Trae

in reply to"(This suit is being made as we speak, and with carbon laminated wings..) " .......................... Come on please

in reply to'Over time I've started feeling "more" on the ride up, mostly a higher degree of nervosity but not the kind of fear that I "should" be feeling given the circumstances. " ........................... You're probably picking up on other people's fears. I experience very little fear as such but lots of anticipation.

been seeing a fair bit of this UP DOWN GO thing in AFF and beyond. The inherent safety aspects of this exit technique are ????? So much movement at the door looks very unprofessional. Watching all those unprotected handles scrapeing UP & DOWN as every-one jumps up and down in the door looks ..well .... STUPID! This UP DOWN GO thingy just looks to increase the chances of a premi at the door. A similar technque may work for a hot 4way but usually they will limit their movement in the door just enough to get in sync. UP DOWN GO ....I wish it was up down GONE.

There is a movement pushing for compulsory AAD use for ALL skydivers. .. no matter how experienced. The AAD manufacturers are not particularly concerned about this movement. It does have worrying consequences as increased AAD use appears to have decreased certain safety consciousness in other areas. eg Some people think strapping on an AAD automatically makes them a safe skydiver. eg2 some people wouldn't skydive without one. Funny how the regulators, a lot of them old men who never were very good at the sport , have dictated some of the AAd rules. Allowing for the lowest common denominator eg some-one unconscious or dim-witted who needs an AAD and then applying it to everyone is a questionable safety technique.

in reply to "Does anyone else find this question ridiculous and serving no collective good? " ............................ well it is a fairly confronting thought. Serving no good? ...depends how you take it and what you do with it. perhaps you might empathise with disabled people by thinking a bit about it...perhaps not. Of itself the question brings up bad feelings and memories for me. Any-one who has seriously injured themselves in this sport or by some other accident knows that they would probably do anything to just make it all go away or to have never happened. When one moments lack of attention or care can kill or maim you a sensible person would never lose attention. The reality is some of us do. It doesn't hurt and could help some to realise this consciously occassionally.... out loud.

That serviceman will be much better off without her in his life. Sounds like he's got something positive to come home for.

Was that some kind of record? ....had the stop watch on you more please most of us are grown ups.

kissing?? I had a lovely girlfriend for a while who always loved to kiss when she was eating. I felt real lucky (for a while ) as she was a vegetarian/fruitarian and she wanted to kiss as much as she wanted to eat....almost embarrassing at restaurants lots of funny envious looks ........but when in Rome.............. .

in reply to "But it seems to me you have a bigger range of speed freeflying... " ....................... Mmmm, seen the need for it in wingsuiting as well for ultra-lights in HP suits trying to keep down with the heavy weights in flocks. Pity it seems like funny airmanship getting heavier to fly better. I suppose strapping lead is more about relativity -

inreply to "Ive been jumping in Oz for 10 years. I was at Picton and new the jumper well.He was a guy who was well on what ws going on around him. weather wasnt what got him.. Go big! " ....................... Condolences. Stay safe ......Biggly

in reply to"I think it's mostly because all freefly-gods are skinny bastards " ............. I wonder how long before the fatties insist the skinnies strap on lead... has it happened yet??? In the flatfly world this happened when all the toads took over and upped the fall rate and mid-air strike rate... The higher fall rate helped them fly smooth without all that flapping going on. Freefliers might be different I suppose....still waiting for the proof of this

Is there such a thing as a recorded largest linked WS formation or exit? Does any-one have any input about how a larger (4-6way) linked formation flies? (or would fly)?? I've been thinking that if say a 4way diamond was built it may be possible to give it some stability by good use of weight distribution and level control..with the tail lighter /slightly lower with arms up a bit). If the wings (L & R sides) flew with some positive tension would that help stability. Any thoughts??

Anyone done much in the way of wingsuit drag-outs?

in reply to "So no more phone-booth packing races at Katherine or Batchelor I guess?? " ............. . You guys are in a completely different category I'm talking about people NOT used to the heat.( you'd be well past help up there ) You just have to watch out for getting too cold........... say 20 C or so

Often these problems come from being tooo stiff. Try some stretching and relaxing (tension, release tension, tension ) type exercises . Sometimes the tensioning will give you a different body position to the relaxed position. eg stretching may push your hips into an asymmetrical possy. Moving between the two (tension and relaxation ) in freefall can create difficult control situations where you're always reacting rather than controlling as such. It'll be a lot cheaper to learn about this on the ground. Sometimes backing against a wall and stretching bending sideways can highlight these possibilities. .

in reply to "Who do you look up to? _________________________________________ Some time ago in Australia during the 90's a tandem master and hugely experienced skydiver Laurie (truck) Sams lost a leg and a bit by absorbing the impact when he and his passenger hit the ground hard after a double mal. This guy could have let the passenger take the hit but instead protected his charge resulting in NO injuries for the passenger. Other tandem masters less well endowed with honour or a sense of responsibility when asked said they would have allowed the passenger to hit first if they had a choice. Mr Sams showed he had the goods in an extreme situation when a persons true character becomes unavoidable. Laurie recieved a bravery award for this action. Good on you Laurie, some of us know what a true champion you are and have not forgotton.

Worst crimes.???? Genocidal meglomania. Malevolent totalitarianism, Environmental crimes , Wilful spreading of disease , Wilful spreading of misinformation , Allowing people to die from hunger and disease for economic reasons,

in reply to "Think for your selfs, dont let a few guys at the leading companies be the ones to "rule the world" with their, no offense, limited insight in human flight. We have proved them wrong in tracking suits and techniqes, and will do the same with the overprized and oversized wingsuits" .................... China copies any-one??? I do tend to agree a bit . Some with vested interests do appear to want us to believe that the suits won't get much better than they aleady are. They're still trying to sell us their out of date suits. This attitude is not uncommon in skydiving and if these guys are recommending out of date and inadequate gear just because they're selling it then it's BS sucksville. Any-one with even a slight knowledge of aircraft history would know such dead-end thinking is totally bogus. The Wright flyer may have been first but it was a failure in most other respects. Of course the suits will get better and they are. All the slower older suits will need replacing sometime and it'll be with newer faster suits with more preformance range not the same old thing dressed up to look pretty. Of course some will be more interested in flocking than maxing out.....but the edge will be with those seeking maximum performance. in reply to"This suit is being made as we speak, and with carbon laminated wings..) " ............................. How about a little sneak preview or is that bad for business. .

in reply to "I never cease to be amazed by our sport and the new group of people entering it. " .......... Airmanship seems to have taken a serious plunge in a negative direction. We used to dodge people that needed to wear a hard-hat in free-fall cause it showed how freakin' dangerous they were. Now it's the opposite. Any -one silly enough not to wear a hard-hat on a mixed rel load needs reminding how dangerous all those little ground hungry buzz bombs can be.

You guys get the Freemantle Doctor blowing in pretty regular to keep things cool too ?? + are you there at York the only DZ in Oz with air-con??? I suppose there's lots of other things as well as the heat to affect it all. At a recent summer meet I saw people sweating scary bad. Some larger people in particular had semi-permanent heat rashes on their faces it was so hot... This was not just sunburn . getting a decent drink of water was a challenge as well and cost more than beer. I know some people are used to a more controlled environment and would find the full-on summer heat debilitating. extra caution appears sensible . .