nigel99

I don't have aviation experience to comment on what the gauges would show but I guess based on physics even in an unpressurised cabin due to the venturi effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_effect there would be a delta shown. As far as the pressure bumps again I don't know how sensitive the human ear is to pressure change in feet or the guage but at lower speeds (~100knots) in a DC3 or Casa 212 (largest planes I have jumped) there was no detectable pressure delta but you could definately hear the "whoosh" of other jumpers entering the airstream. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I was mullying over the "no jump" theory and want to propose a scenario: Based on the amount of "baggage" that cooper may have needed to jump with and building on the illusionist theories that Cooper managed to control the general flight path by dictating specific requirements how does the following sound? Cooper obtains the parachutes and starts to package everything including "tying the money" to his body. He has as supplementary equipment the bomb, the surplus parachutes and the little brown bag/briefcase whatever. He kits up for the benefit of the stewardess and then sends her forward. As soon as it is "private" for him he dekits and rigs up a cargo drop containing all the money/briefcase etc. He could potentially use the "bomb" if these were indeed flares as a means of highlighting the payload (much like a night jump) and then if he had access to a walkie talkie and an accomplice - hand deploy/assisted deploy his cargo shipment. I would imagine a flare would not attract much attention on a rainy day as it would only be visible once it broke through the clouds and the accomplice could drive to the locality pretty easily as I guess the canopy would be descending slowly being so lightly loaded. Cooper then has the rest of the flight to "hide" possibly through a service hatch into the underside of the plane (do the lav's have service hatches?). He is then free to leave the plane when the heat is off and in the possible confusion of the plane being met at the receiving end. I know the above is total speculation and was concocted at about 3 in the morning but beyond the most obvious "hole" in that the flight path was random - which is true for 99% of cooper was clever theories it would appear to be a possibility. I know that radio range would be excellent to an aircraft but I am not convinced that you could hear what was being said at the rear of an open jet. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Did someone say...Trench Coat? So cooper dressed up in a tan trenchcoat discuised as snoopy? What is Ckret covering up that he never mentioned the snoopy disquise Seriously though you wouldn't want to freefall very long with that much stuff flapping around would you? I've made the mistake of wearing a collared shirt in the tunnel and I came out black and blue - I'd hate to have a square foot of fabric flapping around my crotch area Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

RE- trenchcoat. As I understand a trench-coat extends to knee or ankle length and I can imagine that would seriously affect stability and would certainly hurt like hell to have that much fabric flapping around. I can't visualise how easily leg-straps would fit do maybe the fabric would be all bunched up? I guees people like twardo who jump with the big flags may have an idea on what this is like - but then would you even want to do that as a high speed exit or long free-fall? Perhaps to add to Coopers legacy he rigged his trench-coat as a wing-suit and managed to track all the way to tina bar where he deployed at 500 ft and buried his loot Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I've fallen out of a 182 at 8k when I tried to get comfortable with big guy leaning against my rig as we were wedged in - he moved and apparantly they could hear me screaming for about 5 seconds But the worst I've seen was when the pilot didn't put the brakes on and a jumper fell and hit his face on the wheel during his exit. As I really enjoy flying I also did a ferry trip with no parachute and no door with another jumper (also no rig). That is the only time I have been really scared as we flew the ~20mile trip sitting on some sort of plywood sheet (don't remember what it was) and it was shifting around. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I know it depreciated from $1 to the US$1 to $100 to the US$ in aproximately 48 hours. The thing is people have already "dollarised" and while it is illegal most transactions are conducted in either US$ or South African Rand. So most people swap local cash for forex as soon as possible. I guess what they did by reintroducing old notes it was no different to printing more money (what they have been doing previously) but this time the average guy on the street got a windfall and not just the government. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Zimbabwe has probably dropped off most peoples radar's as the elections fade away, but inflation is running at between 2 and 12 million percent (2M is the government figure, 12M independant economists). Paper for printing bank notes is only available from 3 or 4 countries in the world and a german firm that were supplying Zimbabwe stopped under pressure from their government. As a result in the hyperinflationary environment where the last bills devalue to being worthless in 2-6 weeks Zimbabwe's cash dried up and they were unable to pay the military. The solution was to remove 10 zero's so that $10 Billion = $1. The interesting twist is that due to shortage of paper the government RE-Introduced the OLD $1 coins and bills. There is at least 1 news story of a blind beggar who stashed the "worthless" coins and notes that people dumped on him over the years who is now exceedingly wealthy. My question is what effect does that have on an economy? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Sorry don't misunderstand me - I wasn't questioning YOU, but rather Duane. People can weave very intricate lies around themselves to the point that even loved ones are not able to see through the mess. As I mentioned I have personal experience of this both from family members and outside the family. As a simple example I worked for 3 years for a fraudster who had a criminal record and yet he was able to hide it not only from his investors and staff but also the US military that we were doing business with. This man was /is broke and yet he spun such a good yarn that a reseller of private jets was taking him for weekend "evaluation" trips to mainland europe free of charge (got to give him credit though - cheaper than easyjet and better class ) always on the promise of the order for the new jet "next month" In all honestly I don't know enough about Duane to know one way or the other and I don't personally care. I only follow this and the previous thread for the drama. I do think you implicitly trust and believe what you were told though and are looking for facts to back up your belief. By your own admission Duane was a dishonest individual and sometimes the truth is the simple explanation and that could simply be that he lied to you alot over the years. One thing that really puzzles me is your motivation for wanting to have Duane publicly confirmed as DB (since you already believe it along with a number of other people). Lastly I know that this is a very personal thread for you - but for many of us on the internet this is just an online soap and we are here for the ride so don't take things to personally Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Sluggo? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It would actually make alot of sense that it is/was Duane. If for some reason he was on the flight he could/would have had enough emotional connection and memory to follow the story (even as an innocent party). This could easily have become romantised to the point where he fantasised about his involvement - and over the years the story grows (like the fish that got away). From experience with my own family I know that some people can really struggle to separate fantasy from reality - to the point they genuinely believe their own lie. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Some people have answered in part but overall a few things seem to have not been said. Altitude - aircraft emergencies can happen at any altitude if you are told to get out up high (above your hard deck) then you should probably be deploying your main after clearing your airspace). From personal experience as a student the engine failed at aprox 1500 foot and it was not clear that we could "safely" get back to the airfield. As a static line student I was given the choice of exit on reserve or stay with the plane, much to my jump-masters dismay I chose to stay and I watched 3 people exit (to mains) with deployments happening almost on top of each other. Next is just a personal view and some may disagree but I see no point in cutting away a "potentially" good canopy when deploying your reserve because of altitude simply because in the worst case it may be able to help you if your reserve fails. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

So you think he hid in the loo till everything calmed down It seems to me that is a very high risk of getting caught - but could vaguely be a possibility especially if he bottled on the jump. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Hi Rhys, I didn't make up the title it was the headline of the newspaper article that I cut and paste. And I do agree that diamonds, platinum, copper and tourism are all assets that Africa has BUT I don't agree with the theory that it is the wests fault that Africa mismanages its own resources (not that you stated this) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Actually I do believe that in southern africa there is a fair amount of blame that SHOULD rest on the locals shoulders. I am sorry but if you see people in the west prospering and your nation going done the tubes wouldn't you ask yourself why? I am not saying that there are not international issues that distort the situation but I do see a large amount of passing the buck when it comes to impoverished Africans. The country closest to me (Zimbabwe) is probably the best example. Post 1980 Mugabe implemented educational reforms such that Zimbabwe had one of the highest literacy rates in the world. All the way through to university level qualifications were tied to UK standards. So people were educated and when the crunch came people did one of two things: 1) Use their good qualifications to leave 2) Revert to being morons (and in some cases both options were taken) The result is that Zimbabwe is fast joining Somalia and the likes. I think that one of the cultural traits that is found in highly successful cultures is the willingness and courage to take responsibility for their own actions (US, NZ and Australia are good examples). I deliberately excluded the UK as I see us moving away from this mindset and culture. Africa as a whole seems to lack this and instead 30-60 years on blames colonialism, whereas in the same timeframe Japan, Germany and Israel have come from a WORSE position than any African nation - eventually I believe there comes a time to walk away or step up to the task and simply re-colonise and assume the role of care-taker for failed nations. I was brought up that authority and responsibility are intertwined and you can't effectively separate the 2. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

