Dazzle

I've just had my Kat 107 relined with HMA (standard now) and the openings have changed massively. It is now a much more snively canopy. Previously I'd have said it was on the brisk side of perfect, now it's gone to the other side (similar to the few Crossfire jumps I've done) Not too long but getting there. Quite controllable during the snivel, the inflation so far (20 jumps) seems more variable but slower as well (is this possible with a lineset change?) Not managed to try the Mamba yet, hopefully in a couple of weeks.

There is always the big way camp at Skydive Stockholm, mid june ish

I think that there is an FS roadshow Sat/Sun at least. Not sure who the coaches are, I think some of VNE

I've just had mine relined by pd and nowhere in the paperwork that came with it did it say that.

How did they manage to pack it and not notice? When I hook a canopy up for the first time I did it backwards (either that or 90 degrees out) As I started to pack it it was obvious that something was very wrong

Having done a 4 point 4 way will help you out as will any licenses you have. A B license should smooth over anything at any UK DZ. Have a look at the BPA website www.bpa.org.uk and the events section. The UK is much smaller than the US and many dropzones are within driving range. See what is going on when you are here. Expect to see more regulations and less customer service than you are used to. Try to ignore any bullshit you come across! Be aware that Perris is one of the better DZs in the world. If you expect that everywhere you'll probably be disappointed

Don't know if you've done a team before but I've not and now that I have one (or 2) I'm looking forward to this season more than any that I can remember.

Nicky has been flying the heli when it's been there before and seeing as he's moved in as CCI it could be there again, not heard anything official

The problem with comparing the costs of the insurance with other countries and complaining that it is so high is that our insurers are losing money year on year. Last years presentation showed that. Until they can make a profit on the business we're not a good prospect and noone else will be after us. That means either the premiums go up or the payouts go down (or the costs of running the insurance go down) Other countries may well be able to offer more for less if they are not paying out as much. It only takes a couple of large claims to stick costs up substantially. Whilst I do think it's fair that instructors riggers etc pay more as they are earning from the sport how much extra revenue would be made is questionable. It might also lead to an increase in the running costs negating the extra premium. I do think that it is right to allow foreign jumpers to jump here though. It is ridiculous that we're are the only (?) country to insist on membership being taken out. Also although we've not been a destination for foreign jumpers before the tunnels might alter that somewhat. There are a few dropzones near the tunnels and they might well attract more business from teams coming to train.

One DZ in the UK charges A license holders more for jumps. I asked them why and the answer was that they had problems with people not going for their B's and they couldn't get someone to Jumpmaster the load (different situation to the US, AFAIK. The plane must have a jumpmaster assigned and they must be a B license or above) They were having to put a staff member on the load to do that so added the charge to cover this / encourage people to get their qualifications.

Foreigners can't understand the difference between ale and lager. Lager, which is what everyone else in the world thinks of as beer is served cold Bitter, a darker beer is served warm, mostly - it's the way it's supposed to be served and tastes better that way - cold just removes any flavour (which is why american beer needs to be cold, it has no taste anyway so cold is the best thing going for it)

The hoops they were holding were in bedfords tunnel on friday evening and Milko mentioned something about Sky then.

don't go too soon - all the planes are in spain!

No, Vicki's bday has been there for years and years and years - anyone have a pops membership to hand?

Same here

Milko, Billy who else? wasn't much info the the website unless I missed it.

No it's cold and there are tunnels now

I think that Phil has it in the shop at Langar.

I think the record should be set by a trained up 4 year old 16 way team - should fit in nicely

What plane is that? dz.com list you as having a DO28 but http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=187 shows them as being tail draggers.

I'm not current in this but some of the Langar AFF packages include jump suit alti etc I'm not sure if they are included on the £1500 set. As others have said, there are no safety / old gear issues at Langar. There is a BPA Starter Mag available which is aimed at people about to start jumping (it's usually given to Tandem students after they've jumped) but you should be able to get a copy - either email the mag or ring langar and ask them to send you a copy, they have a whole bunch available. There is an article in there about UK vs Overseas. Naturally, being a BPA written article, there is a bit of bias there but also a lot of good info and answers to the sort of questions you are asking.

no but did say that the website had 1.5 million hits in 2 weeks - he might be getting rich!

Did anyone notice George P's The Toy got a mention in the Metro this morning?

Excuse my ignorance but the draw for 4 way and 8 way is the same - is this usual or a website error?

I followed this [url=http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/topsites/out.cgi?id=bachin&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.dropzone.ru%2f]link[/url] from the skydiving links page and the linked site caused a bunch of virus warnings to come from my pc. Might be worth removing this link or suspending it till the site is fixed if it is a legit site.