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If you are worried about baggage allowance get your company to pay for your flights via the US. Their luggage allowance is MUCH more generous - then you may also be able pick up some 2nd hand hear too! Blue skies Paul

As a general rule, you can go to a nice sunny place, have a 2 week holiday and do AFF in somewhere like the US for the same price as you can in the UK. An exception to this is if you are military (even TA), where you can get big discounts at military DZs (Nethers certainly, and I think Weston too). Be aware, we are coming to the end of the British summer so AFF starting now may not be that quick! if you go out of the UK then make sure the place you are going at least has a link to the British Parachute Association. This will make thing much easier on return to the UK, especially if you do not complete level 8 before your return. If you do go abroad talk to the DZ you will be jumping at in the UK to check any requirements they may have. Generally speaking, BPA and USPA instructors should be no problem on your return if you finish the course and have the paper work signed. If you decide to do AFF in the UK, you may find it advantageous to use a DZ that has turbine aircraft (same applies abroad too actually). The reason being these planes normally go higher, giving you more working time (in the UK we are talking PAC 750, Cessna Caravan, G-92, SMG-92, turbine islanders, GODZILLA Porter if it is still flying, Nomad, NOT Cessna 180-206 range, cherokee, piston islander). You may also find it cheaper in the long run to deal direct with a DZ rather than a intermediate company. Hope this is of help Blue skies Paul

I can't answer for sure about Nylon and gasoline but as a chemist I can tell you that your theory is wrong. For something to dissolve something else it need to be like for like. ie hydrocarbons dissolve hydrocarbons (gasoline is very good at dissolving polystyrene) where as polar molecules (ie water) are very good at dissolving other polar molecules or ionic species (ie alcohol or salts). However polar molecules are very bad at dissolving non-polar molecules (think oil in water). Blue skies Paul

Personally, I go for stowing the excess on the inside of the risers. My reasoning being that I don't want to risk putting my fingers through any excess loop of line when reaching for the risers or putting fingers through the toggles. Granted, the excess should be stowed, and when you reach you should be looking, but there is still the possibility. If the excess is on the inside it is harder to accidentally go through the loop and the toggles, and if you did, the excess line would be outside of you toggles, rather than inbetween your fingers and the toggles. Just my preference Blue skies Paul

The tunnel is always a possibility, especially as there are now 2 in the UK. As a caveat though, I would say that SOME AFF instructors (and please note that I am not an instructor), prefer that their students have not gone in the tunnel prior to AFF. This is not to say that if you have been in the tunnel you now can't do AFF, just that some instructors would prefer their students not to have had tunnel time. The reason for this is that on a jump you have max. 1 minute working time. Their concern is that if you go and have 2 minute sessions in the tunnel you will start to develop a "2 minute" body clock rather than a 1 minute clock, and could lose altitude awareness. That being said, I have never heard of it being a problem. I also know of the same instructors then taking their students in the tunnel once they have a couple of jumps under their belt. I'm not telling you not to do tunnel time, just passing on information. Blue skies Paul

I've jumped pull-out for about the last 1000 jumps. There are some potential complications with pull-out that do not exist for a throw away. I suggest you talk this through with an instructor before you go ahead with it (although there are some BOC deployment complications that are less likely to happen with pull out too). Going to pull-out will not save much (or any) money compared to a BOC system. The pilot chute set up is slightly different and will need to be changed which will probably cost you a similar amount to a new BOC pouch. Also the wear and tear on a pull-out pilot chute is generally more than for a BOC pilot chute, so will probably need replacing more frequently. Again, talk face to face with those in the know, they can give you proper advice, showing you examples if needed. Also note that in the UK, you require 200 jumps to jump pull-out. (Slightly over the top in my opinion, but there are reasons for this).

