rhys

Good comparison, I voted yes skydiving is safer IMO but as much as it depends on where you jump out of a plane, that determines how safe it is. It depends on which horse and where you ride it as well. if you include the punter, 'not even allowed to trot' tourist horse rides then I would definitely have voted no. I got thrown off a horse once, but I have also been in some nasty turbulence! Keep safe, Rhyso "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Pffff, 4.3 and your gas is out? We had a 7.2 in Queenstown a couple of years ago and only the stock was shaken off the shelves in stores !no structure damage at all! I have been in many small earthquakes. Small earthquakes are good they make large ones unnecessary! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I'll take it a step further and say it is quite high so they intend on carrying on with a 2 way? the cutaway dude? looks quite chunky so may have been using a tertiary parachute? are we right? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Ahh no! In NZ it s most common for TM's to do just tandems and shit laods of them. At around US$30. My friends did 200+ tandems each, per month, in January and February this year. That is 400 in only 2 months. They jump all year and that is not at the busiest DZ in the country. It is not uncommon to do over 1500 jumps in a year if that helps your calculations any more. Most usually it is around 1000 jumps per year though. How many times can you say banana in 12 months? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Hi, I partially agree with what Bigway has said but wouldn't go throwing such figures around. to answer your questions. As a camera guy in Queenstown I was earning around nz$50,000 per year. I had political issues with the said company and went back to Australia to get my tandem rating as my old boss needed a guy. There I would have been on about aus$30000 but doing AFF as well. It would have been more as they do only handicam there now, but I didn't have the required tandem numbers to use a handicam. Back to the opposition in Queenstown I didn't earn much as the place isn't run very well and then tried the west coast of the south island. There I was earning good money but I had already committed to a job in Norway, tandems from a helicopter . In Norway I was earning very good money per jump but not that many of them. Here in Tanzania I have the opportunity to shape my own destiny as I am managing and running the dropzone along with only My fiance Leigh and the DZO that is never here! The dropzone is only 7 months old. fortunately it is owned by a very successful business man in the adventure tourism industry. We are lucky to be on a salary type deal with a retainer and extra earnings after about 25 jumps per month. With the reduced living costs in Tanzania and higher standard of living (depending on how you look at it) it is more worth our while here. We actually turned down positions in Taupo just now but we have very good reasons for doing so, otherwise we wouldn't have. We will definitely return to New Zealand in the future and will expect to be earning between NZ$40,000 and $60,000 each per year. In conclusion: You can earn from almost nothing to NZ$80000+ a year depending on where you are working, what you are doing and what your attitude is like. It does become work after a while if you are earning the money you will be hoping to, so it depends what you want out of life. If you wanna earn money while you travel and remain jumping the whole time then it is the way..... but if you are a homebody that loves your free time then forget about it. that is good value, is the course subsidised by the Australian government too now? I ended up at the Brisbane Skydiving Centre both times I went to Aussie. The first time was for 8 months as the full time camera guy there, I was not entirely happy as i was not earning very much but it was my first position and I was getting experience. This is the point that I realized the whole world does not have such a healthy tandem industry as you see in New Zealand. I got my AFF rating before I returned to NZ to work in Queenstown on camera. The second time was to help my old boss while I got my Tandem rating. Immediate employment and experience is a must when gaining a rating. I also returned there to keep my AFF rating that was about to lapse. There is minimal AFF work in NZ. I hadn't heard much of Tanzania either before coming here, tanzania is beautiful and the people are really friendly even though there is an immense amount of poverty here. the country is officially only about 40 years old. You would have heard of the Serengeti where all the lions and wilder beast hang out? Mt Kilimanjaro? the paradise and culture of Zanzibar? We were just at a boogie in Zimbabwe jumping over the largest waterfall (by volume) in the world. around which there were elephants, baboons, warthogs, all sorts of antelope and giraffes all to be seen running wild around town and within our hotel complex. I attached a couple of photos from the boogie you could say this part of africa is... 'Not too Bad' good luck in your final decision. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

