choll15

Ok... Just to add my 2(insert local currency here) Flew in Bodyflight last night doing some 4-way, and ditto the comments from Guy and other tunnel junkies above. Smooth and fast air, great vibe, and huge area to fly in. 4-way geeks -we did block 1 no probs. A little cheated at the back, but more to do with me being 6' 5" than tunnel being too small! Paul and team are working flat out to ensure they have a world class, safe and friendly facility and from what I've seen they are right on track. Looking forward to the future when the (two new) tunnels impact on the UK skydiving scene can be seen in terms of scores/ability etc etc. I have some video, I'll try and upload it soon. URL to follow.. Chris www.southparc.co.uk

Despite the weather forcing the 4-way to roll-over into the second weekend, Hibaldstow coped very well with hosting 8-way, 4-way and artistics at the same time. A truely remarkable feat of organisation. Exciting competition in all classes too. Congrats to Spank for the senior gold. The girls of Airkix had a blinder of a meet - pipped at the post, but very impressive in their 1st season together, with the Army picking up a well deserved gong in 3rd. Helix rocked in the Inters under pressure from Mach 4 and Damn until the blistering last round made a few hearts flutter. 23 from Mach 4 - a new Inter record, I think? In Juniors - a cliff hanger ending as FFU5 held their nerve after an exit from hell to do just enough to hold on to 1st and deny the girls from One Non Blonde. Very encouraging to see the skill level just keep going up year after year across the board. UK FS is just getting better. Thanks all for a great meet - see you all next year. Chris www.southparc.co.uk

...can't believe a suit thread has got this far without someone saying 'shoe goo'! Get it on there.... although you don't need one tube per foot like a certain guy I know applied Personally - found my Tony Pit Special to be great, although if you're training lots -especially tunnel - choose the hard waring options discussed above. Tunnel time is hardcore and will eat thru a suit. I modified my Airspeed style booties with adjustable bootie shock cord and those plastic style cord stays you get on jackets etc. Helps keep 'em tight in freefall, yet easy on/off when you need it. www.southparc.co.uk

22 - What do you guys launch? We have an AFF style set up with the 'Student' as O/C. Tail goes outside 'secondary', Point inside. I/C goes on the cat at the rear, so our two centers rotate the cat. It's a great move and works well on the hill, with point getting the hop. As long as you chill all the moves down for the sub-terminal stuff, it's usually pretty reliable, and an easy launch! www.southparc.co.uk

thanks for the clarification. That's what I heard, but just wanted to check. Mind you, our 22 was shocking - wouldn't mind seeing that again to practice! www.southparc.co.uk

jumps yet to do - is it out of the whole pool that the redraw is made or the pool minus the blocks and randoms we've already seen in earlier rounds? Anyone know? Nice job at the weekend, Emma. Smokin' stuff. www.southparc.co.uk

The UK tea-drinking Nationals rolls into next week then! Sunday afternoon was incredible once the clouds broke. Hats off to Hib for that incredible turn-round, and much respect to James for manifesting! Weather holds kind of killed the atmosphere, but when it's rocking - the Nationals simply buzzes - nothing like it. Must remember to book the sun earlier for next year. See you guys for Nationals part two! www.southparc.co.uk

Hopefully, people will use a bit of common sense when deciding which category to enter. Jump numbers are now pretty irrelevent to skill level and back at the AGM the consensus seemed to think dropping the jump limits was a good idea. There's an idea being talked about by our USA buddies (although it's not in the rules there either), namely if you medal in a lower category, you have to move up. This gives new skydivers a chance and would stop ringers getting token medals. Hopefully this won't be a problem though! We shall soon see! How many teams do we reckon on seeing? 50 plus again!? Rain, rain, go away!!! Always sunny at Hib, right? ;-) www.southparc.co.uk

Nice one! Should be interesting to see what happens in Juniors and inters this year - esp. with no jump no. restrictions any more. Inters could be close - Damn and Helix seem fairly close - too close to call?!? Anyway - I know of 7 or 8 teams going from Weston - just trying to work out if it'll be even bigger than last year (50 or so??) Keep 'em comin! www.southparc.co.uk

4-way Nationals is nearly upon us once more? Who's going to Hib this year? I don't know of all the UK teams competing, but no doubt it will be pretty exciting! Let's make it a good 'un! Chris www.southparc.co.uk

Yep, our trip is going to be fun! Let me think, 2 weeks 4-way training or two weeks at work. Even the fact that we have a laminator here can't sway me I'm afraid! Real work getting in the way of web updates I'm afraid. I'll do it when we have some air to air stuff to put on there. Counting the days, bud. Counting the days... www.southparc.co.uk

