DSE

Sorry sweetie (I'm nervous you 'preciate the smooth curvesof my ass covered in nylon, butt flattered anyway...) Chuck's birthday post-dates mine by quite a few years. Ask Justin, Scotty, Rick, Burble Mike...they were at my birthday party in Pepperell and saw my drivers license. Besides, who do you think Chuck was talking to when he made dirt?

I take exception to that. It only took me about 10 mins to photoshop everyone in their slot. Really pissed me off that Scotty seemed to be EVERYWHERE, and then there were those guys in the yellow suits. They weren't as pretty as the Ill Vision team, but they were pretty tight, even if distracting. Aww shit. I was hoping I fell into the "too old to be good" category, since Chuck is almost young enough to be my son...

Subjective interpretation? I thought you were interested only in facts? What has been done today, this week, this month, or on any day since the election victory that would provoke this freak-out regarding a plank that has been on his policy page for months? The Constitution of the United States guarantees a lot more than the right to bear arms. Or is Speakers Corner now doomed to a daily vitriolic anti- president blast because sore losers can't cope with democracy in action? I'm more interested in seeing what Objective Obama accpomplishes over the next four years after eight of Dictator Decider.

Personally, I don't see the value in really doing much freeflying before 200 jumps. You aren't going to be proficient at anything if you merely do everything without focus on specifics. I personally don't believe you can have a competent sit, back, or head down with less than several hundred jumps. At one time I thought otherwise, when I believed I had mad skillz from flying with *really* good people that compensated for my lack of ability. Relative work, especially learning to dive to a formation, is critical, IMO. Case in point....we have a guy on our DZ that spent 3 months in Eloy last winter, he became a good freeflier after hanging with that crowd. He started flying camera around 100 jumps, and was asked to film a round for a farewell jump for one of our TI's leaving the US at season's end. He dove to the formation. He took out the group. Why? Because in his 200 jumps, he had fewer than 50 jumps on his belly, and zero experience in a diving exit. He's lucky he only bruised his arm and the legs of the person he hit. He had zero experience with burbles (you'll eventually learn a lot about burbles in a wingsuit, just ask Burble Mike, who now handles burbles quite well). IMO, spend time focusing on these kinds of things. Like Jarno said, take the time to put in the effort and you'll be twice the skydiver before getting into the more complex jumps. I do think atmo can help develop readiness for wingsuiting. I don't believe atmo is the uber-cool revolutionary thing the Italians think it is.

tracking relative work flying your body with others relative to you Atmonauti tracking Spotting getting out of confusing situations (you can create them just to get out of them). tracking pant jumps Canopy flight, traffic management. Depending on the size of the DZ, you're going to often be in the air with tandems in a wingsuit, too. This means you need to learn uber-respect for the big, slow boats, particularly if you're under a fairly fast canopy, which I suspect you are. IMO, these are just some of the things you can be doing to prepare for being a good wingsuit pilot in the early stages of your skydiving career. I understand, the next thing you're gonna say is "I did all those things, which is why I was cool to start early." Not everyone is well-above average like you, and developed tremendous skill as quickly as you did.

What DZ sold you a ticket to 18k? Many altimeters only go to 12K, and then the indicator goes past the 12K point.

You missed the entire point, Matt. "Mad Skillz" + cock-surety and access to information outweigh the value of muscle memory and "oh shit there I was and learned what to do in order to keep myself and others safe." In addition, there is the internet where one can get all the training required.

Agreed, and don't be surprised if Elvis is Jesus in another 1000 years. Imagine...all those velvet Jesus' from Tijuana will become electronic Elvi for future generations. Maybe...they'll even have holographic Elvis! the world would probably be better tho, if John Lennon became the new Jesus.

So is your husband (a lucky guy).

