alain

I'm unfortunately moving to the "maybe" list :-/ Traumatic Lumbar disc herniation after lifting some heavy stuff in a bent waist position a few days ago. It's not too bad for now but could easily get ugly with a combination of too much driving + skydiving. So 10 days of rest and anti-inflammatory drugs and I'll see what's going on :-/

err... I'll go camping then

count me in :) 1. Zun 2. Sylvain 3. Airowpoint 4. Gert (one of my seven second-best Facebook friends!) 5. Gadget (Hans on 5th position - how could this happen?) 6. xnawakx 7. redfox 8. Patrick de Guillebon 9. Alain 10.

1. Werner (NL) 2. Ludwig (SE) 3. Martin (SE) 4. Sara Hall(SE) 5. Alejandro Lopez (SP/BE) 6. David Haygarth (UK) 7. Tomas 7even (SE) 8. Jarno Cordia (NL) 9. Patrick de Guillebon (FR) 10. Joaquim "Italiano" Forasetto (SE) 11. Gustavo Cabana (SP) 12. Benny (DK) 13. Mette (DK) 14. Tim Van Eester (BE) 15. Bavo 16. Gert Michiels (BE) 17. Pierre Pascal (UK) 18. Kaatje the pink bird (NL) 19. Miikka Sakari Oksanen (FI/EE) 20. Sylvain Karpf (FR) 21. Alain Chanclou (FR) Maybe: Tristan Virgin-Burner Hans (aka Gadget) Bassie Danny Piisfish (from 28 april ? )

yep, I'll second that, and please note as well that AAD are compulsory in France. another thing : a foreign jumper with a license from a FAI member federation can get a free temporary "foreigner license" when registering at the dz. That's basicaly an "aeronautic" insurance that covers any third party damages that you may cause while skydiving. I'm not sure that it covers your self nor your transportation back home if you get injured. best thing is to get in touch with the staff of the dz you're going to.

are you serious ???

do you mean 120USD one way or does it include the way back ?

how about weather this time of the year ? (temp, clouds, rain, vind...) would the costal road from the international airport to Higerote be a good idea ? I understand a 4x4 is needed, but what about safety and how long travel time ?

the bridge is not at risk to colapse but DID ACTUALY collapse http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/2006/01/06/no-longer-a-bridge-to-caracas/ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&refer=latin_america&sid=akU0azyI5d84 http://caracas.usembassy.gov/wwwh2767.html http://es.news.yahoo.com/05012006/24/foto/people-walk-over-cracked-bridge-that-was-closed-in-caracas.html http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/photos.cfm?ID=s0007036 http://english.eluniversal.com/2006/01/07/en_pol_art_07A651641.shtml http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=47490 http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=47603 sea or air is the only way out...

I was wrong. the international airport is actualy here 10°36'09N 66°59'38W and I guess that going through Caracas is actually the only way unless you go by plane to the DZ.

including drop 3000ft above la playa ? joking appart, C206 would be a nice plan B

but we don't have to go to Caracas, right ?

wow, not so cool wondering if there would be so local flight from caracas to the dropzone... I got in touch directly with Giancarlo (who is in Dubai right now), -thanks beto74- : it appears that Internet access is tricky from the dropzone, which is why we don't get quick replies from skydive venezuela. Alain edit, my translation of the french embassy website: edit one again: good news for us is that the airport is on the right side of Caracas when going to the DZ, check google earth: international airport : 10°29'10N 66°50'39W the DZ: 10°27'42N 66°05'37W

Hi there, I have done a quick search in this forum but did not find a lot : Has any one been to skydive venezuela recently ? How is skydiving (wind, weather, °F, ...) ? How about life & accomodation down there , wondering if bunks are up & ready ? My ticket is booked, I'll be there in a month but i still don't have any accomodation. please don't reply 'email them' coz I've done that and they don't answer

