peckerhead

Because they need to say something to justify having such an outdated obnoxious rig.

Happy anniversary! I hit the 26 year mark in March. I made my 1st jump in Littleton Colorado in 1981 at the age of 18. My 1st square jump was on a Strato Star after 45 PC jumps and 11 T-10 jumps. 7 of my 8 reserve rides were on rounds, I didn't own a ram-air reserve until the 90's. The 80's was a blast, people would come out to the DZ and party rain or shine. We would jump in bad weather, nowadays most people will not even show up unless you can get full altitude. I used a sentinal AAD on a belly wart for my 1st freefall jumps. After that I went over 2000 jumps with no AAD before I bought a cypress. I always forgot to turn it on so eventually I sold it and used the money to buy a new canopy. Maybe some day I will get another one. It's hard to believe it has been 26 years..... What a long strange trip it's been.

I know of at least one DZ that requires photo ID for each ist jump student regardless of age. But hey, I had fake ID when I was 17 and I am sure there are lots of DZs that don't check.

My ist video was a Canon zr25 and it had a lanc port. I really liked it and it had a lot of great features, the picture was great. Everyone kept telling me I had to get a Sony. After about 100 or so videos on the canon I went to a Sony TRV and sold the Canon. I honestly thought the picture on the Canon was better. Anyway, I sold the Canon to another jumper who still uses it, no problems after 6-7 years. I now have the HC3 but I wish I would have kept the Canon as a back up. The Sony TRV was not a better camera in my opinion. Just more expensive and heavier.

I am really surprised no one mentioned the TI riding his student side saddle towards the end of the video. Whats up with that?

>>>"When you roll the nose when pro packing the opening is symmetrical because you roll both sides of the nose." When you flat pack you can also roll both sides of the nose. Or, you can also roll the entire nose. You can also do this with a pro-pack. This is an option. I don't think you get it. As was already mentioned earlier in this thread there is only one difference between pro packing and flat packing.... With pro packing you s-fold each side of the canopy (right and left) from nose to tail. When you flat pack you s-fold the entire canopy from nose to tail. The orientation of the canopy is exactly the same once it comes out of the bag. It simply does not matter if you flat pack it or pro pack it. Once it comes out of the bag the canopy will not know the difference and it will open the same. It is just a different method to get it into the bag. If you ever watch a canopy come out of a bag on video in slow motion you will know what I am talking about. It is controlled chaos at best. How the canopy is folded is not that important. The important part is the slider quartered, the stabilizers cleared, and the lines stowed properly. Every thing else is gingerbread. Personaly if I am in a tight space I prefer to psyco pack but if I have a wide open space I flat pack because it is easier and faster for me. I don't like to pro pack really large canopies because I think it is stupid and a pain in the ass. There is most definetly a COOLNESS factor. The old time jumpers say "wow" I thought I was the only one who still flat packs....The medium time jumpers say " dude, don't you know how to propack yet? The newtimers say " What are you doing?" Don't you know that PD says blah blah blah? I have even had a few of the new guys think I invented something because they have never even seen a flat pack before.

Tandems are killing our sport. People come out, make one jump, get a video and you never see them again. They can check that off on the "things to do list" We are doing more tandems than ever yet the number of experienced jumpers is shrinking. For most people it is just a real expensive roller coaster ride. The numbers don't lie.

In my opinion you should have a D license before jumping a camera. I did not strap a camera on to my head until I had 2000 jumps. How many reserve rides have you had? Think about that.... No matter how much you try to justify it it still adds complexity to every jump..... Is it on, how much tape do I have left, is my flash card full, how much battery do I have, did I tighten the thumb screw, and so on.... I see young jumpers walk out to the plane with the camera dialed in and their chest straps un done. I have done gear checks on young jumpers with mis-routed bridles but their big concern was if the "light" was on. Priorities people!

Thanks John, if I am not mistaken that second one is me? Ps that beach boogie video you sent me won't play. Any chance I could get another copy?

I only have 300 or so camera jumps and most of them were Cessna tandems. I would like to see other Cessna pics...... Post em if you got em.

Here is an opening shot from December 06.

I have one but I seldom use it. The problem I have is with light. Since it is a fully manual lens the shots either come out too dark or washed out. Once in awhile you get lucky. I don't use it for working jumps because I am afraid the shots may not come out. If anyone has any tips on what settings to use with this lens I would love to hear it. 16 works sometimes but even set at 22 you can get totally washed out on a bright sunny day.

