skykittykat

OI, OI, OI... AZ, AZ, AZ!!!! We jump all year round here, and probably have more jumping days than you!!! Liz

Unfortunately, the weather is a pain in the arse for skydivers, especially in certain countries in Europe! Use bad weather days to ask questions, especially about canopy control and learn all that you can (generally ask your instructors, CCI, Rigger, v. experienced and current skydivers). Bad weather days are perfect for learning how to pack and getting your packing cert, and, of course, generally get to know fellow skydivers. All this will help you out when you get your Cat 8 licence - you'll be able to pack yourself without having to get checks signed off and you will know people who will be willing to jump with you so you won't end up doing solos until you can afford or have the time to do Cat 10 (if it is still called that!). Good luck with your course. Liz Good luck with your course. Liz

I didn't renew my BPA membership in 2005, but had to renew it in Sep/Oct for Jump for the Cause as the Isle of Man was my country of residence, even though I had all my USPA docs and Sporting Licence from the States. I did 0 jumps in the UK in 2005 and in 2004 did 20 jumps and that was for the Brit Chicks record jumps. I know a few other people who are full time BPA members who live and jump abroad and didn't jump in the UK in 2005. Liz

It doesn't matter how much experience you have in the air as a skydiver, the first time you fly in the tunnel you WILL look like a beginner. It is totally different and "harder" than actual freefall, which is why it is such an awesome tool. Liz

OK, I'm a bit of a cheater, but I didn't ask Kirk!!!

Air Moves - Tom Falzone, Kirk Verner, Mikey Traad. Troy Widgery, camera - Richard Stewart. Kirk and Mikey stepped in for Dan BC (who was injured in the Perris plane crash) and James Layne (who died). The Deland team - Deland Gang (vertical express?) won the nationals - Jack Jeffries, Trey Johnson, Craig Buxton and Mark Hewitt. Kirk replaced Mark Hewitt. After that, a team was formed with Kirk, Jack, Dan and Mark Kirkby - Airspeed!!!!! Another point of interest, the British 4 way team that went to the World Meet "that never was" due to only doing one or two rounds and not fulfilling the required amount of rounds, invented the the creepers. Apparently, after the Brits turned up with the creepers, by the end of the meet, the French turned up with creepers. Liz

Regardless of how each team engineered that round, I must say that Velocity's 2nd place was awesome. They had only done 4 training jumps and having 2 new members on a team and post the score that they did was absolutely amazing. I'm sick of people saying that Airspeed are in the past (not posted on here, but what people say on dzs, etc) - the Valentine's Meet shows that they are as strong as ever and will give a lot of teams a run for their money. Liz

Hey, it's the real world out there! At best, even though I don't think the pic was put on the front page for this reason, it has drawn attention to gear safety - look before you leap... On the topic of the Mag, it was another stellar publication and a lot of locals here in the States are jealous of the UK having such a great mag, what with the pics, information, articles, etc. I must admit, that I was a little peeved over a couple of letters to the Mag over the reporting, eg, cronyism (Lesley is a top jumper who is invited onto many high profile events which are reported in all skydiving publications) and the JFTC coverage. JFTC was a huge event in that it raised a hell of a lot of money for cancer and has promoted skydiving for women within the sport and promoted skydiving as a whole worldwide. Rant over Betsy - you are a cover girl!!!! Liz

Ok, I've edited the list that were actually the 80's: 1) 10p Mr Frosty Ice Pops on long summer days! 3) You owned or longed for an Adidas three stripe popper tracksuit Scousers only 5) You owned a compilation tape 6) Girls thought Blue Mascara was cool! 9) You owned a pair of Nike Air Max, and wore them to death - Scousers again. 12) You wore leggings/cycling shorts with long t-shirts 13) You owned a Bennetton, NafNaf, sweater shop jumper or waistcoat 14) Girls owned scrunchies in an array of colours and tacky headbands with their names written on in thick glitter 16) You bought Smash Hits for the song lyrics and the immense amount of stickers that you would stick everywhere! 17) Starburst were Opalfruits 19) On a Saturday evening you watched Catchphrase, Blind Date, Gladiators, Generation Game, Noels House Party then Casualty 221) Cans of Coke were 25p 22) 10p Space Raiders Crisps 26) You used the line "it's a free country" every day 27) The dancing sunflowers that moved to music 28) Impulse body spray for girls 31) You had at least one troll 33) You watched Baywatch and longed for the day that Eddie & Sharni got together! 38) Home and Away was a prime time ITV programe watched by millions 42) Everbody wanted to be on Fun House with Pat Sharpe and Finders Keepers with Niel Beucannen 43) The Crystal Maze 44) You remember Todd Landers in Neighbours 46) You more than likely lost/nearly lost a wobbly tooth on a wham bar!! 48) Going Live, then Live >and Kicking was the place to be on a Saturday Morning - you know you remember the number 0181 811 8181 50) You collected Premier League Stickers and did swoops at playtime 51) Girls wore crappy lipstick such as - coffee shimmer, heather shimmer and birthday suit! 53) You thought saying - "I know you are, you said you are but what am I" to every cuss that that came your way! 55) played with marbles on manhole covers in the school playground (for keeps) (or was that only pikey me) 56) "your mum" - the conclusive statement to any "cussing match" Liz

