Tonto

No, they're not the same as USPA. Some aspects are the same across the board, like the requirements for night jumps, but others are disipline specific, for FS, CF, AE (Artistic Events) etc. For example, FS requires 2 x 8 ways docking 5th or higher, and a 16 way. Jumpers are also expected to travel (Attend a PASA sanctioned boogie) and compete (Attend Nationals) as licence requirements in an effort to avoid the big fish in a small pond syndrome and show newer jumpers that the hot guy from their DZ may not be that hot. I've attached my PASA application form. Licence requirements appear on Page 2. t It's the year of the Pig.

Jeezz.. Tough crowd.. I only have 60 something! Night wingsuit is the best! t It's the year of the Pig.

Something I see quite often is when a senior, respected skydiver on the DZ becomes the woman's friend. They are together all the time. He does little things, like makes tea, moves garden furniture etc. He hovers, and is polite and cordial, but never makes a move, never risks rejection. This puts a kinda "force sheild" around the woman that other lesser mortals are afraid to breach. It's almost territorial in nature, and not nice if it's protracted in any way. No matter how often the woman says they are "just good friends" no one really makes a move for fear of breaking something that's not there but seems to be. That's sad. If you like someone, tell them. If they don't like you the same way, back off and let them find someone they do like the same way. So, in answer you the question, sometimes the woman does nothing to appear unavailable. Sometimes someone else does it for them. t It's the year of the Pig.

I've lost 6.5kg (14lbs) since starting to fly a wingsuit in 2003. Not specifically to fly the suit better, but found it to be a worthy inspiration. Now 74ish kg (164lbs) from 80ishkg (177lbs) t It's the year of the Pig.

I had my Stainless out of my femur a year after I broke it. The centre shaft was simply destroyed and only the femur heads remained. 40 cm plate, 14 screws and a bit of wire held everything together. The op to have it out was short - about 45 min - vs the 5+ hrs it took to put it in, and I walked out (late) the next day. No running for 6 weeks to allow bone density to increase, and I never jumped for 3 months after the op - just to make sure. Done 5000 injury free jumps since then, but am now an old dog learning a new trick so expecting the worst at some point. If you have any dental work, or any maintenance stuff to be done, (like rotator cuff surgery etc) the time to shedule it is when you have the hardware out. They work on you like a pit crew if you give them a chance! t It's the year of the Pig.

Generally they don't like it. I know people who have had cast weights confiscated. I think a chunk of lead is way more dangerous than a nail clipper. t It's the year of the Pig.

Better them talking on the phone than talking to me. I hate people who strike up conversations on planes I land in. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yeah, the Blade is more red than the S3-S.. t It's the year of the Pig.

Hi There, I'm going to try and keep this to the wingsuit arguement and not the origional thread title but the 2 are hard to separate. My "swimming up stream" link was meant to be followed up by this explanation, but a weekends 14 skydives got in the way, so here it is, a little belated. Of my 5132 skydives, about 1800 are on pull out, and the remainder on throw out (ROL & BOC) with a smattering on ripcord (50 main and 20 reserve) Not sure where to put the 750 odd Tandems, but figured they'd be more BOC than anything else. 800 of the pull outs were on CRW specific equipment, where retractable PC's are required. About 400 were on camera dives where I prefered the PC to simply lift the bag due to the increased burble of the wings, and the remaining 600 odd were while in a competition FS team. Now to wingsuits. As a BMI, PFI and PASA WSI or as an instructor in general, I try to lead by example. My example as a wingsuit instructor is to jump a docile canopy, moderately loaded for my experience level (A Safire loaded to 1.85 in comparison to my FX-93 loaded to 2.1) and follow the other recomendations outlined in the flight manuals/recomendations of the different suit manufacturers I have taught on. On the majority of my wingsuit dives (some 250) I have used a BASE PC Pouch. My new suit, due to be delivered in about a month, also has this option. This option simply does not exist for a pull out jumper, and I've found the consistency of deployment with the shrivel flap allowing a millisecond to return to trim rewarding. As with the "freefly friendly" brigade, I've found the maintenance of the velcro high, and replace both hook and pile every 50 jumps. As I understand it, the origional reasoning why pull-out was not recomended was that the top of the wing - your back - is the low pressure area which generates the lift of the suit. On a pull out, the possibility exists, however slim, that the open container may release the bag prior to full inflation of the PC resulting in an out of sequence deployment. Of course, modern containers have highly developed friction staging which precludes this, but those who are jumping older gear, or who have had the dynamic corner mod done have compromised this edge somewhat. BOC's also allow the use of a longer bridle while the rig is closed, while the time to reach "bridle-stretch" increases the variable window for OOS deployment on the pull out. The idea of hunting around for a lost pud with all that flapping wing about is also pretty daunting, at least to me. The pin and pud at the bottom of the PC also present the possible choking of the PC in a similar way to high weight hackeys, monkey fists etc. Generally, what works well in BASE - an equipment specific and demanding disipline, translates well to wingsuits. I don't know of any BASE jumpers using a pull out. Maybe no Salmon there due to the number of bears. I've been skydiving quite a long time. I started on rounds, and moved to a pull out after a friend, Carlene, went in with a twisted leg strap on a ROL throwout. When that problem was solved by the BOC, and I no longer did comp CRW or camera, my percieved need for a pull out abated and I reverted to BOC. Over the years I've seen many, many salmon. Some get to the breeding ground and some have been eaten by the bear. Those who don't swim up stream need not fear the bear. By all means follow your own path, but understand that this sport has a history of killing off those who make their own rules and ignore the path cut at great expense. The ground simply doesn't care which path you take. I have no conflict with you, and I have no need to prove you wrong. What you are doing is working for you. May it always be so. Blue Skies, t It's the year of the Pig.

