mdrejhon

Less than two weeks till Rainbow Boogie 2009

Just a heads up. My name is Mark Rejhon.

On a flight to Argentina, I followed an Internet manual to solve the Rubik's Cube for the first time. Without a guide, I can only complete two or three faces before I get lost. I need to memorize the final complex steps.

Shah, This is a VERY important question: What is the name, model and size of canopy you jumped? 7-cell PD, Manta, Sabre, Pilot, etc. Size 210, 230, 260, 288, etc? Can you please look in your logbook and find out if the instructor wrote down the canopy you landed under? It should be there. Logbooks are supposed to contain this information. If this was not documented at all, you might want to consider going elsewhere to finish student training -- if you don't even know what parachute hurt you, and what parachute gave you the best landing? You mentioned you jumped 2 different ones. I've landed mediocre under one brand/size, while I land near-perfectly under a different brand/size, at a specific skill level. It may make a massive difference, assuming the comments are accurate. But we need to know the model and size of your canopy. (distinguished from the name of the container/rig. A 'Vector' or 'Javelin' isn't a parachute, for example.) Additional bonus point if you manage to obtain age information about the canopy (number of jumps it had). Age information is usually not recorded into logbooks, but may have some contributing role in your injury. Even an adequately-maintained 260-sqft canopy with over 1000 jumps could, in some cases, end up being more dangerous than well maintained smaller 210-sqft canopy with under 100 jumps. Despite the wingloading difference. (In fact I've seen new 210's float down more slowly than a 260 -- due to age of fabric, permeability of fabric, etc) You come into the forum barging in like going onto a motorcycle forum complaining how you got hurt under a borrowed motorcycle of a brand and model you don't even mention because you don't know what you rode. (Was it a Harley? Was it a Suzuki?)

She won't be able to come this year, but hopefully for the next one (Rainbow Boogie 2012 or thereabouts? Perris or Chicago you've been warned)

Coming to Rainbow Boogie 2009? P.S. Since this thread started, we've had four people join the RainbowSkydivers Facebook group! I was one of them!!

Coming to Rainbow Boogie 2009? P.S. Since this thread started, we've had four people join the RainbowSkydivers Facebook group!

That's all they need to hear. Yourself included. (They may ask if you're single, though.)

Sundevil, CRT projector calibration instructions: http://www.cinemasource.com/articles/calib_video_proj.pdf It's more complicated than adjusting brightness/contrast, but any good SOB who is able to learn all the SIM's and manuals/procedures to pass an A license test, B license test and a C license test, can probably learn how to calibrate a balky CRT projector at least to reasonably progressive-scan-DVD-quality specs.

First, we need to determine if it's a software/memory error, or a failed hardware board (needs replacement). If it simply lost its picture-adjustment memory (lost its calibration/registration data), then somebody like me can fix it with all the advanced adjustments (keystone/pincushion/sizing/positioning/linearity/astigmatism/9-point convergence/36-point convergence/etc). I actually had calibration skill to make my NEC XG135LC achieve usable 1920x1080 computer display back in the year 1999/2000. Those days, you needed PowerStrip software (from entechtaiwan.com) to force a graphics card to output that formerly-nonstandard computer resolution from either a Matrox card, then later from an early Geforce I original (the very original Geforce256) Let me guess... you have a Sony VPH-1252Q? Failing that, my next 3 guesses are: model 1031, 1271, and 1292? Okay, a G70 or a D50? All were popular by the high end home theater users "back in the day".

