skykittykat

An AAD on big ways would be advisable - depending upon who is organising, you could be knocked out due to someone tracking into your head (happened to me twice on one jump which was an 8 way???, but I didn't pass out). Generally, break off is very regimented on big ways. You have a break off height and a pull height, eg, first wave go at 5k and pull no higher than 2.5k. If those people pull at 2.5k then they are open before their hard deck. To follow on from other peoples' topics - if you do your job on a big way then there should be no reason to pull low or not get into your own airspace to pull. To slightly go off topic, I have chosen my canopy with regard to big ways due to it's characteristics - a Spectre - on heading openings and with my wingloading and type of canopy, I stay up in the air longer than most letting the more high performance canopies/pilots land before me. By the way, there is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer

I have a question from a South African whuffo who I know and he wants to know if it is still true that you have to do 10 static line jumps before doing AFF in South Africa. He is planning on taking up skydiving when he returns home. Liz

Bummer How close had they been before that last jump? Liz

For those followers of the ultimate in motorbike racing.... Unfortunately, after Monday and Tuesday's practices, the weather has been pants, so one last practice has been scheduled for tomorrow before Saturday's race. I predict on Saturday: 1. Adrian Archibald 2. John McGuinness 3. Richard Britton Liz

I do a full check at the start of a day - when I turn on my cypres. After that, no matter what, before I put my rig on, I check my closing pin/bridle and pilot chute (flattening my pilot chute a little bit more as well) - it all takes 2 secs. Before I get on the plane I check my chest strap and then again at 10k. I don't ask for a pin check in the plane as I am very aware of where I sit/move in the plane and know if I dislodged my pin. On every climb to altitude, I discreetly do my reserve drills as well. I may sound as though I am being paranoid, but that is my routine. If you use packers, always check your pin/bridle/cocked pilot chute and boc for ease of pull. Even if you pack for yourself, a last check of pin/bridle/cocked pilot chute is a good habit to get into. For those that my question my lack of asking for a pin check in the plane, I have a problematic flap on my Javelin. I know that when I close that flap (between the 2 flaps) after my checks before putting my rig on, I know it is closed and won't come out. 2 weekends ago I was in the plane and giving a friend a pin check when someone just opened my flap to give me a pin check. Much as I appreciated it, I was not happy. I tried to tell him where to replace the flap, but to no avail. On exit, my flap came undone.... I have rabbited on long enough Liz

I have been working in the Isle of Man for my stepfather's motorbike team and have had no time until now to find out any info, sooooo.... Does anyone know what the jump was and was it achieved??? Liz

R U in the UK????? HOT: Twin Otters, skyvans, a King Air and balloons, resident world/national skydivers in every discipline, sounds in the Otter til altitude, large landing area and, coming soon, a wind tunnel, plus really cool people. NOT H0T: Having none of the above. Liz

Totally, but you can open your mouth to ask questions or for advice There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness, unfortunately, those 100, 200, 300, etc jump wonders usually have the latter in spades. Liz

Look at what boredom does: You answered "yes" to 54 of 100 questions, making you 54% Sex100 (46% non-Sex100); that is, you are 54% in the sex domain (your purity is 46%). Liz

The tunnel is great for students to learn body position and then gain confidence as one less crucial issue to stress about. Treating the 'disease", well that is up to the individual student to go through all the steps for their level. Practice, practice, practice on the ground - exit, body position and each step of that particular jump. Being totally comfortable on the ground with what you will do up there will help in the air. Liz

Exactly. Don't beat yourself up about it - I am sure everyone has had at least one incident of lack of aa. It is good that it happened so early on in your skydiving. I know a lot of very experienced skydivers (instructors included) who have lost altitude awareness and pulled low and/or had two canopies out due to cypres fire. My incident was a few years back when I was jumping in the UK. I was doing a 4-way out of a piston islander which took 1/2 hour to altitude and then only 10k (was used to jumping from 12k). We all exited and my internal clock seemed to be set at checking my alti at 6k. When my internal clock went it was 4k and break off time. The other 3 didn't notice and wondered why I tracked off. None of us had audibles as we were quite new. I was a little bit freaked out as I had not taken into account we were exiting lower. I didn't make that mistake again! Enjoy the rest of your AFF! Liz

Phil, e-mail Jill Hall at FF Adventures and ask her to give you some info on accommodation, etc, seeing as from what everyone says it will be thunderstorm season and camping is not a great idea. There may be an RV to rent on the dz when you are there, so ask about that. I was out in Lake Wales with a friend who was doing her AFF with FF Adventures (then based in Lake Wales) and can tell you that Mick and Jill who own FF Adventures are fantastic people. Mick makes you feel totally at ease whilst feeling as though you are getting the best instruction. Jill is a lot of fun and very motherly - they will totally look after you. I will keep my fingers crossed for you regarding the weather and if the weather gods are kind to you, then there should be no reason whatsoever not to be able to get your AFF and Cat 10 - oops, sorry, FS1 - in two weeks. Please say Hi to Jill and Mick for me. Liz

Any time you get into a car, you can get injured or injure others... Crossing the road is more dangerous. A bit of useless info - more people get killed by donkeys every year than by skydiving. Horse riding and mountain biking are more dangerous than skydiving - at least skydivers have 2 chances, ie 2 canopies and the training to implement emergency procedures and to land safely. Saying all that, do not take skydiving and it't dangers lightly. Most injuries and deaths today are caused by pilot error. There is a saying that "remember when sex was safe and skydiving was dangerous? My 2 cents worth... Liz

I think that you are taught to put your student first until a certain pull altitude and then after that altitude you pull regardless of what your student is doing.... If the student goes i, then they have not followed what they were taught. Why sacrifice your life for someone who will not listen?

