way down and the tandem still nearly beat me Really though, unless you're jumping something big and complicated, whatever you're flying now will be fine. (At 80 jumps, make sure you've considered whether that footage is really necessary...)

I think it's a case of progressing wing loading sensibly and then it's just a case of deciding which wing makes sense at that loading. If you're at 1.8 (maybe coming from a SA2 at 1.8), you might go for a KA and love it. If you were a bit higher (say around 2.0), you might choose a VE and love that. If you are at 1.8 and you "skip" the KA and got a VE, you'd probably hate it. I flew a VE103 at about 1.9 for a bit and the thing just wanted to create lift. I had to roll out lower than a KA at the same loading. I ended up damaging a tendon in my arm due to the front riser pressure. ("Swoopers elbow" ;)) So, to answer your question directly, of course there's a place for the KA in the progression if you're advancing your wing loading sensibly.

Depending on what you mean by "learn", the KA is a great canopy to learn on at the right wing loading...

Where would a KA2 fit in terms of performance? The gap in the PD lineup, if there is one, is between the Sabre2 and the KA. Using an incremental number is lazy and confusing. Call it something new!

Yes the data can be sync'd with video. You set the exit point on the graph and also on the video and it syncs it based on that common point. It's really useful to see where your speed is dropping off during the turn, where you generate the most power etc. Also, gSwoop!!!

Cheers for the replies! Yup, that does feel like a step backwards! The AX33 footage looks great though so I'm sure I'll suck it up and upgrade at some point :-).

Footage looks great. Practically speaking though, how are people using these latest gen of cameras in the commercial (tandem) environment without something like the Hypeye? Talk me through it? Are you switching it on 2 minutes before climbing out and hoping nothing goes wrong once it's on your head? I've been saved at least once on the camera step because my hypeye light went yellow...

Hoy it in a cupboard...?

Ah, you mention the plateau above. Glad I'm not the only one struggling with that :-).

Finally did some jumping! The attached screenshot is a good example of the shape I'm aiming for. However, you'll notice the huge plateau in vertical speed at the start of the turn (it actually starts to drop off on this one) which I'm working on at the moment. This is a particularly good example actually. I think it's a combination of a poor surge to double-fronts and staying on the fronts too long before adding rotation, allowing the canopy to start recovering from the dive. Really interested to see some 450 plots if anyone wants to share :-).

I've got a camera jacket from Waseem at Frexer with about 1000 jumps and still going strong. It was a bit short on the body so needed some fixing. We did a bulk order of freefly pants and they were similar in quality to other suppliers in the UK (I think at least one UK supplier outsources to Frexer because the suits are so similar). A friend ordered a camera jacket recently and the quality has gone through the roof since mine was made. I'd give them a go for simpler things but would avoid them for technical suits.

Danish Nationals Open - 10.th - 12.th of June at NJFK BPA Grand Prix #1 18th - 19th June at Skydive Buzz, Dunkeswell BPA British Open Nationals 22nd - 24th July at Skydive Buzz, Dunkeswell BPA Grand Prix #2 17th - 18th September at Skydive Buzz, Dunkeswell

Interesting. Thanks for the explanation!

Am I missing something here? When you're in the corner, get the wing above your head. How does carving help? When you're about to hit the ground, stop diving at it...

I hated wings when I first started jumping with them but I wouldn't go without them now. Trust that you'll get used to them. Flying with your legs up your ass helps with the fall rate.

Nice thread. I've been looking for stuff but I haven't found much. I'm interested in any tips for making the most of training with a flysight. I'm mostly using mine to evaluate - Pattern points in different conditions - IP (altitude and offset from gate in both axis) in different conditions - Time/technique on double-fronts before adding rotation (does canopy start recovering before rotation is added) - Timing of each quarter of rotation - Top vertical speed - Lowest horizontal speed (i.e. how vertical I got). Not too sure how valuable this is with ground wind speeds - Roll out height - Recovery time I strive for turns like the "good" one in my attachment and try to avoid the "shit" ones.

The biggest benefit of loosening the chest strap is being able to move your body independently of the wing. (E.g. Staying vertical, with your feet below you, in the late stages of the flare while the canopy is behind you.) Pulling the slider down is recommended but not doing it doesn't remove the benefits of loosening your chest strap. I still loosen my chest strap under my reserve...

(P.S. Can anyone tell me if the N3 log cumulative totals?)

I like my viso but it has a cracked screen and the logbook features have started going haywire. (Holding the middle button down used to tell me how many jumps I've done in a day but now it displays a random number.) My protrack has started randomly beeping (every few seconds) and keeps turning off. I've resorted to jumping with it in my pocket because it wouldn't shut up. I'll let you know how communication with L&B goes... The thing that grips me is that I need three devices (Viso, Protract, Optima) to achieve the following: 1) Audible with canopy alarms 2) Digital alti 3) Jump logging with cumulative freefall count (a working viso would log jumps but I'd still have to add them all up every weekend) They need to add the features of the protrack into the optima or viso.

Any luck with this?