parachutist

Each of those DVDs is 60 minutes of training & bonus material. WS 202 is the reason I'm reading articles here in the WS forum now: I edited most of that video for the DVD and in the process I got quite interested in wingsuits. Before that I had only 2 WS jumps, spread out over 2 years. Wingsuiting seemed interesting but it didn't excite me... so I went back to CRW & freefall Watching Justin Shorb & Scotty Burns in these WS 101 and 202 videos changed my mind, or opened my eyes to what can be done with wingsuits. They take the time to explain deatails about preparing, dirt-diving, gearing up, exiting, etc, then they launch into more advanced topics like smooth rolls, 1/2 rolls, docking, stalling, dealing with instability, & more. Each of these DVDs is 60 mins, and well worth the price, because in that 60 minutes they pack a lot of info. One like me, who's learning about wingsuiting, needs to go back and rewatch it at least a few times to learn all the tips & tricks. I still don't have a WS of my own yet, but I'm working on it. Scotty's footage and Justin's instruction got me hooked on this discipline :) Chris

How about "Didn't you learn not to cut away above water in your FJC?!?" others have done it with less success: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=206040

Cobalt line scpecs published by Atair go up to 170: http://www.atairaerodynamics.com/images/linespecs.jpg I don't know about 190s

I'm the vidiot DSE mentioned in his post. My dead CX7 will turn on... but image on screen is veeery faint as soon as power comes on... then screen fades completely over the next 5-15 seconds (the longer it's been off, the longer it takes to fail completely. No other functions work and screen cover stays open after I turn it off. That camera made it about 400 jumps before dying. I gave up on fixing it... went to eBay, found a cheap barely-used one and it's going strong.

What causes the wing to pressurize on this type of suit? When looking at tri-wing like a Tony Suit, I see air inlets that look like scoops at each shoulder and below crotch... so it appears air will be forced in and wings pressurized. I don't see those on this monowing.

eeeeew! why would anyone want that? aside from the on heading part, the rest sounds like things we don't want from a canopy! I love faster openings (not snappy like a Sabre.. smooth and steady). I like this type of opening for camera jumps and AFFI jumps. For camera jumps it gives me more time to get back from a long spot & for AFFI jumps it doesn't make me sweat pulling at 2k if it were absolutley necessary. A snivelly canopy + AAD would give me concern about 2-out in that situation. Short recovery arcs aren't fun if you're wanting to swoop, but it's great for those who fly standard patterns

Aerodyne's interview is up now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrANff1CwOc Also dropzone.com's new manager has been added if you'd like to meet him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHMrb57kicg

That's a good question... I know we did shoot at their booth. I'll do a seacrch for that footage and get back to you later this evening Aerodyne had a rack with 6-8 Icon rigs that people were trying on, and they were displaying a canopy made of a new type ZP fabric. The fabric doesn't have straight lines for the rip-stop... it uses overlapped polygons (hexagons I think). A big benefit of this fabric is that it packs up smaller than traditional square-pattern ripstop nylon... the Aerodyne rep I talked to estimated about 20% smaller.

I'm glad you liked the videos =] All I know about the Pulse is what I heard from John LeBlanc this week... so if you watched that one then you know as much as I do. The small pack volume is a nice feature

I'm still happy with mine. No fog issues, tiny size, good image, affordable price, not fisheye It's even cheaper now: $115 at B&H.

Mirage Systems had some beautiful rigs on site at the PIA 2009 show this week. Most of their team spent the week in Reno, NV so I wouldn't be surprised if it took a little longer than usual to get your question answered by them this week. Can you show us what you're looking at?

DSE, Mike, and I shot interviews with quite a few manufacturers at the PIA 2009 show. Most of the clips are already online at the address DSE mentioned: http://www.youtube.com/group/aerialfun I just got home and I'm busy uploading 10 more... they'll be appearing on that channel over the next several hours

The msg I got was those were supposed to stay offline until after PIA convention was in full swing

The incessant talking of this omitted-name person held up entire plane loads. We'd all stand around waiting for his interview to end so the tandem student could board the plane. =p

disconnecting those shackles is easy, but finding the ring & pushing the arm through, then making it snap into place while wearing gloves is not so easy for me. I like the plastic side-release clips because it's bigger, making it easy to find both pieces & push them together with 1 hand.... but they break. That's why I'm wondering about these metal clips... maybe best of both worlds: metal like the shackles, but ease of use like the plastic clips?

Has anyone tried metal clips like these for connecting camera wings? I like the plastic ones but they eventually break. Browsing through Petsmart I saw some dog collars with these metal side-release clips... they look really strong and operate smoothly, but they're heavier than plastic. http://www.batzusa.com/batz/product.php?id=625 Just wondering if anyone has already tried them & if so how did they work for you?

What model motherboard is in your system? Is the 1394 on the board or separate card? Some chipsets do not provide drivers for MCE, and you'd think XP drivers would work, but MCE is particular with some hardware.