If you both compete with each other to be able to fly stable in a head up position, relative with each other and with your hands on your hips. You will then take the fastest track to be able to make whatever grip you want. The trick is to fly with your legs and torso and leave your arms to play with. I'm still working on it myself (probably always will be) but I'm still certain that is the best piece of advice given to me on the subject. Have fun, Rhyso "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Only if the said person decided they want to buy a gun. If the records of all patients were more available across the board, that would have to be for another purpose other than gun control. I think the police department would already have pretty good access to peoples mental health records? They still can get one on the black market however and at a bargain price because supply must surely beat demand? The only real solution is to try to get rid of as many guns as possible/make the bullets illegal? slowly each bullet will cost more $$. $$ is the only way to force change. If the guns are too expensive the gangs make more money and.....Oh yeah prohibition doesn't work?!?! It is too late to solve the problem, only education can reduce its impact now. Sadly this is the case for many issues created by human beings over the last couple of centuries. Apparently (according to various beliefs) we are more intelligent than the creatures that have inhibited this planet for millions of years longer than us. fuck humans are stupid. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Freestyle, Freefly same shit different piles! here are some photos from the Victoria falls boogie a couple of weeks ago! I had to compress the one with Vic falls in the background. Victoria falls at 1.7 km across and over 100 metres high in places, is the largest waterfall (by volume) in the world and one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. Not a bad backdrop. I'll try to make a similar photo 119kb so you can see them better! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Yep thats is bad ass! not as bad ass as the paintbrush of love though. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Very well said, I want to highlight this part as it really answers the question well; Experience isn't the destination, experience is getting there! whats the hurry? Blue skies, Rhyso "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I think you may interpret that wrong. It may take longer from pull time to line stretch but not necessarily. If you had someone that was 85+kg's with a good body position, did the same but replace the Icarus main(with no brake settings = slow opening) to an EZ or the likes.............. whamo! Personally I would pull as soon as possible in the same situation! I have seen hard openings on Icarus Tandem mains, though not that common they do happen. My $0.02 Blue skies, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

First you argue one way, then another. If the 9/11 attacks were staged by the government in order to start the invasion, it would make no sense not to include at least one Iraqi hijacker (why the hell NOT include an Iraqi hijacker???). If as you say, Saddam was already sufficiently vilified & we'd already been bombing in Iraq, then the staged attack itself becomes unnecessary. but anything to support the Almighty Conspiracy Theory, right??Crazy Someone who smells a rat (and there are some really pungent rodent fumes coming from stories for both sides of this subject) and changes their viewpoint from one stand to another is more wise than one that simply stands next to a point regardless of what has been said or proven. From my standpoint fuck knows who actually planned the 911 attacks, the media makes you believe what is best for their income. The US government used it to attack a country to vent the angst they have had for decades against the said nation and have royally screwed up what respect the rest of the world had for the US government. Just because someone changes their point of view does not make them stupid or uneducated. why do we discuss such topics? I still smell a rat on this whole subject but have decided not to lose sleep over it. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I also have a Rawa, I have never had the buckle slip on the ladder/s. One thing to remember is to not make the buckles to tight. I learned this while snowboarding as the same straps are used on snowboard bindings. When you make it too tight/overtight you wear the ladder and make unnecessary force on the buckle and strap. in time this rounds the steps in the ladder off and will make slippage more likely. If your ladder/s are damaged or worn you can buy replacements for cheap at any snowboard equipment store. I love my Rawa "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Yeah i know, I would love to take that bad biy uop now and jump without the door, Everybody may assume things are easier to do in the third world but unfortunately the corruption takes dollars to feed it.Therefore there are more regulations than are necessary. You can go and do your own thing but when they come down on you you will have wished you never had. you want to see the amount of stickers you need on your windscreen to make your vehicle legal to drive here? They don't have regular income tax so to speak so they tax those that are onto it enough to run a business with dumb ass regulations that don'rt make sense...end rant. I really enjoyed jumping the twin otter in mombassa with no door. i wouldn't want to do 6-8 tandems a day with no door though "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

the job was advertised on the classifieds here. We have just got our own plane now a 210hp Reims Rocket 172. So fun jumping will be feasible once we have the door made. Are you still in Nairobi? Have you got your own gear! give us a bell +255 787 640 511 "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

A blind man packing, now that is interesting. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

