DanglesOZQld

Strato - know the feeling!! Been there with the C.I with self as Jm 2 and the only thing keeping us from going further was the fact our two harnesses were touching!!! Looking at the student held no fear of the ride we received on his AFF stage one. I swear he was no more than 90 kilos and was not arching all that much!! I am at least 80 myself and was arching like all hell! -BSBD! -Dangles. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Basically the short of it all is explain what you are going to do and if they wish or cannot do it themselves depending upon the circumstance then do it yourself. You will find that even females who dislike anything male near their "personal bits" would appreciate an explanation and a "why" beforehand if possible. Not all Tm's have to be touchy feely "fifth attachment point" suggesting assholes! BSBD! -Dangles. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Never been to the gym and have not altered in weight more than plus or minus 8 kilograms in around 20 years. I think that skydiving definitely helps (have been doing it professionally for the last five years and in general since '93). Moreso I think your health depends on what you do as far as general activity and what you eat. My diet basically sucks but if I was overweight would not eat except for one meal a day - totally wrong in all respects. I hear all these people complaining about feeling hungry after a few hours and wonder how. Marriage as well as single life have taught me a lot of different things. Certainly when single and not having the wish to cook something I could go without anything of a night easily. I busted my femur in September last year by the way and still have not gained more than 5 kilos even though most of the day consists of going mental inside the walls of the place I currently reside in. Go figure........... -Dangles. BSBD!!! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Some of these are repeated lines no doubt! 1) As we are falling if you see me out in front of you waving.......thats REALLY bad!!! 2) (To tm just as you are about to exit) "Hey (tm's name) - your passenger looks JUST LIKE your old boyfriend!! 3) To the male students - "Before we get close it's ok - I am a raving lesbian!" 4) One more of these and they will let me jump all by myself! 5) Hey is that passenger you jumped with last week out of hospital yet?? 6) This working for the dole scheme is WAY BETTER than I thought it would be!! 7) (Asking another tm) "Was it this handle then that one again or what?? I am confused!!" 8) So they gave you your rating a few days ago?? Congrats!! Is this jump 3 or 4 for you now?? BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I weighed around 75kg (165 pounds) when I took a passenger weighing 128kg (282 pounds) for a tandem. There was a good breeze for landing and the guy was about 6 foot 3 and extremely fit (mostly muscle not fat) working as a rescue climber/ab for the fire brigade. He was also used to wearing harnesses and the whole jump went fine. You need to take a minimum three things into consideration for any "different" tandem. 1)Passenger - overweight or will they be able to handle the harness 2)Conditions on the day - Nil wind = nil jump! 3)Total weight of tm and passenger with gear limits. (1,2,3 not in order!). As far as 320 pounds goes I would not be taking that person for a skydive. BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Totally agree - once maybe twice can and does happen but if it is a regular thing it should not be allowed to continue. BSBD!! -Mark. Quote - No, AFFI's are hopefully doing their best but perfection should be expected of no one. Now if they do it on a regular basis or cannot fly their slot on a non-problematic student... "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

The "fist able to fit" works for me and I do not and have not had any problems with it. I have seen a lot of cases of students with the chest strap so tight as to make it impossible to arch properly. As far as sitting in the plane there are some items on the harness that are loose until you stand or move prior to exiting. Without going into too much detail I usually tell the students why we don't want the chest strap as tight as steel and the leg straps reasonably tight. BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

TIPS!?? ONE TIP of $50 in four years skydiving full time and that was shared between myself (tm at the time) and the outside camera guy. We decided to get a carton and share it with the rest of the staff. As far as I know in four plus years the TOTAL amount of tips any staff have ever received is around 4-5, and that was doing (at one time) 8,000 tandems a year total!! Some cultures DO have a different idea as to tips and paying anything more for a service. In Australia tipping is at the moment a rare occurence for most things. BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I think you will find it is almost impossible NOT to be able to breathe even though it may FEEL like this during the first one or two jumps. You don't have to freefall with your hand over your mouth now after 15 or so jumps do you?? A lot of it has to do with the adrenalin, sensory overload and the mind set of the jumper at the time. BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

A few pics highlights to some how serious a sport skydiving can be and to stop complacency in those who have a few under their belt. Have a look at http://www.big-boys.com/articles/canopydeploy.html and ask yourself why the words HOLY TRUCK didn't come out of your mouth ;) -BSBD!! -Mark. As far as pics go I can show ppl a few xrays lol, like VERY recent!! STAY SAFE! "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

If I am doing a tandem without handcam or outside video I simply tell the passenger to place an open hand in front of their face if they have trouble breathing and to keep their head up also. At the very least I inform them that at 180km/hr plus it FEELS like you cannot breathe but you can. Have not had any huge probs in this area. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

With the Rod left in your leg does that make it a lot worse if you were to have another accident compared to not having it in? Btw - First broken bone in my life and after 12 years jumping. Also had not even scratched a Tandem Passenger prior to the Friday 16th jump ;( BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Thanks Jack and all the guys who replied - given me a better outlook on things than what I thought lay in front of me. I don't expect it to be easy by any means (has been hard at times already) but I want some more air!!! ;) -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Hi all - was wondering if there were any Tm's out there or those who know of them returning to the skies after breaking a femur. Just curious as to strength issues, how long they waited etc. -BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

QUOTE - "Here in the states we call it GAS, not this PETROL stuff......." WELL MOST PEOPLE don't think that a liquid like petroleum is a GAS THEREFORE DON'T CALL IT THAT! Now LPG is another thing........... PETROL IS PETROL PEOPLE! ;) BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Mmmmm - when I did it out of a C182 we used to hang off the strut???? I did fine until the first freefall when I de arched and pulled so quickly that my body position had no effect on the opening ;) The first few are always a bit awkward! These days it makes me laugh when AFF students do their hop and pop and worry about how LOW to the ground they are!!!! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I still fun jump and own my own gear but not at all often these days. Money is the main reason and the fact that like a lot of other tm's have stated I still get a buzz from the first time jumper strapped to the front of me during my so-called "work" jumps. We used to get fun jumps for $15 as staff but now it costs $38 as we have lost our Let o/s ;( BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Fully sick lol!! My Mr bill was on a BT PRO SERIES 120 with a LOOONG snivel, towards the end of the lines. ANYONE who calls this canopy a Blue Smack can't pack for SHIT! Our wingloading then was around the 3.7 mark and the hangee got all woosy and let go about 2 mins after the opening ;) Oh, and for those that are saying "stupid" etc - PARACHUTING IS DANGEROUS! LMFAO! -BSBD! -M. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I know exactly what you are saying and you are correct. Jump numbers do mean, in most cases, jack shite. CURRENCY is the biggest thing that dictates experience I believe and even then there are plenty of "drogue chuckers" who have heaps of jumps but no experience in belly to earth or other stuff other than being the frontal meatbomb tourist guide. I am one of those by the way so am in no way trying to demean the job tm's do but you still have to do other jumps besides those that pay the bills. I have nearly 4,000 jumps but could not for the life of me go head down or do much in the way of freestyle. I do like to think that I can still easily dock onto an 18 way last no problem. It amazed me about two years ago at a fun boogie how BADLY guys with 5,000 plus jumps did when confronted with a small group of people in freefall!!! BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Paid cash for my first second hand set of gear and took out a loan for the second (No spot on the vote for a loan so I put Credit Card lol!). Don't even want to think about coming up with the money for buying a new canopy as the one I use now probably has about 4-500 jumps max left on it. At least now with handscam we are jumping mostly Tandem gear and this is supplied to us by the Dz. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

At least 70 percent. Very easy with the HOPS we use and the hard (not) beach landing areas! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

Have lost TWO freebags on personal gear to the ocean in around four years, and there have been more tandem sames in the similar period of time. Maybe SOMEONE should invent a REPLACEABLE HOOD for the reserve spring especially meant for jumping containing material that when it becomes wet expands and becomes bouyant and makes the freebag float instead of the freebag/spring/bridle becoming a dolphin playtoy!? And when recovered the hood part of the spring can be replaced during packing by another that is screwed onto the top side of the reserve spring? I suppose gear manufacturers would see this as something they would NOT like as to replace the whole thing costs us jumpers a lot more than a replacement "Bouyancy reserve spring pop top." BSBD!! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

I have done both and have always said that the outside video guy has it where video is concerned. There are some good points that only a handcam can get (Such as opening and initial reaction) but if you think that handcam will ever be as good as an outside flyer you REALLY ARE KIDDING YOURSELVES!! I have always said that a COMBINATION of both would be the best video but then we are simply going back to the point about money. I would also rather do twice the amount of tandems and not do handcam as it makes me sick to see the product at the end of the day compared to what we used to have. Just like putting 7 tandems in a standard Caravan and then talking about professionalism etc... BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

A little off but once had a student with a history of bad canopy flying / decisions choose to purchase a sabre 150 at around 30-40 jumps. We told her that with the way she was flying the student canopies and the amount of jumps she had it would be better that she did not jump her Sabre until flying a larger canopy for a while longer. The end result was her leaving us for another dz that did let her jump the new canopy. Money rules sometimes but at least she did not hurt herself on our dz!! FRUSTRATING THOUGH! BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"

The best position is one that works for you personally. Go with what the experienced tm's tell you they do but don't be afraid to try things differently if that is not working. Used to be sooo nice being able to STAND AT THE DOOR of the LET and just jump.........now getting used to the Caravan, student's legs out in the breeze and both in a sitting position, tm's left leg on the base of the rear door frame and a small turn to the right for the air once going and stability 99.9 percent the end result. BSBD! -Mark. "A Scar is just a Tattoo with a story!!!"