nigel99

I really need to lose my recently acquired taste for rum Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Absolutely. He's not allowed a TI! He's been threatening to jump since the last St Patricks boogie. You need to twist his arm and get him out there Andy. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

People seem to miss that point. I spent 5 years serving on a committee that was responsible for European low power radio standards. There are many incidents of either illegal or poor quality equipment causing significant interference. People don't notice it until they are personally locked out of their car and the key fob doesn't work, or their telemetry system is knocked out for 3 weeks.

Just a comment on the guys at your dz who have been giving you advice. It may be worth bearing in mind that they have happily told you that you are 'safe' exceeding both Brian and the USPA's guidelines on wingloading. I realise that you Canadians aren't wimps like the mericans though... Honestly it reflects poorly on your mentors, much more so than you. I really wish people who are looked up to for advice would always take that seriously.

It is simply down to risk management. The aircraft is stuffed full of antennas, some of which are distributed along the fuselage. The cumulative effect of lots of devices, or one piece of faulty equipment MIGHT have an effect. Like the Air France crash it may require a unique combination of events. GPS navigation is pretty robust, but I believe that the US government retains the right to turn GPS off whenever they like. As such I don't beleive aircraft are allowed to depend enitirely on GPS. I disagree with the decision to have inflight mobile cells for the above reasoning. Oneday when things go to shit and everyone is happily calling their loved ones to say goodbye, they can die happy knowing their call interference overloaded/interfered with the emergency measures.

Happy New Year and happy paragliding...

I completely agree. Meeting new people and experiencing different DZ's is a blast.

Her name was Wendy, she was a showgirl With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there She would merengue and do the cha-cha And while she tried to be a star, Tony always tended bar Across a crowded floor, they worked from 8 till 4 They were young and they had each other Who could ask for more? At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana (Copacabana) The hottest spot north of Havana (here) At the Copa (CO!), Copacabana Music and passion were always the fashion At the Copa....they fell in love You can thank Barry Manilow You matchmaking Wendy and Shrop now? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

The best stuff ever. Can you still order them somewhere? Bought a copy of Wally Gubbins from a UK skydiving store last week - unfortunately on VHS. I still enjoy it 20 years later. Absolutely love the safety announcement. [url]http://www.adventurearchive.com/data/books_videos/wally.htm When I tried them previously they didn't actually have stock for sale.

Very nice - Happy New Year! Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Thanks. I don't think a bungee pilot chute is apropriate for me. I have a planned regime for my next 50 to 100 jumps and most will be hop and pops. On top of that my new dz has static line instruction and I intend to get involved as soon as I can. That will mean more low altitude/short freefall jumps.

I have never had more in common with my 15 year old daughter than I will tonight. She is stuck having new year with mom at home. I am stuck having new years with mom at home :) I don't really mind a quiet night in though. 6 days till I join family in Auz... Can't wait

agh. I would rather poke my eyes out with a stick than suffer that thanks.

I don't why people have suddenly got a life. But I am alone today and nothing has been posted in the bonfire for hours... Anybody got good jokes to light the bonfire with?

very nice. I am not a huge soccer fan, but it was a good night out with mates. They tried to introduce me to whisky, but I remain unconvinced.

sitting in the pub, drinking beer. Watching newcastle play liverpool with mates. Thinking about good looking women covered in chocolate Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

The best stuff ever. Can you still order them somewhere? Bought a copy of Wally Gubbins from a UK skydiving store last week - unfortunately on VHS. I still enjoy it 20 years later. Absolutely love the safety announcement.

Thank you guys. I learn't more from this thread than I expected to. The thought of a non-collapsible pilot chute had not even crossed my mind. It makes sense to remove a potential mode of malfunction if it is not giving you a reasonable benefit. I honestly would have thought that a 170 would be affected by the pilot chute more than this reference says. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It is a very interesting problem. I must admit that I detest software, music and video piracy. I realise that people make their livings from their output and this should be protected. But the laws and balance are currently wrong. One of the people I know used to put soundtracks on the weekends jumps and then upload to facebook. Facebook removed his ability to upload video as a result. I am pretty sure that he paid for the soundtrack. As our lives become more 'online' it appears to me this is the modern equivalent of not letting you play the song at a private party. How does the US propose this law works with the international community? Would only US clients be affected?

Well honestly get in touch with Andy (popsjumper) and work something out with him. You will enjoy it and learn at the same time. If you have leave available, why not try and get a competition arranged for the weekend before St Patricks? You could then spend the week at the farm, then go onto the boogie?

tradtional accuracy has large canopies normally modified or designed to be sunk in. Sport accuracy is just people jumping normal canopies. Earlier this year a couple of us got together and arranged an accuracy competition at the farm. Dzo donated a couple of jump tickets as the prize. Popsjumper did all the legwork, gave a review of canopy flight and judged it. Honestly it is something you can put together with a friendly instructor at your dz. If the dz wont put up a free jump ticket, get everyone to throw a fiver in and winner takes all. Alternatively give popsjumper about a months notice and I am sure he would put together another one. For our competition there were 2 categories, less than 100 jumps and less than 200. It is also a fun way to get your accuracy jumps in for your a or b license.

It is probably the case that said jumper suddenly discovered that in a tunnel they couldn't fly like they thought they could. The subsequently fly themself into the wall... The speed being up high could either be shifting blame or simply making light of the situation.

Thanks Andy that is very generous. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

4 to 8 weeks is a long time. At a big dz that would depend on how much money you had available and how much you intended to jump. If your intention is to really get into skydiving then I would suggest that somewhere like the Farm in Georgia would be excellent. There is Chutingstar rigging loft on site. You would have enough opportunity to really learn packing and equipment knowledge. Get as many jumps in as you can afford. Free bunk house and great people. I don't know what the visa restrictions are but you could probably end up earning a little packing. If all you want to do is build jump experience as fast as possible. Then I would suggest doing week long stints at different dz's. It will expose you to more jumpers and environments.

I was going to let the topic die, as it is a hijack of the OP's thread. However, yesterday another fatality from a highly experienced jumper swooping. I want to define 'elite' and why I don't believe the average skydiver should be swooping. Swooping it would seem requires excellent eyesight, lightning reflexes for when things go wrong, excellent depth perception and judgement. Someone who is not in peak physical condition will almost certainly not be in this category. I also believe that somewhere around 40 years of age most of us start to lose the physical 'peak' conditioning required. Time and again we are seeing 'safe' skydivers die swooping despite having thousands of jumps. As you pointed out there is no clear definition. I am sure that most jumpers who have 1000+ jumps can quite safely swoop a Sabre 2 loaded at 1.4 or so. But the number who can safely swoop a Velo at 2+ wingloading has got to be smaller. Where I disagree with popular consensus is, I don't believe that training can make all of us capable of safely flying a Velo - regardless of jumps. I am lucky, I already know that I have the motor skills of a brick. I don't support banning swooping. I also don't have an answer on how you fix stupid.