Spike

Agreed.

Have to agree with Ian, only got bit by Kenny when I deserved it. Mostly Now there are a couple of other characters at Hinton and Headcorn and Chatteris and.... who throw thier wieght around. As a newbie if you can hang on in for a while you get to see that its generally nothing personal, just how these types are. But I do reckon there are a proportion of newbies who give up, because instead on receiving mentoring and coaching, all they get is bull$h!t and public humiliation. As a visitor to a new DZ it doesn't make you feel welcome to be put down in public. A certain videographer at Hinton loudly put me down because I didn't dock with a friend on a tandem, cheered me up no end when it turned out he switched his camera OFF just before climbout. Pretty dissapointed for my friend though. I guess its up to us friendly, welcoming, helpfull and happy skydivers to keep an eye open on our local DZ arseholes. When we see someone being unfairly blasted, I guess the point is to make sure the victim knows we're not all like that.

I don't think Skylark has either.

You mean the oversize version? Nope, you'll find that down at Hinton now.

Is this a continuation of Alanas thread? Come to Nethers

Can't imagine where you mean Vicki, well maybe I can, though I guess every UK DZ has its own prize chump. You mean this thread?

Hi Emma, How about earning an income under false pretences? My job is booooring, but I haven't actually done any work for about 6 weeks now and my boss doesn't seem to have noticed. If I can stretch it to a year and still get my annual bonus, I think I'll be made for life. Did you hear where you came in at the APA? Ivan was asking.

Sorry Ivan, Don't know about the seniors, But team Aspect (Pam, John, Ash and Mar, Chris Davies on vid) came 5th out of 15, placing them highest of the civvie juniors. Yahoo... See if I can find out any more.

Ok, lets up the ante, Come to Nethers and I'll teach you to eat and breath fire. And if that doesn't grab you then I'll astound you with my origami skills. You'd be amazed what I can fold from a square of paper on the way to altitude. Plus we got, jugglers, poi, diablo, devil sticks... Double plus, there's a beer behind the counter for you already. Chocolate... what'll it take?

Hey Ian, Year 2000, same affluence, same crisis... I did sell up, pack it all in and went travelling round Australia for a year. The best time of my life ever, EVER. 2.5 years later, I'm back here in the UK, back in regular life, easier job than before I left, better pay, fantastic benefits, and yet all I can think about is how happy I was when every minute was mine to do just as I wanted. If I thought life was bad before my year out... As they say, be careful what you ask for, you just may well get it. Having had it, and liked it, I'm trying to figure out how to earn a (good) living from doing nothing! Break it down, what's getting to you? The job, the climate, people, being in a rut? Boringstoke... me too, we should meet for a beer, PM me. I'm sure I could persuade a gorgeous local young skychick to come along too and dispense some optimism.

Alana, so did you decide where your gonna jump when you get here?

Nethers gets my vote. Heard good things about Weston, but never been there myself. Did my fjc at Langar and had a great time, but that was years ago. Ok, will this swing it? Call in at Nethers and there'll be a beer waiting

If you want to stir it up why not post a UK DZ popularity poll. My vote goes Netheravon. If you catch the train to Boringstoke there are a couple of jumpers who could be persauded to give you a lift the rest of the way... and before the inuendo begins, at least one of them is a girl.

I've jumped at each of the DZ's below bar one, can you guess my current home? Guess I'm gonna get flamed for this but IMHO... Headcorn + Excellent bunks, friendly jumpers + DZO, Pete Sizer and Zygosis (home FS team) rock. -Sloooow turnaround, altitude holds due to proximity to Gatwick/Heathrow, crap showers open to public, landing area is a long walk from packing shed, cafeteria is very expensive. Netheravon +Multiple aircraft, generally good turnaround, no altitude problems, welcoming friendly staff, plenty of bunks, good toilet/showers, excellent bar/disco area, cheep beer, good food Ok prices, huge indoor packing area, largest landing area in europe, free camera slot for FS teams who register to train at Nethers. -open to civvies weekends only, if you don't want to party on Friday/Saturday nights bring a tent, reputation for military jobsworthiness (but unfounded in my experience, perhaps 'cause they're all away fighting) London Parachute School - I have visited this DZ but haven't jumped here so..... +Closest DZ to London -Altitude issues, landing areas are off airport, seeing people landing in ploughed fields put me off, I have white on my jump suit. North London Parachute Centre +Excellent packing area, friendly staff, good canteen. -Bit of a tandem/first jump course machine = slow, student/visiting jumpers landing area is a good walk from packing shed. Hinton, Banbury +Good packing area, mostly friendly staff, ok showers, toilets, manifest is lovely. -Tandem/ first jump course machine = slow turnaround, sometimes not helped by air traffic control, current aircraft not FS friendly, issues sharing airspace with gliding club. Getting to any of these DZ's by public transport is a mare, you really need a car, or a lift. And I think that turnaround at UK Dz's is always slow if you compare it to the slicker US DZ's (I feel the flame coming ). Wherever you go, your a jumper so your going to get a warm welcome, even if the weather is crap. British pubs are excellent places to be when the weather is truly $h!te. Cya