>>>RE: Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. I have unpacked both canopies and stored them loosely in cloth bags in an air-conditioned room. Appreciate the advice. -Leon That will work just fine but there is still no valid reason to unpack the rig. It will just take up more space. As far as the "brick" effect so what? it will still be opened, shaken out, and inspected before the next jump cycle anyway. Leaving it packed will not hurt the equipment in any way. That is just silly. Placing the gear in a cotton bag just means you are concerned with moisture and the cotton will absorb the moisture thus keeping the nylon dry. I have a good friend that owns a very large loft with likely the largest inventory of new and used equipment in the country. He keeps all of his gear stored in a climate controlled loft in plastic bags. No problem with midew ever. I have personally taken new canopies made in the '80s out of bags and they still appeared to be brand new. I think some of the advice given comes from the old school with natural fibers and damp storage areas. Moth balls? Are you kidding? You simply can not grow mildew without moisture and organic matter. It is not physically possible. I have stored gear in dry closets in plastic bags for years with no condensation or mold, or mildew. Each time it comes out looking just like it did when it was stored. But hey, if it makes you feel better........

I agree. If you are getting condensation then it is not a dry storage area. A damp basement for example, or an outdoor storage shed in a humid climate.

You need moisture to grow mildew so the storage area must be dry and the rig must be dry and completely moisture free before storage. Obviously it would not be a good idea to store damp gear in a plastic bag. The plastic bag is to protect it from moisture, bugs, etc. not seal it in.

No reason to unpack it. Store it in a cool, dry place out of the light. Put it in a sealed plastic bag to keep any bugs from crawling inside of it. When you are ready to jump it again your rigger will open it and inspect it before re-pack.

The best advice given here is to have someone knowledgable look at it In Person. I sent you a private message with contact information for someone on the west coast that can give you an accurate assessment. Click on "messages" above to read the message.

Wow! I had the exact same thing happen when I was 5 except I was the one who opened the door. I skinned my knees up real good when I fell out of the car. My mom thought the door just came open because it wasn't closed all the way and I didn't tell her the truth until some time later. I also had an uncle who owned a cessna and he used to take me flying when I was 4.

Hey Brett, you didn't allow for multiple answers so I didn't vote. At my DZ I get cash at the end of the day for the FJC. For tandem videos, jumpmaster fees, packing etc. the DZ keeps track and cuts me a check. I get a tax form at the end of the year. On working jumps my slot is also covered. So I get cash, checks, and jump credit. For rigging service the equipment owner pays me directly. I like getting the tax form at the end of the year because I always spend more than I make so I get a nice write off.

Ok, I was able to fit the HC3 in the cookie box with the condom on. It fits very snug but the box will close. For this to be practical I would have to at least cut a hole in the condom for the lanc port. You will still have to peel the condom back towards the front to accsess the view screen and change tapes or batteries. Even without the condom you have to remove it from the box to do this so no big deal. I have been using a quick release and screwing the tripod screw through the box and directly into the camera. This would be difficult to do with a condom on the camera so I think you would have to ditch the QR and mount the box directly on the helmet. The tripod screw keeps the camera from shifting around inside the box but with the condom on this is not a problem. I will have to play around with it but I think this just might work.... Advantages: Better protection for the camera especially from cold and high humidity. Less chance of a fogged lens. Camera will not shift inside the box so no need for the tripod screw. Makes the camera more "snug" Disadvantages: Not practical to use the quick release. Eliminating the QR will lower the camera at least a quarter inch so I have to make sure the still camera will not be in picture on the video but otherwise It should work. The condom I have was sized for a TRV 50 and it was stretch to fit. The HC3 is a much smaller camera so the condom fits but not real tight. I would recommend getting the smallest TRV style condom available. Skydance sells them for $35 And they ask to specify which TRV model when ordering. I think the TRV 50 is one of the larger models so a smaller one would fit better and the box will close easier. All for now...

If it was me I wouldn't worry about it. But a sharpie won't hurt it. The question is would it blend in or just make a darker spot.

Skydance sells condoms but I don't think they make them. Since the neoprene stretches the TRV style condoms will work on a HC3. I have a condom for a Sony TRV that will fit on my HC3. The camera fits so snugly in my cookie box I don't think it would fit with a condom on it. If you are going to use both (box and condom) you would likely need to have the box custom built for the extra bulk of the condom. (Maybe it will work, I will give it a try.) It may give great protection but it doesn't seem practical to use both a box and a condom. You would have to remove the camera from the box and then peel the condom off every time you want to change the tape, change the battery, acsess the buttons or the view screen, etc. I jumped my HC3 with this condom before I got the box and it worked OK but it still did not protect the main switch. You could still bump it to a different setting even with the condom on. Just a thought.

Here are two shots of the same tandem. The 1st is taken with a canon xt and the second is a frame grab with the hc3. Oviously the frame grab is not nearly as good but it is a big improvement from what I used to see with my old Sony (trv50) Both shots were cropped but no other editing was done.

If you use the shutter switch and save to the card it is 4.0 mp. Not easy to use that feature in freefall. Also if you are shooting video at the same time You can only take 3 shots which is not real practical. Not sure what the quality of the frame grab is in numbers. When I get a chance I will post some.

I have the new HC3 and I am really surprised how much better quality the frame grabs are as compared to my old Sony. They are still not quite as sharp as my XT but I think with a little editing they are good enough to sell to tandem students. I think we are getting closer to being able to jump with just one camera.