thelem

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Everything posted by thelem

  1. thelem
    The main problem with Empuria is the lack of RAPS. They will give a discount to students on 15 second delays, but that if very frustrating for students who are on 10 second delays or just a couple of jumps from qualifing. I've also had a PM suggesting RAPA in Germany, has anyone got any opinions about that DZ?
  2. thelem
    If you are looking to buy an aircraft like the 750XL, that presumably means you have at least one Cessna 206 or similar to sell. A couple of those would surely make a big dent in the purchase price? Then there is the rental market too. Looking through those figures (I'm looking at unfinanced), they really are impressive if they are to be believed. Cost per jump (full load): $3.85 Average load (12 jumpers): $5.77 Break even load: 3.8 jumpers (or 1 tandem)
  3. thelem
    I'm starting to organize next year's summer trip for the University of Portsmouth skydive club, and I'm just checking out the possible dropzone in sensible traveling distance (so, france or spain probably). The main requirements are to have english speaking instructors for AFF and RAPS (preferably from static line, but freefall students only is OK). We would hopefully be taking half a dozen AFF students and a similar number of RAPS students. Places I'm considering at the moment are Gap, Empuria, Lillo and Royan. What do you think of each of these dropzones (particularly Lillo)? Have you got any other suggestions? Thanks
  4. thelem
    My interpretation is that PAC have more orders than they can satisfy and are losing business because of their waiting list. Because of this they have signed up a partner to help them produce the aircraft faster and also reduce additional costs to some of their customers (I'm assuming home delivery with $100,000 insurance isn't included in the price).
  5. thelem
    The old bulletin is at http://www.sunpath.com/downloads/bulletins/sp02.pdf My interpretation of this new bulletin is that it is just a clarification of the previous one, and a requirement to inspect all the rigs now in addition to every reserve repack. There are pictures of some of the rigs in question in the two bulletins. When I was jumping them I noticed very little difference between the adustable and non-adustable rigs in terms of sturdyness. The only differences I noticed were that the leg straps had clips on the adjustable ones, and the adjustable ones were longer (both types were ripcord with either skymaster 230 or skymaster 290 mains)
  6. thelem
    In that case the packer has supplied a working parachute, and should be paid in my opinion. Again, this is something the jumper should have noticed on the ground and brought to the packers' attention. (equally, if the parachute had been jumped, then there wouldn't have been a problem) There are other ways to see if a pilot chute is cocked, so the packer may not have bothered to check the window even though he knew the pilot chute was cocked. (sorry if this is double posted, dz.com is being unreliable)
  7. thelem
    1. The jumper should have checked the gear when he put it on. 2. The jumper has a right to be very pissed off at the packer, but not to get into a fight. 3. If the pilot chute had not been cocked, then the packer should refuse to be paid. 4. If the pilot chute had not been cocked, then the jumper shouldn't pay the packer, because his product (the packjob) was not fit for the purpose it was intended for. As a packer, I wouldn't expect to be paid for something which doesn't work. I may even pay for the reserve repack, because it would be my fault. Someone is bound to come up with the 'but packers are doing it for a living' thing, which just doesn't stand. Taking a conservative 1 mal in 500 packjobs, £5 for a pack and £35 for a reserve repack (the costs near me), that would mean that for every repack the packer needed to pay for, they would have been paid 500 * £5 = £2500. I think they can afford £35.
  8. thelem
    I did RAPS and went to throwaway only after I had got my cat-8 (an option you don't have in your poll, despite saying thats how you do it at your dz) (oh, and you mean throwaway - throwout is something different again)
  9. thelem
    Accessibility - I have to drive a minimum of 1 hour to get to a DZ. I don't like wasting any more time and money travelling if I don't need to. Weather - I live in the UK, not Southern France or California Facilities - Aircraft, Packing, Creeping, Canteen, Bar Other important factors are price, and going somewhere with people I know.
  10. thelem
    Why were you doing a two way from 5 grand anyway? If you are planning to pull around 3, that means breakoff around 4, so you only have 1000ft (mostly the hill) to do anything surely? At 2000 ft I would have pulled too - you don't have many options at that altitude.
  11. thelem
    Were you using IE? If not, then you have to use the site map, because the BPA's website designers didn't write the javascript menu properly.
  12. thelem
    If the plane has GPS on it, and the cloudbase is above opening altitude, then I don't mind jumping through cloud. If the cloudbase is below opening altitude though, then it makes canopy collisions too easy and you may have no idea if you're flying towards or away from the DZ.
  13. thelem

