andym148

Hi, I'm not a rigger. But i had a V319 for a few years with an OP126 in, it fitted nice and looked ok(main was Xfire2 119). Ive now got a V306 with the same reserve in it, and its packed to the extreme and tight. Hope this helps? At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Hey Buddy, I had the same email from him as well over a canopy i have for sale on here. After reading your advice i replied along the lines of i was concerned over selling the canopy to someone not qualified to jump it, It's a Velo. So i asked for his jump numbers, canopy progression, DZ and license number, and not heard anything back from him! Good advice. Andy At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Hey Mike, Welcome to the sport. Who are your instructors up at Hib? Your in for a shock when you start jumping elsewhere (not counting Seville), as the Dorniers are awesome work horses that get you to 15k ft really quickly. I learnt up at Hib, i had H as an Instructor a few times. I used to hate the door as well, but i hated having to land on what looked like a tiny triangle of grass more. Remember getting out of the door will set you free. Just wait till you can do a floating exit from the camera step on your console jumps, looking down from the tiny step behind the door at the world below still makes me smile even now in disbelief. Between you and me, if i haven't jumped for a while i still s**t myself getting to the door, so your not alone. But it does get easier. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

I had a few jumps on a Velo 103, then hurt my knee and upsized to a Velo 111. The difference in openings was quite vast, the 111 searched around like i don't know what. They were soft thats for sure, and looooooooooong. I had my 111 loaded at around 1.8, and i think that was the problem. The 103 opened much better with out searching, loaded at 1.9/2. I did how ever have a hard opening/spanker instant canopy on one jump (packers present), the openings were better i think due to WL. Ive now got a JFX 109, the openings are nice, firmer than the Velo's and XF's. The openings are not as searching as the Velos, and i prefer them. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Hey, I agree with the above to check your anti after a track and pre deployment. You can do it as your waving off and as your left hand is out in for as you go for your PC, if your down and dirty then think about other avenues. You mentioned you were conscious of flaring out of your track prior to deploying, how did you do this? Was it a hard flare (arms out straight and feet up bum in a back slide position)? Or a more gentle flare? If you hard flared out of the track and then went straight to the deployment phase without going back to neutral, this COULD be a factor? Ive seen footage of someone dumping in a back slide, and the opening was funky to say the least! Blues. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

You can check there website out http://global.premierinn.com/gcc/en/hotel/UKPIS/dubai-silicon-oasis At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Hey Buddy, You don't need any injections to come here. Its not a third world country, and Dubai is pretty flash. But saying that, its not really that expensive to eat and drink (alcohol excluded) here, you can get a full meal for less than $20/30. Bottled water cost cents, and you can spend within your means. At the Plam DZ, you need 500 jumps (this was reduced to 300 for a trial period) and you ned to do a H+P for your first jump. Other than that its just like any other DZ in the world...except with a kick ass view! Jump tickets are AED130 and i think they are pretty standard to the rest of the world? The desert is the school house, jump tickets cost AED100 and the turn round is pretty fast. For Accom, id suggest staying at the Premier Inn at Silicon Oasis as it's easy to get to the Palm and the desert DZ. It's cheap and it has a bar and restaurant and as pool on the roof. Its a 15min ride in a taxi to the Palm or you can drive if you feel up to it? At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Congrats on your A license. Firstly welcome to the sport! Be wary on advice dispensed on here, always take what you read with a pinch of salt and check with the instructors/riggers at your DZ as things can get lost in translation. My advice to you would be to choose wisely, there are plenty of rigs out there. You are looking for a size that nearly everyone has to transit through, therefore there will always be containers of 190 size coming on to the market. My advice is not to buy any new kit for your first rig, i did and regret it massively. Your going to learn how to skydive now, which means your going to be making mistakes and most likely sliding landings in on your ass. Do it in a $5k set of kit and your gonna cry a little. I would advise buy second hand container in a neutral colour scheme, have one eye on reselling it in a few years time. If theres nothing out there, wait a little and you'll be rewarded. Theres loads of makes of containers, and it will come down to a choice of cost and availability. If you can try it on, get a rigger to look over it to make sure your not be sold a piece of shit. There is some douches out there who will sell you a piece of shit and tell you its perfect, therefore be wary and always get it checked out before exchanging money. Canopies, same as above. Stick with what you know and feel confident on, you may get the gear fear? Again neutral colours will allow you to sell it easily again when you want to down size in the future, your budget will be a big driver on this. The newer the canopy the more expensive it will be, and vicky verky. Spend what you feel comfortable spending, id look for something form 2005 on wards? I'd recommend Pilots from Aerodyne, Safire 2 from NZ Aerosports, Spectres and Sabre 2 from PD. I like NZ Aerosports, and i've jumped their Safire 2 because i liked the soft openings, and I've continued up through their canopy range because of that. Reserves don't need to be scrimped on, i like Performance Designs (PD) and Aerodyne Smarts (only because I've used them in anger). AAD, the two big ones are Cypres and Vigil. This is a personal choice here, Cypres has to go back to the factory every 4 years for servicing out to a life span of 12 years when they are retired. SO look for one that has had either its 4 or 8 year service as this will save you money and time. You will have been jumping a student cypress up till now, so make sure you buy a Experienced Cypres with a red button. Vigil, have a longer life span and don't need to go back as often. I use a vigil, because i don't like the idea of having to send it off every 4 years and having to buy a new one every 12 years. (there is a thread on here about them, but this is outside the scope of your question) I hope this helps you make some choices, good luck. Andy At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