Have you updated yours by now to include the new stuff, Phil so we can take 'em on training camp? Shame to have only 'some' of the gear and no idea! We could use them when deciding what to do in the Eloy tunnel. oh, I forgot... awaiting plug www.southparc.co.uk

FWIW I've just got back from a weekend at Aerokart doing 4-way in there. Having used Orlando and Paris they are both quite different, but there are pros and cons of each. Paris is more expensive for sure and on rough calculations a weekend trip to Orlando works out about the same as a trip to Aerokart including tunnel time and flights etc. Depends what you want and how much time you want to spend travelling I guess. In my experience, the French definitely have a more laid back attitude to running the tunnel. The session times are fairly flexible, but on this trip they seemed to be fairly well organised and accomodating. Biggest thing to watch is that dead air for sure! Esp. if you're relatively inexperienced or trying funky block moves with 4 of you in there! Despite the padding, the falls can hurt! (Bruises to vouch for that one) We flew with easyjet to CDG and taxied to/fro. Word of caution - French Taxis have a Sunday surcharge so was a bit more coming back to airport! All in all - good fun - but still can't wait for Bedford to open! Chris H www.southparc.co.uk

Just like to say Merry Christmas & Happy new year to all FS Heads out there - especially UK flyers competing this last season. What a great year - and here's to a great season in 2005! Soft openings and safe landings everyone! Chris Hollis South Parc www.southparc.co.uk

I've been lucky enough to attend an Airspeed tunnel camp, my 4-way team has also been coached by a guy who would fit into your 'Not a world champ but an excellent coach' description. Both were excellent and I think it does you good to seek out different coaches early on. This gives you the ability to compare different coaching styles as well as finding out which ones work for you. When you have found a coach that fits in well, suits your learning style and is effective at improving your skydiving, previous form is less important. Shop around, but as Emma said, have fun!! FWIW on my Airspeed camp, I was lucky enough to share the tunnel with some world class skydivers. Airspeed are are very professional outfit and in the tunnel camps, they have a polished and effective product! Highly recommended. As an aside, nice to see Airspeed's Nationals line-up photo included Todd Hawkins. It was great to see the likeable Aussie beaming away. I wish him all the best in his continuing recovery. Chris www.southparc.co.uk

Thanks! We owe Pat a huge amount for some great coaching, and some great fun times out there in California! Perris rocks! Chris www.southparc.co.uk

A great meet indeed. Judging by some of the Omni-skore footage there are some talented UK FS teams out there. This can only be good for the sport! A shame the sun refused to shine until so late each day, but guess you can't change that. Well done to Optic for pipping us at the post and snatching the gold! And many congrats to all other medallists and fellow competitors for making this years Nationals the biggest to date! Chris South Parc www.southparc.co.uk

Hib GP Intermediate draw was: 11,4 E,5 N,Q,9 K,17 13,19 J,C,7 A good meet and lots of fun. Hibaldstow is always a great host and with the G92's rapid turnround weather breaks weren't a problem. Chris www.southparc.co.uk

I wanted a new rig and I was thinking 'Odessey'. The thing that put me off was the long wait! (5 months or so at time of ordering) I was in Square 1 at Perris and they pointed me to the Velocity. A good price and a good-looking rig, and a quick turn round too. People who jumped one had only good things to say so I placed my order. Six weeks to the day, I was back in the UK with my hands on my brand new rig. Jumping in it has proved very comfortable and I love it more each jump. The bungee stows are small so when you snap a bungee, it's a fiddly job replacing them, but apart from that a truly wonderful piece of kit. My team-mates are now thinking of approaching VSE to order team Velocities! You don't see many in the UK, but I've been a few different DZ's with mine and I get some positive enquiries from people who see it. Dare to be different! VSE - Can we get a team deal now I've been so nice ;-)

forget that last post... found it! You guys are right, very smooth, and great to watch! Seems almost too easy. Majik by name.... www.southparc.co.uk

Hi I went to NSL-TV, but I can't find a link to the Magic 41. Anybody got a good URL they could post? TVM Chris www.southparc.co.uk

Our 4-way team spent 2 weeks at Perris and had a great time. With Dan BC at the helm, Perris is one awesome operation, with an impressive line-up of aircraft to whisk you up to altitude and a slick manifest to ensure you are not kept waiting around. We had the fun and energetic Pat McGowan as our coach, and we had a blast! Pat was really useful, and nothing was too much trouble. At the moment Perris is unique to the skydiving world in having the tunnel on site. This is a huge bonus to any jumper and a good incentive to any 4-way team looking around for their next camp location. I heartily recommend Perris to anyone, and would gladly return in future, for training or just for fun. If only all DZ's were like this! Chris Hollis South Parc 4-way team www.southparc.co.uk