adamUK

There's not much you can really do to prepare yourself for tunnel flying. You're probably better stretching rather than watching videos. I've done a fair amount (14+ hours) of tunnel but the sky is where it's really at. Welcome

If you were belly flying then 60 minutes spread over 1 day is very do-able. I would do no more than 10 minutes per slot and spread it out over 6 sessions. I'd try to leave about an hour between the end of the last slot and the next one (e.g. if you went in at 1pm, you'd be out at 1:30 so then next one you should aim to go back in at 2:30pm. This will give you chance to debrief and recover. Each 10 minute slot I'd go for 2 minute rotations (i.e. you're in there 5 times). If you can leave the maximum amount of time between rotations (ideally 4 minutes) to allow you to reflect on your session and perhaps get a drink (I don't know if other tunnels allow water bottles in but Airkix in the UK do

Whilst not quite 20% I've lost 27lb since September 2012 and have both a PD Pulse 170 and Aerodyne Pilot 188 in 2 separate rigs. The Pulse is faster to turn but the landings now are about the same as the Pilot was a year ago. Obviously my experience is not entirely objective as I've been getting more jumps in the mean-time (currency counts!) but I may stick the weight belt on when I get home and get on the Pilot and report back

It's worth considering the PD pulse as it's a low pack volume canopy which means you can have a bigger canopy in the same sized container. This means you may not have to change your container too often if/when you downsize thus saving $$$$. It's easier to pack than a 100% ZP canopy too.

The owners manual for my Wings has inspection/maintenance activities which are recommended to be done once a month. I don't really think you need to be a rigger to do them but if you find something then showing the rigger it before you jump it would be a good idea.

This one you mean: http://www.jumpticketprices.com/tunnels.asp Tunnels also have discount nights and bulk buy rates. Right now if you're a BPA member you can get 1 hr tunnel at Bedford for £400 (about $650) including taxes which for a 16ft tunnel is great value. Airkix sometimes do buy one get one free offers around Christmas when it's virtually empty which works out about £7/min. The coaches buy time at better rates than walk-in flyers so it can work out cheaper to have coached time that buy it yourself (this is especially true at Airkix) Finally if you go to the BPA AGM then both bodyflight and Airkix will sell you bulk time at really great rates too. Where in the UK are you based?

There are tunnel coaches who charge by the minute of tunnel time flown irrespective of when you take your time. One for ukskydiver.co.uk for recommendations.

Spain and France have 1 year repack cycles too as far as I know. The UK is 6 months. As stated above, it's not just repacking the reserve but the inspection that gets done with it that's probably the most important bit. If you're only doing under 100 jumps per year then maybe it would make sense but if you're doing much greater than this in a harsh environment (sandy, dusty, etc) then a shorter interval would be appropriate.

Have a chat with your boss or the rest of the team. Your

Where does Bill Booth fit on this scale?

Wing loading plays a part, obviously, but also smaller canopies have different line lengths which can also affect handling so a 190 loaded at 1.2 will not be as responsive as a 135 loaded at 1.2 There's a few threads on here discussing this if you do a search. Cheers Adam.

Where is the 'Boobies' option to make it an authentic dz.com poll?

Depending on your age, some folk come to the UK on student visas. Some allow you to work part time which is pretty much what a TI's job here is in the UK with the weather and all.

If you've got the cash then go for it. I bought new for my first rig and 9 years later bought another brand new one. Depreciation wise I've not lost hideous amounts of money given the length of time I've had it (though the £-$ exchange rate was better 10 years ago). One thing to consider is that the PD Optimum reserve and Paratec Speed reserves are low pack volume and the PD Pulse is a low pack volume main. This means that you could buy a brand new container that was sized for a smaller canopy but put a bigger canopy in it for now. This'll mean that you won't need to change your container if and when you downsize and you can have an enormous reserve as a welcome bonus. This is what I did but since this is my first downsize in 10 years of jumping I don't know if I'll be getting any smaller.

Here's some: Some people don't like you touching their gear. On the packing mat walk around any gear being packed, don't step over (eventually you'll catch someones lines and they'll have to start from scratch again). Some DZs have a no beverages in the packing area rule (for obvious reasons). Just ask. When you've learned some stuff you'll be super keen to talk about it, just be careful as to what constitutes 'relaying your experiences' and 'advice'. Leave the advice bit to instructors as you could be confusing other people of low experience. Other than that if you turn up with a positive attitude then you'll be just fine. Every DZ has its fair share of assholes as do all clubs/workplaces/etc too. Welcome to the sport :-)

I have just got delivery of a Wings semi-stowless bag. It's made slightly differently from the one posted on their website in that the grommets that position the locking stows are held in place by one strip of fabric rather than one per grommet (the wings photo is here). The one on Wings' website has a triangular flap too which does not appear on the production bag. So here it is: [inline W8_3_19_sml.jpg] There are 4 mouth locking stows which are secured with knotted bungee cord which I am assuming means that the length can be adjusted to suit the canopy pack volume. A small washer sits behind each knot which stops it being pulled through the grommet (in the photo below I have pulled each stow down to show the knot and washer) [inline W8_3_21_sml.jpg] The mouth locks appear to be held in place in the bag just using friction so it remains to be seen if they remain in place during deployment or if they snap. I'll stock up on bungee cord and washers just in case. The mouth locking bungee cord on my bag (a Pulse 170 in a Wings W8-3 ext container) did not appear to be very tightly held in place. Pulling the lines from the mouth locks did not take much resistance, only the last one in the deployment sequence was tighter. It was possible to hold the bag off the ground from the lines with the mouth locks in place. The lines themselves are S-folded in a pouch which is closed by two tuck flaps on the top and sewn to the side of the bag. [inline W8_3_12_sml.jpg] [inline W8_3_13_sml.jpg] [inline W8_3_14_sml.jpg] This arrangement allows the pouch flap to be pulled back about 1/3rd of the way to give access to fold the lines into it. [inline W8_3_18_sml.jpg] Canopy in bag [inline W8_3_23_sml.jpg] With canopy removed. [inline W8_3_15_sml.jpg] With lines stowed. The rest of the bag looks pretty standard [inline W8_3_22_sml.jpg] I have not jumped it yet so I'll post again when I've done this and also get some footage of the deployment sequence. Best wishes,

Off topic I know but do you know what is happening with Contour? Are they going back online?

A real shame. I was never comfortable mounting a go pro top mount on my lid. I slid the switch forwards, it beeped and I knew it was on. Then had to go round all the go pro owners and check their led was flashing on run in.

Well, I've ordered the semi stowless bag from Wings so I'll see how we go...

Okay... here it is.. All ready for rigging. Unfortunately I f**ked up the order form. Hence the black pin cover and not the orange one. I'm such a dork [inline DSCN0736.JPG]

Interesting. I ordered a new Wings container in June and they never mentioned it. It took bit of digging to get info on the reserve boost system too. Since I've not got delivery of it yet I'm enquiring about a possible upgrade

+1 for the guy who said don't go to that tunnel. What do you hope to learn in a baggy suit?

I've got a rig turning up in a couple of months. I'll get it analysed.

This guy ruptured a testicle and carried on playing another 20 minutes before going to hospital and getting it removed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-league/19863795

Have a look at the sonic tunnel suit and V2. The tunnel suit is cordura for extra lift/power. The zips are also more robust. It's a warm suit though!