How about Skydive Dubai? With only an A license you'd only be allowed to jump in the desert, but the tunnel is only 200m from the landing area and there open 6 days a week. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Ive used Waseem at Frexor for quite a few years, because his suits are dirt cheap! But i ordered them knowing that if it blows apart then id just buy another one, to be fair to him he has made all the student suits in Airkix for many years and they definitely take a hammering. He made 3 suits for me, and they all had lots of embroidery on them and they still came in under £100 per suit. And for me he worked, you roll the dice and take your chance. Ive got no interest in if you buy or don't buy from him, just my 2p worth. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Theres nothing better than a quick high five over the student with your wife.... naughty but fun! At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

I love it when some students complain about finding things hard, i show them pictures like this....theres no more excuses once they see it. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

I received this this week in reply to a canopy i have for sale... it sounded fish to me! On 17-Sep-2014 someone submitted their contact information in response to your ad in the Dropzone.com Classifieds. Please reply to this email to contact the person directly. Username => leonwjwritter75 URL => http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/jump.cgi?Detailed=163759 Name => Leon J Witter FromEmail => [email protected] City => Country => Comments => Hello Seller, My name is Mr Leon J Witter . I am interested in your Main Canopies for sale ,Kindly mail me back if its for sale 1. How long have you owned it? 2. Have you owned it from new? If not how many previous owner? 3. In your opinion, what sort of condition is it? 4 Last Asking Price? Reply ----------------- If you suspect this is a scam: 1) Visit the Security Forum to see if it has already been reported: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=44 2) If not, forward the entire email to [email protected] At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Ive seen an old free fly DVD called Remedy by Andy Malchiodi, it has a guy from the freely circus sat on the tail of the otter at Elsinore. The link to the DVD on you tube is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqs8UX-o8bk Its not on there but i believe its the DVD your on about? At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