Hello, I used to own one of these types a decade ago! Imagine owning 1080p in the late 1990's, top of the line video -- when these devices cost at least $10,000 new. (I got mine used -- an NEC XG135LC CRT projector, with liquid-coupled lens and superbright triple 8" CRT projection, and good integrated calibration/convergence system, and became VERY GOOD at realigning/converging these devices.) .... I still even have photos of my old CRT setup at http://www.marky.com/hometheater/ (That webpage is now outdated, though...) Your may simply have 'forgotten' its calibration memory, and you need to recalibrate. In this case, all you need is a knowledgeable fix-it guy with the service menu codes (like me). Power surges, extended unpluggings, etc, may cause calibration memory to get lost; that is necessary in order for the projector to know how to align and focus the red/green/blue successfully onto each other, with proper geometry. On the other hand, some board in the projector is now fried... And now you need to replace it. Contact Curt Palme -- http://www.curtpalme.com/ He can ship you CRT Projector Parts for pretty cheap. These days, I do recommend purchasing a new digital projector. Although videophile purists will argue CRT has really great quality, modern digitals can now produce a black almost as dark now -- especially if it's not a basement batcave with black walls. I'd recommend a good recent 1080p digital projector for approximately $2000 new; there are some budget models. Or getting one off eBay for $1500. Panasonic PT-AE2000U, Mitsubishi HC5500/HC6000, Sharp XV-Z15000, etc. All with native 1920x1080 resolution -- imagine a 24" computer monitor at 100" on the wall; you can much more easily connect a computer to it too -- And all of those have been seen below $2000 with a picture about 4 to 5 times brighter than CRT projection, and approximately twice to three times as sharp as 7"/8" properly calibrated high-def capable CRT projection. They generally are easier to maintain, even though some models may break down more often than certain well-built older CRT projectors (some of them were built like TANKS - no kidding) -- much less of a hassle to repair or replace for most average consumers. The chief disadvantages is really the black levels, and that's no longer an issue now that modern digital projectors still do better blacks than even the local IMAX movie theater... Some more info from www.avsforum.com or www.hometheaterforum.com ....

Shaddup and drink the beer. There's plenty of hot straight girls coming with us, anyway.

Hello, I'd like to hear from some experienced tunnelflyers as well as tunnel engineers to understand this better. Some tunnels have 2 exits from the chamber, while others only have 1 exit. The recent trend has been to reduce the number of exits to 1. This ever so slightly reduces enter/exit efficiency as everyone has to exit before the next tunnelflyers can go into position to enter the tunnel, but much LESS annoying turbulence when flying 4 or more people in the tunnel at the same time, correct? Most people who has flown in 4-ways love the 1-exit configuration, flying multiple people in a tunnel inevitably pushes some flyers towards the exit, whereupon they sometimes lose control or need to temporarily slow down the formation point-scoring to quickly regain bearings (recovery delay) It is observed (and agreed among between many of us) that even the turbulence of 1-exit tunnels (i.e. Skyventure Montreal, Paraclete XP) have much LESS turbulence in front of the exit, than in front of either 1 of the 2 exits of 2-exit tunnel chamber. It doesn't even matter if this tunnel is recirculating or non-recirculating; having 2 exits seem to affect turbulence significantly. I have always observed "wind" going through the waiting area of a 2-exit tunnel, but never a 1-exit tunnel. This is often caused by flyers near the exit deflecting the air into one exit, which gets blown into the waiting area, and then out of the other exit. As a result, the air around a 2-exit tunnel feels "softer" (because the air easily defflects into the exit and out of the other exit, air always follows the path of least resistance). The air next to a 1-exit tunnel chamber is more 'solid' and has a very predictable transition of softness -- making it easier to enter/exit too, and more predictable in flying near. (it's never randomly 'too soft' or 'too hard' depending on whether flyers are near the other exit, as air can flow bidirectionally through the waiting area between the two exits, depending on who's deflecting air near the exit. I have even noticed flying near Exit 1 always feels slightly different if somebody is flying near Exit 2 than when nobody is flying near Exit 2). It's the "air mattress" effect -- if one sits on one end of the air mattress, the other end of the air mattress is firmer. Roughly, approximately the same thing happens with 2-exit tunnel chambers. When you do frequent 4-ways or bigger in a tunnel, you get many opportunities to observe this air mattress effect. If a bellyflyer is very, very, near the other exit, I feel a difference in the airflow at the other exit -- it's definitely slightly firmer. (Perhaps, it may probably also contribute slightly to why you almost never see two skydivers fall into two separate exits at the same time. When someone in a 4-way-plus falls into an exit, it's usually when nobody else is near the other exit -- that's when the air near the exit is the softest and more easily deflectible from one exit to the other. Even as a spectator in the waiting area feeling the 'wind', I can tell by the direction the wind is blowing in through the waiting area, which clearly tells me air is being deflected from one exit to the other) I think this, apparently, is now why Skyventure now prefers to design tunnels with only 1 exit -- the airflow around the exit is always smoother and more predictable -- an additional benefit above and beyond fewer exits to worry about falling into in tunnel RW training. Anyone think I'm on-base or off-base?

