davelepka

I don't want to get into a pissing match, but just so you know, some of these posts are not the best advice, I'll leave it up to you to figure out which ones to ignore. The best thing I can say is to forget about shooting video until you're ready to shoot video. Ready meaning you have a camera helmet built and ready, and your jump numbers are where you want them to be. I say this because as far as reading and talking with a more experienced camera flyer goes, it should only take you one night of searching threads on DZ.com, and an hour or so of one on one discussion with a mentor. You can read about the things that people choose to write about, and listen to what a mentor might have to say, but let's face it, once you strap on the camera you're on your own. Each skydive will present new and unusual situations which you may or may not have read/heard about. That's why until such time, I say focus on skydiving. Don't let being pre-occupied with camera flying interfere with your development as a regular skydiver. I see guys who try to rush into video, and it shows in both their work, and their abilities without the camera. Let's face it, EVERY good camera flyer is also a kick ass skydiver without the camera. If being awesome is a prerequisite for being a good camera flyer, you might as well get awsome first. The added plus is that you'll spend less time shooting crappy footage and making rookie mistakes once you do strap on a camera.

ebay?

I never knew that. I always wondered why the guy would be slow and dirty for a fly-by, and of course why he didn't power up, and go-around. Now I just wonder why you would test that sort of feature at that field. I would have found the longest runway available, with the least number of obstuctions on the departure end.

How many jumps do plan on putting on this canopy? With 100 jumps, and a 1.05 WL, there's a good chance that within 100 jumps or so, you may be looking to downsize a notch. I wouldn't worry about stretching (or shrinking) of your lines for 100, or even 200 jumps. Just to be clear, the hybrid set-up is mainly micro line, and Dacron 'A' lines, for docking purposes. Even if they did stretch un-evenly, replacing two Dacron A lines is a very inexpensive repair. On the off chance you want to give crew a shot, you already have a suitable canopy for an introduction to crew. Everyone else has to borrow a crew canopy, or call for a demo crew canopy, hook it up to their container, or borrow a container as well. You're on easy street in that case.

They also trimmed Luigi's canopy. Instead of using front riser locks, they used a pair of scissors, and trimmed about 40 sq. feet of material from the canopy.

Not enough. Not nearly enough.

OK, so fist off, not many canopies pull double buty as crew and sport canopies, and even fewer offer different line sets, so let's just say it, this is for your Triathalon, right? Anyway, just take it with the hybrid lineset. It will make it easier to resell, and really, at 1.05 wing loading, the performance gain from microline shouldn't be a big concern. A Tri 190 will always be either a crew canopy, or a beginner canopy, and a guy looking for a first rig isn't going to care what kind of lines it has. Also, are you going somwhere? I too live in Ohio, and literally we have had alomost a foot of snow in the last 48 hours. What's the rush to get your canopy. My canopy is on the way home from a reline at PD. I sent it in around the first of the year, and when they asked how soon I needed it back, I told the mid-March at the latest. I'm not going to be using it, and if they get a canopy in from a guy who jumps year round, or is planning a trip to jump in the winter time, they should be able to work on his canopy first, and get it back in the air.

In regards to the even higher loading on your reserve, that any of the situaitons Drew pointed out would only be that much worse. You're generally lower than your usual openign altitiude by the time you get a reserve over head. That just means you'll be landing that much sooner, and that you'll have fewer choices as to where you could land. All under a canopy that is smaller than anything you have ever jumped. And really, with 12 jumps, you have to realize that you have been exposed to a VERY small amount of experiences. You should fully expect that for the next 40 or 50 jumps, new and unusual things will most likely happen when you jump. Accordingly, your plans should be thurough and conservative, as should your equipment choices.

They just landed, and it looked great. Luigi was there with (I think) the 37, and he and Jeb did a canopy/wingsuit flock. Jeb had his helemt wired for sound, and was explaining what he was doing during the entire jump, even answering some questions from the fat weather guy, who kept calling him 'Jeff'.

I'm not so sure about Spectra stretching.

That's the best part of your post. I'll just add that people who put themselves in wheelchairs might be able to post, but I doubt they frequent DZ.com since they sat down for the last time in their lives.

Nope. I never had one spin anywhere on me, and never had to chop one. It even opened straight when I popped an 'A' line a few times. It landed fine without an 'A' line as well. I do think it's a left over 'urban myth' from when Stilettos were newer to the market. With a big retarded F-111 7 cell, you can unstow the brakes, and pump them during the snivel to get the slider down, and when those canopies got old, you almost had to. Put that jumper under a snivelly Stiletto, and who knows what they'll do. Unstow the brakes, and monkey around? Maybe. Pull on risers, or do a little dance in the harness? Could be. Anyway you look at it, if you don't sit still for a minute, and let it open, you could get it to do something funky.

The quote doesn't clearly indicate either way. My best guess is that it is limited to his experience with stilettos he has jumped, based on the fact that I haven't heard stilettos described that way before. Have you heard anyone else describe a stiletto in this way? Most people would say a spectre opens soft, leading me to believe that all spectres open soft. If one guy says you can't deep flare a stiletto, it leads to believe that his experience may be exclusive to that jumper or that single canopy.