^ This x 1,000. After military and NYPD I pursued my "dream" job which was teaching white water kayaking and owning the largest paddle sports retail facility in our region. Within 3 years I loathed it. I ended up hating retail with a passion, due to spending an hour with a client picking out the right style, model, size and color kayak for them and their needs only to have them pull up Amazon on their smartphone and nickle and dime me to death. I ended up not having fun paddling, because as much as I enjoy teaching and instructing it, spending EVERY weekend (because people dont learn to paddle in the middle of the week, they are working) teaching while my friends got to spend time with their families, or tailgating, or paddling the rivers they wanted to...killed the passion in me. So as Hillson says, start off on weekends. Do it ALL day, every day, EVERY weekend, rain or shine for six months. Sacrifice EVERY weekend, as if your life (ie living expenses) depended on it. Then see if its still for you. I envy your choice in life, i sometimes i wish i had made the choice your deciding on now. How ever as said before hind sight is a wonderful thing, would i give up everything now at 35 and a wife to support to do it, not a chance. I can't recommend enough being a weekend warrior, it gives you the best of both worlds. Financial security to live and chance to get your freedom on a weekend. But i guess it depends if your materialistic? If you don't care about things like possessions and money then i guess it could work for you? I worked part time at a DZ every weekend Fri to Sat and Weds afternoons, from January to September to help pay for my wedding. There were days when all i wanted to do was stay in bed as i heard the wind and rain on the windows, knowing nothing was going to happen at all, all day. It didn't matter i was being paid to work, so i had to sit in a cold damp hanger till they decided to call it for the day. Friends want to go out on a night for some beers, sorry can't drink due to working in the morning. Want to do family stuff when the rest of the world are not working, sorry you can't; you have to be on the DZ to earn money. If your paid on a jump by jump basis, then start to forget all the wonderful feelings you get about teaching and seeing tandem students faces on landing. You've got to get back in the plane and earn some more money, its a very cynical way of looking at things but if the DZ don't make money, you don't make money. I love teaching, and love to see the enjoyment of students faces after beating their fears, but i could never truly spend enough time with them due to been manifested and on a quick turn around. And it burns you out, it burned me out to the point that i could have quite happily quit. But i couldn't, i had a wedding to pay for. It took me to stop teaching to reignite my love of the sport, i can now go up on a lift without having to check students out, and remember why i got in to the sport and why i love spending my weekends at the DZ. I see my friends more as I'm not running around after students, i can do the jumps i want to do when i want to do them. At 500 jumps id jump in any weather no matter how cold, now with a few thousand i can quite happily take it or leave it. My attitude of jumping has changed, and so will yours. Before you commit think about this- 1- Who's going to pay your wage when/if you hurt yourself? 2- What you going to do when your back gives out doing tandems everyday? 3- What you going to do when you wake up one day and don't love the sport as much as you once did? But on the flip side, i had 4 of my former AFF students compete in the UK Nationals and medal this year. That makes everything worth while! At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Absolutely agree! Landing patterns need to be predictable, so everyone can assume that everybody else is keeping to the same pattern. And yes the lower man has priority, no matter which way he's going. The student most likely made a mistake and found himself going down wind, it happens (landing priorities, flat and level canopy, into an area free from hazards and into wind if able) and the student looked like he was doing it. The guy on the radio can do absolutely nothing about it, he can't suddenly take control of the toggles. The radio is an aid, should not be relied on. All the links in the chain of events, leading up to the accident, are in isolation not to be unexpected on DZ's. How ever when they all happened at once the results speak for themselves, and not looking to clear your airspace before a turn in unforgivable. We teach students on FJC to never turn before they look, and this is why. In the end of the day common sense must prevail, and somebody that day lacked it. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

In general i think the minimum you can do is set your breaks, open up your slider and untwist and cock your pilot chute. The only time i won't do this is if the packer tells me to leave it as I'm slowing them down, by making them wait for me. Had a shit**y opening at Elsinore over Easter, and went back to the packing matt bitching and moaning about the opening, complaining to the packers about it. When they asked who packed it, i said it was me. I promptly fired myself from packing and gave it to the professionals to do, viola perfect on heading openings from then on. The fastest pack job I've ever had was in Kolomna in Russia, she packed my Pilot 150 on average in about 2m 30secs...that said you didn't want to watch her packing! But in the 50+ jumps i did in the 2 weeks i never had a slammer or line twists or anything funky and the best bit the going rate back then was £8 ($15) for a jump and a pack job. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

