TVPB

We (Australia) used to have reasonable medical care for both public and private situations. Now that we are on the road to pure capitalism, the premiums are going through the roof and the level of care is diminishing. As soon as profit becomes the focus of care, the care is focused on the profit. Shareholders (as well as senior management) become more important than the customers and clients. They even send us letters every year saying, we have improved your cover by charging you more and giving you less. Then you say: "if you can't beat them, join them". So you devise some method of ripping people off. Capialism is great isn't it... Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Moving to specific scenarios. Given that you think they are equally reliable and consistent (am I misunderstanding what you are saying??), you would be happy jumping your skydiving main canopy on skydives without a reserve, forever? Correct? Or do you BASE jump with a dual canopy system and always deploy high so that you have time to use your reserve just like you do on a skydive? Are you happy on a rel dive for the group not to track very far and deploy close to each other (which is something that is more likely to be experienced on a BASE jump)? Or lets assume that: 1- it takes ~ 500 ft for your skydiving canopy to open from a zero air speed start. 1- it takes ~ 200 ft for your BASE canopy to open from a zero air speed start. All things being equal, and assume you are happy opening at 100ft, if you were jumping off a cliff with a good landing area, which one would you rather do: - exit and deploy your base canopy from 300 ft, or - exit and deploy your skydiving canopy from 600 ft. Which ones would you choose and why? p.s. yes, they are different tools for a different job. And there is a reason for that. One is how they are designed to function. More later. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

OK - on a serious note, everything about your BASE gear has to be more reliable than your normal skydiving gear. Why? It generally has no redundancy. In laymans terms you have no reserves, backup plans, etc. How do you achieve reliability? Consistency, repeatabilty, predictability, etc. You need to be sure of your outcome. How do you achieve this? Keeping away from higher performance canopies, increasing the size / WL which in turn decreases speeds and gives more time, configuring gear to behave in certain ways, learning techniques that optimize your gears performance (i.e. body position, etc), jumping in less turbulent environments (i.e. being more critical about weather conditions - not opening in prop blast or thermals, or higher winds), designing aerofoils that behave in certain ways (pressurisation & inflation distributions and durations), etc. I know that with a certain configuration, my BASE gear will open within a certain distance / time, I don't have either that faith or experience with my skydiving gear. I can open my BASE gear consistently a certain very low height above the ground. I have to increase the minimum height considerably for my skydiving gear, and this is due to both variation in opening characteristics and how long it takes and is designed to take to open A Fox 265 loaded at 0.70 will always be less radical on opening and flight compared to a fully elliptical 120 loaded at 1.55. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I'm sorry. I'm from an English speaking country and I did not understand your post very well. Actually, I did not understand it at all! What language is it? Can you explain in simple terms what you are saying??? Thank You Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

That is correct, the world is not perfect. Pushy customers who want everything cheap. "Efficient operators". Pushy operators who want to cover costs and make money. Pushy colleagues who want to finish jumping earlier. Pushy lawyers who want money in lieu of justice but under the guise of it. And it's a real bummer when you get booted off a drop zone for taking the time required to set up your student correctly. But in the end, it is still a choice. I just got back into tandems after 5 years off. High volume city jumping operation next to the coast. Handcams. Cloud jumping permits. Blah Blah. Lots of cheese if you get my drift (Reason Model). It was really busy. But the operation allowed me at least a few jumps / days to get back into the saddle a bit more comfortably by reducing the complexity of my jumps (better weather, no handcams, fewer jumps, etc). My first really busy day was 11 tandems. most of which were handcam. Not bad considering each load includes a 20 minute bus trip. I botched one handcam that day. Why? Because I made the decision that safety was more important. I was also slower getting my students / customers ready - only by a couple of minutes. But I felt like I was dragging the chain a bit. But I still checked them. The other TM were pretty good in helping out here and there. Obviously you can't keep stuffing things or holding things up and expect to maintain employment. In the end, you need a good routine that includes fundamental checks for EVERY jump. This should NOT be compromised. I used CHIIFFTAA when flying ultralights. Controls, harness, instruments, ignition, fuel, flaps, trim, ailerons, area, or whatever. For tandems: ????? AAD Drogue Harness Opening Closure Passenger Harness Undergarments Comfort Perhaps you should make your own up, Or use one of the existing ones, Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Sounds like an easy decision to me! Money or your / someones life???? Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

