xavenger

Hey boys and girls. Any of you ZHills people fancy showing a newbie skydiver from England how it's really done? I'm gonna be there nearly all of May and when it's closed visiting the other local DZs. Basically just looking for people to jump with / hang out with / drink beer with. To date I've only done flat flying - and have not done that many jumps, but do have several hours of coached time in the tunnel if that counts for anything. Anyone think they might wanna jump with me? PLEASE!! Benefits of jumping with me 1/ I don't smell bad 2/ I know close to nothing - so I will inevitably think you are amazing 3/ Have a pink canopy, so if you're a bloke you will feel very macho by comparison - if you're a girl you'll appreciate my sensitive side 4/ Damn, I'm running out of reasons 5/ Erm, err. Yeah. Well let me know if you're around it would be good to meet you - I think! :-) James

Not sure what to suggest really apart from lots of hot baths and an attractive person to give you lots of massages. The most I have ever strained myself (apart from that night with the malaysian girl and her friend) was after spending too much time in the tunnel. I'd been on a tunnel camp so had already done 1 hour in one day .. and then a whole bunch of extra time came up going late in to the evening .. so I did another 45 minutes (against the advice of my instructor) mainly flying on my own but Fabian jumped in once or twice and we (he) did some funky stuff. It was a blast. A brilliant evening. I left tired but not exhausted. However, I woke up the following morning and I could hardly move my left arm, something had gone wrong. I had no strength in it whatsoever, not even enough to turn the door handle in the motel. It hurt like hell, a really sharp pain. I couldn't lift it above shoulder height. Strangely I could still fly OK in the tunnel .. but it took about 10 weeks for the strength to come back. Couldn't actually skydive for 10 weeks because I couldn't get my arm above my shoulders :-/ The lesson: When your tunnel instructors say go home to bed and don't fly anymore, listen to them. Your arms hurt less and your credit card hurts less.

Zoter .. DON'T BE SO STUPID!! .. They landed just outside his garden, so they could crap on his doorstep.

I don't "work" for Skyventure - and never have - but I have read their prospectus, seen where they're going to site the tunnel, quizzed their MD and subsequently thought it made enough sense to apply for some shares. I originally thought the Bedford tunnel sounded exciting so I emailed them a bunch of questions but I didn't get a response :-/ > the bedford tunnel is built. Its already > there. They are changing the motor > though i think. The point it, its already > there, and the investments already made. What do you mean the investment is already made? Have they definately got enough cash together to convert the facility in to one suitable and safe enough for human flight? I am **guessing** the conversion will cost a few million. If you have some info here that would be great. There is a reason why Virgin Atlantic don't fly to and from America etc in World War 2 planes. Sure, you could probably make WW2 planes do it, convert them, sure. But the reality is they use modern planes because costs are known, maintenance is low, they're more efficient in design, more comfortable - and quickly work out to be more cost effective. Just because there is a some form of tunnel at Bedford already it doesn't mean it's going to be any less expensive to get up and running than to build a new one. What's more - the new one is will probably have lower running costs because of modern efficiencies of design. Like you say, who knows, only time will tell!

On the contrary the skyventure tunnel looks like it very well may happen pretty soon. They were about £500k short of the required funds but one of their directors has offered to put this cash in and he waiting on approval from the other share holders to do this. If he gets approval, tunnel construction will start fairly quickly with the tunnel opening in spring. I don't know a great deal about the bedford tunnel but my gut instinct is that a brand new tunnel based on the latest design and technology (Skyventure) will ultimately be far more commercially viable than spending an "unknown" amount of money on an existing tunnel that was built for a different purpose (Bedford). Bedford might turn in to a money pit - whereas Skyventure is a known quantity and proven formula. It is designed to be efficient, it is designed for the sole purpose of flying people. Also Skyventure will have access to cheap electricity because of its siting at Xscape leisure park in Milton Keynes and ofcourse tourists! The place is already crawling with snowboarders, climbers etc. So, if you want to see a quality tunnel in the UK then visit http://www.skyventure.co.uk for more information, get your wallet out and buy some shares. If you think a tunnel would do good here then it may prove to be a great investment for you. You could be a founding shareholder of the first UK wind tunnel!! Ofcourse this is not investment advice, I could be talking bollocks, do your own research .. my opinion is completely and utterly biased because I have already applied for a few shares in Skyventure UK. :-) James

Crack - crack??!? If only it were crack then maybe I could get control of my life. It is more expensive and more addictive than crack. I've *seriously* considered seeking therapy. Most of my dreams are about skydiving or being in the tunnel. I did 10 hours coached at the start of the year all RW and am considering doing another 10 hours freefly in there this summer. Anyone want to buy a beautiful little Mazda Mx5 (I thikn they're called Miata's in the USA) off me??? Who needs a car anyway! Really. I've just sold my house to fund full time skydiving for the next year. My whuffo girlfriend is not exactly ecstatic about it. AAAAHHHH STOP THE VOICES - HELP ME PLEASE I NEED HELP!!!

Bubbles This makes sense to me .. and scares the shit out of me at the same time .. ;-) .. It's ok saying "I'm never going to do something" but then one day you find yourself .. well doing it because of some bizarre mental blip or subconcious desire to be reckless .. or who knows why. Sometimes I drive my car in a certain way, maybe just try and overtake 1 too many people in a line of traffic .. I don't have an accident, I get in safe but think to myself afterwards "just why the hell did I do that - what a dick head I am". I could have caused an accident and hurt other people let alone myself. I say I'm never going to do it again, but sooner or later I end up doing something similar and thinking the same again. Yes what an idiot. A friend of mine with about 800 jumps did something very similar to you a few weeks ago. "No I'm never going to do it". He turned too low a couple of weeks ago and was extremely lucky to limp away. Why - he has absolutely no idea why he did it, he says his reflexes went screwy. Yikes! blue skies James

Sorry I'll clarify that, what I meant is "I have no intentions of doing a fast/full/sharp toggle or riser turn close to the ground for fun - for the foreseeable future" When I'm ready I may experiment a little, but I suspect it won't be for one hell of a lot of jumps .. just landing normally has gotta feel 110% natural first ... being aware of what's in my airspace has gotta be the same .. and I'm not going to be there for some time yet .. I've already used flat turns to avoid obstacles on the ground to good effect. What I am really trying to get a feel for is .. how many of the people that are killing themselves are avoiding obstacles incorrectly .. how many of then are trying to be cool and groovy and simply not pulling it off ..

I read a lot about people seriously injuring or killing themselves under canopy performing low turns and want to get a feel for why those people were doing those turns in the first place. Hell, I'm sure a few of you have hurt yourselves doing low turns - and if so I want your opinion. I'm fishing for information because otherwise it would be inappropriate of me to sit here as a newbie saying "I'll never do a low turn" without knowing what causes people to do them in the first place. I certainly have no INTENTIONS of attempting one for the foreseeable 1000+ jumps. Why, it seems like the margin for error is slim and well .. I think most people are probably only **really** beginning to get the "hang of" canopy control at this level of jumps let alone get good at it (I realise some progress faster than others). I believe myself to be pretty smart and I know how long it's taken me to become what I *think* (!!) is an excellent driver .. or an expert in my chosen profession - a long time, I don't see why canopy piloting is any different. Hell, truth be known, I'm still having problems landing my fairly big canopy the plain ole sensible way ... anyway this leads me to the question ... which may be impossible to answer ... Are the people seriously injuring / killing themselves doing low turns - experienced canopy pilots initiating the turns very much intentionally as part of their landing approach to be cool and groovy .. as .. or are they less experienced skydivers responding too aggressively to obstacles ... or intermediary skydivers who think they can get away with the turns .. but who surprise surprise cannot. I know there are other categories people could fall in to, nothing is black and white etc etc.. But from what you and your friends have experienced .. WHY do you think people that hurt themselves doing low turns - did the low turns in the first place?

Glad it all went ok for you speedy :-) I "nearly" had to cutaway yesterday for similar reasons - and coincidentally also had problems with my visor on my full face. Not nearly as interesting as your story but ... Pulled at 3k .. visor immediately fogged up completely .. totally .. could see hardly anything. Could feel I was rotating .. reached up to feel the risers and immediately knew I had line twists. Struggled like hell to get my visor open, considered taking helmet off and dumping it - got it open on last attempt - breaking my thumbnail clean off in the process. I started turning in the direction of the twists for a few seconds .. looked at Alti .. was at 2k .. thought .. 5 more seconds and if I cannot get out of this .. gonna ditch it. 4 seconds later .. came out the line twists ... Lessons learned: Should practice opening my visor under canopy more .. should get some anti-fog stuff on it .. should consider going back to open face ;-)

All in my opinion. I went to the tunnel in Florida for some 1 on 1 coaching when I had about 30 jumps and it was well worth the visit, time and money. I came away a little unsure about exactly how helpful the tunnel had been .. but .. The next time I skydived I was 100% better at slow-fall / fast-fall and 100% better at turns. And forgetting all that stuff the tunnel is a heap of FUN in it's own right! However, I would telephone Skyventure pretty soon if u r thinking of going, because in my experience they tend to get booked up quite quickly this time of year. Call them now on +1 (407) 903 1150 J

Wow! You can almost sense the bewilderment. He's just looking at the plane thinking - "how the hell did that get over there". I am a newbie skydiver so my opinion doesn't count for a tremendous amount - but it strikes me as pretty damn lucky he didn't hit the tail of the plane there. Some more scary shit to add to my memory. James

I don't know whether UK Dropzones acknowledge SA skydiving qualifications - I'll leave that for someone else to answer. I think they do coz I've noticed some South Africans jumping last year. I can tell you a ticket to altitude costs around £18 - this is about 230 RAND.

Oh you and your sunshine state - shut up!! There are a lot of good things about skydiving in the UK you know.. like .. erm .. you know ... you know .. the erm .. anyway mush dash .. bye ..

Apart from my first 10 "ever" jumps (AFF and retakes) I've never really been scared of jumping outta planes. Don't get me wrong I've always had a healthy appreciation .. a little bit of nervousness .. occasionally butterflies .. compulsion to check my handles about 5 times in the plane - but no real "fear" as such. Now I haven't jumped since November, bad weather, hard work and all - but in a few weeks I am going to sunny Florida where I'll get a few in. The thing is, and I can hardly believe it, I think I'm gonna be ... ... scared! It might turn out that on the day - I am not scared at all, but thinking about it now gets my adrenaline going. This last winter has been my first ever break from skydiving - not an amazing achievement given that I only started skydiving in August. Do you lovely people ever feel an increase in nerves after a break - or am I just completely pathetic and should I immediately stop calling himself a man, forget skydiving and become a sheep herder? Thoughts and comments on a postcard to ...

Ok well you didn't say where in the world - so how about Skydive Lillo - about 1 hour south of Madrid in Spain. Beautiful porter, great weather most of the year round. The time I was there a few months ago they would take the porter up with only 4 people! Talk about a fast climb :-)

I agree with pretty much everything you have said. It's interesting, I get the impression some DZs feel the wind tunnel is a "threat" to their business in some way. I think a wind tunnel is going to be a boom to the skydiving industry - its a great place to recruit new skydiving students. Also, I haven't spoken to a single existing skydiver who has been to any tunnel anywhere - who has said that doing so or by having access to it - it has reduced the amount they "jump". In fact most people who go to the tunnel want to get their knees in the breeze pretty quickly and try out their skills in freefall, it helps people develop more confidence, it makes people want to jump. A word on the Paris Tunnel as you mentioned it: It's pretty good .. quite a different experience to Skyventure which has solid plexiglass walls that you can fly right up to. The Paris tunnel is in this really bizarre building. You feel like you're in some nuclear facility. Anyway, the "tunnel" itself is surrounded by a net. On the outside of the net are the people waiting to go in after you. You step through the net to get in and out the tunnel. It "looks" a lot bigger than skyventure but I think the useable space is similar, if you fly too close to the net you loose air and - hmm - well the results can be quite embarrassing (plummet head first like a rock I recall). It's still good though, worth a visit. The downsides are 1/ it's way expensive in comparison to Skyventure Florida - even more so with the wicked US exchange rate - and 2/ it only appears to open in the afternoons .. oh and 3/ it's in a terrible place - - a grey dirty industrial area - no where near the centre of Paris.

I don't think recreational drugs of any sort, alcohol, cannabis or otherwise - are compatible with skydiving or in fact any sports where co-ordination and being able to think fast are a pre-requisite for your safety and that of those around you. I think someone who smokes dope and then jumps must be a dick head. Likewise I would think the same of someone who is boozed up or with a bad hang-over who jumps. If someone was intoxicated, drove a car and then killed themself in an accident - it's their call, fine. The problem is these people often end up killing innocent people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Skydiving is potentially the same. Have a smoke if you want, have a drink, hey sounds great to me. But make sure you're straight, proper straight before you go hurling yourself out of planes. IMHO.

Arlo - you go for it - set the record straight please - I don't work for Skyventure! I only know what I have been told - although I have spoken to 2 or 3 people at Skyventure in the past and they have all said that "off the street" traffic accounts for the volumes of traffic I indicated. Don't know where the discrepancy is from but eitherway, if you say it would still be profitable even without the tourists - that's great news. I can believe that .. the Florida tunnel seems to be pretty darn well booked up for the coming months.

It's very difficult to say isn't it - although I am gambling that Skyventure at Milton Keynes has the edge. Why? Not just because of its location which is a great bonus but mainly because it's a fairly "proven formula". The fact the Bedford bunch are modifying an existing facility would concern me (if I had a reason to be concerned) .. it's an unknown quantity. Renovation and maintenance costs could very quickly mount, whereas the Skyventure project irrespective of the capital required to get it going is proven elsewhere - the costs are known. Would be interesting to know how much money is required at Bedford. Long term what will matter is who can attract the most custom, with the least cash and who can operate most efficiently.

