davelepka

***also if your want to be an asshole respond to someone elses post i would like only serious honest feedback with out sarcsim. =================================== Seriously, I think you're fishing for answers you're not going to get. By my definition, 'conservative' means cautious, reserved, or of a lesser magnatude than the norm. The very fact that you are intending to jump a camera with your experience level, and not heeding the advice of those more experienced than you shows you are certainly not conservative. The equipment entanglement side of video work is only one factor, and truth be told, some of the newer helmet designs go a long way toward mitigating that. In the aircraft, your equipment checklist has just grown considerably, with the addition being of a high tech nature (read: 100 ways to distract you). In the air, you WILL try to shoot good video. Maybe one or two jumps you will not, but you'll get sick of watching the slop you produce, and you'll start trying to get different shots, or angles. Your buddies, and low timers often jump with other low timers, will become facinated with the idea of a camera on the jump, and will come up with all sorts of interesting plans to get in the picture. Your military experience is of little relevance. Put me on any DZ anywhere, and I can find somebody to jump with. RW, freefly, crew, freestlye, skysurf, birdman, style, accuracy, swooping, hybrids, whatever, I can do it. Does that mean I can strap on a military rig, and SCUBA set up and jump into the ocean? No. Would I dismiss the more experienced military jumpmasters, and try it anyway, No. Don't fool yourself into thinking that tunnel will do anything for you except improve your freefall skills, which, aside from being stable at deployment, have nothing to do with saving your life once you have left the airplane. But if freefall skills are personally important to you, thats all the more reason to set the camera idea aside, and focus on your flying. Adding the camera now will only slow your learning on both fronts.

***I think camera flying is pretty safe if done very conservativly ( a good way just to record a dive ) i am talking about the newbie level with a 100 jumps side mount. ================================== Yeah, conservative. I'd say a navy blue three-button suit with a white shirt, striped tie, and brown wing tips should be conservative enough. If I understood your application better, or if your profile was complete, I'd give you a better answer. Maybe.

The beeping option for the Neptune is scary. It's one thing to have a visual readout of your altitude, as a refernece, but a signal of a specific altitude when a swoop is OK has too many grey areas. Borrowing a smaller canopy, wearing lead, or visiting a DZ with an off-field landing area (as in different msl alti's) are a few. Here's the thing with learning how to swoop (if done correctly), you start with a lower w/l, and a small turn, both of which contribute to a relatively low turn altitude, which is easier to eyeball. At these alti's the Neptune visual display can be used to assist in flying your pattern, but once your on your "final" leg (as in no more turns except your swoop), you should focus on your eyeballs. With enough jumps at this level, you get to know your sight picture pretty well. When you nove up a notch in the size of your turn (and need to throw it higher), your sight picture will change, but the sight picture you know, is an idcator that you're too low for the bigger turn. By the time you work your way up to a serious canopy, and bigger turns, and you need to throw them from 900 or 1000 ft. (where it may be harder to accurately eyeball) you've the experience, and the increased time in your turn, as well increased control of the dive your turn produces, to take a good guess with your eyeball, toss your turn, and keep evaluating your progress as you proceed though your turn, speeding it up, or slowing it down as needed. Rewind to the Neptue beeping thingy. New swooper 'A' uses it to learn his 90's. It works well, and soon he takes a guess at how high he wants to go for a 180. The whole 'guess' part is scary enough, but if he pulls that off, he goes on to guess for a bigger turn. The end result is a guy who's throwing big (read: complicated) turns without the experience to handle any unusual situations such as mid-turn traffic, turbulence, ground based traffic, or off field landigns where a solid 90 might be the best landing for you (last minute power lines, myabe) but your Neptune is set for a 450, and you've only got a handfull of electronicly assisted 90's under your belt. Scary.

Here's the thing with the Cypres, if you never exit, the unit should not be prepared to fire. What if the pilot pulls a wingover, and reaches a high decent rate, you say? That would be unlikey given that there are jumpers still on board, and one of them is passed out. Lets say your Cypres for some reason thinks you are jumping, and is ready to fire. By the time you are low enough for your Cyress to fire, the pilot should have slown the decent rate considerably, and would be in the landing pattern (planes use a pattern too). I know or a fact that I burn though the last 800 ft. of my canopy ride in about 5 seconds, much quicker than the plane, and my Cypres hasn't fired so far.

For an experienced freeflyer in Fla, I say go find a DZ which allows Spaceballs, and ask the guy with the ball (s). If you're trying to build your own ball, don't. You have to be a skilled flyer at any speed to experiement with ball weights and speeds. If you are a skilled flyer like that, see paragraph one, and after you meet the guy with the ball (s), go jump with him.

If the USPA would implement an ehtincs code for group members, say, by Jan, 1, then give 90 days for compliance, this guy would be out of group memebership by the spring. Of course the USPA would first need to realize than they are a private organization, and can do whatever they want, regardless of who it offends. The idea of following an ethincs code as a requisite for memebership to a trade organization is not new. In fact I just recently read such an ethincs code, and it was pretty simple stuff. It's not a law, or a contract that opens them up to any liability, so it doens't need to be penned by a lawyer. It's simple: You want in, you follow the rules. You want in, you understand that we can boot you out at any time, with or without explanation. Done.

***If someone puts up a site that says "Skyride sucks, and this is why" ================================== You're on to something here. Your exact idea may infringe upon a few laws, but a site with consumer info like "Questions to ask before booking a skydive" would be safe. If all the questions directly addressed the problems that Skyride has, this would slow down thier progress. Getting people to ask the hard questions, and then having advice on calling everyone in the phone book first, or checking with the USPA for additional locations. The site would have to be 100% neutral, with no references to any specific DZ's, and just one link to the USPA. The trick would be seeing whose web administrator (Skyride or the Anti-Skyride) is better at funneling web searches and such to thier site. My guess would be that if they saw the Anti site first, consumers would be less likey to book with Skyride. What are the chances that the Skyride guy is the best computer geek in skydiving? I'm sure one of the DZ.com people out there could top his efforts. This is where the USPA would need to intervene, and organize the Group Members as far as sharing in the cost of the site. Between finding a jumper to do the work, and some DZ whose website has space to host a one page, mainly text site, the costs would be very low, especially after split 100 ways (or however many group memenbers there are). Speaking of the USPA, how about having DZ's follow a written code of business ethics to qualify for group member status. If the Skyride guy has a DZ, or is getting a DZ, it would hurt him to not be a USPA DZ. LIke Ron said, the USPA never does much anyway, so I won't hold my breath.

***Manufacturer numbers are notoriously unreliable. ================================== I think the numbers may be right. The differences come from the Sony fitting Sony cams w/o a step down ring. Another brand using a step down ring will have the two lenses further apart, increasing the focal length. It could also be that different lenses, even with adapter rings, end up with different lenghts between the lenses making a comparison of numbers an apples to oranges kind of thing. I'm guessing that there's a standard format for calculating the mag. factor of a wide angle lens, and that most mfg's are using it, but it's the lens housing, camera specs, and adapter rings are screwing it up. Lets not forget the differences that arise when you need to bump in your zoom to cut out the corners, and how much bump each lens needs.

***My biggest concern is that a known public rule like this will cause people to keep their AAD turned off ===================================== Anyone falling into this catagory......defies description. How stupid would you have to be to spend the money to buy, install, and maintain an AAD, only to leave it off for fear of being grounded for 30 days (which directly implies that you feel a Cypres fire is a real possiblity in your future) ? I see your point, but man would it take a box of rocks for a brain to actually do such a thing. My guesss is that we'll see it happen once or twice a year.

***there really is no excuse for loss of altitude awareness being the cause of a cypres fire - NONE. ===================================== I think a distinction that opposers to this rule are not making is that a Cypress fire is not the result of a simple loss of altitude awareness; it's the result of a GROSS loss of altitude awareness. I usually like to get a PC out around 3k or 3.5K. If I lose alt. awareness, I'm throwing out at 2k or 2.5k, more than twice Cypres fire alt. I have a little wiggle room built into the plan. If you are going to plan a dive where your intended pull alt. is 2k, you need to be on the ball. You need to realize that you are taking it right to the limit, and to proceed accordingly. There is no wiggle room. A brief lapse of awareness will result your options closing in on you in a hurry. I jump with a Cypres, and have seen enough video of main and reserve entanglements or downplanes that I regard Cypres fire alt. with as much concern as I regard the ground. I see a Cypres fire during my main deployment to be a serious risk to my health and well being. The fact that anyone thinks it's OK, or excusable that their snivel took them into firing alt. with enough speed to cause a firing is rediculous. You know you have a Cypres, you know it's on, respect that and plan around it.

***Very big and heavy though by todays standards --------------------------------------------- This needed to be said twice. Maybe three times.

This a Plato thing, right? The analogy of the cave? If it is, my college education has finally helped me in the 'real' world. Sweet.

To the management at Perris: Way to go Perris. It's your sandbox, you make the rules. If somebody doesn't like it, they know where the door is. Since you've got the biggest sandbox around, the others will follow your lead. This is a prime example of a DZ governing itself, and Perris Valley's status as a DZ should contribute to the adoption of such a rule at DZ's across the country. Bravo. To all those opposed to the rule: This isn't knidergarden, and it's not Disneyland. If you don't want to follow the rules put in place to save your life, and then you don't want to be responsible for your actions, fuck you. Go be an asshole somewhere else (preferably not a DZ).

***If I'm on something race-prepared, I'm going to wring it out. I don't necessarily intend to, it just works out that way. =================================== Thats what I told the judge, but he didn't seem to understand.