Has your rig been packed by a packer at all? Packers have a habit of using long bungees (as well as doing things like making the closing loop long) so that it is easier and quicker for them to pack. This could be why you have different length bungees. Alternatively it could be that who ever it was who last packed broke a bungee or two and couldn't find the ideal length bungee to replace them with. It PROBABLY will not make a difference, particularly for a larger more docile canopy, but in an ideal world your bungees will all be the same - at the very least the same on the mouthlocks. I have had combinations of micro bungees and stupidly long ones on my crossfire from packers and they openings are generally OK (although not normally great either). Blue skies Paul

Ask the seller basic questions like how many jumps, where and how many cutaways for the main and reserve rides. Keep in mind the main and container may not have always been together. Big clue to the age of the container is any fading in the colours (looking under the reserve flap is a good place to see fading). Also look for scuffs/damage from bad landings and handling. For the main canopy look for frayed lines and the colour. Dust/dirt gets in the lines over time. If they are yellow/brown they have probably done a lot of jumps (although a dusty environment will make them look like this quicker). Look at the warning label on the canopy. Is it still crisp and bright or so warn you can't read it any more. This is a big clue to jump numbers for the main. If what you see doesn't match what the seller is telling you, walk away. My advice is, if you find one thing that doesn't add up (like they say it has 200 jumps but the condition says 500+) then what else are they lying about? Any experienced jumper (by which I mean several hundred jumps) should be able to help you out. Ask them to take a look. There is never any harm getting a second opinion. Have fun searching Blue skies Paul

Yeah, but in the UK FARs don't mean anything. We have to follow the rules of the CAA (Civil aviation authority) and the BPA. Some aircraft in the UK have a minimum crew of 2 - the LET410 being an example, although the one that has the surveillance gear in it has an exemption for a crew of 1 (possibly due to the fact that there is no co-pilot seat). I know that the Skyvan, Beech99 and G-92 can be flown with only a pilot (all twin aircraft). There hasn't be an otter in the UK for about 5 years, and I didn't jump it when it was here either. Blue skies Paul

Having done static line training and exits from C206, Porters and C208, and watched countless static line exits from caravans which have a pretty big door, it is very rare that an instructor needs to assist the student's rig on exit. When it happens, it is normally for smaller students (generally small women), for whom the student rig is massive. That bloke was sufficiently large enough not to require help with his exit. BTW, when the instructor's arms move the rig out of the plane before the student has made any attempt to exit they are not "assisting" any more. Not sure what the rules are on assisting students in other countries, but in the UK, if they say "no" then you are not even allowed to try and convince them unless they are a hazard to the aircraft. Sitting in the door about to do a pivot exit isn't a hazard to a caravan. As for not bringing the bag back in from the previous student in my opinion it is not best practice, if for no other reason that it is something else for a student to grab hold of/snag on exit. Not that I am an instructor or anything like that Blue skies Paul

If you go out of the UK to do AFF, there are several different scenarios. You do the AFF course, plus a load of other jumps (10+). Returning to the UK should pose no problems as long as you have it all signed in a log book etc. You do the AFF course and do no more jumps. If you have done the hop n pop, but no more jumps then you will not have completed the requirements for the British AFF which is level 8, hop n pop plus 10 consolidation jumps. In the UK you will still be a student until these are done. Most UK DZs will be able to help you out. Some will charge you a bit more. If you went through a recognized system (USPA or BPA instructor etc) and have it documented you SHOULD be OK. If you do the AFF (level 7) but haven't done the hop n pop then you haven't completed the basic part of the British AFF course. Some UK DZs will give you a hard time and not let you jump there unless you start again. If you had a BPA instructor things will generally be easier. If you do not complete the AFF course (level 7), then several UK DZs will not let you jump unless you start from scratch. Make sure you get everything documented, with video if you can. Having a BPA instructor often helps a lot here. Check with your local DZ what the situation would be if you came back from abroad. In any case you will have to be a member of the BPA and pay a stupidly large amount for it as we run a crazy insurance thing. No place in the UK will give you cheap AFF unless you are military. You can generally go abroad for 1 or 2 weeks have a holiday and do AFF for a very similar cost to doing it in the UK. Where ever you go, my (personal) advice would be to try and use a turbine DZ. If you can get 12000+ feet on every jump rather than 10000ft for a piston DZ the extra working time makes a difference. Blue skies Paul

