TrickyDicky

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Everything posted by TrickyDicky

  1. How about selling the voucher and putting the money in a savings account until you buy a rig? otherwise manufacturers are sometimes happy for you to extend the life of vouchers if you ask nicely. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  2. My friend has a similar problem. Although not quite as tall, he is lanky and wears 20lb of lead. I think he needs to work on body pos though cos he can float a bit wearing all that too UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  3. Try origional Lizzard based at Hibaldstow (Chappie make them). They seem pretty good, made of cordura I think and pretty secure, with a big zip to put the lead weights in. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  4. I know the Sunshine Factory have a few brits working for them (the owner is a brit himself) and often have people going to/from the UK. If you ask them about getting something back to the UK their reply is "Not a problem". UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  5. What has been done in the past is the dealers buy it first, and then when you buy it it's 2nd hand gear and not liable for taxes. But people have quite happily physically taken stuff through customs fine. Ive heard of one person bringing back two whole tandem rigs and not paying any tax. Btw, if you order from skydive Jersey you dont directly pay any tax, you have to declare it yourself to to Inland revenue (then the declaration is up to you.. on your head be it if you dont declare it, cos they wont search for you). Plus theres no import duty. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  6. I did RAPS, but took me 48 jumps and 18 months to finish it. My friend who did AFF took about 25 AFF jumps, but mostly due to layoffs and one of his instructors going in. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  7. My solo is just about as loud as my time-out was. Never jumped a pro dytter though. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  8. Thats good.. When I was taught to pack (using student equipment) one of the first things I was told was "If you wont jump it yourself, why should anyone else?". Heard of people who have replied to "Would you jump it yourself?" with a "No" and instantly got a bollocking and had the whole thing pulled out. Its only fair. As for safety, I always check handles pads just before all the hi-fives.. and get someone to check my pin on run-in too. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  9. My friend had a collapsible pilot chute with a kill line that was too short, causing him to have hesitant openings. He was using it for > 100 jumps till he found out. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  10. Opinion Ive heard from someone very experienced in the UK: PdF: Great containers, poo canopies. My friend owns a next and he's happy enough with it. It looks too much like a vector to be worth it though (like a xerox), if you are probably gonna pay the same for a Next or a Vector. One problem he did have though was a pilot chute with a kill line that was too short, therefore reducing the drag on the pilot chute, causing him to have hesitant openings. That is just 1 issue with 1 container though. Here in the UK we have a great time when the $ is weak. But alot of rigs bought are Teardrops, made by thomas sports. They were initially Racer copies (origionally it was called the Chaser and they also make a vector copy... the Zerox ). Ive just ordered a new Wings, mainly cos it looks pretty good and its cheaper than everything else. If I had more money Id probably go for a Javelin, but they're just so damn expensive. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  11. I was under the impression that the smart was just a slightly redesigned Tempo (Aerodyne having bought PISA) and the Tempo was the most popular reserve in the world, probably because of cost. I know there are alot of rigs in the UK with tempo reserves in them. Id have thought then that these may have more "live tests" on them over PDRs. I have also heard that Tempos (and possible smarts) can have a slight turn (to the left) on them. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  12. Pretty much every rig is as safe as each other. Just have a look and see what you like the look of/sound of/most happy with with respect to fetures. But I would recommend getting 2nd hand gear as your first rig. It gives you a taste for whats out there, can be sold on for similar to what you paid for it and if you get bored with it you havent just shelled out a load of cash for it. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  13. In the UK the rules are: Students on squares must have full deployment by 3000ft Experienced and rounds (students) must have full deployments by 2000ft (1500ft for demos) This means S/Ls are usually done above 3200 to get full inflation (and rounds were done at 2200ft!) UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  14. I write down all my jumps and get them signed at the end of the day. Its only a 5 min job before you head in the bar for a beer. As Im only doing FS at the mo, all my logs consist of are number, exit height, freefall time, who I was jumping with, the dive we had planned to do and the number of points scored. I also add any interesting comments if anything interesting/scary/funny happened, else its just the letters (we're just a junior team) and points. I dont see how people see logging as a hassle. It becomes a hassle if you do 30 jumps and then try and log them 2 months later. BUt logging 4/5 jumps at the end of the day isnt that much of a bother. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  15. The newsletter say's they're having an SMG in winter, dornier in summer. Plus Steve Swallow is looking (and has been looking for some time) into buying another SMG. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  16. In the UK ALL jump planes must have a suitable knife in them. I often see a nice big sharp 6" knife in most planes. A small crappy plastic hook knife would be a waste of time. And any hook knife wouldnt be useful in all situations. Therefore best solutions is a big sharp normal knife. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  17. Btw, this is a SMG-92 Turbine Finist http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?front=yes&maxres=500&keywords=SMG-92 The one you'll probably get at Sibson is the Blue one with checkered tail as it's Hib's UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  18. Single engine porter like aircraft with a left hand door. Same engine as the dornier's engines (750HP turbine irrc), So FAST (though not as fast as the dornier!). Its also very warm as the door is part of the fuselage (push button, slide down side of plane). Door is about the same size as a porter, but a massive step on the ouside that goes most the way down the plane, and a long float bar. You can probably get all 10 people on the outside. With a full load (10) its unconfortable if you're at the tail end as the ceiling gets low when you're sitting on the bench. But certainly not as tight as a porter. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  19. On a slightly similar note I think its "Out of the blue" where a guy static lines his VX out the back of a skyvan. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  20. You now have to have previous parachuting experience for that to happen. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  21. Basically if you feel like you're getting lost in the middle of nowhere, you're probably going the right way :) UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  22. You're told to cut away the main with 2 out if they're flying fine? In the UK its taught that if they're flying fine, just leave them be. Dont give them more chance to entangling by cutting away, unless you're in a downplane. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  23. Just as a point to note: I recently ordered a custom Pilot only to find out they've had a bad batch of royal blue fabric. So if you are thinking of ordering a custom aerodyne canopy, the current wait time is already 12 weeks, but longer if you've ordered anything with royal blue. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  24. Just hope you're not 5 on the bench, cos it climbs at about 45' (well feels like it) and you have 4 other people falling on you. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.
  25. Faster (assuming its one of Steve swallows 3 G92), but fewer jumpers. Will take 15 jumpers to 15k in about 10 mins. Its got a smaller door, but a let has a stupidly big door. Door is about the size of an otter door, maybe a little taller UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.