hipgnosis

The Peregrine system gets rid of the timeline, but maintains the normal editing functions (trimming tracks), audio/video transitions, slow motion, etc. and blends it together with the appropriate stock footage. Apart from starting the helper script when first turning on the system, the editor/videographer doesn't have to touch Vegas or DVD Architect - after spending a minute or so editing the video everything (rendering/burning/uploading/filing) is automated. Bill

Another solution that just came out is the Peregrine Video System, also designed for skydiving. It is also fully automated and flexible enough to support different customized scripts. Their website is here : http://www.terminalconcepts.com/skydive/index.php

I think the issue Jan is that it appears that you are undermining people's attempts to fund raise. Any fund raising event will have overhead, and if the event didn't occur and everyone instead sent their donations right to the beneficiary organization then they will have raised far more money. Of course, how many donations would have been made without the event occurring and people actively fund raising for the event remains to be seen... Bill

Which two pins are you putting the 100 ohm resistor across?

About 10 minutes north of Perris is March Air Reserve Base, which is also home of an air museum. http://marchairmuseum.com/ This museum has a number of aircraft on display, including a SR-71. On occasion they open up the aircraft allowing you to look in, walk through, or in the case of the SR-71 sit in the cockpit! Definitely something to consider on those rare weather days

Tunnel time would be fun, but the Tramway is beautiful at this time of year (snow still on the mountains, etc.)

Thanks for the congratulations ltdiver! We're happy that the rejump ultimately didn't change the final standings - it was a tough decision to take it regardless! Bill Morrison Perris Aftermath

So? Most mechanical devices will eventually fail. A3's are no different, which is why you have replacement parts that you can buy. Since you hear a lot of negatives about A3's, let me say that mine just went through a full season of 4 way/load organizing/big ways with no incident including *gasp* opening the visor on the ride to altitiude every time! Of course the lens is about due to be replaced but the locking mechanism is still sound. Diablo is right about having a different helmet for tunnel though - I use my old Factory Diver in there. Bill

For Perris you can also do 17. Great for making the back piece a bit happier! Bill

Really? I have 2 I4's with 150 Smart's in them and no problems with fit. Also, in response to the original question you can put smaller canopies in the I4, although caution is called for (or perhaps ask a rigger if you aren't sure). My I4's currently contain a Blade 120 and a Blade 108, although while packing you have to think "pack big". Bill

I'm really not sure if it extends to the entire NSL ltdiver. I thought it did at the start, but nowhere in the e-mails I've received does it indicate it one way or the other. Mary Beth is our proctor, but we have to contact her to let her know. If you don't have her e-mail let me know and I'll PM ya.

Seconded on Premiere Elements. One handy hint though - when burning to DVD burn it to an interim folder first, then use something like Nero to make the actual DVD. Otherwise, if the burn fails you have to do the encoding all over again.

It is this weekend and hopefully www.skyleague.com has the details (all my stuff has been e-mails from them. A summary : It is a ten round event that you compete in, then mail your jumps to the NSL. You should designate a proctor on the DZ to attest to the fact that you treated it as a competition (no practice jumps after the draw is posted, etc.) Now, all the stuff I've received on it has been for the SSL league - I'm not 100% sure that it doesn't just apply to that league, the wording in the e-mails could be construed either way Hopefully the www.skyleague.com site will be updated with some more details shortly.

Which teams are planning on competing? Perris Storm is....assuming our IC gets his butt back here in time.

I'd say if you were just going to go to a meet to have fun go intermediate. This way you'll have a nice draw and won't have to worry about inadvertantly becoming a 'baby killer'. However, if you have the time to jump a couple of times before the meet I'd suggest pulling up one of the old rookie draws from www.skyleague.com and jump those. See how many points you get in the 35 seconds working time. If it's close to what the other rookie teams did, great, go rookie, otherwise stay intermediate. Bill

Thanks, Hopefully they've advanced the tech a bit. I just wanted to mention it since I didn't know it existed until the opto pointed it out. In a couple of weeks I'll post a followup. Hopefully it works, if not, well, life, somehow, will go on Bill

