MarkF

I don't _think_ Baz (the pilot) jumps but he sure has a HEAP of fun flying jumpers. Up till last weekend he was regarded as one of the best jump pilots in the country. Now he's regarded as THE best and by a country mile..... Anyway I just got this..... A jumper by the name of "Simon Moline" had his reserve deploy in the door of the Cessna Caravan, and unfortunately it wrapped around the tailplane, breaking it off. All the other jumpers onboard got out by about 8'000ft, at which point the pilot, Baz Dawson decided to get out. He made his way to the door, only to find it jammed about ten inches open. After a lot of struggling, he managed to get it open, and bailed out, at less than 500ft!!!!!!!!!!!! a monumental effort by any standards. The poor soul whose reserve tangled with the tail plane rode it all the way down and died at the scene. An absolute tragedy, but the other jumpers can be thankful the pilot kept control of the plane, long enough for them to get out. It was the plane up at Batchelor, last year. Apparently the Porter at Barwon Heads had everything go awfully quiet at some stage as well. Dunno about that yet. (Barwon WAS where I jumped.) Ooroo Mark F...

Yeah... and you should see OUR (Australian) new tax form.... HAve a sneek preview at :- http://co3015053-a.sunsh1.vic.optushome.com.au/tax.jpg I bet that comes up as text and not a link.... Yeah and I know I haven't been here for muckin' fonths. Haven't jumped THIS YEAR yet and I've got somewhat Antsy..... I'm getting REALLY pissed at my arthritic feet. Oh well at least the new tax FORM is user friendly... Ooroo Mark F... P.S. In case anyone needs to know.... DO NOT TAKE VOLTARIN FOR PROLONGED PERIODS. When you stop the arthritis is worse AND your gullet / stomach has been irrepairably damaged. I hate all this bullshit.... Why can't I just NOT ache.... Sorry I needed to vent.

but you're only talking about FIZZY drinks. What about a good Metheglyn, or Mead to everyone else bar Mike...:-) Good traditional Druid recipes usually run to about 13 or 14% alchohol and contain enough esters 'n stuff to cause a Force 9 hangover. Sometimes even a Force 10... To all you brewers get hold of a good recipe and have at it. Be warned though that the resulting brew goes down a treat especially if served nice and cold. After a couple of bottles you'll be feeling no pain and probably shouldn't jump the next day. After a bit more the hangover will ensure that you don't jumop the next day...:-) The best recpie that I've found, so far, comes from "The Closet of Sir Kenelme Digbie Opened". If yoy want the recipe e-mail me.... Ooroo Mark F... Hmmmmmm it seems that the lcoal Goodyear shop is open late tonight (Saturday 22:15). Some, probably testosterone poisoned, idiot was just doing a bit of the old Circle Work in the ute out in the street. Shredded a read tyre to the BANG point... Hmmmmm Straaaange. (doin' circle work on bitumen I mean...)

Just part of lifes rich tapestry down under........ GEEEEZ I'm glad I don't play league.... I think I'll just stick to jumping, sounds a lot safer, on the whole...... Ooroo Mark F...

Was that the 30th this year ??? Damn, I've missed it. Oh well there's always 2005. You wouldn't happen to know about when it'll (the sun) appear then would you ??? A March / April date or a bit later ...??? Ooroo Mark F... Who got 'is 'ead 'orribly burnt yesterday...:-(

Got some very sacry news about a premature opening. The jumper transitiond into a sit and the pilot chute deployed between his legs, all at about 7500. The opening was INCREDIBLY violent resulting in a fractured pelvis, broken rib(s), both lungs punctured and partially collapsed, shattered vertebrae in the neck (more than 1). He had loss of feeling and movement in his limbs but this has substantially recovered. It was Voodoo rig at Cesnock (Ithink). Some other Aussi here may know who it is but I don't. Whoever, I'm sure that we all wish him a sppedy and complete recovery. I guess the lesson here is gear checks. Is EVERYTHING that should be tucked up nice and tight and out of the way ? Ooroo Mark F...

Bastard......I was hoping for a theological argument....:-) Ooroo Mark F...

Wish I could..... Wouldn't mind having a "Session" with Mad Cow. Followed by a LENGTHY conva..convales...recovery period of course...:-) I'm off to try out a new home this weekend.. Total Control at Colac. (The barwon heads bullshit gets to me...;-( ) Heard anything about Colac ? Seems to be a real small FRIENDLY relaxed C-182 DZ which suits me perfectly. Of course the fact that they don't do a million tandems helps as well...:-) Ooroo Mark F... Say g'day to cow for me will you... ta...:-)

Hmmm because I thought I was...:-) Ooroo Mark F... And of course the weather forecast doesn't look as good as it could...

