MWGemini

Just so we can clarify the situation and keep this thread on topic, the birdman wanted me to go before him for several reasons, primarily the fact that the pilot was doing a special, higher altitude, high speed, long spot for him. I did not know this at the time, and I am unsure if he knew I was pulling high (everyone else on the load did, however, so I think the birdman did as well). After I exited and got stable, I did two full 360s looking for the birdman, and did a double wave off before pulling. I couldn't think of anything better to make sure we would not collide. If I was wrong in my judgement, please let me know (probably better to do it in PM or in another thread so we don't kill this one) so that I can make sure I don't do it again. Thanks, Mike

I once passed a cop doing about 150 on a rural highway at 2am on my way back to Ft. Bragg in my 1967 Mustang. Just sold the car last week to get money for a rig, so now I'm much more conservative. The little 4 cyl in my new Focus is just so WEAK! Mike

Yes, my jump was NOT a h&p, I was advised by my instructors to wait a few seconds and get stable first. Also, I was under the impression I would be the last out, but there was a birdman who wanted me to go before him, I didn't want to give us both a bad spot by wasting time to explain the situation, so I just jumped and waited a few extra seconds to be sure he was nowhere near me before I pulled. But this is all off topic- shouldn't we be addressing the original poster's question? Mike

I'll definitely toss some money at it, but I probably shouldn't be the one COLLECTING it, as I'm the student selling everything I own to jump, your money MIGHT not be the safe with me Hopefully I can make it out there sometime after work one day during the next two weeks, as I'm working every day up to the weekend of bridge day, and obviously won't be jumping that weekend. Karen- send Stuart my best, hope he recovers quickly. Eric- Let me know if you need me to host files for you (now or in the future) so that I can configure my linux box for it. Mike/Mike W/Little Mike/some other way to differentiate me from Mike I.

The canopy I've been jumping is a bit out of trim and tends to have long snivels, usually around 1k, although I've never clocked it exactly. I know that at 12 I reached and at 10.5, the slider was down, all cells had inflated, and my airpsace was clear, things I check before I re-check my altitude. That canopy did snivel for about 2k once, however, and I came close to chopping it, but it may have just been a bad pack job that caused that one. Mike

I have a dedicated linux server that I could host the file on, I just need to set it back up for FTP again. Not sure about streaming though, I'm not very good with linux. Mike

I did my first high opening yesterday, on jump #22. Exited @13.5, deployed @ 12, open by 10.5, spent the next 20+ minutes practicing slow flight, turns, stalls, etc, etc, etc. Best advice I can give you is to consider wearing gloves, as your hands will be above you for a long time, hence less circulation, combined with higher altitude, they can get cold. I've had frostbite twice, however, so that skews my results a good deal. Definitely make sure your harness is adjusted well. By the time I landed, my feet were numb (actually I noticed them being numb about 4k), but again, frostbite and reduced circulation resulting from it played a factor in that. Since you will be spending a lot of time in the saddle, make a list of things you want to do up there. Talk with your instructors, read books, etc. I was able to stall my canopy on toggles and rear risers at least 3 times each, did numerous flat turns, braked turns, flare turns, a whole lot of practice flares, high performance turns to measure altitude loss, front riser practice, rear riser turns, simulated landing approaches on toggles and rear risers, etc. Also, while doing some of these exercises, watch the ground, then do the same thing again, but watch the canopy. Learn how it reacts to your inputs and watch how it deforms during turns, etc. Don't forget to enjoy the view ;P Before I could do mine, I had to clear it both with my instructor, the pilot, and the DZO. Watch for other air traffic, listen for the sound of the engines, be sure your airspace is clear before making any turns, verify winds before getting on the plane, and take a good look at some aerial photos beforehand. You need to make sure you are in the right spot, because upper winds can carry you for miles if you let them. Also take a good look around when you are under canopy and memorize the look of the ground to help you in spotting better. That's about all I can think of at the moment. Definitely talk to your instructors and the pilot before you do this, however. Mike Edit: spellcheck needs work!

