Sargeatlarge

Thanks Pasi...another one for your book...there should be some good photos of the event soon at www.fitchimages.com Sarge

C'mon Wendy...it was only two and half bottles of the good stuff....at least we weren't drinking milk with the Canadians...I might even come over for that... Sarge

Awesome stuff...I'll be ordering a few of those...hopefully see you in PR next year...Sarge Sarge

...oh, and arch and look up once you're in... Sarge

What would you rather catch - a smooth dock or a rough dock... What do want to dock on - a moving body or a stationary body... Would you like the person in front of you to dock smoothly... Do unto others... Sarge

Hi...a person to speak to would be Bryan Scott who filmed the 2003 CRW record...he had that system set up on his front risers....it seemed to work very well...good luck... Sarge

We just keep doing CRW with anyone who'll come along and play - and we keep getting more people into it...we organise boogies in other countries and go there...we party....we go break other peoples' records...and so on Sarge

That's a hard question for me...I was born with a lazy eye...unfortunately it spread to the rest of my body... Sarge

Good to hear you're in once piece Kevin. Hard housings have a demonstrated capacity to save while I am unaware of any negative press about them. You want everything going for you...I also use an open hndle for my cutaway in case I only have my opposite hand (left hand) to cut away with. Cypres couldn't hurt...dpends on how much you have out. Carry a hook knife in your teeth maybe? Sarge

Yeah, you guys were great. Here's to us. We flew this 24 way over to Chris Gay who was floating on us... Sarge

Crush up a beer can - works for me Sarge

Mate, can you get in touch with me about that one... Sarge

Hi from Australia, Chico Sarge Sarge

Glad to see that they finally saw sense..... Sarge

Check out the Aussie article in the Australian Skydiver Magazine...has great pics....it's uploaded on Wendy's web site..... Sarge

The pull out pilot chute on a reserve is not anything to be shocked about. It is different, but so were pull out pilot chutes on main canopies when they were developed. The Handbury system and that on the Wonderhog were cosidered revolutionary. Interestingly, they were developed, among other reasons, to circumvent pilot chute hesitations which would delay the otherwise sequential deployment of the main canopy. It seemed to the manufacturer (Barry Lewis of Roochutes Australia who used to work for Jump Shack South an obvious development of container systems to lessen the chance of pilot chute hesitations that may be associated with reserve deployments. The manufacturer of the Australian system, the Woomera (so called becuase the action required to launch the hand held reserve pilot chute was similar to that associated with a woomera which is an Australian Aboriginal spear throwing device) designed the system in the mid eighties and it was very popular in Australia up until the advent of automatic activation devices on the reserve system. Briefly, the reserve pilot chute is packed silmilarly to a main on a BOC system and housed along the left shoulder region. One pulls on the handle (pud shaped) which opens the reserve container over the left shoulder (velco closing) and at the same time pulls the curved reserve pin - this operates in much the same way as a pull out system for the main container. One then places (throws) the pilot cute in the slipstream as one does with the main pilot chute. Advantges: less chance of pilot chute hesitation, arguable quicker deployment, less chance of reserve coming out around the body in a spin as you determine where your pilot chute goes, less pack weight, easier closing (you only need a pull up cord) and a few others. Significantly, if one is wrapped, one can throw the pilot chute out a hole and on some occasions people have fed the bridle and bag out the hole too. Disadvantages: there is no spring so it can't be used with any AAD, it comes out close to any cameras you might have on, it takes a longer time to peel off the handle in order to throw (as opposed to yanking on the silver handle) so any time made up on reserve deployment may be more apparent than real. Early Openers the Aussie 8 way CRW team (World Champs 1990) used them for hundreds of jumps and they performed admirably. Interestingly, so far as I am aware, the CRW Woomeras were the first to utilise the reserve flap that tucks away so as to lessen snag points on a rig after we suggested this to the manufacturer. As far as I know, the rig is no longer built and is perhaps consigned to parachuting history except by a handful of us Aussies who occasionally use it. I have a couple at home that I have under the house so I can practise some CRW moves on rainy days. I would be happy to let people know more if theyt were interested. Cheers.... Sarge

Nice one, Liz...I really MUST teach you guys how to say"Arch" in Australian...have a great new year, stay safe. Do CReW - it's good for you. Sarge Sarge

I use a .45 for tandem and general flying, a .29 for close in framing (both available from cookiecomposites.com) and a .25 for tandem hand cams - that is the widest lens of which I am aware. Bought mine from waycool in Australia)...cheersQuote Sarge

Hi Wadebird, Differneces are mainly in buffer size and megapixels. I have found the 300D quite OK for everything I do and 6.1 megapixels is ample foe enlargements up to A3 and A4. The 20D has 8 megapixels, but it is unnoticebale on normal sized prints. If you're inclined towards Canon, for the money, go with the 300D at present. Hope this helps. Kind regardsQuote Sarge Sarge

Don't know the answer to this one, but I will ask Cookie when I see him at the DZ and get back to you......cheers....Sarge Sarge

I use that lense. Unless you need to shoot at such a wide apeture the lense is good to FFF photography. The only problem is its length and mounting it. The longer the lense the more support that's needed to make sure it doesn't put tension on the mount on opening. Hope this helps Sarge Sarge

For film....second hand canon T70 or T90 with fixed wide angle lenses. Cheap as chips and easy to mount. Sarge Sarge

I have used Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Konica, Pentax in film and digital format. Basic principle to remeber: cameras read light, not dark and in the end, it's the same light that goes through the lens and onto the format that you are using. Knowing the camera is always the basic rule. I presently use canon....I have all the lenses for film from fisheye through to telephoto. However, you can't use those on the digital bodies. Certain old Nikon lenses will fit the new bodies so there is a cost saving there. But the Nikon D70 does not use a cable release so you would have to upgrade that particular body. The point to be made is that each camera has certain advantages and disadvantages. Do you need 6 or 8 megapixels? How much do you want to blow your prints up? My view is that most of the gear these days does the job if you know how to use it. For example, I always used the aperture scales on the lenses when I shot in print film, however canon autofocus lenses no longer retain those so you have to know the scales in your head (a pain as my maths is dodgy at best). At present I have a 300D and a 20D and fixed focal length lenses. The photos on both are the same up to A3 or A4 size. I can't see any difference between those and the same types of shot my mates use on their Nikons. Hope this rambling response helps. SargeQuote Sarge

Does anyone know the date of this event?Quote Sarge