ps5601

I have jumped an Atom for years and hundreds of jumps. There is no problem in using reverse risers on them (providing they are maintained correctly, as with any other gear). You can change them to standard if you like, but on some rigs they don't sit quite so nicely due to the location of the big ring. I think that this is purely cosmetic and causes no problems should a cutaway arise, but you may want to check with a rigger first. The PdF gear is generally very good. If your rig was made in '96 then there are a few mods that PdF have made to make it more suitable to freeflying etc, hence the Atom Millennium and Atom Legend. The BT canopy is pretty old and not jumped much any more, expect a "positive" opening as this is standard on all French gear made before about 2000. Only used the Techno once, and I found it to do it's job well (opened on heading, flew straight and flared when I wanted it to). The only downed with PdF is their customer service - they don't have any. Hope this helps Blue skies Paul

The nearest place to you is Point Zero, near Nethers. They are sometimes open on a weekend, but not always. Call to find out. They are a dealer for all major gear manufacturers and will be able to measure you properly. Otherwise there are quite a few people around Nethers who are suit dealers for different companies. Just ask around, one of the senior staff should be able to point you in the right direction. Most suit manufacturers do also have pretty good instructions on how to measure yourself if you want to do that. Blue skies Paul

If you get out, open, fly around (carefully) on your slow canopy and then make your slow, delicate approach into land then fine. We are all under the effect of gravity and can only stay in the air for so long. However, if you open then spiral your slow canopy below that of a faster canopy THEN do a slow delicate approach you are out of order. The swooper is also trying to set up a delicate approach. It may be further away and faster, but it's just as delicate. The swooper can also only stay in the air for so long, as they too are under the effect of gravity - and by the nature of their canopy they WILL descend faster. A slower canopy may be slightly lower after they have spiraled, but the other canopy MAY have to come through 'cos they can't descend that slowly. Are you still so sure about the right of way? A canopy spiraling through faster canopies then stopping just below them is no different from over taking a car on the freeway, pulling back in infront of them and hitting the brakes. Not only is it rude and irresponsible, but it can be dangerous too. Everyone has a right to the sky, all it takes is a little planning of the exit order and pull heights, then for everyone to be aware of everyone else. If you are on a slower canopy shooting accuracy etc just be aware that faster canopies need to come past you before you play. Likewise, HP pilots, don't sit on deep brakes trying to keep altitude against larger canopies then complain that they got in your way. Despite planning, there is some times a potential clash. People should know when to bail from their planned landing and opt for a conservative SAFE landing, in my mind this applies to swoopers or accuracy. Neither group has more or less right unless stated before the jump (ie, today is an accuracy/swoop competition). Blue skies Paul

While it isn't possible to prove 100% the cause of a malfunction, you also have to sometimes look at the statistics. With just over 1200 jumps I have only used a packer on maybe a dozen occasions (different packers too). However I have yet to jump a pack job from a "professional" packer that actually opens nice. Can I prove that the link is the packers used? No. Does it look like the link is the fact that I didn't pack the rig myself? Yes. In 1200 jumps I have had 1 brake fire (I jump an Atom, very good method of stowing brakes). The 1 time I had not just a brake fire, but a DOUBLE brake fire! Just a coincidence? Possibly, but I suspect a packing error. My advice, don't be so lazy and pack your own canopy - it's part of the sport (am not looking forward to my training camp when I will have to have a packer). Blue Skies Paul

Seeing that you live in London you may want to try a Symbi suit. They are based at Headcorn in Kent. Their prices are higher than the US at the moment as the dollar is so weak, but they are cheaper than most European dealers. The quality of their suits is also very good (in fact my whole team just ordered suits through them). Before you buy though I would say, are you sure that you want to flat fly? If you are thinking about going to the dark side and Free fly, then you will not want a FS (or RW for our US cousins) suit. For most people a FS suit is not suitable to free fly with, and a free fly suit is not suitable to flat fly with. It can be done, but it's not what it was designed for. You may want to think about borrowing or renting a flat fly suit that fits, with booties if you are planning on doing a weeks FS in Spain. Then, if you still like it buy yourself a new suit. Just a thought. If you do decide to buy now get most options (mega booties, inside grips). If you keep flat flying you may not want the options now but you will in 1-200 jumps time. The down side is that the wait for Symbi suits is now fairly long as everyone is ordering to get their suit before the season starts. Hope this helps Blue Skies Paul