An '83 rangie eh ???? I've got, or rather it's got me, an '82 rangie with BRAND ENW ENGINE, well a couple.....few....perhaps several thousand k's on it. The REAL reason for the engine transplant is that classic pre 5 speed RRs that have done HIGH milage have a tendency, a STRONG tendency, to drop the rear big end. With loud results that stop you from getting to the DZ...grumble...grumble. By high milage I mean anything with more'n about 200,000 k's. Mine had over a million k's and was about 250,000 from the last ring 'n bearing job. Anyway my beast... I s'pose I could just go outside and take a picture of the junior oil well that's growing in the back yard. I could show you that there is not one good suspension rubber in the thing. If I showed you the brake disks you'd accuse me of all sorts of stupidity, and rightly so...yeah, yeah I'll get to it...:-) The steering's got some slack in it but not _too_ much. It's the most fuel efficient vehicle on the market. i.e. It drinks vast quantities of premium fuel very, VERY quickly, providing that the Lucas fuel pump is awake. The electrics are by Lucas P.O.D. (Prince Of Darkness) which means that the car is always about to :- Stall for one of an enormous number of electrical reasons. Go very dark, preferably at speed (joke,,,:-) ) at night. The rangie hasn't had the LR instrument panel (another JOKE) type of fire yet but I bet Lucas put one in there just for fun...:-) I've had the bastard since new and have been abusing it ever since. I've just about got it to the point where I like it. i.e. Just like what I traded in for the RR. A LR SIIa. Couldn't get that stuck either. It only ever broke down once too in nearly a million k's over shit outback "Roads" and """Highways""". Oh and I've got a Rover P6 ( it's a REAL ex panda car Mike...:-) cost a fortune to ship it here...:-) ) that's gradually making it's way to concors condition... Ooroo Mark F...

Hmmmmmmm... Blokes have this problem. (I are one so I've had a bit of experience in this area....trust me...:-) ) Blokes, by and large, just CANNOT handle women doing something they haven't got the courage to do. If you doubt me, have a look at blokes' reactions when they find out for the first time that you jump. See....:-) Eventually, in a relationship, the bloke gets quite tired of this behaviour and tries to get you to stop, usually by saying something like "Wouldn't you please consider stopping jumping ??? " Doesn't work of course. Then the bloke tries demanding that you stop. The idiot only makes things worse. The only thing left now is stupid testosterone driven mind games. Guilt is an easy weapon to use so we use it. Just sit him down and TELL him that you intend to continue jumping and that the guilt trips are a waste of time and effort and that HE should get out more and that HE is turning into a couch spud. Sure he'll be pissed at you, that's just testosterone so don't be _too_ concerned about it, but eventually he'll take up something "Adventurous" as well. That way you get to fight over money and whos turn it is for a week away. Ooroo Mark F...

Zelda, I wURK as a contractor and get to do at least 2 and usually 3 job interviews a year. There's at least two ways of approaching the dilema. You can fail to metion it totally. When they eventually find out and ask why you didn't mention it the interview you can tell 'em that they didn't ask about all consuming passions. They only asked about sports and pastimes...:-). You can just mention it casually, as in: "oh yeah, I jump a bit. Don't get the chance as much as I'd like but...". Totally failing to mention that if you DID get the chance you'd eat and sleep on the way to altitude because you're jumpin' 25 hours a day 8 days a week 53 weeks a year. Or you can use my ploy...:-) Go through your 'accomplishments', in my case it sort of goes... Several unsupported, extended bicycle trips trhough arid areas, carrying up to 3 weeks food adn 5 days water. Extended solo bushwalks ........etc. By the time I get to skydiving they've got me pegged as crazy. Then I tell 'em it all teaches responsibility, clear thinking under pressure, and sound RISK managagment practices. Of course I totally fail to tell 'em that I only want the job until I've scraped enough cash together to get the next expedition under way. (Long, aarid area, unsupported trips are as expensive as jumping...:-( 4 people, 8 weeks, arid and dry costs about 10k Australian EACH with no refunds for bad weather etc. ) Ooroo Mark F...

"You know you are a akydiver when: Your boss thinks you are nuts because everytime you pager goes off you pitch your wallet!" Hmmmm I _do_ rather like that....:-) Ooroo Mark F...

Probably for the same reson they call 'em "Freeways" ??? :-) Ooroo Mark F...

SkySlut asked "Can he deploy this canopy at terminal??? " The answer has to be ;- So what difference would it make if he could ?? :-) Seems to me that it's very, Very, VERY small. The speed of that thing........ Ooroo Mark F...

Ummm...Thinks......takes pain killers...... 1. skydiving cycle tourist. 2. skydiving bushwalker. 3. skydiving photograhper. There that's better. I feel somewhat more, well,,,,er,,,, DEFINED really..:-) Anyway wingy you US military people put on a HELL of a diwplay at the Aust. airshow at Avalon. The f16 may be noisy but the b52 is a LOT noisier. The prize for LOUD just has to go to the Boneyard Warrior (Australian F111) doing a full afterburner takeoff...:-) I've put some pix up on http://members.optushome.com.au/forsythm/ (i bet i screwed that up again...) A photographers pass lets you get very, VERY close to the action. Like about 20' from the runway edge sort of close...:-) Ooroo Mark F... Edited by markf on 3/14/01 04:41 AM.

Right, lets have another go..... http://icaruscanopies.com/multimedia/ and I bet I still managed to stuff it up...;-) Ooroo mark F...