I've been jumping my S-fly right after 5-6 coaching jumps on BM classic. It's a 1st gen, made end of 2003. The new ones (2005') are basicaly the same wing but with better materials and imrpoved built quality. I'd give a 5 for those ! The S-fly is easy to use. Unlike some top notch rivals like S3 or MTR2, the leg wing is not huge and therefore easy to dialup for a beginer. Over all performance is very good though, I've been flying side to side with a GTI and I'd say the S-Fly is better. I Did not get a chance to fly with S3 bird mens. Rigging up is actualy done in less than five minutes, thanks to those zippers. Now, good thing with the S-Fly, and I'll go against the prview review on this, is how easily you get in (before boarding) and out (after opening). Once you get the right way, it takes nothing more than 2-3 minutes to get in: you don't have to plan far ahead before boarding with the S-fly :) Unzipping arms and legs and removing booties is nothing more tricky than a classic. The S-Fly is suitable for complete beginners on that matter, and no big deal with a small harness sensitive canopy (I'm flying a crossfire2 @ 1.6:1) My bottom line is: if you want the best absolute performance the S-FLY is probabely not for you. But if you accept to trade a little top end performance for global hassless use and flight, this is for you.

are you using the ccd stabilizer and auto focus ? how many shots do you get in one skydive ? (or are you only shooting when you thinks it's good) are you using a 40x or 80x CF card ? thanks for input :)

agreed, but If you can't get both, go for the 0.3 (it will do allright with a slightly zoom in up to 0.5)

I've not been charged providing the camera was still within the 2 year warranty, I have no idea of labor cost. do you mean Sony want's to charge you for fixing a product that is still in warranty, or am I getting it wrong ?

true, that's probably what caused my lanC failure (with cameyeII) good point on the RCA plugs outside of the helmet (mine is a FFX), I'm going to set up something like that and therefore unplug everything at most once a day instead of once a jump.

wondering if sony's legendary quality is still in the newer models... (mod's: sorry if something like that as been started before but i did not find it) can you please post: -brand and type you're (or have been) jumping - how many jumps before something wrong happened (or how many over all if nothing's wrong) - description of failure - classification of failure: - minor (can be fixed at low cost or does not affect overall function) - major (can be fixed but cost more than 50% of an equivalent new cam) - total (one destiny: garbage) - user related (you droped it from 12'000, whatever...) me: sony PC101 300 skydives before LANC craps out. Fixed under the 2 years warranty (no idea of what the cost would have been if I had to pay to fix it, but I guess not so much. I put that in the minor failures category) the basic idea is to feed a spread sheet like: brand / type / total jumps / good / minor failure / major failure / total failure / user related failure and show strenght/weakness of each type. thanks for input :)

oops, I'm confused... I've tried searching but with the wrong spelling the post is [url=http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=411268;search_string=riser%20inserts;#411268]here[/url] thanks anyway

I've read a post in this forum a while ago but I can't find it... that was relating some safety day regarding the riser insert benefits (comparing cut away effort with vs w/o in these opening situations: straight, spining with no twist, no sping with twsit and spining with twist) does anyone remeber that one or knows where to find the report ? thanks !

ok, thanks ! 'just found a pic of those B12

I've allready found a lot of stuff in this forum but I still have one question pending... my concerns are 1 safety 2 durability 3 price 4 re-sale value look and fashion are not a concern options I've allready chosen are: hip articulated harness standart backpack (not quilted) standart hardware (no stainless or deluxe) large ring type 8 22" risers with inserts type 8 chest strap no cut-in laterals cardura BOC freestyle handle collapsible ZP PC wingsuit friendly options (9' bridle & opened bottom container) can someone explain what are the thread-thru and B-12 leg starp hardware ? pro and con of those ? any comments on my choices are welcome

strait from google: NTSC stands for National Television System Committee http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SCMS/training/general/details/ntsc.html PAL stands for Phase Alternation by Line http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SCMS/training/general/details/pal.html