Eiley

Oh, so do I and totally respect him. It's just that we all know that doing a tandem is 'different' from the sort of skydiving that usually kills people, but that difference is very difficult to explain to a whuffo, even one who has been living with skydivers for 15 years! nothing to see here

One year at my DZ (around 1992 I think) we had 8 uni students come out to do a first jump course (SL). Three of the group went up and one of them cut away. He claimed he had line twists. He then went and told all his friends what a buzz the cutaway was and that he'd 'cheated' by getting freefall on a SL course. Next load - 4 of the 5 first jumpers cut away. They all claimed line twists. They all giggled amongst themselves how cool and brave they were. They were all requested to find a more suitable sport. nothing to see here

What is Racquetball? I always thought that was just what the Americans called Squash? Most of the larger gyms in Australia have squash courts - its way more popular and high-profile than skydiving down here. nothing to see here

Agree totally. It is very easy for us, with all our enthusiasm and love for the sport, to inadvertantly put emotional pressure on our loved ones. In my case I have two nephews aged 17 and 14. The older one has always said he's happy with his feet on the ground and I respect that. The younger one has been begging me to take him skydiving ever since he could speak. Well, here in Australia, kids can do tandems at 14 with parental consent, so naturally enough I decided on a tandem for my younger nephew's 14th birthday. To my amazement my brother (his father) refused to sign the consent. Given my time in the sport and his son's keenness, I was somewhat surprised. But then he said "Eiley, I know how much you love it, but the fact is I've been to two funerals of two of your boyfriends and I'm just not prepared to sign away on my son. If he still wants to go when he's 18, that's up to him". When he put it that way, I could understand. I still hope my nephew is interested in 4 years' time though. nothing to see here

Skydive Westernport, Tooradin, Australia 1) Latitude/Longitude S38.13.0 E145.25.6 2) ICAO code YTDN 3) DZ Name Skydive Westernport, Tooradin 4) Country Australia 5) Airport name Tooradin nothing to see here

Latest.... (still hoping to tempt you all - I want to go to a HUGE boogie!) Just over 1 month! 23rd to 31st of October, 2004. Equinox is only held every 2 years. 9 days and nights of absolute fun and enjoyment. You wont believe what's in store for boogiers . . . Two CARAVANS, SKYVAN, BEAVER and HELICOPTER, 14,000ft, outside video on every load, night jumps, formation loads, POPS 50way record, nude record, 80way mass drop to celebrate Jim Brierley's 80th birthday plus some of the world's greatest RW and Freefly Load Organisers. Load Organisers for RW are DAVE MORRIS and TOBY STAFFORD from the UK and locals BEN NORDKAMP and LUKE OLIVER. Load Organisers for Freefly: ASHLEY CRICK, AMY CHMELECKLI from the US, MARK SWARBRICK, plus locals PONY and CRIKEY. Freefly Coaches are UK National Champ ROB SILVER, Czech National Champ SKOTY, ex Babylon coach ALEJANDRO RAMOS and Australia's own ISOBEL WHEELER. Wingsuit coaches are JASMIN HILL, NEIL FERGIE, JAMES FREEMAN and SCATTY. A day tape is being compiled and will be played on a HUGE screen every night, GO FAST and ICARUS CANOPIES are running THE ZONE with internationally famous DJ RICHIE mixing up the tunes. Live music every afternoon with HERMAN THE GERMAN around the pool Calypso Bar and a couple of live bands going off during the week. But wait, there's more! Fabulous FREE RAFFLE PRIZES every night of the boogie. The major prizes include an Icarus Canopy, a Javelin Odyssey Container, ProTracks and ProDytters, a Cookie Helmet, an Airsuits Jumpsuit, Perris Tunnel Time and Coaching with Mike Swanson, plus thousands of dollars worth of cool skydiving stuff from Total Control including an Alti2, a Neptune Alti, Eyes in the Sky book, Log Books and covers, packing mats, freefly pants and suits and a bunch of DVDs. The free raffle ticket is included with registration. Boogie Registration is A$150 or $25 a day. Jump Tickets are A$37 or $35 for Club Members. Package deal includes 30 jump tickets, rego, boogie DVD and Tshirt plus breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Only A$1500. Onsite Caravan accommodation available, bookings essential. nothing to see here

Heehee. You guys might have the better toys to play with, but at least the southern hemisphere get a 12-month season!!! nothing to see here

I'm sure you'll get some great technical advice from those who are more suitable to answer your wingloading question (and will likely have a few questions of their own, such as your experience, current canopy etc - good idea to fill out your profile), but my personal experience is that there's not much point in buying a HP canopy unless you are going to fly it the way it is supposed to fly. My love affair with my BladeRunner ended after a dozen or so landings (straight in, all of which were okay stand-ups) when I tore the lateral meniscus in my knee. The reason was because I was merely landing it, rather than flying it all the way and it was very lightly loaded at about 1:3. I reverted back to a trusty Sabre 120, I get lovely swoopy-looking landings. It may not be cool , it may not be quite as much fun up high as the BladeRunner was, but its the coolest canopy for me!