The new proposed rules are a good thing and they should be passed. I have noticed that recently there have been a few proposals that are trying to bring UK skydiving into this new century... Liz

There was another incident this weekend with 2 canopies out... I wasn't there, but I heard from an incredibly reliable eyewitness that this person had just got "Burked" for pulling low on their previous jump, went up, pulled low and hey presto - Cypres fired. He was OK bar a hurt back. On the same day, a person turned too low - again only bruised and not busted up. Why do people not learn??? I am not perfect, however, I did get told last week that I had to have more confidence in landing in congested areas bcause I took the safe option in landing out in the desert, rather than take my chances in a congested area with people messing around under canopy (and I mean messing around at 1000 ft - not the swoopers who want a clean run in). Liz

Exactly - this year's Nationals will be VERY exciting and a pleasure to watch. How is the 4-way back flying going? Wish you all the best in that and put up an impressive score at Nationals. Liz

I wandered down to the dz today with no intention of jumping as the winds were over 25. When I got there, the winds were gusting around 8- 25. I did notice several people turn very low to the ground on final. It scared me as these guys were turning low in high winds, but what if the winds suddenly had dropped whilst in that turn? A friend of mine was jumping back to backs and on the first of their sequence, the winds were 25 - when they landed on their 2nd jump, the winds suddelnly dropped to 8 adn my friend, who normally lands in the same spot every time (20,000+ jumps) got caught out and landed on the concrete. I asked him for his thoughts on turning low in high winds and he agreed with me, what are your thoughts? I posted this as it may be a good learning curve.... Liz

Have to post this as I was reading the tunnel profile thread and haven't been in a tunnel since last November. Can somebody help me - I'm addicted and am having withdrawal synptoms even though I have done heaps of skyjumping since then???? Liz

Olaf is one of my skydiving heroes and mentors (I did a previous post in either Gen. Skydiving Dis or Bonfire). He rocks!!! Not only is he a brilliant tunnel instructor, but an awesome skydiver and coach as well. He really helped me out when I was in Lake Wales and downsizing to my new canopy. Also, he was on my 200th jump and it was a very special jump as well. I love Olaf (in case you hadn't noticed!!!) Liz

I agree that tandems do subsidize dzs. Skydive AZ have heaps of tandems and they don't affect the licenced skydivers' jumping, eg, getting on loads, etc. In fact, the tandem school is separate from the fun jumpers so you really only know about tandems when they are on your load! When I jumped in the UK, tandems took priority over students and licenced jumpers. To turn up in the morning and have your name first on the list of jumpers and not get to jump until Load 6 (one aircraft flying) because of tandems was off putting to say the least. One other instance, in the UK, we had a big plane versus the Islander. Tandems were filling up the bigger plane and not the Islander..... Go figure. That dz lost a lot of people. Saying all that, tandems are a great way to introduce people to skydiving, but there has to be a balance. In the UK for sure, if tandems take up too much skydiving time, then people will not jump there, or even stop skydiving. Liz

Maybe to reiterate that skydiving is better than sex Haven't read the whole thread, so apologies if this has been already said Liz

OUCH!!!!! I've seen broken noses, split lips and black eyes, but breaking an arm.... How horrid. It puts into perspective my whack in the centre of my forehead during a block the other day. I was following advice about proximity - unfortunately, I took that advice too literally. Why did I fly directly into someone's knee head first???? Liz

Whomever pushes the limit most successfully at Nationals will win the gold, oh, and also, who really is hungry for it... Liz

I don't have many problems with the BPA and it's rules (am a fully paid up member). Some rules that the BPA have could be beneficial for other countries to adopt and some other rules are a bit over the top. I can see where many of the rules come from and that is that in the UK, weather, dropzones and money does not make skydiving easy and that the average number of jumps a person makes in the UK per year is about half of that to US skydivers. My only beef with the BPA is that they allow people with a vested financial interest to be on the council. This may make decisions/rules biased (which has been done in the past 4 years). Apart from the financial aspect, are council members in touch with current skydiving trends? Anyone, please answer this question: Why is there going to be a Grand Prix in Style and Accuracy and not in Freeflying this year? The council voted that there was not enough interest in freeflying to hold a Grand Prix. If you look around most dzs in the UK it would show that there are more freeflyers than style and accuracy jumpers.... If this has been changed recently, then I apologise as I am a bit out of touch! Liz