Bokdrol

I got a bit more info (2nd/third or maybe even 4th hand so factor that in) on some of the issues that weren't made clear from a skydiver's perspective in the documentary (1) The rig was military club hire gear taken out on the Saturday but not jumped due to a weather day. It should have been returned to the gear store on the Saturday but was kept out overnight and the main was allegedly doctored on the Saturday (2) the reserve was allegedly done on the Sunday in the cubicle. (3) an experienced rigger was in court and did the reserve job in a similarly confined space, in the given time, to support the prosecution.

So, have you decided what you are going to do next?

The photo ID thing has been trialled in UK local elections so it's not something new. Most people turned away at trial/local election time simply forgot to bring some form of ID with them. If you don't have a photo ID you can go on the YouGov site and apply for one. Even the ubiquitous technophobe OAP will carry a bus pass, which is an acceptable photo ID document. There's little or no excuse.

My observations exactly. Plus there was possibly an infant in the cubicle with him too. I'm sure Cilliers' defence must have covered this vital aspect in the trial, but even then, the fact that Mrs C. said at the first trial and under oath, that she 'may have got rid of a perfectly good main' (plus other stuff in his favour) and I'm you would be forgiven for doubting the conviction. I also felt that the 2 Wiltshire Constabulary I/O s had him hung drawn and quartered pre-trial, their main contention being that he was a nasty geezer and a serial lover-boy. I couldn't figure out the D/I bloke who seemed a bit of a jobsworth but I guess that's detectives for you, but the lady detective certainly had an axe to grind over male philanderers and used quite a lot of her 15 mins of fame to highlight her own personal issues vis a vie males in general. But the clincher for me was the Ch4 front page photo of Victoria, a Grand Caravan in the sky and a paraglider flying below it....(that's a joke for some of you).

Headline over here ' Sensational upset awakens USA from 100 year cricket hibernation'. I doubt that'll really be the case (it was a BBC headline after all) nevertheless, for anyone who has any interest in the game it was brilliant all round - most especially the super over. As with most unfancied teams who put one over a far bigger and more experienced team, the USA may now have played their 'final'. Time will of course tell.

That's very relevant (and my schoolboy '2 way radio' error, too). Thanks for a clearing up my non-instructor waffle. I'm sure that any inaccuracies/misconceptions would be ironed out at ground school.

You can sign up for doing AFF level 1 only. That way you don't commit to the whole expensive course and it's (possibly) not much more £ than a tandem. You'll get ground school training on one day. That'll teach you the essential basics of skydiving, emergency procedures, body position, equipment etc etc. and then next day (or even same day if you are lucky) you go up with 2 instructors who will keep a grip on you to keep you stable until it's time to deploy your nice big, slow, easy handling student canopy. An instructor will even deploy for you if you want or if you can't. You'll then get a brilliant solo descent from about 6k. Far more exciting than a tandem and it's 'real' skydiving. Once you are under canopy you get talked down to the ground by 2 way radio comms, and even told when to flare for landing. Try it. If you like it, you can continue. If not, you've done a proper jump, not a carnival ride.

Your annual regional Assn. membership (USPA/BPA/BS or whatever) should cover third party insurance. But I suggest that you double check this at your local DZ.

Looks like fun. Do the toilets work? At my age I need to pee at about 10grand....last time I jumped out of anything that had seats that comfy looking it was an old Antonov Bi-Plane that took about 30 mins to get to 4 grand for h&p only.

There's a lady by the name of Fleur Jones who coaches. FB group Fly With Fleur.

I'm just guessing here that you are going to be (a) a tandem student/passenger rather than (b) a solo/AFF level 1 skydiver. There is a difference between the landing routines on (a) and (b). If you are attached to an instructor who takes you for the jump/ride on a tandem (a) the former type of jump, the instructor controls that landing with certain input from you, the student/passenger, and you are going to have to lift your legs up high for the landing. Tandem landings are typically, although not always, slid in on your butt. If you can't lift your legs with ease as you will be instructed, you might want to have a second think about attempting the ride. Although 99% of tandem landings work out ideally, I've seen some that don't. If you are doing the latter (b) solo/AFF jump you'll be landing on your own, controlling the landing/flare via radio comms. from your instructor. Solo AFF student canopies are big and forgiving and you 'should' have a relatively soft landing given that AFF students only jump in pretty clement conditions and you are also talked down by your main instructor. There is likely to be some leg shock on landing whatever the situation and if you can't PLF (that's a sort of landing roll like you see the paratroopers do in the movies) or are bothered about doing one in an emergency, you should also have a second think about it. Although I don't have the inside line on joint dislocations of any type, my understanding is that, although they may seem repaired, another one is always just waiting for the wrong conditions. If you have any doubts, don't jump. Disclaimer: As with all skydiving/medical situations, the only people to advise you whether or not to jump are your instructors and a medically qualified Doctor. Don't take what I have said as gospel. I am neither a tandem instructor nor a Doctor nor do I have experience of dislocations.

Would be interesting to find out how this all washes out. Seems to me from the list that suicide/potential suicide/skydiver error/ (I'm guessing possibly an unsecured chest strap in more than one instance) health issues and simple bad luck could be the main contributing factors. I don't know the DZ or it's owner. If what I've posted could be legally misinterpreted in any way please would admin delete the post. Thank you. They're just my observations from a non-instructor/DZO fun jumper's perspective.

There seems to be one called 'Blue Sky Adventures' aka Skydive Stuttgart. Looks like they may be a weekends only operation. e-mail [email protected].

Depends how far you are prepared to travel. Empuriabrava and Seville in Spain are the only ones I've jumped at and they are open all year round. There'll be a rigger at or attached to most DZ's - I've only used Empuriabrava for repack though. The loft is on site.

The last time few times I was at Empuria ( last visit Sept 22) the old bunkhouses were still there but didn't looked occupied - they were behind a gated fence. Check with the DZ if you ever plan to go there.

I'll add my 6p worth because, like you, I started as an 'older' jumper who'd done some jumps/tandems and decided to get into the sport. I decided after 100 jumps or so to purchase my own equipment from new having had enough of hiring, often jumping a different rig most times I jumped at various DZ's in UK/Europe. I went back to my AFF instructor and asked for advice. We decided that, at my age and skill levels, I probably wasn't ever going to downsize. On his advice, I purchased a good Javelin container with a nice big Spectre ( although somewhat smaller than the student stuff and some of my previous hire kit) PD reserve and Cypres2. Back then the whole shebang cost me £4650.00 (Sterling) and lead times were minimal. I'm still jumping the same kit, although the AAD has expired and been replaced with new. Given the hire cost of £10-15 per jump plus packing depending where you jump, it 'paid for itself' some years ago. The Spectre has nice soft openings and is easy to handle. I'm not really qualified to comment on the technical in's and outs'. Suffice it to say, I'm still very happy with my original purchase.

I've been reading excerpts from the memoirs of General Keith Coster who was in command of the Rhodesian Army during the Second Chimurenga, or War of Independence, in the 1970's. Prior to his service in Rhodesia, Coster was an allied fighter pilot who was shot down and imprisoned in Stalag Luft III in Sagan, from which the Great Escape was launched. One of his fellow POW's was Paul Brickhill, an Australian, who wrote the book about the escape. However, my question concerns an anecdote in the memoirs. Quote '' We had a USAF lieutenant-colonel in our room called Jamie Murray. He had bailed out of his Flying Fortress [B-17] at 30,000 feet, and decided to free-fall most of the way. He became so intrigued with the free-fall, that he only just got the parachute open in time'' Unquote So this question is probably more for the HALO experts out there, preferably if they are WW11 Flying Fortress buffs. Would this have been possible? My simple mind tells me that Coster's recollection might have been muddied over the 50-60 years that passed between WW11 and his penning his memoirs. Oxygen deprivation (unless there was a bail-out bottle in those days) and therefore hypoxia must surely have come into play at 30k and the opening shock at terminal from a WW11 bail-out rig would have been immense. I don't believe that sliders had been invented back then. Probably didn't have an alti either but then the USAF did fly their missions in daylight which would have helped a bit. As an aside, another of Gen Coster's fellow POW's was an RAF Sergeant Alkemade, who was blown out of a Lancaster bomber without a parachute. He fell from about 16,000 feet and landed in a very deep snowdrift. He sprained his ankle and lived to tell the tale...

Depends where you jump I guess. In the UK, BPA (now BS..) sends freeflyers out before flat. The DZ's I've jumped at in Spain do the reverse. And just to be different, at Empuriabrava, tandems can often be despatched between fun jumpers, depending on the jump run and wind conditions. It's coastal and there's a big town just off the DZ, between DZ and ocean.

LOL - many years ago when I was serving in Africa, long before I ever jumped out of a plane, our equivalent of a weather hold recreation game was when we were on Ops but back at base camp. If we were lucky base was near a Police post with a swimming pool. The game was called 'the dance of the flaming assholes'. Strip naked, put a rolled up newspaper (yes, it was that long ago) between the cheeks, prime it with a bit of accelerant, and set it alight. The winner was the person who achieved the most distance around the pool before diving in for relief. Makes some of today's drinking games seem tame by comparison. It's not fun being sent out a day or so later with a burnt ringpiece.

As my eldest daughter would say, when she realises she's farting against thunder and want's to exit the discussion holding the moral high ground - whateverrrrrrrr

Actually ' the troops' are the only people in this sorry witch-hunt for which I have any respect. Certainly not the 'investigative journalists' (won't call them woke left wing for fear of reprisals lolll) or the faux morally outraged.

So true - we must have met!

I think 'substantially true' were the beak's exact words. That was on 4 of 6 allegations and the other 2 were found to not be even substantially true. That creates some reasonable doubt. I've no doubt that the woke left media will get their day in court to parade more heroes' heads on the parapet of investigative journalism. As for me. well, my head is still stuck firmly under the sand, as you put it. And there, on this and on other similar situations, it will stay planted.

As a person with a particularly low 'body count' I find this type of thread a bit weird, to put it one way. To make a comparison, when I served I always found that the guys with the tallest tales and war stories in the pubs off base were the guys who exaggerated or simply had fertile imaginations and a need to be seen as heroes. As the old saying goes, what happens on tour, should stay on tour.

So, I've started watching this TV series called Yellowstone. Standard cowboy fare, lots of mumbling, brawling, the odd loose woman, the obligatory family tragedy which haunts everyone, the fall-guy/eedjit and the occasional trip to the 'train station' - it's sort of like Clarkson's Farm on speed and steroids. I'm a bit late to the show because I don't watch too much TV except in winter. It took most of the first series to get into it because I really thought it was overacted, exaggerated, Dallas-type BS. Then, blow me down, I read about this chap named Murdaugh from one of those powerful rich American family-type dynasties. He's on trial over there alleged to being at least complicit in offing the better part of his family, was addicted to drugs, and embezzled the equivalent of the GDP of a medium sized European country to fund his habit (again, allegedly). Maybe, Yellowstone might be not too far off the mark. We live a very simple life here in the UK and I look forward to continuing series 2 with less scepticism.