?????? You should find something relevant in one of the following: http://www.wisdomquotes.com/ http://www.quotationspage.com/ Too lazy to throw one at you. Point is, what is the point of anything?? Why fall out of an aircraft at all? OR Whuffo they jump out of perfectly good airplanes? Why hold hands? Why spin? Why land on the spot? Why land quickly? Why link up wiht others under parachute? Why????? Just because!!!! That is what you are missing.

Get off the forums - there's days in that for you!

The locals will know?? I was there in Oct 2007 during the World CRW record trials. It flew a load but I did not get a chance to jump due to the trials. Apparently it did not fly much longer after that and has been down ever since. I was there again in May for the Big Ways and was told that it required replacements (engines ???) which were not justified expenses at the time. It sounded like a medium term thing but with options being kept open. It was super impressive watching that thing take off and land on the Perris airstrip. Jump run started somewhere just after take off too! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

The story line was entertaining at best, but the scenes were great and inspired many to have a go at jumping and other life adventures. There are many world class skydivers out there today due to this film. I too was a part of the "Point Break generation". Sad to see him go. Glad that he was here.

I met Barb at the WR 2007 qualification camp at Perris and of course we and 98 + others jumped together on the WR later that year. She is an endearing personality and fun to be and jump with. There are not many super crw chick canopy pilot gurus around, she was one of the elite.

Gotta love the inventiveness and creativity of people. He was a little too vertical to relative wind. Could do better if closer to horizontal.

Did one out of a 4 way leading to a drop the bomb and ghost plane. Tips: - the ghost plane is potentially dangerous for the guy who "flies it. The pilot. - the key thing is that the pilot is symmetrical at all times. - he must have a symmetrical hold on the other canopy when the cutaway is performed. I there is lots of tension on one grip and not much on the other, there is a chance that the cutaway canopy hooks one leg and starts winding up. This leg may be locked in very quickly by a wound up canopy. Hence, make sure both grips are locked in properly prior to the other person cutting away. Abort if they are not. And make sure that you have a knife handy in case you need to cut lines to get rid of the other canopy. I would suggest an open blade knife in case you have to cut through a series of wound up lines. Not a zac or jack the ripper, but a switch blade or something (not a machete, you will scare people ). The knife should be capable of cutting through the risers if need be. - if the pilot intends to release the cut away canopy (landing it can be problematic if you end up with a horizontal body which often happens), he must be able to release both sides at or near enough exactly at the same time. Otherwise the above scenario happens. - do this all at high altitude. Trying to cut away a wound up canopy at 2000 feet is "cutting" it fine. Pardon the pun. - one method of preventing the horizontal body and therefore being able to land it is to wind both feet around the front risers twice and then lock you instep into the v of the front / back risers (i.e. the front of the foot on one side and the back on the other). Then push your legs and lower body forward in a sit position. You want to try to get the risers in front of you instead of behind. It's good if the cutaway canopy is on full drive (brakes released and no inbuilt brakes at "full drive") so that is pulls back less during flight. Perhaps even some front riser trim???? However, if you need to release the canopy in this configuration, it is much harder, so think carefully prior to attempting this. Rule 1: do it with someone experienced. Rule 2: Good Luck. Stay Safe. Have Fun.

