rhys

C'mon bill there is no truth to that comment. You are saying every 270 degree apporoach in history where there was somebody else in the area put that particular 2nd person in danger every time! keep it real please this is a serious issue and we need to be reasonable about it. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I can't see many dropzones banning swooping! Though low passes do reduce profit if your manifest is full for the day. People will always want to further their canopy skills so Free Fall teams will most likely decide not to train there either. The statement in the Original post is confusing the problem of the deaths with the problem of economics. If the government told the said company to do something about it ‘or else’, then and only then they could have banned swooping to address the problem until they made some sort of accommodation for a separate landing area. When did the govornment say this to them? was it just now or before the recent fatalities? The problem with economics is not the problem with the Fatalities and I do also understand it is their own decision and they have airspace issues that are limiting their manifest/profit. To bring up the fatailies as the reason to ban swooping when clearly the real reason is to make more money, is not only cold but unacceptable. It is the same as a few years ago when ski fields like Aspen banned snowboarders (minority) because they liked to ‘do jumps’ and use the mountain in a different way to skiers (majority). Snowboarding posed a hazard to the regular users of the area and they were a small minority so their answer was to ban snowboarding. Meanwhile other ski fields (dropzones) saw the future economic potential of snowboarding (swooping) and begin to answer the needs of these interesting new clients and develop Terrain parks and half pipes (swoop ponds and lanes with carve etc.) and make more profit with the essential instruction and coaching that comes part and parcel with such endeavours. In time these particular ski fields (dropzones) get very popular. And then a couple of years later the old snobby ski field finds out that they have to allow snowboarding at their ski field (dropzone) if they want to hold the almighty Olympic games (national and international competitions) because snowboarding (swooping) has become a very popular sport (majority) to take part in and watch on Television! = very big business not from the competitors, but media $$$! Banning swooping altogether is quite obviously the incorrect way to deal with the problem. It does not teach us the right lesson. People will either break the rule or go away. Swooping is a very new thing and in time will most likely be the ambassador of our sport because the general public obviously does not appreciate watching free fall disciplines but high performance landings will continue to gain more media exposure (positive and negative), especially now it is not only the skydiving community doing it. Paragliders are only now moving into swooping as we know it. There are now over 5 paraglider companies making swoop specific wings that are looking and performing more and more like high performance parachutes. The pilots of these will most likely end up wanting to practice their skills from jumping out of a plane within the next few years. The paragliding industry is huge compared to the skydiving industry so this will in turn boost number of jumpers. Swoop parks and hop ‘n’ pops will be big business in a few years. This will also drag these potential clients into a free fall addiction that we all know so well. Also with new training programmes and advancemnts in equipment it is no longer only jumpers with more than 1000 jumps swooping. Education is the key. To answer both of the problems the said company could have got another small plane and made a swoop park DZ down the road and invested some of their profit into the future but it seems they are only concerned with the short term. So there is a gap in the market eh! I hope this is all just a storm in a tea cup. Blue skies, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

So you like to dig it out of the corner or like to make a nice high speep approach? Edit:moved the reast of the post content post to another thread. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Cool, it is always interesting to see the results from the different canopies and wing loading. I know it doesn't really say what is best as all pilots are different but sometimes there are trends that can give some good information. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I could pack a tandem before i could pack a sport rig!!! I am from new zealand though I am currently teaching our Maasai guard to pack our tandems. he doesn't speak english (much) and had never seen or heard of a parachute 6 months ago. He is doing very well and packs tidier than many professional packers i have seen at work. He will get to do a tandem once we have a reasonably priced plane in place. to answer your question, I think it is the instructors responsibility to make sure the person packing thier main is competant. In most cases I have seen is is not economicly viable for each instructor to pack their own. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Both bigway and I worked for a DZO in new zealand that is a 747 captain for air new zealand, He definately earns those figures and it is the only thing that is keeping his 3 oh wait... 5 dropzones from staying in operation. I met the chief captain of www.norwegan.no and he was doing very well and said all the captains make good money flying 737's. I know there are not too many 747's or airbus a380's out there but there are plenty of 737's etc. for a good living to be earned on. The fact of the matter is that to have an airline job you have to have experience. just the same as you need experience to have a Jumping job. There are plenty of jumpers that work for free and pay for slots to get the position they want (like me) The difference with flyng an aircraft is you need heaps more experience, and an of hour flying cost more than 4 times the price of 1 jump ticket and how are you going to get those hours? are you going to pay per hour for an aircraft? a good pilot that saves a DZ hours and mantenence is well worth paying for. it takes time to get these skills and most likey you will work for free to get them. A DZO with a very experienced pilot would be stupid to let one go for the sake of a couple of 100$ per week because using a newbie jump pilot will cost them at least that much. It depend on your DZO, another dzo in NZ i worked for pays his head pilot quite well becuse he gets thier 20 or 30 loads pre day done much faster than a new guy or the 2nd pilot does. It is basic economics, and you chose your job. It has been like this for years has it not? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I have triple risers, they are off a vortex2. I have never had a problem with getting my slider over the toggles while they are still stowed. It feels wierd for me to jump a rig with standard rises now, i will probably get triple risers when i get a new set just because that is what i am used to. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Is it possible to find out what canopies they were jumping and at what wingloading? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

A work mate of mine from a previous dropzone had a teardrop that popped on the ground due to wear from a sharp nick in the metal cap on the reserve pilot chute. lucky it was on the ground!! So it has happened before. definitely something to think about and inspect regularly! Good luck, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

That is a few cutaways if your profile is correct. Did you sort the problem out with your packing/equipment? I have had 2 in 3000 and my partner has had 0 in over 4700 jumps. What were your malfunctions? or are you just unlucky? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

It is not safe for a women to be a part of the war for the sick reason that there is a very real risk of being sexually assulted or raped. I saw this thread a while ago and had a peep but this morning I saw a documetary in women in Iraq. check these out they seem consistent with the documentary I watched. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/07/women_in_military/index_np.html http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/57/17327 http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0123C57B-F37F-4F03-977A-3875DC9BEC60.htm That last statement sadly enough seems to be true by the evidence brought forward. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

An AFF student I witnessed looked pretty stressed out when he cutaway on his 4th jump, he went from the perfect student(relaxed and having fun) to the stiffest most frightened student I have seen. It definitely had an adverse effect on his level of enjoyment! but hey what do i know I am only 32? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

and that is why in my town there is a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple and a Lutheran church all next door to each other. they are all peaceful people and say hello to each other. they do not fear each other but simply get on with it and accept each others differences. that is how it is here. Our area is 50% Muslim and we do not have any trouble with my finance wearing a singlet or knee high skirt. Maybe zanzibar is different but that is why people love to go there, I'll let you know when i get back. and as for the sheep jokes bro, I lived in Australia for almost 2 years. i have heard them all and they just make you look like an idiot. In fact the dairy industry is quickly overtaking the Wool and lamb industry in NZ. Soon there will be more cows so maybe you can come up with some 'cow fisting' jokes or something like that? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Thanks for that, I see that would be the weakest spot. On mine it has a bar tack and looks similar to a line attachment point. I see what you mean with not having the grommets seated properly. I was also thinking the lines from the slider to the D Bag look like they would 'peel' the tail back and increase the speed of inflation. I haven't jumped it yet but simulated a couple of openings and that is what happened. I'll be doing 50 jumps with my RDS at a boogie in 2 weeks and will be doing an additional 10 jumps with the stock slider half way through the piece to compare results. I'll be sure to post my thoughts, Now back to the stowage options? I think I'll go for the 'stuff it all down my jumpsuit' thing for the first session to work out what I really want. thanks for the feed back, Blues skies and long fast swoops, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

You're saying there is 4.3 guns for every person in your country like you are proud of it? You can buy gun in New Zealand, hand guns in particular are very hard to obtain. In New Zealand there are 1 million guns for 4.5+ million people. It seems I am not the only one that thinks this way. http://www.adequacy.org/stories/2001.7.23.174429.116.html I do not hate everything america does as some of you are claiming. i hate people killing people (and animals) for no good reason. America is a beautiful country with every imaginable landscape and geographical feature you could wisgh for. I don't hate americans. I hate the govornment and I hate the infatuation with firearms, this infatuation makes this world even more unsafe than it already would be without it. We share this planet and we all deserve to be safe. Guns don't make the world safe, like you might like to beleive. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

