rhys

QuoteWhaoooo... thats pretty impresive considering you have 2000 jumps divided by 3 yrs in the sport thats 667+/- jumps a year times $60 average earning per jump = $40,020 Thats if all the jumps you made were Tandem video no fun jumps or anything beyond that. I don't do tandems for a living more than to pay for the beers at the end of the day so take it for what is worth. I will say you will have to do a well rounded skydiver meaning do tandems even pack jobs AFF to make that kind of money. in my first year i did 270 jumps my second i did about 650 or so and the rest have been in the last year. i just got my summary of earnings and i made $53000 from camera for the last financial year. also all my equipment is tax deductable(depreciation only of course) i get paid gross $42 for video or stills only and $52 for a combo. all photographers can expect at least 1000 work jumps per year and probably more like 1100- 1200. i did 184 work jumps and 25 fun jumps in january i did a diploma in commercial skydiving at christchurch parachute school. many have said this is a waste of money. i wonder if they still think so? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Quoteis that american dollars? or what is the equivalent in american dollars? peace lew hi lew, that is in new zealand dollars we get 72 cents u.s. for our dollar at the mo. i think? you do the maths drouge whores get a bit more blue skies "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Quote In Reply To i could do my tandem rating and earn a little more but that would be soul destroying. Why?? at my dropzone if you get your tandem rating then that is what you do. you become a full time drouge whore you get grumpy and have to watch the photographers fly their bodies while you hang underneath a drouge. when the photographer has photos only from 15k then yopu have to mwatch them freefly for 15-20 seconds while you hang under a drouge. this is just my opinion as many find tandems fullfilling. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

o.k. i have a vector 3 and i like it very much but i have noticed i have been getting line twists more frequently since i have downsized my main from a heatwave120 to a crossfire 109. i also notice i have a turn in the canopy both with the heatwave and the crossfire. both these canopies fly straight on my vortex2. i thought the vector was not symmetrical because i have to crank the right leg stap to fly straight once the canopy is open. i have recently decided i like the leg straps quite tight and crank them as far as they go. i observed on opening that not only did i have to crank the right legstrap to fly straight but both leg straps had slipped by a couple of inches usually the right one slips more and therefore the turn. this has caused(i believe) quite chronic line twists and hard openings (yes on a crossfire) i intend on having an extra layer of webbing installed onto my legstraps. my vortex has double webbing throughout the harness construction. i do not feel the vector is fully safe anymore especially for freefly. imagine a premature opening at 160mph. i know this shouldn't happen in theory but if it did then the last thing you would want is you leg straps to slip. any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i would like to think with all the opposing opinion to mine that somebody could make a positive comment about the invasion. i personally don't think it is possible because the whole thin was a waste of life, time and money. at least you still get cheap gas right! warmonging mo' fo's "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

QuoteHmmm, liberal equates with intelligence and education. Let's see that means conservative equates with ...? Jen exactly, conservitave = opposed to great change(look in you dictionary) people learn from mistakes and 'change' so they don't make them again. conservatives are pretty stupid and greedy. it suprises me there are any conservative professors at all. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

so today we did 100 tandems, 60 of these were american students on holidays. i asked many (not all) of them where they were from and what they were studying. only 1 out of about 20 odd that i asked thought they were going to work in the field they were studying for??????? there are professional students here in new zealand but heck man most poeple i know have studied something they wanted to further. i guess these were rich kids. is this common in the united states or anywhere for that matter. no wonder we have to pay for education if those sort of statistics are common. what a waste. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i don't agree either you can only speak for yourself, it really depends on where you are. i ean around 50k a year doing tandem video/stills only. i have an a.f.f. rating but havn't started using it yet. i could do my tandem rating and earn a little more but that would be soul destroying. i don't agree that sony is the best for skydiving anymore there are plenty of good cameras on the market and sonys cameras are increasingly less skydiver friendly. i would however suggest a sony(older model) trv 18 if you do go for the top mount as they are the most user frendly cameras i have used. don't get a touch screen you will spend all your ride flicking through menus. external buttons are the best. pentax mz50 is a great camera for skydiving. there is an easy accessed on/off switch so you can turn your camera on with your helmet on and check if you arent sure. the battery indicater actually gives you plenty (more than 10 jumps) warning that it is running out unlike the canons that tell you when you take the first shot then just die completely. a great cheap fish eye lens to star with is called a mz-zenitar 16mm, they only cost us$125 and make very nice photos especially if you have good scenery around. they are a fully manuel lens so you will have to learn about f stop etc. wich is a good thing rather than having the lens do all the work for you. another great function on the pentax mz50 i just remembered is you can change the shutter speed easily(in freefall) with a quick tap of a swivel button, great for when you go through a cloud layer. good luck, go hard and listen to everything anybody is willing to tell you. do 'research' and don't nessecerily buy something because heaps of people use them. people are like sheep alot of the time. ask people what they don't like about a product and try and get what is best for you. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i think the choices are a bit extreme too. i didn't vote as there was not the 'nice place to visit but wouldn't want to live there' option. i think the u.s has plenty to offer to anyone. the people are nice enough, it's just a pity the place is run by morons! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

you said "military force is a last resort. SH brought this action on himself. innocents are always affected by war. that's why it should be a last resort. you act as if it was the objective. you really should read up some. " so explain to me how saddam bought this onto himself? i am talking about iraqi civilians bening killed not what he has done. like i said earlier you don't have to kill innocent people to apprehend one person! if he had have been taken without killing all these people then the cahnces of a terrorist attack on the u.s. would now be much smaller. terrorism isn't just bored people wanting somthing to do it is poeple that are so angry that they feel the need to do sopmeting about it. the war on terrorism is a joke it is only feuling the anger that created the terrorists in the first place. those innocents you talk about could be 'you' before long if you let your govornment carry on this way. you said " when we use it in any other way than self-protection, it too should be taken away. Not my problem you can't handle the truth and can only debate with hyperbole. " what about non nuclear weapons. they should be taken away you don't protect you country with those they are used to kill innocent people rather than defence. i would like to see the statistics on that one you said "I chose rational discourse, you chose personal attacks. Therefore my conversation with you has ended. No big loss, I might add." well if calling somebody a hypocrite when you think they are is a personal attack then i oppologise. but personally i don't think so. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

you said "When you base what you say purely on your bitter hatred of the US, I don't give a shit what you think. Start speaking based on the facts, and I might." is it not a fact that the u.s. killed many innocent people from many nations and destroyed huge amounts of infrastructure etc. in order to capture one man? is it not fact that this man could have been apprehended by not even firing a weapon. had the right strategy been put in place(this by the way is my argument to why the u.s. should have left their guns at home and many families would be living hapily together just now.instead of mourning or not being there at all) whre are your facts as to why the way the u.s. acted is correct and the best way. it seem the u.s. thinks that military force is the only way you said "That comment that you made didn't really help your argument." this was me getting angry, my right. i oppologise if i offended you but it is quite frustrating to me "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

you said "come, come Rhys, surely you cann't slam/invade a whole nation based upon the actions of a few mad men..... () Tony" well actually i have said befor that i do not hate or dislike american people, i have american friends and think americans can be wonderful people. (they can also be very loud and overbearing) your govornment represents your whole country world wide. your govornment seems to be run by uneducated halfwit morons who can't forsee the problems they are about to encounter. you country is going down the drain because of a few people and their own personal greed. now for the civillians of your country to condone the actions of these people by voting this moron back in does not say alot for the intellegence of your people as a whole. although i am sure there are many genius' in the u.s. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

you said "You need to forget this notion about war being good or bad, legitimate or legal or not. War is typically a bigger party imposing its will on a smaller one. Been around a long time, won't stop for an artificial entity like the UN." i would like to forget about war but as it is constantly destroyng life on the plannet i think it is an issue that needs to be adressed. the u.n. is at least an attempt to sort things out but countries like the united states fail to do anything other than what they want to do it seems to be a waste of time. i think you'll find the obesity problem around the world is due to the brainwashing form u.s. companies (mcdonalds, burger king , k.f.c. etc) i eat fast food but i like turkish kebabs etc. these guys don't have the selling power that the big guns have i.e. television advertising. it is not fast food that is the problem it is cheaply made shit food that is dressed up to be good food that is the problem. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

you said "Against the will of the UN? Tell me, how many UN resolutions was SH complying with? The UN sure as hell wasn't going to to anything about it (except the whole oil-for-food scandal thing)." oh so two wrongs do make a right? you said " Good for you. I, like many others, don't give a shit what you think." so why bother replying my comments and do you speak for more than yourself? you said " Good luck. You'll need it." if you didn't get the sarcasm i was making an example of the u.s. idea of reasoning it seems to me that you condone murder because that is exactly what all those unessecary deaths were! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

