andybr6

I jump at a fairly large [by U.K] standards D.Z in England. The exit order there is as follows...Solo FF, Group FF, Then RW large to small groups. At least I am fairly sure that is what it is, I could have the FF group size confused. Having only done 3 FF jumps on quiet days I have very little experience. However the key point is faster fallers first. As far as I am aware it has always been done this way and there has never been an incident or issue because of the order. I am not challenging your theory but am trying to learn something. Has the exit order that my D.Z uses resulted in incidents? Should I be concerned as a new 'Freeflyer' about this policy? If so would you recomend presenting the evidence listed here to some instructors at my D.Z? Thanks A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Chris Lynch coaches at Headcorn. I did my first sit on a coach jump with him recently. If you were considering going down I would give Headcorn a call and ask to speak to him. I imagine he gets very busy with AFF and Tandems so probably a good idea to work something out in adv' A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I was in a similar situation...although with less jumps [about 60 total] my CCI went through a condensed AFF ground school and said that he was happy for me to do a solo or he would take me on an AFF if I wanted. In the end [I had time due to a day of crappy weather] I got several opinions and I decided to do a solo. I never had a problem with getting stable and I jump a nice big friendly Spectre so I was confident I could get stable and pull by 4k. As it turned out it was fine, it really is like riding a bike, as soon as i was in the door it all came back and from then on it was easy, just did a few turns and pulled nice and high. I think it comes down with what you are comfortable with, initially I was set on an AFF level to get current again but after being at the DZ and talking to instructors I got my confidence back. I passed over a load going to 5k as my first jump as I wanted lots of altitude to 'play' with. In the end I jumped and set myself the only goal of landing safely in the PLA. With 8k feet to get stable and a big canopy that was pretty acheivable. Have fun. A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

A classic from 'Dodgeball'... "You're as useless as a cock flavoured lolly pop" ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Hi all, I am considering making the espace boogie in lapalisse this year my first boogie. I would really appreciate any info' on it; have you been? are you going? would you recomend? etc' etc' At the moment I am 'flying solo' as the idea only just came to me the other day. As you can see I have pretty low jump numbers but have just started trying to get into freefly, would this be a good oportunity to get coaching or would everyone be waaaay to busy. If i go on my own will I be lost for people to jump with as a newbie or are people generally quite open to jumping with the new blood? Sorry for the mass of questions but if anyone can give me any idea about anything it would be cool A A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Hi, I was in a similar situation...although with less jumps [about 60 total] my CCI went through a condensed AFF ground school and said that he was happy for me to do a solo or he would take me on an AFF if I wanted. In the end [I had time due to a day of crappy weather] I got several peoples opinions and I decided to do a solo. I never had a problem with getting stable and I jump a nice big friendly Spectre so I was confident I could get stable and pull by 4k. As it turned out it was fine, it really is like riding a bike, as soon as i was in the door it all came back and from then on it was easy, just did a few turns and pulled nice and high. I think it comes down with what you are comfortable with, initially I was set on an AFF level to get current again but after being at the DZ and talking to instructors I got my confidence back. I passed over a load going to 5k as my first jump as I wanted lots of altitude to 'play' with. In the end I jumped and set myself the only goal of landing safely in the PLA. With 8k feet to get stable and a big canopy that was pretty acheivable. You are obviously much more experienced than me so I am sure you will find it even easier than I did. Have fun. A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Consider your self lucky if you wanted to get a 'D' here in the UK you would need over 1000 jumps. So 1000 x £20 = £20,000 exchane rate being about $1.8 to the £ £20,000 x 1.8 = $36,000 ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Thanks Brewman, that sounds like a good way of doing it. I'll try it out this weekend if the weather ever gets better! A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I have just bought a pro-dytter which will be my first ever audible alti. I have a bonehead mindwarp [the kind with the two internal audible ports but not the the very latest one] I was wondering how you all fit your dytters inside. The helmet has the two detachable lining pads that go into the helmet where your ears and audibles fit. Each of the pads has a slit in one side and an elasticated band to the hold the audible in place. Do you put it in the pad then turn it round so the slit is facing your ear or will that be too loud? Do you put it in so the slit side is facing outwards towards the helmet shell and the padding is between your ear and the dytter or will that be too quiet? All advice from mindwarp owning audible alti users would be appreciated. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I am partial so some Stolichnaya myself...especially if you get the better labels they do. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I am going to do my my first Freefly jumps soon. I jump one if the older Mirage containers [still made in the mid 90's all tuck tabs secure no exposed bridle on BOC etc etc] but it does not have anywhere to attach bungee cord on the leg straps so: Is it effective to tie the bungee cord on the legstraps? If so where abouts do i tie it? I would prefer to have my rigger just sew some attachment points onto my leg straps and I will do this eventually but at the moment he is very busy and so am I. Am I taking on any extra risk by not having it sown on, I have seen Freeflyers jump with the legstraps tied with bungee or pull up cord but then I have seen a lot of people take risks that I would not... ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I am going to do my my first Freefly jumps soon. I jump one if the older Mirage containers [still made in the mid 90's all tuck tabs secure no exposed bridle on BOC etc etc] but it does not have anywhere to attach bungee cord on the leg straps so: Is it effective to tie the bungee cord on the legstraps? If so where abouts do i tie it? I would prefer to have my rigger just sew some attachment points onto my leg straps and I will do this eventually but at the moment he is very busy and so am I. Am I taking on any extra risk by not having it sown on, I have seen Freeflyers jump with the legstraps tied with bungee or pull up cord but then I have seen a lot of people take risks that I would not... ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I pack my spectre 210 into a rig [and d-bag] built for a 190. Its a bit of a bugger to get into the bag but it goes and with no excess material hanging out. I have put 40 jumps on it and the guy before me put 300 jumps on it with no problems at all. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Did you here about the scarecrow that one a nobel prize? He was 'outstanding' in his field! ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Granted. But it is spirituality that is based on supernatural phenomena: Angels, re-incarnation, omnipotent beings, prophets. The basis of Christianity and most other religions is the belief in these things even though very few people claim to have seen them. It is faith in the existence of the supernatural that [IMHO] most religions are based on. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I am not a religious person but is it not possible that many 'supernatural phenomena' are simply natural phenomena that science has yet to explain; by the same token could a more open minded view to scientific investigation not help 'rationalise' events that are often thought to be supernatural. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Thanks for all the advice. I have just finished the pack job and I tied the risers together, just before the Slinks and it worked great. The lines when stoed on the bag were much more even and neat. I guess I'll have to go and see if I have a nice deployment tomorrow. A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I know everyone has their own packing methods but I have seen a lot of people tie the risers together [normaly with a pull up] when they are pro-packing. I have never done this but would like to know what the advantages [if any] are? A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

