Travman

You have no friends after 1500ft

I wanted to go, but I won't be able to get my conversions done in time... damn it! I picked up my A licence today though

Too much of anything if bad for you.... except altitude - not enough usually causes problems there.

Billyvance put forward a good argument why bike shorts should be black, but here's the otherside of the argument.

As someone in a similiar position to you, all I can say is practice. Do you have your own gear? I haven't done any packing courses, but a couple of fellow jumpers showed me how to pack. Then I started practicing at home with my gear. The first few pack jobs weren't all that good, and I felt like I was going to get the nickname "Chopper". But after doing a few I got the hang of it, and showed the instructor that runs the packing courses here and he said my packing was very good. I am now very confident and looking forward to jumping my first pack when I do my conversion jumps. I agree there is a lot to take in. Good luck, I mean.. what could go wrong...

When was the last time you landed in a plane?

I think there are 2 schools of thought with taking it as hand luggage. A) Put it in a gear bag, go through the x-ray and cross your fingers they don't weigh it. I've been through airports with various items that some x-ray operators aren't sure about (not skydiving stuff) and no one has said a word at several checkpoints, then go through again and someone does question it - just depends on the operator. Canberra are pretty lax, but melbourne are more likely to pick you up. Sydney can go either way, Hobart will pick you up if its slow and they are bored. (in my personal experiences) B) Go the honesty approach. Say I have a skydiving rig, it weighs 9kg. I want to take it as hand luggage due to its cost and security issues. See what they say. Either way if it is a dash 8, you'll have to check it. Virgin fly all 737s, it'd fit in those easy. Qantas have some 737 flights, just pick the right ones. Good luck

Just remember about your weight, I don't know what your fall rate is like - but you may need to wear some lead to do rel work, so that can add up to 5kg or even more to your exit weight. I'm 67kg without gear, I went for a 170. Talk to your instructors, they know how you fly.

We can buy duty free goods when we are leaving the country. Stamps for posting something overseas (in australia anyway) don't have tax on them either, because they are leaving the country. So is fuel for an international flight tax free as well? What about food, and cabin staff wages...

Check out the post a few pages back, the topic was something like "how do I get the damn thing in the bag" There were a few good links posted there

Check out www.skyventureoz.com I sent them an email and got a response back saying they are still looking for investors.

I may not be a seasoned skydiver, but the 2 things I was told that helped me, was arch with your hips, not your stomach and RELAX!

Good work, I should have mine soon. I've done all the required jumps, just need to do the test and course - which is on Wednesday night :)

I will be very interested how you go with it. I plan to fly with my rig in Australia sometime this year. I 've talked to various people at my DZ about it. Most of them carry it on in a gear bag. The instructor who trains the AFF students said he gets questioned nearly every time and says "If my checked luggage gets lost and this is the only thing that makes it my destination, I'll still be happy." and that always works. Another guy I spoke to said after they had checked it and he had cleared security a lady came up to him and said "Sorry, but I have to do a random explosives test". He said he wasn't convinced how "random" this test was.

I was fine with the door until stage 5. Then I started getting a bit more familiar with skydiving, had a better idea what could go wrong. I never hesitated or anything, but I was more nervous. Once I finished my AFF I got more comfortable, and now I am pretty confident going out the door. I did my first running dive exit out of the skyvan on my last jump. I was still wearing student gear, and there was a student going out straight after me on his first solo exit. He said it was very reassuring watching me go out first. Once you complete your AFF and can do some solo's you'll probably get more comfortable.

This is the dropzone I did my first jump - a tandem. All the staff were friendly and fun. They picked as up from our hotel and dropped at our next activity for the day. We got up in the air very quickly and the photos came out great. I thoroughly enjoyed the jump, which led me to doing my AFF. I plan to go back there sometime and do a jump now that I have my own gear.

Here's another...

Do you mean this picture?

Well they go to the trouble of including an X-Ray card with your CYPRES, but they don't mention anything possible problems. I wouldn't be concerned, I'm sure it would have been tested.

They're building a swoop pond at my DZ atm, keen to see some of the swoopers showing their skills.

I am also learning to pack at the moment. I was showed pro-pack first, and did have difficulty getting into the bag - only did it a few times. Then I was showed psycho pack and I did find it much easier to manage and I have been doing it since. The rigger who taught me said after doing a few psycho packs I would probably have an easier time doing a pro pack because I would be more use to managing the canopy.

I too have some invites, PM me your email address to send you one.

Feels a little tighter with the lines at the bottom, but the bridle routing looks more intuitive.

Well the manual is for a voodoo 2 and I think mine is a voodoo 1 (DOM is 09/01) so it may be different. Doesn't the sabre manual say you should always pro-pack Oh btw, I found my packing card, it was hidden in a pouch behind the red warning label

I have recently bought my first rig which is a Vodoo, and Sabre 170 (second hand). I have been practicing my packing. When I first unpacked it I made sure to take note how the d-bag was stowed, in this case the lines were to the top of the container, under the reserve. I had a look at the packing manual on the voodoo website and they say that the lines should be placed towards the bottom of the container. I asked the previous owner and he said his rigger told him to place the lines to the top and thats how he had always done it. So I was curious how other voodoo owners place their d-bag.