wonko

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Everything posted by wonko

  1. wonko
    A/C is Britten Norman BN2A Islander. It takes 9 jumpers to 11000ft. http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound/3721648336/sizes/o/ Occasionally, we jump from other planes, but F22 is still on to-do list ;-) And yes, flying one's body without a jumpsuit is kinda demanding. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  2. wonko
    Just a vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVEXIl8rqwQ, from the Parasummer event. Get here next year! Pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound may need some diggin' - tags like "parasummer" and "2009" might help ;) More info: http:// villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  3. wonko
    Yes, I need some advice in how to handle Mach2 for aerobatics. When exiting on my spine, I can fly it inverted no problem. But attempting transitions from belly-down position have been resulted in violent inverted flatspin :) (if legwing not totally killed) or just losing direction and going head-down (if legwing was killed), so far. The airlocks of this suit are really fantastic and this adds to the problem (together with wing size). Yes, I have the flylikeabrick instructional videos and I haven't had similar problems with S3 or Blade. Any hints about handling the MachII machine? Unfortunately, nobody else around here flies this beast and I just can't make it to ZH this year :( (Sorry 4 my spelling, English is not my mother tongue). villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  4. wonko
    Everything above has been well said. Nobody can tell you when it's the right time - the only thing the others can tell is when it's _obviously_ too early. The biggest risk factor is your mindset - so give yourself plenty of time. I started camera flying when having 300+ jumps. For the next 200+ jumps or so I was more focusing to my cameragear than to my jumping... guess what - on one pleasant day I joined a boarding queue with cameras on my head but no rig - it was a bit hasty day. Ok, I'm still here, but this was close 8:[ Nothing personal here - you are not me. Just take your time and be prepared to not having any leisure time at dz any more ;-) villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  5. wonko
    I've owned Bonehead Optik since 2004. Some (rather ugly) modifications have been made to it, for now: 1) Spring&Bolt type quick release system; 2) freely pivotable sidebox fastening; 3) kinda upper platform for flash and still-camera. The whole s**t weights about 7 lbs. So far, I haven't real-tested the cutaway system . Sidebox pivot hasn't much use, because I can't pivot my still camera anyway. Sometimes (e.g. flying a rabbit for track dive) it has been useful, however. Main purpose of the ugly metalwork is to provide a place for flash unit and to shift stillcamera to the right for better balance; it also shields still camera and blowswitch unit against line snags. Previous solution had less metal, but the center of mass got substantially shifted to forward-right (due to flash) and it felt quite unpleasant to me. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  6. wonko
    I've tried 35mm lense (effectively 56mm on EOS350D) once and liked the results: http://tinyurl.com/ypzxws. The ground haze was a contributing factor, too I don't believe, that lenses longer than 50mm would do much good with head-mounts, in most cases. However, there is a man - Jussi Laine - out there: http://tinyurl.com/2ey4jw. I've seen him jumping with Canon EF 70-200 tele, holding camera in hands. There are few who can do this. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  7. wonko
    Years ago I was young & beautiful and learned to track on my back and felt like... Videograb by Reiko (peedu) Teepere. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  8. wonko
    Yep, it does. Problem arises from lens adaptor, which effectively puts the lense further away from the camera thus spoiling the focusing. The cure is simple - see what John says here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=12798866 - it works. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  9. wonko
    Before spending lot of $, try Russian made Zenitar 16mm fisheye http://www.rugift.com/ - small size, excellent value for price. I use to focus it somewhere to 1.2m (for tandems), set apperture to 11 or higher and set Av mode on camera. Exposure compensation 1 stop down and RAW mode is a good idea in most cases. On your camera, this will be effectively a 26mm lense - not so fishy at all... Sample pic here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/88214938@N00/101765075/in/set-1457542/. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  10. wonko
    Yep, that's right. JARI KUOSMA -- the founder and president of BirdMan, Inc -- will be coaching the skyfliers together with JUSSI HOLOPAINEN from Finland and TOOMAS "EKSTREMIST" TALTS from Estonia. They'll also be organising artistic skyflying, big flocks and lots more. Freefliers will surely enjoy the company of JAMES EVERED, the always-happy Australian who once almost believed that he had gotten into a fight with the Chairman of the Parachuting Committee of the Finnish Aviation Association -- who knows, knows ;) -- and TEPPO HEIKKINEN, a member of the Finnish world-class Team Ettan. Read more at: http://www.parasummer.com/2005/coach.html, http://www.parasummer.com/2005 Jari and James are coming. Are you? Blue Skies, Villem +3725026064 villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  11. wonko
    Hi there, this may sound funny, and in fact, it is. Anyway, I had a kind of demo jump to a harbour area today and I was reallly unease with it from the very beginning of the day. In previous days I made few demoes with wingsuit and a smoke canister - not convenient flying at all with clouds and quite a turbulent weather. A jump today went with no problems whatsoever, except that due to overcast at 6200ft we bailed out at 6000 instead of 13000 :). Why do I post this? Because it seems to me my mind did play some yesterday's tapes to me today. And I like to know whether this is common or not. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  12. wonko
