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Never done it myself , but had one experienced guy that I picked up on before we got on board and also another guy with about 20 jumps still using our student gear off AFF status doing a fun jump. In the latter's case I asked him if he was good to go and when he said he was I pulled his chest strap and it came flying off. The look on his face was priceless and I doubt he will ever make that mistake again. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Your instructor jumped and left you in the plane?? Was this just yourself and the pilot?? I don't know what the USPA rules are on that but it would certainly be more than frowned upon in this country. BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

All the best!! Hope ya win it! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

1) Don't hang off aircraft and have the pilot cut you off - Makes you infamous NOT famous! 2) Do put limits on yourself , especially for the early jumps. Weight and height are two examples. Learn to say no until you are comfortable to do more. If the operation you are working for is reasonable they will not have a problem with this. 3) Don't be afraid to spend some time with the students with the briefing and stay in control insofar as having their attention wherever possible for the whole brief. Things such as non jumping friends and cameras/bag distractions can hinder a good brief. Never sound like you are saying the same thing as the last person you took for a tandem. Try to remember that this will probably be the first skydive this person has had and put yourself in their shoes. 4) You WILL have tandem passengers try and kill you - learn from your mistakes and/or seek the advice of those that have been there and done that many more times than you in the same way as you would seek advice from people more experienced than you with your own solo gear jumps. YOU HAVE NEVER DONE ENOUGH JUMPS TO BE UNABLE TO LEARN MORE! 5) DO jump for fun as often as possible. When there is no one else around we often chase a tandem out that has video and lurk a little making the video look a little different. We stay in the background but appear to one side now and then for a different perspective. 6) If you are a Tandem Master who has not done video jumps before try and take on some of the advice of the video guys and girls. Basically though do not adjust the way you throw the drogue or any part of the Tandem jump you are not comfortable with to suit them. I have done both and think that a good camera person should be capable of all levels of freefall speed and you should not have to be dictated by them as to what to do on every jump to suit them. Certainly if you can do little things to help do so , such as not being "big" with a smaller passenger and facing the sun after drogue throw and the like. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Yeah I used to jump with Sass a bit at Euroa and Nagambie and he also initiated a local? whuffo band with some skydiver behaviour at the Oktober boogie some years ago which was rather funny. Almost made them stop mid chorus and they then looked at each other as if to say "What the f&!k have we got ourselves into here!?!?" Those were the days! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I have been there quite a few times and there are a lot of good people with good vibes. Hard to go most times though as I work most days on the coast weekends and weekdays! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Just recently having a problem with my camera - brand new batteries , takes the whole roll in freefall no probs and then totally shuts down. As in , nothing on the display at all not even the finished roll symbol. With time it tends to come back online but I have had this camera for a long time and never encountered this. Also have an Aussie legend camera dude where I work and he is scratching his head also. Any help appreciated! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

"Hooked after a Tandem......" Geez how I hate that line ha ha.....long story but welcome to the sport that we all love! Don't forget that we all started with a first jump so most of us still know what that was like! Don't put yourself down for not having a huge figure beside your jump numbers as skydiving is a sport where you can always learn something new and it doesn't matter how many jumps you have. Learn from those who have the experience AND the ability to chat openly without looking down on you and always be a little self critical to improve the way you progress in the sport. Welcome and all the best! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Quote refused to do climb out and do a dangle exit(no sit exits on whatever type of cessna it was 182?) DANGLE exit!!! ARGH! I like Bathangs though! Landing in a plane as a passenger with a Pilot's licence is worse than being a Tandem Master as a passenger on a Tandem jump! For me anyway! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Used to do it all the time when learning to fly. Nothing like having a clipboard floating right in front of your face for something a bit more bizarre! Also a REALLY good way to see if the plane is clean or has shit all over the floor.......you soon find out if it is the latter! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Ok Chile , I read your post after the "hi" and got to the "A democracy" line which I thought was part of the post message not your post signoff lol! My bad! Hiya to all the others as well! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Um , your point is!?!?!? Can I have some of what you are smoking lol!??? BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

The bottom line is that a high paying job (for most anyway!) is just not worth the years of BS and crap you have to put up with. I would rather earn less and still love what I do and have some sanity at the end of the day. I was a tradesman for many years before I decided to give up that and do skydiving full time and would not go back to what I was doing if they paid me double what they did then! Most weeks I actually make more than when I was working as a tradesman and the suntan is also a lot easier to keep!! Also being at one of Oz's largest dz's work wise helps as well! All a matter of having a goal, working towards it and being a bit lucky in some respects on the way as well! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I was with a Whuffo for ten years and married for three , and right from the word go I told her that she would not be stopping me jumping or placing restrictions on it as it was my release after a crappy week of "normal" work to get out to the country-ish DZ we went to and jump my ass off. Most of the time she went with me and we went out to the local restaurants after the days jumping and she was never left out of anything much. Then I started to make some good money of a weekend and eventually she was more and more smothering with wanting almost every second together. She eventually gave me an ultimatum , either her or the jumping. Jeez I will miss her!! But seriously there were a lot of other factors as well like in the ten years we had changed and had less in common than we did when we first met. I was more of a free spirit not wanting to be tied down and she wanted the house with the kids and everything else that goes with it. Oh , and of course the mother in law who decided to move from interstate to live with us for a "short time" only to still be there 18 MONTHS LATER!!! Only so much a person can take! She has since settled down with someone else and the mother still lives under the same roof. I am happy for her but much happier not being tied to all of that now I can step back and take an unbiased look at the whole situation! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Ok cool!! Now go out there and spread the word on how good skydiving is to your sisters Then send them to Australia!

Yeah , especially more female jumpers ha ha! And more jumpers means we may even one day be able to jump a jet here....then again hell hasn't frozen over YET! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Hey Harro , thanks for the well wishes Oozzee you lucky bugger!! I would love to go skydiving mad over there sometime....just a bit of planning and saving at this point needed ha ha !! Yeah it is a hard life here - when we are not jumping a few of the tm's go kite surfing and the rest surfing. My thing is fishing , not sit on your ass all day without a nibble type fishing but busy as hell with something large on the other end most times at 17 miles out! Good fun! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

The weather here in sunny Queensland Australia is always pretty much just that! We jump all year round onto the beach and personally I get withdrawl symptoms if I go without a jump for morethan a week!! How do you guys survive a month or more??! AAAHH! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Have done two on an old Paracommander. Note to self.....If jumping a roundie again do it with a little bit of wind next time you idiot!!! (First jump was a stand up in about 8-10 knots and the second a cruncher in virtual nil wind.) Good fun though but REALLY weird once open as there was almost absolute silence, even more than what you get under a conventional canopy. BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

We use Javs at our dz. Most of the time they suit just fine considering a student rig is made for more than just the one wearer. There is also a fine line between things like hard openings and having the leg straps done up too tight. Funny also how when you do Tandems full time for a few weeks and then put your own gear on it feels REALLY weird and not quite right all at the same time! Oh , and did I mention about NOT throwing the drogue !? BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Ah Perth......I have such fond memories of a "lovely" bus drive from Melbourne to Perth via the nullabor then a "wonderful" car ride from Perth to Monkey Mia to the north on a 40 degree plus day. Thats CELCIUS for the guys/girls from the US out there lol! The little swimming mongrels didn't even show up for us once we did get to Monkey Mia either doh! Oh well PERTH itself is a rather nice place! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Ok.....you want to redesign a Twin Otter. Look at the end result and running costs. That is the bottom line and also one of the reasons why there are countries like Australia that need an affordable and smaller aircraft for Parachute Ops and why aircraft like Twin Otters are not as prevalent as they are in countries like the USA. If money were of no concern I am sure there are many aircraft far superior to the XL like the Otter that you could redesign. Don't quote me but I think the dz south of us that is getting the new XL plans to still be able to use it with only 5 jumpers on board as well for those quieter days. At Caloundra we use the LET 410 and have done so for many years and it is still one of my most favourite aircraft available in Australia for the jumping population we have here. BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

You are going to have to get used to using BOC if you plan to keep jumping as most systems use this method. I find it better to start training students with BOC from the word go so it is one less thing to worry about when conversion time comes around. Also having the ripcord on the front tends to have the student de arch during the pull! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

We have used both and recently moved to throw away. What happened to primacy in learning?? I have always said the first thing you teach someone should be the same thing they do later on. The throw aways have not been a problem at all for us just like the BOC ripcord you could not see argument was null and void for me as I had seen it work time and time again no problem. What happens with an alti and or ripcord higher up that you look at? NEGGIE! BSBD -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Bad enough with a bloody T tail on something like a Piper Arrow compared to a conventional tail. There are always tradeoffs with aircraft design....shit they haven't even made a video camera from the ground up for us yet that was "just" for skydivers.......deal with it and judge it after you jump it. BSBD -Mark. How many Prima Donna jumpers out there know what a Cessna 182 is??? "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"