Joellercoaster

That would be easier to agree with, if someone hadn't already done it. I guess we could argue the toss over that one for a while, but doesn't Mr Spielberg have more creative things to do with his time and talent? Either way, I'm sure I'm going to end up watching the damn thing anyway... I'll stay up late and drunk one night, or catch a plane somewhere, and Tom Cruise and his inevitable little sidekick will be there. Waiting. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

For that, Tom Cruise would need overwhelming presence -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I think the fact that even Spielberg is doing remakes now (what next? a comic book adaptation? A sequel of a comic book adaptation?) should be the final nail in the coffin for Hollywood. Oh, and speaking of which: Dakota Fanning is yet another sign of the Apocalypse. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Count the syllables First line five, second seven? Seventeen total -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Just back from Lillo Desire for consoles is strong Thunderstorms forecast -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Call me a weirdo, but the adrenaline rush stopped for me about halfway through AFF - and I think that was just performance anxiety anyway. But truly, adrenaline is overrated. Skydiving isn't. I still think jumping is the very best thing I can think of to do with my time, even with no "rush". Back on-topic, that's because skydiving turns out to be one of the few activities that can totally occupy my attention while I'm doing it. If you like, I can only really "think in freefall"

That's cool. But it would be even cooler if you could use it to open your garage door... -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yeah that. A certain dropzone I know has possibly the moodiest person within a hundred k's on manifest, despite being a girl... I wondered why this was, until I realised that it's only 'cause she's not jumping. On non-manifest days she's a total sweetie

Hey... just got back from Lillo the day before yesterday. I don't know what your needs are, but it sounds like budget is paramount. Therefore, skip the car hire. (In my DZ review I say hire a car, but it's not essential - town is walking distance). Bunkhouse is absolutely fine, but as someone else said - take a sleeping bag (and pillow), it gets cold in the small hours of the morning. Also take a sheet or bag liner, it gets hot before it gets cold Since you don't have a car, you can try this costing: Train from Madrid to Villacanas (about an hour): E6.90 Lift from Villacanas to Lillo (5 mins): about E15 So, you're looking at about 44 euros return, which is roughly half of what they charge to pick you up from the airport (one way). Which makes it the way to go unless you have three others to split the costs with. Keep in mind that Villacanas train station was closed on the Sunday when I got there, so you will need to arrange your return ticket in advance if you're not returning on a work day. All in all Lillo is a laugh and a half, I had a ball there and will be back as soon as I can convince MrsCoaster to come with me. If you're worried about the nightlife I think you're doing the skydiving part wrong, but there is stuff to do at night, assuming you like drinking and eating and maybe dancing. The DZ is full of friendly people and if you're going for instruction, then FFU are a truly class act. Skydive Lillo is my new Happy Place. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I did a tandem and most of AFF at Nagambie a couple of years ago, so this review may be somewhat out of date. I didn't want to write it then because I had no other DZs to compare it to, but now I do. To start with, the location is pretty much perfect. The drive to Nagambie from Melbourne is pleasant, and as you get closer you pass wineries and country pubs, not to mention the rickety bridge across one of the lakes next to the DZ. Don (DZO) and Louise are welcoming to students, and I felt extremely confident in their AFF instructors and the TMs taking me and my friends to 14k in their (very nice) Cessna Caravan. Someone said the Caravan was hors d'combat and they have a PAC now, but I can't confirm that. The view on the way up is stunning. Lush fields as far as the eye can see, and on early morning loads the lakes shine copper and gold in the sun... nothing better to give you an appetite for that bacon and egg sandwich you thoughfully ordered before you got on the load ;) The bunkhouse is very basic and a bit rickety-looking, but very roomy. Food onsite is limited to a guy operating out of a trailer, so you get the usual selection of fried things (yay fried things!) and if he's not there, it's into Nagambie town to the pub. But frankly, you're not there for the food. As an AFF student, I found the local jumpers a bit l33t and didn't have much luck finding people other than my own JM to talk to or answer questions. It wasn't a big deal, but further travels have revealed that there are much more welcoming places. Having said that, returning to Australia as a more experienced skydiver some time in the future, I'm sure it'll be much easier and Nagambie struck me as a brilliant place to go further into your career. The staff really do know their stuff and there seems to be a dedication to skydiver education there - courses, safety days and the like. And I really did like that Caravan. If you are going there to do AFF, keep in mind that in 2003 they were training on the SOS deployment system, which will require re-training (in both main *and* emergency procedures) to get you onto a sport rig after you're off student status. As a newbie I have no comment on its goodness or badness, but my instructors elsewhere have said that it's been abandoned outside Australia. This review sounds a bit critical, but in all honestly I intend to make Nagambie my home DZ when I get back to Melbourne. It's a lovely place, and I have good memories of my trips there.

