Yossarian

when i started jumping i saw the swoopers coming in and it looked fun, i also said base jumping and crw were for nutcases and rw was boring, now after only 65 jumps and watching lots of videos, speaking to lots of experienced guys etc i now wouldnt swoop if you paid me, think base jumping has to be tried and would love to get into crw (used to fly planes, loved formation flying). also now think rw is awesome, and although i want to learn to freefly and get good at it rw is good enough for me

as far as i can work out its that at hinton the only serious freefliers are also those who jump very small canopies and open low, as well as what i mentioned about the close calls, i might be a little out though, had the conversation a while ago

i dont think i have a bad attitude, im one of the most conservative canopy pilots i know, sorry i didnt specify i just meant that i would get there sooner, didnt mean they should let me land there now as they probably shouldnt. the fact ive met all the other requirements for landing there (cant remember the last time i landed further than 25ft awayt from the target etc) doesnt mean anything, my lower jump numbers inevitably mean that i haven't experienced all the variables encountered with different landing conditions. please dont make assumptions about my attitude based on a few posts.

i wasnt there when they happened, but i was told by the cci when i asked him about the rule, im goin there tomorrow so ill ask if theyre going to change anything, hopefully they should bring down the jump numbers required for the experienced landing area aswell, fed up of that walk!

i saw a mate stack it in recently (made a nice crater, bounced a few times and by an absolute miracle came out with only a few bruises, when u hear a (who i think was) a pro-swooper standing just behind u muttering 'he's dead' as soon as he inititiated the turn your blood runs a little colder, im much more inclined to get into crw and accuracy now, ive never really seen the point of swooping, but then im not really the extreme type anyway

hes wearing a belly reserve that the cameras mounted on but only has one set of 3-rings which are released when he chops the lineover, the reserve seems to be standard (freebag etc) with no way i can see to cut it away, so im assuming that in the belly container hes just got a round reserve hed open into any mal?

its true the requirement is 4-points, but thats from the days when 8k was the norm and you had to launch from a cessna. now very few ccis will sign you off with less than 6 or 7 and a swoop to pin is required (not always party of the 4-way though) most instructors will also require you to do a few 3-ways of at least 5 points from 10k or above. one of my 3-ways was an unlinked exit with me having to leave later to complete a swoop to pin. for my 4-way i had to find friends to do it with me as i couldnt afford 4-slots, ended up with one 2000 jumper as the coach, and the rest of us had less than 200 post qualification jumps between us, think we got 7 points which i thought was very impressive. i think the reason hinton is the way it is because there were some close calls in the past with new freefliers attempting a sit that was basically a back-track coming very close to rw groups. i personally agree with it, its annoying because its goin to take some time to get to 100 jumps with my budget, but ive seen how fast people can go

Been out there on tour twice now, first time as a student, second time qualified and both times felt like I was the most important jumper there, manifest work their asses off to get you on a lift and all manner of coaches and organisers are available, and amazing scenery from 15,000ft. However, would greatly benefit from showers and a bunkhouse.

at my dropzone youre not allowed to do freeflying of any kind until you have fs1 and 100 jumps, helps force you to learn all this stuff i suppose. i felt like i wanted to get straight into freeflying when i qualified, only doing rw as a matter of course so i could get cracking on sit and stuff, but the first time a pulled off a spanking 4-way exit with some good friends and then managed a hold-of of just fingertip slot-flying for 5 secs or so, made me realise how much fun it really is. i used to have lots of problems with fall-rate (so damn slow!) but now ive sorted them out i can be alot more comfortable keeping up with people. still tried a little sit and stand in spain which was fun, but found myself trying to put together more 4 ways, even attempted a few noticably unsuccesful 6-ways

i saw someone do a 14pt four-way on their fs1 dive but managed to track all of 5metres in 5 seconds and failed it, and that was on 40 jumps and no tunnel time. i took till 64 to get mine with no tunnel time as i couldnt afford coach jumps, so just found mates to jump with and practice on

