mr2mk1g

Thread title is somewhat missleading. All that's happening is that the 275 armed police officers on the force are carrying out 'normal' policing duties when not on a shout. They used to do traffic duty IIRC but so long as they're actually doing something it's a better use of the resource than simply having them sit about waiting for the phone to go.

An oak leaf cluster is part of military insignia. A clusterfuck is therefore a fuckup created by senior officers.

At the weekends this. Something a little more normal for the commute though.

It simply wouldn't be cricket dear boy.

Ah, in that case I'd probably go with "wankstain".

Point of order - in British-English the term "wanking" is pretty much reserved* for a description of the physical act of onanism. (cf the now-archaic, pseudo-dialectic, use of the term to mean "to cut class" e.g.: "wanking off school"). One can however be considered a "wanker", without specific reference to your masturbatory habits, but rather as an overarching comment on your wider personality traits. Here however, after some consideration, I would suggest the phrase, "being a bit of a twat" or perhaps the variant term, "something of a bell-end". In the alternative, one could employ the phrase "wanking in the wind", itself being a variant form of "pissing in the wind", though I am not entirely confident that the phrase adequately expresses the precise idiom for which you were searching. We Brits pride ourselves on having one of the most colourful and extensive ranges of profanity available to man. If anyone would like further assistance with British-English slurs and/or slanders, I can be reached via PM. It is, to say the least, a vast and expansive topic and I would not wish to invite further thread drift.

And having grown up in a country that plays that one with a stick played in an oval we know what we're talking about when it comes to boring.

Jump buddy e-mailed me this this morning. If I recall correctly, there's another friend in HD to my front/left and we're rotating the head-up piece to present to him for the dock. And what's this that's snaking up out of a pocket on my leg strap...? Ah, that'll be why I had to go get a new one when I came to pack. (Oh, and for anyone worrying about cloud-busting, this is in the UK where that's a damn nice jumping day).

Aren't they just sections of fishing pole? Get down to your local tackle shop.

I don't know about the relative merits of different fighter planes, but I'd love a ride in any of them. My childhood dream was to be a fighter pilot but I didn't have the eyes for it *sniff* Just the eyes? I didn't realise they made booster seats that big!

Is it unreasonable to ask? No. Is it unreasonable for them to say no? No. If you don't like that - take your money elsewhere next time. If you don't like the tone of their response - take your money elsewhere next time. If, overall, you think they gave you a poor service - take your money elsewhere next time and feel free to warn your friends off them whilst relating your experience.

I want to make this absolutely clear...this is NOT me Ha - and you know that's where at least half a dozen minds immediately went right? Tells a story in itself. To promise - I usually just have them off'd. Let me know if you want some numbers to call for some contacts with a 'particular set of skills'.

Interesting linked question is what's the max exit weight listed for the reserve and has that been exceeded and if so what is the implications on TSO etc... Or do we not want to re-open that old thread?

Good call. It takes a bigger man to listen that it does to fight.

