damion75

One opinion might be that a highly elliptical canopy loaded at 1.4 is quite an aggressive choice if your profile is up to date, but I imagine that this is something you will have already discussed with your S&TA... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Of course the results of this poll might be a little skewed since this forum is mostly frequented by swoopers. Perhaps a poll in Gen Skydiving would produce a more balanced result? *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I'll do that as long as you engage your brain before you type *Sigh* So that's two posts without an actual response to my point of view. I am interested to find out what I have stated that you disagree with... apart from the basic premis of course... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Boy you get emotional quickly - relax, this is just an internet discussion... Unfortunately here you are trying the classic debating tactic of turning from practicalities into semantics. You want to send the student 'somewhere else to get the training they need to deal with the stress'? So how are you going to get someone used to exiting a plane 2.5 miles up without... getting them out of a plane 2.5 miles up? The wind tunnel? Funnily enough its not the same - that's why they let tiny kids in the tunnel, but not out of the plane (unless you are in Spain, but neither of us are!) The problem is people's psychological response to stress caused by specific stimuli. The only way to overcome their programmed responses (go foetal etc) is to place them in the same circumstances with a gradually altered mindset over and over again until they can build themselves a new set of psychological triggers. Unfortunately this approach requires time, and continued jumping in circumstances which are significantly riskier than the student may be aware of (ref my last post). So who is benefitting? If you are in doubt about this, have a look at the thread 'Door Demon' in Gen Skydiving (written by an individual who is having stress / fear issues) and note how many of the contributors reckon that going in a wind tunnel, or changing instructors, will help her... And please, please, please - attack the argument not the individual. You may be better placed to do this when you have got your instructor ratings and have had to make this decision (keep training or not) yourself. And Squeak - that verged on a PA... let keep this discussion about the issues... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Gryttjom? It is cheap but not that cheap. I don't know the direct Kroner / USD exchange rate, but jumps there work out at under £11 (currently $20) - very cheap for Europe, but it doesn't look that great in dollars at the moment of course...

So what you are telling me is that there is no way no how that someone could have helped him deal with his sensory overload. That it didnt matter that he have have been able to go aw3ay and get the required assistance, over come his problem then come back and try again. Well all i can say is I"m glad you were not one of my teachers So you'll keep sending this guy up, knowing as an instructor (even though he may not as a student) that every time you are risking not being able to stay on him and deploying for him, and every time he risks ending up tangled in his AAD deployed reserve as he goes through 750ft? I think there comes a point when trying to get an unsuitable student through a skydiving training package is more about the instructors ego (I can get anyone through) than it is about benefitting the student. This is not Quantum Physics, this really is life or death. I don't think that you can treat them the same way. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

and Sorry - this is all a bit 60's for me. People have different strengths and aptitudes, both mentally and physically. Some are clumsy, some are dextrous. Some are bright, some are not. These are not all learned skills - they have just as much to do with 'brain wiring'. So no, I don't buy into that idea that everyone is equal and you can teach anyone anything. The far more pressing issue though, is one of time. Drilling home lifesaving skills to a less suited student may be possible given enough time. But that 'time' will only increase with each jump and on each of those jumps they are in danger because they just haven't got it yet. This is a major increase in risk to the student - but while the instructor will know this, the student may not. A case in point, back when I was doing AFF, was the guy who suffered sensory overload on every jump and went foetal. After 5 x AFF L1 doing this, he got the talk. Nothing to do with the instruction - his brain just couldn't cope. This may have saved his life - so was it wrong? *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Learn to turn with your legs (a key skill) but also learn to dress for success. If you are jumping with bigger, heavier people so that you will need to go faster... wear lead. I don't know why people seem to view wearing weight as some kind of failure. It isn't. It's just nature in action... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

then they were too loose, or the toe pocket is too little. You shouldn't have to rely on friction to correct a fitup problem. Actually the toe pocket (good phrase!) was pretty small and I think that the elastic around the back of the leg was fading too. This was an old 2001 tony suit, withou mega booties. I have a bev now.

Is that a bedsheet 150 or a bedsheet 170? The openings are great, but I think that they are quite ground hungry, particularly in the smaller sizes. Flare isn't great either. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Que? John Major stopped being Prime Minister a decade ago - he lost the general election to Tony Blair' Labour Party in 1997, some six years before the whole WMD debacle... Tony Blair is about to leave office this month (having 'been misled' about the WMD threat from Iraq) after running the country for ten years. Perhaps he should have been kicked out for lying to use, but nobody actually has been... Anyway, this is not SC so back to the Aerodyne thing. I have dealt with Aerodyne Europe (Arnold Collenteur) for the last three years, and they have always looked after me fantastically. No complaints there and would not hesitate to recommend their service or their canopies.

Not easy formations but that is some imagination - good effort! You might find the 'crux' easier if you used zippers in the main section rather than pairs of cats - that could lead to some complicated cross gripping. Just a thought. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

No, he didn't. Its just that he is speaking / typing English, and you are answering him in American... Or didn't you realise that they were different? *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Ideally the ones you were wearing when measured for the suit? Otherwise the legs will be too long or short. On a side note, I had a problem with a previous tony suit booties slipping off when I was wearing an old pair of trainers - the front of the sole was worn smooth and shiny and didnt grip the bootie at all. New trainers... problem solved!

Someone correctly pointed out that no BSRs, or anything else, will make any difference without enforcement of the rules. This means you. Either talking directly to the offender or talking to the S&TA / CCI etc, when you see someone doing something stupid and/or dangerous. There are a lot of people getting very hot under the collar here, so I will be curious to find something out. After 7 pages of self-righteousness, how many people are actually going to stand up and be counted at their own DZ this weekend when they see something dangerous going on? Time to put your money where your mouth is people. Less typing, more action. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

That is a more unusual design? Did you have the rig from new? The only reason I ask is because of course risers can be removed from the canopy as well as the container... So a right-hand riser with the RSL ringon the outside could quite easily also be a left-hand riser with the RSL ring on the inside... depending on who set it up! That is just the risers of course and I guess the location of the actual RSL will dictate which side it is all hooked up - providing it is a factory original!

I'm guessing that most people will recommend whatever they have... and I'm no different. I do have a Mirage and it is a nice rig (6'0). I also have a Wings, which is my favourite. Wings do the 'Ext' (extended?) version specifically for tall people with small canopies. However, at your height with that canopy size, pretty much every manufacturer will be able to build you something comfortable - those are not unusual parameters. As for freefly friendly, most major manufacturers are these days. So it just comes down to taste... and wallet size... Enjoy! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Hell no - I'd take up NASCAR!!! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

For yourself? You can't. But these guys can... www.reddevilsonline.com/ There are plenty of others, including the Black Knights (can't find a website but I have their contact details) It will cost you somewhere in the region of £2.5k+... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

I may be missing something here, but what is the problem with the 'traditional' arrow / tetrahedron on the ground to mark both wind direction and landing direction? In light winds you don't need someone to hold it in one position - a length of chain and a weight works quite well at several DZs. The DZ controller / CCI / S&TA needs to stay heads up to move it if it is chained down and the direction changes, but that is not such a big job. For all of the reasons SKR and Erica stated, I am not a fan of first man down (apart from everything else, it encourages racing to be that first man down). So why does the direction marker not work? If it's good enough for record attempts... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

What kind of canopy were your flying? What was your wingloading? What kind of approach were you doing? What were the prevailing weather conditions? Did the wind come over the building? Was it hot or cold? What is your actual question here? If your canopy 'collapsed completely' at about 90ft I would be impressed that you were typing here... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Good spot... I was hoping that they would do something like that. They even used the same qualification names that I was thinking of! What are the odds... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

Scrambles are a lot of fun. Where is this one?

Or to differentiate between basic and advanced skills, you could have another qual, perhaps called Canopy Piloting... with an initial qualification of CP1 without which individuals are not allowed to do HP landings and maybe CP2 without which they cannot compete... Why didn't the BPA think of that?! *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.

On student and larger canopies, it is quite normal for people to collapse the slider and leave it at the top of the risers - a lot of those canopies are set up with slider stops (black hats covering the soft links?) up there to stop the slider coming down. As the parachutes get smaller, it is common practice to pull the slider down over the top of the risers, although we would normally put the slider behind the head, rather than in front... This allows the canopy to 'widen' slightly and flatten out, which gives you more lift (a good thing!) Ask about it when you are next at the DZ. As American Pie dad said, it is a perfectly normal, natural thing. You are just a little ahead of the power curve! The thing to be sure of now is that you pull the slider down over the toggles before releasing the brakes. There is a risk otherwise that when you are flying along quite happily, it will come down by itself and partially block your use of the steering lines. This is something that is best explained visually so again, ask at the DZ and someone will demonstrate. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus.