goshawk

So sorry to hear the news of Adrians death. A legend in his own lifetime who turned out to be just a nice guy when you met him. Condolences to Katerina. A loss to his family, his friends and the sport. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

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If anyont would like to sent their condolences to Pete's partner Liz then please address to Liz Jeffries, Headcorn Parachute Club, Headcorn Airfield, Headcorn, Kent TN27 9HX and your letters/card will be passed on. I will post details for the funeral as soon as details have been decided. ------------------------------------------------------------ Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Blue skies mate,sorry to lose you like that and can't get to grips with it yet. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

A fair few things to think about but I am inclined to agree that one possible cause was the fact that the canopy was flying too slowly. It is possible that the turbulence was from the line of trees (or even a thermal off the plough) rather than the wake of the other canopy and it may be that I pre-disposed the canopy to react badly by being overcautious about how closely I followed the other one! I have decide against the Rage but not purely as a result of this incident (after all, as some of you have said "shit happens" on all sorts of canopies). I do like a soft and on-heading opening but found it a nuisance to always have to pull on the rear risers to obtain full canopy inflation, I found the slider arrangment unwieldy and, on balance, prefer the XFire2. I jumped this canopy for a couple of days at Rantoul this year and found it gave me fantastic openings without the hassle and also flew happily in all sorts of conditions, coping well with quite severe turbulence. I even prefered it to my Stiletto, to the extent that I have been borrowing one back at my home DZ but it is always worthwhile to explore the options before making a final descision and I don't regret trying the Rage. Even if the biggest rush I got from it was not quite in the way I intended! Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Thank all of you for your comments. In reply. my best estimate was that I was approximately on a level with the leading canopy when the incident occured. I was not on brakes at all at the time but was in the process of making a flat 90 degree turn with just a small input on the right toggle. I would not immeadiately have considered a design flaw had it not been for the disscussion I had with my coach (Chris Lynch) prior to jumping the canopy in regard to this being a possible problem with canopies with formed nose- i.e. poor reaction to turbulence and reluctance to re-inflate once collapsed. I do agree that sometimes a problem can simply occur in an individual canopy, but think that when a relatively new design seems to have a question mark over some aspect of its performance it is worth discussing in this type of forum. I myself have wondered if the collapse might have been avoided if I had flown the turn more aggressively instead of making a slow turn to allow the other canopy to get further ahead. The canopy was by Wings from Paragear. I have frequently jumped a Crossfire 2 which also has a formed nose (although of a different design) without encountering this type of problem. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Last w/e I was demo jumping the new Rage 97. I was loading this canopy at 1.55 (I have over 900 jumps), and had talked to my canopy coach before test jumping it, regarding the probable characteuristics. He expressed some doubts as to whether the new breed of canopy with the formed nose to keep the wing more rigid (and improve the aerodymamic qualities) was actually as effective as claimed. His belief was that they could react unfavourably to turbulence, the wakes of other canopies etc. I made two uneventful jumps on the Rage and then went to make a third. I found myself a little crowded in the landing pattern as I was tending to catch the canopy ahead of me. I was unable to turn inside this canopy because I was wary of crossing a line of tall trees which produce a fair amount of roll so I flew a little wide and only turned in after the other canopy after it was quite some distance ahead of me- I would estimate at least 100ft if not more. At the point where my canopy intersected the wake of the other the right hand side suddenly and dramaticly collapsed and it fell into a sharp downwards and backwards spiral, throwing in line twists as it went. At this point I was at approximately 300ft AGL. I fought to clear the twist and succeeded but was then left with a canopy that still had most of the cells on the right collapsed and was now spiralling forwards to the right at high speed. I was only able to re-inflate the canopy with some difficulty by pulling on the right control toggle about 3-4 times in succession and managed to get a good canopy above my head by 50ft AGL to come in for an off landing in a ploughed field next to the landing area. I feel that a canopy that reacts in this manner to what must have been a fairly mimimal amount of wake must present safety issues as regards the design characteuristics. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced this type of problem with the Rage? Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Really good to read your report Kris, because, with the amount of alcohol I consumed during the Convention, some of my memories are a little on the hazy side......... Also, must say here and now, many thanks for giving me, Zeemax and Taffy the ride to and from the hospital after the golf cart incident.!! Had such a good time and met so many good people that even the injuries pale into insignificance (for me anyhow, not sure about Zee as he got grounded) Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

For any skydivers that can spare the time to make it to the cremation (please do if you can) it will be at Horley Crematorium, Balcombe Road, Horley, Surrey at 2:15 p.m. on Monday 26th April.Drinks at the Parsons Pig down the road after the service. Family are requesting no flowers but a donation to Ethens favourite cause instead (Dorking Nursery School) PM me if you'd like details. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter silvered wings; Sunwards I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds- and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of. The DZ won't be the same without you but I know you'll be with us in spirit at Rantoul. Won't forget you Ethen. Miss you. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Hi, welcome to the sport. I did my first jump at 40 for my birthday and was hooked instantly. Watch out though, you may find yourself a few years down the line as an instructor spending all your free time and money in the air. Loving it though. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Hi Steve, glad you like it.RAPS is definately a good way to get into the sport. Not as expensive as AFF and because its spread over a longer period of time you get to be around the DZ more and chat to all the old hands and listen to the stories at the bar. An education all in itself!! You dont say where you are but if you decide to come to Headcorn you may find me teaching you... just beware the pink room on saturday nights. Langer is alaso nice and a bit further up Hibaldstow is friendly and has some good aircraft. Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.

Hi Beth welcome to the U.K. skydiving scene. Don't stress out too much on saving for your first set of kit. Get something second hand, with advice from your local rigger, at a nice cheap price and then start saving properly for the made to measure, in your own colours kit that youll want in a couple of years time.Quote Lou. It is better to be happy for a moment and be burned up with beauty than to live a long time and be bored all the while.