JPDECHENE

Sorry but you are wrong mentioning that Belgium has 12 months repack time. I Belgium, things are never easy due to the different communities (Flemishs and Walloons - for those who know a litlle bit my 220 km long 150 km wide country where three different languages are spoken and where we are administrated by one national and five regional governments ...) In the Flemish- speaking part of the country, repack cycle is still 4 months (or better 120 days) while by the Walloons - French- (and German-) speaking part of the country the repack cycle is 180 days. Problems sometimes start when you are visiting, without crossing any border, the other community, the question being : "Is your repack cycle linked to your insurance and by the way to the Federation that issued it - Sport is a competence of the regions and so Skydiving is administrated by two different Federations-? Or does local regulation apply ? " I do not know what the rule in Kenya is but I confirm that both in France and in Germany, 12 months is the rule with a temporary exception to six months for Javelin rigs after they discovered the problem with sticky cordura back side. I believe that now that Sun Path has found the reason and issued their SB regarding a batch of red Cordura, they are now back to one year. Anyway, discussions are in progress, at least at the European level, to try to reach a consensus and have the same regulation all around the continent. JPD

Hallo Guido, I have just read carefully the part 105. In the § 105.3 Definitions, the foreign parachutist is defined as : "a parachutist who is neither a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and is participating in parachute operations within the United States using a parachute equipment not manufactured in the United States. So I am afraid that our US friends are, at least legally, right; a German or Belgian citizen visiting the US to jump and having a Javelin equipment is clear : the 120 days repack cycle applies. Now I can understand that you disagree (as much as I do) on the spirit of the rule; we, as European Riggers, do our job a responsible way and the quality of our work is not lower than anyone else's; in addition, as you mentioned, most of the US manufacturers have accepted the extension of the repack cycle. I even suspect that most of our colleagues would agree to some extension of that cycle (see their efforts to get from the FAA the 180 days). But, at least in the US, riggers do not make the law, the FAA does and, if you and me agree with the rule or not, the rule is the rule and it must be observed. We are trying to unify the rules within Europe,which is no fully obtained and let's hope that the next step will be having one voice for the whole World Skydiving Community; the 400- way has superbly proved that we can work as a group on a World scale. JPD Belgian Parachute Riggers Association

In Belgium, reserves are repacked by Riggers (senior or Master). Ther are still a few packers from the old time but their activity is limited to some types of equipment. If you are REALLY interseted in becoming a Rigger, the BPRA (Belgian Parachute Rigger Association) organizes from time to time Rigger courses. The best way for you would be to contact the Rigger delegate at the VVP. You can also contact Pierre Van Mensel hhe lives close at Berchem (Antwerp). Jean-Pierre DECHENE

It really depends on the guy in charge. I also suppose that if you are on the high side of the range of the jump numbers, he will most probably be more "easy". But if the profile of UKKid is true (45 jumpss in 5 years), I would be surprised if the Drop Zone DT (Directeur Technique) would let him jump with his gear. JP

If you can find one in airworthy condition, the RW version of the Para Commander would be the ideal choice. I have made hundred of jumps with such a canopy and NEVER got a knee on the ground. We used to nick-name that canopy "Hot Air Balloon" so it was bringing you softly on the ground. The other advantage is that it packs quite smaller than a regular Para Commander. Have fun, JP

The problem is that they have in France since 2004 some very strict regulation regarding wing loading for the people with less than a certain amount of jumps : From 31 to 100 jumps : w.l. = 0.88 max. from 101 to 250 jumps : max. 0.96 from 251 to 400 : max. 1.05 from 401 to 600: max. 1.16 with a few exceptions . For exit weight, they consider the weight naked + 22 lbs. JP

In facts, the Vigil checks itself the battery voltage at each start and delivers the following message : either battery OK or Battery low that still gives you the possibility of making about 25 jumps before it declares Battery down and shuts up the starting process. JP Dechen

I had my first Dytter back in '86 (the one with the external speaker). I met Mads in the following Hercules Boogie and asked him about the one with internal speaker. His answer was : "send me your old one" and a fe days later arrived a brand new Dytter. When the louder one arrived, I asked the cost for an upgrade. this was minimal and I received, guess what? : a new one that I am still using today. Later on I sent them back some units from jumpers with quotes ranging from "It doesn't beep anymore" to "I am sorry, but I steped on my Protrack and the display is damaged, could you ask them a quote to repare it ?" .Well, each and every time, I received, without a single question, free replacements units. I can't find any strong enough superlativeabout the friendlyness and the quality of their service. That's even more than perfect. And for developping new attractive products, they are pretty good too. Have you seen their new products ?

You can find the trim charts for all PD canopies on their web site. JP.

Let me know what the size of your Contrail is and I'll send you the trim chart. JPD

Funny how costs can differ from country to country. In Belgium, price for a Cypres 1 was about 900 Euros. but maintenance costs only 150 Euros plus eventually 55 Euros for batteries replacement. Maybe you should have a serious word with the Cypres representative in the UK Anyway after more than 30 years jumping without an AAD, I wouldn't do it now without my Cypres. JP