Tonto

Same in SA. t It's the year of the Pig.

Are the BPA doing the same? I don't know. I know PASA is. t It's the year of the Pig.

While I munch quietly on a very large bio degradable packet of the choicest worms..... Lets take 500 inteligent, attractive women with whom you can see some kind of future..(You've dated 500 women, right?) Half think it's cool. Half think you're nuts (250/500

Yes. No problem at all. Wedges went out of fashion about a decade back, but with sitflying returning, and swoopers using alti's to initiate turns, they're coming back. Nothing wrong with the mount. t It's the year of the Pig.

Those days are gone. New regs are 25 min, world wide, from 31/09/2003 t It's the year of the Pig.

Just the way that Montoya and co were nowhere until the hottest European summer and their illegal michelin tyres helped them out. Funny how when EVERYONE gets the same weather - the weather can spoil (or make) the race. Montoya was an idiot for passing under waved yellows (for an incident he caused..) No way did his drive through put him far enough down the road to be lapped by a BAR! Michael/Ferrari had nothing to do with his crew dudding the refuel. And his choice for full wets? As laughable as Coulthard staying out on slicks. Idiotic. I like F1.

Can't believe you never posted skysurfing or freestyle. You missed the tights, baby! No vote from me... t It's the year of the Pig.

Like when the batteries go flat? t It's the year of the Pig.

Really? Does it really say that? Wow. It's a race war. I see the UK/US invading Iraq. I see no hunting down of terrorists in N Ireland. t It's the year of the Pig.

Or follow widely accepted SOP's in this situation. Had both I's pulled at 2000ft (AFF cut-off) they would have been fine, and the Cypress would have fired the student's reserve. (as it later did.) The Instructor lost altitude awareness. Worse - in activating the student's main canopy, the Instructor risked a main reserve entanglement for the student. He's been given medals for his conduct. Had he done the same and survived at my DZ, I'd have fired him. (But then I've always been a little outspoken on issues like this.) t It's the year of the Pig.

Staying alive. I shit you not. Those dudes will try and kill you without even knowing it... and you can't cut them away without all kinds of shit coming down on you. Most are fine - but every few 100, you'll need to earn your skin BIG TIME t It's the year of the Pig.

Nah! Summer's coming! Southern Hemi's heating up! t It's the year of the Pig.

That's real DZ dependant. I dispatch MANY SL progression students from altitudes between 3500 and 8000 ft and then continue to altitude to do AFF, Tandem or fun jumps. No way am I leaving at 7000 if I can (or need to) go to the top. t t It's the year of the Pig.

Here it's all at the same spot. I want to know what that L4's(for example) been taught. I don't need to find out at 4000 that he hasn't been taught a pull signal. Plus, 1st jump is where most of the money goes. Why they get the pay and I do the work? Why if they cut corners on the course do I carry the can? Plus new landing area's, new gear, different exit etc create variables that can eat you for breakfast. t It's the year of the Pig.

Cavemen needed knives, and they didn't play with nylon - and had till sunset to solve most problems. A knife is a simple tool, but when you need to cut something fast - nothing else will do. I have 1000's of dives without a hook knife, but when you need one, you need it bad. t It's the year of the Pig.

Well, it's a little more complex than that... Switching between deployment systems is never a good idea - and has killed world champions before. Hand deploy systems could be BOC, ROL or pullout. (Bellybands are gone.) Throwing the ripcord away is purely a cost issue. Hanging onto your pilot chute may kill you. both are well within the realm of possibility. The ripcord and the hand deploy system will be on different points of the rig, so you'll need to find it first, then do the right thing with it next. Borrowed gear kills. t It's the year of the Pig.

I am an AFF instructor, but I'm in Africa - so I'm not after your money. I was also a SL student. Go AFF. After 25 jumps (A licence) you'll have all the canopy skills of a SL student with 25 jumps. Maybe more, as you start deployment at 5500 vs +- 3500. You'll have a shitload more freefall skills though. As humans, we respond well to instant gratification. Once you have 4000 dives, how much you spent on SL vs AFF or gear, or time, or traveling isn't going to mean a damn thing. You're a skydiver. Now go skydive! t It's the year of the Pig.

It's risky. t It's the year of the Pig.

Just as well you're alone dude. Imagine being that lonely with someone right next to you. I've been unhappy alone. I've been unhappy married. Unhappy alone is better. Change is certain. Hang in there. t It's the year of the Pig.

