accur8shot

I loved this place. Great facilities, lots of pros on hand, very frequent turns of the aircraft, great rental gear, and beautiful desert scenery and cool place in general. Flight school in-house, gear store, and there's a wind tunnel on site! The ONLY downside I can think of is that it's a bit far outside of Dubai - about 50 minutes, and I had written to them on FB to ask about transportation and didn't get a message back. I ended up hiring a taxi and paying him a bit to sit and wait for me for the 3 hours I was there. I paid a total of $90 for that, which is NOT bad considering what it would cost to do that elsewhere, but it was an added expense. Otherwise, loved this place and can't wait to go back.

I'm a skydiver, not a PETA asshole, and I think Dean Potter is a total dick for publicizing this stunt. Now there will probably be a bunch of other idiots who decide to traumatize their dog the same way, and many of them won't have the skills that Dean's acquired (or his luck). Doing things that risk breaking yourself is our personal choice in these sports. Risk breaking your dog because you thought it would be cool to fly with him, you're just a dick.

Well, that's sorta the problem. I've gained 20 pounds since buying the rig last Autumn and all of the sudden, leg straps flapping :-O On the upside, wingloading got a tiny boost. And PiLFly -- same problem can apply with leg straps constantly banging against my nuts at full speed! Just ordered elastic keepers from Chuting Star.

Thank you all very much!

Hey all -- looking for some advice. When I tighten the leg straps on my rig, i have enough excess so that I can roll the excess straps once at the bottom and tuck them into the pockets, but they frequently come out and I feel them flapping against my legs in freefall. The friction adapter is good, and the rig is only a few years old. Should I put a stow band on the leg straps to try to keep them in their pockets? Any other advice? Thanks.

I visited Brussels last September and jumped at Spa. I loved it - great dropzone, beautiful facilities, very modern and like a previous poster said HUGE landing area and fast planes. I had also heard that the other DZs mentioned are great, but I can only speak from experience at Spa. Great place to jump.

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I hate this toolbox... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/justin-bieber-banned-indoor-skydiving_n_3491280.html?ref=topbar

I was having the same problem and was getting extremely frustrated. I then got someone to shoot video of me from about 50' away and slightly above. That distance/angle allowed me to see my entire body position without the distortion of a close-up camera lens, and it was clear that - in my case - my arms were causing my spin. On my very next jump, problem was solved. Think about hiring a separate camera guy to shoot you from a distance where you can see your entire body position and identify what's going on. Good luck - you will work it out!

Does anyone on here jump at Skydive Ephesus in Turkey? I am going to be there in a few weeks and wanted to know what documents I need to secure before being able to jump. I tried emailing them but the email bounced back. Thanks!

What a great pic with your son, airtwardo! I hope to be able to have one of those photos in about 9 years.

I had a pulled adductor muscle and figured I'd just PLF if I was coming in hot. Result - tore the muscle right off the bone. Hello, Mother Of All Bruises! Good times. Moral: if you are going to gamble, sometimes you are going to lose

I have a suit by Freak'n Suits that has 'mini grips' on the arms and upper legs. Looks and fits like FF, but has the grips for RW. No booties, tapered legs. And it was cheap - less than $250 US!

If you bought a nice new car, and a month later the company announces that the brakes may or may not have a problem, and that - while they're not going to do a recall - pumping the brakes before you drive off somewhere *should* fix the issue, I think it would be reasonable to be a little concerned. I bought a Cypress that was manufactured in December. I have been pushing the button before every jump. But I'm not happy that I have one of the units in question. I deal with it, but am not happy about it. I am not banging down the doors of Cypress or SSK. As I said, I'm dealing with the issue. Regardless of any of that, there are some seriously dick-ish replies in this thread.

I did my tandem in 1996. I didn't start AFF until 2011. I didn't really get the rush from the tandem that I was expecting - in fact, after a few seconds in freefall, the instructor was yelling in my ear "ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU OK?", and when I yelled back "I'M FINE!", he said "WHY AREN'T YOU SCREAMING." I was just trying to enjoy the ride. Landed, thought it was cool having done it, but that was enough. In 2011, I was sitting in a booth at a trade fair in Las Vegas, and there were LCD screens across from me with a DVD on loop showing 2 guys in wingsuits proximity flying. The Vegas wind tunnel was right next door, so when the show ended I flew in the tunnel just because it was in my head. Called my girlfriend to tell her how cool it was, and she said "Let's go jump for real next weekend!" We went to a dropzone, decided to give AFF a shot - at least one jump. When I landed, the addiction began. That was 2 years ago almost to the day, and not 1 day goes by where I don't read, watch or do something related to the sport. It has changed my life. Do it!

I turn 44 tomorrow, don't eat well, but run a few miles every other day. Definitely an adrenaline junkie and my resting heart rate is in the low to mid 40s. Appointments with new doctors are always fun. The tech always says "I think I need to measure your heart rate one more time..."

I hope this isn't a dumb question, but does wind tunnel time count toward currency guidelines?

check to see if the little gasket is not getting in the way when you close it up. i just changed my batteries yesterday and had the same problem, but when I readjusted the gasket on the cap, it started working normally.

Hey thanks for the response - I had already left by the time you posted it. We ended up going to Spa and had an awesome time - excellent DZ. Next year, Hoevenen!

Thank you again, everyone - I was able to get a reservation at Spa on Friday. You guys are great.

Hey thanks for the replies. I leave for Europe on Thursday. I have actually convinced my work colleague to do a tandem - but so far all the DZs I've contacted are either booked solid for tandems or closed for competitions. This includes Zwartberg, Moorsele, Maubeuge and EPNC. I'm going to call Schaffen tomorrow. If there's anyone on here with 200km of Brussels that knows of a DZ where we can get a tandem in on Friday afternoon, Sept 7 or anytime Saturday, Sep 8, let me know. Thanks.

You know you're a skydiver when... the night before you're going jumping, you've already got all your gear and shit packed and ready to go and you've got 3 different weather sites up so you can analyze the data every hour.

Hello all - I am going to be in Brussels in early September with a free weekend before starting the work grind. Anyone have experience with any DZs in the area? There seems to be a few of them. Thanks for the input.

I like imagining the mice with miniature rigs and tiny goggles. Then again I can be impressed just by shiny objects.

I wanted to bump this because my mind was just thoroughly blown watching it. The tunnel flying is murderous!