In the case of the water monster/creation stories of my culture, more like 'hundreds' and only a couple hundred at that. Joseph Campbell clearly demonstrated how virtually every water-related creation story of the North Americas came from corruptions of Christianity fed by explorers. Whether it's Unkteghila or Water Monster stories...they all spring from the same fable (no pun intended).

I've ordered one, expecting it any day. We'll see how she does. They claim a new codec, new glass, new encoder, etc.

A number isn't magical. it's not like at 200 jumps the wingsuit fairy waves her wand over your head and says "now you're ready." Then, IMO, you work on specific drills and techniques to get yourself ready to fly with others in a wingsuit. Do some two-ways with someone who is an experienced flyer, no different than freefly or other coaching. Scott Gray's arm is an excellent example of an experienced flyer being nailed by someone who thought they were "kickin' it"

Don't worry about AE/After Effects. it's not part of the Premiere Elements package. It's part of the Premiere PRO CS package. In short, it's a compositing tool. Fairly high end. Think "NFL graphics"

If you have a PC copy of Elements, yes.

Advanced Authoring Format. I just realized, you're on a Mac. AAF export isn't supported on the Apple platform. On a PC, Project | Export | Export Project as AAF

Yes, but I'm currently more interested in purchasing things that have a good chance of becoming politically unavailable. I expect that I'll still be able to purchase a bolt action rifle in 3 years, but I doubt I'll be able to purchase an AR style rifle with magazines larger than 10 rounds. I've actually been looking at bolt action rifles as well, but in .50 BMG. Doesn't Armalite still manufacture 20 round mags for this?

moreover, the Apple version of Premiere won't open PC Premiere projects. You have to use AAF to move between em. At least, with CS4 that is the case...

You'd think...but in this thread alone, we have highly experienced skydivers advocating one action, and highly experienced skydivers advocating an opposite action. If it's "hazy in the pulpit...." One benefit of going out without a greenlight is it absolves the pilot of any responsibility when there is an incident. I'd rather have the pilot to blame. IMO, it's like an intersection; if it isn't green, you don't go. The green light is the only communication device the jumpers at the door have with the pilot. The pilot usually has radio, ATC, better field of vision, a rear-view mirror, and an overall handle on the situation. A go-around or 180 burns some fuel, but it is also more safe, isn't it?

I absolutely agree. On the two jumps I've had where gear wasn't properly fastened or ready for exit, both were ultimately my responsibility. It's a gift that we are able to look out for each other, but we're never responsible for each other.

You're absolutely right, but notice he's got the Royal SD lens on there, looks like a .5. If that's correct, the still lens won't be in the shot. Even if it's a .3 Royal, I don't think it'll be in the shot, but it's possible. You hit one of my harpie points. I can't stand video that is vignetted, has the camera housing in it, or when you see cutaway cables or tape in the frame. What's up with that?

You want to start on a student suit. Steveorino didn't. Steveorino has nearly 2000 jumps before he put on a wingsuit, and is jumping a suit that he can handle while deciding on which flocking/bigger suit he wants. You're both in different classes....But yes...your body size *can* play a role in what suit you choose, depending on what you want accomplish in a wingsuit. If you want to flock, that's one suit. If you want speed/distance, that may be another suit. Maybe you can learn to fly one suit for both. If you're really coming to Sebastian, there will be lots of suits for you to play with there, and a bunch of instructors that can help you figure it out.

You know that how parachutes want to open, wingsuits and cameras want to fly? So, while you're busy with anatomy, howzabout sending your lonely nylon our way. We'll take really good care of it for you, we'll even post pix and send you letters while they're away from home. I'm sure your suit would LOVE being in Florida for the winter, and I bet your camera would take great images there too.

Sweet!

Yup, it'll work just fine. Be sure to use a solid aluminum plate so the camera doesn't bounce or sway during deployment, you should be just fine. Nice helmet!

Yeah, but you're speshul. And eddicated. And have a beautiful wife. So you tend to float more. Some of our Elsinore pix Some of my Elsinore blogs/pix