pilotdave

I'm no flash expert... your site works fine for me from work, but for example I can't even enter the perris valley dropzone website because I don't have the right version of flash installed. That's a huge no-no for a business. If you use flash menus, you should probably have an html alternative for those that can't use flash, but then again it's not a business website so who really cares? I like flash when it's done well. I like your menus. But lots of people just don't like flash... I think it's because its cool to hate flash. Not really sure. I'm running 1024x768 at work, but I never have my browser window maximized, so I tend to prefer "shorter" page headers so i dont have to scroll down every time i open a page. The width is fine. Dave

I came across the site (at least I assume it's the new site) the other day (thanks for linking to mine

Geraldo interview: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3862 Dave

Ya mean http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1746? Also: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3088. Dave

Not sure, but here's a link to the Ground Launching category... should be in there: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=category&id=52 Dave

When I was in grad school one night, I was drinking a soda. Someone in the class said to me "you really should drink water. It's better for you." I said "I bet this soda is 99.9% water. It's just fine." A classmate that ran a wastewater treatment plant said "the stuff that comes INTO my plant is 99.99% water." Soda didn't sound so good after that. Dave

I agree with the charger comment, and also add the higher capacity battery too. But you can also charge the battery in the camera without the docking station. Dave

I've never bothered with a flashlight on my night jumps. Always been able to see the canopy just fine from moonlight, even on one when the moon had just risen so it was pretty dark. I think trying to use a flashlight under canopy just complicates things unnecessarily, especially if it's hand held. You can do a controllability check just like during the day, so even if you couldn't see your canopy, you'd have a pretty good idea of whether or not it's flying normally. I do always carry a small flashlight in my jumpsuit pocket for use after landing if I need it. Also a cell phone. The SIM has a lot of recommendations for night jumps that seem strange or outdated. Does any DZ follow the SIM's target lighting procedure? I've only seen cars used. Dave

For anyone that would like to donate but can't use paypal, you can send a check directly to Matt: Make it payable to 'Matthew Crocker' and mail it to: PO BOX 17 North Hatfield, MA 01066 Are there any online payment services that would work from Europe (that don't require monthly payments or anything like that)? Also, if you've been on the site recently, you've probably noticed the new ads/layout. I'd never ask anybody to click on an ad they aren't interested in, but each click is like a mini donation. If you happen to see an ad that might be related to something you're interested in, like skydiving, feel free to click on it and enjoy another great skydiving related web page. I wouldn't recommend clicking like crazy on ads for your own DZ, since they pay per click. I also added a google search bar at the bottom of each page. The skydivingmovies.com search doesn't work yet, as we haven't been indexed by google (I'd been keeping search engines out to minimize hits as much as possible, but they need to index the site for the ads to work). It also lets you search the entire web or just skydivingmovies.com, dropzone.com, or uspa.org. If you run across a term in the description of a video that you're not familiar with, try searching dropzone.com right from that page. The search results page will also have ads, which you may or may not be interested in. Again, clicking on those ads, if you happen to see something interesting, is like a small donation. Everything helps and you might find a website you didn't know about. Expect ad relevancy to go up as the site gets indexed. And yes, there may be better locations for ads that are more effective but also more intrusive. I'm trying to keep them out of the way as much as possible. As they are, they shouldn't interfere with browsing the site at all really. Dave

3.1:9:probably 3.1 hours spent crammed on the floor of a 182 with 3 women. 4 jumps saturday at CPI with Roger Ponce. Woulda been 5 but the winds picked up from ~0 to 28 knots in the time it took us to climb to altitude. Glad we didn't jump. Then sunday was a little trip to Cross Keys by 182. 5 jumps there. I don't THINK I owed beer for anything there... Dave

Have you tested the cutaway? I had my FF2 cutaway installed like that and it did not work. The white loop locked between the chincup and the grommet when load was applied. Flipping the strap over fixed the problem for me. Pic: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=63565; Dave

Most of the time the wind direction is pretty much the same before you get on the plane as it is when you land. One trick is to face into the wind on the ground and see where the sun is. It'll be in about the same direction under canopy when you're facing into the wind. Dave

Joe Jennings' getting towed behind a 206: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=974&ad=skydive Dave

RealTV apparently pays well. Dave

After getting my FF2, I noticed a few changes from the pictures on their website and features they don't mention. Never saw an FF2 in person till mine arrived, so I figured I'd post some pics. A couple of changes from what their website shows: the excess cutaway cable tucks into the shell, and the excess ratchet strap tucks into the chincup. The dbox is held closed with a thumbscrew under the liner. The thumbscrew is captive... stays attached to the helmet when the dbox is open. Same for the thumbscrew that holds the camera on. Also, the hole in the back of the dbox is big enough so the viewfinder is visible... no need to open the box to use the camera by hand. The camera bracket is much more adjustable than I expected. It's also really quiet... hard to believe, but it seems quieter than my Z1 fullface. Probably because it's tighter. Also, I had a rigger install the cutaway... originally the strap with the small ring was put on upside down. It fits fine and actually looks nicer, but it doesn't work. Completely locked up with any load on the chincup. Flipping the strap over so the white loop comes out solved the problem. Dave

I've never met muenkel, but I know tink. I'd be totally offended if I were him! Dave