At my DZ you have to jump with an AAD until you have your B license [I am not sure if this is a BPA rule or more DZ specific]. I think I would be happy to do a solo without an AAD but I would not want to jump with any one else. I have witnessed Cypres save from the ground [result of a mid-air collision] and that sold me on having an AAD. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I think for someone that stupid just getting out of bed in the morning is dangerous. Talk about a sell out as well. If you believed the guys interview you could be forgiven for thinking that he did not put a foot [or hand wrong]!!! I think we can ear mark him as a future 'Darwin Award' [edit for spelling] ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I have had to take a year off of skydiving for medical/financial reasons and am about to re-new my [extortianate] B.P.A membership. However, come the first of April I will not have jumped for over a year. I have 60 jumps and F.S 1 and while i was jumping never went uncurrent for more than a month. I have'nt spoken to anyone at my DZ about it yet but i was hoping for some opinions on whether i will be ok to go do a conservative solo straight away, or whether to do some coach jumps. I realise that the final decision is the chief instructors but i would really like some opinions. As far as my ability level i never worried my instructors or F.S coach, I completed AFF and W.A.R.P in the minimum amount of levels. I realise that this does'nt mean that much but i guess i am trying to say i am a 'stable' skydiver. Any opinions especially those from instructors would be helpfull. A ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I just sent my Cypres off for its 8 year service and a battery change. It was sent from the UK and i am planning a little jumping holiday in Florida soon. I would be interested to know how long it took for peoples aad's to be returned. I know what it says on the website but i would be interested to know how long it takes in 'real time'. No disrespect to the company but i would be interested in hearing peoples opinions; it will make it a lot easier to plan my holiday to conicide with that of some friends. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I was wondering if the USPA will issue provisional membership to people who are not members of their own countries parachuting assoc'. I live in the UK but did not join the BPA last year. I hold an A licence and have made 62 jumps both in thUK and in th USA. Would i be able to join the USPA and jump in the states for a couple of weeks without paying my BPA membership? ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

I would disagree. The straight comparison of crime rates can reveal a great deal in these circumstances. If the difference in crime rates were less then i would except your point of view. However the difference in firearms murders per capita between Britain and America is so great it cannot be ignored. I have American family and have spent a great deal of time in the states, because of this i refuse to believe that Americans are simply more inclined to murder each other with firearms than Brits. The easy access to firearms is the only logical explanation that can shed light on huge anomaly that the crime rates reveal. To simply dismiss the statistical anlysis that both our governments refer to in legislation is rediculous. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"

Though statistical analysis has its flaws, it would seem the pro-gun people are unwilling to tackle the argument above. Americas population is five times larger than Britain's. However America has a "firearms murder rate" thirty four times larger than Britain's. I would be interested in any pro-gun arguments that could account for this discrepency. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction"