pilotdave

I'm sure the flow over the helmet is very smooth... when the jumper is staring at the ground.

And all of a sudden, that container that comes with a 120 reserve for real cheap is PERFECT since it'll fit a 170 main. Unfortunately, most manufacturers don't make many sizes for bigger reserves than mains. Low pack volume mains could make that situation worse. Dave

So it looks like PD just announced a new canopy, the Pulse. Looks like a semi elliptical hybrid using a combination of ZP and PD's low pack volume fabric used on the Optimum reserves (at least as best as I can tell). Any thoughts on this? I understand hybrids, and I understand why people like low pack volume canopies. I think its great for reserves, since it gets people to upsize. But what will low pack volume mains do? People will need to use smaller containers to fit the same size main. They're not going to upsize. Think people are going to downsize their reserves so they can get smaller containers to fit their new main? I guess a Pulse/Optimum combo would let someone have a small container and bigger canopies. But what do you think? Will people jump smaller reserves for the benefit of a low pack volume main? BTW, I have no idea how small a Pulse will pack. I'm just speaking more generically about low pack volume mains. Dave

Those filters fit at the rear end of the lens. Not very protective. Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=tags&tags=view&tag=near%20miss Should be a start. Not all are skydiver/aircraft near misses but there are a few in there. Dave

That's one of their standard templates they've been using all along. That one was a real Canadian DZ's site that they copied (Adventure Skydiving logo and all) and just changed a few details. The real DZ had to change their website to stop looking like a skyride site. Dave

Jumpers can hold their breaths, but that's still a fast pace for a 30-second skydive from 14,000 to the ground.

About the best I can do... Dave

If it's too strong, don't try to dilute it on your own! Ask your jump pilot to cut it. It takes a licensed professional. Dave

What was posted before was a summary of a judgement. Should be public record. Anyone know how to look that up? If I remember correctly (it's been at least a day!), and I'm sure I don't have the details exactly correct, a judge ordered skyride to pay skydive arizona all of their profits made through their arizona websites. It was a lot longer than that, so I'm sure there's a lot more to it... anyone want to fill in the rest for those that missed it and don't want to wait? Dave

Actually makes kind of a nice effect sometimes.

It was N834TP: IDENTIFICATION Regis#: 834TP Make/Model: DC3 Description: DC-3, DST ( C-41, C-47, C-47A to J, AC-4 Date: 02/04/2009 Time: 1650 Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N Damage: Substantial LOCATION City: MOJAVE State: CA Country: US DESCRIPTION AIRCRAFT VEERED OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF RUNWAY 30 AND NOSED OVER AT MOJAVE, CA INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0 # Crew: 2 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: # Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: WEATHER: KMHV 1650Z VRB/03KTS 40SM FEW120 12/M05 A3015 OTHER DATA Activity: Training Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER FAA FSDO: VAN NUYS, CA (WP01) Entry date: 02/05/2009 BTW, it's a turboprop converted DC-3, so jet fuel is correct. Pic: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Aero-Modifications-65TP/1350024/M/ More accident info at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20090204-0. Doesn't look like it was ever a jump plane. Former south african air force patrol plane. Dave

I never had a problem with the canon kit lens getting moisture inside, but my 10-22 fogs up on the inside like crazy on hot humid days. I noticed it was fogged up on the ride up once, so i took it off the camera and held it outside the door. It cleared nice and fast that way. Not that I recommend doing that. Probably would have cleared in freefall, but I don't know. Dave

Jumpers getting hypoxic on the long ride to 14K? Dave

http://www.skydivingstills.com/gallery/5170254_EwzWW/4/313231361_gnjgQ#313231378_oF3pb I was impressed!

Yeah, positive attitude and focusing on what will go right will keep ya safe. Don't read those negative incident reports. They're real downers. And besides, they only teach ya what can go wrong, not right! Knowing that stuff is a surefire way to get hurt! Dave

This answers the question for me. If you don't feel comfortable jumping the canopy when there's going to be traffic or when you're jumping somewhere unfamiliar, you shouldn't be jumping it at all. You can end up in traffic on a cessna load or at an unfamiliar dropzone because of a bad spot. You can't upsize your canopy in flight... Dave

I used raw+jpeg on my XTi once when shooting landing pictures in the snow on a cloudy day. Figured I might really mess up, so it might be nice to have raw files. But if i dont mess up, i'll have jpegs ready to go. Well, first canopy came down and I started snapping away. Filled the buffer after a few shots and missed the next landing. Quickly switched back to jpeg and never tried that again. On the 50D I have now with a faster memory card (it really makes a big difference!), I can shoot pretty much as fast as i'd ever want to on raw+jpeg. Problem is that an 8-gig card can only hold about 356 raw files. Add large jpegs and I'm probably down to 285. At 6 frames per second, i'd run out of ammo way too fast. Memory cards are cheap... but not that cheap! I'm giving raw a try because people that use it, and learn to do it properly, love it. I was told my a photographer friend that i'll get addicted to raw. I talked with Mike McGowan at nationals last year... he asked if I shot raw. When I said no, he asked why I was throwing away my negatives. Raw has some serious advantages... but getting a workflow down to handle the huge files is going to take a while. Dave

You can't see the difference in aerodynamics between doing that at 20 mph of airspeed vs 0 airspeed? Think of the airflow around the canopy. Think of the difference in angle of attack. Coming straight down on a windy day on my sabre2 is a completely different sensation than sinking an accuracy canopy. The accuracy canopy has an entire mode of flight not available on a regular canopy... at least not available in any useful way. Toggles above your shoulder area is flare, below shoulders is sink. Regardless of wind. It's what happens with a sport canopy right before it stalls. But much more stable of course. I'm not saying accuracy canopies have some magical ability to sink that other canopies don't have. I'm saying they are designed with features and flight characteristics that let them sink... something other canopies can't do. It's not magic, it's design. And it's not size. Dave

If you're looking for info on classic accuracy, check out Eiff's page on the fundamentals of accuracy: http://eiff.com/manuals/accuracy.html. Lots of good info. Dave

It was styleandaccuracy.com but it seems to be down. Dave

I guess we'll agree to disagree. Sure, with enough wind, a velocity will sink straight down. But aerodynamically, it's completely different from what an accuracy canopy is doing. An accuracy canopy can sink in zero wind. Even downwind. A Velocity 238 wouldn't be able to sink like a Classic 238. An Icarus 330 will not sink like a Parafoil. It's not about size, it's about canopy design. Sure, a classic 99 would probably fly like shit. It's designed for a wingloading of about 0.7. You can't scale down an accuracy canopy to make a swooping canopy and you can't scale up a swooping canopy to become an accuracy canopy. They simply have extremely different flight characteristics due to design differences. I'm guessing you've never tried classic acc. Try it... you might be surprised how different it is from just jumping a big student canopy. Dave

Downloaded it tonight. I've tried it before for editing jpegs, but found it too slow compared to picasa. For raw, it's looking good. The other program I'm trying is called Capture One. Gets better reviews for quality of converted files, but has a lot less features than lightroom. I've never worked with raw files until I got this new camera... It's basically a nightmare!

Well, that would be true if the latest version of adobe camera raw was compatible with older versions of photoshop. Unfortunately, it's only compatible with CS4. http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4220 "The Camera Raw 5.2 plug-in is not compatible with versions of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop CS4..." I just got a 50D and I have CS2. I'd love if there was a way to upgrade it to be able to edit raw files from my camera. Looking like I'll be buying either Lightroom or another program that can edit/convert raw files. Dave

What camera is it and what program is he trying to use to view the files? Windows doesn't display thumbnails for .cr2 files at all as far as I know. If he's using photoshop, the newest cameras require CS4. Dave