Worse than that, the deal that Icarus have in the US is that they are not allowed to sell outside the US (although they may allow Canada, not sure). This is to protect the European Icarus dealers. This includes shipping the canopies out of the US. Your only (legal) option would be to buy in the US and keep receipts. On leaving the US you declare it to claim back the tax and then pay the EU import duty on arrival in Europe. If you are wondering, the US will tell their European counterparts to expect you if you try it (so you can't claim the US tax back and not pay the EU tax) and the EU tax is higher than the US tax. Blue skies Paul

I have jumped both the Electa and the Pilot, both 150s (wl 1.3:1). While I have only done a couple of jumps on each my experience of them was the both opened nice with the pilot probably being a little slower to open, but neither was excessively fast or slow. I felt that the Pilot had a slightly higher decent rate than the Electra, both had a similar recovery arc from a dive and similar rate of turn. On landing I felt that the Electra was slightly more responsive into the flare, but both should be fairly easy for an intermediate jumper to land. Not jumped either the safire or the siloutte so can't really help you there. However I thought that the Siloutte was pretty much a scaled down Navigator? Hope this is of some help Blue skies Paul

I have been looking into jumpsuits recently for our UK team (same one as Vicki's). Here is what I found. The US suit manufacturers will be able to offer you a cheaper deal as the dollar is so weak at the moment (if I'm lucky it'll even hit 2 before I go out there at Easter). The likes of Tony or Bev suits are pretty good and cheap. However watch out for 3 things! 1) There are a lot of options, many of which you will need/want which you pay more for. 2) The price will not include sales tax (or UK duty, which you will have to pay if you get it shipped over here). 3) Mistakes sometimes happen. If you are not happy with something (ie the fit) getting it fixed is harder if the manufacturer is out of the UK. I have heard of people having problems with Aircare suits in the past. Symbi are very good at getting it right first time, and fixing problems should they arise. The other big European suit manufacturer is Parasport, however the Euro is strong at the moment so the suits are expensive. If I were you I'd go with Symbi. Blue skies Paul

I thought Empuria operated a big to small policy for exits, regardless of discipline (note they also put tandems out first). I have seen FFs there insist on going first, no matter who or what else is on the plane (except tandems) for no other reason than they want to get down quick and don't want to be spotted off the north of the DZ (which can be a wet landing area). When I have seen it I have found it very annoying, not least 'cos it can ruin the most efficient exit, bum spotting the last out and is very selfish (and no matter what you say, getting a go around at Empuria is easier said than done). One good reason for big to small is that you can spot the first group slightly short, knowing that by the time they are set up in the door they are in the correct place. If it's a solo you lose that climb out time. Blue Skies

It's not TOTAL bollocks. I have heard of similar things happening in the past. The reason I have been given is that on refusing to jump you can become a hazard to the instructor and the aircraft. Imagine you are in a small plane say a C182 and as first out you refuse. It makes it very hard for the instructor to dispatch the other students (don't forget that there are static lines around the cabin too). 1 possible solution would be to bring the plane down with everyone on board, but centres would not want to do this if possible (read people can jump safely) due to cost. I have not heard that someone can't try their first jump again due to insurance before, but I have heard that some places give you 1 chance (maybe 2 if they will do a go around once the others have left) due to the problems you present to the instructor and the operation. I suspect a lot of it depends on the centre. Blue skies Paul

Don't know about other countries, but in the UK we run a 6 month cycle. If anyone's gear is packed by someone who is not a BPA reserve packer (or just doesn't fill in the BPA reserve packing form) then they are on a 120 cycle. So, if I mal with my PdF rig and reserve in the US, it can be packed by a US rigger, but on return to the UK I have only a 120 day cycle rather than a 6 month cycle. As the BPA are happy with it then it must comply to the FAA thing about "under the rules of the foreign parachuting body" or whatever the line is. Blue skies Paul