you said"Not even close. But if oversimplifying the situation far beyond facts and history keep you bashing the US, then have your fun." um is over simplifying the situation to the u.s. carpet bombing civilians and destroying their country, killing and maiming women, children and men. mothers, sons, daughters and fathers to get rid of one person? so let me see how can you get rid of one person and minimise casualties by carpet bombing? um i don't think you can. military intelligence is an oxy'moron' you said"The will of the UN was for Iraq to disarm. But you prefer dictators with WMD to a democracy where all participate in guiding their own society? Eh, to each their own." the united nations would probably like the u.s. to disarm also not kill innocent people. miliary force is not the only way to deal with a problem. do you fight to deal with your problems? if you do then i suggest an anger management program. so "WHO'S GOT THE BOMB?" hypocrite. you said"And oil was also the reason why the UN, France, Germany, and Russia were against military action." so there is a race for the oil eh. check www.oilcrash.com you said"Unhealthy eating is one thing that's killing the US from within. Something that's being worked on. No society is perfect. But to you this is worthy of a military invasion? Whatever. " i don't think anything is worth a military invasion, i was being sarcastic if you didn't get it i meant that every country has it;s problems others can decide to 'help' but it does not give anyone the right to invade as the u.s. did do you not think the obesty problem is due to similar brainwashing from fast food giants? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i think you yanks are arrogant for thinking you have the right to invade a country(against the will of the united nations) because you don't like the way they do things! thats is not the reason iraq was invaded anyway that is just the brainwashing process that was involved in getting the (redneck warmonging)voters approval! the main reason was a particular pipeline that carries a particular black gold. which shouldn't be in such demand because alternitave energies are available but not utlised. i don't like the way the u.s. manages itself. the poor civilians are brainwashed into thinking that drinking 2 litres of coke to wash down 2 1/4 pounders is o.k., the poor u.s. civilians are also subjected to mass pollution because they are brainwashed into thinking big cars are nessecary to drop the kids off to school. i don't like they way the u.s. does things i think the civilians are suffering so i think i should invade the u.s. if the reasoning behind the u.s. attacks were legitimate then a mass invasion of the u.s. would be legitimate as well. arrogant fucks. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

thats funny! thanks. long swoops "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

what is the story with entering the gates is it any part of your body lower than the top of the gate or does it have to be your whole body? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i do like debating. ***I do believe the I am supposed to be a good steward of everything God gives me...and yes, part of that includes taking care of the environment. BUT... I also believe loving people and giving of myself is the most important thing to do on earth, yes, even more important than recycling. so who was it that told you everything has been 'given' to you. was that stuff not there before people were ever here? are we not dessemating this fragile plannet at an alarming rate? is that not a worry to you because you've got heaven to look forward to? i guess those charachters who crashed into the world trade centre are now making love to the 88 virgins they were promised as well? christians are very selfish. can you let me know where the bible mentions the rest of the cosmos? or has that jus appeared in the last coupleof hundred years too. also dinosoars i want to see where they fit into gods picture too. now i believe in a higher being so i am not saying i am a non believer somthing had to have happened to create existance but the bibles myths of everything being created in seven days and all that yarn doesn't add up as much as all the genius' putting thier ideas together based on fac, seem to come up with the same conclusions. the bible doesn't add up? what are you theories on the big bang? do you belive that the univers is expanding and had to begin at some point or do you believe the earth is the center of the universe? you said that you beleive that human existnce is more important then the existance of all living things, do you really beleive that? is that not selfish? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i have just set up the wind blades at work so i can use them as entry gates, no one at work seems to be sure what the rules are on entry. what are the rules for entry, how high are competition gates?

yeah, what he said. words of wisdom and experience. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

QuoteHow come every one in SC has got to try to start some kind of controversy over every single post??? that is why it is the speakers corner. is religious belief not controversy? i am a believer in a higher being but my belief certainly does not involve the bible. most christians are hippocrites who are blindfolded to reality. if you understand your religion then why do you have to go to church and pray? should you not be out there tryng to protect your environment from greed, or are you part of that greed? you recycle, walk when you can or buy free range eggs? if you don't you are a hyppocrite. christians blindfold themselves to fact until it gets to a point where they look stupid if they don't agree. for example the church was adamant the earth was flat and ridiculed any opposing thought until science could prove it beyond reasonable doubt. once this happened 'then' the church agreed yes the earth is a sphere and included that in their beliefs this was only a few hundred years ago. much the same as the big bang theory, where is the cosmos included in the bible? it isn't is it, this is because nobody knew what it was when the bible was written, not even your mate jesus. once again i do beleive in a higher being as there is some sort of magic involved in life. life does not revolve around humans as the bible suggests. our world is fucked due to greed, christianity is part of that greed (what kind of car does your vicar drive?b.m.w.?, i bet he doesn't walk) go pick up some rubbish and plant a tree instead of pushing your selfish belief onto others. 'the mind is like a parachute, it works best when it is opened........ fully' "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

i believe the trv18 would be the best for top mount.(i have done 1800 jumps with mine) the reason being it is low profile and not dependant on using a touch screen to access features such as faders and edit search these are instantly accessed with the touch of an external button on the 18. the thread is 30mm, i use a kenko .43 with a 30-37 step up ring. also from what i understant any model later then the trv18 has narrower optics so lenses arent as wide as they say. touch screens suck they just make the manufacture cheaper and your door wear sout much quicker. just my thoughts "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

O.K. we all accept the fact that oil is running out at an auguable rate. to be purely selfish, how do you think this will effect skydiving in the next 10-20 years. i am not too clued up on jet-a1 production but i assume it is from crude oil? between pessemism and optimism there is an answer? do you drive a v8 or a 4 "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

so what do you lot think of this, whether you are a hippie or an oil drinking consumer fuck. what do you reckon. oilcrash.com (don't know how to make clicky) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix