AndyMan

They cover your pack job? Lucky you! I have to pack myself! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

We've had a few people quit because they got too frustrated freeflying, and nobody would jump with them. These were people who were so convinced that freeflying was the cool thing to do, people who blew off anyone who tried to steer them into RW or 4way. About 25 jumps off student status, they still weren't safe, competent freeflyers, and the advanced people doing the cool shit still wouldn't jump with those. They got bored and quit showing up. I've noticed, people who go into RW instead of freeflying seem to last longer and have more fun in the early days. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Thanks for the advice, and for the work setting up with Drew. It was fun, I learned a ton - and should do better next time.

Yup, very happy with it. The colors aren't as brilliant as on the more expensive 3 chips, like the VX2000, but it's still quite good. Noticably a bit nicer than my PC120. The hard part is finding one, since they've been discountinued. Advantages over other cameras are: Smaller, Lighter, battery last longer, good(not great) colors. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I did two this weekend in the Chicago area. I carried the flag both times. What a rush! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I've been asked to photograph a demo team jumping into a minor league baseball game, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do it. They're looking for pictures that show them flyin above the stadium. The team does lightly loaded CRW, and usuall flies a 3-stack into the stadium. They suggested that I get a CRW canopy, and fly the top spot so that I can take a picture down the stack and show the stadium below. I think I'd be comfortable doing this if we had a ton of time to practice.... but we don't, so this does not seem wise. My second thought is to simply chase them... I know I can do this safely, but I'm concerned here about taking away from the performance of the team. A 3-stack with a 4th guy flying around just doens't seem as profesional, never mind that it'd be tough to coordinate my landing with theirs. My third thought is to chase them, then intentionaly land out. I'm sure other photographers have undertaken a task like this... How did you get good air shots of a demo team going into a stadium? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Val, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but you're a blonde girl. Most skydivers don't get invited on stuff nearly as much as you do. I think whenever I show up at large skydiving gatherings, i'll make sure to bring my wife. That way she'll get invited on all the cool stuff, and hopefully she'll bring me along, too. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

They shouldn't. I don't think publishing MSRP and having retailers publish discounts is very good either. Retailers should feel free to choose whatever price they want, and advertise that price. Retailers should even be able to sell at a loss - if they want to. Price competition is generally thought to be a good thing. Restricting competition by hiding retail prices does not help skydivers. I too, think it's funny (and disingenuous) that they're trying to spin it that way. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Sorry, that is simply not true. Car retailers don't paint the MSRP on winshields, they paint the local price. Safeway doesn't advertise the MSRP, they advertise the actual price. Hiding retail prices is anticompetitive, and disrespectful to consumers. It's never a good idea. Good retailers owe it to their customers to push products from companies that respect the consumer. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I can think of at least 4 otters that are within an hour flight of Rantoul. There's absolutely no reason that the WFFC needs to ferry otters from Arizona, except for the fact that Don has managed to piss off every DZO I've ever met. It seems to me that if Don would make more friends and piss off less people, he'd have an easier time getting equipment that doesn't need $6,000 in ferry fuel. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Make no mistake, If retailers do not publish the current accurate price of a PD canopies, I will not buy a PD canopy. It's really is quite simple. Yay competition! _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Is there a fill-flash to brighten out the face? I'd never tried going to those extremes because I figured you'd lose the faces. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I did part time tandem video last year, and will probably get pulled in this year when they get busy. I prefer to do other stuff. At CSC, there's an editor that creates a highly polished DVD. That is NOT what ends up on RealXTream. The cameraman plugs in his firewire, clicks a button that says 'start', another click that indicates the Exit (which causes the music to pick up, among other things), a 3rd click to indicate opening, a 4th click to indicate landing, a 5th to stop the recording, and a 6th click to "publish" the video. It's the easiest process I've ever seen, and once the cameraman has his video cued up it takes about a minute of his time. I've not heard any complaints from the cameramen. They still make every other load. The realxtream software does the rest - uploading over the DZ's internet connection or burning a CDROM at the end of the day that can be uploaded elsewhere. It's slick. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

My DZ is very happy with it. It's a suplement to, not a replacement for standard video service. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

The flipside is that I chased a 3way a while ago (picture here: http://www.skydiveradio.com/pic_of_week/POTW5.jpg). I was jumping a borrowed Saber2 190, and even with that big canopy had serious trouble staying with them. I spent the whole dive alternating between rear risers and brakes. By the time we landed I was exhausted. I'm planning on going up with that same group again, but I'll get something even bigger than a 190, or maybe try a 7-cell instead of a 9. I couldn't imagine doing that jump with my Sam 136, never mind anything smaller. I guess the lesson here is that different formations, at different wingloadings - fly differently. I guess that would be pretty obvious, I guess... _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It depends on how you want to use the camera. I've always flown the bigger, less wide lenses because of the kind of camera flying I usually do - 4way and RW video. On those jumps I usually hang out above the formation and have the distance to fly a less wide lens. Many freeflyers want a very wide angle lens, like the .3 so that they get inside video. My lens choice means that when I freefly I take an outside slot, and am not part of the formation. Personally, I strongly dislike the look of the video that you get from the extreme wide angle lenses, so I stick with something like the Sony .6, which tend to be a bit bigger. I've had a few interesting openenings, ones where I'm sure there's temporary line-on-electronics contact. These have always been at the back of my Flat Top Pro, so I don't think the lens has ever played a part. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Nope, but DSE seems to be... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=2207638;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;#2213278 I just bought a used PC1000, so but still.... Is Sony selling any good cameras? Or have I just got tunnel vision? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

My PC120 is dieing, and it's time for a replacement. I was just about to pick up a PC1000, but suddenly it's been discontinued and the prices have gone through the roof. It was going for $700, but now it's going for over $1000. I also considered the HC1, but it's been discontinued, too. The only "affordable" HD Sony camcorder is the HC3, and aparently it's got that old anti-shake problem. Why is Sony discontinuing all their good cameras? Is anyone jumping any non-Sony brands with any success? I know Canon makes very good pro stuff, do they make any good consumer grade ones? _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I always shoot auto-focus. The dificulty is that if you take any shots close inside the plane, your first shot outside will be slow while the camera focuses. So, I make sure to take a few extra shots in the door to compensate. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

There are a handfull of people in skydiving who do not use a wide angle lens. They happen to be among the very best photogtaphers in the world. Considering that I am not part of that club, I use a wide angle lens. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

I don't know if this will answer your question or not. I've never worried about UV damage to canopies. Generally speaking a ZP canopy will last far longer than most jumpers will last in the sport. It seems as though most canopies take far more wear simply from packing than from UV. The biggest thing someone can do to protect their canopy from UV damage is to pack in a shady area. ZP fabric is usually made of a product called "Solarmax" by Invista. It is designed from the start to be resistant to damage from UV. http://www.invista.com/prd_solarmax.shtml _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

If I remember correctly, Elsinore has excellent modern student gear available. After a long break, I always recomend people jump canopies a few sizes bigger than what they were jumping before the break. Elsinore student canopies will all be ZP, which is a good thing. The industry largely has gotten away from non-ZP canopies for sport mains, and this is pretty much generally accepted as a "good thing", simply because they age better. I think renting bigger and newer gear is especially important since you suspect that your old main may be getting a bit too worn out. Start with student gear, then buy your own new (zp) main. Student gear aint what it used t be. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

It's pretty rare that I get forced to eat my words. This would be one such occaision.... Previously, I posted: " As a bigger guy, it really sucks that the market leader simply won't make a canopy to sell me - not because it's unsafe, just their bean-counters say it's not worth it. It sucks even more that they won't admit to it, it's incredibly disrespectful of PD to string people along for years with a line of "just wait, it's coming!" It's clear to me that it isn't coming. I'm disapointed, but moreso - I'm angry with the years of lies". I think I'm going to go request a demo. :) _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

Tandem ground school is often as short as 5-10 minutes, but is often longer so that they can give you a sales pitch so that you buy pictures and video. AFF ground school is sometimes as short as 4 hours, but usually closer to 6. Static Line is somewhere in between. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

This is a picture of Eric Bickle flying large flag under a Sabre 2. If I remember correctly, the flag was about 10 X 20. He landed just fine, in essentially no wind. _Am __ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.