DSE

A lot more than just canopy patterns... They are armed with information, they know the obvious problems, and the problems they are "addressing" go much deeper than just canopy patterns/control. Put it out there now DSE. If you know what was talked about let us know. Then we can all start to fix things before the FAA tries too. Matt My personal and student logbooks were examined. I was asked to explain wingsuit flight patterns, was asked about why we have a printed flight pattern for WS (apparently we're the only DZ with one that they've seen), asked about wingsuit practices in general. I would submit Randy Ottinger is gonna have the most knowledge about what the FAA is poking into and why..but it was apparent that wingsuiting is one of their focuses. When I asked what they were specifically looking into, the reply was something along the lines of "if it flies, we want to understand it more."

And how does vector d bag fit into voodoo??? You packed it, didn't you? I had one up until Chicks Rock was over (Moab to CR) before I orderd mine from UPT. However, even with stowless d bag neatness of figure 8 is important. I shoveed one in less than 4 min, just literaliy throw it in there and resulted in jerky opening even with stowless bag....

A lot more than just canopy patterns... They are armed with information, they know the obvious problems, and the problems they are "addressing" go much deeper than just canopy patterns/control.

I have found that different kinds of stows affect how the lines come off the bag, resulting in a greater propensity for linetwists and/or feeling "jerks" as they come off. I don't disagree that stow bands are not needed (remember, I jump a "stowless" bag), but I also disagree if someone says that the wraps or type of band has "no affect" on the deployment. Based on experience, they do affect how the lines affect the bag which in turn affects twists and hard openings. I've put around a dozen jumps on each various configuration (excepting the Silibands, didn't like those at all).

I have to disagree. Having tried small bands, large bands, double-wrap, triple wrap, single wrap, small bands on locking stows and large bands on linestows, Silibands, TubeStoes, Mpod, and UPT bags....rubber band strength and wrap definitely have played a role in how soft/hard my canopy deploys/opens. YMMV I'm now using the UPT system and appreciating it. However, I did have one very hard opening with the UPT system when a packer replaced the locking stowbands with large bands and then double wrapped the locking stows.

don't know what else to tell you. Contour footage plays back fine in Vegas for me on a machine that is *much* slower than yours. It edits slowly, renders slowly, but plays back with no issues. My project settings match the camera, this is important. I don't have any 3rd party codec packages installed, this is important. Preview is set to Auto/full and it allows Vegas to work best with it. RAM is set to 0.

the "one inch preview" is as much or most of the problem. If the preview window isn't a reasonable resolution, then the CPU is working very hard to downscale it. What happens when you drag out the Preview window and double click the header bar (this sets it to default)?

Set your project to 1280 x 720 60fps and see if that helps speed preview. Even an older machine should be able to manage at least half-frame rate. Also, set preview window to Auto, then be sure you've got the preview window set to a size larger than a postage stamp (or turn off scaling).

Project settings? Settings on camera?

I'm not having issues with playback, full frame rate is easily achievable in Preview/Auto mode. Best/Full will be a challenge. I'm running Vegas on both my 1.83GHz Mac and my quadcore PC...both play fine. you might also be sure you're not running antivirus in the BG.

It's a USB port, not a firewire port...firewire is dead. If you don't care for futureproof and SD will work...not a bad cam for 220.00.

Two manufacturers have told me that changing their rig release systems would unquestionably violate their TSO; not only the re-routing of cables, but potential for changes in pull force as well. Kinda don't think Bill B would take well to it either. pick up the phone, ask him.

If you have one of the newer CPUs that have AVC decoding on the processor, it's not TOO bad. Shooting 1280 x 720 works. The contour has much better sound than the GoPro, but I'm not a fan of their lens system. They're surely good "enough" for tandems, the only drawback is audio and speed of render.

To each his/her own, however my medical background has me siding against this posture for openings. Take a look at this picture and the location of some major arteries here: http://radiopaedia.org/images/14095.Neck extension injuries have been known to damage these vessels when they stretch and tear. I've treated several patients who've had this from both whiplash and leaning their head back for washing at the beauty salon: http://ezinearticles.com/?Beauty-Salon-Sinks&id=304309. To say nothing of the skeletal structures that can be severely and permanently damaged: http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/25/5/1239.full. Just a word of caution. First I've ever heard of anyone holding their head BACKWARDS vs holding from chin impact. Some use a neck roll to prevent the chin from striking their chest. This is the direction of forces anyway. Lori, if you're holding backwards and the weight shifted...that's a lot more than a beauty salon...

To clarify; ~Scott Campos didn't do my FFC, someone else did. Scott did my second FFC. I did learn from Scott, just as I've learned from a lot of others. Just as Scott learned from others. Just as everyone who has ever skydived learned from others. Sometimes in learning from others we realize what is missing from their teaching and improve upon the foundation laid.

The Ghost 3 just WANTS to be backflown. It's made for backflying. It's easy to backfly, and has massive range. http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/231103_10150170614299374_819424373_6553548_1005792_n.jpg notice in this pic that everyone is folded up? Backfly speeds in the Ghost are not terribly different than belly flying...

I'd concur. Twixtor is the new black. Stepping up the resample rate would probably fix those torn edges. It's fun to see it applied, but if you want really great slo-mo...fly a Phantom

Argh. Thanks for the catch. Combining two thoughts into one sentence made it come off wrong. The CX100 is my preference because it's side load. CX110 is a great cam in that it takes both cards and has a slightly better compression system...but the bottomload is a PITA (for me).

Matt, even if you shoot SD on a newer cam, it'll look better/tighter than the old HC21. Putting an SD lens on an HD cam gives a softer edge to edge, but as mentioned, it'll still look better than an SD lens on an SD cam. If you're not delivering HD, and you're still using linear SD boards, you'll get a better image from an HD cam shooting SD than you're getting with your HC21. Unfortunately, a lot of people think it's all about the pixels when it's about glass, resolution, compression, and the end format. In short...you'll be happy you went to a newer cam capable of shooting HD, even if you're delivering SD.

Tandem Videos Made Easy" clip. This is older, as the system does not use WMP, we updated this feature to be all-inclusive quite a while back. It's still automated, and is a standard in the broadcast industry. The workflow is identical, however.

That would sure work, if you don't mind people unzipping (creates a greater risk factor, IMO) on the aircraft. I used to do this for students, but it creates problems for TI's and other skydivers on the load. The "shrug" method is predominantly an in-air means of triple-checking. Zeemax' method works on the ground. Shrugging works in larger aircraft. I don't feel the method matters much, so long as the end result is (hopefully) always the same. The bigger point is that we are checking each other's gear. We've already seen the result of a coach not giving even a single gear check. Awareness is high, and the fact that this happened to a very experienced skydiver/wingsuiter/AFFI should demonstrate that continuing vigilance is a good mindset. New suit, rushed load, complacency not withstanding... No point in crucifying this guy; he made a potentially bad mistake and it was caught before it turned tragic. None of us are without faults; let's try to catch each other where we can.

Really good advice, Jim... Another reason it can slow the progression is that you'll occasionally find a student that "mom/pop's" their questions (getting advice from multiple instructors or internet guru's until they get the answer they want to hear) How many times have we seen this in say...canopy progression?

Well and truly off, yes. Adding to this mix is that the person moves back and forth between being an AFFI and wingsuiter. Shifting disciplines, tight calls, it can lead to trouble... It can bite anyone. Be vigilant out there, check yourself, check your buddy. Be consistent.

At an Otter DZ, this works great. At a Cessna DZ...not so well because the wingsuiter may be sitting on his legstraps. IMO, feeling the buckle doesn't accomplish anything outside of knowing there is a buckle there. A personal shrug works in most every instance I've been in. If you're a coach, you know we check gear when it's put on, before getting on the plane, and before exit. That's how it is SUPPOSED to happen. At Elsinore, we've recently added a layer of the buddy system. In this case, it provided the desired outcome. I kinda think the wingsuiter knew about it before it was discovered, based on other conversations today. One other thing I'd mention...in-aircraft rigging is simply stupid. In this case, the wingsuiter pulled off his legs, put the legstraps on, and then put his wingsuit legs back on. He was instructed by an I/E and a TI to go back down with the plane but he disobeyed. Bad juju.

Your suit is not an armor, you should able to touch your leg strap hardware on the usual place. I asked a well-known AFFI/E to inspect a "student" at PIA 2 years ago. he was unable to detect that the "student" wasn't wearing legstraps from outside the suit. The person in question here was on his third jump of the day, first two in an FYB suit, first jump on the Sbird for him. He has around 170ish WS jumps. I was not on the load nor in the area at gear check, but one of our students was. FWIW, gear checks are mandatory, we have a buddy system that Gerhardt sort of mentioned. Students here are taught to not zip anything unless their legstraps are tight and chest strap is at least routed. This rule seems to work well with our regulars. It's been great to see Murf and the other Brits adopt the same practices while they're here. Perhaps they'll take it back home with them. In short, we ask that someone place their hand under the wingsuiter's yoke and the wingsuiter "shrugs." The shrug will demonstrate a tight or loose (or missing) legstrap pretty easily. The incident with our Swiss visitor could haveturned tragic and I'm personally grateful to the person who discovered the problem during a 10K check. We're glad it turned out well.