TV portrays skydiving as a daredevil stunt! Look at the jump numbers that some of the posters have here and the enthusiasm that come part and parcel with skydiving. Skydiving is fun, it can be dangerous but it doesn't have to be. skydiving is very safe if it is handled correctly. If it will make you feel better, do some research on the DZ that you want to jump at in these forums, most likely you will only get positive results. Driving to the dropzone is the most dangerous part, you hand your life to every other driver on the road. Have fun, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Dude you are far too highly strung, so considering you went to all the effort i will reply. For every 'saint' like you there are 3 bad asses. I live on the same planet as you and I have traveled to 4 continents and have experienced many cultures. the US culture (or lack thereof) is well known worldwide. Do I really need to travel to the USA to find out if what I have learned is correct? what can you compare the USA to. Do you have a passport? I don't want you to think that I hate America and the people. I have many American friends and aspire to visit over the next couple of years. there are some things that concern me though. Maybe if you tasted life without the abundance of guns that you are used to then maybe you will understand where I am coming from. And for your information I went hunting a couple of times when i was 22 years old and fired a 303 (world war 1 action with new stock and scope mods) there see I do know what I am talking about, guns are 1 easy way to kill something. Do your targets have images of human beings on them? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

They are narrower, my only complaint with the sigma is the width of the container. Shitty narrowbody 182 exits The Aerodyne hybrid (zp-f111) 350's we have in the sigmas here are too loose. I would like to try that Icarus FX 300(?) that is floating around in Australia. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I did a Tandem during the New Zealand Nationals last year with the groom. The priest was in the plane and they said their vows on the way to altitude and then we jumped them. I thought it was kinda weird with their family on the ground missing the whole show, it was fun though. They got a kick ass video so all was not lost for the family. The Bride had an all white jumpsuit made by 'deepseed' jumpsuits that are based in Taupo. I wonder if the poor jumpsuit will ever get another jump? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Our team is going to the victoria falls boogie in 2 weeks for training, we intend to get some high quality photogahs of both of us performing together and this will be over victoria falls, victoria is higher and wider than the Niagra falls, so there should be some impressive photos. If we get some real gems we will let you know. good luck in your quest and thanks for appreciating the value of such photographs. blue skies, Rhys "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

While in europe, I discovered it was not uncommon for TM's to own thier own equipent. the money they are making per jump there is far in excess of what is offered in say USA or NZ. for 30 or 40 bucks i wouldn't see the point of owning your own gear but for $150 per jump with your own gear it is well worth it. One TM I met in sweden had 4 atom systems(with icarus mains) and rented them to other tm's that didn't have thier own gear or only 1 rig etc, it was well worth their while to rent the gear and have a packer rather that go on aternate loads. this was in 'Club' drozpone enviroments. I want a sigma micron. I will buy one in the next couple of years. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I poked at you gun fans by making innuendoes from the ‘bowling for columbine’ movie that 'Michael Moore' produced. All of a sudden you are all on the defensive and start say things like "It’s not the guns its the people behind them" "The NRA wants to make it illegal for criminals to own a gun" that is the funniest one. Can criminals actually legally own a gun at the moment? If criminals can own a gun then you have some real problems in your country (oh yeah we already established that) Now tell me one thing, steering the conversation back to its original point; The bank that was giving a rifle away to those that opened a bank account in the 'bowling for columbine' movie. Was that a hoax? I can't quite work that out but if it was not a Hoax then that point alone says the entire movie needed to say. It_is_too_late to stop the problem that the USA faces so I guess the USA needs something like the NRA. But an organisation that aims at reducing the number of guns rather than increasing them. I would imagine in the USA guns are no unlike cell phones, from some of the conversations I have read in these very forums by some of you reading this post, guns can be a fashion accessory, they get outdated and people want the shiny one that fires more rounds faster. In turn they get outdated and are sold cheaply and end up in stockpiles!!!! That is a serious problem. There are too many guns in the USA you cannot deny that? This is very disturbing for me as I have only ever seen a hand gun on a police officer(in other countries) and in a gun store. In the USA you can go to K mart and buy Ammo????? If you don't see that as a problem, then you have problems or are purely complacent with gun control and the safety of your communities. IMO this is all because of the second amendment. I will definitely visit the states but I’m damned if I would want to live there. if i hear a gunshot in the distance i freak out but it would be a daily occurance for many peole in the USA. It is safer here in Tanzania and 80%+ of the country is in poverty. How does that work? And as for comparing cars and parachutes to guns???? Cars are for transport, parachutes are for safety and fun, and GUNS ARE FOR KILLING. Full stop (period) You guys are way too strung out 'up in here' I'm out. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

What RDS system and canopy was that? If that happened to my paraconcepts one it would have to be some ugly opening? where exactly did the line break? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

are you trying to say there are not millions of guns in the hands of criminals? Guns are Bad M-kay. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

'woman with skirt around neck will run faster than a man with trousers around ankle.' "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix