TALONSKY

My pull alititude was 2000 AGL and I believe my average fall rate was 50 - 55 MPH. Kirk

This weekend we had clouds so we could just do hop-n-pops but with a wingsuit it still is a blast. I did three jumps first one was from 4600 and I got 52 seconds of freefall. The second was at 4000 I got 36 seconds of freefall, and the last one was from 5000 I got 55 second of freefall. The other hop-n-pop ers loved the visual as did the others on the ground. Kirk

I have not used mine in about 16 years but it's N7FOS Kirk

This has been talk about already, you may try and run a search.

I have never heard of a DZ jumping tandems that low if more altitude was available. I have taken tandems out that low due to bad weather but they were told about the lower altitude before boarding the plane and given the option of coming back another day or getting out lower. Kirk

I tried Perris last time I was down there and although there seemed to be some wingsuit pilots around they really did not seem that interested in doing any flocking. In fact the only invite I got was after I had jumped most of the day and was packing up to go home. Plus I saw there is a swoop competition at Elsinore so I thought it would be fun to do a few wing suit jumps and hang out and watch the swoop comp. Kirk

A pocket slider is a quick fix that will slow the opennings down. Any local rigger should be able to make you one. Kirk

That is what I am trying to find out. I am from Skydive Oregon where we currently have 5 or 6 wingsuits pilots. Kirk

I am going to be out at Skydive Elsinore on Sunday the 14th just wanted to see if any other wingsuit pilots would be around. Kirk

By the way, ever watch what happens when an entire load is taken downwind. At least at my Dz you are get to see at least a few less than perfect downwind landings. I think it is a problem for quite a few jumpers. I know personally I would like to get much better at my downwind landings . Kirk

I think Lisa is right; you need to be able to land your canopy downwind. In the last few years there have been a few deaths from people making low turns to get faced into the wind. You do not necessarily need to be able to do perfect stand up landings downwind but you should be able to land safely downwind or you should get coaching or upsize. Kirk

I am not sure if you know but Chris Martin from Precision Aerodynamics died awhile back. He was flying a 21 Square foot Xaos for fun to play with wingsuit guys and the canopy spun up on him. He blacked out about 5 seconds into the skydive and spun in.If you go the the incident forum you can find it there. Kirk

well it all depends on what im doing really.....if im doing camera or birdman, im using my Xfire......if im fun jumping or swooping, its the VX thanks for the advise.......never thought it to be a hard transition at all.....just never flew a VX This is not my recomendation just what I did and the reason for it. I use to fly a Crossfire 2 130 with my wingsuit and out of the 60 jumps I did with it I only got into line twist about a half a dozen times. I really did not like the way the canopy started for the ground as soon as the twist was started. I eventually switched to using my VX for the wingsuit as it fly straight if in line twist (atleast for my the five times I have been in them). My line twist issue may have been packing induced or body position, I did eventually find a way to pack the VX to avoid line twist) Plus I really like the fact that the VX opens faster. The Crossfire 2 thousand foot opening are nice just eat up alot of altitude though. Kirk

Why would you want to take a chance on screwing yourself up worse. If you can not walk you really have no business skydiving. You know if you hurt yourself you would increase the time it will take to truly be back to skydiving. As for myself ever since I started swooping (around 850 jumps ago) I have had one simple rule if I can not jog a mile I will not skydive. Kirk

While I can only comment from my experience but I have owned a Talon 2, an Eclipse and an Infinity, I have had hard housings in the risers on all of them and had 5 different riggers pack them and have never had a riser tuck tab come open (other than on openning) Kirk

The first difference you will notice is the VX does not open nearly as nice as the Crossfire 2. I started out trying to pycho pack my VX but eventually went back to rolling the nose with a regular pro pack. Kirk

I never went over at the same size, I went from Crossfire 2 130 to a VX 109. You will notice the front riser pressure is quite a bit higher on the VX. I personally had to figure out a different way to start my approach. Some pilots will go from brakes to front risers to lighten up the riser pressure, for myself I noticed if I start the turn with my hips it lightens the riser pressure to a managable point. Your front riser pressure will build fairly quickly and unlike the Crossfire 2 will pull out of your hands. Kirk

Hey Kim: I think you made the right decision. In our climate trying to get a tandem rating during this time of year is fairly difficult. When Gile and I went to get ours (the beginning of May a few years ago) we took 3 days and paid for many flights up just to find out we did not have enough altitude to jump. It was rather frustrating and expensive. See you around Kirk

Yes, you did not say it was better, however when you are bringing up counter points to the more experienced skydivers it can be preceived that way. I am by no means an expert at anything I just get tired of seeing newbies argueing about things they really do not know or have little if any real experience with.

I find it interesting that with your one year in the sport of skydiving you feel your opinion is better than that of people that have been in this sport much much longer. Our opinions are generated from watching people pound in or worse. The simple fact is if someone is going to downsize too fast no one can stop them. I have had countless conversations with people to just watch them run out and buy something smaller. It happens all the time.

I would do not think there really should be a specific jump number cut off (I have seen people with 600 jumps that land pretty scary still). I think ask them what they fly how long they have been flying it and the number to their local DZ with the name of the S&TA. I would think any good canopy pilot would not be offended that you wanted to check their story out and anyone that is lying to you would get upset. It would be up to you (weather to or not to check their story out) but their reaction to this question should give you an indication to how truthfull they are. I know personally when I bought my Xaos 98 I had already talked to the S&TA for a reference just incase. Kirk

There is the Sony DSC-V1 here is a link to one on e-bay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48543&item=7508692355&rd=1. There is a port for a remote. The remote is a LANC port but can be modified. here is the information on the remote:http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=RMVD1&Dept=cameras&CategoryName=acc_DIAccessories_DIOthers Here is what I did. I bought the remote and cut the clip part off. Next I took it apart and took the buttons for the zoom and video out. I then sanded the top of the picture button and the bottom of the video buttons along with shaving the lip off that button. Next I glued the video button on top of the picture button so now it proturdes out about 1/4". I then sanded the back cover down as small as possible and reassemble the switch. I then took a 9" balloon and covered the entire thing making water tight. I put it in my mouth and use my tongue to push the two position picture switch. It is a bit of a mouth full but I just did not like the idea of having something other than toggles in my hand.

One thing to keep in mind is today's hottness will be tomorrows has been. Technology changes so rapidly that if you went out tomorrow and bought the latest and greatest you will pay alot and in a year it will still be a great camera but something else would have replaced it and the price for what you have will have went down alot. I bought a PC105 at the end of their rein of being the newest they started selling for over $1000.00 I bought mine for $759.00 they now go for about 400-500. The same thing is true for still camera's the Digital Rebel started out for around $1000 since they have been up graded to the Rebel XT the original goes for $500-$700 now. Kirk

Before your taken serious you will need to fill out your profile. Also you really will need alot more jumps before jumping with a camera. They are called tongue switch or bite switch Kirk

I went on e-bay to check those prices of Canon Rebel most are still going for over $600 plus. I did see one 5 hours for close at $566 but we all know that price will move before it closes so I still see a $250 plus differance between these two. On top of most of those Canons will need more memory and spare batterys so if you look ast base cost of each mine ran $261 without the memory upgrade and extra batterys compared to the $600 plus the canon is going for. Kirk