    At last weekend I put a still camera on top of my head and the very first shot i got from it in freefall is the exit picture here http://villu357.pri.ee/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=040417-%C4maris. Rebel2000 with 28-80mm zoom lense ;-p, ISO-100 film. Av=11, Tv=350. FixFocus ca 15ft. Still feeling high... villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  13. wonko
    I hope you all enjoy it. Trim chart for contrail-150:http://villu357.pri.ee/contrail_150.jpg and The Wole Manual including a cryptic (differential) trim chart for all sizes: http://villu357.pri.ee/Contrail_manual_eng.pdf More info should be available if you bother to write them, see http://www.performance-variable.com. (>========:)]¤[ -villem- (+372 5026064) villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  14. wonko
    No worries, btw, spectre is a nice choice - mastering 7-cell landings will give a good preparation for reserve rides ;-) villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  15. wonko
    Thank you, I already received these charts. Size is 150sqft, btw. bs villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  16. wonko
    I took a look to the Performance Variable website but didn't find any trim charts there. Can anybody help? villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  17. wonko
    This is true. And it means we have to be more aware of what we are doing. Practicing routine checks is an important part of this. Any technology can fail as well as we humans do. What comes to initial topic - yes, my pillow has been under my harness. The last time it happened I was on the door. Another jumper spotted it . villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  18. wonko
    sounds like a matter of gear check to me villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  19. wonko
    In the beginning of my 2nd skydiving season my wife gave me 2 choices: 1) I'll be with my family by weekends, or 2) we'll divorce and I'll be free to skydive as much as I like. I was kinda of non-decisive and continued jumping. So she invented the 3rd way and started jumping herself. On her 5th freefall she realized she's not alone. Since then she hasn't jumped because of babies, but her attitude has been changed. She's happy for me flying in he skies, she really supports it, and I hope one day we'll fly together. Also, my 3 year old (a "middle") son claims he has excessive freefly experience but he can't explain clearly whether in dreams or from previous life so this will not qualify here. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  20. wonko
    Eerrr... the same question bothered me a while ago, see thread: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=847988. Most of the dropzones most likely do operate in uncontrolled airspace, this means A/C pilots have no obligation to listen for radio traffic at all. So this is up to us to take a good look around before we bail out/deploy. And yet another side of the same coin: what if we'll keep the buzz about these new issues about airspace control loud enough? One day FAA or smth will find it mandatory to have a $997 strobelight/smoke equipment on every freefall jump and a bit more complex azimuthal beacon system when flying wingsuits. ;) Life is free, why to make it even more expensive? villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  21. wonko
    Neither am I. One day, an article was printed in a local newspaper. It's author - a bald, fat and wise psychologist stated that people like skydivers, racers, mountain climbers etc... are generally kinda psychy and they (subconciously) try to escape their miserable childhood. One my fellow jumper commented the article: "This is absolutely true. My childhood was a sad one. I cried every single day. Until the day of my first jump." villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  22. wonko
    Hi, about a month ago we jumped in Florida and we flew birdmen, too. After one solo jump my buddy told me that a Cessna had been showing up by his side at about 6k or so. A/C had been close enough for him to see the pilot had mustaches . It is general and good practice to inform the jump pilots about birdmen flightplans but what about other pilots who might fly nearby? As much as I've listened for ATC, pilots say only "parachutists will be dropped" or smth. Such information is obviously not enough concerning birdmen who might be flying their own patterns near the airfield traffic circuit. Comments? villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  23. wonko
    Perhaps it is a good thing - skies might get really dense if everybody would fly wingsuits. I started wingsuit last summer and i absolutely loved it from the very 1-st jump. However some folks participating the same courses, said they did not like this kind of flying TOO much. People are different... I'll buy my own suit soon but this does not mean I'll give up freeflying, rw, etc. I love flying in every possible way, even when aided by plane.
  24. wonko
    Neither am I. But there is nothing wrong with 2-stage flares. Canopies are different and there is many different ways to land them. villem life is what you make it to be http://www.youtube.com/villu357 http://www.flickr.com/photos/skybound
  25. wonko
    Hello my friend it IS absolutely COOL to swoop spectres. I am very positive in that spetre is some of the greatest canopies ever designed. Not only because of it's performance/reliability ratio - it is also a good teacher. Recently I switched from my spectre170 to (a moderately transparent) stiletto 150 (about 1.5 lbs/sqft) and i must say - spectre is a good teacher if you want to hone your swoop & flare skills. 9-cells are much easier to handle after this. I shall fly smaller ellipticals but I'll keep my old spectre because I love it. =wonko=