kuwait_is_hell

I really have nothing negative to say about this club. It runs smoothly. The plane is quick and there's no mucking around waiting. Food is great. People are helpful. Accommodation is reasonable. If only it wasn't so far away for me.

I jumped here in March 2003 and used their own gear. The quality of their gear is very good. I jumped a semielliptical 190. My landings weren't that great as I had not jumped for a while and I was then a fairly inexperienced jumper. On one load two of us landed out due to a bad spot (it happens - not a big deal). I managed to land in a very small clearing in a little field full of cows, trees and rocks. Well, this one big cow was in my way so I ended up ploughing into the ground just in front of it. I smacked my head good and hard. Luckily I was wearing a helmet. I wrapped my glasses round my face so I had cuts and lacerations too. I carefully picked up the rig and me and this experienced guy (who had landed near me)helped get our rigs over the barbed wire fence without snagging them. But instead of concern for my well-being, all the CI was concerned about was his rig. I was concussed and had a head-ache for two days - was lucky not to have been seriously injured. I don't blame anyone for what happened - we all know the risks involved and accept them. I also understand his concern for his rig. But he should have asked me if I was ok first. There was another instructor - female, tall with curly hair - sorry, don't know her name. She gave me a hard time for not being ready before a load. But the reason was that I had been told by the other instructor to wait for a rig to be packed for me. I didn't like her arsey attitude. Hey, maybe I just had a bad experience.

Cool vid! Thanks for the link

Thanks for the link - checked it out and there are some awesome files to view. Liked Brazilian bridge swoop!!

Hi all, I'm holed up in Kuwait right now and am trying to locate good short skydiving movies I can download to pass the time. I only have a slow connection to the internet so I can't view streamed vids. Tried a few searches but there are so many broken links out there. I'm sure this must have been posted before so forgive me. Any help appreciated!!

Yes, the wind at Empuriabrava is something to be aware of. On my first jump there I landed outside the DZ at the western end of the runway. I think I was last out too. Make a habit of that - on my first ever AFF jump at Pietermaritzberg I did the same thing.

they usually inform in the plane the new jump limits.. maybe the wind picked up while you were in fall ??? This is possible. After my accident the jump limit went from 40 up to several hundred.

I had a nasty experience of landing in high wind at Empuriabrava in 2002. The wind had picked up after we took off but no-one cared to tell the poor suckers in the plane. I was doing a two-way jump with my instructor. I opened at about 3000 feet and began my downwind leg. I realised the wind was strong as I was being blown backwards at about 1000 feet down to about 500 feet. The wind was gusting. As I came in to land I had no forward speed at all. I was jumping a semi-elliptical 190 main. I was frankly not experienced enough to land in these conditions and in the stress of the situation landed in the same direction as I had on the previous jump. But the wind had veered 45 degrees. So I didn't land into the wind (mistake no. 1), flared fully (mistake no. 2), hit the ground like a sack of rocks, did PLF (thank God), failed to chop the canopy (mistake no. 3), got airborne again, landed some distance away on my shoulder (heard a snap, my shoulder joint) and got dragged across the runway. So in the even that the wind does pick up, it is definitely worth knowing what to do. Even better, as someone stated, it's better not to get into the situation in the first place - but still it happens. I can't thank the staff at Empuria enough for helping me out afterwards, and the British paras who helped me - tie my shoelaces, carry my stuff, get drunk with me, for the next few days!!!

Why not? Name and shame, name and shame!

Hey, how's it going!

An aerodyne pilot 190 arriving hopefully in 8 weeks time!

I see what you mean - thanks!

What are peoples' opinions on having a reserve static line fitted for someone of around 50 jumps like myself? I'm about to order a new rig and would like to know the pros and cons. In training you are told to leave a second or so between cutting away and pulling the reserve so that the main can fly clear of the area as the reserve is opened. Surely this won't happen if the reserve is opened by the rsl. Any advise appreciated.

Not pointless. A helmet saved me from severe concussion last year in a bad landing. Still had mild concussion and the ground was rock-hard, baked by the sun. I landed outside the DZ due to severe line-twists and a bad spot. The field where I landed was full of rocks and trees (and cows). In cycle racing in the UK helmets are mandatory and saved my neck in a high-speed pile-up in 2000. Cycling is a lot less risky than skydiving.

Hope you enjoy your new rig. I'm thinking of buying a Pilot - would be interested to hear of anyone's experience. I have heard that it is very similar to the hornet - as far as I know Aerodyne are a good company. Shame that PISA (Parachute Industries of South Africa) don't still manufacture it because it was a hell of a lot cheaper. I reckon a new system from Aerodyne comes at around $6500 and that is without Cypres.