chrismgtis

Steal $8000? Sure, but it depends mostly on who I would have to steal it from. I wouldn't do that from most people. I'm a very honest person, but if it was say I dunno the government, hell yea. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Just buy what you think is prettier. That would be the easiest way to decide. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Tunnel's cheaper...do the math. I don't know why people say that. It's easier for me to handle $24 for one jump if I need to just make one jump this week and I'm low on cash. Compare that to $185 for 10 minutes in a wind tunnel or "doing the math" that's somewhere around $36 if you can get them to let you just use a 2 minute slot. I know it takes pretty much no gear since you can use the tunnels, so it costs pretty much nothing to get into compared to thousands in skydiving. If you're looking at it that way I can understand. Plus it's about two hours to the wind tunnel for me and 45 minutes to the DZ. Remember, gas is $3 a gallon now so you have to factor that in too. Which really sucks. Just about 8 years ago in high school I could get gas for $.89/gallon and fill up for about $12-15. Now gas is $3 and costs about $38 to fill up. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Raeford is nothing less than bad ass and you're right... The staff are some skilled flyers. I don't know what that one guys name was, but I've never seen some shit like that ever in my life. He was popping up and down in the tunnel like he was on a bungee cord and spinning head-down on a perfectly still axis. Then when he came flying down the tunnel with his back to the door and landed outside of the door I thought, yea I've seen it all now. Props to that guy. That was some crazy shit. The facility is nice. Being an I.T. guy for about 15 years I was surprised as hell when we left the tunnel and went to debrief and our video was right there on file waiting for us with a large LCD screen. I know how hard it is to consistently make something like that work and do it well. The only thing I could possibly think they could improve on is the DVD recording process. I'm sure they will get that down and streamlined soon though. To Kirk: I was down this past Saturday with Louis' group. I'm thinking about bringing an external hard drive next time I'm at the tunnel and copying our videos over to the drive. I think you get a much better angle from that camera opposed to the low angle camera. If it's fine for me to do that, that would be awesome, because I would rather have the video files than the DVD so I can just pop them into Premiere when I get home and edit them. I know the files are way too large to burn to a DVD. If you guys ever need some "free" I.T. work or video editing or anything of that sort that we can trade for tunnel time. Let me know. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I went up to Paraclete in Raeford, NC this Saturday and put in 10 minutes in the tunnel. For me, the two minute sessions didn't go by as fast as I thought. The first two minutes in the tunnel was a humble experience. It took those first two minutes to get comfortable. I have over an hour of free fall time so I know basically what I'm doing much more so than the usual public that visits a wind tunnel for fun once. When I got out I thought, damn. I thought I was good at this. Then when I went in for the next session I started nailing it. It was a complete 360 from the first session. By the 5th session I was surprising myself and a friend that was there instructing us in the tunnel. To me it was well worth the cost and I'm hoping to put in 20 more minutes next month. I feel like I learned more in that 10 minutes than I have in over a year of skydiving almost every single weekend. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

If skydiving was illegal I would be hitting the wind tunnels instead. Though much less frequent than I skydive due to the cost. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Hey man, good luck finding a way! Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Yea it was. I just can't tell you for sure what else it was. I just know that could have been one major contribution to the problem. One thing that suggested was to replace all of my rubber bands and I did that. I've been told by different people that A.) You should stow less line into the rubber band and B.) You should stow more. Stowing more (about 2-2.5"?) seems to work well for me so I'm sticking with that. I also got a tip from another person on how to route the lines in the container. Something I was not at all sure of how to do right. I've been told by several people when placing the bag on top of the lines that you can press down and twist the bag a bit and then others have said to just leave the bridle hole pointing straight up instead of towards the front. I've never been comfortable with turning the bag once it's in the container, because I felt like I was sliding the bag against the lines and causing them to shift. There are so many bad scenarios going through my head when I did that. You get so many different opinions from different people. It gets confusing.