Yes, it does.. and my beer from Sheri is already a credit at the DZ Pub. (I couldn't fit another into the 8 hour window after night jumps on Saturday before jumping Sunday.) t It's the year of the Pig.

I think Black, Red or Orange look good. My suit is red. t It's the year of the Pig.

I have 270 WS dives on a Safire 109 loaded to 1.85. No Wingsuit malfunctions yet. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yup. Just a big hole in the ground of the exact proportions described, on a completely level area so the water doesn't get out the low end, and lined with plastic. Nothing you couldn't do yourself with the help of 50 friends and the support of an entire community given 6 months of weekends, friendly farmers who built a feeder dam and dug a 3/4 mile trench to the pond, a week or 2 of loaned earth moving equipment, free water from one of the mining companies, a lot of plastic, digging, planting grass, anchoring gates, plowing and treating the run off area to be jumper friendly, marking out the zone accuracy, distance and the speed courses and about $60 000. Oh. And you'd need the drive, commitment, vision and belief of someone like Swooopa-x! Just a big hole in the ground.

0:14:0 9 pond swoops 4 AFF 1 night wingsuit Nice weekend! t It's the year of the Pig.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon t It's the year of the Pig.

There's always someone out there who thinks they can beat the odds. (and has 17! wingsuit jumps..) t It's the year of the Pig.

I think it's both subjective and relative. My "Big, slow, forgiving" wingsuit canopy is a Safire 109 loaded to about 1.85. For me, it really is a bus. Chuck's is a Sabre 2 98. Right now, I wouldn't use my FX 93 for a bigway, but 10 years ago I would not have used my Jonathan loaded to 1.6. We grow. We learn. But when we fly in the flock we should have wings that match the other birds, I guess. t It's the year of the Pig.

Wheee!! I'm not average! I started on round parachutes and now jump a 93 sq ft crossbrace, and that at 5000 ft AMSL where it's hot in the summer! Not everyone stops living when they get old. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Stewart He's a pensioner now, and runs a school that garentees to cut 20 seconds off your opening lap time. And he still drives like a star! t It's the year of the Pig.

More about this pond before it was lined with plastic below.. http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=2575371;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25; It's the year of the Pig.

It sounds to me like it's all about you. If you're hit in the back and killed, does it really matter who's fault it is? Sure, send the swoopers somewhere else - but still watch your back as much as you can. If a 50 yard walk halves your risk, I'll take that walk. t It's the year of the Pig.

It can be done, but it costs money. Loads Wednesday were ZAR 150 ($21) with a ZAR 150 registration. This works out to ZAR 180 ($25) a jump from 5500ft AGL. The extra money is well spent for me, because it allows me to focus on the one task I have to do on the skydive. Although I made mistakes, they were the same, consistant mistakes. The focus I had made them clear and memorable and several canopy pilots I respect (Chris B, Chris T and Rob K) all gave me the same feedback and advice. Basically I can swoop, but my setup needs work. Conditions were marginal, but disipline was high, we all had fun, learned a lot and no one was injured at all. If an event like that is held every 2 months, I'll attend every one. (But will work harder to be dry in the winter!!) t It's the year of the Pig.

It would be close.. I got wet 5 times out of 5 yesterday! The looks on the faces of junior jumpers who have seen me swoop my old canopy at my home DZ in the regular landing area were priceless! Everything done well looks easy. I made this look really, really hard! As anyone with competition experience knows, it shows you more about what you don't know than what you do. There are CP Champions with many fewer dives than my total number of swoops. It's about what you can do - not how many times you've done it. I'm glad I have that basic survival skill experience of knowing when I'm low and when to bail to toggles. I'll probably need a year or two to adapt my existing skills before I'm happy with my experience, and I don't think I'll ever be competitive. I'm an old dog. This is a new trick. I'm having a lot of fun learning it though. t It's the year of the Pig.

It has to change. We would never allow F1 or Indy drivers to train or compete on regular roads. They go to the track to train and compete. If you want to train to be a competitive swooper, I now believe you need to train in conditions that match competition. Currently, my profile lists something like 3500 swoops. I'll be changing that to 7 later today, as I've only ever done 7 hop and pops, maintained landing order and swooped the gates down a course 7 times. All those other swoops were after AFF, of FS, or wingsuit, and doubtless at some point I must have placed others at risk even though no incident ever occured. I'll still swoop after wingsuit and after AFF if the student pulls at a normal altitude, as I'm last down on those loads. I'm lobbying for a seperate landing area for swoopers at our DZ too. t It's the year of the Pig.

It's not just in America.