mr2mk1g

Most I've done in the states packing for myself was 8 in a day. I'm probably a pretty much average example of a weekend jumper out on a jumping holiday in the US. I could probably do 10 a day easily but I'd be fairly tired at the end of the day. Most I've done in a day period was 14 with a paid packer. That was in Russia where pack jobs were costing me 90p. At that price I couldn't even be bothered to pack at the end of the day. That was 14 jumps a day, every day for the whole trip. I was fucked by the end of it, but could probably have done more if we didn't stop for debriefs. That was supposed to be a training trip however rather than a fun holiday. If I want to have fun I'm not going to want to do 14 jumps a day, every day.

Bought my first rig before I qualified (S/L and English weather meant I'd been in the game a year and knew at least something of what to look for). Used Jav and used Sabre 190. Did about 100 jumps on it and bought a new Wings and stuck a used EXE.ZP 170 in it and at that stage got my first AAD. Did about 100 jump and it was time for a downsize... by 2 sqaure foot! Bought a Pilot 168 new. Since that time my first AAD died of old age so I bought a new CYPRES 2. On that gear to date. So... 2 containers, 3 canopies only 1 real downsize in going on 500 jumps post qual. I guess looking back what I did was absolutely "text book" in that it's kinda exactly what most people advise new jumpers to do - buy old and big then once's you've a little exp. move onto new gear... except I guess most would advise new jumpers to have an AAD.

Hey, think of it this way - you could be working for Skyride. Being a pap. sounds kinda saintly compaired to that doesn't it?

It aint dead yet. People wish it were, but it's still alive and kicking. Frankly I doubt the threads will dissapear until there's a court order finally sending the horse down the knackers yard.

Got it in two. Fantastically odd plane. Is a double-decker - decks can dump out a jeeps etc or cargo or more jumpers through a rear exit, 36 more jumpers were held in the tail booms and dispatched through a hole near the horizontal stabiliser! STOL and rough field capabilities too. Took 74 jumpers total! Had the pleasure of being in what I was told was the last surviving example at the Army Transport Museum in Beverly, North Yorkshire a few years back. Pity there are non left flying.

hehe, it does look like a skyvan's pregnant mother... no legitimate blood ties between the two so far as I'm aware however.

Ok, so there've been loads of name that plane threads but maybe not a million. They're fun though so what the hell. Here's one that might tax you. I can give some clues on request. Yes it's a jump plane and no, it's not an AN-2...

I guess it might be a photoshopped image... but the event it depicts really did happen.

Found it. Here if you're interested: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4034&string=lineover Actually most of the vid is shot with a belly mount but the end is shot in third person. Clip depicts an intentional cutaway with a line over sewn onto the canopy. cheers all

Saw (and could have sworn I'd saved somewhere) a video from skydivingmovies.com which I'm now trying to find again. Various searches and an hour trawling through random mal's hasn't turned it up. From memory, vid was shot in the third person from behind the guy with the mal. It showed a nice exit and opening into a slowly rotating mal (think it was a line over IIRC) on a large docile canopy. The guy then cutaway and had a nice clean reserve deployment only a few dozen ft below. The whole thing looked like it might have been staged as a training video but I don't know for sure. Anyone recall the video? Anyone have a link to it?

You don't have to re-align anything. There's a mounting peg on the bracket which mates with a hole in the bottome of the camera. That plus the thumb screw give you your two fixed mounting points. Every time you put the camera on the helmet it points in the same direction as when you took it off. Simple.

You've not gone Hi-Def with your Etch-a-sketch yet??? I'm just working on a helmet mount for mine now!

The metal one certainly comes in a 30mm thread (pos also a 37mm, but I know there's def a 30mm version as I have one). Try e-bay I've seen loads on there over the years. Also try searching for the model number I posted in the 2nd reply in the thread.

Sony do at least two different 0.6 lenses (in fact I've seen probably at least half a dozen different model numbers so probably a load more including old models). Mine has a crome coloured metal body and is absolutely fantastic. I can easily see the difference between my footage and my friends footage shot on identical cameras on the same dive - mine with the Sony lens and theirs with some crappy non-brand. The 0.6 I have from Sony is phenominal. It cost me about £20 from e-bay and IMO is easily the best quality lens in that price bracket. Its the Sony VCL-0630 S. A quick search on e-bay shows this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-VCL-0630-S-Wide-Conversion-Lens-X-0-6_W0QQitemZ150159189048QQihZ005QQcategoryZ29964QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem It's in the UK but it gives you a picture of it at least. I guess if Dragon has heard bad things about the plastic housing make sure you only consider the metal housing one. I've heard nothing but songs of praise for the Sony lens... guess they must have all been talking about the metal one. I would heatily recommend it. And yes, it matches up to maybe a 0.45 from most other manufacturers.

hehe, I took some money out of my vault in order to buy some pants (as even though I had a hat, shirt and sword my guy's balls were still apparently swinging in the wind). In the time it took me to move through the pages to the shop to buy pants, I'd been robbed twice, hit the hospital and no longer had enough cash to buy the pants I "left the house" for.

