pd190

Legolas..... Man, I am the shiznit!

Yep!! I've made four so far. Working with fiberglass and some foam stuff for a mold. Not hard at all. I wouldn't really call them D-box....just camera protection boxes. I've made three top mounts for various JVC and Sony products and one side mount for a Canon something or other. There is a good discussion on this in this forum. (I don't remember where....) PS...total project cost minus my time was under $25 for materials.

Jim, You're right, we aren't proud of this. The jumper was one of my best friends. We all had warned him numerous times that this was not the canopy for him. he was talked to by the S&TA, the DZO, the chief instructors. He insisted that he would be fine...because there was no guide at that time, he was allowed to jump it and almost cost everyone a nice DZ to jump at. Thus, the wingload chart and some restrictions.... It was either get something to ensure some relative safety or find somewhere else to skydive.

Okay, let me put some of this stuff to rest... I'm not going to go into "freedom" and "it's your right to splatter yourself." I'll just give you the facts.... The DZ that everyone is so upset about that is using a wingload guide is my home DZ. Everyone is saying "It's like they are canopy nazi's!" Well, they kinda had to be.... 1. Fact - after a severe incident during a beach jump when a jumper with 200ish (230 lbs jumper) hooked a cobalt 105 into the beach and had to be life flighted out , the airport commision board said fix this or you'll never skydive here agian. 2. DZO's were either to close shop or establish something to go by. The DZO spent many nights on the phone with other DZO's and doing some research with USPA, and came up with this chart. 3. The DZO kept the dropzone open and we skydive our asses off every weekend. It's your choice as to what and where. No worries. And this chart is not THE BIBLE of canopy sizes and wingload. It's used as a guide but is held pretty close to the numbers. The stuff about getting the scolding for not getting your liscense is the DZO's attempt at some humor.

0:14:2 owed 0 - again!!! this is starting to suck 14 - combo of Saturday and Sunday. You wanna know what I did?? Better to ask what I didn't do. Birdman, coaching, tandems, video, smoke, hoop, speed star, beach, and some good ole RW. man, what a rockin' weekend on the beach. Went from sun up to sun down on Saturday, rinse lather and repeat for Sunday. I am totally wiped out for work today. We had a good number of people for our caravan this weekend. Mucho tandems, AFF students and just all around good times. anyone that was there will tell you it was a good time. I also started the demo process of my Firebolt 182. My report will follow the final week of testing next weekend. Every jump I did on this thing had me pushing hard and wanting more. I think I just found my new canopy. More to follow. 2 - I owe two cases. 1 for a birdman from caravan! The second for my first hoop dive! I was a holder and we got some excellent video. Nothing better than ending the weekend with a sunset speed star!!!! (Except maybe a BEACH JUMP!!!!!)

No one has said the Carolinas yet.....good southern style, big cities if you want 'em, decent job market...(see big cities) and just an all around good feeling... Remember the James Taylor song.....yep, somthin' like that!

Ladies and Gentlemen......Skydive Coastal Carolinas is proud to present...... A Grand Caravan over the Beach for your jumping enjoyment!!!!! That's right folks.....a smashing good time will be had by all!!!! What - not a boogie....just a plane over the beach (RW loads, FF loads, Birdmen, hoop dives....you name it!!!) When - November 1 and 2nd. Where - Skydive Coastal Carolinas www.skydivecoastalcarolinas.com Why - just for fun!!!! That's right!, all of you folks in, around or near the coast, this is a great chance to experience the most beautiful view from altitude in NC.... Come one come all!!! What is happening....RW dives, hybrid dives, Free Flyin', Birdman dives, Beach jumps, hoop dives, inflatable animal dives, funnel'd dives, speed stars, heck....we might even do some CReW (if the CReW dogs come out!) No registration fees - BYOB, just a nice plane over the beach!!!! Hope to see ya' there. *See the website for beach jumping and driving directions. Please PM me for more detailed directions due to some bridge construction near by. Anyone wanna flock over the BEACH!???????

Here are our girls...... Bubbles and Sharky....Sharky is getting engine mods done right now, so Bubbles is our mainstay!