I wouldn't worry about Ebola breaking out into the general population from the CDC lab or Emory, these places have most likely had it for years in storage. They probably acquired it when the first Ebola outbreak happened in the 1970's, you need a sample form the original form to be able to bench mark it against possible changes. There has been no out break yet and most likely won't be, and id bet my bottom dollar that nearly all advanced nations have it all ready at test facilities. The UK has a worse prospect, we have a thriving trade in bush meat from infected countries. On the markets in London you can buy monkey meat that has not been tested for any bugs, you do have to be of African decent to even talk about it as it is an underground thing. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Any particular types of images or jumps? At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Im interested in those people who's response is to sit still and not move. How do you feel about me who has a student (maybe up to 12) with me and i HAVE to move to check them out. Do you suddenly disagree with my moving, or do you accept it because it has to be done, and has your opinion changed? If people need to move around in the aircraft then do it slowly and methodically, if you see something wrong then point it out. Personally if i see your hackey/pud/toggle hanging out first thing ill do is put it back in the BOC, 9 times out of 10 people won't feel you do it. Then i'll tell them, and then get them to check it and put there hand on it. I think it saves time in the long run, cue lots of finger pointing and shouting and "WHAAAAAAT". People may not agree but its worked for me over the last couple of years, and I've had no complaints on either side of the pond. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

The way i looked at it, i like you am a free flier. I have far more jumps in an FF suit than an FS suit, therefore I'm happier instructing in my FF suit (was Boogieman now a Vertical suit). If I'm faced with a lighter student then i just hoodie it up and it works fine. Jump in what your used to and happy with, buy a set of bootie trousers (symbiosis suits) which are a nice half way house. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

I would have found this useful when i was doing free fly camera, i found it really hard to check my altimeter when in the middle of a routine (i routinely never checked it and relied on my audible). If id have had a light in my visual reference when i was getting close to the 45 sec mark, then i know i need to get the performers off screen. (you loose points when they freeze the screen on 45 secs and the guys are still in the frame) At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

I love the Anglo-American banter! Theres not much i envy about our cousins "across the pond", but the weather and the respect for your military is far better than the UK's. How ever you guys serve the worst tea, its like you get it straight from the harbor still? At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Your fine as long as the DZO and instructors are happy for you to take their FJC, the problem lies in what we call wing loading. That is the amount of weight suspended under the canopy divided by the square footage of the canopy, each parachute manufacturer has its own set maximum weight and wing loading per parachute. What you have to do is take your full exit weight (inc your parachute, jump suit, helmet, altimeter and what ever you had for breakfast) in pounds, divide that by the square footage of the canopy. For me i weight 190lbs, add on around 25lbs for equipment makes my exit weight 215lbs, i jump a 111 sq ft canopy so 215/111 = 1.936. So my wing loading is 1.94 on that sized canopy. For students, you need to have a wing loading of 0.80 or less on your first jump, you can then have 0.85 wing loading from your second jump onwards (UK ruling). You'll have to forgive me i can t recall and find the info on the USPA ruling on wing loadings apart from this http://sim.uspa.org/?clear=true&search=student+wing+loading#1=1|2=6|3=33|page=178 I hope this helps you understand a little bit more about why weight is important when put against the size of your canopy, and some DZ's only hold certain sized student parachutes. Please bear in mind the above people when they say their weight and height now, against their jump numbers now. You need to look at what they weighed when they went through their ground school. And look on the bright side, the entire England rugby squad is classed as clinically obese/diabetes risk and all risk dropping dead according to the stupid BMI scale. Good luck in what ever you do. Andy At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!

Having experienced a great number of cluster f**ks in my time, if you looked them up in a dictionary it would read low cost airlines..... All UK Naval speak, i.e - scran, dhobi, goffa, toppers, pussers (as in the rum). All completely baffling to the uninformed. At long last the light at the end of the tunell isnt an on coming train!!!