michael
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Everything posted by michael
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Hi, More funky results. On the 'Classifieds' page, Select 'Classifieds' from the Search drop down box. Enter a search term a click 'Go' : Error! Must enter search engine Same result in IE8 and Chrome 21.0. Michael
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It does, which is why coaches charge $200/hr.
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Does anyone have specific pack volume figures for these canopies? My current reserve has a pack volume of about 270cu in., and Im curious to see how far up I can go with an Optimum.
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Hey, check out Luke Oliver's Teaching and Learning Canopy Flight: Beyond The First Jump Course: http://www.lukeoliver.com/thesis/ mick
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Except that those ideas persist when those same jumpers downsize and move to smaller, faster, parachutes. Teach the right way first, I reckon!
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Dumping high is cool. I think the old-school idea of break off at 4, track till 3, pitch to be swinging by 2-2.5k is dangerous, particularly on these types of parachutes. I think a re-education of jumpers for a 5 grand break off, track and pitch to be swinging by 3500 is a great idea. After all, is that extra 3 to 5 seconds of freefall really worth finding yourself in a world of shit, in a spinning mal at 1500?
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Ha..nice one! Still waiting on Dan's response to that question, though.
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Hey Dan, The Onyx seems to have a really short line set. Just wondering what your reasoning was for this?
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Also consider this, especially if you have anything top-mounted: If you leave your slider sitting above your head at the links and like to hook on risers, remember that when you pull a riser, you pull it down..along with the links and slider that are attached. During the turn, the slider that was sitting just above your head is now sitting on your top-mounted gear, whether it be a video or stills camera. It'd be a shock to release the riser after 180-ing to land and find that the slider had caught on a piece of your helmet. I prefer the behind-the-head method.
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Hey airdrew, I have to disagree with the last few posters here about Stilettos and camera. I have about 600 on stilettos - 150, 135, 120 and 107 - with 500 of those being with a vid/stills setup. Each opening has been soft, and very easy on the neck. I had had two linetwist openings in that time, none resulting in a cutaway. And its fun to swoop. Remember though - maintain your gear. If you get consistent offheading or linetwist openings, get a reline. Same for any canopy. If youre coming from a square 160, remember that body position is very important during deployment. I couldnt recommend it more as a canopy, particularly for camera.
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>Infact what exactly is carving Rendezvous, Carving is generally a speed-gaining turn where the wing (ie the parachute above your head) remains loaded (with your suspended weight) throughout the manuever. This is opposed to something like the 'snap hook' described earlier where your ability to recover from the turn is limited momentarily while you pendulum out from the wing. Carving is possible with toggles, front, and rear risers. Michael
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Hey , Has anybody had any experiences with the Vapour helmet from SkySystems?
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Hi there.. I have an EOS 500N. If the day is generally good (blue sky, reasonable light) I tend just to use the Sports pre-setting. I dont really get to creative when filming tandems or students, and Ive found its a pretty good 'all-round' setting. If I want to play with settings I'll let the camera select the aperture and Ill manually set shutter speed, or vice versa - its produced some interesting results. The best way to play, though, is to read the manual. I know, I know, nobody likes to, but i found it suprising what my camera would do!
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>there's a reason your canopy doesn't have a collapsible >slider.. It's not a performance canopy and wont really benefit >from it. Yeah. A 747 isnt a jet fighter either, but Boeing still invest a considerable amount refining the design. Anything that minimises drag is beneficial. >Consider moving on to a Sabre(2) or Safire in the 190/170 >size. These will perform very differently from what you are >used to, and will begin to be in the performace range where >it actually makes a difference. Hmm..yeah your slider isnt collapsable, so instead of spending twenty bucks and having some drawstrings installed I recommend you go and buy another canopy, despite not knowing you, your skill level, or your proficiency in the air. Great idea.
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If you have a Sony camera, use Sony tapes. After working alongside some guys who experimented with other brands (Panasonic noteably) in their camera, and seeing the rediculous amount of dropouts, Ive stuck with Sony. Nothings worse than having to re-dub a video when youre busy.
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Best place to learn Sky-Dive in Australia?
michael replied to alvk's topic in Events & Places to Jump
Hey vmsfreak, Cessnock unfortunately went out with a wimper about four or five weeks ago. Technically they were operating as a DZ for the past couple of months, landing into what used to be the car park in between the DZSOs place and the road after the coucil threatened a six figure trespassing fine if anyone landed in the old area. Of course, the car park was tight and you needed an E license and display B to land there, so needless to say it wasnt popular with funjumpers, so most of the jumps I did there in the last months were filming tandems. The operator got an offer on the motel and facilities which he took - the cost of fighting the issue with barristers and lawyers was too prohibitive. Now we're all waiting to see whats happening with the Cresco - no word yet. Michael -
Best place to learn Sky-Dive in Australia?
michael replied to alvk's topic in Events & Places to Jump
Hi alvk. Unfortunately Cessnock is no more - thank the local council (http://www.cessnock.nsw.gov.au if you want to complain). Sydney Skydivers probably could cater to what youre after, but theyre very commercial. The facilities arent too wonderful either. Ramblers is a 7 day operation, and has excellent facilities as well as a Cessna Caravan, but havent heard much re their AFF. Check out the APF's web site -- http://www.apf.asn.au/apf_clubs/clublink.asp for links to DZ web pages. Michael -
Is that an Alpha from Icarus or an Alpha from Atair?
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Dont forget the saftey factor. When I first started jumping camera I had a Batwing 116 that used to have blinding openings. It hadnt really bothered me while doing 4-way. When I started camera I used to do that - reach, head to chest, pitch, BAM, 9 cells. It ocurred to me that if my head is in my chest while the canopy is leaving the container/D-bag, how much longer is it going to take to respond to a mal? Also factored in the likihood of a fast opening/therefore fast slider descent which had a wondeful habit of blasting down and covering my top mounted 35mm stills. Picture that - open, linetwists (spinning, spinning..), trying to get slider off camera before cutting away. Yuck. So, I made the descision to buy a canopy that suited what i was doing (stiletto 120 - shouldnt have changed in the first place). Anyway..just something else to think about. If youre not able to look at your canopy as its opening, its costing you a few extra seconds if things go bad.
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What kind of camera would you suggest?
michael replied to skydyvotie's topic in Photography and Video
Another option to consider is scanning the second hand pages of the local paper for a few weeks. Every year families buy the latest and greatest digital video cameras, film the kids with them for a few months and decide to sell. You might be able to pick up a PC1 or PC3 well below what youd pay new. I cant speak for the PC5 but I have about 600 jumps on my PC1 and it still hums. A few of the full time cameramen at my DZ use them - 1400 jumps on one and 500 on the other and no hassles. If you rembember to get a fully enclosed box to protect it you should have no worries. -
Hey Nash - havent had any experience with headhunter helmets myself, but if memory serves Robbie Culver writes a bit about them on his site: www.skydreams.net
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True. But you'll find it isnt the top priority in FS. Think about when you try to go as fast as you can - hips forward, arms and legs tucked away. While you'll be going fast, controllability is actually sacraficed because the jumper has to concentrate on a) Keeping up that blistering fall rate and b) making sure any movements in freefall dont cause s/he to pop. Look at a comp 4-way teams' body position - its actually reasonably flat - arms down in front, head up, and frequently knees low in the breeze to use as another set of control surfaces (you can particularly see this in 'stopping' movements, for example stopping a turning three way piece).
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The rig wasnt a Voodoo. He was jumping an older (94-ish) NJ Javelin which was modified to be freefly-friendly after having a premmie last year.