Mark .. in my opinion they are just absolutely amazing. Aside from being a great place to learn a variety of freefall skills - they are just blindingly good fun. Ofcourse, jumping outta plane is pretty damn surreal. I can't help but smile before each exit as I think to myself "wow" - but in a different sort of way - using the tunnel is just as wacky. You're in a room and you're flying for god's sake!!!

There is an update on the aforementioned website about the Skyventure wind tunnel ------------ Update: 1/24/04 We just received an email from Simon Ward. They are expecting to stay on target and complete the purchase within the next 3 months. All of their contracts are now in place along side the planning permission. From our experience with the building of other SkyVentures, they should be open by early 2005 possibly even late 2004. ------------ I have no idea which will ultimately be the most successful tunnel of the two - but I am guessing that the Skyventure tunnel at Xscape will pick up a tremendous amount of "off the street" traffic which is exactly what is required to make the thing run at a profit. Last time I was at Skyventure Florida - I was told that something like 70-80% of their revenue came from off the street. I'm not convinced that the Bedford tunnel will have this advantage. I have not been involved with construction projects myself, but I have a friend who has a business sited on several large retail parks round the UK - and he reckons he gets very cheap electricity. I am guessing that the Skyventure tunnel might benefit from this if it buys units along with Xscape. Whichever opens first - I can't wait! Woooooo Woooooo!!!!

Okay, okay .. I know what's going on here. I went down to the supermarket today to buy some more cheese .. and they'd run out of the good stuff for the first time, ever. Arrggghhhhhh!!!! Damnit. I should have realised earlier that this thread would cause an international surge in blue cheese sales. I have a sneaking suspicion that yoink alone has eaten at least 6 kilos of stilton, which I have it on good authority is the normal dose required to dream of skydiving, cigar smoking babies that bounce :-/ "Put the cheese down and step out of the vehicle"

Hi Megan, yes lucid dreaming is fantastic, as you are probably aware! When I was a kid I "woke up" inside a dream, had a complete realisation that I was dreaming, then woke up a few seconds later. For the moment I was there the dream was super clear - the environment felt "more" real than waking life. I did some research in to it, then read lots of books about it .. and got pretty good at it, although you have to "work at it" to keep on getting them and I haven't had too many this last year. Apart from the hundreds of different techniques you can use to induce lucid dreaming - the most useful tip I got was if I felt the dream "going", to look at the floor and make myself spin around. For some reason this stabilises the dream. Well it does for me. Anyway, I never skydived in a lucid dream - and generally I found it difficult to make myself fly - although as per my original post, I'm having lots of skydiving dreams at the moment so maybe I should try make some of them lucid!

Hi I am a very new skydiver, with only 50 jumps under my belt and subsequently still completely obsessed with the sport. I wake up in the morning thinking about it, it invades my thoughts during the day and of late I have been frequently dreaming at night about it. I am assuming to some extent this is completely normal, because all my new skydiving buddies seem just as preoccupied. Now, before Christmas I got in to "cheese" (that just doesn't sound right does it!) .. strong, mouldy cheeses in particular. Just delicious. I had always thought the statement "cheese" makes you dream was a bit of an old wives tale, without a tremendous amount of truth in it - but by hell, it really does make me dream. Every night I go on a new adventure. When I go to sleep it's like visiting an IMAX movie theatre for 8 hours. Now what's particularly great, is that most of my dreaming has been about skydiving. Without so much as leaving the comfort of my home, I've done at least 6 jumps this week. On 2 of them I landed safely without a parachute (fortunately the CCI didn't see or I would have been in big trouble) on another I had an in-depth conversation with 2 of my instructors, whilst drinking some Coca Cola - in freefall of course - about whether or not I had a reserve - and last night, very scarily actually, I went in after a total mal and woke up quite startled. .. It's ok though - because I fell asleep again, and it turned out I hadn't died in a skydiving accident but in fact I'd inherited a huge castle in Milan in to which myself and my girlfriend quickly moved in and lived happily ever after with our pet tiger?. Now quite clearly, I am eating too much cheese before bedtime. I need to stop damnit! But this got me wondering what weird, wonderful or scary skydiving dreams any of you guys and girls have had in the last 12 months? Incidentally, my dreaming was triggered originally after pulling a bit "too low" (for my skill level) one day and then me thinking to myself what a complete and utter total dick head I had just been. The skydiving dreams started that night. Did anything in particular trigger any of your unusual skydiving dreams or was it just your general obsession with the whole "flying through the air like a bird" thing? :-) James