richardw38

I spoke with Aerodyne before I bought my rig. they confirmed that a 188zpx/smart 175 was suitable for an I5. After taking their advice I bought the whole thing from them. edit: and its not difficult to get the bag in the rig at all. Its very difficult for a newbie like to get the brand new main in the bag tho.......

It'll depend on the packing volume of the main and reserve you plan to use in it. I have an I5 with a Smart 175 reserve. I have a Pilot 188 ZPX as the main. it is what you'd call a "snug" fit. I doubt a 188 ZP would fit (if it is indeed one packing size larger).

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/baumgartner-8-craziest-skydives-time-121949137.html

here's a little info : http://www.apf.asn.au/Members/Overseas-Visitors-and-Non-APF-Members/Converting-Military-and-Overseas-Rigger-Qualifications/default.aspx

Thanks for the replies everyone. To deploy, I just reached around my back with my left hand, and was able to reach my Pud. I will take a pic when I get home tonight. As for surgery, this is the first negative comment re surgery, I will of course take that comment on board, and am seeing a specialist today. If there is an alternative to cutting me open, then I'm happy to consider it. I just want to be (fairly) sure my shoulder can get healed. I'm fairly sure the reason this happened is that I have/had got complacent about my "weak" shoulder, and didn't think about it when coming out of my steep dive. If I had kept greater control over my arm, instead of just popping in to the belly position (too relaxed), this wouldn't have happened. I'll see what the Doc says this afternoon. i think I made all the right choices during this incident. My chute is a Pilot 188 (loaded at 1:1), not exactly the Ferrari of the sky, so removing the brakes one at a time was easy. I also made sure to keep the left brake in my hand as I removed the right one, this meant I was applying the left brake as I reached for the right brake. I also had plenty of altitude, so if things got nasty I could always had cut away and use my Res. I also had time to test my one (weak, left) handed flare, and although I could only flare half way, I could keep the toggles in the middle, making it an even flare. The wind was also nice and steady, so I didn't have to worry to much about last minute adjustments. i did not use my Res.

aah look at the skill!, such amazing style, I wish I could FF so well!! oh yes, now I remember, isn't this supposed to be a belly jump?? ;)

As I was pretty high when it happened, I did try that, but it would not have worked. Maybe I have orangutang arms or something, but I simply reached round my back with my left hand, and was able to reach the far end of my BOC, grab my FF pud, extract the PC (making sure to extract the whole thing), and then flick it into the airstream. Since I have been aware that my shoulder might be an issue one day, I have practiced reaching like this on the ground. Glad it worked out as it should in the air.

Thanks Koppel, me too. The Pilot flew awesomely, even with a halfwit, one armed pilot at the toggles.

and what a lovely smile! its always important to remember to smile during the skydive!!

Well done Lex! It was a well planned jump! the operative word being planned!!! lol. I'm sorry I could not have been part of it. It turned out to be a great day for it.

So there I was having a good time, went into a steep dive to catch a buddy, as I popped out of my dive into the normal belly position I felt a click, and had a somewhat floppy arm. I told my buddy to get away from me, and managed to deploy the main with my left hand, but was prepared to grab the reserve. I was really hoping for no twists as I only had one hand left!! Chute opened fine, I managed to get both toggles in one hand, couldn't see the Dz as I was above cloud, so I slowly spiraled down to below the cloud cover, found the DZ and managed a great one handed landing, just dropping to my knees when I landed. We were the first out of the plane so were down wind, I just flew straight into the DZ, the little bit of wind helped slow me down a bit at flare. We tried to put the shoulder back in at the DZ but it wasn't happening, so I drove to the hospital, where they sorted me out. The gas took a while to arrive so I let the doc have a go while we waited. After 10 minutes of "fiddling" there was a wonderful "click". After that, a second xray to check its all ok, then I drove back to the DZ, for the rest of my day chatting an watching other jumps. All in all, I think my first "injury" went pretty well. flaring with my weaker left hand is harder than I thought, but I had a good few practice goes up high. As with all things Aussie, this was classified as an "incident" and required paperwork filling out, and I guess will appear in the next APF mag. People have asked me about downsizing in the past, but I am glad I am in no rush, and also that I don't jump if I think the wind is a bit dodgy. I sat out all of Saturday as it was a bit blustery. I fly a Pilot 188, if I had downsized to a 170, and this had happened on Sat in the wind, where I was up wind, instead of down wind, the landing may not have been so graceful. will be off to the doctors at some point to get a referral to a specialist so I can have my shoulder fixed properly. This is the third dislocation, first one in Skydiving. Anyone know the "downtime" for a bit of shoulder surgery? I hope I don't miss the whole summer.

well I wouldn't describe the student suit as mc hammer pants or anything. you are probably right, about body position. I am probably a little more relaxed now as well. The suit definitely has made a noticeable difference tho. I might borrow a student suit and compare just for interests sake.

not sure if you lot are taking the piss, but.... in student gear, wearing a baggy "normal" material suit I was falling at around the 95mph mark. I didnt want to wear lead, so I bought a Symbiosis LOPO, which is Nylon Taffeta fronted, with spandex arms and generally a tight fit. My fall rate is now in the 130's.

I can recommend a decent suit. I am 6'3 and 75Kg (guessing 150-160lbs), in student gear I fall like a leave, and had to fast fall or wear weight to keep up with most rounder ;) people. I don't want to wear lead, so I bought a tight fitting, low porosity suit. I now practice my slow fall a lot. ;) seriously, I went from 95mph to 135mph, just by changing suit. The first time I jumped it with other people was quiet a surprise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3A46wANgAA&feature=related I know some of you lot fly napkins, but this is just nuts! sorry 37sqft.....