anthonylock

1.4 under a pilot 168, from about 90 jumps. before thats loads of jumps under PD 190s.

is this SB mandatory for a rigger to action in the UK? Quite far away from sandy beaches or sand of any sort here

Got myself an all new custom Icon with a pilot 168 and a smart 170. Reasons primarily the price to start with, but now i would recommend them on the price, customer service and that pilot is sure sweet to fly!

Ron I agree with what your saying, however one thing to think about is the cost of the purchase/hire of these canopies. Most people would not be able to keep close to the curve by buying a new/used canopy evey 100 jumps or so. One thing to do is use lead to up by .1 or .2 however there will still be alot of people who go from 1.2:1 or so at 200ish jumps and fly that until 900 when they buy a new canopy at 1.9:1.... However that said this method would still prevent the 2.1:1 at 300 jump type stuff, and so its a good start. Tony (edited due to spelling)

yeah as was said before, British Parachuting Association regs is 16 with parental consent. There are no non BPA dropzones in the UK. Still it willo make for a cool 16th birthday present if you don't get to go abrouad before that.

I don't think its over the top at all... I have seen experienced teams giving each other pin checks when they get up.. good for people with thousands of jumps....good for me :)

is there no minimum age before you are allowed to jump in the US? well obviously not.. at least not for DZO's kids?

I don't have any scientific data on them but I was borrowing a fast suit during my warp coaching and it was too fast for me, to i put some of those on and they helped.... but not enough so i ended up waring a long sleived top over the suit... which did the trick. When I came to buy a jump suit I opted for the slow suit type which comes with baggy arms as standard.

Yeah some good points about people not being able to see skydiving up close and personal, swooping has possibly the best chance, as it is much more spectator friendly. Then again most people would probably prefer to watch some awesome freefly than a bridge game?!?! after all they would both have to be broadcast. As for people not understanding skydiving, is understanding a pre-requsite for enjoying the spectator experience?

Firstly in the UK, most (ALL?) dropzones put a tag on your rig when you first turn up which has a date till the next re-pack.. when you get you kit checked, you are ment to have your tag checked to make sure the reserve is in date. Also if you are uncomfortable with a longer re-pack cycle there is nothing stopping you from still getting a re-pack every 120 days. Tony

My take on tipping is : buy your beer... maybe just a UK thing but i certainly have not heard of people tipping their instructors, paying yes, tipping no.

Wasn't it the scottish nationals there this weekend? 4 and 8 way comp?

Keep a look out out for the BPA coaching roadshows. I think there is one up at Hibildstow before the nationals. Also it is really good to enter any scrambles competitions you can, you will get loads of coaching there. As for free coaching sponsored by DZs? well I have not heard about it in the UK. Then again I have limited experience. If you are going to do Warp, the 'normal' arrangement is to pay your coaches slot, if you did not it would be like asking someone to pay to coach you!

Recently bought an all new Aerodyne system, Pilot 168, Smart 175. I see no reason to shift down from the 175 reserve for me even if in loads of jumps time i want to down size the main.

You want to become an advanced packer, Its the first step to becoming a rigger.