(Detailed explanation appropriate for a person with aircraft piloting experience) Things get a lot more exciting when doing big formation jumps of any kind... The scariest part of most of my bigway jumps is the landing part because of being surrounded by dozens of canopies, people behind you, in front of you, to sides of you, so sometimes the decision to turn early is dictated as whether it's a safer airspace consideration and less 'rude' (turning to final early often gives the person ahead of you, more space to decide when to turn into final, if it's not going to interfere with anybody behind you). Often it means turning left (in left-handed approach) onto my final early to land at the left edge of the field (left edge from my perspective on final) while others are simultaneously landing 50 feet to the right of me. That might actually be safer if airspace is much cleaner over there, than simply trying to merge into more crowded airspace closer to the right edge of the field closer to the hangar, for example... As long as it's side by side landings (with safe horiziontal separation) on the final, it is okay if you land before the person that was formerly ahead of you in your base leg, if you ended up turning onto your final before the person ahead of you. Another way to think about it, as an airplane pilot, is that a large landing area can essentially be several parallel runways, so the etiquette of landing approaches is different from when you have just one runway. Turning early onto your final just lands you on a different parallel runway than the person ahead of you who hasn't turned onto his final yet, so it's not rude etiquette as long as you're not cutting across other people's airspace of the people behind and to the side of you. For pilots, imagine the landing field as a serise of parallel runways, and it begins to make better sense that turning early usually has a concern to the people below, to side, or behind you, or already on ground, rather than the people ahead of you who hasn't turned into final yet. If on base, you see a big clutter of pilots behind you but nobody ahead, sometimes it's polite to turn onto final slightly late to land on a further-rightmost 'runway' in the landing field. (This gives more space for the people behind you to decide on safe turns into finals) Likewise, if on base, you see a bit clutter of pilots ahead of you but nobody behind or to the sides, sometimes it's politer to turn onto final earlier to land on the further-leftmost 'runway' in the landing field. (This gives more space for the people ahead of you). It often gets more dicey when there's people ahead and behind you AND to the sides, so you have to 'go with the flow' and turn safely to be polite to both the person ahead and behind you. Usually, parallel landings like these begin to happen when you're dumping a full Twin Otter load at once (20-ways), and go up from there. It can get dicey if many people aren't following rules. Now, I'm not saying to follow my advice, but to help explain the mechanics of the landing field being like a series of 'parallel runways' - as a concept explained to somebody who has airplane piloting experience. Airports don't operate this way, as they don't have the equivalent of a series of 5 or 10 parallel runways running off one single landing pattern (with multiple different, independent opportunities to turn onto final). This is a general rule of thumb that occurs when many canopies open very close to each other (i.e. big ways, boogies, etc). Please note, different dropzones can have very different rules for landings. A GOOD thing for now, though... is to listen to your instructors, but as you gain more experience, you'll figure it out. And you can (like me under A license, for example), intentionally safely land out in a nice comfy field if you're uncomfortable with the airpsace above the main landing area. I pratically intentionally almost always stayed away from crowded airspace until around about my 200th jump or so, landing in alternate fields instead. I eased into the busy traffic out of necessity when my bigway jumping got even bigger. I highly recommend this approach of staying away, especially on busy dropzone days (i.e. boogies).

The calendar is shaping up at the moment. Still talking to Liz Mann. Tentatively, it looks like the following: Thursday Aug 6 - Meet & Greet for the early arrivals - General fun jumping - (Possible night jump date) Friday Aug 7 - General fun jumping (freefly/rw/crw/etc groups) - Freefall flag or tube jump (under discussion) - Possible hoop jump or hybrid jump (under discussion) - (Alternate possible night jump date) Saturday Aug 8 (the busy day!) - General fun jumping (freefly/rw/crw/etc groups) - GAY WAY WORLD RECORD Attempts (12 to 15 way) - Flag jump -- with the rainbow flag. That's for our DVD! - End of day, possible mixed 2-plane big way jump or two (hetero+gay) for those with appropriate skill level - Confirmed hangar party/dance planned - Photo shoot in front of the big 8 foot rainbow 12-way logo (optional) - BBQ meal Sunday Aug 9 - Raindate for some of the above - General fun jumping (small freefly/rw/crw/etc groups) - Hoop jump -- the hoop is rainbow-taped - Goodbyes (some leave early to catch the plane, etc) _____________ We were hoping to also have a wingsuit instructor (and I was personally hoping to do my first wingsuit jump too!), but currently that's up in the air right now, since I was informed the wingsuit instructor had left the dropzone. However, if we find a replacement, I'll update this thread. (There will be some experienced birds at the dropzone, if you're an experienced wingsuiter...) Economy is tough for some. If you're only able to attend during the weekend, come anyway! Also, remember this event is hetero-friendly (the only gay exclusive jumps are a few jumps involving the gayway world record attempts), so bring your friends.

It's great the air straightener solved a lot of the Orlando problems. I flew in Orlando before the straightener...! That said, I definitely noticed Skyventure Montreal was a little smoother than Skyventure New Hampshire, due to the curved cylindrical design and only one entrance/exit. Even flying near the tunnel exit, the air was smooth; unlike SVNH, it was much harder to fall into the exit when doing hard 4-way formations that pushed you near the exit. I've recently flown in Skyventure Perris (2008), does it have the air straightener? Among the three tunnels I flew in the last 1.5 years, Montreal has the smoothest wind tunnel I have EVER flown in - when compared to Perris/NH. All are very smooth, though. But for turbulence next to the tunnel exit - Montreal wins.

Hello, Know a gay/lesbian/bi friend at your dropzone? Let them know that a Facebook group exists for them. Tell them to search "rainbow skydivers" or "gay skydiving" on Facebook. (This will automatically lead them to this RainbowSkydivers clicky). Everytime I travel to a new large dropzone, I'm often surprised that there is always at least one or two fellow "RainbowSkydiver" who aren't in the know, or didn't know about us, or never heard of Rainbow Boogie, especially newer skydivers who haven't been around in 2006. Some even quit skydiving because they don't find anyone to relate to, while others like me just "blend in". The existing Facebook group has at least one member from almost every major North American dropzone. So.... Do your part, raise a little awareness!

*** Warning, I don't know what I am talking about either *** I have heard of some really good coaches, and I think Orlando's been upgraded to allow headdown, but I can't remember. However, it's one of the older and smaller Skyventure tunnels in North America. For the amount of money you're going to spend, you might prefer a bigger and smoother chamber (possibly a recirculator), but the amenities of Orlando and inexpensive accomodations and great dropzones, might of course be the deal-maker here. Anyone from Orlando (who also has flown in other newer tunnels) care to comment about the recent state/condition of Skyventure Orlando?

Added July 31-Aug 3: 30-ways by Roger Ponce -- Skydive Vancouver (Abbotsford, BC) Aug 22-23:: 18-ways again -- Parachute School of Toronto (Toronto)

Yes, realistic -- if you show a big wad of green. If you are willing to do 10 to 20 hours, you can afford to fly to the world's best tunnels that are currently offering the best deals. You'll probably want a good one, such as a recirculator -- they are smoother. Then again, the size of the chamber also has a factor (Eloy's nonrecirculator is really BIG, for example, and it's by an excellent skydiving resort. Eat, sleep, skydive, tunnefly!) -- bigger chamber often leads to fewer bruises, especially when learning difficult tricks that involves flips. On the other hand, If you chase the cheaper deals (~$500/hour which is super-cheap, many tunnels often approach $1000/hour) at places like SVNH and Freezone, you'll save plenty to pay for a vacation for yourself and the world's best freeflyer tunnel instructor to the tunnel location of your choice ;-) Although don't forget proximity to dropzones, since you'll want to apply your new-found freefly skills in the sky too! Maybe even with the same instructor (why not -- if you can afford it!) Many can get used to it to the point where they can do 2 hours in one day (if you've got your "tunnel legs" then it consumes less energy than a 8-skydive-and-packjobs day), but it's brutal if you're not used to it. Realistically, limit it to 1 hour per day, unless you're very fit. Then some skydive break in between some of those hours. First time I flew in the tunnel, just doing 15 minutes made me sore, now flying for 1 hour makes me less sore than that first time. First, this makes a big difference in reducing the chances of becoming sore: In preparation in the couple to few weeks prior, work out at your gym or any exercise that hits all the muscles you normally use during skydiving -- Definitely do those stretching exercises, especially those that pertain to your back and arching too. When you fly, spread the tunnel time out as much as you can, especially at first. The tunnel makes you very sore after a hard day if you're not used to it. Second, start very easy at first, 15 minutes on first day, 30 minutes on next day, 1 hour the next. If you're very fit, you can probably go straight into 1 hour a day first time around, but you'll be extremely sore. Be careful, for many people, 2 hours in one day is a lot. I recommend, as you say, spreading it over 4 to 5 weeks, especially with rest days in between. Especially if you do schedule 1-hour days. And schedule PLENTY of jumps in the sky in between to allow you to 'apply' your skills. I think 30 hour and 1 hour tunnel days would be a sweet spot/compromise. (of course, broken into manageable rotations, in 15 minute batches, as they usually do -- to allow you to do video debriefs). 10 to 20 yours of tunnel time is going to probably make you a damn good freeflyer -- especially with skydiving breaks -- not many people can afford that much tunnel time in one month!

Please make sure to RSVP on Facebook and email if you're attending (especially if not on Facebook). I'm now starting to keep track of who's coming on which day, including for carpooling from the PHL airport. (You can be anonymous if you wish, and just blend in the dropzone. Two in the closet have PM'd about it. Generally it's no big deal, as was our experience at the last Rainbow Boogie.)

I use an L&B Optima, with the LED attachment now. I broke the LED attachment once, but I decided to repair it myself with a new replacement LED from Active Components, and it works great. I didn't mount it well the first time around, now it's been mounted integrally into the visor. If you got a fullface, get the Optima LED "XL" accessory, rather than the regular Optima LED accessory.

I saw two relatively high end Broadway shows in NYC in one day a few years ago -- very expensive though! I can't remember the names anymore, but one was a foreign theater and it used screens at the bottom and to the sides to display subtitles. That was kinda neat for me, myself being hearing impaired.

Wow! Originally when I read the thread title, I thought a faceplant landing. (Next time, a more sensational title would be in order -- this should be in a textbook video of the dangers inherent in big way skydiving)

I was on a 23-way tracking dive over a year ago in Perris in May 2008 during my first Perris trip to the big way camps (it was between the two big way camps there). I was one of the first out out of the skyvan (first row floaters) and I accidentally exited 1.5 seconds early, mis-reading an exit count. Fortunately, I levelled out, and was able to catch up to within three slots of the leader -- only 30 feet away from the base, before breakoff... It was a spetacular jump.