I only wear one for freeflying. I have 3950 jumps, of which about 20 are freefly. I've never hit my head on anything, and I like the feel of the air. t It's the year of the Pig.

Suck on it. Go with Lisa's advice. She knows her stuff. t It's the year of the Pig.

How much you pay me? t It's the year of the Pig.

Wise words. Hook knives are seldom used. I've been in mulpiple wraps and entanglements (CReW) and have never had cause to use one. The only time I've seen one used it was one of the plastic ones (designed for gutting trout) and it broke and cut the user. He got spat out the wrap later anyway. I know of a SL student in tow being cut free with a nail clipper. If airlines think that's a weapon - they're nuts. You're going to clip someone to death? "Get a real knife." So true. t It's the year of the Pig.

That's NOTHING dude. Read about THIS idiot! Live on TV, it's the stuff of nightmares and blockbuster films. For the first time, In these extraordinary pictures, a planet smashes into a man's leg. He will never walk properly again but he is lucky to escape with his life. These shocking scenes do not involve some hapless holidaymaker but a man who has spent his entire professional life Skydiving in an attempt to persuade the world that jumping from an aircraft is safe. The incident took place as the eminent Skydiver Dr Erich Ritter, 44, was jumping at the DZ with a TV presenter while making a documentary on the safety of skydiving. The area had been dotted with obstacles so Dr Ritter could illustrate his theory that canopies are steerable and open area’s are available. But, as viewers will see, it all went gruesomely wrong. 'As long as we fly our canopies, we realise they’re not a threat to us and they couldn't care less,' says Dr Ritter as sinister grey obsticals aproach. Then, all of a sudden, an 8ft monster thumps straight into Dr Ritter's calf. At first, the scientist does not respond, knowing that obsticals often do this to check out suspicious objects. But then it reveals its fellow rocks, like razor- sharp teeth, and strikes, sinking its ferocious stone chips into his leg once . . . twice, as he rolls. A camera records the whole terrible scene as, with a whack, Dr Ritter is knocked off his feet and dragged across dusty ground and blood. With his leg in tatters, Dr Ritter still manages to control his canopy. Moments after the attack, the film crew drag him off the DZ with a large part of his left leg missing. With a major artery severed, Dr Ritter nearly died. After a long operation, surgeons were able to save his leg. Skin grafts and a steel bar have enabled him to walk again, albeit with a pronounced limp. Astonishingly, he had few qualms about getting back in the air. When the Mail spoke to him yesterday, he'd just been jumping with great white students in South Africa. Dr Ritter is chief scientist for the Global Ground Attack File, a privately funded research centre which has examined attacks on more than 2,500 people, including himself. And he says he hates the word 'attack' because it implies guilt on the part of the ground. 'I prefer to call them ground accidents because that is what they are,' he says. 'People think that if you bleed on the ground, then the ground will attack you, but it's not true. I've tried it with continents. They are not interested in human blood. If you jump without a rig, though, you'd be doomed.' What does attract ground, he says, is fear. A terrified human will produce spasms which resonate at a frequency which tells the ground that the human could be a student. And yet Dr Ritter was not scared when he was attacked. So what went wrong? 'I was in the ground's way. It was low altitude and I was obstructing the ground so it hit me.' The incident drove him to seek a greater understanding of the complexities of a ground attack. Using a planet, he reconstructs the attack and establishes that had the ground been going much faster, he would have lost his leg and, very probably, his life. EVEN though it is much smaller than Jupiter, Earth is thought to account for more attacks on humans than any other planet because it has more human contact. It grows up to be very big and can weigh a lot. It will bash anything, including other planets, moons and the odd skydiver. Despite his ordeal, Dr Ritter draws positive conclusions from the attack. 'I've had 4,500 jumps, when I get in the air, I feel alive. It has enabled me to teach other people more about skydiving. Anyway, firefighters get burned every now and then.' So what are the risks of being attacked by the ground? 'Virtually impossible,' he says. 'Fewer than 40 jumpers were killed last year. In the same period, 1,200 people required medical treatment after being bitten by other people in New York.' But that is precious little consolation when that planet comes speeding into view. It's the year of the Pig.

The man has skills, never gives up - and he LOVES to win. How cool is that? I think it's mathamatically improbable that he'll lose the championship at this stage. Kimi needs to win, and Michael must not score. The Constructors championship is still wide open though, dispite Williams propensity for damaging Ferrari's this year. I'll be watching the Japanese GP with great interest. 6 World Championships would be cool. Gonna take a while before anyone else gets there! t It's the year of the Pig.