nacmacfeegle

Yeah, I do a similar thing thru my own 'limited company' in the UK, I'm an independent contractor in the eyes of the law. So on a $20 coach dive as your example, less $18 manifest cost, less wear and tear on cam, less wear and tear on rig, you make very little profit, and hence pay little or no tax. Same goes for the puter, fuel costs to get to the DZ, wear and tear on my car, etc etc etc. All my gear is actually owned by my company, so I reclaim the VAT (equivalent to your sales tax I think) which gives me a rebate of 17.5%, and I can write off gear over a three year period, then buy it from my own company to own or sell (as a private individual) as I see fit. Tax evasion is illegal in the UK, tax avoidance is not, or so my accountant tells me. Cya D

Yeah, what Jimbo said re USB, (okay, okay, USB 2 is fast enough, but not supported by capture card people yet) its too slow and you won't be able to bring in full res movies for editing/compression. If you need advice on capture card types etc, let me know. Firewire in to your cam isn't a big deal, you can probably hack it to mod the input if it doesn't exist, contact me for details if required. I've also seen some good, and not so good cutaway systems, once you've chosen a chin cup, and fixing method, give me a shout, I could save you some pain/hassle. Cya D

Sounds good, I got some coaching from Pete a looong time ago and its well worth it....Can't make it to this one, but I'm sure it will be well supported. Cya D

Dagnabbit Krista, I'll be away....... But what's this I hear about a Casa on the 7/8/9 June? Cya D

"but what if they confiscate my rig??? " I've hauled my rig all over the world, and never--touch wood (don't be puerile folks)-- had any problems. Recently flew down to Florida from Texas with rig bag as carry on, no hassles. Hoook knives went in hold with my clothes. The worst thing that can happen is they ask you to check it in, or it goes secure in the cabin. Just explain that its a bag full of very expensive equipment when you check in--don't specifically say its a rig unless asked... That said KLM lost a rig of mine going from Aberdeen to Amsterdam last year just after 9/11, they returned it via a taxi from Frankfurt to my Hotel on the Dutch/ German border a day later, but then again, KLM lost my bags on 4 trips last summer, I ended up with their lost baggage hotline programmed into my cell phone.... Cya D

I've known a few people who used pansonic models similar to Sony's TRV series, they work just fine with nice fat colour reproduction, but the ones I saw required a base adaptor to get an analogue signal out, so were a bit of a pain. Enjoy your new baby Clay, I'm looking forward to seeing all sorts of video posted. What you need now is a firewire card and you can start hosing images of your frolics to the internet.. Be sure to build yourslef a snag free helmet, befriend an experienced camera flier, lurk the photography forum etc, but I'm sure you had already considered this..... Cya D

My old Granny used to say "cast ne'er a clout till may is out" Which basically means kepp your thermals handy till june, but we are from the North of Scotland, where the weather is just plain terrible most of the year. Cya D

Hey Flow, I'm a big guy who can sit with most head downers..... If you are sitting in a regular 'office chair' position, instead of going straight onto your back, which may induce corking as described earlier, try a slow transition to a 'lazy boy' type position. Use your arms and the back of your legs to press down and arch a little. Minor fall rate changes can be managed by pressing down with your arms. I've been doing some good drill dives with some chums by only working on fall rate and proximity control. Set a leader who can change fall rate and try and stay level with them. It also breeds good anticipation skills. Try and avoid rapid fall rate changes, smooth and slow is good. Cya D

Hey Snowie, are you really suggesting that you make a canopy choice based on availability of your 'colours' ....C'mon think about this, is it a good idea? Nah, I'm sure nobody here wants to see you hurt. Don't be hypnotised by the shiney thing.....or let yourself be seduced by its availability. I might see you at the weekend @San Marcos, and we can chat over this further......Either way, we'll have a beer and a laugh. Cya D

"MMMMMMM....Beaver......." Yeah, a big black beaver too, mmmm nice......

Okay, jumping in a little late here, as is well known and discussed here in this thread, the first link is often the hardest to identify and control, but the chain can be broken at any stage, and its never too late to do so. In my mind there are three things to consider. Knowledge Vigilance Communication These three factors form a safety triangle and are inherently interdependent, remove any one from the triangle and it just doesn't work.....A bit like a fire triangle, if you know what I mean. In skydiving terms you can interchange knowledge with skill/ability for certain circumstances. A couple of people here have stated that they have found things to their dislike on DZs and have been run off for voicing their opinions. I'm dismayed that such an attitude exists. In my opinion any individual that ignores or plays down safety is asking for trouble, and will suffer in one way or another, either in personal or financial costs. The first two 'corners' of the triangle are the easiest parts to manage, its the communication side that most people, myself included, often have difficulty with. Sometimes we have to employ a little psychology, or politics to get our message across, eg explaining rather than shouting, coaxing and educating rather than punishing etc. But sometimes the parties concerned just don't get the message, and sadly people get hurt. This is true not just in skydiving but also in everyday life. Good thread though folks....... Cya D

I've used a maverick for crw, it was quite cool, but as it was a jumped out ole truck, it did not flare at all well......Or mebbe I was a little large for it . On the contrary to your experience Lisa, I used to love my fury for casual CRW, and general jumping, especially for demos.....Hence my affection for my Spectre, even loaded at 1.6, I can safely put it down wherever I feel like. Or were we talking about soccer and american football teams?..... Cya D

