whatever

if you're in the UK and plan to stay there, I'd really look at the Teardrop SF 1 pin it's a nice rig and getting parts will be quicker and cheaper than with other rigs just something to thing about soon to be gone

way to go, Tom! talk about going above an beyond... it would be absolutely great if you were to offer some of those discussions in the sillabus at say, bridgeday too, as I'm sure there's plenty of newbie jumpers like me out there who would want to sit in on those cheers sam soon to be gone

seeing as we're talking numbers, I'm wondering how the delays you measure using a Protrack, a Neptune, a camcorder or any other device you use, compare... I only have a Protrack and a camcorder (Sony PC105) and have seen by comparison that the Protrack measures a delay from exit to a good couple (maybe even 10) seconds after you've deployed and your canopy is fully inflated... that said, my best by the PC105 so far is 148 sec from 13900 to 3500 with the Protrack claiming 45 mph average for the 119 seconds that it tracked I'm hoping this will improve some when I've learned to fly the suit a bit better S3 - 6'0" - 168lbs soon to be gone

dude the Super8 Motel is not real cheap... but the Motel 6 is! soon to be gone

and you can build a stadium tall enough to BASE from maybe this thread should should ask when BASE makes it into the olympics? soon to be gone

that King Air situation certainly scares me! the more Mr.Bills I do, the more I think that they're probably not a very good idea... I had a similiar experience with a really fast and hard opening from getting a shortline PCA from a B&N Islander. It was under a 252 Parafoil, Mr.Bill said as we left the plane, he saw us fall to linestrecth and then saw a fully inflated canopy the next instant. That was it for him, he did bruise my thigh rather nicely as he got ripped off me. We faced into the direction of flight, which I think is a factor here too, would you think that facing away from the direction of flight will make for a slower and gentler opening? The next time we used my 170 instead, went facing back, stowed and clear-and-pull, which worked nicely until the bridle got caught on his foot, I felt the container hadn't opened and managed to clear the bridle from his foot, resulting in more freefall than we wanted, but he held on this time! Some time later I tried out being Mr.Bill instead of Sluggo, with the very same Bob that Push talked about. Despite a less than perfect exit this went well in so much as I hung on and Bob managed to clear the linetwist we had just as the canopy started diving - what a ride! And more recently I was Sluggo again out of a C182, clear-and-pull. This time we got some good video, as a camera guy exited hanging from the strut. The exit went unstable a bit and I pitched as we cleared instead of waiting to build up more airspeed. We got some linetwists, but Mr.Bill hung on and as we were flying level, when he asked if he should let go, I said 'no' and proceeded to clear the linetwists, after which we had a very fun canopy ride. I did get some finger shaped bruises from Mr.Bill on this one from where he had his fingers under my harness.... so, Push, I guess my 2-cents is: -have a detailed plan not only for it going well, but also what to do with unstable exits, bridle entanglements, linewtists, etc. -face away from the direction of flight on exit -use the slowest flying plane you can and ask for as slow a jumprun as you can get -watch those handles! -be VERY aware of where Mr.Bill's legs and feet go, you want them around Sluggo's knees, no higher, or you can get the bridle catch like I once did, or even scarier, some lines on deployment like the video with the British dude yelling 'chop it!' repeatedly... which you can see here: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1437 edited to add: make sure to get video!! soon to be gone

hey how's this workin' out for you? tried it yet? please share any info you gather, as I'm considering getting a Spectre for wingsuit jumps and wouldn't mind a faster opening either...

Hi there. The evolving area of wingsuit RW is sounding like serious fun! What advice do the experienced birdpeople have for a newbie flyer (and lowtimer skydiver), like me, to learn the required skills to become part of these exciting formations in the near enough future? don't get me wrong, I like taking my wingsuit out far and trying to max it all the way to get back on solos, but the ideas in this thread totally rock! cya sam soon to be gone

yeah, like Jason said, shop around the net and you'll find some good deals! I bought from these dudes: http://www.spycameras4less.com specifically, this one: '21CSHRX W' on here: http://www.spycameras4less.com/html/weatherproof_cameras.html you'll need to be handy with rigging up a battery pack of sorts, but that's easy. I like that unit because it's waterproof, it has interchangeable lenses, the quality is very comparable to my PC105 and the lowlight sensitivity is unbelievable compared to my PC105..... it does tend to fog up easily though.... you want to spend time on the connectors, though and get really good ones. cheers sam edited to hit the 'url' button a few times - doh! soon to be gone

RevJim that was an interesting thread, containing everything from flirting to religion to people ripping each other for their lack of spelling and grammatical ability.... some relevant information, too, but not much... I don't know why almost everyone seems to place the responsibility for an open reserve at a safe altitude ENTIRELY on the Cypres. This is wrong in so many ways. All it will claim to do, is initiate reserve deployment by cutting the loop/s at approx 750 ft. I'd love for someone from Airtec or SSK to post all about the arming and firing altitudes, and all the stats they have from those Cypres fire report cards that come with replacement cutters, as I believe too many skydivers do not understand just how and when their Cypres will (or will not) activate. I do not understand why they do not consider the other variables in the system: -body position -condition of equipment -compatibility of equipment -quality of reserve packjob and reserve PC 'packing' a Cypres will not know to fire at a higher altitude if you're jumping a reserve that's too tight in the container, with a slack loop of the wrong material.... I'm not saying a Cypres is perfect, far from it, it's a man-made electronic/mechanical device and prone to variation as such. I see far more opportunity for man-made variation in the reserve packjobs and how skydivers operate their Cypres as well as what 'attitude' they find themselves in when their Cypres fires. that's just my long-winded 2 cents