$150 finders fee. That's just rude. Just about every DZ I have jumped at (including US ones) people will just return your gear to you at no cost (though a beer in return is polite). I know there is a team at the WFFC who search and find gear, and I've heard DeLand operates a search and recovery thing. How many other DZs have "finders fees"? As for all the twists once the gear is recovered. It doesn't tell you much. The canopy spins and twists and does God knows what else on the way down after a cutaway. Trying to get the lines straight is one of the joys you get to go through after you chop! Blue skies Paul

Not true, power lines can be seen from much higher up. Here are some clues to their location. In the US the lower voltage ones (and telephone lines) often run along the edge of the road (not so true in Europe). For other lines look for gaps that are straight lines running through trees, buildings etc. The chances are that the gap is there because something else is sitting in there. In open fields they are a bugger to see. Your best bet is to try and see the shadow of the support pole or clumps of uncut grass or corn (which are often a different colour), these will also lie in a straight line. Basically if you see straight lines it's man-made and therefore a potential hazard to probably avoid. It takes a while to train your eye to see these things, but once you get your eye in it's often quite easy. Blue skies Paul

When I started jumping I was told that on a good track you could get up to 60mph in horizontal motion. I have no idea how this was calculated, or by whom, or if it was just made up by them! It is however, a number as requested. 60mph sounds a little high to me, but I know that 30 - 40 mph is pretty easy to reach (this is a guess based on the speed at which I have seen formations break and people scoot passed me when they have hit the brakes too late). Blue skies Paul

Quote You also have to look at the economies of scale. Sweden has less people in the whole country than in Greater London. It's dark for the half the year. The populace is continulally ravaged my savage moose attacks (apparently). reply] ---------------------------------- I didn't realise that the Sweeds were ravaged by Moose. I feel now that I had a lucky escape staying in a tent there! To make matters worse, the last I saw SOMEONE stole the sign warning of Moose!!!!! It was good to meet you Gareth, cheers for the jumps Blue skies Paul

Does it work? Or do people still make catches on the plane? As Tonto writes: "Seeing is a conditioned response. We all look. Very few of us see." A written requirement that few respect just turns into a pencil whipping exercise. While some UK DZs are more strict than others on the checking and signing off procedure, I have not heard of anyone catching anyone else in the plane in the UK with missing chest straps. At some DZs the person who does the check must then sign for the check (and they must be qualified to do the check). At others one person can sign for several checks to say they are happy the load has been checked. In either case it is the jump master's job to ensure that the whole load has been checked prior to boarding. It us unfortunate that the thing missed most often (aside from the Knife, which is madatory for all licenced jumpers in the UK) is a mis-routed chest strap. Still, I have not heard of people boarding in the UK like that (although I am sure that it has happened). While there are a few cases of people signing for someone with out them having a check, it is pretty rare (at least at my DZ). Blue skies Paul

It may be good in theory to break off 1500ft above your planned deployment altitude for groups above 6, but in practice often does not happen, and isn't overly practical. In a competition the standard exit altitude for 8-way is 12,500 to 13,000. You have 50 seconds working time, which takes you down to around 4 grand. I then turn and track for 6 or 7 seconds before pulling just under 3 grand. There is no team I know who will break off early in a competition. I have also done a lot of bigways. Even on 50+ formations break off is still only 5000ish. While low time jumpers should not be thinking of such low break offs (or groups of this size), for experienced people who can track correctly I don't consider these altitudes to be unreasonably low. It may be just my imagination, but a lot of people are now able to track much further with less loss of altitude than in the past (although I still too many crucifix trackers, or people tracking with bent legs). Blue Skies Paul

RyanAir state that you get an extra 10Kg for £15 for sports equipment. They do not state (in writing) what sports equipment is, so stand there and argue (as long as you are not late for your flight). On the other hand, they do state that, unless you tell them in advance they can't guarantee space for sports equipment, and that you won't pay excess baggage. For Empuria, fly EasyJet to Barcelona, further to the DZ, but beats RyanAir. (You get 10Kg sports allowance for free with EasyJet, and they have no problems with parachutes being sports equipment) Blue Skies Paul