Cross posted from a car forum I also read: www.telegraph.co.uk .. -about-the-D-Day-landings.html 1. Lieutenant James Doohan of the Winnipeg Rifles was shot in the hand and chest on D-Day. A silver cigarette case stopped the bullet to the chest, but the shot to his hand caused him to lose a finger. Doohan later became known to generations of TV viewers as the actor who played Scottie in Star Trek. While on camera, he always tried to hide his injured hand. 2. Celebrated war photographer Robert Capa was in the second wave of troops to land at Omaha Beach. His pictures of the event are known as The Magnificent Eleven – a title that reflects their number. Despite taking two reels of film, totalling 106 pictures, only 11 survived after 16-year-old darkroom assistant Dennis Banks dried them at too high a temperature. Related Articles 3. Juan Pujol was a double agent working for MI5, who helped convince the Germans that D-Day wouldn’t be in June. Bizarrely, his first code name was BOVRIL – but that was soon changed to GARBO as he was such a good actor. GARBO fooled the Germans so completely, Hitler awarded him the Iron Cross. As he was living in Hendon at the time, Pujol asked if they could post it to him. 4. On the morning of D-Day, J.D. Salinger landed on Omaha Beach with six chapters of his unfinished novel Catcher in the Rye in his backpack. In the afternoon, Evelyn Waugh, recuperating in Devon after injuring his leg in paratrooper training, finished the final chapter of his novel Brideshead Revisited. 5. The giant wall map used by General Eisenhower and General Montgomery at their HQ Southwick House was made by toy maker Chad Valley. 6. Lord Lovat led the British 1st Special Service Brigade. An inspiring but eccentric figure, he landed on Sword Beach wearing hunting brogues and carrying a wading stick used for salmon fishing. Working as an adviser on the film The Longest Day, Lovat woke up in a taxi surrounded by German troops and instinctively dived out of the car, but then realised they were just extras. 7. On the morning of D-Day, the House of Commons debated whether office cleaners should no longer be called ‘charladies.’ 8. News of D-Day reached POW camp Colditz via an illegal radio hidden in an attic. To avoid detection, the POWs used shoes with no tread that left no mark in the attic’s dust. On hearing the news, POW Cenek Chaloupka vowed that if the war wasn’t over by December he’d run round the courtyard naked. On Christmas Eve 1944, Chaloupka ran round it twice. It was -7 degrees Celsius. 9. Like many troops, Lieutenant Herbert Jalland of the Durham Light Infantry ran onto Gold Beach wearing pyjamas underneath his battledress, in order to prevent chafing from his backpack. 10. General Montgomery helped mastermind D-Day, the largest invasion the world had ever seen. His diary entry for the day read: ‘Invaded Normandy; left Portsmouth 10.30.’

Dunks also has a Caravan in addition to the (is it 2 or 3 now??) Beech 99's. The Beech's being the primary aircraft, quicker even than the Swallows' G92's and with a nice big door compared to what you often see on Beech's. Think he'll almost be lucky to find a 206 or 182 these days, never mind a DZ that operates one as their only aircraft. PS - VERY well done with the podcast. I've just finished the first 4 and I'm enjoying them greatly.

That's not the only chart out there, most manufacturers have them, some canopy specific, as do many national bodies – some are very complicated zone type charts factoring in planform as well as pure loading. You calculate your exit weight to be about 205lb giving you a wing loading of about 1.2:1 on your current canopy and perhaps 1.35:1 on a 150. For the canopy you currently jump, the manufacturer says a 1.3 wing loading is in the "advanced" category: http://www.flyaerodyne.com/pilotsel.asp For the comparable canopy from PD, (a Sabre 2) they would put your exit weight at somewhere between "experienced" (that's a category above "advanced" in their system) and "max" on a 150: http://www.performancedesigns.com/sabre2.asp Icarus give generic advice and put a wing loading of 1.3 into their 4th category "high performance": http://www.icaruscanopies.aero/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=653 Brian Germain (another manufacturer and canopy flight instructor) suggests most people with your experience and exit weight should be on a canopy of about 230 square foot and certainly no lower than about a 190: http://www.bigairsportz.com/pdf/bas-sizingchart.pdf The SIM suggests 1.2 max wing loading until D licence: http://www.uspa.org/SIM/Read/Section5/tabid/168/Default.aspx I gave up looking for national body charts but most are available on here somewhere via the search function.

Learn to pack.

There are several versions of the Triathlon, the CRW version is intended for sub-terminal deployments only.

lol, any of the 'old school' canopies. Triathlon maybe, if you're really serious. You'll not thank me though...

British Parachute Association

I recall being on a load with a static line student only very shortly after I qualified. I think they were on a short delay. Instructor dispatched them, good canopy seen then a cutaway. On the ground I asked out of interest what the problem had been. Apparently their legstraps weren't done up as tight as usual so on opening the rig lifted up their back, pushing the back of the helmet up so that the brim of the helmet came down over their eyes. The now blind student went through their post opening drills, couldn't see if the canopy was big and square so as per the drill, went straight to their handles. Their comment to me was "I thought everything seemed fine but I couldn't tell for sure so, to be on the safe side...". Err... you might want to chat that one through with your instructor...

A few years back we also had a freaking first jump student take a set of scissors up on their first static line jump and cut their way out of their harness to fall to their death. If they're that determined they're going to find a way.

Shayna Richardson.

So is everyone who keeps dropping in on this thread.