Classic!! Looks like they both got f$^$&. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

He is a member and should be allowed to jump unless he has breached USPA policies that would prevent him from jumping. We have a "bringing the sport into direpute" clause in our regulations that could be used in extreme circumstances to remove a member. This is hard to enact and usually leads to a court case, costs, and eventually rival organisations being set up. It seems that it's easier to st up non USPA organisations in the USA than in other countries???? On a personal level, which is where the bulk of this argument lies IMHO, this person is a greedy, manipulative, opportunisti who I would not want to either jump or associate with. Karma will have it's way. There are many options: 1 - if everyone at the other drop zone does not like him, don't jump with him. As much fun as a solo or hop and pop is, they do get lonely and boring after a while. He would give up eventually?? 2 - report any / every breach he makes to the USPA, the IRS, immigration, FAA, local council, police, whatever?? Reality dictates that it is very hard for any person to follow every single rule in the book. However, this takes lots of negative energy. 3 - Bring back the biff - or as the old timers in BASE would say, "tar and feather" him. But that could get you into trouble. 4 - he is in a sponsored team is he not?? I am sure his sponsors would have some sort of behavioural expectations from him. They would also like their product or service represented in a positive light. I mean, imagine if someone was sponsored by a DZ or gear manufacturer and they were trying to shutdown market share and potential customers. As a sponsor I would not be happy about that.. 5 - Tell some local "merchandisers" that he breached their supply chains and undermined customer relationships!! 6 - Do the aircraft owners all follow FAA rules religiously???? Anyway, lots of time and energy wasted here. It would be simpler just to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

He he. I got to hand it to you, you are blowing your trumpet loudly and doing most things possible to get onto World Team. If persistence alone was a measure, you would be selected in the base already! Good luck. I hope you get on.

If you're talking teams and success, an average Lightning can get you to fourth place at a World Meet. It is the skill development and coaching that is crucial to this level. If you want to get amongst the medals - the canopies and equipment becomes more important, but skills are still VIP. e.g - A triathlon will give a rotations team an easy two points over Lightnings. Triathlons reward skill and punish lack of skill. This is my experience - others have different opinions of course. Faster canopies will give you shorter times and bigger blowouts. Consistency is the key in CF / CRW. For example 6 second average rotations will give a team 16 points. If you do 5 secs and 8 secs, you are worse off. In the end, Lightnings are good reliable all rounders and will get you to a high level. Both Storms and Triathlons are better than lightnings for when you get closer to World Class. Which one is better, it depends on too many things. - your technique - your skills - your team mates - wing loading - and lots of other things. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Wind Concerns: 1 - landing. You know the answer to this. What are you prepared to land in? 2 - Canopy Formations - Contact. Changing wind direction and turbulence are issues. Examples include wind shear (change of direction), turbulence from the lee sides of mountain ranges (i.e at Gap in France). You also have lift around Cumulous clouds and above thermal sources on the ground. You need to consider: - absolute wind speed - i.e. getting dragged on landing because the wind is too strong to control your canopy is not good. - changing wind speeds -> this can be in the form of turbulence and gusts. Too much of either on landing or whilst doing canopy formations is not good. Going backwards in consistent winds doing CRW is OK up to a point IMHO. Remember if you are flying directly along the wind line, the relative closing speeds should be the same regardless of the wind speed. It changes a bit when it is slightly cross wind - the physics does not necessarily match the practice - so leave a bit more margin for error when approaching and setting up on a formation. I have done an 8 way training camp with 50 to 70 knot uppers (they were constant, consistent winds), but had little wind on landing. Your spotting skills have to be better! The answer is dependant on many factors: - size of the formation (bigger means more conservative) - type of CRW (rotations can handle more than sequential - planes are more solid than stacks or offsets) - wing loadings (can handle more with higher loadings) - experience (beginners should minimise risk to maximise safety and fundamental learning opportunity) - etc. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Hi Folks The Australian 100 way formation skydiving record attempt website is fully up to date with: - all newsletters from Greg Jack (main organiser). - participant list. - some photo's from the Perris May 2009 camps (there were a number of Aussies at this camp). - all the technical information and articles available about big way formations. So please check it out: www.Aussie100Way.com Australian 100 Way Record Website! Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Australian 100 Way Formation Skydiving Record Attempt – Website Announcement www.Aussie100Way.com We have established a web presence for the Aussie 100 Way record attempt – June 2010. Go to www.Aussie100Way.com and find all you need to know about the upcoming record attempt. Feel free to provide feedback via the site. Note that the format of the site will change soon. The website navigation is currently as follows: Australian RW 100 Way Record Attempt • Event Information o FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions (questions relating to the record, funding, donations, etc.) • News (page with all the newsletters, information about web site changes, latest information) o History (a brief history of Australian Big Ways ) o Media (a page for pictures, press releases, etc) • Equipment (technical: will contain information about big way equipment) • Skills (technical: will contain information about big way techniques) • Participants (a list of all people who have registered and/or expressed interest) • Registration (the formal registration process – how – downloadable documents) • Contacts (list of organizers that you can contact for further information about specific areas) • Links (links to relevant websites and many big way technical articles and forum discussions as well as downloadable documents) • Table of Contents (lists all pages and downloadable documents on this site) Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