Will this stop people from doing dumb stuff like landing a Mr. Bill? How did the Mr Bill landing contribute to the fatality statistics? nothing to see here

Quite possibly. Undoubtedly the original poster figured on more support than this, given some of the similar threads in the Incidents and S&T fora. I must admit I can't help wondering where all the hysterics who swear black and blue they would blab to the pilot/DZO/S&TA/FAA/God if they caught a whiff of a hint of a chance of a jumper having had a third of a beer a few hours ago have gone. Surely the originator of this thread would have to be their new pin-up boy? Wowser hysterics.... Come out to play-ay!!!!! This thread has your name on it!!! nothing to see here

Done a bit of soul searching myself... I'm going to my DZ this weekend to insist that they drug test every person who gets in the plane every single time. I want to know whether Freddy Freeflyer had a joint a month ago or whether Bertha Bellyflyer drank to the point of inebriation last night. I will demand that any cigarette-smoking instructors are taken off the roster immediately. Everybody knows smokers are more prone to hypoxia. This could possibly one day lead to a dangerous situation. We must act immediately to ensure that there is never an accident caused by a jumper who may possibly have become slightly hypoxic as a result of his dirty little habit. While I'm at it, I'm going to ensure no diabetics jump at my DZ. I've heard they faint. That's an accident just waiting to happen. Of course, I'll be looking around for any overweight instructors or camera flyers. Overweight people tend to have more heart attacks. Imagine how I would feel knowing I could have saved someone's life by simply stopping them from getting on the plane until they had shed those excess pounds! I could never forgive myself. Oh, I know that I could make a couple of people angry by standing at the door and demanding everybody weigh in... but a true friend will of course understand that by telling them they are fat I may be saving theirs and other people's lives. If not, well they were never a true friend, were they? Of course, anybody who doesn't have 20/20 vision will be precluded from jumping in the vicinity of another person - imagine they lost their contact lenses - that's just BEGGING for a midair collision! Males, especially those between 18-25, should all have regular psychological screenings. Studies have shown that this group is most at-risk of suicide. In fact, it may just be easier to ban 18-25 yo males from jumping at all to ensure we don't have to worry about them suddenly deciding to top themselves using one of our planes to do the job. I hope your DZ has put safety procedures for all of the above POTENTIALLY DEADLY SITUATIONS. All are obviously easily avoidable. You may not wind up with the most popular DZ, but boy-oh-boy will it be the SAFEST! nothing to see here

Here in Australia, at least, I think skydiving peaked in the early-mid 1990's. It's certainly in a deep lull at the moment. The two things I recall that made the sport go through the roof were the release of 'Point Break' and we also had a Coca-Cola ad featuring skysurfing which really got the phones ringing. None of the other skydiving-themed films have done for the sport what 'Point Break' did. I think the current downturn is due to the economy but also due to the fact that there are now so many things competing for our 'entertainment' time that weren't around before. nothing to see here

Cool. Thanks.

IAWL

Not a very good shot, but: Cresco nothing to see here

Porno Muppets on Drugs! Choice! nothing to see here

Clicky

Well, yeah, getting video of people who have busted themselves up is par for the course. At our DZ we also get video of the unbroken ones doing exits out the door of the ambulance, more footage of broken person in hospital and generally even more footage of visitors having wheelchair races, etc in the hospital corridors. It all goes on the end-of-year carnage tape. We wouldn't put a bounce on the bloopers video though. nothing to see here

A rehash of the videographer sans parachute in the Incidents forum made me wonder this. Would you watch a bounce video? I don't mean in an official capacity but purely out of interest/curiosity/voyeurism? nothing to see here

[replyI can certainly appreciate the joy some people get out of their children, and thats a beautiful thing. But its just not for me and I get sick of people telling me it is. I hear you there! We need a support group for people who really truly don't want kids (no, really, I don't want them - just because I complimented your baby doesn't mean I want my own; no, I'm not childfree only because I'm single; yes, I have contemplated growing 'old alone' - I STILL DON'T WANT 'EM!). A few years ago, my city was split down the middle when a high-class restaurant implemented a no-children policy. Hard-core parents seemed shocked that some people didn't want their $200 meal 'enhanced' by the oh-so-cute (please note: nobody thinks your kid is as cute as you do, okay?) chatterings of their rugrats. nothing to see here

I was a total no - I'm 35, no kids, but reckon I want a minimum of another 35 year. If I had it, I'd probably pay the $billion to go back to being 25 ("knowing what I know now" ). I wish your poll had, say, age choices, e.g. YES and I'm aged under 20 YES and I'm aged 20-30 NO and I'm aged under 20 etc... nothing to see here

I think advertising is much like pornography - difficult to define, but I know it when I see it. nothing to see here

Sorry, but must correct you here - definitely not ALL freefly - there's world-class flattie load organisers there and, most of all, a whole bunch of 'fun' stuff - raft dives, wagon wheels, blow-up dolls, etc. Something for everyone! I think you all should come. It's going to be sucky weather in Amercia by then anyway! And the exchange rate still works in your favour. nothing to see here

Hello, Just a little bug I noticed - in my profile when I put in 'APF' as my licensing org, it gives me the option of an 'E' licence but when I click on it and save it, it keeps saving it as a 'D' licence. My licence is E1165, not D1165. Also there is no option for 'F' licences (1000+ jumps in Australia). Thanks.

*Bump* Just thought I'd bump this, because only 52 sleeps to go until Equinox Boogie! It starts just as the US winter starts creeping in, plenty of time to book those flights. It will be the most awesome bikini weather - make sure your tan doesn't fade for a little while more. I'm all booked in and can't wait - last one I went to was in '94 and it totally went off! Look at this: http://www.ramblers.com.au/whatson/equinox.aspx and tell me you don't want to go!! (as an aside, I thought the 80-way planned for JB's 80th birthday might be in jeapordy when JB broke his leg in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago... I emailed him my concern and he assured me he would most definitely be jumping by Equinox. they built 'em tougher in those days!)