I would like to thank Louis French for his time to help me figure out my packing problem. I was having line twists on almost every jump. I spoke to a lot of people and asked a lot of questions and could not figure it out. Louis gave me some tips and made some suggestions after watching me pack and I’ve jumped my pack jobs several times with consistent straight on heading openings and no line twists since. A definite improvement and complete turn around. Thank you Louis! I can't tell you the exact cause and I think it was not just one thing, but one thing that Louis suggested which I was not aware that I was doing was to make sure that the lines are stowed straight. He noticed a twist in the line immediately after coming out of the bag and into the first stow. It's entirely possible for the lines to get twisted gradually as you are stowing so this may be one thing for some people to be aware of and make sure they are not doing. If I didn't notice it while stowing that time I'm sure it could have happened before without me noticing. It's nice getting good on heading openings again. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

For those of you that think line twists are a trivial matter. Have you had many? I've had a lot of line twists, because I developed a bad habit packing somewhere and had to figure out what I was doing wrong, which took several months. I jump every weekend and the line twists just seemed to get worse. I also had several when I was a student. I've gotten myself out of all of these and one resulted in my first "off" landing just past the runway. When you have line twists like I had a few times, you're lucky to get out of them. They don't always undo themselves unless you only get maybe one or two twists in the lines. Most of the twists I've had did not come undone alone. I've never had a line twist that resulted in a bad spin or anything like that... yet. I won't even say it's not ever going to happen. At the altitude he was at when he looked up and saw the line twists, you're only choice is to make a lightning speed decision to either take the chance of kicking the twists out or cutting away and firing the reserve. That is one of those moments where you had better not have a split second hesitation and make a decision right now without thinking about it. He came out of it alive and he is smarter now. He may not have done the right thing getting himself into that situation, but he did the right thing making a quick enough decision to live through it. He lived, so it was a good decision. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

You lived. Sounds to me like one of those situations where only you knew whether or not it was right to cut-away. Edit: Now that I think about it, unless you got video, I guess no one but you ever knows the facts of the situation. That's why we should learn as much of the facts as we can on the ground. When you're up there, it's all you. That's one thing that makes this sport so unique I guess. I've had a lot of line twists and just recently fixed my packing and solved the problem. I'm very confident in my ability to get rid of line twists pretty quickly, but only you know what you're capable of and how bad it was. At 1300 feet you may have been able to get rid of the line twists in a few seconds, but the fact is no one can tell you whether or not that is true. I'm not experienced by any means, but it sounds like you did everything right by checking your altitude first and making a quick decision instead of pausing to think about it. At 1300 feet I honestly can't tell you how I would react. I think I would be so afraid of cutting away at that altitude that I would sit there for far too long trying to decide. Good job. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Well then...could I trade you some of mine...just to even out the playing field? Hell naw. I bet you've never seen landings like a few of mine. Imagine a slip and slide. I fell forward a few times during the first 10 or 20 jumps, and slid for who knows how far on my stomach. I didn't get so much as a scratch on me, but that just wasn't natural. I've heard of crash and burns, but that's just crazy. It kind of freaks you out when you stand up and notice a small tree trunk about 3/4" thick that you could have landed on. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

According to Scott Miller, if I remember correctly you're supposed to practice flares in the air and try to find the best position for the first stage and it is different for everyone according to the canopy, lines and that sort of thing. Though I could be completely wrong, that is what I gathered from the course. He does have you practice flares at different speeds and positions. There is no single rule of "stop your first stage here" that I've heard of. I know I took that class and the first jump we made in the course was the best landing I ever had. I nailed the student circle pretty consistently and have had way more stand up landings ever sense. I don't think I've had a belly landing or any completely botched landing like in the past since then. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Sony HC96 video camera, Galaxy PD altimeter (still borrowing one from manifest), Optima audible altimeter... I think my girlfriend may have got all three or two of those. We'll see. That is all I really asked for. My parents basically gave me cash and told me to order what I wanted and have it sent to them, so I ordered clothes. Then I just told my brother to find me a good DVD rack. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Heehee. I was going to say along the lines of that same thing. Especially when the beer light comes on? Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

He's going to wear a rig. He just isn't planning on using it. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

LMAO. Sorry. I just always wondered if anyone ever tried that. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

