vt1977

Just a point to throw in here... I seem to remember from somewhere (I owned 2 Sabres a few years ago so maybe that's why it sticks in my mind?) that Sabres are also "really" a bit bigger than it says on the label. Therefore if you're using the fact that the PD143R is "really" a 155 to make you feel happier about the size of it, you might want to double check that your Sabre 170 "really" is a 170. Vicki

I'm definitely overdue a visit so maybe sometime in the next month or so? Maybe... Vicki

First point - I'm an adult and as a matter of principle I really don't see why the thought police should be moderating my viewing. I don't particularly want to watch anyone go in - whether on video or for real - but in this sport it happens and if we can learn something from a video then I can't see that watching it is a bad thing. My final point, if watching a video of somebody impacting makes just one person think twice before going to their local DZ and doing something stupid then that's not a bad thing either. Vicki

Personally... I'd go with the PD143R. Although since this is a fair bit smaller than what you are used to, it would be a good idea to see if you can get hold of a demo PD143R and put a few jumps on it as a main canopy to get a feel for jumping a small(er) F111 7-cell. I only have one experience of flying a reserve - a PD126R - and I was incredibly impressed by how well it flew and flared. I got almost as much flare from my PD126R as I would expect from my Spectre 135 main and I only had 1,100' under it! I'll be sticking with PD reserves. Vicki

I jumped there very regularly from 1994 until 2002. I'm mainly at Netheravon now but I do pop back to Headcorn to say hello a couple of times per year. Maybe see you there sometime! Vicki

My first thought was Empuriabrava because it is just an awesome DZ! They will rent cypreses to visiting jumpers who require them as well. If you want to try somewhere a bit different, how about somewhere in Sweden? The jumps there are cheap by European standards. I can recommend Gryttjom. Check out their website (the English part might be most helpful to you!). They have great facilities (including a sauna!) and when I was there last summer they had an AN28 (tailgate) and Twin Otter. Another option is Lapalisse, but being in France I think they require an AAD too. There is always Langar in the UK - they get a Skyvan for their 2 annual boogies. hth! Vicki

Since the documents which I have explicitly state that skydiving is covered they cannot change this during the course of the cover period. When I renew they can decline, but AFAIK they have to honour the existing arrangement for the duration of the policy. Guess I'll be looking for new insurance in March then... Vicki

Just another question to throw in here… If you are not happy with a 168 main what size reserve have you ordered? Vicki

Fair enough Nige, just thought it was worth reiterating it to them to ensure we get no nasty surprises when we turn up on Thursday. Fingers crossed we have our normal area back! Yay! Vicki

Nigel (or whoever is booking the area this time) When I spoke to them last time to get us an area they said that if we want our usual area (i.e. the raised area at the back) we need to specify this when we call. Otherwise we are likley to end up in one of the smaller areas which are noisy and have no seating (or - heaven forbid - in the non smoking section). So, whoever is booking, please specify "the raised area at the back" and hopefully there will be no hassles this time! Vicki

I'd agree with what most others have said that the DZ should be responsible, not least because it was a legitimate malfunction that the student cutaway from and I imagine that it wasn't the student who packed it. Vicki

Could you post or PM me a link for this user group please? I'm a fairly new ipod owner and I'm really happy with it but would like to find out a bit more about what it can do. Thanks, Vicki

I thought it was: Spit: Lust Swallow: Love Gargle: Showing off! Vicki

Tash - at least one of the video players at Nethers plays NTSC tapes. In fact, most video players sold in the UK in the last 3 years or so will play PAL and NTSC. Mine does and it was dirt cheap! hth!

Happy birthday!

My experience of skydiving in Europe (I'm British and have skydived in Spain, Germany and Sweden) is that the inspections of my documents have been far more thorough than anything I have seen when I have been in the US. Vicki

Me too. Vicki

:0:0 Spent all weekend in bed trying to shake this flu. Vicki

IMO that is a high wingloading for your jump numbers. What do your instructors think? Have you undertaken any canopy coaching? Vicki

Congratulations - post pics soon!

I do. I believe that the reserve in that container is too small for you at your current experience level. When you have a LOT more jumps under your belt you can make an informed decision about a higher loaded reserve but for now - please - stick with a reserve the same size as, or larger than, your main. A 170 would put you at a ~1.18 wingloading and I personally think this is too high for a first set of gear. A 190 would be ~1.05 which would be at the high end of what might be recommended for first gear. Furthermore, am I correct in thinking that your home DZ, Lillo, is 2,000ft+ elevation and hot most of the year? Have you checked with Mirage if you can put a larger reserve in that container? Have you discussed any of this with instructors at Lillo? Vicki

Option D... With a weight of 176lbs, that is likely to give an exit weight of ~200lbs. That would give you a wingloading of almost 1.18 on a 170 and I would not recommend that you even consider this until you have 200 jumps and have completed some canopy coaching. Furthermore a Stiletto is a high performance, elliptical canopy. I know there are faster toys out there now, but the Stiletto is not - and never will be - a beginner or intermediate canopy. When I started jumping you were required to have either 400 or 500 jumps (can't quite remember) to jump a Stiletto. The design hasn't changed in that time and nor has the ground got any softer... A final point that concerns me, is that the reserve in that gear is a 150. Does that bother you? That's a wingloading of 1.33 on an F111 7-cell. Since we've established that a 170 might not be a wise choice for a main right now, do you really want to find yourself under a 150 reserve at that wingloading when you're low and pumped with adrenaline??? My advice - find some second hand gear that is suitable for you NOW. You can then put a couple of hundred jumps or more on it and sell it on without losing much. There will always be another "almost new" rig out there.

Hey Clay, It's been ages since I lived in SA or atempted to speak Afrikaans so I'm not even going to try to spell any Afrikaans for you as I'd only embarass myself... but this thread should help you out.

The Pilot is great, the Spectre is great too.

My boogie list for this year: 1. Not really a boogie as such - big-way camp at Gryttjom, Sweden 2. Miss-behaviour Boogie - Langar, UK 3. Christmas Boogie - Skydive Empuriabrava, Spain Vicki