smart thing no.1 - took up skydiving smart thing no.2 - came out of cloud at 6,000 over a village, knew from lots of jumps at that dz theres no way in hell i should be over a village and able to make it back (uppers were much quicker than as per the met report, no-ones fault really), had a look round and pulled at 5,500 to make it back watching mates landing in fields literally miles short of the dropzone, hung on rear risers for ages (knackered my arms) and was the only one out of 15 (including guys with thousands of jumps) to make it back (however, immediately embarrased as was dragged over 100yds into a hedge cos i couldnt deflate the canopy, and being the only one back having a captive audience, then had to use the scrubbing brush of shame on the hire rig)

#19, 15sec delay (raps jump, big canopy), came in for landing, lost sight of the arrow, had a bit of a brain-fry moment, ended up taking a crosswinder in 12kt winds on the runway in front of a taxiing aircraft, ripped the dz's jumpsuit from ankle to hip, ripped my leg up (flesh wounds only), canopy completely immersed in massive puddle, completely wrapped myself up in the lines on the 2nd bounce and made it worse trying to get out the way of the plane, grounded for 2 weeks :)

i think reserve would have been a much better option but imagine terminal reserve opening shock on an already dislocated shoulder - ouch!

what was the canopy? seemed like a very docile spin (no experience here, i just thought it would spin more violently), which lines were sown over?

i know someone with flex pin closing and they say they like it as it allows them to do a self-pin check prior to exit, not sure what you all think of that

the tune the gambling machine plays in the waiting room at the dropzone, can never get it out of my head! and reel big fish's cover of 'take on me'

sounds like the requirement for an e is pretty similar to the requirement for a D in the uk, thousand jumps, landings etc (not sure exactly of the requirements for landings, dont think its 20 though)

article says it can take an extra 200lbs of kit/weapons etc, seems like an ok idea to me, cant imagine 27,000ft of canopy control is much fun on the arms and its gotta be pretty nippy up there.

my skydiving dreams always result in a low-pull, some kind of horrific total malfunction and a bouncing impact at terminal, but the difference from before i started skydivng is that i would wake up before i hit. now i not only sleep through the hitting and bounces but i dont die, and i wake up exhausted with a strange and unexplainable desire to jump...

how many jumps/what licence would be needed to jump a round with a front mounted reserve? i was speaking to an instructor at my dz and he didnt know but said he would have thought b-license because once trained on modern systems the reserve drills are so different that more experience would be needed to manage a problem. id really like to jump a round canopy, both as something new and also as its the image i always had of a parachute

you dont get a pc in tow on a ripcord/pullout rig because the very act of pulling removes the pin from the closing loop, opening the container and leaving the bag free to emerge, the inflating pilot chute whether springloaded or pullout simply extracts the bag from the already open container rather than having to pull the pin aswell

Dont need to pack to get an A-license in the UK either, you do for a B now i think though, i really should learn, its all i have left to do to get it, that and practical spotting which noone ever lets you do in case u mess up and they have to go around again...

N/A

i was just thinking about camera jumping the other day and why there is a 200jump minimum before you can use one (in the UK) but the main issue here seems to be dealing with malfunctions, snagging etc. the other week i was watching the gadget show and saw these extreme sports cameras (for skiiers, canoeists etc) and they're more like pens than cameras, one could even conceivably slot between your head and helmet. would this be ok (after consultation with cci obviously) to jump before 200 do you think? or would issues with the camera and filming still be too much to think about for someone with under 200 jumps? edit; spelling and syntax

damn all you salary people! i live off £3000 a year in student loans and spend £10 a week on food so i can afford to jump, gear is an impossible dream! i reckon you should make a holiday out of it, get in the tunnel (not only good for reducing the chance of retakes but a good experience in itself) and have a good time. whats 'phase II' jumping?