There are NO stupid questions, only STUPID answers. That was the best advice I was given as a newbie to this sport. Liz

Rugby for wimps Liz

Skydiving is an outside sport and induces adrenaline, hence boosts endorphins which makes people happy. Mentally, skydiving is a fantastic sport. As for the "working out" aspect, the tunnel would have more benefits. Flying in the tunnel for any lenght of time works the arms, shoulders, lower back and upper back muscles. It can also give a pretty good cardio workout - if you do fast rw flying with 2 mins in and 2 mins out for an hour - a total of 1/2 hour total body workout. Put in some hand tag and that is worth 2 hours in the gym - not only are you flying your body, but you are having fun, which, to go back to the endorphin thing... I hope that all makes sense. I apologise for not being eloquent, so if you need clarification, please PM!!!! Liz

That is one bench I aspire to be on!! The Alpha team are also the "base" for practice dives for the outside wackers. Liz

Stretching before AND after will really help the soreness. E-mail any of the Airspeed guys and ask them how to prep and they will be happy to give you some pointers. Liz

God, not at all I only quoted 2 teams as they were the most available to interview as they were hanging out in the comp hangar. T-shirt situation I didn't know about. Please do not take my previous post as an attack. I know that I can come across as being caustic and I apologise and that is up to me to word things differently, however I was wondering about the issues I brought up and thank you for clarifying them. I wasn't aware of any competion split - every country was given their own tent depending upon their delegation size. The only split was the landing area - the teams got on the plane at the normal loading area which was next to the Competition Hangar (the planes were taken out and a whole competition/judging area was created to keep everything and everyone together) and landed on the main landing area which was next to Skydive's Arizona Manifest. Some teams were, by their coach's decision, to dirt dive and hang out in the team rooms by Skydive Arizona's main hangar and Manifest, which was a long way from the Competition Hangar. All the UK teams represented their country incredibly well and I wished I had had more time to catch up with them all for interviews for Omniskore, but things were hectic behind the scenes and also I would have been accused of being biased if I had only concentrated on the UK teams Liz

It sucks doesn't it!!!!! I suppose kids don't have the same hang ups as adults or the same fears, eg, how do we look while flying, etc. My little buddy already tells me how to drive, so am expecting at any time for the tunnel coaching

God, that totally came out wrong (hence my replying to my own post) - she is VERY aware in the tunnel in that when doing a 360 she waved to me and her baby brother during the turn, which was a perfect turn in place. As with most 6 year olds they don't like being told what to do I guarantee, a year from now, she will be putting a lot of people to shame in the tunnel! Go the future generation. Liz

Apologies in advance for anything I may say that has already been said, but I could not be a++ed to trawl through the posts..... Regarding the BPA dropzones - I am not sure it is possible for a dz to operate without being part of the BPA as the BPA is regulated by the Aviation Authority of the UK (don't know the abbreviation, but would hazzard a guess at CAA...). The BPA does not promote self-regulation, even within it's jumpers and I can understand that mentality - CURRENCY - skydivers within the UK are not generally as current as those skydivers living in areas with good weather, big planes (eg Otters, Skyvans, etc) and the talent of skydivers on the dz. Having spent my first 3 years of skydiving in the UK and the past 2 1/2 in the States I do see the pros and cons of both USPA and the BPA. Eg, now that I have skydived here in the US for a while, I find the whole idea of someone touching my gear for a gear check and signing me off to jump is something I don't like or want them to do. I take FULL responsibility for my putting my gear on and having it checked before boarding the plane and I don't want anyone touching it once it is on my body. OK, I have the experience, but in the UK, so long as you have someone to sign you off (regardless of your A,B,C ratings) there is no need to take responsibility for yourself - someone will point out a problem with your gear. I do understand the flight line checks that the BPA insists on, but I think that it should only be for students up until Cat 8. I am not comfortable signing my name against someone's else's name to say I had checked their gear and then they go out and go in because maybe in the plane they re-adjusted their chest strap and did not do it up properly causing them to fall out of their harness. How do I prove that when I checked them, their chest strap was done up properly???? Once you have an A licence, you are responsible for yourself..... The whole question of AAD's - you may be required to jump with one, but how is a dz meant to regulate if that AAD (eg, Cypres/Vigil) is turned on or not? Also, many swoopers choose not to jump with an AAD if they are doing a hop'n'pop and swooping in as the instruction manuals state that their AAD's could fire under high performance canopy flying..... Just a few thoughts.

I wasn't there are the AGM, but I was wondering after Sweep's post about funding for 4-way teams, how much funding was going to the Artistic teams? I asked for funding for Artistic teams to be taken into consideration in the BPA meeting immediately after the World Cup 2005 seeing as the one and only team who had represented the UK in Artistic events had paid their own way over the past 4 years did not get any funding whatsoever. The UK rep for the World Cup cancelled at the last minute and the UK was the 4th largest country to have registered for the World Cup with 3 Open 4-way teams, 1 Women's team and 1 Freestyle team and they didn't even have a rep. Also, the "team" t-shirts sent to the UK competitors only featured 4-way formation skydiving. This was not indicative of the whole British skydiving team representing the UK. Eloy is now my home dz and from speaking to all the locals, the event organisers, the manifestors, etc, they all remembered 2 teams from the UK - the 4-way team 4-Motion and the Women's Freestyle team - Tumbleweed - because of their friendliness, their spirit for the sport and their absolute enjoyment of competing in a World Cup. Liz

Inflation pays a part in pricing... Whuffo prices pay the bills as they are billed higher than skydivers. Orlando and Arizona charge skydivers less than Whuffos. Talk about kids in the tunnel. My friend (who is a world champ many times over and still competes at world level) - his son has maybe max 1 hour in the tunnel and he is only 12 and he is better than a lot of skydivers in the tunnel. The last time he flew, he did the most perfect outfacing move and held it without moving a centimetre until he had to move to face off again. He didn't get that good because of who his father is, but he listened to what he was he was supposed to do. His younger sister is not as good, but she will not listen to either the tunnel rat or her father. The kids that come through will be the same as any adult taking instruction - those that listen and learn and those that don't. His father is getting a jumpsuit made for him in Thailand and then there will be no stopping him Liz

Taking Travis' reply at face value (my computer takes that long to download vids, I didn't watch it): Having fun and getting along as a team with similar goals in mind, eg, improving, growing as a team and individually, enjoying the journey is what is important at your stage of taining/competing as a team. Liz

It was spectacular especially as the wind had come up a little bit and the landing direction was downwind. I did pity the poor girls who turned up in the van an hour later under the cover of darkness from whereever they had landed. QuickDraw got a good cheering off his mates when he did a perfect landing on the grass opposite the mock up. A lot of the boogie first timers I spoke to said that they would definitely return next year as they were so impressed with everything. Some of these peeps were pretty experienced jumpers and had gone to different boogies previously. Liz

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Exactly Dan - please note. If you turned in place you wouldn't have shoved me into the wall. I can take a lot, but 200lbs of solid muscle beats even me and I can absorb A LOT after being a zipper off the base on the 151 way Women's World Record. Saying that, I did get a lot of satisfaction from flying you around perfectly on the Zig-Zag Marquis' we did Liz

Ok, without reading all the replies to this and only taking the subject line as read.... UntamedDog is a troll who has been banned from dz.com before under a different name and has previously slandered a very good friend of mine who is respected in the skydiving world..., however this thread he/she started does have merit for an ongoing discussion (much as I hate to admit it). Tunnels have transformed skydiving for the better and they also bring in more people to the sport. All the tunnels that are operating at the moment ARE attracting people to the sport of skydiving. Tunnels are not a fad and they do have an important role to play in recruiting new skydivers, plus making existing skydivers better flyers in a shorter amount of time, which can only be a good thing. Bedford and Airkix in the Uk will transform UK skydiving for the better. Liz