vt1977

Closest DZ to London is Swindon???!!! Hmmmmmmm... Vicki

Happy early birthday Rosa! I wish I coudl be in Perris to celebrate with you... but it looks like I'll be at home in "sunny" England. Oh well! You have fun! I'll have a or two for you! Vicki

I bought my first container new. I ended up doing 900 jumps on the container and 400 jumps on my first main. The container was built for a 170 and eventually it safely held a 135. All in all, I’m happy with the choices I made!

Very true! I have a personal theory that girls with a good attitude will generally be safer than guys with an equal attitude because (and I am only half joking here!) we don't have testosterone to cloud our good judgment... (Sorry guys... ) Vicki

My experience suggests that there are girls who come into the sport who are more interested in flirting and being flirted with than they are about actually learning about what they are doing. Generaly they don't seem to keep jumping for long. Equally there are girls who are hungry for knowledge, want to learn everything they possibly can and seek good advice and ask questions. Those girls will quickly become competant, safe skydivers. I don't think gender comes into it here, it's far more about the attitude of the individual. Vicki

Definitely! When are you coming over here skymama? What we lack in weather we make up for with good nights out! Vicki

What are you tossers talking about? Vicki

Very much real. Lots of info here. Vicki

You could also join the London Skydivers e-mail group to meet other London based skydivers and come along to the monthly drinks in central London. hth Vicki

Happy birthday!

I found this Excel file on the BPA website which seems to have the info you are after. Vicki

You will find a map and details of all UK DZs here. You will see that you have several DZs around London to choose from. Which one you pick will probably depend on where in London you will be based and whether or not you will have a car. hth!

He looks lovely!

When we first got my greyhound she learnt how to use stairs and adapted to home life in general relatively quickly (although the first time she saw herself in a mirror was hilarious!). The irrational phobias of the stairs and kitchen floor came on suddenly when she was quite a lot older - probably 15 or so. This may have been due to failing eyesight or hearing or perhaps just old age but almost overnight she would become a nervous wreck at any attempt to get her to climb stairs. Another thing to mention is that they are incredibly strong animals and when they first retire they may not be used to walking on a lead. Prepare to be very patient with them when first taking them out on a lead - my father is not a small man and my greyhound nearly pulled him over more than once before she learnt to walk on the lead. It didn't take long and for the rest of her life she was fine. They are fantastic with people and always very eager to please which more than makes up for their low intelligence! My greyhound once was so excited to see us that she wagged her tail vigorously and several times it hit the edge of a a large table. This was enough to cut the tail open and within a couple more wags there was greyhound blood everywhere and our entire living room looked like there had been a chain saw massacre in there. It was pretty nasty, but quite funny because the stupid animal seemed completely oblivious to her (actually very minor when we checked it out!) injury! Re greyhounds with other dogs - we had a pretty boisterous labrador who used to regard the greyhound with utter contempt. I don't think he ever really viewed her as a proper dog since she wouldn't play with him and didn't really seem interested in doing doggy things with him. Good luck with your greyhound - they are lovely animals! Vicki

We had a rescue greyhound when I was a kid. They are lovely, sweet natured animals but not at all intelligent. They are highly strung and can become nervous for no good reason – my greyhound developed phobias of all kinds of strange things like the kitchen floor and the stairs! (My greyhound was attacked by another dog before she retired so that may explain some of her nervous tendencies) They don’t really play much, mine certainly didn’t get the idea that when you throw a ball they’re meant to go and fetch it. As I said, not too intelligent! From a practical point of view, a greyhound can easily clear a 6 foot fence so you need to be aware of that before bringing one home. They will spend most of their time asleep but do require quite a lot of exercise (at least 2-3 decent length walks per day). They eat huge amounts and are (to put it nicely!) greedy. My greyhound would scavenge food at any opportunity despite being fed vast amounts. Greyhounds are great with children as they are very gentle. Healthwise – my greyhound retired at 3 years old and lived to 17 – she was pretty healthy most of that time. They do have a tendency towards upset stomachs (but that may have more to do with the constant scavenging for food than anything else) and have very sensitive skin which cuts easily. Overall, a great pet to have but don’t expect it to behave like a dog – I always used to consider that I had a dog and a greyhound! They’re beautiful, good natured animals who just need a bit of love and understanding. PM me if you need any more specifics. Vicki

It took me 20 jumps to get off the static line and approximately 37 or 38 to get my A licence.

I recently had my Spectre 135 which had previously had microline re-lined with dacron. There was a small but noticeable increase in pack volume, but I certainly wouldn't say it was as much as going a size up. I didn't even need to adjust my closing loop so whilst I noticed the increase, it was minimal. hth!

101 on a big way that was falling slowly.

:6:0 No beer owed but quite a lot consumed... Fun weekend! Now I'm just tired... Vicki

Nice article here written as a tribute to him after his death. Vicki

I'll be there about 6.30pm-ish all being well. Going to try really hard not to get wasted tonight... Vicki

Check this out at Nethers. Turbolet in addition to the normal aircraft, Majik coaching and Aerodyne demos. And a party on the Saturday night! See you there? Vicki

1 nasty sinus infection:0:0 Nasty sinus infection and horrible weather = no jumps. Are we ever going to get a summer??? Vicki

Congratulations! Vicki

I have recently had my Spectre re-lined with dacron and the openings are heavenly.