I wasn't really on my belly, it was a Hybrid, honest........But I saw some nice 30+ ways from the two otters at the space place. Nice aircraft flying too...... Cya D

The guy you need to speak to is Chris Thomas. Try posting on the UK rec dot site http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&safe=off&group=uk.rec.skydiving Cya D

Hey Michele, I think Alan was just trying to put your mind at ease. Many people (myself included), think that canopies snivvel for a longer time than they actually do especially Spectres, and they overestimate the altitude they eat up during opening.......I currently jump a Spectre loaded around 1.6, previously I jumped Monarchs, and Sabres pretty regularly (both these canopies are notorious for 'brisk'openings). The first time I jumped my spectre, I found the experience a little unnerving, and I had over 800 jumps at the time. So I feel for you, and appreciate your concern. I've filmed my own openings, and in retrospect they don't take as long as originally imagined....... "Now, how do I recognize a streamer v. a long opening?" My rule of thumb is when you pass your hard deck (we all have different hard decks, so lets not go there right now). My old instructor used to advise me thus, if your not happy with it chop it. Hell, I've chopped his main (I borrowed it to try out a monarch) because I thought it was streaming! I've never seen anyone chastised for chopping a canopy they were not 100% happy with. If its snivveling past your HD, and then opens with a brake mal, twists, etc. you could be running out of options, and options will keep you alive in a situation like this. If you know your canopy snivvels regularly, open a little higher, and allow for this in the dive plan. Cya D

Now wouldn't that just break your heart if you'd spent the extra dinero on a kick ass lens???? Cya D

And poor Brent Finleys abused Cannon EOS Cya D

Hey there Trey, good to see you again at the weekend..... The other thing to think about is the level of abuse your lens may experience...check out this, its Simon Ward, one of the UK's leading camera fliers. Its from a gnarly Herc exit.... Cya D

Valid points Tom..... However, a couple of weeks ago, I was jumping at a new DZ. Strong instructions were made on tracking direction, ie DO NOT track up or down the jump run. After an uneventful sit fly I turn and burn towards the lake, as instructed....As I track and barrell roll I see someone from another group cross me at 90 deg, ie tracking down jump run. I guess I could have been that 'mysterious' canopy if I didn't see em. A good way to check your heading maintenance is to barrell roll on the ever popular tracking dives. Cya D

"Here I come to save the BOOBIES!" Save some for me bro...... I guess I'll get my 1000th next weekend, hoped for it this w/e but the winds were kinda squirrely, only did 7...... And I still don't know shit..... Cya D

"Opinions and open discussions on this are hereby solicited" Guess I should have known better..... Good discussion guys some very valid points..... "my rigs have had cutaway pillows on the right side, with silver reserve ripcords on the left side" Please read the posts before jumping in Rob.....I'm not talking about swapping the locations of handles, or changing their functions. The first reserve I was taught to use was on a belly mounted reserve container, the cloth loop reserve handle was on top of the 'sleeping bag' (which reportedly often required manual assistance to deploy it), and the main rip cord handle was up on my left side chest, we were taught to cutaway via capewells, but only in certain circumstances.......shivver. "thank God I don't live in England" Me too, I'm Scottish, you Canadians are all the same , do you know the difference between Scotland, England and the UK?... On British cars (along with Japan, Oz, NZ, and various other empire remnants) , the accelerator is on the same side, its the middle pedal that confuses you people. You see manual transmissions are way more fuel efficient, and we are generally not as lazy in our driving habits as our colonial cousins. We drive on the other side of the road, as you correctly pointed out,but most of us are familiar with changing sides as we have driven around continental Europe and the US before, it really isn't a big deal, its all about familiarity and awareness. As for people being unfamiliar with borrowed gear, well how often have we read the statement "The deceased was found to be using unfamiliar equipment", which I agree will be only be exacerbated by 'unusual handle design'. To continue the car analogy, would you jump into a strange car and take off down the freeway without checking where all the controls were? Adjusting the seat etc.. No? I didn't think so. Whenever you borrow kit, the first thing you do is familiarise yourself with the operation of it. Its unlikely that your borrowed kit will have the same harness sizing as your own, therefore, under tension during a mal, its unlikely that your handles will be where you expect them to be. If people borrow my kit, which is rare as the harness is built for me and I'm an unusual shape (only Aggiedave fits it so far), I make sure they are aware of this. I do believe that change is good, just 'cos things have been static for a while, doesn't mean that they are necessarily the best way to go. There is always room for improvement, and development (I'm personally looking forward to the invention of self packing parachutes). Particularly as equipment design has changed since the original concept was tested and proven, eg we are seeing faster, more violent high speed mals, and the prolific use of articulated harnesses. I just think that having a looped cutaway handle is more likely (during a violent mal) to result in;- A) successfully locating the handle. B) making the cutaway easier..(I am surprised by your early testing results that proved otherwise Bill, but point taken). I suppose we could liken this discussion to the differences between puds, monkey fists, hackeys, and pipe handles. All of which I have used on BOC throwouts, I guess its down to personal preferences. Thanks again for the discussion, Cya D

Umm, I didn't see any oxymorons there, Its just the name of the page....but Paul Merton is one of my favourite funny guys...... Cya D

"ah, don't worry...it'll hardly be noticable" What, the fact that he's not at his desk, of course it will, average work efficiency at Clay's office will actually rise...

Such muck and filth should not be made available, terrible, horrific publication.....hmmm 4.99 in the UK eh? Cya D