First freefall video (vidiot)?

What was the first documented freefall video person? What was his/her setup? I'm really curious about a mounted system, not something just held in a jumper's hand, though.

I remember a guy at Green County in 1976 with a film camera on his head.. Dick Boudin I think..The name Randy Deluca comes to me as well from my fractured memories of the 70's

Ray Cottingham was doing video stuff for TV
back in the stone age..

You want video or movin' pictures? I had a battery operated full size VHS VCR and separate color camera in 1984 Hmmm '83?. Built a chest pack for the VCR and a mount for the camera. Actually still I still have all the gear. Film will go back to the 50's or 60's, if not earlier.

He did ask about video, not film.

In 1982 I was jumping a JVC video system (the first that used a smaller than standard size VHS tape). This was the first (non-professional) unit that separated the camera from the recording deck. I remember the cost was a whopping $1800. Although prior to this some are jumping the larger Sony Betamax systems.

The recording unit on the JVC was worn up front like a belly wart reserve. This was the first true compact consumer video system. I believe it was the only time, a very young Tom Sanders, was impressed with my equipment.

If talking about film, the first to carry a helmet mounted camera in freefall was probably Bob Buquor in 1966 filming the first eight-way. Bob drowned off Malibu while shooting the freefall footage for the feature film, "Don’t Make Waves," starring Tony Curtis and Sharon Tate (yes, the Manson Family victim, Sharon Tate).

Bob is found on the bottom of the sea with his camera helmet in his hands. The film does include the freefall sequences, but I’m not sure if they recovered Bob’s film, or re-shot the footage.

Who actually shot the first air to air “video” is probably lost to history . . .

Nick D
BASE 194

The first guys that I saw doing video were doing it in the early 80's...81-82. They had the camera mounted on their helmet and a video deck attached to their harness. These were tiny by the standards of the day but huge by today's standards. I would guess that the first video became feasible in the late 70's. Before that the cameras and decks were just too large and not really portable.

One of my old buddies, who used one of these setups in the mid-80's, just marvelled at my Optik with a sidemounted PC-1 when he saw it last year. Smaller. lighter and safer....the old set ups weren't very jettisonable as the cameras were attached to the deck on the chest by cables.

Pretty scary stuff. One of my friends died at the Ranch in the late 80's jumping one of these set-ups when he had a helmet/pilot chute entanglement and then a reserve/main entanglement.

I know Rande Deluca was jumping video in the early 80's as I saw pictures of him at a World Cup held in Claresholme Alberta. He was likely jumping video a fair bit earlier than that as he was a well known camera man well before that. Did he die of cancer in the mid-80's?

Quote

If talking about film, the first to carry a helmet mounted camera in freefall was probably Bob Buquor in 1966 filming the first eight-way. Bob drowned off Malibu while shooting the freefall footage for the feature film, "Don’t Make Waves," starring Tony Curtis and Sharon Tate (yes, the Manson Family victim, Sharon Tate).

Oh yeah, I know about Bob. Some of us still hold SCRs in a place of tradition and honor (not to mention the SCR ceremony).

Comeon Nick your mind is going

Lyle Cameron was jumping 16mm in the early 60's but my guess would be Bob Sinclair.

But what do I know there was probably someone earlier.

According to Bill Newell, Bob Buquor began organizing and filming star formations at Arvin, California in 1964. Bill met Buquor in March of that year, just after he'd filmed Arvin's first four-man star with Mitch Poteet, Louie Paproski, Andy Keech and Don Henderson. A few weeks later, Bob filmed the first five-man star with Mitch Poteet, Louie Paproski, Leigh Hunt, Nels Lindebloom and Don Henderson. "One of the things I remember best about Bob," says Newell, "is that I was at a strange drop zone, with only about 50 jumps, and he was one of the first ones to ask me on a load. He had a zany, outgoing personality."


