darrenspooner

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Everything posted by darrenspooner

  1. darrenspooner
    Did a few jumps from an MI-8 tailgate chopper couple of years ago. Three-abreast, linked by hands, back to the door with heels over the edge of the tailgate. Simply tipped out backwards into dead air at 12,000 feet above the Tatra mountains in Solvakia. Probably the best jump I ever did.
  2. darrenspooner
    Yep, have considered this and I'm sure its the main cause of the problem. I guess its just learning how to get it right. The last camera jump I did was on a solo doing freestyle for IS1 qualification. He was all over the place, but it felt like I had him in the centre of my visual field for most of it. The video said otherwise. Which means that somehow I need to be pointing the camera higher than I am, or tilting the camera higher than it is in the box. What I am sure of is that the helmet is solid on my head and not in a different position each jump. All these tips are helpful, thanks.
  3. darrenspooner
    I didn't have to cut my shroud. However, in researching camera helmets online I found a few people who had to shave back the shroud because it was framing or encroaching into the picture. I have just been messing around with my helmet putting in cameye and it is easy to gentle grind with one of those dremmel tool things. I just touched up the rough edges with gloss black paint and it looks fine.
  4. darrenspooner
    This seems like the most obvious solution, but the camera is a very tight fit in the box. No sure if its movable but I'll give it a go. Thanks
  5. darrenspooner
    Thanks guys. I'll check out the paper asshole. Hooking up to a TV seems like a brilliant idea.
  6. darrenspooner
    Sorry for being clueless here. I've just started jumping video. Done a few two-ways and solo shoots now. Everything I shoot is in the top third of the screen even when I think I'm spot on. Some of it is off the top. I'm flying well enough but the target is not in the centre. My helmet (RAWA) fits tight and the camera is held solid by the box. What do I need to do to get it in the middle? Any help greatly appreciated
  7. darrenspooner
    Thanks guys. Got sorted now. I drilled through the box to get the LANC plg thought. Routed the wiring under the padding and put to switch near the audible pocket on the right hand side. Works fine, helmet feels no different.
  8. darrenspooner
    Thanks for taking the time to reply guys. Is the tight fit in the camera box going to cause any probs with the LANC plug? Do I need to shave the plastic off to preserve it in the long term?
  9. darrenspooner
    Can anyone help me with this please?
  10. darrenspooner
    Drop Brian Germain a line or read his book. I think he's done a lot of work on this
  11. darrenspooner
    Thank you. Very helpful
  12. darrenspooner
    I am new to camera flying, just buying stuff at the moment and hope to be filming tandem soon. I have a PC109 and ordered a RAWA camera helmet. Will I need a wide angle lens and if so which one?
  13. darrenspooner
    I decided to upsize - middle-aged fat bastard!
  14. darrenspooner
    Go the tunnel
  15. darrenspooner
    Do an interactive, confidential, form and I'd do it
  16. darrenspooner
    Just speaking generally, and as a professional person, skydiving offers a community or family that seldom exists elsewhere. We trust out lives to people that we seldom do anywhere else. Feeling safe with your life in someone else's hands is therapeutic
  17. darrenspooner
    Sorry dude, but if you decided to have kids then they always come first, no ifs no buts. I'm in exactly the same boat. I just have to accept that for now I just have to wait for jumping. This year it has changed. Both my kids are at preschool/grade 1, and I don't work fridays (self-employed ; ) So I get half a day a week, every week, to jump. Next year its a whole day. You are second best behind your kids. Simple as that
  18. darrenspooner
    It struck me last weekend while under canopy that I have never contemplated the possibility of a harness ripping or failing during flight. I mean, I check my straps, webbing, stitching, container and metalwork regulalry, but has anyone ever had a leg strap break or something bad go wrong with the harness while flying?
  19. darrenspooner
    Oh durr, Bridget Jones II, of course
  20. darrenspooner
    Try to get youself in the tunnel dude. You'll learn a lot very quickly. Glad you're okay.
  21. darrenspooner
    Think you need advanced packer certificate before you are allowed to pack your own reserve.
  22. darrenspooner
    I have never known anyone to buy a case of beer except me, for my rigger when I had a cutaway. Does anyone actually apply beer rules? Or is it that I'm generally home with my kids before the bar opens.
  23. darrenspooner
    Maybe its just me, but wipe your main down before you pack it.
  24. darrenspooner
    Yup, this is pretty normal for a lot of DZs so get used to it. But go easy on the DZ owners. You make less than peanuts for them. You'd probably need to do, like, 100 jumps before you make them the same profit as 1 tandem. Tandems subsidise your jumping, and without them I doubt your DZ would be there.
  25. darrenspooner
    Totally okay in my book. Pudsie did a tandem in the UK (a full size teddy bear mascot for children in need). Go the dog man. We also had a chap in superman pants at my dz a while back