nigel99

Don't you love dropzone life! Seen more cock than a porno, reasonable amount of titties (never enough titties) and drama for a lifetime. I'm top of that I've got to try and sleep with the spins... I love dropzone life! I'll be up early for a pre work hop and pop. :) Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

No, but yesterday I learnt that we lower the maximum weight limit for tandems according to the temperature Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

The flaw in your system is that a new or visiting jumper may not know who is a responsible person to ask. If the person you asks forgets or most likely assumes that you're ok and does nothing you are stuffed. We tend to make the assumption that someone is ok, and left without telling us, or something similar rather than that they are hurt. Couple of weeks ago I was atthe dz when a jumper called an hour or two after operations had stopped. They had left their credit card at manifest, and wanted it kept safe for the week. The.point is that everyone closed up "assuming" that was the case. There was no check made prior to find the missing person. Just remember it is the dz that has the most to lose. Bad publicity can ruin a business. Individual responsibility comes in the form of checking in promptly and making you sure you don't waste peoples time. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It doesn't feel like Christmas. Wife has gone to church, and I'm off to go snorkeling with one of the kids (38C today!) We had bought a family present earlier in the year, during a sale. We decided that as everyone in the family is over 12 we wouldn't waste money on cheap crap thwt ends up costing a large total. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Because the Swiss have common sense. 'Mericans think, "Only MY sense makes sense." Nope, it is cause the swiss get as much boobies as they like. I swear violence is correlated to how prudish a society is. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It's not the 8 way teams who have the problem. It's the visiting jumper, who nobody knows, or the guy who likes doing high pulls on his own. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Because when it isn't a system properly implemented it doesn't work. So you're the one concerned citizen that regularly does it for YOUR load. What happens when it is you that is injured out in the field? Or another load? What I find ironic is the UK has a system and yet it is the most densely populated, so your least likely to go undiscovered by others. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Most incidents involve visiting or solo jumpers. Not everyone has friends at the dz, and who is to say that the person you ask to watch your back actually does so? Honestly, with the current industry attitude I can see someone with a broken leg dying in the field over the course of a few days. I don't see it as a nanny state issue, rather a DZ completing the delivery of its service. Generally speaking implementing a process and systemic method of improvement works better than an ad-hoc system. Of course I realise that the US culture is to resist any form of process improvement, in the mistaken belief that "all rules violate my freedoms" Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

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

I know there have been threads in the past, but in light of the recent Netherlands incident I thought I'd bring it up again. Some DZ's successfully implement a check in procedure, whereas others claim it is not possible. It seems to me that DZ's have a duty of care, to ensure that jumpers are safely checked in after a jump. As most DZ's operate on weekends it is conceivable that an injury that may have been survivable, could end up as a fatality if the person isn't found in a timely manner. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Damn good advice. With a few exceptions, the MIDDLE of the field is usually the safest place to land, ref. fences, power lines, blackberry bushes, etc.

Wow, it sounds like you can track pretty far in those. 1.7 miles with about a 45 degree tailwind. Maybe turning back after about a half mile would have helped, but well, lesson learned. Plot your navigation as a 90/90...spotting for a track is pretty important, particularly when you're wearing tracking pants or tracking suit. Trackers often go out after tandems, if their flight path is a 90/90. Just be careful with a 90/90. At our dz that will get you into trouble with the Chief instructor. Because not everyone tracks well and turns on heading correctly it can put someone back into other peoples airspace. On the other hand if you are aware on the jump, there is nothing stopping you from simply falling vertical if you see the spot getting long... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Just to add to what pops has said. There are excellent FREE resources available to aid your learning process. The SIM is very good, although few people seem to read it and follow the guidance. The APF also have a manual for the A license jumper that is an excellent resource. Just remember that our Australian A license requirements are different to the USPA requirements, so refer to an instructor for guidance. As far as jumps go, I'm a great believer in coached jumps and canopy courses. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I'd never considered you could see TWO sunrises on one day Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Did a fun jump this weekend that I had never considered previously. Other than the stupidity of doing it impromptu a week before the summer solstace and having to get up at 3:30am to do it! We had wheels up 20 minutes before dawn, and then waited a couple of minutes at altitude for the sun to crack the horizon. Exited on sunrise, did a 4 way roundie, watching the sun, and then gathered to watch the sunrise on the ground together after the jump. It was really great fun and beat the hell out of a sunset jump. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Well being a dz brat is a whole other story... Should be much easier for you then. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

It is a multiple of 1

Heathrow terminal 5 is one of my favorite airport terminals in the world and I travel a LOT. I'm typing this at LAX at the moment and Heathrow is lightyears better than this place. Don't even get me started on shitholes like Philly or La Guardia, and for the love of all that's holy, stay away from Miami. And in terms of rants I got stuck in Honolulu airport last week because the United flight attendants decided to go on strike - ONCE we were all on the plane and waiting to take off! Seriously - they told us themselves over the tannoy and linked it to long hours they were upset about. When we went to the United desk to try and work out what hotels we would be put up in: "I'm sorry, the reason for the cancelled flight is showing as 'WEATHER' in the computer, so we're not obliged to offer accommodation.' FUCK UNITED. God. I'm still furious. I agree Terminal 5 rocks. My least favourite is Chicago, closely followed by Perth. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Very good advice. After spending half my life hanging around skydiving, but not doing an awful lot, I decided recently to put more into it. I've started at the bottom of the foodchain (lower than a packer), fueling the plane, gearing up tandems students etc. I'm already picking up other duties with more responsibility (including getting my packer rating - a requirement here for packing tandem and student mains). Edited to add. Your profile says you've got 7 jumps. If you really want to get into it, think about planning out your jumping to get your B ASAP, and actively work towards getting your coach rating as close to 100 jumps as possible. Ask an AFF-I at your DZ for advice on preparing yourself to be a coach as soon as you get your A. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Peter thanks for the information. I'm not nostalgic for uncomfortable and heavy harness's! I like the option of using a 'large' rig with a modified main pack-tray. So I'm going to look into that further. There is a rigger in the US who sells un-used C9 canopies for a reasonable price, so the main is quite easy to take care of. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I don't have the knowledge, to know how feasible that is. But it would be a nice option. I'm quite happy doing a static line type exit. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

An odd question for riggers here. I learn't to jump on C9's (about a 100 jumps on a steerable version). I really loved the total peace and quiet under canopy, and I'm interested in seeing if it would be possible to put together a round rig. There are a few challenges that I'd need to cover, so I'm looking for input. It may not be feasible/practical for me. Firstly I'm quite happy to have a belly reserve and capewells for the rig - that's what I used to jump with. A good friend is a licensed Packer A (legal to pack reserves in Australia for those that don't know). He has lots of experience packing round reserves, but I need to check if his rating covers rounds. The biggest problem I can think of is an AAD. My DZ has a blanket rule that everyone jumps with an AAD. I've not discussed any of this with the Chief Instructor or DZ safety officer yet, as I want to gather more information first (hence this thread). Another thing, I'm not in a hurry and I wouldn't jump a round in our summers with the winds that we get! Naturally if it is possible the 'simplest' solution would be a square reserve and 3 ring cutaway system on the main.

You say that not many people plan to and yet in my personal experience it has been a common reason for getting a skyhook. I see far too many jumpers who have never bothered to think about what they are jumping. AADs are prime examples, and I've been in the situation of being the least experienced person on a ferry flight, but the only one who knew what to do. The most experienced person switched their aad on, flew to a new dz 1500ft higher and didn't realise there might be a problem with that approach. So you'll find I think lots, ask a bucket load of questions and then make a decision. Clearly lots of people with thousands of jumps see significant value in a MARD, and as I would be shocked if their motive was the ability to cutaway at 300ft (the commonly touted figure). That's why I'm pretty keen to hear why they made the choice. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

That is a very un-educated opinion right there. The benefits of a skyhook extend far beyond the circumstances you have described. Jumping with a skyhook has nothing to do with competence. Please could you explain more? I certainly didn't mean to imply that jumpers with skyhooks are in anyway incompetent, just that one of the most common reasons that I've heard for having a skyhook is that you can cutaway at 300ft. I hear that much more frequently than anything else and find it worrying, as with one exception the person couldn't explain why they would be cutting away below 1k. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Honestly it depends on you as a person. If you're planning on jumping for more than a single tandem go to both dzs and see which you prefer. I've got friends that jump at both dzs,. It won't take you more than a day of hanging around at each dz to see which you prefer. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.