It's not that subsatnce abuse is part of the sport, it's part of the culture of mankind. Thats why we try to teach teenagers 'defensive driving'. You never know what the other guy is going to do. The pilot has a responsibilty to not allow anyone to jump who appears under the influnce. Accordingly, those who indulge while jumping will put some effort into being discreet with thier actions. This includes keeping it quiet around those who may disapprove (such as those who don't partake after hours). All you can do is watch out for yourself in general. The obvious is to not broad a plane with someone you know to be impaired, or you know has a history of jumping impaired. What's not so obvious in not to assume that anyone is OK without a long standing personal relationship. As many have stated already, big name organizers and world champs are not immune to this problem. I was at a boogie once, and was invited on an 8 or 10 way freefly by one of the participants who I sort of knew. I didn't know anyone else, and didn't want to be in the middle of that many unknowns, so I asked for an outside video slot, and kept my eye on everyone, and tracked off just a bit early. I had fun and didn't put myself into a situation I thought might have been sketchy. For the most part, jump and enjoy yourself. The answer is not to do solos all day long, but just to be aware, and keep some of the things I've said in the back of your head. You can take care of yourself, and have fun at the same time.

For a helmet, try a Pro-Tec, no cameras. Jumpsuit, a Tony suit is always a good choice. No wings, just grippers. Put 200 or 300 jumps on both, then ask your questions again.

***I expect everyone on the plane with to be stone cold sober ===================================== Quit skydiving. Seriously though, treat everyone as if they're under the influence. Always watch your back, and have a plan B in place at all times. Make sure you can quickly get out of any situation you put your self into. There are other, non-drug related, factors that make the above statements relevant: Inexperience will cause others to do things that may endanger you. Ego will add to this, causing people to take chances so they can be a 'skygod'. Again, if you're in the area, you're at risk. Stress will cause people to make bad choices, ones they might not normally make. A funnel just before break off is a prime example. Stupidity. Sometimes people just run out of brain cells. It happens.

Don't pat yourself on the back for getting lucky. You made an assortment of bad choices, and your story doesn't even make sense. I can't imagine a good setup for a front riser 90 that wouldn't allow you to flat turn into the wind, or at least crosswind into your intended landing area. Why are you doing a front riser approach on your first jump after a layoff (for an injury no less)? Why are you using your front risers for landing if you can't yet do a basic flat turn? Why are you looking away from your setup and traffic during a critical phase of your setup? Why are you using your front risers without having practiced at higher altitudes untill it's second nature to grab your dive loop? Why are you using your front riser at a low altitiude without having become comforable grabbing the riser or the dive loop? Seriously, the list goes on. Take it easy for 50 or 100 jumps just to get back into the groove of jumping.

No pictures, sorry. The one that was caught in the plane was a Jav or Mirage where the bridle was coming out the top of the side flap, then going back in where it came from. The flap was pinning the bridle down, and would have prevented the pin from being pulled. It's an odd sort of mis-route, and one that would have involved some effort to set the bridle and close the flaps over top of it, but this guy did it. The jumper who gave the pin check is a rigger with 7000 jumps, and noticed the error right away. Another newbie might have seen a seated pin and cocked pilot chute, and sent the guy out the door.

***Subterminal deployments usually take longer..... =================================== From a time standpoint, yes. From an altitude-used standpoint, no.

No personal experience, but we had two newer jumpers mis-route bridles in the same day. One was detected in a pin check on jump run. He rode the plane down. The other made it out of the plane, and went on to land his reserve in a drainage ditch (with open areas on both sides of the ditch).

If you have any speed built up form a previous turn, that will make the risers feel 'heavy'. A Stiletto will carry speed from a turn longer than a Sabre, so that may have been a factor. Also, riser pressure will build fairly quickly on a Stiletto, not to mention that it will probably build more overall speed than a Sabre, also adding to the riser pressure (I haven't jumped a Sabre for many years, but I think this is right). I find if I am doing anything over a 270 for my approach, I need to be in deep brakes before starting my turn to be able to manage the riser pressure through the entire turn. For a 270 or less, I can begin from full flight (or a little faster), but even then, starting from brakes makes it easier.

***Ok, this is just -me- talking, but . . . canopy coaching Then again . . . that's just me ===================================== Nope, not just you, I agree 100%.

OK, how about this: Your canopy relies on your body weight swinging around to facilitate changes in roll or pitch. To make an opposite change on any axis, your bodyweight will have to first return to center, then it can swing out to enact another change. The time it takes for your weight to return to the center is when you have little control over your canopy (the term 'center' is general, and if you're close to centered thats good enough, but if your canopy is on level with you, thats bad). A toggle turn will move your weight further from the center than a riser turn, resulting in a longer period where you don't have control over your canopy. So what is shorter on a riser turn is the time it takes your weight to re-center itself. The dive after your weight has re-centered is dependent on the speed of the turn, and the WL of the canopy. Lets not forget that you can induce a line twist with too much toggle input. Yet another reason to stay away from toggle turns. Edit: Newbies don't get a hard time ASKING questions, it's when they answer them incorrectly that they get shit. Also, if you ask a question, and argue the answer, or ask a question about something you're not ready for, that will get you some shit too.

***"kept an eye on them"... they still stuck out the side. What's wrong with that picture? =================================== Maybe try the other eye?