My last post on this event: - - - - - - - Subject: Info & Photo's From Australian 36 Way CRW Camp - Photo's EXPIRE Sun 5th April Hi People’s As requested by some, full Res photo’s from the 36 way are at: Wayne McLachlan & Tom Begic & Pam Pangburn (jpg): http://tomarent.smugmug.com/ CR2 raw available on request. Thanks heaps to Wayne for letting us have them. These shots will disappear April 5th – download NOW if you want them! Sarge has my inside formation raw shots. So I have not uploaded the high quality ones as yet – still chasing these up. Thumbnails at: http://www.flickr.com/people/crw36way/ Steve Fitchett: http://www.fitchimages.com/album/Diamond_Q...gnals/index.htm – these are for purchase only. Lots of great photo’s there. If anyone has any shots they would like to share (i.e. circle up, ground, landings, etc), please email me and I will arrange to upload them. Or you could add them to: http://skysurfer.com.au/forums/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=user&user=2864&op=view_album&album=60 CRW Event Info at: http://www.canopyformation.info Participants and Statistics: http://www.canopyformation.info/participants.htm Pictures & Video's: http://www.canopyformation.info/pictures.htm News: http://www.canopyformation.info/newsinfo.htm That’s it for me. CYA in 2011! Regards Tom Begic Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

I was fortunate to be on the trail CASA (aircraft #2) load for the 100 ways. = 18000 ft exit. It was not a major drama r.e. oxygen, openings, and/or cold for our loads. We had 6 total attempts at 100 ways. On the actual official record jump, we ran out of oxygen about 10 minutes before exiting. No one on our load was affected adversely. Openings were OK. There were some minor efforts in reducing opening shock However, there were reports of minor affects r.e. ox/hypox on the lower 16000 & 12000 loads as we did get held up a bit. This indicates how variable affects can be amongst people. Hence, personal physiology is a key part of determining how you will be affected. It should also be noted that the bigger people were on the higher loads and smaller people on lower loads (on average). I think Kirk W. VANZANDT did a lot of work on the systems. You could approach him. Good Luck. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Lack of discipline - I did not have much beer at all. http://www.canopyformation.info/images/IMG_1367%20Small.jpg

Pasi is the CRW history man: CRW history at: http://skydivehame.com/cf/index.php Records at: http://www.skydivehame.com/cf/national_records.php Australia is equal 4th - the 3 bigger formations above us were all World Multinational records. I have some historical info at: http://ozcrw.tripod.com/history.htm With World Meet and national record results at: http://ozcrw.tripod.com/results.htm These are out of date. Stay Safe - Have Fun - Good Luck The above could be crap, thought provoking, useful, or . . But not personal. You decide.

Some video & photo's posted at: http://www.canopyformation.info/pictures.htm