0:5:0 0 - Still....nothing changing here. 5 - We got clouded out on Saturday, but Sunday turned for the better. Did a Hop N Pop from 10.5 with crete paper streamers (Dogfight under canopy) it was great fun....1 vid.... one more HnP just for fun.....1 tandem.....and finished the weekend with a perfect sunset BEACH Jump!!! 0 winds and nice wide beach = a cool ride from 2 miles out over the ocean!!!! Talk about a view!!!! Met some cool new jumpers (new to the DZ... Whatup Todd..we'll definately get that flock in next time.....sweet beach jump huh?!) and some old friends(Hey deadbrowncow!) To bad Saturday turned out to be crap, but Sunday allowed us to get our groove on! Another great weekend on the Beach!!!!! 0 - Only two more months!!!!!!!

What Lou said..... I personnally like Pinnacle. It's easy, semi-fast, not prone to many problems, and a fairly simple setup. That being said....Premiere is more advanced and I have only used it once, but it has more features than Pinnacle. I think that Pinnacle is a great program for anyone who is starting to edit his own. It's ease of use is a building block for further advancements in the future. An added bonus is that Pinnacle will work on a variety of machine setups. I'm not sure on the reqs. for Premiere, but I've run Pinnacle on 95, 98, 98ME, XP and failed at my attempt to run it on Win 3.11 (this was just for fun to see if I could do it.) IMO...start with Pinnacle, work it, get the updates, and when your skills and knowledge base progress...you may decide to upgrade...or just stick with Pinnalce???

0:3:0 0 - nothing happening here. 3 - Didn't push to hard this weekend. I spent most of Saturday morning in traffic, so I got to the DZ late. I did manage to squeeze in a HnP before the plane had to leave for a demo. Sunday tuned out much better....I spent a few hours with an out of currency jumper and got her back on track. Then did coaching jumps with her. She owes some major beer. First time from a 182, and first HnP. Congrats to Wendy on getting back in the air!!! 0 - no beer owed for me this weekend. I'm gonna owe next weekend though, more to follow..... Another great weekend spent on the beach. The weather was decent, but it's getting time to think about getting some gloves!

Since I only have 1 rig right now, I have to constantly switch the BM suit in and out. So I voted greater than 15. That is to include the repack prior to hook up. If I'm already packed 5-10 minutes.

Count me in on this.....I'm also the only one at my DZ flying......so far.

/Monty Python voice/ -- Run Away! Run Away! /end Monty Python voice....... Yeah, that's what I thought when i bought my JVC..... "Hmmm, they look just as good, and they are $200 cheaper than a Sony. Yeah, I'll get this." One year later and I'm using a Sony. I had multiple problems with my JVC. Everything from tape problems to software and programming difficulties. I even had some maintenance guys from the factory tell me that my camera was screwed. Bottom line, don't buy a JVC with the intent on using it for ....well, anything. True story----a friend of mine bought a JVC about two years ago..He used it a bunch doing deer hunting videos and family stuff. He decides that he wanted to take it skydiving...well, I tried to warn him about the issues I had. He says he just wants to use it for practice and to learn some skills....Okay, no problem. Two skydives later and he is sending it back to JVC for service......heard this story before??? DON'T BUY A JVC FOR SKYDIVING!!!!

0:6:0 0 - nothing changin here. 6 - total jumps for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday started kinda slow... 4 way/3 pts., vid of a three way (just for fun), BEACH JUMP! Sunday got busy. Taught refresher course in the morning, did two coach jumps and finished off with a tandem (could have used a little breeze) Highlight of the weekend was a semi-cross country onto the beach. Uppers were moving, so we exited WAYYYY out over our normal spot. Sweet landing! Met some new jumpers (new to our zone) and had an awesome tandem student (screamer) on Sunday. Another sweeeet weekend is posted in the record books. Already looking forward to sunrise and sunset tandems scheduled for next weekend. Let's pray the weather will cooperate. 0 - no beer owed. (I think I'll provide a case next weekend just for fun.)

Yep.... I have a Sony TRGRV350 (something like that). It's Hi-8 digital and has worked great for me filming tandems. I've had it for about a year now and have done about 70 vids with it. I made the mistake of going with a JVC for my first camera (topic long discussed here.) Eventually, you will want to upgrade as your skills progress, but for me, this camera has been working great. No maintenance issues (not like my JVC) and it does have limited on camera editing features. I don't use them (haven't tried) but they are there as another option.