Sod the SIM and recommendations, the question was "how low could you go"? There was an incident a few years ago where 2 students collided under canopy. 1 chopped around 1000ft (I think), and I was told that the other chopped around 300ft (although the story may have been exaggerated a little). The 1000ft cut away was fine, the 300ft hit the deck under a partial reserve. I think they broke their back, but recovered. Not nice, but they lived. Note, that was from a reasonably well flying student main (although it was fouled), and with a big student reserve. I strongly do not recommend trying to repeat it. Something to consider is that the aim of a Cypres is to save you if you are doing 120mph through 750ft (give or take). I think people generally have around 10 seconds under canopy after a terminal velocity Cypres save. So you would hope that after a clean cutaway at 750ft with a clean and immediate reserve deployment you would have a good reserve canopy before hitting the deck. Having said that, if you have a choice - do your EPs higher. The above is theoretical, and last gasp stuff. Blue skies Paul

Bill I have a quick question if you wouldn't mind answering. I jump PdF gear with reverse risers so am interested in your comment that reverse risers have a lower mechanical advantage than correctly made standard ones. Assuming that the reverse risers are correctly made why do they have a lower mechanical advantage? Is it that they are generally mini-rings, in which case is their mechanical advantage the same as a correctly made "standard" mini-ring system? I know what you mean about the cutaway problems. I had a pilot chute in tow (with pull out too, but that's another story) earlier this year on my rig. I cutaway and dumped out the reserve. Obviously the main didn't go anywhere when I chopped as the bag was still in the container. However once the reserve left it was followed by the main. As the main risers were in front of the reserve risers the main didn't cutaway as the rings were unable to unflip themselves, even though the main started to deploy. I finally ditched the main canopy by pulling it in to remove the pressure between the main and reserve risers and tugging the main risers forward. Made things interesting to say the least! Cheers for your input Blue skies Paul

In all honesty I am not entirely sure if both failed to release. I know I had my left lines going across my neck and around the front of the right reserve risers (as the main had fallen in front and to the right of the reserve before being dragged behind me), however I'm not sure if they cleared themself. I grabbed lines behind and to the right of me, pulled them in to release tension, gave it all a good tug and threw it away. However , if the cause of the hang up was that the reverse risers were unable to flip through due to the proximity of my reserve risers, but the main was in front of the reserve, but not out of the bag enough to deploy, I must have had a pretty much simultaneous main/reserve deployment, with the main leaving a fraction before the reserve (so it can get in front), but not long enough for the risers to get clear of the reserve. As for snagging on the reserve flap, or pin I don't quite follow. The Atom is pretty snag free, and I saw my bridal at full extension with the pilot chute inflated behind me. The Atom also has secondary riser flaps (that run down the side of the reserve tray), so there can be no brake or toggle showing. As for to chop or not - there are a thousand debates on this. However given what would have been an extremely slow deployment of a fairly HP canopy that had partially wrapped around my reserve lines - I'm glad I did. For me personally, once the main deployment has been initiated, if there is a problem, chop before the reserve pull. Other people do different, well that's up to them. Blue skies Paul

I had an interesting mal on Saturday, and wandering if there were people out there who have had a similar thing, or can think of a cause. My equipment is a Crossfire2 119 in a Atom Legend 00 with PULL OUT deployment, kill line pilot chute (fairly new, 150ish jumps, good condition) and a Techno 128 reserve, CYPRES, no RSL. After a 46-way, I broke off at 5500ft and tracked until I was just under 3K before pulling. I popped the main pin and threw out the pilot chute as normal. However after a second or so nothing had happened (I have roughly 1000 jumps on this kit, I know how long it should take for the snatch). Thought it could have been a weak throw, but also thought that it wasn't. Either way wobbled my shoulders to clear any burble. Still nothing. Looked over my shoulder to see a fully inflated pilot chute wobbling about a few feet (well about 7 or 8 feet or however long my bridal is) above my back. Another, very experienced jumper also so my pilot chute fully inflated - so yes, it was cocked! I wasn't too impressed, so I chopped and dumped out the reserve around or just under 2K. As I looked up I saw my reserve finishing inflating, and the main was now at line stretch, just in front of the reserve (don't know if it was in or out of the bag as that part was behind my reserve). The main then fell down in front and to my right, and was now out of the bag, but not inflating. Some part of my main risers had snagged my reserve risers (it's possible that the reverse risers PdF use were unable to release fully due to the reserve risers being in the way). My main was now dragging behind me, out of the bag. I pulled the main in a bit to release tension and then threw it away. I was now around 1000ft, so I just did a quick control check, before setting up and landing. Main and free bag landed on the DZ no more than 20m from me (nice spot) and of course I kept the handles. Question: Has anyone ever seen, or heard of a pilot chute in tow using a pull out deployment system when the pilot chute was cocked and inflated and in good condition? If so, what was the cause? For those that don't know the Legend, it doesn't have any real snag points, including corners of reserve trays. Cheers for any help Blue skies Paul

