Question about sitting on a canopy?

[GoodThings 0]

In this video: http://manifestmaster.com/video/vinton2007.wmv

I am surprised by a few things I see. I'm a beginner trying to learn about skydiving and some of the stuff I see in this video confuses me. Several times in the video I see a guy "sitting" at the front center edge of a guys canopy below him. Is this common, or very dangerous? I'm surprised that the stunting would extend to canopy flight in this manner.

Also, the "little" canopy above the rider (about 3 feet over his/her head) is tied up at some points. What is the purpose of this?

Thanks for the answers in advance.

Also, what are people who fly cameras doing about altimeter checks? Do they have a special altimeter or do they just really on others in air and visual to determine altitude? Are there requirements to fly camera or can anyone wear a cam helmet?

[DSE 5]

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I am surprised by a few things I see. I'm a beginner trying to learn about skydiving and some of the stuff I see in this video confuses me. Several times in the video I see a guy "sitting" at the front center edge of a guys canopy below him. Is this common, or very dangerous? I'm surprised that the stunting would extend to canopy flight in this manner.

This is called "CRW" or Canopy Relative Work. Pronounced like "Crew." People fly their canopies in relation to other canopies.

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Also, the "little" canopy above the rider (about 3 feet over his/her head) is tied up at some points. What is the purpose of this?

That "little canopy" is called a slider. It helps slow the opening of the parachute/canopy. The ties help damp the sound.

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Also, what are people who fly cameras doing about altimeter checks? Do they have a special altimeter or do they just really on others in air and visual to determine altitude? Are there requirements to fly camera or can anyone wear a cam helmet?

Camera flyers can often see their wrist altimeter out of the corner of their eye, they may be looking at the chest mount on someone else, or an audible altimeter that beeps at specified altitudes, or maybe they look at another person's wrist altimeter in flight, and/or they've got a perception of altitude at all times, and use any of the above to verify what their eyes and brain is telling them.
A camera doesn't go on your head until the skydiver has 200 jumps or a C license.

[diablopilot 2]

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In this video: http://manifestmaster.com/video/vinton2007.wmv

I am surprised by a few things I see. I'm a beginner trying to learn about skydiving and some of the stuff I see in this video confuses me. Several times in the video I see a guy "sitting" at the front center edge of a guys canopy below him. Is this common, or very dangerous? I'm surprised that the stunting would extend to canopy flight in this manner.

It's called CReW (Canopy Relative Work) and if done properly is no more dangerous than anything else in skydiving. It's a ton of fun and some of the best people you'll ever meet in this sport do it. There is a whole forum here devoted to it.

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Also, the "little" canopy above the rider (about 3 feet over his/her head) is tied up at some points. What is the purpose of this?

That's called a collapsible slider. The slider slows the opening of the parachute to something survivable for both the jumper and the canopy. Once it's done it's job it can be collapsed to reduce drag, wear on the lines, and quiet the annoying "flapita" sound.

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Also, what are people who fly cameras doing about altimeter checks? Do they have a special altimeter or do they just really on others in air and visual to determine altitude? Are there requirements to fly camera or can anyone wear a cam helmet?

Often they use the other jumpers break off as a cue, wear audible altimeters, and have a sense of how long the skydive should be. It's one reason that 200 jumps MINIMUM is recommended to jump any sort of camera equipment.



I'm interested in why the King Air early on in the film is flying jump run with it's gear down. I've never seen that before. Any pilots able to enlighten me on this?

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[VideoFly 0]

After lots of video jumps, I know what altitude I am at by judging the speed of the freefall and feeling the clock go by. I have also gained the ability to focus my cameras on my subjects while allowing my eyes to scan the ground, my altimeters, and look for potential hazards. Additionally, I use an audible altimeter, which beeps at pre-selected altitudes, but I generally know it’s going to beep seconds before it does. I also wear two large Altimaster altimeters, one on my wrist and one on my chest strap. Our tandem and AFF instructors often use my chest mount altimeter as an additional reference point for their altitude awareness. We also know where each of us will be at each part of the jump. Sometimes, if the spot is too long, the instructors will give me a break-off signal to let me know that we will be pulling high so that we will have time to make it back to the drop zone under canopy. All in all, video jumps are a team effort and we all watch out for each other. This kind of familiarity takes practice and consistency.