    G-Mail Accounts

    thelem replied to SkiD_PL8's topic in The Bonfire

    I'd like a G-mail account, they certainly sound very interesting. Name: Ian Thomas Email: public-whatsitsign-lemnet.com
  14. thelem
    Wouldn't a protrack which measured the speed more accuratly be just as good? eg, if you take 1000 altitude measurements over the skydive, you should be able to get a fairly good indication of open speed.
  15. thelem
    I do, because it is one of the limits that is used to differentiate between experienced and inexperienced jumpers. Even simple guesses are unlikely to be more than 10-20% out, and this will be evened out over time. Your logbook might say you have 11 hours when really you have 10, but more importantly it says you are more experienced than someone with only 1 or 2 hours logged. (Yes, ideally people would be judged by their skill rather than jump time or numbers, but in most cases that is just too complicated).
  16. thelem
    Agreed. So the last two should probably be something like: 3. Pull at the correct altitude and a reasonable speed (
  17. thelem
    Yes, but if you want to write up comments in a paper logbook, then you can get the freefall time from your protrack, rather than just guessing. I belive this is what he was refering to.
  18. thelem
    Does anyone know what type of jump he'll be doing? From what I remember of the video of the 75th jump, it was a solo jump and wasn't AFF or SL (ie it looked like an experienced jump). I'm sure they wouldn't just let anyone out of a plane like that, so does anyone have a better memory of his last jump?
  19. thelem
    Advice I'd pick out: * Put the rig in its own rig bag, and do not put anything else in that bag. The last thing you want is to have, say, a jumper in the same bag as your rig, which arouses suspicion and means your rig has to be opened. * If you feel the need to attach your reserve handle to your harness (to prevent problems if airport staff use it as a carrying handle), then do so with using your chest strap. That way you can't forget to undo it before you jump.
  20. thelem
    Assuming that it is a total mal, ie you don't have anything trailing behind you to stop you tracking, do you think you would be able to track into any pit which didn't fill the whole DZ? By the time you find out you haven't got any parachute, you are probably around 1,000 or below, not much time to track to the pit. Nice idea though.
  21. thelem
    I don't see the problem either. In the UK we are required to have BPA membership, which comes with third party insurance. Likewise with USPA in America. What are the current rules in canada?
  22. thelem
    In the UK we call the person who decides on the exit order of the load, and tells the first group to get out the jump master for that load, I don't know if you are refering to a different meaning that is no longer in use? As for TM/TI, I prefer TM/passenger. TI/TS just sounds too PC to me. As has been mentioned above, I have been told that we have to call them students, because our aircraft are not maintained to the standards required to carry passengers.
  23. thelem
    Also because people think in terms of round/curved and square, for example I might call an 80's car 'square', when infact I just mean that it has sharply defined edges, rather than the modern curved edges.
  24. thelem
    I will listen to advice from anyone, and if they can back up their advice with a good reason, then I will act on it. If they have lots of experience (not just jump numbers) but can't back up their advice, then I will probably speak to someone else about it. If they have low jump numbers but can't back up their advice I will probably just forget it. Remember, even the best don't know everything.
  25. thelem
    It should be fairly easy to find one, just remember to choose one that will be quite hard wearing. Log books can normally hold 150-300 jumps, so you'll probably use it for a year or move. Avoid the spiral bound ones, as the pages are likely to start falling out.