Under the BPA rules, you are not allowed to carry a hook knife whole you are a student, but as soon as you are CAT 8, you must carry one, even though most people are never told what they need one for. Got to love the BPA! You can buy a knife from just about any DZ shop or gear store. The cheapest is the small plastic one, although I have heard that they can brake with ease. You can get a very similar design, but in metal for more money, and it is the latest thing to have (knife wise). You can also get big zac knives (long handle), but I have heard that if you need to cut risers etc they are not very good as the blades separate. The biggest, baddest knives you can get are the sort the CReW jumpers use, though I don't know what they are called. If you want to know where to keep a knife, well there a loads of places. The small plastic ones can go in a knife pouch that is often built into the rig (either on the leg strap or riser padding). Otherwise, you can just put the whole pouch on your chest strap or leg strap. Some people also sew a knife pocket onto their suit. A rule of thumb is, if the knife is at your chest strap or higher, have the pocket facing down (so it's a downwards pull to get the knife out). If the pocket is lower than your chest strap, have the pocket facing up. Best thing to do is talk to an instructor about what you need them for, and where to put them. If the instructor doesn't know, find another instructor. Hope this helps Blue skies Paul

Generally, if you are on a formation of that size you should not be going low, but I understand that it can happen (say you get taken out and can't get back up. The rules I have always played by for this situation are, if you are low, and not getting back up, start tracking. Keep tracking until the agreed deployment height and deploy (after slowing down and waving off). If you start tracking 2000ft early and keep tracking until deployment height then you should not be in the way of the others on the jump, even with bad tracking. On a jump the size of 40+ way it is unlikely that there will be others in another group that you will be tracking into (although I understand that from aircraft such as the AN-72 or the Herc it is a possibility). Blue skies Paul

Not convinced that this would be a very good idea at all. For the very same reason that you say to hold the toggle (you are worried about it wrapping around your slider or something), I would be more worried about the toggle and line wrapping around my alti or fingers. You get a good snatch on deployment and the line is nice and tightly wrapped around your hand or fingers - and you have a mal too for good measure. Have fun trying to free yourself and dumping your reserve out (if you're lucky the line won't have broken your fingers and you'll have nothing more than line burn). I think the best plan would be to dump your main, hope it opens but be prepared for a mal. Just my thoughts Blue skies Paul

There are a couple of other things you need for a perfect DZ. A rigger who lends you a rig to jump while they re-pack your reserve after a mal. You also need restricted airspace (jump planes only) as I have seen B52s fly under us as we turn to run in while jumping in the US. A decent cafe that serves good, cheap food that is not just fried food or soggy sandwiches. If you want views though you need to try Gap, France (free fall into the valley with 4000ft snow capped mountains around you). Also, while not wanting to start a European/US war, you need Euopean beer, 'cos the fake stuff you have over there just doesn't cut the mustard (not to say I won't drink it when I'm in the US, but it's not even close to real beer). Blue Skies Paul

Yes Protecs are very noisy. I did about 200 jumps with one. I have found them to be more noisy than not wearing a helmet at all. Sticking some tape over the holes makes a big difference as the wind can whistle through the holes making things louder (I used to struggle to hear my Time-Out!). Just stick the tape on the INSIDE, so that it is more discreet than tons of tape over the outside of your helmet. Blue skies Paul

Nah, leave the skydiving thing in. I have a line in my CV that reads something along the lines of "Skydiving has give me the ability to prioritise under extreme pressure". My current boss said he thought it was a great line! When I was leaving uni, I got several interviews, and skydiving was always a question they asked at the end when they want to really find out about the person they are hiring. Did me no harm. Up to you though Blue skies Paul

I think that the reason for the full face helmet rule in the UK stems from the original full faces that were on the market. They didn't have a flip up visor, and did have restricted visibility when looking down (for say your handles). There was also concern that they restricted your hearing. As such the BPA decided that you needed 50 jumps before you could jump a full face. They didn't want low timers spooked by not being able to find their handles. They were also worried that, as they have limited experience under canopy they may be flying around with restricted vision, and limited hearing. The helmets on the market today are much better, but some people still jump the old styles. Having rules that say "you can jump a Z1, but not an old style Oxygen" is a pain, so they have a blanket ban. BTW, we are not allowed to cloud bust in the UK. The ops manual states that you must be able to see you planned opening point and landing point from your exit point. It is the responsibility of the jump master to ensure that no-one then goes through the cloud. Ever noticed that when it's cloudy the jump masters are generally not the instructors with ratings to lose? Blue skies Paul