Peej 0 #1 February 27, 2006 My tandem camera career has only spanned about 3 weeks so far but this past saturday was possibly the worst day i've ever had First Jump: I have a brake fire on opening that puts me on my back and a little low so i end up nearly chopping and landing out. Thank goodness we were a double tandem on that load (girlfriend and boyfriend) so the other camera guy covered the landing and post jump interview for me. Jump Two: As i'm climbing out the plane i feel something pull taught on my wing, then snap. I look down to see if the clips on the bottom of my wings are ok and they are so we exit. It turns out the swoop cord inside my sleeve snapped. Managed to stay with the tandem but the TM said i had a very worried look on my face for most of the dive. (He also ended up chopping on this one). Jump Three: I film my standard ground shots, interview, walk to the plane, etc, etc. In the plane i do the final interview before exit, then kit up and we get out. We do the jump and land and when i run over to film the post jump interview the camera tells me the heads are dirty. It seemed it decided this right after i filmed the interview in the plane, recorded that but got nothing in freefall. Crap. I appologised profusely and paid my slot. So, who else has some entertaining stories to tell? Needless to say on every jump i'm gaining new respect for you guys that have been doing this for a long time Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 74 #2 February 27, 2006 Going onto my back to film the opening, and seeing half my camera-helmet fly away from me in freefall was 'funny'JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #3 February 27, 2006 Ouch dude! Where did it come undone? Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cacophony 0 #4 February 27, 2006 Well, I ended up hanging by my legs on the bottom of our 206, heh. At least it was only an AFF eval practice! Oh, then the next jump I accidentally left with the wrong group, heh. It was a coach practice vid. Thats what they get for switching up the exit order at the last second and not telling me. Ooops!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wingnut 0 #5 February 27, 2006 my worse day whas when i made contact with a drouge......... everthing turned out okay, but it was not fun to see it flying right at me..... funiest was when my friend joey tried to take his mom for a tandem... he got her to the door and then the cat in the tub claws came out and she wouldn't go... i was on the wing of the twin-bo and my friend brian was on the camera slot, we finally just had to go before we were to far away from the dz..... i got it all on tape though.. very funny stuff!! ______________________________________ "i have no reader's digest version" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zee 0 #6 February 27, 2006 Gettin' one of the absolute hardest openings I've ever had only to wake up just in time to see a $4,500 camera setup fly off my head. YooooHoooo!!! That part sucked but the party that night kicked ass Don't feel bad dude, the swoop cord thing happens to everyone eventually - What makes it memorable is when it happens while you're filming a TM/Student that breaks the scale at maybe a buck seventy five combined and you're pushin' a solid 240. Can you say Bye Bye? As for camera malfunctions, camera man malfunctions, and simple matters of circumstance, they'll all bite you in the ass eventually. Just learn from your mistakes and then realize how much fun it is when everything works out the way you plan it. Keep yer chin up - It's gonna get worse before it gets better Peace, Z Action©Sports Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #7 February 27, 2006 Thanks for the advice dude! Things did get a little better when the owner of the tandem concession messaged me this morning to say she was way impressed with one of the DVD's i handed a customer a few days ago Keep the stories coming people! Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gofast_ER 0 #8 February 27, 2006 QuoteGoing onto my back to film the opening, and seeing half my camera-helmet fly away from me in freefall was 'funny' just an idea from someone that has never jumped with a camera. Couldn't there be a way to set up some kind of static line parachute system on your cameras? Maby this wouldn't be practical....and even if it did work could you imagine trying to find it once you landed! Well....just an idea.I may not agree with what you have to say but i'll defend to the death your right to say it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zee 0 #9 February 27, 2006 Can you say "Premature Deployment"? It just ain't worth the risk, dude. I'd rather just watch the gear hit the ground in a very expensive Wylie Coyote like explosion than chance that one Then again, it could make for some good video..... Action©Sports Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #10 February 27, 2006 It's a big switch from jumping for fun, to being responsible for pleasing a cusotmer. Maybe you're lucky that all that happened in one day. At least now you know what to look out for, and can work to keep those things from happening again. Gear maintenence is huge. Clean packing is huge. It's hard to beleive that I have to say that, but alot of jumpers get sloppy on both of those. Aside from the obvious safety issues, now you have to deal with an unhappy customer, unhappy boss, and the crap your fellow camera guys will sling at you. This is all on top of the personal failure you feel. Keep in mind that 'gear' applies to jumpsuits, helemts, cameras, gloves, altis - whatever you need to have you jump go as planned. Any one of those things failing during a jump could be enough to ruin the whole video. There are always factors outside of your control the you cannot help. A broken swoop cord is not one of them. But when something does come up, you stand the best chance of over coming the problem, if everything else working on your favor. Go ahead and get a little wierd about covering your bases. Others may say it's excessive, but you can never be too ready. I jump with a guy who carries a ton of shit in his jumpsuit - batteries, film, tapes, goggles, lens cloths, rubber bands, and abotu ten other things. I think it's stupid, but his collection of stuff has baile dout many jumpers (not just camera guys) on mnay occasions (I'd say at least twice a month). Oh, yeah, don't forget to have fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #11 February 27, 2006 Yeah man, to be honest i'm kind of embarrassed to admit that as a junior camera flyer, the thought of little things like a swoop cord breaking hadn't even entered my mind You can be damn sure it's going into my gear checks from now on. Thanks for the rest of your advice too! Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davelepka 4 #12 February 27, 2006 Quotethe thought of little things like a swoop cord breaking hadn't even entered my mind You can be damn sure it's going into my gear checks from now on. The swoop cord isn't an 'every jump' item to check. The idea now is to over-build both of them, and check them once a week. You'll find alot of things will need beefing up or improving. Finding them ahead of time is the trick. It does suck for things to go wrong, but thats sort of the way you become a better camera man. Reliability is a huge issue. You can fly your ass off, and dirty heads make it all a waste of time. The more stuff you can have squared away, and working right, the more effort and thought you can put into your flying. It's a whole big complicated dangerous process. Again, have fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gthomas101 0 #13 February 27, 2006 this last saturday on a three way one guy went low, I stayed with the other two, got a opening shot of one guy, back fliped threw out the chute and watched as the low guy threw his out directly below me I missed him by maybe 10 ft but he caught my right side, very scary shit, new rule in my book ,,,, If i cant see everybody, the dives over for me. the video makes my ass slam shut everytime i see it.gthomasphoto.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
j3zz 0 #14 February 27, 2006 Probably does not count but it sucked all the same. I was filming a 3 way tube meat bomb with a bunch of people who did not even have cat 10 basic rw which is required when jumping together, anyway I did not know it I assumed they did anyway I flew my ass off stayed with the tube all the way perfectly framed a really tight in. It was all over the place spinning at mutiple axises. I watched the vid when I landed primed the tape to show the guys and then got distracted jumped in the plane and filmed over it DUH!! Being as they then got rumbled i did not get a second chance to do it again. It was one of my best ever videos Jezz "Now I know why the birds fly" Hinton Skydivers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #15 February 27, 2006 About my third camera jump, I was so busy adjusting swoop cords, camera, etc. that I found myself sitting in the airplane without having inspected my gear. Doh! First priority: survive the skydive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 643 #16 February 27, 2006 How about the time I crouched on the step (facing aft) and watched the carbon-fiber lid from my Bonehead Full-Box fly off to Never-Neverland. Note to self: double check lid latch before climbing out. I spent the rest of the skydive diving after a hopelessly unstable young jumper who theoretically held an A License. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveorino 7 #17 February 27, 2006 Had to be a couple years ago when my Sony TRV 19 started going to niteswitch by itself. The video was all green ad white when facing the sun. Its th eonly time I had to give money back to the student. Never figured out what was wrong -- I sold it "as is" on Ebay. Some whuffo took a chance on it. steveOrino Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #18 February 27, 2006 Sitting on the ground taking pictures by clicking the tongue switch during the interview it all seemed fine. In the plane decided to take a few pics of the prep and the camera only fired 1 pic. Ran through all the settings and they were fine, tried again and it did'nt fire. At 11k now and the FTP was torn apart looking at the wires for a loose connection, none found but on replugging everything in it worked... for 3 pics then died. I got the first shot in a climb out and thats it. On the ground I looked over the thing with a fine tooth comb and found out that the 90 degree plug on the remote had a short in it and would only fire if it was bent the right way. Luckly it was a freebie for stills and the video was dead on so I did'nt lose out there but I'm now going to carry an extra switch and plug with me.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miami 0 #19 February 27, 2006 My worst day of video jumping has already been posted here.Miami Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveorino 7 #20 February 27, 2006 Karen Lewis (Lewmonst) posted a thread a while back about all the things that can go wrong on a video jump. It was very entertaining and should be required reading for all vidiots. steveOrino Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miami 0 #21 February 27, 2006 Is this the thread you speak of? If not it still has a couple posts with some great info...worth a read I think.Miami Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steveorino 7 #22 February 27, 2006 nope here it is. little things ... steveOrino Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimoke 0 #23 February 28, 2006 every year at my DZ we have a 2 freefly coaching weekends with Max Cohn. for those who have never heard of Max he is one of the most talented flyers in the world and he is just an all around great guy as well. a few years back I asked him if he would geek a tandem as I shot the outside video, he agreed. we pre-dived the jump. the jump was amazing, Max was flying like I dreamed of, carving head down, sitting, the lighting was beautiful........as you might have guessed, my camera died. I was pissed and within 1 hour I was buying a new trv27 from bestbuy. so it gets better, or worse, actually. the next morning we did it again, this time the student was quite large 250lbs with a 200lbs TI. the exit was sweet, I flipped to my belly in anticipation of the drouge about 8-10 seconds. the tandem master took a 20 second delay for some reason and I found myself saying shit!! as they cruised to about 180 mph. they looked like ants. (the tandem pair and Max) he was there and I wasn't. I felt like such a doofus. after we landed max came up to me with a smile. we talked a bit. he was so cool not making me feel like ass, which I felt like the biggest one anywhere. he asked if I got any footage and then insisted I take the footage from his camera for both videos and complete the sale to my customers. I told him I would but I was going to pay him what I would have made. he refused. Max Cohn is a class act! Stay Safe, JimokeThe ground always, remembers where you are! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stratostar 5 #24 February 28, 2006 Working my ass off all weekend and at the end of the weekend being told they can't pay me the money owed cuz they can't afford it! ~you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peej 0 #25 February 28, 2006 QuoteMy worst day of video jumping has already been posted here. Ouch Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