The Tony Pit Special is a great all around suit (with big grippers and the Mega Airspeed Booties (non-vented). The newer ones have a zipper that so far seems to be pretty tunnel proof, the older ones you either had to replace the zipper or tape it up. That being said my tunnel Pit Special currently has about 300 jumps and 90 hours of tunnel and is still going strong. Only things replaced were the leather of the booties to keep them from slipping off as easily. All around an excellent suit. Bill

Since this thread has evolved to discussing different treatments I'll jump in. I'm near sighted and thus wear contacts while jumping. I found out from my eye doctor (and subsequently researched) a new treatment for nearsightedness called Corneal Refractive Therapy. I'm starting it this Monday. The gist of it is that you wear a special hard contact while sleeping each night and it presses down a bit on the cornea, fixing your sight so you can go through the next day with no glasses or contacts. You have to wear them again every night though. The pluses are that you don't have any cutting done to your eye, all the effects are reversible, and it's cheaper than LASIK (sub 1000/both eyes + 400/year replacement lenses). You can read about it here if you want : http://www.paragoncrt.com/ Bill

Nitron is put out by Precision, while the Nitro is distributed in the states by High Performance Research (hiperusa.com or contact the dz.commer beezy). Bill

Come on now Dom, that was going to be our secret weapon - have Don show off his wound right as the plane turns onto jump run!

The point behind my post wasn't to say your progression was in any way wrong but to say that it definitely doesn't apply to anyone. This statement bothers me though : If I started out with my current bike I'd be dead right now. Yes, it only accelerates when I rotate the throttle, yes it only does what I ask it to. The problem is that I didn't have the experience to know what those inputs were at the time. Panic stop? I'd be over the handle bars. Trying to pull away from traffic a bit quick? Better hope you can bring the front back down eventually. Or a bit too much gas in a curve causing loss of traction. Or any number of things were just the slightest bit of wrong input gets amplified by the bike into a huge problem. People who think "I'll be conservative and only ride at 50% of the bikes potential" are accidents waiting to happen. Yes, in normal situations they'll be ok, but the second something that requires instant reaction occurs they need to be 100% accurate or they're toast. Happy riding! Bill

So since you did it it's for everyone? I notice that you didn't notice your height/weight, what style/kind of bike it was, or any of the other myriad of details. These matter, a lot. Just looking at the CC's paints a really incomplete picture of the situation - one really has to look at the bike type and weight/power ratio. For example, a 750 cc cruiser will be safer and more docile than a 600 cc crotch rocket. What I guess I'm trying to say is that a sweeping generalization like this is what newbies tend to cling to when justifying going to a canopy or bike they have no business on. Bill (1997 Suzuki Intruder 800 -> Kawasaki Ninja 1000 -> Kawasaki 7R-7S -> 2003 GSX 1300R -> 2005 GSX 1000R)

Definitely. I've found since transitioning to the mantis that I have a much greater fall rate range. The "secret" is that you learn to use all of your control surfaces effectively. One thing to remember is that whatever route you go you have to make sure you are in your comfort range during the jump. If you are arching like a maniac to keep up with it, or hugging the beach ball then you have nothing left for actually flying your body in position and taking grips. My advice : If possible get some good tunnel time in with a coach. At least learn a good body position that you can use for fall rate control - the rest of it (leg turns/etc.) can come later. Bill

The Blade does have nice soft openings - softer than the Nitro. Even better is the fact that if you do get line twists for whatever reason the canopy doesn't have a tendency to dive, and instead will be relatively stable while you kick out. Plus it's a hell of a lot of fun to fly. Definitely contact Beezy (user name beezyshaw) and set up a demo. Bill

Need to support our Apple using friends. Exporting to Windows Media gives nice output. I just can't figure out how to make the quicktime one not look like complete and total crap. For example, this video is ~5 megs : http://tunnelfliers.com/TunnelMedia/TunnelVideos/PerrisTunnelLeague62505/tabid/72/Default.aspx Exporting the same thing to quicktime at one of the settings (DSL) gives me a 28 meg file with crappy audio, half the size (width and height) and blocky as hell. I just want to figure out where the checkbox for "Make resultant output not suck" is.... Bill