It is what you make of it. I am a graduate of the 2nd year that the diploma course was running. My first skydive was at the start of the course. I knew I would love skydiving and there were real jobs with good pay going that our country needed to fill with New Zealanders....i was in like a shot. Many have complained about the course and many have done extremely well. you will find the ones that complain are the ones that did not put their all into it. I gained a 96% result and was offered a placement at the very busy dropzone in Queenstown that the course director is the Major shareholder of. Once graduating I still had to go through the usual process of making myself employable as a skydiver, by gaining as much experience as I could in a short period of time. I found I had to travel away from New Zealand to get my camera slot as soon as I was ready. All the camera jobs in NZ have some sort of waiting list for them. I sold all my stuff and pursued my career in Australia. I found the industry is not so influential over there. I did gain the 'all important experience' though and returned to New Zealand to work as a full time camera dude doing 1000+ jumps a year. Now I have worked in New Zealand, Australia, Norway and now Tanzania as a commercial skydiver. I am rated for tandems on Sigma, Vector2, Strong and Next, I have an AFF rating, a DZSO rating and have competed at the world meet. It is my own enthusiasm that has got me to where i am but the diploma course most definitely gave me the opportunity to do so in such a short time and made the process much shorter indeed! As well as the skydiving you get a better insight to behind the scenes through the diploma course and this equips you with knowledge that helps attain management positions also. For me the course was very much worth my while. For others not so. It really depends on you, your needs, your expectations and of course the commitment you are willing to give. good luck in you decision, I think you can student loan the course too if you are an Aussie or Brit? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I have been training our Maasai guard to pack tandems over the last few months. This man had no clue of what a parachute was before we met him but now he does the tidiest pack jobs around. Considering he doesn't speak very much English and I speak bugger all Swahili I think I have done really well. He will be able to upgrade from a house made from cow excrement to one made from bricks in about a year through packing parachutes! I'll post photos later. He has killed a Lion as with his bare hands (actually with a knife and or spear) as part of the ritual of becoming a Maasai warrior!!! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Finally I can see eye to eye with you. You came into these conversations 'guns blazing' and came across as an angry young man. I guess your user name doesn't help that stereotype? I hate hand guns too, they are not necessary. The problem America ha, is that the guns are already there in alarming numbers throughout the civilian societies. a hand gun ban and a 'proper' buy back scheme will reduce the number of fire arms available but will never get rid of them. what do you do? do you support the NRA that wants every kid to have their own gun or do you oppose them with no consequence? That seems like the only real 2 options for US citizens at present. There is a problem, people will die (unnecessarily), and there are things that can be done to lower the likelihood of such occurrences. Unfortunately it is too late for the US to stop it altogether. For the same reason you cant bring back the Dodo from extinction....What is done is done. you can blame the 2nd amendment. I'm just glad the country I will be retiring to (New Zealand) doesn't have such problems. We do have problems but I can never see our citizens shooting at each other in war. It hasn't been in our culture since the New Zealand wars almost 2 centuries ago... "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I Have a couple of hundred hand cam jumps, one cutaway and no problems. If anything it is better for altitude awareness (not that that should b a problem) as you look at the alti at the same time as the camera. The footage is still shit compared to outside camera though, whatever way you look at it ( I am talking about comparing good examples of both types of filming). I guess that only matters when you have amazing scenery around you as well though. It does help small DZ owners make a little more profit and can be mixed with outside footage to make the ultimate video. All in all, it is really contributing to the separation of sport and commercial skydiving. Sorry about the tangent but I really do have mixed feelings about the handicam. Handicam is goodbad or is it badgood? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I would have to agree. My JVX opens better than my FX.... big time! With and without the (para concepts) RDS slider! It doesn't open as nice as my xfire 109 but definitely better than anything else I have jumped. From Maverick 200's and Cruise lights to Sabres, Spinlettos, diablos, Blue tracks and Velos. It is the best opener next to the xfire. in my opinion that is. We'll see more of these with commercial camera guys under them as more people jump them and realise how good they are. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I would recommend getting a FX/Velo/Xaos21 first to keep the learning curve mellow. 7 cell xbraced canopies are not like a square 7 cell spectre or anything they do actually perform better than your xfire Don't pay too much for a 2nd hand one because after about 100 or 200 jumps on that you' will really know what you want to be on and will be all the more ready for it. My progress from my Xfire 109 was to an FX89 and then a JVX84Hybrid, I couldn't be happier. I purchased my FX second hand for $400 with about 1000 jumps on it and then purchased my new JVX Hybrid 100 jumps later. I still got $400 back for my FX too. Good luck in your quest. Rhyso "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

If you want to keep that thing diving, then use the outside 'A' line only! I had to do this when I was filming tandems on my maveric 200. there is much less pressure that way and you can hold it as long as you want. blue skies, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Yeah, I'm sure the airspeed guys are absolutely chuffed that thet can't do 270's or more . But who pays the jump tickets? Thier new syncronised 90's will be quite impressive. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I agree with the Canuck There are some good points here being obscured by the 'comeback', ‘scratched record’ 1 liners and tangents. I think what someone was trying to say is that a good swooper is predictable but a bad swooper is not. A good regular landing pattern flyer is predictable and a bad one/student is not. If we are forced to use the same airspace then the safety issues will continue to grow as more and more skydivers increase their skill levels and aspire to do high performance landings. Did SDAZ not see this happening? Is it the judgment of human beings they have relied on to keep the incidents down? It is possible to lessen the likely hood if such incidents by providing the correct facilities to suit your clients needs. These are the questions that need to be answered here. Swooping and hook turn landings have been a phenomenon for some time now and it is sad that SDAZ don't see the potential of the swooping market. They could buy a set of wind blades and accommodate the needs of their new clients by simply making a swooping specific area and ensuring the set up patterns for the various areas do not conflict. How hard is that….? Not very hard. They are in a dessert and own a whole bunch of planes. In my opinion it is their (self admitted) reluctance to accommodate swoopers and other canopy only disciplines at their dropzone for ECONOMIC reasons that has made this issue arise in the first place. How many top level teams train at AZ? I bet they want to swoop their sponsored velocities etc… are they going to stick around? I bet we will see a swoop park in AZ before long. At SDAZ or someone else! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix