pilotdave

Each is going to have its advantages and disadvantages. Personally I'd eliminate the Sony first. Once you start buying lenses, you kind of get stuck with a particular brand or else you need to upgrade everything. You'll probably want to be stuck with nikon or canon. You can read the reviews and specs for each camera. Bottom line is that they're both going to take really nice pictures but the 450D is quite a bit smaller and lighter and switches are easily available. The nikon has its strengths and might be a good choice if you plan to use it on the ground a lot... something to consider. But if you're mainly buying a camera for skydiving, the 450D just has the advantage. Dave

To me, it's a no brainer. 450D with the kit lens and whatever kinda switch you want. Dave

Most of the online gear stores have em... here's one: http://www.skydivestore.com/getitem.cgi?Z1~Replacement~Lens&10142008165441&Hard~Helmets. You might be able to get it locally too... our DZ's tiny little gear store in manifest usually has them in stock. Dave

You can just ask the pilot for the light a little early because you're going to have a long climbout. Of course I wouldn't expect the pilot to compensate for a long climbout on his own, but communication and spotting by jumpers are still allowed.

It's nothing new. I know of a north east DZ that dropped them a couple years ago, supposedly because they weren't getting paid properly. I still have no respect for people that are willing to do business with skyride right up to the point it affects them personally... either by not getting paid or by getting kicked out of the USPA, etc... Dave

Making more and more sense by the minute! Dave

Actually the harness sizing would be a problem for me if I was going to do tandems. I have to shorten the main lift webs on the sigma or it'll be too lose and I might not be able to reach the drogue. It's a stretch for me even with the harness adjusted for me. All the TIs at our DZ have settled on one setting. One size fits all... except me. The older sigma harnesses are a major pain to adjust. I'd have to change it up for each jump, and then remember to change it back afterward. Not so bad on the new sigmas but we have a mix of old and new and I'd have to be able to use both. Flaring is hard... especially with a heavier student. I really have to think about getting my elbows up and pushing straight down to finish the flare... or I pound in. With lighter students it's not so bad. Dave

A concentric site probably would help. It's really an amazing little device. Once it's sighted in, that little circle is right on the mark. You can even check the aim with the helmet off your head by looking through the sight with a mirror. I'd personally avoid the ringsight if you can live without it. You might find a way to get the helmet on the same every time, or use a laser pointer to get sighted in. I personally think the ringsight is the single piece of the camera helmet that adds the most risk. There have been multiple fatalities due to ringsight entanglements... and a recent incident proves that even nylon screws don't make the ringsight so easy to break off in an emergency. I finally got one this year when my 4-way team got a little more serious... brent concentric sight and the removable articulating bracket. Works great. I remove the sight for any kind of inside video or coach jumps. And I always take it off when I put the helmet away. Definitely recommended if you decide to get a ringsight. Dave

I'm around your size and got my tandem rating earlier this year. I don't do tandems though... just got the rating for fun and only jumped with experienced skydivers. I can tell you it's tough, but doable. You might be limited in how big (in weight and height) your students can be... especially at first. No real problem with smaller students. Biggest I took was maybe just under 6 feet and 190 lbs. Even though he had 2000 jumps (and took the tandem course with me), I found certain things to be tough. I definitely wouldn't want to take a real student that size. But, everything gets easier with experience and I'm sure if I had any interest in doing tandems (for real), I'd figure out how to deal with the taller and heavier people more easily. Dave

Thanks. I was standing out there waiting for SOMETHING to fly in front of the moon. The spot was all wrong for a canopy to get there. Then I watched the otter take off and turn around. I started looking at the plane, then the moon, then the plane.... "he's lining up for it!" Well, it wasn't on purpose, he was just coming around for a low pass, but it worked out perfectly.

I buy all of mine (for an epson) from Amazon.com. Haven't found better prices anywhere else, and free shipping (but that might take too long for you). http://www.atlex.com/ is supposedly a good place to buy from too, but I haven't ever ordered from them. Dave

Well, to me it's obvious what happened. Jessica tripped him. I see her diving out after him, looking all innocent. But I know the truth...

He was referring to drifting in relation to the airmass, not drifting with the wind. Like backsliding, for example. He was responding to the comment that freeflyers are more likely to drift. Dave

Connecticut Parachutists is the only New England DZ that stays open all winter. So you have to travel south, but not THAT far.

S&TAs have no real authority at any dropzone (unless the DZO gives them authority). I think experienced jumpers should watch out for newer jumpers doing stupid things that might get them hurt. This S&TA already warned the guy once. Obviously it didn't sink in. I'd say he should warn him again in front of his buddies that are going to do VRW with him. But that's up to him. Earlier this year I got on a plane and noticed a guy with a rented rig and no jumpsuit sitting up near the pilot. It dawned on me at some point that this guy was planning to freefly in an old Vector2. I told him that the rig is not freefly friendly and he needs to stay on his belly... flips are ok, but don't spend any time in a sit or on his back, etc. He promised he wouldn't. Few hours later he had a premature deployment in a sit. Some people aren't going to listen till it happens. BTW, that rig has been retired. Dave

I wouldn't say I'm scared of it, but I don't like the idea of using one of my reserves. It's in my backup rig, which I rarely use... and I don't do cutaways anyway. It's a microraven 120. Pretty bad reputation. I was given bad advice by an insane rigger when I bought the rig when I had about 40 jumps. I'm not so worried about it that I won't jump the rig, but I don't look forward to flying it ever. I just know I'll need to do some pratice flares. My main rig has a PDr 143. Done a few jumps on a demo of that and I love it. I'd love to get an optimum 143 (which flies even better!) in my other rig, but I hate to spend any money on that thing. Dave

Slow motion reserve deployment in Norman Kent's Flightscape trailer... http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=1316 Dave

Interview from the NBAA convention on the 400 series otter... http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/exclusivevids/NBAA2008_ExclusiveVideo_VikingAircraft_TwinOtter_198951-1.html Dave

I assume there was a boogie going on if there was a CASA there... Maybe that complicated things? It costs a LOT for a dropzone to bring in a CASA... maybe they were especially worried about making money that day to pay the bills... moreso than usual. If your story is accurate (student and instructors were ready to go all day), I wouldn't be too happy either. But I'm guessing it's a bit more complicated. Dave

I've gotten some very late PM notifications too. Not 2 days, but hours... Dave

I felt the same way when I paid $3.45 the other day. Hadn't seen it that low in a long time. Dave

DZs I've jumped at: Skydive New England, ME Pepperell, MA Jumptown, MA Northampton, MA (closed) Connecticut Parachutists, CT Boston Providence, RI (closed) Ocean City, MD Delmarva, DE Cross Keys, NJ Sebastian, FL Williston, FL (closed) Deland, FL Lake Wales, FL Clewiston, FL Z-hills, FL The Ranch, NY Paradive, Israel Plus a few demos. I'll be able to add Eloy, AZ to the list next week... Dave

I absolutely think so. New A-licensed jumpers that have gone through the full ISP coaching program are soooooo much better than students that took a 7-level AFF program and then went off on their own. They learn things now on coach jumps that I learned sporadically though my first 100 or 200 jumps. No, they don't become experts in 18 jumps or so. But they have a much better foundation now, which makes it easier for them to find people that will jump with them later on. They also know a lot more of the experienced jumpers (their coaches), which helps them get introduced to people they can jump with when they get licensed. AFF teaches survival skills. Coaching teaches RW skills. It works. Dave

Ask at your dropzone where people buy gear. Most dropzones have some stuff for sale... goggles, gloves, etc. They also tend to have dealers for rigs and canopies. Or there's at least someone that can help you choose what to buy and you can shop online. Dave

Not possible, unfortunately. Smugmug gives a fair amount of "customization" control over the site, but none in the shopping cart. You're right though, most people want downloads. I don't do a lot of tandem videos (none since April... yay!), but I've tried that. I hand out business cards to the students with the website and send another card with the DVD. Never sold a single pic to a tandem student. Then again, I've only done a few that bought just video and not stills (I always shoot stills anyway), so most have all the pics anyway. Dave