Tonto

Our repack cycle here is 180 days, and our reserve life is 20 years. So far, both my PD reserves are headed for 20 year life times - but I'll sell them for new gear within a year or two anyway. t It's the year of the Pig.

I don't know, but I've always done it. (About 18 years now... long before "swoop" competition." For me it has always been about visibility during the turn, as with a "Normal" position, you have risers at 90 deg, so leaning forward does alter that. Also, from a parasite drag point of view, leaning forward, and tucking up or extending a leg forward presents much lower drag. There are also benefits to impact absorbtion in the event of error, but I don't think most people think that far. It feels like the right thing to do. t It's the year of the Pig.

The AFF system in South Africa is very similar to both the US and the UK systems, with the exception of 3 solo dives, making for 10 levels. AFF exit altitudes in SA are generally 10 000ft - with a few DZ's operating from 11000ft. This is due to the majority of the country being 5000 ft AMSL, which presents hypoxia issues. All SA DZ's operate weekends only, with a perenial few offering instruction during the week. One of these is in Cape Town, where you are assured of terrible weather in May. (Not called the Cape of storms for nothing, you know.) Our DZ has graduated several students in a weekend, but they are always the exception, and the credit is always more to the student than the club or the instructor. If you planned to do AFF here, these are my suggestions. 1. Find a DZ you would want to continue jumping at in the UK. 2. Go and see their CI, and show him our course content. (PM me your e-mail address and I'll send it to you.) 3. Get your dives on video so that the UK. CI can see what the task was, and how you performed it. 4. try and get your A. Fortunately SA has some cool spots to visit, so maybe you'd want to come into JHB on a Friday, Skydive the weekend, head to Cape Town, and if the weather is good carry on down there, if not, do touristy stuff, Next weekend in CT or JHB is the weather is good, following week on Safari, and then finish up on the 3rd weekend. In JHB, the weather is rock solid May to August, no cloud, no wind, and our instructors are international and experienced. (I have over 1800 AFF dives) I think though, that if your purpose was to learn to skydive, that a healthy credit card and a trip to the US, and a DZ that has a tunnel is in order. My Vote would be for Perris or Eloy. Blue Skies, t It's the year of the Pig.

I have high frequency hearing loss in my left ear, probably from sitting with that ear in an open door on a couple of thousand half hour rides to altitude. Keep wearing your ear plugs. t It's the year of the Pig.

Yeah, I know.. It's those dodgy piston engined Cessna's starting out at DZ's 5000 ft AMSL in the summer heat which gives a much lower ceiling than the US... That and 750 CRW dives (That I never added in as extra canopy time) and the 750 Tandems that made me pull earlier too... 3rd world skydiving SUCKS! t It's the year of the Pig.

I tend to ride the plane down with my student if they refuse. Many think I'm just being nice, but the truth is, I just don't trust them with my reputation. t It's the year of the Pig.

7121.21 Miles.. (or 11393 km for the metric types) of freefall. Plus 2670 Miles vertically under canopy. (or 4272 km) With a glide ratio of an easy 3:1, thats 8010 miles (12816 km) distance travelled under canopy.. t It's the year of the Pig.

Sadly, T and I will not be making the trip this year. The lure of local CASA's, AN-32's and a (potential) C-130, coupled with free dives makes it a difficult choice, but an African Summer is always better than an American winter no matter how far South you go. Next year... Yes.

Yes. I'm thinking a Sugarglider, S Fly etc all have central wing release handles. Bit of a shlep having to hook up again for each dive, but worth it for a hit of nylon crack! t It's the year of the Pig.

I don't forsee a problem on the flight in any suit that does not require wing tip grippers. The only issue with opening (apart from possible entanglement with the hook/bridal during deployment) is the ability to unzip from the suit. In this case it may be wiser to cut the wing away or create a function designed loop to allow the hook to get the zipper tag. Guessing, of course, but I've taken a paraplegic through AFF, so am more the type to think why it should be done rather than why it shouldn't. t It's the year of the Pig.

In most of the world, 200 dives in 18 months. Some other places 300 dives in 2 years. Some places, more than 500 dives. t It's the year of the Pig.

It's a bad habit. In Africa the long grass has ant hills. In the US, soya will bring you down really fast, and a habit is a habit. In swoop competition a foot touch indicates the end of your swoop in everything but freestyle, I think. t It's the year of the Pig.

I think trying to remember to maintain alti awareness is the key here. If your subject has failed to remember that - they are unlikely to remember this. t It's the year of the Pig.

"Get the hell out of my house, in Jesus name.." Shouldn't that be Jesusus name? t It's the year of the Pig.

Wing Chun is always a good start. It's very mathematical and attacks and defense are to the centre line, almost without exception. Kicks are low and practical and are used primarily in a "patriot missile" kind of way, attacking the incoming kick. Offensive kicks are seldom higher than the waist. Punches trade power for speed and the system relies on simultainious multiple attacks which often overwhelm an opponent with something similar to sensory overload - too much to think about in too short a time. Two techniques, sticking hands (Chi Sau) and shooting hands (Bong Sau) prevent this from happening to the Wing Chun exponent after years of slow repetitive "muscle memory" type training. The system has some ground based techniques but many, many schools ignore this. When you fight - everything ends up on the ground sooner or later, so ground fighting skills are always a requirement unless the system is being learned purely as an art. I did Wing Chun for about 7 years before being exposed to Jow Ga after a decade out of formal martial arts, and there is little negative residual. Most importantly, for me anyway, is that the fist is made the same way. It's hard to undo muscle memory on issues like that. Some schools can be VERY hard. Too hard for a child. The school I attended was obsessive and in retrospect, abusive, requiring senior students to punch buckets of 17mm blue chip (The kind of stone that goes into concrete) for hours to strip the knuckles of Calluses - cushions designed to protect you - but also protect your opponent. This conditioning results in very few hand injuries when fighting though. Although 20 years later I have no apparent lasting orthopaedic damage to my hands, they are not pretty, with my knuckles being pure scar tissue. That may not look so good on a girl, and may not be that wise, but they have stood me in good stead in times of personal conflict. Heavily scared hands and an unscared face are a sign that a fight is best avoided. Beware the "pretty" fighter. t It's the year of the Pig.

Whoa! That's more than they wanted to charge the merchant of Venice! Any idea how much that is in Kilograms? (One hour to go till the weekend here...) t It's the year of the Pig.

With your total number of jumps and time in the sport I don't think you'll have any difficulty with the PHI. The Classic may be easy to fly but will soon limit you on some flocks, so the GTI sounds like a good bet. You may also want to consider the firebird. t It's the year of the Pig.

No. It works out to every 60 days as I have 2 rigs and do one a month. After 18 cutaways with no hard pulls, I feel 30 days is excessive for me. I don't fall over when I land, I replace risers every year, my gear is packed on carpet and is stored in a gear bag. Good enough for me. t It's the year of the Pig.

Jow Ga is well established in the US, and arrived there in the 1960's, but is not widespread. It's relatively new at about 125 years old. As a blend of different systems it was the earliest sign of what later became Bruce Lee's philosophy of an "Anti-system" choosing the best of several different forms and combining them into a more rounded or balanced system. You can get an idea here. http://www.jowga.com/ You'll also see references to the iron rings in "Teaching methods" t It's the year of the Pig.

No Photos, but any pic of Table mountain in Cape Town will show Devil's Peak on the left and Lions head on the right. Launch was from the shoulder. Slope is about 1800ft, about 35 degrees, but has a lot of ridge lift when the North Wester is blowing. It's now a Paragliding launch point - but of course mid 80's was pre paraglider. t It's the year of the Pig.

It's a Wingsuit. They named some Monkey Squirrel thing after the Wingsuit cos it started flying. t It's the year of the Pig.

I loved it! I was also please to see elements of my style accurately represented. (By the Gay tailor!) I saw it in it's origional language, with sub titles. One of the best movies I've seen in a very long time. (Speaking as someone obsessed by Chinese Martial Arts, of course.) t It's the year of the Pig.

It will work. Back in the mid 1980's I was ground launching Cruiselites (220 sq ft, 7 cell, F-111) off Lion's Head in Cape Town. t It's the year of the Pig.

Thanks!

Thanks. Now I just need to find out how many litres there are in one of your gallons. I think it's about 4 to US and about 5 to UK, but "about" on a 2000 US gallon calculation isn't worth it. t It's the year of the Pig.