pilotdave

I was in a CASA that ingested a bird in the left engine just as we lifted off. I think my altimeter got to 800 feet, but with 400 foot hills under us. We landed safely. My view of the landing (you can't see a whole lot since I was on the cockpit floor) is in this short video... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4251. Dave

It's a proven fact that Nikita is an attractive name. Unfortunately only to guys. Dave

Why is this so complicated? If the USPA (BOD) just wanted to challenge jumpers to continue their training, why not just print up a bunch of solo challenge certificates and send stacks to every GM DZ? The program was flawed as soon as you guys decided to put a special label on participating dropzones. Dave

I paid for a couple coach jumps before there was such thing as a USPA coach (2000ish). They weren't required, but it's not like experienced jumpers were lining up to jump with (male) newbies. I think that kind of thing depends on the DZ, not on USPA. Sure, coach jumps aren't cheap for the student, but the realistic alternative is more solos... the way it was in 2000, at least where I jumped. I moved and switched to a DZ where solos were almost unheard of for licensed skydivers unless they want to. Coach jumps also help with that... students are so much better when they get licensed that more people want to jump with them. And since a lot of the ordinary jumpers are coaches, the students get to know a lot more people they can jump with later on. I wouldn't want to go back to the way things were in 2000. But I do agree with your main points. Retaining experienced jumpers isn't something the USPA can really do, and this program isn't likely to retain students. Dave

Geez, next time have em fly closer together so you don't have to be so far away to get a shot of the whole thing. J/k nice shots. Dave

And what if we end up getting more dedicated, caring riggers, AFF instructors, and long time jumpers? You can't predict who is going to stick around and who's going to go out with a flash. Every time someone takes an FJC, he/she could be either one. Only way to get the good people into the sport is to get people into the sport. Dave

I think I see what's going on here. I bet one of those 71 wingsuiters was making a rude gesture when "the picture" was taken, ruining it and making it innapropriate to post publicly. I once even saw a skydiver stick his tongue out, right toward a camera! That sort of thing has to go straight to just once place... the garbage! To whomever ruined "the picture," THANKS A LOT, JERK! Or maybe I'm wrong. Dave

No, you're reading it backwards. It says you're jumping too small a canopy. Dave

I once got to a boogie only to find my Z1 visor was cracked. Luckily they had a gear store and I replaced it while I was there. It was packed in a helmet bag inside a duffel bag and was filled with soft stuff. Dave

Bet you miss answering questions about the Neptune now, don't ya?! Nice job though... don't know who is responsible, but USPA is really putting in the effort here. I'll give you all the credit. Dave

Can't watch it right now, but I'm pretty sure this video has a good example of what a canopy connected by only one riser looks like... it's not pretty. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1575 Dave

Matlab is much simpler than fortran though. I used matlab a lot in college (though I can't remember any of it) and took one class where I was supposed to learn fortran. Luckily the prof let us use matlab instead if we wanted. So much easier to program. I still have folders full of .m files here... can't believe I used to understand what these did.

My experience has been very different. I've travelled with rigs many times including internationally (to/from Israel, where security is almost insane). I never bring any attention to my rig. It's in a bag with nothing else. I don't tell them what it is. At most I've been asked if it's a parachute. A couple times I've had them call over a supervisor to look at the x-ray. But I've never had them take it out of the bag and I've never had them swab it. People that bring attention to it get attention. I've travelled with other skydivers that warn security that they are carrying a parachute... they are always the ones that have problems. When it goes through just like every other bag, I always wonder if the TSA agent is so well trained that he knows it's a parachute and it's allowed or if he's so poorly trained he doesn't notice that there's anything odd about it. Dave

Maybe... they're always getting better. But I've never seen one that can really compete. I have a kit lens and a 10-22. Bet you can't tell which shots are taken with which lens, other than the ones at the wide end of the 10-22 or the narrow end of the 18-55. The 10-22 is technically superior, but it's not a night and day difference. I have to look at the exif to know which lens I used. And sport mode just sets the shutter speed and aperture. There's no magic going on. It uses ISO 400, which some people might not like. It biases toward fast shutter speeds. Images are saved as large/fine jpegs. It's not like it puts the camera into some kind of low quality mode. Dave