Don't keep any money on you - stick it all in your bank vault and only take it out when you're going to buy / gamble with it. It'll make you less of a target as they can't get any money out of you.

That's utterly Labour's fault. They've brought in stringent guidelines for judges, tying their hands in almost all circumstances to lay down specific mathematically calculated sentences no matter what the circumstances. Judges used to be trusted with wide discretion to apply a just sentence for the individual crime. No more! This nonsense hit the headlines last year when one judge was castigated by the red-tops for giving someone a stupidly lenient sentence. Politicians even called for the judge to be removed. The next day the judge wrote and article and had a rant in the press pointing out his full judgement included something to the effect that he wanted to give a much more stringent sentence and but for new govt. guidelines he would have done so under the old system, but because of the new guidelines he was bound to give the stupidly lenient one and went on to criticise the govt. in his actual judgement! Suddenly the tables were turned and the politician who had called for the judge to be removed, (who just so happened to be one of the key architects of the guidelines), was now the one the pack was baying for. Judges need to be given back their discretion. That's what we pay them for. They are not there as glorified a Carol Vorderman, to do a quick bit of maths while wearing a silly costume, (because that's what their sentencing powers have been reduced to). Sentencing guidelines need to go back to being guidelines. Judges should be permitted to punish to the full extent of the law where its appropriate to do so - and the decision of when it is appropriate should go back to vesting with the judiciary.

Dunno. Does the Ku Klux Klan have a political wing?

Hire someone who will do what Herr Blair promised and actually be "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime". All Tony did was pass new laws and tinkered in a constant attempt to keep Labour in the press' good books. He was all spin and no substance. And arrest Alastair Campbell for... for... I dunno, treason or something. It's all his fault! the little shit.

Aside from any safety concerns, you'll want to have at least a C licence before a CCI is gonna let you (BPA Ops manual requirement). Beyond that, no I wouldn't want it attached to me; I've seen flags with loop handles at each lower corner work well, (though personally I'd want a monkey's fist rather than a loop to reduce the risk of entanglement). The handles are going to want to be STURDY. You might find any text on the flag is unreadable - it'll tend to bow in the middle and flap a lot causing blur and wrinkles. The jumper will want to be pretty competent on their belly as they'll tend to backslide badly if they don't compensate. Holding onto the flag with one hand during deployment shouldn't normally cause too much of an issue but anything you take on a jump has the potential to cause a malfunction. I would talk to experienced jumpers at your DZ and get some on-site practical advice. Someone should have a bit of experience in doing silly things and will be able to help you. The other option would be simply to tow it under canopy on a short line – talk to local demo jumpers and again I suggest you'll need a C licence to do this.

Agreed. Whilst at the end of the day it's up to the buyer if they blow their money, it would still be nice to see at least a degree of camaraderie amongst us jumpers. I bought mine a few years back but I remember doing the maths against the market, Square1 included, and ensuring I really was going to be saving money by buying it.

I've previously bought and used one of these vouchers. I paid the guy I think $100 for it. I saved a load of money. He made some money. Wings got a new customer and presumably made some profit. Everyone it would appear was happy. It's a commodity with intrinsic value like any other; I don't really think it matters in absolute terms how the vendor came by the commodity, (so long as he has good title of course). It would be nice if people gave these things away to the deserving, but if he'd won say a Protrack in the boogie raffle instead of a voucher I don't think the clamour to see him give it away rather than sell it would be quite so loud. If someone's gonna pay over the odds for it that's their stoopid fault... still it's not nice to see skydiver "ripped off" by a fellow jumper, if indeed its actually fair to describe it as such.

hahahahaha, that's brilliant! Over here it is most definitely a huge insult. You're likely to get a slap in the face if you tell a girl she's built like a brick shithouse! Funny that there's such a contradiction in meaning between the two countries when no doubt the phrase most likely had the exact same origin.

hang on, are you telling me that currently in the US if you said someone was built like a brick shithouse that would be a compliment????

I can imagine the scene... Quick, a contraction's coming, start the tape player! [national anthem plays; mother screams] ... ... ... no... wait... stop the tape, it's not coming yet. ... ... ... Quick, another contraction - start the tape again!