Nice job on the Cat F1:http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3804 Dave

Since January of 2004, there have been 2,229,383 downloads and we'll hit 3000 files by next week. If every video was 1 meg smaller... you get the point. I like big, high quality videos, but they just don't fit in well with donated bandwidth. High quality is great when the content is worth seeing in high quality, but just a waste of bandwidth when it's not. BTW, just hit 30,000 registered. activated users. Congrats to vckrusi, user 30,000! Dave

It's clear from the picture what brand of camera suit it was, so I'm wondering if anyone can comment on this kind of gap. Is it caused by the jumper or the suit manufacturer? I JUST started jumping a camera 2 days ago, so I'm trying to learn as much as possible before adding new stuff like a camera suit. Are some brands better than others, or is it caused by the way the suit is worn/adjusted? BTW, here's a video that appears to be the same sort of incident although I'm not totally sure: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3601 Dave

This one would have to be one of my favorites: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3353 Cracks me up every time. No single favorite for me. I like too many of em! Dave

I'm just guessing the concern is in reference to this post: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2184156 I'm sure it's possible to come up with a scenario where something could snag on the edge of a helmet, but I doubt there are any recorded incidents of a broken neck due to a helmet snag because of how the chin strap is attached. Not something I'd worry about, but who knows. Dave

When I read the subject, I figured he was talking about this video: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=3749. Dave

They made those illegal in massachusetts, where I get gas pretty often. So annoying. I did once see an automatic shutoff fail on a gas pump when the idiot had left it running while he went inside. Gas poured out everywhere. But uhhh, why is mixing old and new gas bad? I might understand that if you got gas once or twice per year... Dave

Jump 4 (AFF 4). Clouds came in and I was above them under canopy. I could see the DZ, but the guy on the radio couldn't see me. I opened downwind, but he assumed I was upwind. So he said "face away from the airport and put the sun on your left side." Well I couldn't do both. I figured it's easy to mix up left and right, but hard to mix up face toward or away from. So I turned away from the airport and put the sun on my right. After a few seconds I realized that wasn't a good idea and turned back around. Finally the radio guy spotted me. Kept trying to give me corrections to face exactly toward the DZ, but I already knew I wasn't making it so I aimed for a little housing development on a dead-end street. I figured if I aimed for a front yard, I might land on a house, so I'd aim for the street instead (after carefully checking for powerlines) and hope to miss and hit grass. Worked just right and I made a standup landing right on someones yard in front of the whole family. I was so far from the DZ that the guy asked me where the dropzone was. Then it was a long freaking wait for a ride on a very hot summer day wearing a hot pink jumpsuit and probably 10 lbs of lead. Since then, I've landed off too many times to count. Met a lot of nice people that way. I really can't understand how people can go hundreds of jumps without landing off. I've had a bigway organizer spot us for a soccer field on purpose because of clouds over the DZ. And load 1 of a boogie in FL last year where the entire load landed at least a mile or two from the DZ and got a ride back with a sign painter. And then there was the cessna load I was on where nobody spotted. The pilot said open the door, the first guy climbed out, and when everybody left I dove after. That was stupid. Met a nice state trooper when I landed in his yard. Oh and there was that 12 nautical mile cross country... Well make that 10 for me. More nice people and even had a state police helicopter searching for me for a few minutes. Not landing off must suck.

Mine arrived monday (actually somehow it appears the USPS attempted delivery last sunday, but I don't understand how that could be). I originally submitted my order to a dealer on Feb 5. My credit card was charged by 2kcomposites on Feb 10, so I'll assume that's the date my order was "started." So that makes it just over 10 weeks total, or 11 weeks from the actual date I ordered it, including delivery time to the US from england (only about 3 days). I was also quoted 6-8 weeks. No complaints here though. It arrived looking great and is actually better than I expected. I'll try to post some pictures next week (it's with a rigger getting the cutaway attached - not a big job but he didn't have time to do it while I was there). Their website needs updating bigtime. As soon as I pulled it out of the box, I started finding improvements over what I've seen in pictures of older ones, and features I didn't know it had. A few examples: The excess cutaway cable (if you buy the cutaway option) tucks into a hole so it ends up inside the helmet, between the shell and the liner. The excess of the ratchet strap tucks into a slot on the chincup so it doesn't stick out. Both of these are not shown in the picture on their site: http://www.2kcomposites.com/html/cutaway.html. The dbox opens by a thumb screw under the liner (which is held to the shell on each side with a snap). The camera attaches to the bracket with another thumb screw. At first that looked like a mess... until I realized that both thumb screws are captive... they don't come off but rather stay in place. Nothing to lose in the plane if you open the helmet or take the camera off. The camera bracket is also VERY adjustable. Up-down, forward-backward, or a combination to set a little bit of an angle. I haven't had a chance to get it all set up and aimed properly yet. But a quick adjustment got the camera (PC1000 / .45X lens) in place FULLY inside the dbox (nothing sticking out at all, including the wide angle lens), without being able to see any edges. I could also see the viewfinder with the dbox closed, so I shouldn't have to open the helmet to use the camera hand-held. I'll know a lot more this weekend when I'll (hopefully) get the chance to jump it. Dave