I think every video guy at my DZ other than me (though I barely ever do paid videos) uses sports mode and autofocus. Thousands and thousands of tandem pictures are shot that way every year. I can't say that I've seen every picture, but I know they aren't shooting "myspace" quality. Some DZs use compact cameras almost exclusively for tandem stills. As for taking a compact camera instead of an SLR (responding to a previous post)... the SLR still has all the same advantages even in sport mode over a compact. Though with new compacts coming out with jacks for tongue switches, I'd guess that they're going to catch on. But SLRs in sports mode and autofocus still blow them away, so I don't understand the comparison. (also to another post...) Pulling stills out of video instead of an SLR on sports mode? How bad do you think sports mode is?? The pictures come out great... as long as the conditions are right for it. FYI, I agree that we can get better results in many cases by learning how to use the camera. I stopped using sports mode a long time ago. You can learn a lot from it though if you look at the exif data for the pictures you take on sports mode. See what settings work and what settings don't work. I think it's a great place to start, and for a lot of people it's all they'll ever need. I don't recommend the green box or "P" modes which are also full-auto. You want something biased toward high shutter speeds. Dave

I still don't understand why it's "ok" to strap on a [sony] video camera, set it on auto-everything-except-focus, and go. But a still camera requires a PHd. Why's everybody so concerned at picture quality and not video quality? Why is it so wrong to use sport mode and autofocus on a still camera? It works great and it's easy. And if people want to learn how to use the camera to take better pictures, they will put that effort in themselves. Why does everybody push that so hard? Dave

Twin Otters and Skyvans do not fall into that category. But who knows when they will choose to lower that weight threshold to 8000 lbs or whatever. This rule would be bad news for skydiving. Dave

What you're doing is legal. You don't need to worry about being open about it. Both the USPA and TSA recommend having your rig in a bag with nothing else. I've seen a lot more trouble when people try to make things easier by letting security know it's a parachute. I plop my bag on the belt and don't say a word. 99% of the time it comes through just as if it was filled with my dirty laundry. Dave

Yeah and they probably learned a lesson thanks to this thread. All the moderation on here has left us so vulnerable to trolls... we just aren't ready for it! Come on people, get prepared for when this happens! This was just a drill of the emergency troll system. In the event of an actual troll, don't feed him! Dave

This thread is a perfect example of what's wrong with dropzone.com. No, I'm not talking about the original post, I'm talking about the responses from people that don't understand the concept of a quality troll. We need this sort of thing every once in a while to keep people on their toes a bit... Ya know, a little understanding of what a troll is and how to react appropriately. Dave

I know you're in Canada so I wouldn't expect you to follow US guidelines, but the USPA and the TSA have a lot of advice on how to travel with a rig. It's a lot easier when you do your homework first and have all the info printed out. I don't know about canadian security, but I travel with the section number of the TSA manual written down. If they have a question about my rig, I can point them to THEIR operating manual that says it's allowed. And of course you didn't follow the #1 piece of advice... the gear bag. Dave

I agree with you, but holding the aperture fixed is necessary if you're shooting manual focus. I use Tv mode with autofocus, but if I was manually focusing I'd use Av so the DOF stays constant. I also use Av for sunset loads so I don't underexpose by choosing too fast a shutter speed. Dave

Just for the record, I KNOW he has a SIM and I KNOW he knows what the ISP is, and I KNOW he's asked his instructors.

Start thinking about buying gear when you get your A-license. You'll have a much better understanding of what you're looking for, and you'll know some people that can help you find it. Dave

If your AAD doesn't fire for whatever reason, you're now at something under 750 feet, still in a high speed malfunction. And if it works, you might now have an entanglement and only a couple hundred feet to deal with it. You're much better off taking your chances pulling your reserve up high and then dealing with whatever you get. Hook knives aren't for freefall. Dave