Was it, or was it in reference to the stilettos he's jumped? Maybe he's only jumped ones with short brake lines. I've got 1000's of jumps on stilettos, most at 2.0-ish, and always thought the onset of the stall was very predictable.

There's a company in California that should have a plate that size. I think it's called Bonehead Composites, or something like that.

You have three choices - Leverage your position as pilot against the DZO in order to put a stop to this. Or - Make sure that all papers are filed, 'I's are dotted and 'T's are crossed, and rigs are up to date so you are covered in case of an incident. Or - Quit flying at the DZ

You say that, but then you say.. Which one is it? Is there anyway to mistake, "Your going to die" for anything but a disapproval of a situation? If a guy who knows what he's talking about disapproves of a situation, shouldn't you listen? If this guy was at my DZ, I would tell him the same exact thing. I would do him the favor of telling him the TRUTH. I have seen the end result of improper attitude and equipment choice, and it's not fun or nice or pretty. It's dirty and permanent and it sucks. If a guy was about to step in front of a speeding bus, do you say, "Pardon me sir, there appears to be a bus headed your way"? No you say, "STOP! LOOK OUT FOR THAT FUCKING BUS! STOP!". Why do you shout, and say it that way? Because it's important, and the message needs to be unmistakable in it's intent. The recipient needs to understand the gravity (no pun intended) of the situation. No, it would still just be 160 jumps. Currency does play a factor, but it in no way trumps overall jump numbers. If you intend to push any limits in skydiving, you need both experience and currency on your side. Your limits will be pushed sooner or later, even if you try to avoid it. You'll have cutaways, you'll land off, you'll have close calls, all while trying to toe the proverbial line. This is the value of jump numbers. Once you are forced into these things, you learn from them. To push too soon, to invite these situations to happen, is where you go wrong. If on that day, that jump where you really 'go for it' natural selection deceides that it's your turn for a mal, or a canopy collision, your fucked.

How many times you have waken up, and thought to yourslef, "I'm going to go the DZ and be reckless under canopy.'? My guess is never. I'd also hazard a guess that all those who have been broken or killed under canopy never thought that either. Pilots and spotters don't think like that, but sometimes they put you out in a bad spot, over trees, next to the barbed wire factory. Conservative jumpers don't think like that, but sometimes they fly around like they're the only ones in the sky, and cut you off at 100 ft. The mighty wind gods may actually be trying to kill you from time to time, when they hit you with gusty, turbulent winds that seem to come out of nowhere. As careful as you may try to be, nobody else out there is on your team. They're on THEIR team, being careful with regards to themselves. Giving someone a canopy that they need to be careful with is not the way to go. You jump a canopy that can easily handle when everything else you can think of has gone wrong. When fear has taken over, and your logical, controlled thinking is on a coffee break, you still have to land a parachute. You should be jumping a canopy you can land while chewing gum, watching another canopy on final, and thinking about boobs.

It's just falling. Anyone can do anything they want provided that it's not a safety hazzard. If you can recover to your belly at any time during any jump (as-in, be able to safely deploy), then you're able to maintain your own safety for solo freefly jumps. If you are able to monitor your position in the sky, and not slide up or down jump run, and invade the airspace of the previous/prior group, then you're able to maintain the safety of others while makign solo freefly jumps. Beyond solos, it's all related to the skill levels of the individual jumpers.

According to the case that Kallend posted, it appears that it doesn't have to be the pilots plane, nor does he have to pay for everything, but he does have to pay his share of the costs. It's like equvilant of the pilot having to pay for his own slot. That aside, it looks like a very fine line you have to walk to fly jumpers without a commercial certificate, and like most things in skydiving it's a non-issue until someone goes in.

Packing, coaching, video, tandem, AFF, and rigging. If you can do all of those, you may be able to survive as a working skydiver. As far as travel goes, I wouldn't count on picking up work at DZs as you go. Most DZ staff wouldn't be too happy to see work jumps or pack jobs going to a guy who is just 'passing through'. I you wanted to make a commitment to stay someplace for six or twelve months, you could probably scare up some work somewhere. It would be more like you traveling to the work, as opposed to work being available where you want to travel.

You're fine. If PD says that's the way it should be, then that's the way it should be. IF you are comparing them to your old lines, then that is your mistake. You may be able to locate a line trim chart in PDs website that will give you the correct measurements for a new set.

Given that the reccomendations for flying a WS start at more than twice your experience, are we supposed to applaud your choice to come back to a more 'normal' level? What about the guy with 120 jumps who went in clean with a WS this summer? The only thing about that jump that stood out was his lack of experience. Everything else about it was normal and above board, until he flew himself into the ground. And jumping at 1.2 with 89 jumps? Another area where you're pushing the limits. I'll derect you to the quote below, which I pulled from my earlier post in this thread -

Big surprise, Mike likes balls. We really needed a post to tell us that.

I don't edit, provide tapes, DVDs or CDs, and I make more per jump than anyone else on the DZ. On top of it all, I don't have to be responsible for anyone but myself, and I get to jump my choice of gear, which I have complete control over the maintenence of, and happens to contain a kick ass Velocity.