the.Legend

Switching to a bigger suit is like changing a class in car racing - you get more power, but if you can't control it properly things will get really messy really fast. In particular, bigger suits are more sensitive to asymmetry on openings (body-twists), harder to recover from flatspins, and it's really easy to turn yourself into a meat missile if you loose focus at high speeds. Also, at normal speed the big suits fly you, not you fly them. What I mean is that wings have so much pressure that at normal speeds it feels like an autopilot. For experienced pilot that's a nice feature that helps to relax when needed, but for inexperienced it builds a false sense of confidence. And then when you need it to fly the suit for real (i.e. really fast or really slow, steep or shallow) you won't know what to do, or worse - you loose control of the suit. Flying ATC in formation with bigger suits (Freaks, Creatures, Makos) teaches how to fly the suit in all configurations because you'd have to work and think. You don't need a brand-new one. Since ATC is considered transitional suit, there's a chance someone will be selling a used one in good condition on Facebook. People are after these suits, so once you done jumping and grow into Freak, you can then sell it These are two popular Buy/Sell groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1652511934998695/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/233536077183570/

When I started, there was nothing of that kind, so through trials and errors it's now where it is. Smartphones aren't good enough because their GPS is too slow (only 1 reading per second). Since I don't have Garmin watch I can't comment on that. ActiveLook became available only about a year or two ago, but when this project has started there was no hardware on the market that could provide the solution at a reasonable price and scalability. Yes, FlySight 2 has technical capabilities of working with ActiveLook, it's only a matter of firmware update. Although its UI will be a bit cumbersome because there's only 1 button on FlySight and proximity sensor on goggles (which doesn't recognize swipe directions, only that there's a swipe). Or it will rely on config files that have to be uploaded from PC. I've been considering making custom firmware for FlySight but at this point it's faster for me to experiment with the code I already know because functionality is constantly changing. Who knows, maybe at some point it will be merged into FS.

So far this prototype that can display whatever data I need, and I'm working on different layouts and overall stability. Since the device doesn't have a barometer, the altitude is based on GPS. It has some pros and cons: + Displays real altitude relative to the ground (after MSL/AGL offset is stored in memory via corresponding menu) + Burble does not impact readings - true altitude displayed regardless of back/belly position + You see the same altitude as the one used by judges during scoring ( because Exit and Start/Finish gates are read from GPS, and AGL offset if preset in the beginning of competition) - last year during championship there was a case when Visio and FlySight altitudes were different by few hundred meters, and competitors were to exit an aircraft at 3700m AGL according to GPS, not barometer reading - If signal is weak (i.e. too few satellites in view) the altitude readings swing back and forth by astronomical margins (sometimes as much as 400m) - I'm working on improving signal reception With time I'll release a web-tool for creating custom layouts so anyone could see whatever they want (actually, the tool is already in working state, but now I need to implement support for JSON definition of layouts)

The first prototype that will be used by someone other than me :) I've pretty much settled on hardware configuration. There's still some space for optimization (like size for example) but that shouldn't affect the codebase too much. ENGO 2 indeed pretty good for this purpose. Although there was no SDK for ESP32, I was able to write some basic implementation using the documentation available. Still there's a lot of work to be done. In the sort term: * Complete "Competition mode' - UI tweaks, navigation, score computation * Implement data input - home DZ coordinates, altitude offset, target coordinates for competition, etc. * Stability overhaul In the long run it'd be good to have some smartphone app to manage all the settings, as well as create custom screen layouts, but there's still long road ahead

Maybe their old number still works Phone : 770-279-7733 If not, attached are the lineset specs pdf, maybe some rigger would help you ALL-FCI-LINE-SET.pdf

https://indoorskydivingsource.com/tunnels/manufacturers/

AAD servicing - especially: 1) Auto-shutdown feature of Vigils (idk about Cypress) - reminder to turn AAD off at the end of the day manually because they will shut themselves down after 14 hours, but if you leave the rig at DZ overnight with AAD On, it may shut itself down juuust in-between the rig check and boarding the your firts load the next day 2) battery servicing periods for different models 3) Activation altitudes and speeds for different modes

There's no such perfect spot. It's always a balance between snag hazard and the picture Full body view could be achieved by having camera far from the body i.e. selfie stick, but this is dangerous on many levels. I could give a full lecture about why this is a bad idea, but key points: * If you loose it, it might fail on someone's head or property * At terminal velocity it catches air like crazy and affects your flying a lot * Snag hazard * In case of accident/malfunction when you need both hands, what you gonna do with the camera? Just don't do that. Next on the list - helmet camera extensions - they've got their name "deathsticks" for a reason. Avoid that as well. Wrist mounts are widely used by tandem pilots, but those jumps are of completely different nature, shoot specific angles and thus wrist mounts work well only in that environment. Also those mounts have cutaway mechanism. I've seen some people with 360 camera chin mounts, which is comparably safe, but again, no full body view. You know, actually, there's one perfect spot that lets you see your whole body - when it's mounted on the helmet of your coach.

@Annik Which type of lens were you using? And did you use them with clear visor or tinted visor? How do they stand against bright daylight? After deeper investigation and consultations, I'll be experimenting with them because the platform seems very promising, easy to integrate and solves a lot of technical & safety challenges. If all goes well, there gonna be a pretty cool announcement soon :)

Parachute De France has been changing owners many times, no wonder it's hard to find any information. That's some kind of main ("Principale") but the stamp is not very readable on this photo, so you'd have to check the archives yourself: https://web.archive.org/web/20130315000000*/http://www.aerazur.com/en/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/http://www.parachutes-de-france.net/

So my tracker from AliExpress has finally arrived. Size-wise it looks good - nearly perfect fit for SkySnatch's pipe handle But turns out this is not a GPS, rather GPRS tracker, just like this review says: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsMKcn3R2tQ (I wish I've seen it sooner) Checked its insides and indeed there's no GPS hardware. Technically you may use it along with call capabilities - i.e. look for a canopy by making noise and listening how close you get to the point, but IMHO its not worth the effort of installing it. Will search for something similar, but with real GPS capabilities

As of October - still Havoks. I've heard some talks about switching to new Intrudair Fin, but it's the same as last year's talk as switching to LowKi - i.e. time will tell. Anyways this shift would probably be gradual because they have full shelve of perfectly operational Havoks with some lifespan left in them.

Looks like old Vertigo's canopy for BASE jumping (nowadays it's known as APEX BASE)

Just a side note: that link shows only USPA-affiliated DZs.

What a waste of perfectly good material! Few month ago I got a jacket from Skylark made of parachute fabric and it's amazing! Wind/water-proof, very light and compact. I carry it in a backpack anywhere I go.