Bob Buquor
1933-1966

Bob Buquor gained quite a following of relative work enthusiasts over a three-year span of star attempts at the Arvin and Old River drop zones near Bakersfield, according to Newell, where hard-core regular jumpers included Bob Thompson, Al Paradowski, Jim Dann, Brian Williams, Jerry Bird, Mitch Poteet, John Rinard, Joe McKinney, Lou Paproski, Bill Stage, Don Henderson, Terry Ward, Skratch Garrison, and of course, Bill Newell.
In August of 1964, ABC-TV sent Buquor to Germany to cover the World Parachuting Championships. He was back in time to organize and photograph the world's first six-man star over Arvin on September 6, 1964. The picture was on the cover of Skydiver magazine. On New Year's Day 1965, Buquor shot the stills of Rod Pack's famous chute less jump over Arvin. His photos were published in an exclusive feature article and on the cover of Life magazine. Buquor and Rod Pack were good friends and also pilots. They bought a couple of little Globe Swift two-seater sport airplanes with some of the earnings from the chute less jump stunt. Buquor spent a good part of 1965 flying to Arvin on the weekends from his home in the Los Angeles area to photograph the Arvin Jumpers in various relative work formations and star attempts.

After more than a year of filming six and seven man stars, constantly trying for the "big one," Buquor finally captured the elusive first eight-man star on film over Arvin, on October 17, 1965. While miniscule in comparison to today's group relative work feats, Buquor's spectacular freefall flicks of the period created quite a sensation in Parachutist magazine.

Courtesy of www.scr-awards.com

Quote

Comeon Nick your mind is going

Lyle Cameron was jumping 16mm in the early 60's but my guess would be Bob Sinclair.

But what do I know there was probably someone earlier.

Where's Bill Cole or Pops Poppenhager? I bet they could shed some light for us....

Don't know the answer to your question, but you might like this video: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=94. Golden knights and red devils do helicopter jumps in 1964. The last couple minutes are freefall movies taken using a helmet mounted WW2 fighter plane gun camera. You can see the setup around the 4 minute mark, just briefly.

Dave

Here's a link to a pic of an early gun camera setup . About 1968. Notice the dry cells.
http://home.earthlink.net/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://home.earthlink.net/~tspoond328/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/bobmcd1050edited.jpg&target=tlx_new&title=Bob%20McDonnell%20D-10%20at%20Akron%20NY

Quote

Comeon Nick your mind is going

Lyle Cameron was jumping 16mm in the early 60's but my guess would be Bob Sinclair. reply]

Hi Dad,

Yes, of course, you're right . . .

Ripcord (never missed it, I'd sit in front of our b&w Zenith with a big bowl of cereal when I was 8 years old) aired from 1961 to about 1964, and Bob Sinclair was doing much of the air to air stuff.

http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-2772/


Nick
Base 194

• Quote

As I remember Lew Sanborn shot the first real skydiving free fall film for the movie short of "A SPORT IS BORN" in 1959 or 60.It wone the academy award for short subjects.

Pop D47

Quote

• Quote

My body hurts after watching them land like a sack of spuds damn that!

On "The Color Of War," a series of television shows on The History Channel of actual WW2 Footage shows a clip of a paratrooper with an old video camera straped to his chest (above the Belly wart, not a real smart Idea IMO) for a training jump. I would guess it was from 1941-1945. VERY cool.

Yuck, looking at the Camera Setup AND the parachutist makes me want to cringe......

I spoke with Ray Cottiingham today, for those that don't know, Ray was one of the early freefall camera flyers. He said the first he can remember was a Sony set up in 1968 or 1969. He said the tape deck weighed 45 lbs. and the camera portion was only a pound or so and mounted on you helmet. In order to jump it you had to wear a "piggyback" rig and there were not that many around then. Things sure have come a long way to the tiny digital unit worn today.
Sparky

I believe that Lew Sanborn was the first to film another person with a motion camera. He shot the cover for Sports Illustrated magazine in March 1961, which lead to the first skydiving movie titled "A Sport Is Born". This movie received an Academy Award nomination in 1961. Lew is still jumping and is THE nicest person that I have ever met in this sport.

Here's a pic of Bob Sinclair in the mid 60's:

Quote

Here's a pic of Bob Sinclair in the mid 60's:

What is the handle on his left arm? Is it a main ripcord, or a cutaway handle for his helmet?

It looks like his rip-cord handle is stuck in a pocket on his jump suit. I guess that would work as long as he didn't have a floating rip-cord handle (then there might be serious problems). Maybe the housing was also tacked down on his sleeve for safety reasons. That's the strangest camera set-up that I've ever seen. But it was the beginning of things to come. It might have worked fine as long as you had a bull neck.....Steve1