If your supplying the fuse can't you buy a few 1A fuses as well as 13Amp and get the type with the paper rating label and then swap the labels carefully? I know that the actual rating is often printed onto the end caps as well so he may catch you out still. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

This is an interesting article on Africa from the Irish Independant. Thursday July 10 2008 No. It will not do. Even as we see African states refusing to take action to restore something resembling civilisation in Zimbabwe, the begging bowl for Ethiopia is being passed around to us, yet again. It is nearly 25 years since Ethiopia's (and Bob Geldof's) famous Feed The World campaign, and in that time Ethiopia's population has grown from 33.5 million to 78 million today. So why on earth should I do anything to encourage further catastrophic demographic growth in that country? Where is the logic? There is none. To be sure, there are two things saying that logic doesn't count. One is my conscience, and the other is the picture, yet again, of another wide-eyed child, yet again, gazing, yet again, at the camera, which yet again, captures the tragedy of . . . Sorry. My conscience has toured this territory on foot and financially. Unlike most of you, I have been to Ethiopia; like most of you, I have stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation there. The wide-eyed boy-child we saved, 20 years or so ago, is now a priapic, Kalashnikov-bearing hearty, siring children whenever the whim takes him. There is, no doubt a good argument why we should prolong this predatory and dysfunctional economic, social and sexual system; but I do not know what it is. There is, on the other hand, every reason not to write a column like this. It will win no friends, and will provoke the self-righteous wrath of, well, the self-righteous, letter-writing wrathful, a species which never fails to contaminate almost every debate in Irish life with its sneers and its moral superiority. It will also probably enrage some of the finest men in Irish life, like John O'Shea, of Goal; and the Finucane brothers, men whom I admire enormously. So be it. But, please, please, you self-righteously wrathful, spare me mention of our own Famine, with this or that lazy analogy. There is no comparison. Within 20 years of the Famine, the Irish population was down by 30pc. Over the equivalent period, thanks to western food, the Mercedes 10-wheel truck and the Lockheed Hercules, Ethiopia's has more than doubled. Alas, that wretched country is not alone in its madness. Somewhere, over the rainbow, lies Somalia, another fine land of violent, Kalashnikov-toting, khat-chewing, girl-circumcising, permanently tumescent layabouts. Indeed, we now have almost an entire continent of sexually hyperactive indigents, with tens of millions of people who only survive because of help from the outside world. This dependency has not stimulated political prudence or commonsense. Indeed, voodoo idiocy seems to be in the ascendant, with the next president of South Africa being a firm believer in the efficacy of a little tap water on the post-coital p****s as a sure preventative against infection. Needless to say, poverty, hunger and societal meltdown have not prevented idiotic wars involving Tigre, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea etcetera. Broad brush-strokes, to be sure. But broad brush-strokes are often the way that history paints its gaudier, if more decisive, chapters. Japan, China, Russia, Korea, Poland, Germany, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the 20th century have endured worse broad brush-strokes than almost any part of Africa. They are now -- one way or another -- virtually all giving aid to or investing in Africa, whereas Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS. Meanwhile, Africa's peoples are outstripping their resources, and causing catastrophic ecological degradation. By 2050, the population of Ethiopia will be 177 million: The equivalent of France, Germany and Benelux today, but located on the parched and increasingly protein-free wastelands of the Great Rift Valley. So, how much sense does it make for us actively to increase the adult population of what is already a vastly over-populated, environmentally devastated and economically dependent country? How much morality is there in saving an Ethiopian child from starvation today, for it to survive to a life of brutal circumcision, poverty, hunger, violence and sexual abuse, resulting in another half-dozen such wide-eyed children, with comparably jolly little lives ahead of them? Of course, it might make you feel better, which is a prime reason for so much charity. But that is not good enough. For self-serving generosity has been one of the curses of Africa. It has sustained political systems which would otherwise have collapsed. It prolonged the Eritrean-Ethiopian war by nearly a decade. It is inspiring Bill Gates' programme to rid the continent of malaria, when, in the almost complete absence of personal self-discipline, that disease is one of the most efficacious forms of population-control now operating. If his programme is successful, tens of millions of children who would otherwise have died in infancy will survive to adulthood, he boasts. Oh good: then what?I know. Let them all come here. Yes, that's an idea. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't know how secure google is for logins. I have only heard the usefulness from a few consultants who are always on the road and it lets a few people that they have shared with get visibility of their schedule. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Hi, I know 1 or 2 people who use Google Calender, http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlecalendar/overview.html It has the advantage that you can see it anywhere and its free. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Can I volunteer to be the "whuffo" jet jumper for a free jet jump? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I find it really amusing that dz.com's banner ad is about Golfing It definately re-inforces the "you should take up golfing talk" when it is displayed in the incidents forum. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1488655367?bctid=1640107138 Listen carefully to Mugabe's rant. When asked on what basis he regards himself president of Zimbabwe he replies the same as Gordon Brown The man has lost it. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I think your right. I also question whether it is not "right" that these failed states are not colonised again as the people are clearly not capable of self governance. Unless you are prepared to accept that it is ones right to deliberately live in the stone age. http://voanews.com/english/2008-06-30-voa26.cfm Following on from that if people chose to follow and support corrupt leaders that keep them in the poverty and sickness then when do OUR governments have to shoulder the responsibility of stopping wasting our tax money? I do not resent paying tax towards 3rd world development, I do resent paying towards lining the pockets of a dictator or secondly and more difficult to quantify paying towards the wellbeing of people who do not WANT such assistance. I am kind of pissed off with the whole "Africa is hard-done by" stance. Africa so proudly stands by Mugabe for him having the balls to give the west the finger - why do we keep forcing ourselves on them? Does the west really NEED africa? Perhaps it is time to turn our backs on Africa and leave them to it? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Hi Andy, You missed my point. Instead of having travel restrictions in place - let those key "leaders" freely enter the UK/EU/US, just don't let them leave. Surely the legislation that was used to arrest Pinoche can be applied to non heads of state. If it can't be applied then yes strict travel restrictions with NO exceptions are useful. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

There are a number of problems with sanctions: 1) Propoganda - Mugabe has very effectively portrayed the suffering on British and US driven sanctions. As most people don't look into the detail the accusations stick. 2) They aren't really effective. Look at the recent world food summit in Rome. Why was Mugabe's wife allowed in - ok so she was restricted to 40km of their hotel! A more effective measure would be to lift travel sanctions completely and use counter-terrorism laws to freeze assets of individuals. Secondly it would be effective to arrest and try key individuals surrounding Mugabe when they come to west. On a final note it always frustrates me that nobody challenges Mugabe and his stooges when they rally against the "sanctions" with the fact that their entire campaign strategy is 100% empowerment and "de-colonisation". they say they don't need the west so why complain about sanctions? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I am a Zimbabwean and getting rid of Mugabe is not really the solution as in reality the Military run the country. With every week that passes the probability of civil war increases. I know the opposition party is saying that genocide is taking place and even the Rwandan president is saying the signs are ominous. As the situation grows more tense the tribal divisions are starting to show (especially now that the "white" enemy has largely been exploited as much as possible). Personally I feel that another Somalia/Ethiopia/Sudan is being born where there will not likely be a "traditional" government for a few generations, but rule by warlords. There are horrific stories of amputations (the hand is the main political symbol - Mugabe/Zanu PF = the fist, MDC = open hand) and quite a number of people have had their hands amputated. http://www.sokwanele.com On a slightly lighter note according to the CIA Mugabe is "sniper proof" http://www.hayibo.co.za/articles/view/801 It is sadly a case of people reaping what they sowed, as Mugabe got into office through murder and subversion in 1980 (look into the background with US president Carter and the British not recognising Abel Muzorewa and allowing Mugabe to force their hands) http://www.aim.org/guest-column/carterian-civics/ Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.