btucker

Offer to pack for him as way of an apology. Ron gives advice on packing for skygods: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1134654;search_string=uncollapse%20my%20slider%21%21%21;#1134654

Well that is exactly what I've been trained to do. I started, like alot of Australians on a one action student gear (sos system). When i got my b license i was allowed to be retrained on two action:- i was trained thus: look and locate [find and grab those handles] peel and punch [cutaway] check [right hand main riser missing] check [left hand main riser missing] punch [reserve] arch clear [cables] During the training (which was one on one) we spoke about a hung up riser, the dangers and what to do about it. I'll leave that for personal research, as too many variables. * Don't change a thing about Emergency Procedures unless you have it signed off by a qualified instructor * [drr, as if!] Primacy in learning is an issue here too. Un-training your old procedures and replacing them will be harder than learning them in the first place. In times of stress, you often revert or want to revert. Once I started retraining emergency procedures for 2 action system I was told not to jump the SOS system again + not to jump for one week: Then to do the practical jumps on the two action system. Hope this helps. It's kind of weird for me to think that you don't check... Blues, Benno ps: Please be very careful changing anything. It's sad that all too many have gone in with low pulls or no pulls – AAD's aren't perfect (i.e. Mirage service bulletins) and you can forget to turn them on! edit: You want to be under your reserve high enough to land it in a safe area too, I guess you might not have flown your reserve before either. I believe there was tragically one almost cypres save where the person was killed hitting an obstacle.

I spend my money on jumping not waste it on operating systems, where there are free alternatives! http://fedora.redhat.com/ ta for posting the link, my gf has a doz box it might have a shady past...

I think the honest answer is: You probably be okay. Probably. I downsized from a 190 to 150 in one step, apart from the two times I nearly killed myself it was all good. Both incidents where low turns during off dz landings - I hit so hard the lenses popped out of my glasses, a helmet, soft ground / long grass and a heap of luck saved me [twice]. Probably... Why rush. Don't be in a hurry to downsize, unless your flying your canopy on every jump to the max of it's performance envelope whats the point? Jump the money you save or tunnel it - canopys cost a bunch. The hotshots tell me that downsizing too quick can hold back your learning. Don't go getting gear stigma either, a 190 can still be made to move if pushed - Extremly accurate landings - nominated license or even demos. Bit of CRW. You'll never have to walk back to the DZ on a long spot, fly and get the bus to pick up the others! Catching thermals - all good. So why rush? Battery's not included: As someone said let dz.com provide questions, rather than answers. Talk to those that are qualified and that you trust + know you personally. Blue skies, Benno

. All I know when it's colder add more lead + it will hurt more. The air feels alot "harder" to me to when it's cold. I hate it when it's very hot, the air feels mushy. Blue Dreams Benno

maybe i can check my reserve inside my container - kabom! picture smoke rising from the ashes of my destroyed rig + cypres with sparks shooting out it. maybe i can check the turbine blades in the dz's otter - hey they all look okay. Now picture the pilot after the next start with torn & burnt cloths + singed hair running from the remains of the flaming wreck.

There was some talk about a skyventure going on in the Gong (South of Sydney) they did a survey nationals before last to gauge interest. You tend to spend so much money in the tunnel that a AUS2K to fly to LA or Orlando is spare change + the dollar is alot better now. Coaching is the other issue here. There isn't anyone full time in the country, so you have to rely on luck. Blues

I hope the real pussy looks better. - write a script that will just hammer that page and click the vote button. But then she'd know you are sneaky and devious and probably just want to get into her pants... BTW your ahead by 8votes. Good luck. Blue Dreams Benno

Jump it! Get an old bag from a charity store and try and jump with someone who has a ditter.

2 and 3 way are fine in Orlando. For 4way you need all flyers to be proficent at flying the tunnel + have atleast a simple system for entry and exit. Never flown Paris but more room for 4way sounds darn good to me. Perhaps a two way in paris is not ecconmic - your paying for space that you don't need and you can only split it two ways. One if your using a coach. If a tunnel stopped you from using a creeper (which you had to bring) that's decision made then isn't it! They obviously don't get it! Spend up big at another tunnel or jump it -i.e. you could put it towards a player-coach. Blue skies, hard air. PS: Time of year and weather is important. In the summer Orlando is crap. No idea about AeroKart is it conditioned? Tunnels are better when it's cold - the air has a harder edge to it Remember you need to lead up, can you loan some weight so you don't have to lug it. I'm sure this would be a non issue @ any skyventure site.

In a former life, I was a satellite controller. The solar wind, gravity hotspots form the earth and [most of all] the gravity of the sun and moon move the satellite around. To be purely geostationary the box is very small indeed – meters in some cases. Small compensation are done on the satellite by flywheels, solar sails and mag torquers (current through wire that interacts with the earths magnetic field). Regular maneuvers are required using small thrusters, the North South maneuvers tend to be pretty big deals with large amounts of propellant used. If something went wrong with the space craft during this burn all sorts of shit would happen. If the thing moves by even a degree you lose pointing – you'd lose comms and control not to mention the payload is now not pointed at earth! If it kept moving, it'd lose power (solars cells not pointing at the Sun). You'd then be up shit creek. One thing is for sure, in a control room like I used to work in – they are in a world of pain. They won't give up, poor bastards. If anyone has some more links, I'd be interested. Blue skies, flat orbits, Blue Dreams Benno

I recorded the segment and put it here (20Mb) http://rapidshare.de/files-en/373961/today_tonight_skydive_17jan2005.avi.html Poor Luke: Keep your chin up! I trust the saying "no such thing as bad publicty" is indeed correct. Blue Skies / White Skies with signed off cloud jumping procedures , Benno

so long & thanks for all the pack jobs. Real glad you didn't wreck our PAC-XL or yourself! Blue skies & all the best Benno

Alan Metni http://www.skyleague.com/pages/profiles/profile.php?which=AlanMetni for sportsmanship @ world meet getting rejump for Russian team who then won the meet!

About $AUS30k. Nationals Trip to the states for a jump + tunnel camp at Perris Two 8way training camps Coupla fun jumps thrown in PS: AUS30k in US currency is $2.56 and three grubby rags.

Sorry this is annoying me... One of the best skills in skydiving is filtering. The great thing about our sport is that people are always ready to give you help and advice. Although always well intentioned, the quality of the advice ranges from downright wrong and dangerous up! After a while one learns to filter the advice, to sift through it and find out what works and is good for you. On the Internet (all you have to go by is someones profile) this is harder. Students and novice jumpers usually jump student and novice equipment + have student and novice abilities. Maybe it's good for someone with similar experience to say “well I tried that and nearly died, it wasn't as easy as they told me!” I would never discount any advice given to me by a student or a novice – after all their formal training and exam was recent. Mine was nearly five years ago. Aside from my faulty memory that's five years of improvement and extra knowledge gathered along the way. Obviously one has to figure out what you'd you do in scenario x on your equipment y in conditions z. As they say, the dump questions are the one's you don't ask or discuss. I thank everyone for making me think about this question. I've been told that landing on rear risers can range from “riding a bicycle on ice” to a walk in the park depending on the canopy, conditions and ability of the person. Often people say that “using your reserve if your unsure is the least risky option.” So if your not sure you can land you canopy safely then using the reserve maybe the better option. You'd feel pretty stupid with a broken leg and a perfect reserve unused and still on your back! Play around _up high_ with your canopy and do some personal research - obviously remembering to watch for other traffic! I landed my team mates safire2 canopy (my first jump on it) with a stuck toogle in high winds - nice landing, no worries. In retrospect, I think the better (less risky) decision would have been to chop as it was my first jump on it! blues

- often the larger sabres will open slower. I think (assuming a cheap price) a good first canopy. As a big Sabre, it will have duel control lines which will make it turn quicker = more fun to fly. I have two sabre 150's with standard sliders - with trash packs one of them spanks me 1/100 the other 1/10 (trim issues perhaps?). I've had a 190 which was always very kind to me, even those times I dumped in tracks. I think you need to have the canopy test jumped to see how quick it opens, especialy if you have back or neck issues. If it does open too quick you can address this with packing techniques, a bigger slider or another canopy! Blues & Welcome back!

I've done just over 100 jumps out of a PAC 750XL at Skydivne Nagambie http://www.skydivenagambie.com.au/ with my 8way team, NexGen. The XL is a beaut, climbs like a home sick angel. The door is the same size as a caravan, but the roof is abit lower and the body narrower. We've had no problem at all taking 8way exits out of the XL. The standard 8way chunk is cake – front font half stands on the wing In the very early days, at a boogie the XL did stall on jump run when doing a fun 8way, the climb out was probably pretty slow. I think the issue is with center of gravity. To allow an 8way with just a single pilot in the aircraft, Nagambie used ballast (a 4way team) then concrete blocks – long since removed. The pilots have figured it all out, use a wee bit more airspeed, 5knots – which I'm told is significant on an aircraft this size. We've had a couple of very long stackups and never had a problem. I'm also told the aircraft has two flap settings, flaps aren't used on jump run or landing (empty). On a light load (10-11 on board) flaps aren't used on take off. With a full load, full flap was used and it was an extremely short roll. The static vent is to the right of the door, right about where a rear float coule (would) block it!! The pilots don't seem bothered by this. I also noticed that all fueling was done hot, even when shutting down the pilot would land, taxi to the bowser, fill up, then taxi 50m to the “bus stop” then shutdown. The Nagambie DZO says their standard policy is to operate with “five or more”. As for the negative, The XL is very cramped with a full load – 17. Thankfully this has been rare, it's also fortunate that Nagambie isn't a full blown tandom factory. The climb rate with 17 is obviously slower = longer to feel the pain! In contrast a caravan can be worse if your the poor sod in one of the three across rows. An otter or a skyvan is luxary! BTW: We don't have benches we sit on the floor, but in a slightly different configuration from what PAC have published – probably due to there being two pilot seats. At nationals, I asked another operator who had a smaller PAC {cresco} about operating with five, he said he'd basically break even, but was happy to do so. He wanted people to jump -> put it up and they will pack! Blue Dreams, Benno Blue Dreams Benno

i'm told: IN THE LATE 70'S SEX WAS SAFE, CANOPYS WHERE ROUND AND COMPUTERS COULD ONLY HANDLE UPPER CASE.

Tunnel. It takes away all the rush, you do two minute sessions. A quick debrief, a short wait and your back in the air again. You coach can communicate and give you feedback even while your in the air. I would recommend a structured camp, you have that camp comradeship -> you'll have a ball. On all of my camps there have been low time jumpers (

I think I was on a that load or a similar one! A battery boiled over and there was a heavy burning smell + some smoke. There was also battery acid blowing back in through the tailgate – enough to ruin several jumpsuits. I don't think many people wanted to hang about. Exit was about 5000AGL (with ac in step dive) over rough terian - rear riser 101. Most landed [just] off the DZ. Student and JMs landed in the van. I think the student rigs have mechanical FFC AAD on the main and student CYPRES on reserve. The rumor was that both fired. I've noticed that FFC regularly if not always fire on decents. On several occasions I've seen an empty* skyvan land with one engine and the landing was [more] conservative, rather than the "stukah" approach one sees at boogies. I've also seen an empty* skyvan on one engine do a go around on a short strip with no problem at all (pilot earns pay). Out in cyberland there is site (by a dzcomer) where he mentions that skyvan @ max weight has marginal performance on one engine (model of engine ??) . Loss of engine during take off with full load and a heap of fuel on a hot day = pilot really earn pay! * > 0 pilots where on board! Blues Benno

There are several emulators out there that let you play the old games. MAME {arcade} http://www.mame.net/ Apple II {loderunner ran on apple] http://www.classicgaming.com/vault/appleemu.shtml cloudy days.... Blue Dreams Benno

Nice one Vallerina. That's awsome. I try hard to minimize my use of animal and animal products - a better person than me would eliminate. _I think_ it's not our right to kill and mistreat animals - where alternatives exist. Plus I'd never eat anything I wouldn't personally kill. However, for some things there are not alternatives or not easy alternatives and there are definite health issues involved. BTW: Have you considered iron tablets? You might want to consider your attitudes on other animal products such as some soaps, honey, some lipsticks and swade + leather. Personally I think there is nothing more dis-taceful than ruining a nice car by coating the inside with dead skin from some poor beast! PS: Indian food is very often vege. In Aussie Subway gives us Vege Pattiy Sandwich = yumm (spicy too). MD has the best vege burger of the fast food chains. Blues Benno Blue Dreams Benno

shake down go. With the inside center giving the count & the shake. When your giving the count, wait until all movement stops, pause a heartbeat then start the count. I made the shake a firm one - helps the camera flyer. Everyone should have worked out before, how to setup, what grips to take up in what order and especially where they are going to plant their feet - no squiming around! On the go it's your job to put your body in the correct spot on the relative wind + target any grips. All coaches tell us to reference off your opposite during exit and fly the exit - rather than jumping out and hopping for the best. We never blessed anything - which explains a lot really.

Nice post Mike, I'm glad I read it. I cycle between hating AAD's (getting service bill) then loving them (seeing a save). I think you attitude is a good and realistic one. I would make the point, even with an AAD installed in a rig, it isn't available all of the time. There are those maintenance issues. A CYPRES service can easily be 10 weeks here. Do you stop jumping? Last season I had a blast filling in on a four way team on a weekend away - someone's AAD had a flat battery. We still jumped, it wasn't a drama at all. Personally, I prefer to do most of my jumps with an AAD – numbers game. Naturally when I did get a knock on the head, it was the rig without the AAD. I can't always jump with a working AAD and that's that. The last CYPRES I bought was so I can sell my rig! In Oz you need an D or even E license to jump without AAD + very fashionable wanted item. Yes, I'll leave the knife on it too, no rig complete without. BTW With regard to overdue CYPRES service: It is interesting to note that there was a CYPRES fire on the ground due to [radar] EMI on the 372 attempt, on a older unit http://www.theworldteam.com/news/0201.htm. Possibly, having regular four year service would reduce frequency of such incidents. i.e. Gain improvements in EMI hardening (if any) and check shielding etc... Side issue in anycase. Perhaps EMI is yet another reason a jumper may have to turn off their AAD. Landing at another elevation is another one, I'd be sure to stuff it up! There is a great video of BASE jumper cutting a lineover ftp://ftp.jaffie.com/Public/BASE - see the file LineOverRT.mov. Want that knife now? Blue Benno