Question for you: You say that 37 out of 97 fatalities worldwide were landing fatalities. How many of those were intentional swoops, and how many were low/panic turns? Certainly in the UK, while there have been too many deaths over the last few years caused by a low turn, I would venture to say (with no stats at hand to back this up) that the majority were not as a result of an intentional high speed landing, rather just a low turn. All too often I hear or read "X was a conservative pilot not known to swoop". A lot of the incidents appear to be people downsizing too fast to canopies that only a few years ago were thought of as high(ish) performance, yet these people have no intention of using the performance of these canopies 'cos they are "safe and conservative pilots". Worse still they all too often don't learn, or even worse, have the faintest idea of what performance these canopies have and how they actually respond when you bury a toggle at 3000ft, let alone the 100ft panic turn 'cos you weren't paying attention and got yourself into a sticky situation. Just my thoughts Blue skies Paul

All crossfires made now are crossfire2, so if it's fairly new it's a crossfire2, however Icarus don't bother to put the "2" on the label. Your best bet if you want to be sure is to check the serial number with Icarus and see what they say. Blue skies Paul

The mouthlock bungees are normally tighter than the others as you have more lines going through them (remember above the cascade you have twice as many lines as below) and if half your canopy is out the bag this makes them tighter still. Double stowing makes these EVEN tighter, and so potentially could give you a bag lock. On the other hand John le Blanc told me that if they are lose, then double stow them (obviously, if they're not lose don't). Your call Blue skies Paul

Technically cloud busting is not allowed and doesn't happen in the UK, but in reality sometimes it does. Some DZs do this more than others, and some CCIs will allow it more than others (especially if there are competitions or tandems). Personally I have no problems going through small amounts of cloud in freefall and if you are in a "safe" location in the UK (clear of air traffic, water) then a 100% GPS spot, while not legal doesn't carry all of the risks that a GPS near the coast may. On the other hand I would not want large formations to go through solid cloud (especially if there are lots of swoopers), and wouldn't go if I knew that there was cloud between opening and landing. I don't like tracking off in cloud and dumping in cloud. One other point though, I have heard many times people say that they will take it down if they are in cloud at deployment altitude. Don't do this it's stupid. If everyone is expecting you to deploy at X altitude do so (especially if the cloud is patchy as people may not know what height you are now deploying at), also, what if the cloud base has come down to 1000ft, are you still going to wait to come out of the bottom? Blue skies paul

While there may be a problem with your canopy (or both of them), I would say from talking to people and jumping the Sabre2 that they are intolerant of a poor pack job. Like wise, I suspect that they are intolerant of poor body position (Sorry PD, just my opinion though I have no actual data to back this up). If you have lost faith in your canopy then at pull time you are probably very tense (ie not even close to relaxed). This in itself can give some interesting body positions and COULD cause opening problems. I know telling someone to relax is not much help, and finding a way to relax is very personal, but if you have a way that works for you try thinking "relax" just before you go for the pull and while you are waiting for the snatch (while being time and altitude aware of course). It may be nothing, but it may help, you never know Blue skies Paul