Have a look at http:// www.icaruscanopies.com/multimedia/ Ooroo Mark F...

Hey zelda, look in your private messages. The rest of you will just have to wonder...:-) Ooroo Mark F...

Only too glad to help mate. Problem is that sheep are the wrong department. The kiwis are much more adept at dealing with sheep than we are....:-) Best you talk to them. Better yet send 'em to France. ( I can't believe I said that.......hmmmm I can actually) Mark F... Hmmmmmmm I feel a bad dose of cynicism coming on. Best I go and have a coffee and a few cones...:-)

> i assume that anonymous is you mark f > hope u new i was joking :-) Yep I knew that...:-) > thats only cause its been pissen down over here :-) well > how come everone say that melbournes always rainen then ?? You're a Queenslander right ? Of course it's raining, it's the bloody WET season after all and admittedly this year it's been pretty damn WET. Northeast NSW seems to have copped HEAPS this time. Kempsey's still swimming...:-) ( for you foreigners, swimming somehow seems to suit Kempsey) While on the weather subject, it never ceases to amaze me that the Nationals are held in QLD in the middle, well maybe not quite the middle, of the wet season....:-) And don't you know anything ? In Melbourne it only rains / blows / becomes unjumpable on weekends...:-) Weekdays are perfect, gives us something to moad about to our workmates. You know..."I couldn't (insert activity here), the weather sucked BIG time on Sat. and was Worse on Sun. Now it's Monday and LOOK at it. PERFECT..AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH" Ooroo Mark F...

Patkat said :- Absolutely right, Laz - which explains Skyhawk's high opinion of his homeland. When ya start at the bottom every direction you go is up! -------------------------------------------- And don't you forget it! As we speak there are armies of Australians ready, willing and able to march on UP. For years they have been preparing themselves for this mission. They've been improving their physical condition by playing the collision sport known as Aussi Rules. Their strength has been increased to mighty proportions by the consumption of the "Cold Pie and Warm Beer" football meal and now they are READY. Currently we are Down Under but we will, sooner than you think, be Up Over. Now behave or I'll send an aggrieved New South Welshman to deal with the lot of ya...:-) NSW is where the original penal colony was and they're _still_ narky bastards in that part of the world...:-) Ooroo Mark F...

Iflyme wrote :- Hold on a second ... if the spots Tourism Australia run on our local tv station are true, it's NEVER anything less that fab in Oz... you know, 'shrimp on the barby and all that rot... I'll visit your photos page when you've got the pix up! Oroooo (loved your Olympics - one of our local guys won the triathalon! And we had a dance group from some "Port Something" in town a few weeks back - they were great)... Frank Yeah but the TV ads don't show the south-eastern Australian late summer WIND. It's never that strong, about 20 or 25 knots...:-) Otherwise blue skies and warm air. When the only problem with the weather is that it's a few knots too windy it can be said that the weather truly sucks...:-) i've stuck a few pics up, some are airshow and some aren't, they're the piccies that I use in my screen saver..:-) As time permits I'll put up some more airshow stuff... The olympics were indeed great. If you lived away from Sydney. For the average person the cost of living for about 2 months went up about 25 to 30% depending on the suburb they live in. Me ? I live in Melbourne...:-) Ooroo Mark F...

Man, I didn't walk, as such. I RAN...:-) That episode scared the SHIT outta me. The old Strato Star eh. My first instructor had one and he was toying with the reefing system as opposed to a slider. The reefing system was the preferred choice with the Cloud and Bill thought that it'd work just as well on a Star. Wrong...:-) You should've heard him. From what I understood his parachute was the illegitimate offspring resulting in a union between a bedsheet and a tangled ball of twine. Of course this is a public forum so I can't tell you what he _actually_ said, even if I could remember it....:-) When you say "it won't quit you even if you quit it" you're spot on. In all the time I was away from jumping I never went more than a couple of days without thinking about it. Now I'm just pissed off that all I did was bloody well think about it when I should've been acting...PAH Ooroo Mark F...

Iflyme wrote :- Hey, Mark, nice to see you here on the new DZ.com ... how did your airshow experience wrap up (I enjoyed the pix you posted in the final days of the old forum!)? Frank Well I've just about got the digital images sorted out. There's about 10,000 of 'em. Got about a dozen real good keepers. As for the film..... Well I've finished the processing ( 91 rolls Ekatachrome 64 ) and I'm starting to grow the skin back on my fingers (chemicals) so now all I have to do is mount the buggers and look at 'em. If my strike rate holds good it means that in total I'll get 15 or 20 REAL good shots. A most satisfactory outcome. The final outcome is that so far I've got my investment ( passes, accreditation, transport, film, processing.....) well and truly back which is a good thing as I expect the returns from that event and another (Grand Prix) to pay for my skydiving till next year. Anyway now that I've got a bit of time I s'pose I'll have to get http://members.optushome.com.au/forsythm/ cranked up. After all I've nothing else to do, apart from housework, shopping, serviceing the car etc. There's no hope of jumping, the weather sucks... Ooroo Mark F...