frost

you dont need a mounting surface on a pillow. The metal (or cloth) mounting plate that comes with your Neptune should be good. It will mount to that tape on top of the pillow same way as it would to the wrist mount. Here is what it looks like on the leg pad. I will post some pics of the pillow/neptune close up later, if nobody has a pic handy.

you can use a soft pillow. Any rigger can make you one. similar to this: http://www.square1.com/manufacturers/Square1/nylonproducts/ALT_LONGPILLOW_PRIM.JPG but not as long.

Dave, you should consider adding all your awesome excuses as to why you can't do something to the neighboring thread. You have some really good ones, really, every time i read or hear them i praise you for being so innovative. It's a different one every time!

I've been using Royal lens since the early days on my PC1000, continued to use them on the HC3, then HC5, then CX7 and now on CX100. Yes the loss of resolution is very noticeable if you shoot in HD mode, but still better than SD footage. I lost a HD Raynox 3030 due to a riser strike last year. Bought a replacement, that lens is great, but now save it for "quality" jumps, when something interesting or cool might happen. For every day "boring" stuff i will continue to use my trusty low profile Royal .3 and .5 and shoot in SD. At least until HD monitors on DZ with card readers become the standard.

the new speed change is a score killer for sure...

He is a Russian jumper. We had a discussion of this incident on our skydiving forums. The cause of fire: setting the Vigil to Student mode.

Looks like that was a user error. Vigil was set to Student mode.

I had a chance to see this video recently (thank you DSE!) and i think it's a great learning tool for newer jumpers. It covers all the key material very well. Refer to the in-depth review of this DVD: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=714. Of course, no DVD can ever be a replacement for a live Canopy Control course, like the Flight-1 or Brian Germain's classes, where the student can ask questions and get more in-depth information on any key concept. But it IS a great tool to review even after you have some jumps under your belt. Some of the core concepts frequently get lost or overlooked by experienced jumpers.

I have these two.

Which just goes to prove me wrong... A Pro Card DOES mean something! It helps your social life, it increases your sex drive and performance, makes you more popular with the ladies... hey, it did not work for me, but i am glad Pete is enjoying the benefits. BTW, did you hear the new slogans for the Swoop Week? I heard they were gonna go with: But then decided to use: SoFPiDaRF - School of Fast Progress in Downsizing and Radical Flying. Because nobody knows your skills better than you.

That's how Uncle Pete rolls. Ever since he became a Pro Swooper, Sir - his posse grew by approximately 200%.

Yeah, Doctor! Well deserved! Congratulations!! All the international fame and fortune (well.. the fortune's coming i guess), a large body of work, the respect of your peers... and you STILL dont have any good pics of yourself swooping, do ya? I'll work on that for you this season.

i don't know about anyone else, but i would like to eat it. May be even drink a beer or two? I dont know... it just seems like the right thing to do.

take a look at the video description it has all the info right there.

Jay posted: Stu's reply to Jay's post: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2744239;search_string=jayfreefly;#2744239

live incidents or experimental data? Jay posted here results of his jumps on various wings/loadings with a bunch of cypres sensors.

Pretty good one! Alternate version: I was still laughing too hard after watching Ian face plant.

We all know how important it is to have a good excuse. So i created a short, but hopefully growing list of perfectly good excuses that any swooper can and should use to help answer the important question of "Why did i suck?" Feel free to add to this list. • The conditions were very difficult, changing winds, turbulence, etc. • Man, i caught a thermal at like 1000 feet, that threw my turn way off and caused me to vertical • I am still drunk from the night before • I dont know what happened • I just got scared • I was the 4th one out on the 3rd pass, Marat was 1st one out on the 1st pass and he was STILL hanging in brakes! I just couldnt get my set up right! • My chest strap was so long it created extra drag • Damn! I forgot my chest strap extension at home! • Bad body position • I was just practicing a new turn/trying something new • I was going for a perfect "6 zeros" score. • The wind pushed the top skin of my canopy causing me to sink in the turn/move off course • Traffic! • I forgot my competition glasses • I started like 40, no not even, like 20 feet too high. • Didn’t get laid/got laid too much last night • It's a new lineset, the canopy just doesn’t fly right! • This is my third jump on a new canopy • I had an extra serving of the weak sauce with my steak last night. • Bad camera angle, it was clearly NOT a vertical. • The competition rules were changed as I was flying through the course! • We don’t have enough handicap! • There is too much handicap! • I couldn’t see the course from above

very very carefully.

no way... really?? just kidding :) Mr. Dan Raymond has posted here some great high quality videos from prior years of CPC and PST. Just use the Search function

I like! :) Especially the CP manual pdf. Good stuff, thanks for the link

I was getting some questions about available canopy flight educational materials and videos, so i wanted to list the ones i know of personally. While no video or book can ever replace individual training and jump experience, not everyone can attend Flight-1 or Germain's or other canopy courses. Still, I dont think we have enough educational materials available, so feel free to add to this post to keep it as a reference to up and coming skydivers. 1. Brian Germain's Parachute and its Pilot - has been a great help to me personally. Even experienced jumpers can benefit from it, IMO - i had >1000 jumps when i read it and learned a lot from it. 2. Fly Like A Pro. Goody, but oldie? Have not seen it, but people have left positive feedback about this video over the years. 3. The new video from VASST - Canopy Control: Core Essentials DVD - I have not seen it myself, but judging by the description - indeed all essential skills that need to be in the arsenal of every jumper are covered and then some. VASST material is new and that makes it even more interesting since the essential subject material is combined with the skills of a recognized producer. Would be great if an experienced canopy pilot and coach (i volunteer Ian Drennan, since he has lots of free time) could see a copy of this DVD and write a short and unbiased review. I've no doubt it would be positive, but at least a newer pilot and a potential buyer can refer to it when making a decision to purchase this DVD. P.S. Well, looks like i am a bit out of sync with the rest of the site :) - i really only follow a couple of forums :) There is a good review of the VASST DVD on the main page! But it's really worth another mention - the more educational materials out there the better!

They may be advertising, but there are no demos available. Strange approach to selling canopies - advertise the new product, but not have any demo canopies. Worked well for the JVX.

I'll make a trip to TX before the Nats for one of the comps for sure. I always wanted to see Texas. Texas to me is what Moscow is to an average American. Where an average American thinks everyone in Russia drinks vodka with tea and then wrestles bears in the snow, we think that everyone in Texas is a cowboy, they all have Colt revolvers and everyone is fat. And none of them can say "nuclear". And if the American stereotype is far from the truth (we don't drink tea at all), the Russian stereotype is a true fact. It's in the Geneva convention, look it up. P.S. with all due respect, Rambo was a pussy.

yes and please see if you can work out a deal with a good BBQ place near by. Some serious Texas style baby back ribs may be needed for proper wing loading, especially for those light swoopers that fly small velos dangerously underloaded @1.9