Besides, are you or are you not forgetting about the +/- 250 feet? Would you also like to explain the low fires? How about the ones we hear have heard about that never did fire and/or fired to late to save the person? yeah, I knew it was old, but having been one of those people who used to think that your Cypres won't fire if you're open before 750ft, I thought I'd post it anyway and maybe point out something useful to someone that didn't already know I'm aware of the +/- 250, but didn't want the post to get too protracted low Cypres fires - never heard of any except the one where the LZ was 250ft above the airport and the only dude on a 4 way with a Cypres didn't set it for the difference... as for possible causes, there are many, as the Cypres uses airpressure to calculate altitude and fallrate, it is sensitive to anything that would affect the air pressure that the Cypres reads I haven't heard of any Cypres that was maintained, turned on and set correctly that fired too low to save the jumper - if you have please give some details, I'm sure many people would like to be aware of that. just trying to save some people the cost of a replacement cutter and a repack.... soon to be gone

dude, don't take this personally, rather see it as a public service announcement just so some more people know, your Cypres (expert model) arms at 1150ft AGL.... and it WILL fire ABOVE 750ft once it's armed if there's an abrupt change in airpressure, say like, changing body position due to a deployment sitting you up... someone at SSK told me that's how 90% of Cypres fires happen so, as that deployment was your main, you were very lucky to not have a 2 out to deal with.... if you're gonna do dumb shit like pull your main below 1000ft, at least turn your Cypres off and eliminate the possibility of a 2 out the point is really that you should be fully open by 1150ft AGL to be sure to beat your Cypres later sam soon to be gone

good job on getting there early, next time just get out the car at dawn and do the 1st jump with TM then pack while he does his 2nd and do 3 with him too... (worked for me) as for the whuffo groundcrew, I just asked them to watch 'till I waved after landing, then they know I'm OK. I'm not too worried about the climb. then again, there is definitely TA's jump alone for extra scariness option... cya soon to be gone

bet he made you get up early! or did you roll around for his 3rd? tell him I say 'hi' when you do it again

hey bud pick-up groundcrew is what you need.... just hang around the visitor centre a bit, there's always plenty of vistors with cameras who love to get pics of jumpers and it's really quite easy to talk some into being groundcrew, you might even get some pics and video from them... it's not even hard to convince them to hang around until you've climbed out, if you climb fast, like I do...

*BUMP* they finally approved the captured stills.... here's the link again to avoid scrolling: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Personal_Galleries/whatever soon to be gone

yeah, dude you need to get one of each colour... that'll fill up the boot of your car! best check under the bonnet too and see if the oil is OK oh, and do watch out for those pesky traffic cones - a.k.a. 'pylons' only in North America..... maybe just have some cooldrink and forget about the whole thing... later, eh soon to be gone

dude thanks but I did not forget, it's in Tom's 'Getting started' article.... eh! edited to add: Tom, you might want to update the URL in your article, it's still the juliabell one (which has a working redirect, but might as well be the new one, right?) soon to be gone

hey a good place to start is read this: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=64 then maybe run this search: search the BASE Zone for 'starting BASE' http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=forum_22&search_type=AND&search_string=starting+BASE do the same for: 'learning BASE' 'first time' 'newbie' etc. there's tons of info there check out BLINC: www.blincmagazine.com find the experienced local BASE jumpers and talk to them that'll give you a good idea of what to do with a few hundred skydives happy reading! soon to be gone

I'd say, slider up in that area, the climb is gonna scare the dog more than the jump! soon to be gone

hey whenever you have a question, realise that someone's probably asked it before and if you think that's likely, run a search on the forum using the search button at the bottom of the page and you'll get this: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=forum_7&search_string=PC105&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=score&mh=50 if you run a search on the photography and video forum for PC105 it should answer your questions, and to be specific: -I have a PC105. -I did not have a PC101 before. -The LANC port, A/V port , autofocus button, nightshot button Wide/tele toggle and photo button are on the righthand side of the PC105. -power in, DV and USB are on the front thread ring size is 30mm, so if your wide angle is that size, no adapter needed, but most seem to be 37mm, so you will generally need a step-ring I like the PC105, but would rather get a PC330 given the choice again. c-ya sam edited for my dumbass spelling and quick typing soon to be gone

yeah dude, no problem just click the link in my post... and one day (who knows when) once the pictures have been approved, you'll be able to see them I didn't realise it takes that long for pics posted to your personal gallery to be approved, or I would've attached them to the thread... cheers sam soon to be gone

Terry stills are here: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/gallery/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Personal_Galleries/whatever they're still pending approval right now, I just posted them... enjoy! sam soon to be gone

I think you'll find that the PC330 is a bit bigger, but not really any heavier than teh PC105. the video quality (IMHO) is way better on the PC330, though. just capture some stills from PC105 and PC330 video and compare, in fact, if you want I can send you stills like that from a 2-way I did, me wearing my PC105 and my buddy wearing his PC330... they both use the really very akward A/V d-plug and it's inboard too for left side sidemount - not cool the PC330's has a bigger lens and optics too - worth having... cheers sam soon to be gone

nah, dude... I can grab and steer with rear risers in my S3. but then, I'm almost tall and have long limbs, so that helps. couldn't do that in a Classic or a Gti blue skies, long flights, on-heading openings, soft landings, bomber pro, berms on every corner, 3 foot deep powder all winter and all that other good stuff... sam soon to be gone