The111

Digging up an old thread here. What exactly is buffer size? I'm on Canon's webpage and they have a "Digital Rebel XT" (only slightly more $ than regular DR) and it is 8.0 Megapixel. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I work for Lockheed Martin, and they have a quarterly employee publication called Spirit that usually just has a bunch of program-related company news and such. Several months ago everyone received an email saying they were running a contest-type feature in an upcoming issue called "MFC's Believe it or Not!" where co-workers share "little known sides of themselves". We were encouraged to submit something, so I sent in a picture of myself flying my wingsuit. I never heard back from them so I assumed I wasn't chosen, but I got my new issue the other day and flipped straight to the feature to see myself at the top of the page. :) For the record, the "quote" they have me saying, I never actually said. It's sort of a composite of a few things I said while trying to explain the "funny suit" I was wearing... Sorry for shitty quality pics, I have no scanner so you have to settle for my out of focus camera images with flash reflections! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Well, when I opened up Pinnacle to make this video, let's just say that's the first time I've ever done anything editing-related myself. I just fooled around with the software for 2 hours until I figured out enough to make this tiny clip. So I don't know how much help I'd be, but I guess I know a few basics now... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think that was my "oh shit I hit Perry's burble, dropped slightly, and am now going to buzz him closer than I wanted to!" face. The seagulls are part of the song, but I've always wanted that song to be in a WS vid... if I ever get more editing opportunities in the future I'll probably use it again. I will see if I can get some more Z-flock footage posted once I get proper permissions. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

This is from the beginning of the first day of Z-flock when not everybody had showed up yet. We did a small flock for fun, and right before breakoff, Aubrey was flying about 10 feet above Perry (camera) on his back, and on a whim I decided to swoop between them and buzz Perry as close and fast as I could. I needed an exercise in video editing anyway so feel free to critique the quality/size/whatever of the video, it's my first time. :) clicky for video (DivX) Attached is a sequence of stills from the same Perry-buzz. I like the look on Aubrey's face in the last pic, like "wtf did you do that for?" www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Ok, I don't even jump cameras yet but I'm teaching myself how to use Pinnacle, because I'm trying to take a ~30sec clip out of a long skydiving DVD I have that was made by a friend, and turn it into a smallish AVI file. I could ask this on a video editing forum I guess, but DZ.com is my home. I have been toying with the variables and trying to keep the size down while keeping the quality as high as possible. I've had limited success, but I still feel my file's a bit too big. Here's what I've done. Used Virtual Dub Mod to extract my 30 second clip from the VOB file to an 800MB (!!!) MPG file. Opened the MPG file in Pinnacle, and encoded as a DivX, 720x480, 30 fps, 550 kbps bitrate, de-interlace source, audio by Pinnacle MP3 encoder @ 112kbps/48kHz. The AVI file is about 4MB and looks and sounds decent, but I'm still a little disappointed at the size. There has been some discussion in the WS forum about encoding lately, and a 2 minute file that was posted was only 4MB and looked as good as mine, so by that logic, mine should be only like 1 MB, which means it's about 4x too big. Any ideas? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Take a minute and read your own words, man. The people commenting on your reserve loading are not begrudging you and certainly not "flaming" you as you suggested. They are simply looking out for you or concerning themselves with another skydiver's safety. Me? If someone with 10 times my jump numbers suggested I had an overloaded reserve canopy, specifically past the TSO (would that be somewhat illegal since the F in FAA stand for federal?), I'd be changing my gear setup immediately, or have a damn good reason to argue with him (like perhaps having intentionally landed that canopy already in many conditions to prove I can do it, which maybe you have done, I don't know...) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

What's the weight of hackey vs new handle? Cmon, you know you wanna weigh em! :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

In an effort to look at the positive, there are many low-timers who ARE scared straight by incidents/advice. We only hear about the ones who don't listen. There will always be those we can't change (without regulation), but that does not mean we're not succeeding on some level. There are also still those who honestly don't know (the ones we read about who are being pushed to aggressive canopies by their instructors!). Perhaps this is where the biggest need for awareness lies. Those who already know, but won't change, are their own responsibility, but those who don't know are an even bigger tragedy. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Congrats on not breaking yourself. I'm confused how your out ended up being downwind though. Was your intended landing heading crosswind? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Do we need to have the talk about bowling/golf? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Go to the incidents forum. See how many times you count "low turn" in the message topics from the past few weeks. Be careful out there, people. I've never been one to give much advice, but the words "low turn" are seriously plastered all over the incidents forum right now, and as cliched and overstated as this advice is, I felt everyone (myself included) could use another reminder. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

You're paying people when you pack for them? www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Wasn't aware of that. Carry on... www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I will reiterate what someone else said, that most of the maneuvers you've mentioned involve putting the board at a large angle to the ground. I don't know much about skysurfing but I'd imagine even in the most dramatic maneuvers you keep the board pretty flat. And even when you do angle it, I'm guessing traditional boardsport moves just don't translate, because they were designed to be executed in still air, where momentum conservation is the key, while in skydiving aerodynamic forces are MUCH more important. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

His profile says most of those are photography... not too hard to believe if he's at a moderately busy DZ. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I want BASE 1111. Save it for me. I might be ready by then. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

My first few flights on my GTi were faster vertically than my first and only Classic flight. I also felt very headlow, and I also felt potato-chippy when I tried to max out. With practice I got slower fall rates and smoother flights. Can't really tell you exactly what I did. I think in general you will be more headlow than a Classic, but will get used to it. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

My guess (no, you didn't ask ) is that he simply flew to a place where there wasn't an updraft! :) www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Nice tree swoop on landing, I think? Nice video too. :) Cool visuals. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I've never met you, bi-otch! www.WingsuitPhotos.com

I think Darren (dmkellett) jumps a Sam. I could be wrong. www.WingsuitPhotos.com

Yep, did that too. The 2nd ride I had I remembered to peel the velcro before releasing the toggles

Edited. I expressed shock because the wording you used implied you were binding your limbs together (i.e. handcuffs and anklecuffs made of rubber bands). www.WingsuitPhotos.com

What does this mean? www.WingsuitPhotos.com