With pull out it is very easy to pull the pin and not place your pilot chute totally in clean air (or in some cases have it still in the container). It is essentially that you take the pud to full arm extension before letting go, or you will be having a lot more than 2 or 3 seconds delay! I have done roughly 1000 jumps with pull out, and there have been the odd occasion when I become lazy and dropped the handle early. I normally find that rocking my body will cause enough air to go over my back and clear the pilot chute, in a similar fashion to one you would do with a spring loaded pilot chute in your burble. Note - ensure that you maintain a belly to Earth position while doing this, you really don't want to go unstable during deployment. Also, while "rocking" has cleared my pilot chute it does often result in an "interesting" opening, however my canopy is a lot more sensitive than yours to this. One thing you MUST check though is to lay on the ground with your gear on and pull to full arm extension. Check that the pilot chute has cleared your body. If not then you need to find someone who knows equipment (like an advance rigger) to look at your pud attachment. (This potential high speed problem is one of the reasons that there is a 200 jump minimum for pull out in the UK). Hope this helps Blue skies Paul

2 - sorry couldn't resist. 7 cell canopies are generally more "solid", smoother openings, more predictable (note I did say generally). They have a greater aspect ratio (depth to width). 9 cell canopies are generally more responsive to inputs - the down side of this is that they are often more prone to not quite so nice openings, on the other hand the turn faster etc if that's what you want. 9-cells generally flare better for landing. Of course all of the above is highly dependant on your wing loading and canopy size! Best bet, talk to instructors and experienced canopy pilots at your DZ Blue skies Paul

I suspect that the problem is not just 'cos you trained outside the UK. Many (but not all) DZs are not good at taking students from other UK DZs until they are fully qualified. The only exception that I know of is when the BCPA move around, and then everything is set up in advance. The problem is often that different places teach their students slightly different things in different ways (and that the "new" DZ doesn't see much of the money). Under the BPA system you are still a student until you have done your hop 'n' pop AND the 10 consolidation jumps. Just doing your 7 or 8 levels abroad and being signed off is NOT sufficient in the UK. This is often the cause of many of the problems students being trained abroad face. One other problem that I have seen when running progression trips abroad, especially when the student didn't reach BPA CAT 8 but did finish the foreign course is the student then doesn't jump again for a couple of months, and then turns up to a UK DZ. Under BPA rules not only are you still a student, but you are now an uncurrent student! I have seen people be caught out by this on several occasions! Aside from that we all know that the BPA (and several DZs) can be more about finding reasons not to let people jump rather than finding ways to help them in the air safely (let's not even talk about the insurance). Blue skies Paul

Every other year in Sweeden the very nice Sweedish air force lend skydvers one of their Hercs for a week, If it's anything like last year the jumps (load organised with camera) are still about half of the regular UK jump price. Bonus. Blue skies Paul

For some time I agreed with many of the comments regarding people who are unwilling to jump without a Cypres on the grounds that it was too dangerous. I have jumped without a Cypres and would again if my DZ hadn't made a Cypres mandatory for all jumps (grrr). My initial thoughts to this thread were that you should never, under any circumstances go on a jump that you would not be willing to go on without an AAD. Then, thinking about it a bit more, I thought of a couple of exceptions. Stunts (by professionals). For instance attempting to break the freefall record. History has shown that oxygen systems have failed, not just back in the 60's but more recently. When Adrian Nicholas was doing his long freefall with a wingsuit he experienced oxygen supply problems (I know, the AAD may not reach activation speeds with a wingsuit). However if this oxygen problem had not been resolved unconsciousness was a risk. Taking into account this higher risk of unconsciousness would you not then want an AAD? Option 2: Early freefall students. Doesn't matter if it's RAPS or AFF, those first few freefall jumps without the instructor. These people have an inherently higher risk of malfunctions and no-pulls (I've seen one or two over the years). Would you let them jump (now, not 15 years ago) without an AAD? If the answer is "no" then you have just allowed someone to do a higher risk jump because they have an AAD. For the majority of people however, I agree that you shouldn't take on a more risky jump purely because you have an AAD. Just my thoughts to stir the pot! Blue skies Paul