One trick that I have used in the past is go to your local auto parts store and get some of those seatbelt slip over covers. They make those things with mucho padding and in different styles. I bought some for $7.00, they were velcro wrap around and were long enough that one cut in half did the job. Put these on your leg straps and you will feel the difference. Because they are velcro wrap around, you will be able to attach them to different rigs if you jump multiple rigs without undoing any of the buckles and attachment points. I know a tandem master who uses these for an older stlye student harness that had no padding in the leg straps....big difference in the comfort factor for his students.

Yeah! What he said..... One of the guys brought a copy out this weekend. After everything calmed down on Sunday, we all sat and watched it. Well done! The shots through the mountains were spectacular and the chow scenes rocked! Some of the best not mentioned were the alternate vehicle attempts and completions. Awesome! Good job to the boys who put it together! Must have for anyone interested in canopy flight!

0:7:1 0 - SO didn't make it out this weekend, so the big fat goose egg stands. 7 - Got some really good jumping in this weekend. 1 tracking dive, 2 bird man's (Yes, I am now fully addicted to nylon crack), 1 video of tandem just for fun, 1 tandem, 1 FF jump with some guys to practice my sit (which I held surprisingly well), and a three way w/ 6 points just for giggles. 1 - one case owed for my first nylon crack jump!!! The beach was rockin as usual! The weather turned out to be really good. Had some good winds on Sunday, but it was all good. DZO is ready to finish the interior of the new facilities, so it looks like most of the winter will be spent in construction mode. (Can't wait!)

Someone familiar with the tunnel in Bragg please help... When I flew in this one, the wind speed was 127-135 mph (I think.) I seem to remember looking at a meter or something. (It's been quite a few years since I've been there.) The fans at Bragg are in the lower portion. Same for the tunnel at Pigeon Forge. PS. They have a heavy duty metal springy screen over the fans...there would have to be a significant accident in order to get diced up.

After an uneventful two way....landed and was gathering my canopy when.....plunk.....hit in the head by a pair of goggles...... Talk about some good spotting! Also, lost a shoe on a 12-way one time....was on final approach...landed and turned to view the incoming jumpers......one of the other guys starts yelling at me, but I can't hear him..... "Hey Adam, is this your shoe...?" Turns out it landed about 20 feet from him and 10 m from the wind sock. Life would have sucked walking on one shoe for the rest of the boogie.

You might be better off to post this in the photo vid forum. Also, do a search for the topics of your interest. They will yeild amazing results on discussions about this very thing.

I just wanted to let everyone in this thread know that I picked up the ultimate in office machinery yesterday..... It will pulverize your favorite stapler, three-hole punch, magic 8 ball (not that I would want to do that) and all of your favorite colored pens and post-its! MWHAAAAAA!!! Its a SEM model 200 Pulverizer with a 20 gal shop vac. This thing will eat and turn to dust anything I put in it. It's loud as hell and makes really cool chomping sounds when you put CD's in it (whoops.) it's powered by a 1.5 hp electric motor and the vac looks like R2-D2 on crack in a wheel chair. edit- because I forgot to add that it has an infared sensor powered shredder on the top! So i can also chew up to 80 pages at one time before I turn it to dust!!! I'm gonna try pulverizing my sandwich and a soda can after lunch! WOOOHOOOO! *Note to self---the entire building can hear this machine when I start it up. Must make note of this when staff meetings are called. I think I'll name her Mertile!!!! Send me your worn out office supplies so that I might pulverize all of the infidels!!!! MWHAAAHAAAA!!

The main reason that I became a coach and TM is because working with students and meeting people are high on my list. There is nothing like sharing the joy of a first time tandem student when they land or the site of someone's "light bulb" coming on after I teach a trick or tip (whether it be packing, body flight or canopy control.) I can definately see where it could become an endless stream of the same thing, but for right now, it's all fun for me!

Ahhhh, yes, another great weekend on the beach! 0:11:3 owed 0 - still the same 11 - Got in 6 tandems Friday, Saturday spent the day doing DZ clean up and finishing off the new vid room. Hit it hard on Sunday with 1 tandem, 2 Hop n Pops, and a BEACH JUMP. I set the record for closest to the surf without getting wet (approx 2 ft). Monday finished with a tandem and an early exit from the DZ. 3 - cases owed. (1) closed to the surf zone without getting wet. (2) broke 600th skydive. (3) finally getting a guy to let me borrow his birdman suit. Now I just have to get up with SkyMonkeyOne and Lou Diamond. The weather turned out perfectly and another great weekend at the beach goes in the books!