When I was checking out the deals I found Harrison Beaumont to be pretty expensive. I got my deal through AXA, but it was a travel policy and wouldn't cover you for injuries in the UK. Good luck

Hi Steph, Like Emma and Barry said, nothing will be decided till after the World Meet. The Crosskeys XL Tshirts are a wind up produced by the DZO at Crosskeys, they weren't commissioned by the team. See me sporting mine at Nethers. Blue ones Colin

Thanks for the advice folks, I'll be talking to my rigger at the weekend. Blue ones

Hi Alun, Love it, love it, love it.... I have a couple of reservations (no pun intended) but for the most part I'm really happy + I bought mine at "the right price". http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=510003#510003 Skystorm seemed to think the material was really slippy, but I find mine a breeze to pack compared to my team mates Sabre2. When its time to downsize I'll probably go for a Velocity. For two reasons, I demo'd one and liked it and I've taken quite a bit of coaching from XL and they all fly under velocity's. Cya

Hi folks, I jump a Chuteshop ZP.exe170 in a VortexII container and on my last few jumps my slider has stopped about a 1/3rd of the way down. I pump the rear risers and down it pops. I've searched through the posts and see that people say its not really a problem as you can get it down. I'm not concerned over my soft slooow openings, and its definitely not a streamer. Rather, I don't understand why the slider has started sticking, it used to come all the way down by itself. So my question is, what's changed? I haven't suddenly lost weight, nor upsized my main, or changed the way I pack. Anyone got any ideas?

Emma, you lucky lucky person, more tunnel time! Not jealous at all

Sure was, I had a great time, met some fab peeps. Team training most weekends now up to the Nationals, V2? I'll keep 'em peeled for you at Nethers. I like the way I don't need my ID on the gate, just so long as I keep using product

I've put about 160 jumps on a ZP EXE 170 in a Vortex II container, my 2nd rig since CAT10. I like it a lot, though I'd agree that when flying alongside other similarly loaded canopies I seem to loose height pretty quickly. I don't roll the nose or do anything else fancy and I usually get nice soft openings, just occassionaly I get 180 openings? But can't figure what I'm doing thats different in my packing or opening posture. If you get to take a look at the rig check out the grommets attached to the armoured cable which supports the cutaway cord and the yellow teflon cable. I've seen quite a few Vortex II's (mine included) where the grommets were badly pressed leaving a sharp edge which a rigger told me could cut through the cutaway loop. Apparently its a well known problem and if you take the rig to a dealer they should be able to order and fit a replacement FOC. I've also seen some new Vortex II rigs and they seem to have sorted this problem out. All in all, I really like my ZP.EXE and Vortex II combo, though when I downsize I'll probably change to a PD Velocity. Tried one at a PD demo day and loved it. Much better glide from the PD and it seemed to have a bit more umph left at the end of the flare. Hope this is helpfull.

Hi Emma, Just back from Cross Keys with XL. Weather was shitty, so the guys spent a lot of time with me going through exits and creeping randoms with alternate slots. Your right on about tail playing chase. Watching the vids from the last couple of training jumps I see myself in place waiting for the grips to arrive and then chasing off because the rest of the formation has moved off the centrepoint. Congrats on your result at the Southern Regionals, nice to see hard work getting results. Cya Colin

No worries Ben, and thanks to those who know better and gave some good advice. Entered 1st competition last weekend, 14 out of 19 and pretty happy with flying compared to many of the other teams. Especially seeing how out of control some of the quicker teams were. I know we'll build speed as we get more experienced. Right now, slower is faster works for us. Ben do you ever jump out at Brisbane Skydiving Centre, over at Willowbank? If you do, say Hi from Colin (AFF 08/01 - Just get out the f^cking door you Limey B'stard) to Scoffey the DZO for me. I'm new to tail and I've found the exits a bit challenging. On launching the exit, I find the trick is getting the timing exactly right and being low on the formation. For me I have to "feel" like I'm leaving early, to get it right. Though watching the vids I see that actually means I'm leaving just right. If I leave when it "feels" right then I'm too late and I end up high, stuffing it up.

Junior compettitions, so I'm trying to figure the randoms, its going to be a while yet before I try to get my head around blocks.