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Worth repeating...a million times. Good stuff! That's why I prefer AFP over AFF...much more knowledge imparted in the training process. Not at all arguing with the fact that an AFP like program is going to teach more than doing 7 levels of AFF and turning the person loose. My DZ does an AFP like program too and it works well. All I am saying is that, over the last few years I have read plenty of stories on here from people who quit skydiving because they couldn't make friends at the DZ cause they didn't have tits. It isn't right, but going through the program at the dz you plan to keep jumping at will go a long way to helping that. Especially if it is a bigger DZ. Maybe the dz by him does do some kind of AFP program but they just don't call it that so this student didn't call it that on here. We don't really know. At my DZ we call it AFF but there are 25 levels split between instructors and later coaches. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Right, but that is beside the point I am making. You are obviously local enough to SDC to continue jumping there. The original poster is from Pennsylvania. That's a long way to travel every weekend to go skydiving. The AFP program they do might get you a bit of a kickstart in learning skydiving, but it isn't going to do anything for helping you get to know the locals. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

My DZ went all digital this year. Only 2 of our guys didn't have a digital camera. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I personally think that doing AFF at the place you figure you are going to be jumping is better. You will get to know people and have an easier time getting into the group. You will get to know the locals a lot better and these are the people that have to train you after you learn what AFF/AFP teaches you. (How to survive.) The people at your local DZ are going to be your mentors, jumping partners and friends. AFF/AFP in a week is a cool thing, but I don't think it's all that much better than just getting it done at your "home dz." Not knocking skydive chicago, its a cool place. Just speaking from the standpoint of an instructor at a smaller dz. Also, haha man... the person who posted "wind tunnel time" is just funny. I mean, sure it would be nice, but... c'mon most people just don't have access to that type of thing! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

That was just plain "gravel". Pea gravel is actually pretty nice. I am pretty fond of pea gravel myself. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

It's a shame that all the events have to be at SDC since Sky Knights has been pretty supportive of the CPC stuff. We have in the past given discounted hop and pops and even let them have their own cessna to use full time all day till they were done so they didn't have to try and deal with the turbine loads. Though I guess most of the Illinois people never did travel up by us anyways. I might complain more but I don't have time to compete this year anyways. Just frustrating for me because so many people in Illinois are unwilling to travel to Wisconsin. We aren't having an MWSL meet this year for the same reason. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I dunno. I think skydivers get sick of the fish eye distortion real easy cause we see it on everything we do cause people almost always have on some kind of wide angle. Wuffos don't notice that problem. I have found that many of them are very excited that I am able to be so close to them that I can reach out and hold their hand. It isn't something that they are expecting on a skydive. It's also nice to see their whole trembling body in the door and you just can't do that well from a smaller plane without a wide angle. I am planning to pick up an HD camera this summer but I am going to stay with a standard lens because I don't want to jump something big. I really only like the low profile ones. I hope someone comes out with something like that for HD in the not too distant future. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Nah, the PC1000 crops the image just like the rest of the PC series cameras when you put it in widescreen. No point in shooting that way. Do it in post and you can pan/scan the picture to get "perfect" framing. See this video for a demonstration of that practice. I highly doubt you will be able to detect where I did it. (It is used a lot) ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

The GF and I are both into this show. I like shows that don't hold back as much! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Makes sense. Good luck with it. I hope that people are also going down the road to ensure that CSPA or maybe USPA are approved training methods. Both are proven. Rather than just fight change, which clearly they want to make. All students in the US have to have altimiters too (in uspa BSRs, though a lot of places seem to ignore that for tandems) (Sec 2-1.K.2.c. of the sim: a visually accessible altimeter [NW]) None the less, yeah government regulation sure does suck. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Havent you ever seen the shirt...Skydiver..We knock on deaths dooor....and then run away...hahaha...im runninnnnnn You really are acting pretty cocky. It's really sad how people would act over the internet. It's ok, live hard and take chances. Odds are you will make it through, but damn the downside really sucks if you don't. You're the type of person I wouldn't want to skydive with and I sure as hell wouldn't do you any favors. This sport is a small world you should try and remember that. It's really gonna suck when you want a favor from someone down the road and they remember that you stuck your middle finger up to them. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I read through it and don't quite see where you are saying you can't train students. It clearly says near the end that you must be using a training method approved by the CSPA, USPA, or a bonafied organization approved in writing by transport canada. Could you point out the parts that you have a problem with? ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

This wasn't meant to be serious was it? The picture looks like any other normal point and shoot to me too. Anyways, if you were serious, you need to step outside a view that most people see every day. You need to add something to the picture that doesn't look like what you would see with your eyes. It's just blah. Not that my pictures are awesome or anything but hey, I'm learning too. I like to photoshop stuff. Even if you don't quite get what you want with the camera it can help a picture some. Try to think about taking pictures that don't look like what your eyes see every day. They will stand out more and people will like them! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Decent editing there! Having seen a lot of that stuff in person, all the flyers were quite impressive! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Short answer is that you're shit out of luck. There aren't any planes available for summer leases. If you need something for a special event for like a week, or a weekend, you might have better luck. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

My gear floats around a bit during the day. Its either in the packing shed or hanging up somewhere or uh... literally floating around up in the air. After the last load it gets dropped to be packed and then at some point I go put it away in my locker. Haven't really had any problems with that methodology. For some reason though, my camera gear promptly makes it to my locker in the staff locker room after every use. That is mostly because wuffos are more likely to pick up a camera. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I'm sure I'll be back. I am already thinking about how I can afford to head back that way. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

What a great weekend to have a tunnel camp at Paraclete. Our camp with the guys from Mandrin was awesome (I got to work on some assisted headdown) and all the people in our group had a great time! We were flying the night owl slots (we ended at 3 on saturday night/sunday morning) but still, everyone learned a lot and loved the tunnel and dave, kyle and mike were still going strong even after flying all day! I snapped some pics through the glass of some people flying. Some more pics can be seen at: clicky(it has some other pictures from my trip too but you can ignore those) Those kids on team future are pretty cool.

Yep, I think they presented it pretty well! I am quite impressed by these kids. I sure can't do that stuff! At least I get to escape wisconsin this weekend to go do an hour at XP. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I agree. Even when my passengers say they don't want stills i shoot them anyway, the same way i would if they are paying for them, and nine times out of ten when they see them on the ground they end up buying them. My dz doesn't even distinguish. Everyone who buys video gets picture included. Also, I 100% agree that no product is better than a crappy product!!!! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

It's statements like that which piss people off. You aren't going to convince anyone on here or win the argument that you know what you are doing. Not on here. It just isn't going to happen. For what it's worth, 6 jumps, even from full altitude isn't a whole heck of a lot! I do 6 hop'n'swoop jumps on a monday after work, every week and I don't come on here proclaiming that it makes me an expert. Also, the concept of "being careful" and "swooping" don't exist. For the most part they are mutually exclusive of one another. Doesn't mean people shouldn't swoop, just that, its dangerous no matter how you cut it. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

The canon website says that it will be available in April. Edit: I'll be buying one. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Any updates on freeflying and "shake" with this camera?? ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

There was a person a few years ago on here that posted about a rig that was in checked baggage. One of the TSA screeners was unsure of what it was and decided to use a prod to "poke" at the rig. Put a whole bunch of holes in the reserve. I believe they didn't find it till it was packed at next repack. I would check expensive cameras too if that was the only way to do it. However, my rig is a life saving device. A good pre-doning gear check can't check everything. I prefer to keep it where I know no one has fucked with my rig. My life is on the line. To each their own though.

You're right. Also, doing the AFF1 will be more gratifying. You will get more out of it personally. Keep a "log" of the jump, it counts towards the 25 jump requirement to get an A license. (So does that tandem by the way) AFF is fun and you will have a better idea if you are going to really stick with it once you have the time. The main reason I think you should do an AFF if you want to though is because, honestly, most people get more out of it in terms of self image and you really can feel like you accomplished something. The only thing I would be worried about is that, if the jump goes poorly and you don't get back on the horse right away and make another one (that same day, to do it right) you may never come back. Don't try to do the AFF if you can't take one whole day at the dz. You should leave on a high note, not a low one. I am an AFF instructor and while most people do great, sometimes they don't, I don't like to let the students leave when their last jump sucked, I do my best to talk them into trying again. (with some retraining)