SkydiveMO

The topic of tandem masters shooting their own videos and how it is done was raised in the Photography and Video forum. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=916687; I would like to raise the question; is this safe and should it be allowed? I would think a tandem master shooting their own video would fit into the same category as static-line jumpmasters also piloting the jump aircraft (which is no longer allowed). It can be done, but should it? I know tandem masters who currently shoot their own video and are quite safe. However, I also can see the argument that added distractions for the instructor lowers the safety level for the student. I haven’t decided if tandem master video is a good idea or not, what do you think?

What is the tandem manufactures stand on tandem masters shooting their own video? Does anyone know? I would think it would fit into the same kind of category as static-line jumpmasters also piloting the jump aircraft (no longer allowed). It can be done, but should it?

I have to second that, I have never been at a dropzone where students have been charged for a weather hold.

Ahhhh... You can't put a price on FUN! If you could it should be a discount or something.

I have been speaking of conventional swoop cords all along. The swoop cords I use loop around the hands by means of a cord, a nylon strap like the type used for pull-up cords, which attaches to the jumpsuit at about the elbow. Extending your arms tightens the cords and pulls the jumpsuit tight around the underarms where a small wing or pocket of material helps create greater drag slowing your rate of descent. I set my cord length so that I am able to extend my arms and grab the risers and toggles if needed right after deployment. However, to gain full freedom of motion I could also unclip the cords by means of the plastic buckles described earlier. Being able to unbuckle the cords if needed allows me to safely slip them under gloves and altimeters. Sorry for the confusion, I hope that clarifies things a little. As they say “clear as mud”.

My Bev suit came with platic clips, or buckles, that connect the swoop cords inside the jumpsuit at about the elbow. You can pinch the clips through the jumpsuit material to unlock them giving yourself full freedom of motion. This system works great, my jumpsuit is a little older so I don't know if Bev still offers this feature or not. It shouldn't be hard to buy some clips from the hardware store and rig a system up yourself though. I had to tack the cords at the proper length also, they're rock solid now.

I don't use Premier, but with Final Cut I found it was easiest to pull music straight from the CD. The program doesn’t recognize media files which had me a little hot under the collar.

The Katana will be released in a 135 and 150. They just aren't ready yet.

I know what you're sayin'... In a perfect world we could all afford to have 3 or 4 different rigs with all types of canopies for every type of jumping we may want to do.

Not knowing your preferences, I would say you need to jump the canopy to see if you like it or not. However, from my experience 1.4 is about the limit for a ZP 7-cell. The canopy will still fly and land you safely but if I you’re jumping at 1.4 or higher I'd personally go with the 9-cell. If you could find a Spectre at a 1.2 or less I’d say it would be the perfect canopy for camera and birdman jumps.

Catch here is we are talking about a jumper at a higer wing loading. The Spectre is a great canopy with a large control range, start over loading it and she'll sink.

7-cells really start to loose their flare when you start loading them. 9-cells are far more forgiving at higher wing loadings. When I started packing on the pounds I thought my 7-cell would start to increase in performance… you know downsizing naturally rather then by buying a new canopy. WRONG! The flare window really shortened and I decreased my swoop distances. I have been test jumping several 9-cell canopies at higher wing loadings then I’m currently jumping at and they have all landed great. Over simplifying, 9-cells have greater glide and flare then 7-cells. 7-cells are better able to sink in brakes and are ideal for accuracy and demos.

When I started jumping I used my swoop cords to their full advantage. As they say I have a “natural arch”. After logging a few jumps with the cords I became more aware of my body position and technique and was able to ditch the cords. They are a great tool and can really help slow your fall rate. The risk is you may restrict your movement, make sure you can reach your toggles. I had my cords set so I was able to reach the toggles and never needed to pull them off under canopy. A nice trick is to install plastic clips onto your cords allowing you to unclip them under canopy.

Sounds like a good old-fashioned brand war to me. Pretty soon people will want an option with a little kid peeing on the competitors logo on the bottom skin of their canopy.

I’m currently using Final Cut Express V1 and was wondering if anyone who has used V1 has made the upgrade to the newly released V2? What’s new about the updated version and did you feel it was it worth the money to upgrade? I’d love to run out and buy new software but man… that’s good skydiving money. Let me know what you think. Thanks

You can’t beat Tony for a well constructed and all around good-looking jumpsuit. I made over 300 hundred jumps with my Tony camera suit before it started to show any real wear, one of the booties is starting to rip. I can’t imagine ever replacing it with anything other then another Tony suit. That being said, I do have a Bev RW suit which has held up amazingly well under the torture of many Tandem jumps. I have tortured that Bev suit crawling around airplanes, sliding in landings, and packing in it when it has been cold. Basically I’ve done everything you shouldn’t do if you want your jump suit to last and somehow the suit has held together. Bev definitely makes her suits durable. I think Bev and Tony both make great products so you couldn’t go wrong with either.

Though you will have a small editing views on your computers monitor you do feed the video through your camera to a TV. You can view live video and your edits on the television. I use the 15” Powerbook and love it, my only concern with the 12” is the limited hard drive space and RAM. But at such a great price you could easily afford to buy an external hard drive and if you can’t live with the slower processing speed some more RAM. Sounds like a great deal to me.

