ConfusedVorlon

Hi Folks, I spent some cloudy days working on a debrief app for iOS. It is designed to make it really easy for you to -scroll backwards and forwards through video. -play in slow motion (forwards or backwards) -Zoom in to highlight details -scribble on the screen to make your point It is also configured so that you can plug it into a tv using the apple tv-out/hdmi cables or stream to an apple TV, and the TV will just show the video (fullscreen). It's a functional beta at the moment, but I'd love to get some feedback on how to improve it. Ultimately, I plan to load it up to the apple store. If you'd like to give it a try, I'd certainly appreciate it. Please sign up to my beta-testing group at http://hobbyistsoftware.com/beta and I'll add you to Apple's test-flight system. thanks, in advance, Rob (screenshots here) http://imgur.com/a/c77rt

I think the most credible suggestion (thanks Slater) is that there were no jets, and they were just wingsuiters. I'm told that wingsuiters zipping past sound a lot like jets, and this may be the cause of the confusion.

no - hence the question to me.

A friend called me up to try to explain the skydiving event he just witnessed. I'm baffled - I wonder if anyone here can shed some light? He was walking in Italy (in the Dolomites) and saw two small jets cruising down the valley below him (jets were approx 1000-2000ft from the valley base). The jets were small and flying in formation. He said it was much like the jets that fly past in the Welsh mountains; He heard the sound, then saw them for a moment, then they were gone. Except - that there were two skydivers where the jets were, and then shortly afterwards two (square) parachutes and a lot of whooping and hollering. So - any idea what happened? My best guess is that someone has been doing an event where a couple of wingsuiters fly down the valley and are buzzed by a couple of jets. Perhaps the Italian military are testing out some new ability to eject passengers at low level... Can anyone shed any light?

1) student canopies are often pretty unresponsive due to being relatively large. For this reason - while you're on a large canopy - you may not get a lot of response to your flare test. You landed fine - so you may need to recalibrate your expectations slightly on what a 'flaring properly' canopy feels like. 2) having said that, I don't know of a single skydiver who cut away from a good canopy and then died. I know of many skydivers who waited too long thinking that they could fix things - or that it might not be so bad, and who then died landing a bad canopy, or under a reserve that didn't have time to open. This even extends to 'land-able' canopies that were not 100% right. A friend had a broken brake line. A more confident canopy pilot would have used rear risers, done a PLF and landed without incident. She was not a confident canopy pilot. She stressed out, made a rough landing and broke her ankle badly. If she had cut away, then she would have almost certainly landed fine. My mantra is 'chop early, chop often'. Much better to make a mistake and chop away from something that was actually ok, than to try to land something that isn't.

thanks for the responses folks. For the record in case future people come to this thread, two people contacted me privately with concerns about Lodi as a tandem location so the responses were not all positive.

I haven't been to lodi in about ten years, so I barely remember it. A friend of mine is considering doing his first tandem there. What I do remember was really low prices, and an attitude that skydivers should be able to look after themselves. So no reserve checks, no logbook inspection, you decide if you are good to jump. I love that. I believe that skydivers are safer and happier if they get used to the idea that they have to make their own safety calls. I don't feel the same way about first tandems. The jumper isn't in a position to make an informed decision. So I'd want a tandem instructor who was experienced, very careful, and thoroughly professional. At other dropzones, I have seen casual, careless and inexperienced tandem masters. They'll be fine if nothing goes wrong - but we know there are a lot of ugly things that can go wrong fast on a tandem jump. Can anyone comment on Lodi? Expert consummate professionals - or do you get what you pay for? ($100 for a tandem) Would you send your mother there for her first tandem jump? thanks in advance.