The Navigator was my second student canopy (started on large PDs IIRC) and I have nothing but praise for it. I was flying a Nav 240, which I loaded somewhere around 0.85 for the seven jumps I put on it over two days last week. The first time up, I had two or three line twists and you'd never have known from the way it flew - it just kept on going in that nice flat glide. Compared to the old PDs, it certainly turned crisply when I asked it to (and not before) - though not as crisply as the Spectre I flew next, obviously. Still, it gave me a nice feeling that I was actually doing something up there and not just the proverbial bag of dog food. Landing was a breeze. PLFed the first one just in case but after that it was clearly trying to land me on my feet, so I let it. The flare stroke was gentle and quite long, to the point where I had a bit of trouble landing a similarly-loaded 7-cell for a jump or two (which has convinced me to buy a 9-cell, if nothing else, nice though the Spectre was otherwise). I didn't try, but our instructors told us you simply can't stall your Navigator, which means no matter how badly you jump the gun on your flare, you can just keep the toggles down and it won't thump you. Highly recommended.

FFU is not a dropzone as such - it's a business run by Barry Maple out of Skydive Lillo, which is the DZ proper. I'll probably copy-n-paste much of this into my SDL review later. If you're looking at this review, then you're almost certainly wanting to do AFF there, and all I can say to you is: Do it. Do it now. The instructors (some shared with the DZ) are all incredible, and their advertised progress rate of three days from arrival to solo is neither exaggerated nor overly fast. You have one instructor from beginning to end, and they are extremely thorough in the training and debrief. Someone has clearly thought about what's been wrong with AFF programs and gone out to rectify it: video with every jump, very personal training, and the students are around until the course is done. You probably won't be able to go out across a few weekends and do a stage here, a stage there, and that's all to the good. You're focused on the task at hand - learning to skydive - and they give you what you need to achieve that goal quickly. Lamorna, who will be your first point of contact when you get in touch online, will have you, your trip and your entire life sorted in no time. It's definitely nice to be in a place with so many other students, too. Immediately you have people sharing the same experiences, and it quickly becomes a very social place, with everyone cheering everyone else on. Since Lillo is a very small town, fun at night is generally had with the same people you train with during the day, and that's all good. I highly recommend the pigs' ears at Cafe Latino, with its odd assortment of Bulgarian staff and shockingly cold beer. Aside from the students, the DZ has quite a few fun jumpers and longer-term residents training for competition and whatnot. None of these people gave me even the slightest hint of Elite Skydiver attitude, despite the fact that there were ironically some genuinely Elite Skydivers there. In the hangar, in the bar, in the plane, everybody was kind and fun and never too busy to give a student a pin check or just a slap on the head out the door. Max praise to the locals. The bunkhouse is actually pretty good, despite looking like some sort of lunchbox. Plenty of space and nowhere near as hot as it looks, and hey - the price is right. I'd actually suggest taking a sleeping bag, because it somehow manages to get cold at night! Bring a pillow too. The bar is really good. You will spend a lot of time there, so make sure you get along with the staff. They'll teach you Spanish at no charge, at least enough to cover the menu (food plentiful and tasty, BTW) :D My one complaint? It's a small one: they really need to replace the shower head in the male shower. Oh, yeah. Take a car. The town is less than a klick away but the sun is baking. I'm from Adelaide, I know that of which I speak. If you're not going to be jumping all day every day (and you should, but I ran out of cash because they got me through AFF so damn fast - curse the perfect weather!), you will want to take them up on their offer of car rental. Despite first jumping out of a neato Caravan, I find I really miss that Porter and its denizens. I'll be back, sooner rather than later. [edit: As the author, I am bound to admit that the entity that was the Freefall University when I attended bears no relation to the current iteration other than the owner. Different instructors, different DZ, different everything. Skydive Lillo still rocks without FFU. Make of this what you will. J.]