If you like your Safire 139 why not try a Crossfire 139 demo.

See a pattern starting? I learned to swoop on a Triathlon, if you can make it swoop you can make anything swoop. I test jumped a Safire and thought it was easy to dive and planed out nicely, very easy to fly. Going eliptical will just give you a faster turn rate and more speed, making learning harder. See what your current canopy can do it is a great flier and can swoop with the best of them.

I’ll admit I’m always a little confused how to explain the proper procedures for a two canopy out situation. It is so situation dependent with canopy sizes, positions, altitude and all of the other factors you can think of having an effect on the actions that need to be taken. For instance I had an AAD misfire the reserve into my main at 4,000ft once; the two instantly entangled and the risers wrapped around my head so tightly that I couldn’t look up to see what was happening or down to find my handles. I opted to cut away in hopes the main would clear and give me a good reserve even though I could not look up to see what was happening, luckily it did. I think this is a great discussion, everyone who has found themselves in a two canopy out situation should tell us what happened and how they responded. This is one of the rare malfunction types where we could probably never cover all the possibilities.

As I basically said before finger pointing hardly helps anyone. Many have been ranting and emotions have been high, I think Tina realizes that and hopefully other do too.

The unfortunate problem with an open forum like a discussion board is things can quickly turn into a pissing contest. I believe several individuals need to remove themselves a bit from the discussion and look more objectively at the situation being discussed. Don’t let emotion win over common courtesy. The original post addressed a new jumpers concern about his canopy flying differently under windy conditions. Many who explained turbulence and other phenomena related with wind properly addressed this post. Others were also correct in voicing concern with the following of BSRs relating to students and wind speeds. As it has been stated prior Archway does, and has had for many years, a waiver allowing students to jump in winds up to 20mph. This is allowed because the DZ is surrounded by farmland which is flat and free of hazards, with the exception of tall corn in the growing season. The instructors involved are very experienced, several with over a decade of training experience. So, it is only natural that many of the jumpers at Archway feel a need to fervently defend their home DZ. Rather than attacking individuals or throwing out accusations the greater good would be served with a discussion of safety and offering alternative actions you may have taken based on your experiences. For instance Derek (Hooksnswoop) has concerns with students being allowed to jump in higher wind conditions. With his experience and obvious dedication to our sport, evident by the examiner ratings, it is improper to question his concern for student safety. I’m sure his arguments can be backed up with years of experience working with students. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that he would agree that Archway acted well within the USPA safety rules but he would disagree with their choice to allow a student to jump on the occasion in question. For those who make blanket statements, pro or con, about any DZ or person you are simply stirring up trouble and offer nothing to anyone. Give evidence for your arguments and help us all learn from each other. At every DZ it is the job of the Instructor, S&TA and Jumpmasters (coaches) to decide if conditions are safe for a student to jump not only according to the BSRs but also according to the students abilities. In this case it was decided that the students would be allowed to jump because they were current and showed the ability in prior jumps to handle the conditions of the day. This and all other decisions are partially based on the experience of the Instructors involved. Experience is a funny thing, as it is different for everyone. We could second-guess any decision ever made at any DZ and in the end we would all differ in our interpretation based on our own experiences. If you wish to add to any discussion try to help skydivers learn more about their sport, voice you opinions in terms we can all live with. For instance… Pro- I think it’s a good idea to let students jump on windy day because they’re in a learning environment where they can be coached. Later when they’ve graduated and are no longer under instructor supervision they won’t be surprised by how their canopy handles. When I was a student…. Con- I believe students should never be subjected to higher wind conditions. They are already under the high stress of being a new jumper and high winds can add an additional dimension that may lead to poor decisions being made. When I was a student… Don’t attack each other attack the issue at hand. No one ever wins a pissing contest they just get pissed on. Jason

I’m looking for some advice on the best way to exit the Casa or Sky Van if you’re videoing a raft dive. On my last attempt the jumpers gave a good count and then got stuck in the door, unfortunately I went. Lucky for me they instantly flipped on exit and funneled down to my level in no time. Where have you found is the best spot to exit and what should you look for to time your exit? Thanks and Blue Skies

You have to think of the down time, when a skydiver is seriously injured the DZ shuts down, at least at the drop zones I’ve jumped at. Everything stops until the jumper has been cared for and hauled off in the ambulance. Now admittedly I'm a small DZ kinda guy and I’m making an assumption (and yes I know what that can mean) that we’re speaking of a small to medium DZ making the no hook turn rule. Every little bit of income counts to smaller DZs and downtime does have an effect. I had a DZO tell me once that if he could grow instructors he’d never have a need for regular jumpers, then he’d just have students and he could really turn a profit. The only motivation he had to keep experienced skydivers happy was they sometimes became instructors. Now he meant that partly in jest but he was still pretty steamed at a jumper who crashed in earlier in the day pushing their luck hook turning. He had to stop operating to care for the jumper and in the end he lost more then half his student business for the day. Now, if we’re talking about the big drop zones then a jumper pounding in once in awhile probably has no affect on buisness.

Getting same problem on a Win2000 machine seems to be a server access problem not the local computer.