It's that people are tired of hearing about, already know people kill each other all the time in the "hood" and that someone probably died today in the hood in a shooting, some gangster wannabe is already planning a murder at any given time and it's just not news that anyone wants to report on anymore. These things happen in the "hood" so often that it's old, boring news. Can you blame people for just not caring anymore? Not really. At least when it's just another hoodlum or guy that thinks he is a gangster out there getting shot for playing a game he knew that he would lose by the time he was 25. The innocent people they end up killing - that is sad. The rest is just a matter of "You asked for it". Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

You can probably get AVCHD codec somewhere. I know applications like VirtualDub and TMPGEnc are supposed to support it. I did a quick search online, but didn't see a download anywhere. PowerDVD 7 supposedly installs the codec with it when installed. I'm just curious after reading this. One source said Premiere doesn't support it, but it didn't say which version and surely the newest version does. I would hope. Hmm.. after a little more searching it sounds like that format is one of those troublesome formats that only certain software is supporting, others are supporting partially and there might be some licensing crap, as always, making these things a living hell for us all. Am I right? Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

That is like saying that it wouldn't make sense for Russian scientists to work on an American space station... And the answer is because I'm an expert, but I use a PC. I have vast experience in pretty much every operating system available in the last 18 or so years. Except Mac. I have used Macs before, but that was in art school, seven years ago. I don't use Macs so there are some specific details I can't be 100% sure of. That's the kind of information I wouldn't be sure of since I don't use Macs. It's operating system specific "will and wont's". Good info. Thanks. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I think I have to agree. People sue too quickly and win cases that just have no real merit and set way too much stupid precedent. It's not really hurting anyone to sale these. Yea, someone could be making a buck off each shirt, but hey it promotes the site in a way. Mostly to those that already know about it or ask questions when they see it and DropZone.com is mentioned as a result... but the fact is it's not like whoever is selling these will make a lot of money. Most kinds of promotion are good promotion. The record labels are losing a lot of money and creating a very bad name for themselves for reasons just like that. Some things you just have to let go and realize that they help more than hurt and when you're getting any promotion for free it's a good thing. The shirts look cheap anyway. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

The prices are why I didn't shop there. I purchased my current LCD monitor from them (a 19" Viewsonic), because they had a decent price for that, but that is the only time I've ever purchased anything from there due to the higher prices. If you're hoping there is a local Mac shop/store nearby, you are almost just as likely to find a Lamborghini dealer within 3000 miles. Just messing with you Mac guys. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

Ahh...B&H. They are a brothel for the electronics addict. If you've never visited the store, it's worth the time, even only once. Especially when they ring a bell and gear comes up through the floor, or you see a high end camera floating in the bin trolly overhead. Oh I would love to, but New York is a bit far for that. They have a really nice catalog. I got a copy the other day. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

If you backed the files up to media such as a CD then yes you can see those files from your Mac and transfer them. I can't think of a scenario where you wouldn't be able to. There are limitations as to what file systems certain operating systems are able to read, but in most cases, such as on a CD the file system is universal and any operating system can see those files to transfer them. Windows uses file systems such as FAT (rarely used anymore), FAT32 and NTFS (the newest file system). If you were to install older versions of Linux onto a computer with NTFS partitions or another drive setup with a NTFS file system, Linux might not be able to see it. Though in some newer versions there is automatic included support for NTFS. In older versions you were able to add support for NTFS. You're most likely not trying to access those files in any way that they would not be available to a Mac though. In any case an easy way to get access to files stored on a PC would be to just back them up to a CD or DVD and access the files by inserting the disc into your Mac. I'm not a Mac user and don't know the exact specifics, but image and video file formats are pretty much supported across the board by all operating systems these days and so is backup media if you have the peripherals to use the media. I'm not really sure how a floppy disk would work with a Mac. If it was formatted for a PC it might not be readable in Mac, but I'm not sure. Just use a CD instead. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

I forgot to mention, visit www.bhphotovideo.com, because they have an excellent selection with just about everything you would need for video and camera gear, electronics, sound, video, etc. Their catalog is about 400 pages thick. You can order a free copy from their site or download it in PDF format. They might not have the absolute best prices, but they aren't that much more expensive than anyone else and have good deals on some items. Their service is good and you can trust them. Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033 Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan