yarpos

never seen it except on video but I rather like Douggs (aussie) ready, steady, spageddi (no I'm not illiterate, it just sounds like that ) steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

Hi There are a few DZs around Melbourne, but the main ones with larger aircraft and altitude are at Nagambie (about 90 mins north of the city) and at Tooradin (about 90 mins east of the city). Links below with more info and contacts. http://www.skydivenagambie.com/index.php http://www.skydiveworld.com/commandos/index.htm I live in Europe at the moment and wont be returning to Oz until July/August. btucker may be able to give you some more info from people jumping in Melbourne. Hope you enjoy you trip, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

yep, you have a question? steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

Hi Is that right Squeak? So who are you dumping in that category from WA? regards Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

Hi used to have (olden days ) a comp PC , which was a pig of a thing which gave me hard landings and regularly opened with the front wrapped around the centre lines. Turned very quick and flat and was great for its intended use (which was not lowering 190lb guys to the ground comfortably). A PC MK1 in contrast gave soft landing from sea level to 3000ft if there was any breeze. I used the rear risers thing all the time but didnt beleive it flared anything; it just helped transition the weight from suspended to legs and then a little bit in the arms. A nice canopy all round , and if you worked at it , you could get it into a surpisingly small bag :-) have fun Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

also in olden times I had a guy pass me in freefall while I was setting up on final at about 500ft. he made it, all i could think was "glad that wasnt me".....sadly it was a year or so later during a trip to the US. I have seen one nutter deliberatley cut away from an inflated canopy at what I guessed was about 500 ft. He made it too. Its al a bit academic really , at that hieght one thing goes wrong and your a nasty stain on the landscape. If you are jumping BASE gear and know what you are getting into.... maybe, skydiving nah! blue skies and high last canopy deployments steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

sounds impressive.....can you talk a bit more about the body position you used, I am interested as I am a similar physical size to you, and also interested in this gear or the pressurised suit.... thanks, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

"As long as I go out the door into the blue I'm happy, tandem or AFF" mmm...sounds like you've got it bad....thats a good thing!!! as a friend of mine said many years ago, during a slow climb for a demo jump, while gazing down at surburbia...."how can they do that shit, just sit down there and have normal lives????" enjoy, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

nice description of getting to the stage you can relax a bit, and a good technique by your instructor re smile or we stop. made you remember that its supposed to be fun and also maybe think about the other person in the air and flying , rather than I'm falling, I'm falling. Not so hard to relax is it.......after all, what could possibly go wrong? Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

Ive seen specialtyrisk mentioned a few times in this forum and the UK base forum. does anybody have any info on how they are if/when a claim is made? really its the only time you find out of your insurance is worth anything Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

No quite on topic, but on my attempted first jump we had an engine failure at take off (interesting cause it only had one) It was also my first flight in an aircrafy of any kind. Was good though, I was so nervous worrying about the plane when we finally went the jump itself seemed like a relief. Managed 250 takeoffs before I ever landed in an aeroplane. Felt weird, I always thought planes normally flew nose high on max power, anything else felt like falling out of the sky Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

nah take the anti capitalism course, dont by one , search for DZs that support you, buy your daugher that party dress.........but please be conscious at pull time so you get to see it and she gets to see your admiring smile ...I bet she will look a treat whats that credit card add say "priceless" and a spit in the ocean compared to what we spend in our lives for jumping sincerly, another parent, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

maybe a little reality check ? what is the world market for electric drills and DVDs? what is the quality and reliability required? or maybe better put; what are the consequences of the item failing? apply same questions to AAD's if the sport has decided that these things are needed then thats the price we pay. A little competition is healthy but dont expect a big drop in price if you want these guys to stay in business and provide ongoing support I'm not a great fan either by the way, but I think overall they are a force for goodness and expect it to become the norm. Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

yep , sorry for stating the obvious, just saw 200 views and no comments at that time. Hope you get some feedback. Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

hi wouldnt robert and kathy at Morpheus be your best source for this? I have an MDV troll on order and expect to be working through this and other questions in the coming months (after I RTFM) . They are helpful folks, at least in my brief experience. take care, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

sorry fail to see the difference. terminal velocity is terminal velocity (my post has nothing to do with low object BASE), if you look at the vids they are all big walls. In case of the one of the more famous walls its 10-12 secs straight down, high 20 secs out if you are among the top trackers. I stand by the comments, those guys have a different technique and it rocks. Steve PS: BTW I am not being -ve about the traditional approach, there is a great video of Dougss out tracking the talus at a site in Norway. He has awesome speed and distance and it looks from the video to be a skydive style legs more together track. I would like to learn the other method as it looks easier to bank and change direction in the wider stance, and certainly dooesnt lack performance. regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

only my opinion but the most effective tracking I have ever seen is on these videos http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~hansho/ this is tracking during BASE in Norway their stance is wider in arms and legs than normally taught in skydiving (at least where I was taught and progressed) and from what I here reapeated her. It ceratinly provides oustanding flight but also allows stable turns in flight as you will see if you take the time to watch. One of the flights is also some of the best sweaty palm material I have seen in a long time as the guys deliberatley overfly high ground and out track the slope of the mountain wishing I was there and wishing I has that skill (working on it) Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

whats the most unusual aircraft you jumped out of? to kick things off here is one: Transavia Aitruk Cropduster with great climb but pathetic internal space for humans. If you could all do yoga you could get 4 people in there. Tiny door about half the size of a 182. Did a 4 way demo out of one at an airshow once....veeeeery slow exit , untangle, head out doe , flop x 4. take care, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

here you go, I inappropriately put this in the middle of a safety day thread , not realising (not in US) that was a serious discussion. *********** In my my first skydiving career I seemed to accumulate power failure/bail out incidents: Jump 1 Australia (really 1, 1st static line) C182, noise stops completely 20ft of the deck, luckily on a long asphalt runway so he just put it down again. Not great gliders C182s but good enough! Much later on one visit to the US, spluttering smoking Beech D18 at Coolidge, 10 grand so we calmly line up and do the dive A week later spluttering (but non smoking) beech D18 at 5 grand at Greene County Louisiana, everyone decides to leave slightly less calmly A year later again a Beech D18 in Oz at 3 grand(I'm not getting in another one of those suckers, as much as I love em....are they still flying? US guys?) pilot gets sick in flight and is barely conscious...smart arse at the door just yell "I'm going for help!!" and leaves....errr we figure he's lazy enough not to just get out just anywhere so we "must" be over the DZ, so we all leave , much less calmy than I recall any off my unplanned US exits; but then we are lower and unconscious pilots conjure up really bad mental images compared with spluttering engines. He was right! right over the top, thanks Bob. not quite in the same category but I also managed to be on a load where a student sitting in the door of an Islander (twin engine , high wiing, mini otter style, non turbine) has his front mounted reserve fall on his lap. The period in which everyone looked at it and froze seemed to last 30 mins but I expect was 1 second. His instructor started to push him out, there was a large bang and he was gone. The side of the plane had opened up like the big guy upstairs had attacked us with his giant can opener. You know, typing this I wonder why I am still alive and returning to jumping...I guess I like the thrills BTW everybody survived (Islander boy was injured but it was minor when you looked at what he did to the plane, I assumed he was dead) and also....no animals were injured in the making of these experiences. If anyone wants to start a thread re formation loads and exiting only to almost go through the windscreen of a miss-placed chase plane...I can contribute BS and may you have as much luck to you as I have had Steve PS: related story , I was "courting" the neighbouring (to the DZ) farmers daughter. I was at their place and a C182 passes over head near exit hieght (3 miles straight line to the DZ), splutter cough...4 bodies appear..land in front yard and I am there for DZ taxi service, no probs. Talk to pilot that night in the pub, still pissing himself laughing (sorry dont know the US term)...he said the engine coughed started to fail, he felt OK as he had plenty of glide time to the DZ, turns around to say " I'll take you blokes back to near the DZ and then I'll put it down"... all he sees is a flurry of containers(rear view) and he is sitting in an empty plane. Nothing like decisive thinkers....actually he thought it was cool , one less thing to think about and he could focus on putting it down, which he did. regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

Ok thanks dont we have any good stories today? regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

would it be worthwhile to have a place for humour? not jokes but jumping related stories, the sport has heaps of these and it would be great to see them captured from all eras and in one place. any thoughts? Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

floral jumpsuit? sounds like a good tactic, if I heard that break out in the plane I would have to laugh regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

yes I know its counter to most versions of common sense but it (relaxing) actually is the main answer....about the only thing I think you can do well in skydiving with your whole body tense is track (IMO)... when I faced this hurdle I didnt think about the relax part until I was out the door (like you relaxing prior when I just had few jumps was BS).....I exited,sometimes well sometines not....started my "fall like a sheet of plywood routine" and then thought....stop trying so hard, let your arms and legs relax and find their own position, look around a little...not so ground fixated. The affect was immediate. This does become natural and once you can fly its hard to explain to others how you actually do it, I only have the sense of "I want to go there , or turn here and its happens" I really admire the people who can really coach and mentor this stuff as I will never be one of them. good luck with your progression, remember you have the same number appendages as everyone else (well the ones usually allowed to hang out of clothes anyway), there is no black magic, they can do it , so can you Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

its very simple my early FF instructor noted that I fell "like a sheet on plywood" stiff as a plank, face down , text book arch but no heading control. stop thinking, start with basic arch and relax your muscles, just let your arms and legs find there natural positions in the air. If you do it, you cant do much else but fly right. The harder you try and make it happen and think too much , the longer it will take. Think about how much you "think" about riding a bike. hope you go well...sorry, you will go well..no reason why you wouldnt Enjoy and relax, Steve regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was

a bit off topic but I thought I would share (bit oif a "there I was" story but bear with me). In my my first skydiving career I seemed to accumulate power failure/bail out incidents: Jump 1 Australia (really 1, 1st static line) C182, noise stops completely 20ft of the deck, luckily on long asphalt runway so he just put it down again. Not great gliders but good enough! Much later on one visit to the US, spluttering smoking Beech D18 at Coolidge, 10 grand so everyone calmy lines up and does the dive A week later spluttering non smoking beech D18 at 5 grand at Greene County Louisiana, everyone decides to leave slightly less calmy A year later again a Beech D18 in Oz at 3 grand(I'm not getting in another one of those suckers, as much as I love em....are they still flying? US guys?) pilot gets sick in flight and is barely conscious...smart arse at the door just yell "I'm going for help!!" and leaves....errr we figure he's lazy enough not to just get out just anywhere so we "must" be over the DZ, so we all leave , much less calmy than I recall my US exits but then we are lower and unconscious pilots conjure up really bad mental images compared with spluttering engines. He was right! right over the top, thanks Bob. not quite in the same category but I also managed to be on a load where a student sitting in the door of an Islander (twin engine , high wiing, mini otter style non turbine) has his front mounted reserve fall on his lap. The period in which everyone looked at it and froze seemed to last 30 mins but I expect was 1 second. His instructor started to push him out, their was a large bang and he was gone. The side of the plane had opened up like the big guy upstairs had attacked us with his giant can opener. You know typing this I wonder why I am still alive and returning to jumping...I guess I like the thrills. BTW everybody survived (Islander boy was injured but it was minor when you looked at what he did to the plane, I assumed he was dead) and no animals were injured in the making of these experiences. If anyone wants to start a thread re formation loads and exiting only to almost go through the windscreen of a miss-placed chase plane...I can contribute BS and may you have as much luck to you as I have had Steve PS: related story , I was "courting" the nieghbouring (to the DZ) farmers daughter. I was at their place and a C182 passes over head near exit hieght (3 miles straight line to the DZ), splutter cough...4 bodies appear..land in front yard and I am there for DZ taxi service, no probs. Talk to pilot that night in the pub, still pissing himself laughing (sorry dont know the US term)...he said the engine coughed started to fail, he felt OK plenty of glide time to the DZ, turns around to say " I'll take you blokes back to near the DZ and then I'll put it down"... all he sees is a flurry of containers(rear view) and he is sitting in an empty plane. Nothing like decisive thinkers....actually he thought it was cool , one less thing to think about and he could focus on putting it down, which he did. regards, Steve the older I get...the better I was