skyjuggler

Yep, Similar thing. One guy told me about gas canisters in rigs and understood my problem..... Airports and security issues of present coupled with a little ignorance and major dose of not wanting to be the one that makes a mistake (quite understandably) has led to these kind of exeperiences. Best course of action, make sure bags are not too much over weight, smile, be polite and keep low profile!!!! Its a pain I know, but that is the environment we seem to have right now.

My experiences. Used to not really mind either checking rig in hold or taking as hand luggage... until recently. I tried to take rig thorugh as hand luggage at Standsted and got pulled up by security. They called airline who not only said it couldn't be taken on as hand lugagge, but also couldn't be checked in the hold. It's not that the rig or the cypres was illegal by FAI rules, it was that this company has a corporate rule against it. Even though myself and hundreds of others have used the airline to fly to spain. It was only after trying to re-check it in on the sly (got busted) and then pleading with manager to call IReland that I could take it on. Never again. If you are flying budget, hard case and check it. Take clothes and other stuff in hand lugagge to maximum weight limit. I flew with rig as hand lugagge pre & post Sept. 11th, but after this experience 10 months ago I don't see the point anymore. You are flying with BA, so just check the rig with as much stuff in the bag as possible to the weight limit and carry on the rest. Why stress the rest? Just my 2 cents.

I tend to agree. However it is a good effort at stimulating interest in competition throughout the year and in the UK. The UK champions are the national champions in my mind. It is hard enough to get time, money and energy to enter one competition in a year, to do more competitions seriously is difficult.

Reegan ain't going to be eating the sausages.........

I have to say that I say that in the Evening Standard and Metro in London. Surely it must be true then!!! Sucks that facts aren't correct. However, I am pretty sure I flew in Bedford's tunnel over a month ago...... Will be good to fly in Milton Keynes too, check the difference, although I have to say, Bedford is the daddy tunnel.

Fabian, Joao, Juliana are bad ass in the tunnel. Watching 4 flower to star back to another flower head down was cool. The bedford tunnel rocks..... Ippo, Cathy, Rob and Fabian did a great demonstration for the tunnel, putting on an excellent show.

Sorry, long days working the head is often fried!!!

Not sure what that means,? Is it a positive comment or a dig, not sure. But... Freefly has different elements. Fact. Some people just want to do the headdown stuff, some want to do big ways, some want to do tracking and tracing around the sky and some train for competitions in freestyle and freefly. The original point is that there are many different components to freefly. VRW will be one of them. When we come to discuss how to progress etc... that is another can of worms. I think you have to agree that some people will be different to you and have different opinions on different topics. VRW is cool, but there are other things to freefly too. I think good belly 4-way is great. The speed the top teams move at is great, and I would love to be that fast. But I want to move on belly, back, feet, head, whatever...that is what interests me and why I love freefly. Different people will have different opinions on it. May we are talking about different things here. Your points on how the sport has progressed and how progression can occur are good IMHO. The point I am trying to make is it is one area of the sport. If you want to get good at something you have to train hard to improve. That is why VRW 4way is possible now. It is difficult to do and requires a specific level. However this is in one area though. It doesn't automatically mean you can do something else in freefly, although I sure some one will point out that some skills are transferable. If you jump with some of the top freeflyers, you can see the difference in speed of ability and thought. When I last visited Perris I jumped with Mike Swanson, he was so much faster than me, and he reminded me of a top 4 way flyer. That was good motivation to get faster as you see the current bench mark in a particular respect. So in that respect this 4 way VRW will help skills no doubt. But it still what it is: 4-way VRW. Anyways, I'm sure the post will get picked apart, but thats my view. The funny thing is I want to do this and am interested in the VRW, just think maybe it ain't going to be the only thing that Freefly becomes. Playing a bit of devil's advocate here. And as I say, perhaps hearing people out might be a good thing, because I have met some people who will never do this, purely because they are interested in other things.

Ha ha that's funny There will be some, but to be fair, VRW is cool, but its not everything. Freeflying has loads to it, but the thing with formations and structure is that it is tangible and easy to see / recognise. You may have had discussions with people who were talking cross purpose. I have to say, I don't like the formation thing or racing the clock so much. But let's not confuse preference to being able to do something. Let it be on the belly, back, feet, head, in the vertical in an angle, I want to be able to do it all. Then I think you can really make an informed opinion of what you prefer! Freeflying should be free, I love the feeling of the space in the sky and trying to progress towards my goal of being where I want to be as fast and smooth as possible. That can be making a point or going full gas with someone across the sky. Skill and control is one thing, flailing around is another!!! Reckon you should hear some people out. I personally think that freefly means so many different things to different people, and I prefer not having it in a box. But to stay to the point, 4-way will be cool, but at the end of the day it is 4 way just in different positions!!! There is a whole load of other very good stuff to explore and get better at, just depends on imagination, experiences and influences from the people you meet. Personally I think tangible goals make everything easier for the masses to understand but it is not always the right thing. How many different ways to paint a picture? There are alot of different freeflyers doing different things and thats what I think is great. The more you travel, the more of the freefly scene you see. Sometimes you even catch freeflyers learning point turns in the tunnel.............hate to admit it!!!

You make some good points, but remember, some aspects of freeflying are subjective, as with any artistic discipline. It's quite hard to quantify who is better at making music, Mozart or Beethoven..... And 4 way is just another version to add to the list that one person may like it and another may not. Which you kind of say with your next comment I think you'll agree that competitive types come in all forms. Turning points on you head is just one form of being competitive against the clock. The good thing about freefly is that there is so much scope in the discipline. Some of the best freeflyers aren't competing or having someone saying they are the best, that's kind of up to each person. Progression doesn't have to be via competing. I don't think anyone would say Phillippe Vallaud is a bad freeflyer just because he likes to tear up the sky flying around, or that Omar is not one of the best freeflyers out there just because he doesn't compete at present. Not being able to be where you want to be is one issue, needing some rules and guidelines to govern you is another. Not having a dig, just think there are shades of grey and it is not just black and white. At least formations against the clock are easier to judge, but artistic events despite the difficulty of judging is where you will see different styles, techniques and ideas, and is the fluid freeflying I like. Giving structure to your jumps challenges you to see if you can adhere to those limits imposed. However you can give those to yourself doing freeflying without the need for a point structure or judging rules. Tracing in a tight group, moving together all on level, respecting each others air space requires a good amount of skill, its just difference. On a personal note I will agree I'm not into the just fall out the plane and geek the camera thinking I'm the daddy flyer. But then its horses for courses, each has there own agenda and aim for the sport and that suits some. I digress...... the 4-way stuff is pretty cool, it will help vertical skills and make people more accurate and quicker. But it is still just one area of freefly, and of course the hardest thing about freeflying is understanding that you need to train at all the different elements to gain any skill in it.

Bedford tunnel is plenty powerful enough. Seen friends flying in there in their normal / tight freefly suits and them just flying a little too fast to stay vertical on their heads .....however, the tunnel was at 60%!!!!! My personal experience: baggy freefly suit (not a tunnel suit) and it is fine in there. This tunnel is properly good. The speed change is very fast; when the operator changes the speed, it happens quickly. I have been stuck up the tunnel for a little while on some occasions!!! This tunnel really is good. The power and the size of the flying area are great. It really is a great facility so you should definately check it out.

Yeah, you know what I mean!!! Brain lock! I meant the Otter 99 over the beech at Empuria! Long day mate!

Anyone heading out for the Go Vertical in Empuria this weekend / week coming? 15k from Jan's Beech should be a blast. Hope the wind stays away.

Lynn.....always causing trouble hey!! Gary, guess your original comments are not on your knowledge of what to recommend but peoples opinions. The smaller canopies are supposed to handle a little differently, so wingloads are not comparitive. Lynn has alot of jumps and has been around jumping a while, so she should be aware of the different characteristics. Reckon explanations of most canopies and asking her what she wants from her wing might be best direction. Let me know what yuo tell her, then I will tell her that it is all rubbish. And for gods sakes don't involve Reynolds with her decision!!!!!!! She will be contacting Lugi for his 39 otherwise.

To Paul and the Bodyflight Team, I would also like to thank you for the tunnel time and introduction to your facilities. This really is a great tunnel, I can't believe we have it in England!! Suprised in totally a good way. The main thing about it is how big it is! If you have flown in the Skyventures (which I really like), you sometime find yourself looking / reaching for the wall..it has to be there..oh there it is! It is very powerful, there will be no problem for freeflyers, I heard that even with people freeflying in it, it was operating at 60%!!!! I think due to the tunnel's history, no other tunnel will be made like this again. It is a very solid structure, to make this from scratch would cost.....alot of cash! The change in speed can be controlled very quickly and the tunnel doesn't have to stop to let people in and out. That is a major benefit. The only bad thing is that I am going to be spending a lot of £ in there. Once again, congratulations and Paul and the team, fantastic job!

Tim films one flat group, carving around on his back. In doing this he builds up his momentum and then leaves his carve and flies between the groups towards the group which exited afterwards. He has enough float and speed to make it to the next group and film them. Guess it shows that speed is your friend, and maintaining your momentum is important!!! (It also helps that he is a great tracker and loves that kind of flying aswell

Think you got me wrong.

It's not crosswind I am chatting about. It was the Extreme Week in Voss Valley, this summer, 2005. Has him jumping smoke and flying next to cliffs. Really really good footage. As for posting videos with out permission, I was wondering what a sat. company thinks about a major advert here in the UK of Loic....wonder if they bought the footage off him....

Not atmonauti mate, morning coffee jump for the load organsiers!! Tim put it on there to show the difference in speed for freeflyers and stationary skydivers. It was a fly by, the group following the leader. Tim Porter was going the same speed then stayed to film the other group. A little naughty, but won't get into that debate........ The DVD has Tim filming one flat group, carving on his back, then going back up the hill to film another group. There was alot of tracking done that week for sure!

Just seen another clip from the Exteme Week in Voss Valley this summer. It is on skydivingmovies.com I believe. Wing suit footage along cliff then turning to go between two peaks and into the valley. Loic's footage is always good! Missed seeing his new stuff in Gap, hope the new Sould Flyers release will be out some time soon.

Email Tim Porter. Think it is something like www.gofreeschool.com[/url] or something like that. Oh, and it is not the TIme Flyz DVD. Ask him for the Spring Boogie 2004 production.

From 2004.... 4 chapters with great music sound track: That would be Tim Porters production of the Spring Boogie. Eli was organising, as were Nimmo and Fred from Babylon, and a few other Frenchies. Was a bad arse event. There is an Espace DVD, but the Spring boogie DVD is the best out of the two IMHO.

Reckon you should bang an email off to these guys: www.babylon-freefly.com They will know for sure. By the way, the Trace 101 has their Baylon Basics on it, competition jumps from 2003 etc....

Its probably one of the latest main productions out there! Crosswind is older, so is clouds edge, space games productions, chronicles etc... Trace 101 is about 2 years old. That's not that bad! Anyways, age has nothing to do with quality flying. Antigravity is really old but still good. One of my favourites is the Chronicles 2. My VHS copy is nearly shredded from use! I hope there will be something out soon showing footage of the X-Fests from the last few years in Perris Valley. I remember something being said about some release date this year.......

Giancarlo!! Congrats mate, might be a trip in March next year mate. Is Luis working with you on this? Hope there are places to party like Empuria... Crazy Face!