I just got to play with one of these cameras... DSE let me hold onto it for a bit. After toying with the menus, features, & buttons it seems just like a CX-12, but in 2 pieces. The lens part is very lightweight & the recording/lcd piece is pretty compact. There's a small square mount plate on the bottom of the camera... it'll fit into a lens shoe adapter & it has a threaded hole in the middle of that plate, so mounting to a helmet should be a breeze. For handycam use, I think it'd be pretty easy to make a handycam glove without need for the heavy-duty construction of current ones, since this camera has such a low profile. What to do with the long thick cable going from recorder to camera though... It seems at least 10 ft. and it doen't coil up into a small package. That could be useful tho... you could have the recorder on back of your right hand so you can see what you're recording & have access to all switches without need for an external control... cable routed over the shoulder to left hand for camera mount.

Some are taught during the first jump course that all of these things must be done on every jump. No you can't necessarily see everyone who landed before you, but you can pick up on most of them. They should be able to stagger that enough to get the pattern established Yes. The low-timers should have no problem figuring out for themselves which way to land based on wind sock or DZ rules. Some DZ's don't even use radios from the start: teach the students how to figure this out from the start. It sounds very similar to FMD... when somebody screws it up, as they will with either rule, then yell at them. It happens with either rule: You can't get it through everyone's head on every jump. Very few people actually do, though. So if you go up with most groups these days you'll be one of only a couple or 3 who do. What if more people did hang in brakes and create the problem you're referring to, though? Then you use brakes to find your place in the mix. Smaller canopies head on down, middle range canopies let up a little and go for the middle of the pack, larger canopies stay up top, etc. Brakes slow everything down for everybody, which allows more time to do all the scanning and calculating that you mentioned earlier. The FPD should be aware it's his/her responsibility to set an appropriate pattern for everyone else. Much like spotting.. first person out of the plane is checking to make sure it's a good spot for everyone. Yes GPS is fabulous, but first person out should be verifying before exiting... that's another story though. I've seen what you're talking about. It shouldn't be a race to the ground. If they know they're going to be slow descending, they can use the brakes, enjoy the view from 3k and plan their descent instead of jumping into rushed decision-making It's good to hear your side of the story and see what's concerning you, so I'm glad you wrote back

It's all about scanning, which you should be doing anyway. Up, down, around, landing area, etc. No your eyes aren't restricted to looking down. Third person plans on chewing out the confused jumpers when he gets down, and in the mean time finds an open area to land. Because the first person sets the pattern, and everyone after him follows. You don't have to see the first to know which way the pattern has been set... you look at those who followed. If there really is that much space between experienced folks and the low-timers, then it's a new start... now it's time for the low-timer to look at the wind sock and choose which way to land. It's a different solution and I'm not saying it's worse... but on no-wind days you're going to have jumpers who didn't ask about the pre-declared direction, came in from other DZ's where the standard is different, or they just wanted to land their own direction.. the problem of people landing different ways will still exist. If there's any wind, then it shouldn't be a mystery direction... the first one down should be deciding which way to go based on wind sock, tetrahedon, or DZ rules that say which way to head. Once again, you're missing the point: You and everyone else should create vertical separation so that you're not surprised at the last minute. Plan well in advance... there should be a very low possibility of last-minute surprises if you create separation.

It's pretty straightforward why this rule was created and why it still exists: Everybody landing in one area should be heading one direction Arguments about last-minute-decisions needing to be made indicate that people don't understand the idea of intentionally creating vertical separation between canopies. Hang out in brakes and watch what everyone else is doing. I'm talking about holding in brakes at 2,500 ft... not on final approach... hold brakes up high to create space. These days it's almost guaranteed that someone under a canopy loaded higher than yours is busy heading fast to the landing area. Hang out in brakes up high and observe. Suppose you're under a highly loaded canopy and there are a few others like that around you... wait in brakes and when the pattern is set, then have at it. If you're the low person under a small canopy... go read the wind sock and set the pattern yourself... or obey the DZ's rule if direction has been pre-determined. It's so simple that it's easy to do this right. I can't understand blaming deaths on this rule instead of blaming it on poor decisions made by individuals who ran into other people.

Where's the Voodoo? And no it's not close to a Talon FX The FX seems square and clunky compared. After assembling, packing, and trying on a few Voodoos recently, I'd go with that container. Besides the high quality design & construction, i I have a question and I call them, someone who knows what they're doing answers the phone in 2 rings. It's refreshing.

Nice video though... you can see the videographer's having to work hard at times to stay down with your stack, but the picture always gets nice & smooth as someone's coming in to dock. Good example of how to shoot I think

Cheapest/easiest way I've found to do what I think you're looking for: Use a standard linear editing board & hook up a cheap portable DVD player (with a little LCD screen) to one of the inputs. Burn a DVD with your 30 sec intro vid... put that disc into the portable player. Start off each recording session by playing that DVD... at the end of the DVD fade from the player to the camera & start playing the jump footage. It works pretty well. NLE would still be better, though

Here's a link to a description of the pixel aspect ratio & how it turns into 16:9: ==================== During the time for each scan line, 1920 pixels should be transferred. However, most HD video systems cannot record pixels at that rate. Therefore, DVCPRO HD records 1280 pixels; while both HDCAM and the MainProfile@High1440 (MP@H-14) MPEG-2 encoding used by Sony’s HDV camcorders record 1440 pixels. So how are 1280 or 1440 pixels mapped to 1920 pixels? The answer is that each pixel is rectangular — not square. In the case of 1440, each pixel needs to have a 1.33:1 pixel aspect ratio as shown in Figure 2. http://www.hdtvexpert.com/pages_b/hdrfx1.html ====================