Some of it is also gear choice. Radical ellipticals like to spin up (some are famous for it), and if they do, then you're gonna be pretty lucky not to have it end in a spinning mal. I know this comes down eventually to body position a lot of the time, but the gear is definitely a factor, or at least so I gather from talking to the handkerchief pilots... -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is completely off-topic, but: I was in a plane recently with a competition swooper who was wearing weight while he was in training. A lot of weight. He had what looked like a couple of belts zipped up in the front of his jumpsuit. We were all cooing and rubbing his belly while he was on the floor and asking him when he was due, etc etc. The guy really did look like he was about five months pregnant -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Congratulations... I finally went back, did AFF and had my first solo on Thursday too, so I feel your joy right now. But: Actually I kinda miss 'em now they're gone (and Luci was such good company too )... the sky is big and empty. Better get my 'A' now so I can have someone to look at again. w00t! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

It's a little pointy thing, like an awl? But for heavy fabric? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I reckon These guys could be talked into customising a helmet - or at least making him a cover for one! -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Haven't met any Pommy skydivers yet, but I'm about to. Will hold my fire on the ball-kicking for a while... we have a cricket team for that. Looking at the Square1 site, their prices on Aerodyne gear are already cheaper than the manufacturer's web prices, not even considering any whole-rig deals. This is looking good =D -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Well, the current plan is to spend a while in NoCal, since we have some friends in San Francisco. But we'll do a bit of medium-distance driving around, for sure... I haven't hooned down the Pacific Coast highway in several years. A trip to Perris would be a definite possibility, if I could convince MrsCoaster to look the other way. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

And they say there's not much skydiver/raver crossover -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is sort of a train of thought post... I started off thinking about used gear after I get my A. But then a number of people pointed out that I'm an unusual shape, and that I'd almost certainly have to get any container/harness customised unless I was incredibly lucky. So then I thought, why not buy a new container made for me, then put used canopies in it? I looked at used canopy prices, and thought that sounded doable. Then in some other thread, the subject of complete new-rig deals came up. Someone mentioned being able to get an Icon/Pilot/Smart combo for less than what I'd been aiming at for my new/used hybrid purchase! That deal wasn't applicable to me because I wasn't in the market for a rig yet (I'm still not), but it sounds like these things do come up - you just have to know where to look. "Buy our container, put two new PD canopies in it, pay $X" sort of stuff. So my question is, where do you look, when you know where to look? I'm in the UK, but travel is cheap. And I have a couple of tickets to the US in October that I won by accident (For what it's worth, I think the combined web price for an I7/Pilot 210/Smart 220 on the Aerodyne site is still pretty damn impressive, but I don't really know what I want yet, so any deal is worth looking at.) -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Skydiving is expensive. Demographically, there just aren't that many non-white people affluent enough to take it up. And, as someone else pointed out in this thread, those who might be have other priorities for their wealth than pissing it away on jump tickets. White South Africans seem to have a much better grasp of the differences in opportunity between racial groups than the rest of us. Possibly because they haven't spent so many generations telling themselves that we all really do have economic equality... -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

I always wonder why people think there's a difference. Trust me, they're all as fun as each other Back on-topic though... nice one. Now don't worry about another tandem - sign yourself up for AFF. But bring your A game this time -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

This is true. I did mention the probability of a hard opening too though, and the point is still the same. But you raise one more for me that my near-zero experience can't cover: is it possible to get spanked by a hop-n-pop opening? I can see a situation where your main has a total malfunction and your reserve then opens at or near terminal, I guess... still, that might come under someone's idea of "acceptably unlikely". What other ways of this happening are there, and do they happen often? -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

Yeah... but I guess it depends for him on what the original risk was. For example, I can see a doctor grounding him becasue his condition meant that he had a (random figure!) quarter-percent chance per freefall of damaging his heart. If his chances of freefall/hard opening were small (for various values of "small", obviously) because he only did hop-n-pops, then at some point the combined risk might slip below his personal acceptable threshold. Still, this argument probably wouldn't cut much ice with the BPA. They sound pretty firm in general. -- "I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan "You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?