Dropzone is definitely the best in terms of acting and cinematic quality, but Cutaway is a classic and is great to laugh at. Plus you get to see the guy from Starship Troopers be the bad guy with a non regulation hair cut in the Golden Knights. Somebody told me it makes for a great drinking game movie as well. Mike

And today I pulled high (about 12k) and spent the entire time practicing flat turns, flare turns, flares, stalls, riser turns, etc, on what was almost a sunset load. I'm a light jumper on a pretty big canopy, and I spent probably around 20 minutes (if not more) flying around and enjoying the scenery. It's things like that, new experiences on every jump, that keep me thinking about skydiving every second I'm not at the DZ and dreaming about it when I'm sleeping. I love the sport for a myriad of reasons, and every day just gives me more things to love about it. Mike

Congrats on 500, Marion, and 200, Dawn. The video was great. Brian- thanks for letting me try on your rig today, that is helping to cement my decision to purchase a Mirage G4. I think I'll wait to do my next hop & pop from altitude until I have a custom fitted rig. By the time I landed today, my feet were numb. Hopefully I'll be able to get off work early enough sometime over the next 2 weeks to make a jump or two and get my license, since I won't be back at the DZ for a full weekend until the 23rd. Also- I am looking for someone to go down to Deland, Fl with me Nov 12th-14. I'll be leaving sometime Friday afternoon and coming back Sunday afternoon. I'll be taking the Scott Miller Essentials course there, cost is $175. I'll probably just bring a tent and camp at the DZ or something, but if whoever comes with me (if anyone) prefers, I can rent a room or something. Post, PM, or catch me at the DZ if you want to go with me. Mike

On one of my first solo jumps after IAF, I was floating around under canopy practicing slow flight things, trying to stall the canopy, etc, when a large bird (falcon of some sort?) decided to join me. Spent the next 5 or 6 minutes just gliding along next to it in perfect silence before having to set up my approach. That was by far one of the coolest moments in the short time I've been jumping, and something I hope to see again. Mike

Yeah, $2300, 1k of which is going to camps already, plus wedding expense, the rest is going into the rig fund. By spring I'll be jumping my own gear. Mike- I'll be there as long as its not the weekend of the 16th and I'm not working. Probably going to be working a lot of weekends the next two months but the overtime will help pay for gear, so it's all good. Pam- don't worry, I'm sure I'll be buying a lot more beer in the future. Give Stuart and Karen my best. Mike

I just sold my car (YAY!) and have e-mailed Scott Miller and confirmed a slot for the essentials course Saturday, Nov 13th, if anyone else is interested in going down there with me. I've also pre-registered for the 3 day flight-1 school in late December. My fiancee and I have decided to get married while we are down in FL, and we are thinking about doing a skydiving wedding. Anyone have any experience or info on that? Thanks, Mike

The site you linked me to may not do anything for the copy protection, and I currently have no way of getting it into the computer. I'll check around in the video forums. Should've checked there first. I know the conversion itself isn't the problem, it's the copy protection. Thanks, Mike

Yeah, some guys get all the luck

The video guy I spoke with at my DZ tried to do that, connected the PAL machines to the NTSC machines through his video board/converter/whatever, but said there was some sort of copy protection on it that made him unable to copy it. He has no trouble converting unprotected PAL to NTSC and vice versa from what he tells me though. I remember when I was younger copying VHS tapes that would constantly change contrast due to copy protection. This may be something similar. I've read that there are video capture cards that can do the conversion, but I don't know much about them and don't have the time to research them. I'm hoping somebody on here knows how and has the equipment to do it. Thanks, Mike

Bought them used off E-bay, not from a dealer. Didn't realize until after the fact that they were PAL. Mike

About a week or two ago, I bought the VHS tapes Fly Like A Pro and Pack Like A Pro. Problem is, they are both in PAL format, but I am in the USA, and can't watch them. One of the video guys at my DZ said he could convert them, since the video room has both PAL and NTSC equipment (for jumpers with european video gear), but the tapes are copy protected, and he was unable to get them to copy. So, is there anyone out there who could convert the tapes for me, or knows of a way that I could view PAL tapes on a NTSC system (or even recommend a capture card that would convert the signal that I could use with my PC)? Failing this, I'll just have to sell them and look for the NTSC version. Thanks, Mike

Yeah, I can hear, just had a bit of a headache is all, part of why I decided not to get on the sunset load yesterday. Hopefully next weekend I can get 3 or 4 jumps in, then get my license the weekend of the 9th. Since Bridge Day is the weekend of the 16th, I won't be jumping if I end up going there, but that gives me a few weeks to work on my canopy skills before I (hopefully) go down to DeLand for the Scott Miller course. Mike

I knew it was time to get out when my fiancee meant more to me than my unit. I loved them, but I love her more and don't want to lose her. Raising a family in the military is difficult, espcially in combat units. The transition was pretty easy. I had saved up some leave, so I had two months paid vacation when I got out to relax and find a job, but I do wish that I had put away more money and applied to college while I was still active. It was hard to adjust ot the fact that nobody in the civilian world has any discipline or sense of honor or selfless service. The office politics and back stabbing out here is ridiculous. With the training and attitude the military gives you, however, it makes it a lot easier to put up with things like that. Would I go back in? Absolutely. I miss it every single day, I still talk to the guys in my unit, although not many are still where I left them. Theres some days I seriously consider quitting my job and reenlisting. But then I think about all the BS involved, and the lack of faith I had in some of the leadership, and I stay where I am. Mike

My left ear is still ringing from the demo jump into that concert yesterday. It's too bad there weren't many people around Saturday night. Two cases of beer and a case of soda and 5 of us to drink it. Any word on how Stuart is doing? Mike

Just got back from work, and I picked up a case of bud light and a case of corona light for Saturday. I also have a case of generic soda (sorry Joe, no diet). Think that'll be enough for Saturday's crowd? Also- does the gas station at the corner of 56 and 1A sell ice? Thanks, Mike

This isn't about blame...this is about BEER! When 6 people land out, including the student's COACH, it seems a little funny if he's the only one that owes beer. Might make one think the purpose of beer rules is to get lots of free suds from the new guys. Isn't it? Mike

I really wish (now) that I'd paid more attention to who the other people who landed out with me were. I only remember 2 for sure. At the time, the winds really did not feel to be 30, I'm just going off what the windboard said. Again- not trying to place any blame for the bad spot. May not have even been a bad spot at all. For whatever reason, I landed out, but no harm done. Learned something new that day (besides the fact that Rob needs a set of bolt cutters ;P) CanuckInUSA- sorry for the confusion. I didn't mean to say that I was going upwind into a headwind, but rather that I was upwind of the target, being pushed downwind, towards it. I do have a question for those who were there that day, though. Was the board inaccurate that day, or was the data on it the max gust, and not sustained? I know that I'm still very new and still learning to judge the wind speed, but they really didn't feel that strong to me for the most part (except at higher altitudes). I do know that at 600 feet flying into the wind, I was backing up until I got on the front risers, which allowed me to penetrate better. Once I got a little lower, I was able to let off the front risers and still move forward, into the wind. Thanks, Mike

Couple things here. One, I am still not a very good spotter, so I leave when I'm told to. I rely on my coach for that one. Two, it was my first CASA jump in a few months, and we did a front-facing exit, so I couldn't even see the spot while we were doing the count. Three, I landed safely, and I feel I made the right decision in choosing to land where I did. I had several other options, I chose the one I felt was safest. Whoever is responsible for the bad spot, be it the pilot, inaccurate data on the windboard, the people who left first (and on their behalf, they did leave quickly and did not try to delay, not their fault), my coach, myself, or just the 30mph+ winds, I am NOT trying to place any blame on any of them. I made the choice to jump in strong winds that day, I landed safely, and that's all that I really care about right now. I don't know the situation the other jumper was in, but I sincerely hope he is doing ok. I probably don't even know him, but regardless of what happens, getting hurt sucks, and I hope he is jumping again soon. In response to crzjp20, no, I still plan on downsizing. When my skills make it safe for me to do so. I'm not ready yet, and won't downsize until I am. We already been covered that. In response to foxyroxtail, The fact that several of you had already chosen that field to land in helped me to make my decision. I was pretty sure I could've made the second one, but was less sure about the ground obstructions. Seeing you guys already there and walking around proved that it was at least reasonably flat and safe. I'll be bringing a few cases this Saturday, and your request has been noted. Any other CSS regulars are welcome to add their request here In response to CanuckInUSA, I was not heading into the wind, I had the wind at my back, and I had a flatter glide ratio in brakes than in full flight and on front risers (yes, I checked). Once I turned back into the wind onto final, I did get on my fronts pretty heavily to avoid being pushed back too far, down to about 500 feet or so. The decision to jump in those winds was my call. For the record, the 30+ was uppers, not grounds, although the grounds were in mid 20s according to the board. Discussed it with my instructors, we both agreed I could handle it. Whether that was a bad call or not is anyone's opinion, but doesn't change the past. Also, I plan on going to DeLand for a Scott Miller course shortly after I get my A, then again either in late December, or after I purchase my first rig, more than likely both, if I can afford it. Safety is my number one concern. I appreciate all the help that I have received from everyone who I've talked to. If anyone is in the area of CSS on Saturday, ask around for me, I'll be there all day, and I will be bringing beer. Mike