pilotdave

I agree that resolution charts don't tell the whole story. But either way, "we" haven't minded degraded quality footage with our SD cameras, so I'm not sure why it's such a big deal with HD cameras. "It totally defeats the purpose of having an HD camera." Well, if you want top quality footage and that's why you have an HD camera, then yes. But a lot of people have HD cameras because they are tiny and cost under $600. There are a lot of people that should have tiny royal/waycool/liquid lenses on their HD cameras because otherwise they're going to have giant snag-happy HD lenses sticking 3 feet off the side of their head. I know that a compact lens won't provide the same quality video as a good HD lens, but I'm going to agree with frost and say that it'll still beat an SD camera with the same lens. Dave

They have outdoor showers. Bring something for your feet... they are slimy. Shower at night when it's too dark to see what you're standing on.

An AAD that uses an airbag system's impact sensor would be really reliable... but the openings would be a little late. Dave

Oh, in the stock list, it says that it means "over the shoulder extension." I still don't know what that means though. But if you want to order a stock rig, call them and talk about the size. Dave

I don't know, but it's in the "office use only" section so don't worry about it. Your measurements go below. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=7573 The jumper explains it there, where he posted it.

Here's one pilot's solution... watch em. Justin Shorb's dad was riding right seat, so Van (the pilot) flew over the flock so he could get a nice view of it. Course I was just following the flock from the ground and was pretty amazed when the otter flew through the frame.

Quoted totally out of context: And that's a difference between you and the people you're arguing with. That's why you're willing to jump at a DZ that is part of the same organization as skyride. Skydivers that feel that skyride is bad for skydiving don't appreciate those that support skyride's owners. Dave

You make it sound like airliners have unreliable fuel gauges. I agree with you when it comes to small planes, but airliners (and business jets, high end helicopters, etc) have very accurate fuel gauges. Don't know if they get a warning/caution when fuel quantity is decreasing unusually fast. Dave

So that's where my monthly website hit comes from! Thanks! As far as stolen photos goes, I don't mind so much as long as the watermark is there. I don't bother with right-click protection because it doesn't really do anything (the images are in your cache) and makes it annoying for me when i want to save a watermarked pic for posting here or somewhere else. My pics are all over facebook and myspace and classified ads for gear and who knows where else. I've actually sold over 500 pictures too. It can be annoying that anybody would just steal a pic when i sell small digital downloads for 25 cents, but the watermark that goes on the free copy is probably more valuable anyway. Haven't found any pics being used really inappropriately (commercially or whatever). If you don't want a pic stolen, the only way to do it is to not post it online. Dave

Wish I knew about that adapter. Just spent $165 or something on 2 tongue switches. And my camera helmet is sporting dual switches so I can switch back and forth with my XTi. I like the 50D, but it's advantages are most apparent on the ground, not in the air. But anyway here are a few shots I couldn't have taken with my XTi... at least not with the exact same settings. 1/8000th shutter speed (bumped the mode dial to Av at f/3.5 by accident and had it at ISO 800 by accident. Oops.) Flash sync speed of 1/250th. ISO 3200. But in general, don't expect any miracles compared to the Rebel series. 6.3 frames per second is nice, but I sure take a lot of similar pictures!

I recommend analog altimeters to new jumpers for a couple reasons. First, no batteries to die. That works later if they go with a digital in the future. It's always good to have an analog altimeter in the gear bag for when the digital goes blank. I've been on 2 night jumps where my digital altimeter's backlight didn't work. Of course it was because I didn't follow the instructions and put in a fresh battery before the night jumps. But now I go with a glow in the dark galaxy for night jumps. The second reason is that a digital altimeter needs to be read, where an analog will give you a pretty good idea of altitude even if you can't see the numbers. If the dial is on the left side, you're still above 6K. If it's pointing to the right, it's probably about time to be pulling. A digital can easily be misread. Get that first digit wrong and you could be in big trouble. Look in an aircraft cockpit. Even a modern aircraft with all digital displays. You won't see just numbers anywhere... if they're important. You'll always have some kind of graphical representation to go with the numbers. There's a reason for it. But in the end, does it matter? Does anybody look at altimeters anymore? Don't we all just track when we hear a beep? Dave

I mounted mine the long way on my XTi (and helmet) so it wouldn't block the battery door. It is threaded though. Hasn't been a problem for me. I switch the same plate back and forth between two cameras without an issue too. Dave

Rules? Ha! My first time there, I asked what the landing pattern was. "Don't hit anybody" was the official answer. They actually do a pretty good job of picking a landing direction before takeoff much of the time, but there's no rule to follow it. And there's no telling what direction the previous or next loads chose, so it gets a bit hectic [aka scary]. Dave

Hey, dictaphone is still around. I work in a building owned by them. Well... they were bought by another company a few years ago and the name is changed, but dictaphone.com still works.

...cause this is way better: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/43834/title/Students_present_projects_at_2009_ISEF Dave

I think you might be obsessed!

Hehe... yeah... as long as they agree with you. Making a poll with only answers you like is a great way to do that. Good luck taking down PDF. I'm sure they'll notice. Dave

Yep, just right click on the download link (in the yellow box) and hit "save target as" or "save link as" or whatever your browser calls it. In firefox, you'll probably have to change the filename from something.php to whatever the filename should be in order to get it to play correctly. Dave

Where are ya and how far are you willing to drive? There are lots of riggers around at CPI (Ellington, CT) and the Ranch (Gardiner, NY). CPI riggers are generally a bit cheaper than Ranch riggers (in my experience). I know at least one rigger that lives a little west of Hartford, if that works for you. Let me know and I'll PM contact info. Dave

They gave him the option to cancel multiple times and he chose not to. Now he wants an apology or a discount? Why didn't he just cancel? He obviously thought that a PDF rig is worth an 18 month wait, right? Why isn't he posting great things about them and how their rigs are so great they are worth waiting 18 months for? I agree he got screwed, but I don't think he should be asking for anything. He should have cancelled his order a loooooong time ago. He was a trooper and stuck with them. That's his own problem. Dave

And skydivers back in the day wouldn't have preferred those things too? USPA membership costs about 2 jumps these days. I'm not pooping in weeds to save that kind of money. Dave

I'd say it all depends on what school you go to and what you study. I got my MBA a few years ago, going to school 2 nights a week for 2 years. It was at a hotel down the street from my company. Dinner (included in tuition) was waiting for us when we arrived. Each course took 5 weeks I think, and our textbooks (also included in tuition) for the next course would be brought to us as each course ended. I've never been to the campus, which is probably 15 miles away from here or maybe less. And it was all paid for by my company. Well, except for tax. I wouldn't say that it was all easy, but it was probably about as easy as grad school can ever be. Didn't even have to take the GMAT. I was supposed to take it, but they dropped the requirement before I did. But I didn't go to a top school (obviously). You can choose what you want in grad school and how much work its going to be. But you have to know what you want to get out of it. Dave

Even the couple of non-GM DZ's I've jumped at required USPA membership to jump at them. Insurance and licenses are probably a couple of the reasons. While not impossible, it's very unrealistic to be able to skydive without a USPA membership in many parts of the country. I'm OK with that... until another organization comes along that does what USPA does, but better. I don't see that happening any time soon. Dave