Willi91

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Everything posted by Willi91

  1. This is fun reading! I must say that I've learnt a lot and I've become smarter over the last couple of years since writing my first post on this thread. But to be honest, the only downsizes I kind of regret are the first ones. Going to a Velo when I did was a fine decision - but only combined with the fact that I received good coaching! If you have your head up your ass thinking you know it all, skydiving is not the sport for you. But if you're willing to learn from qualified people and to do what you're told, even though it might be the most fun thing to do, you're probably going to do good. For the last 300-250 I've been flying a Comp Velo 90 which I don't plan on swapping out for something smaller anytime soon. It's fast enough for me. A year ago I tried a VK. Then I bought one ;-) Did 150 or so jumps on a VK90 and now I have a VK84. Awesome canopy. I was worried that it would be too small for work jumps, but luckily it isn't. I love that canopy!
  2. I agree. On my VC90 I turn at 820 ft for 270 and 980 ft for 450.
  3. What makes you think that? Just wondering..
  4. This is fun reading! I must say that I've learnt a lot and I've become smarter over the last couple of years since writing my first post on this thread. But to be honest, the only downsizes I kind of regret are the first ones. Going to a Velo when I did was a fine decision - but only combined with the fact that I received good coaching! If you have your head up your ass thinking you know it all, skydiving is not the sport for you. But if you're willing to learn from qualified people and to do what you're told, even though it might be the most fun thing to do, you're probably going to do good. For the last 300-250 I've been flying a Comp Velo 90 which I don't plan on swapping out for something smaller anytime soon. It's fast enough for me.
  5. Has anyone got any experience with the Vigil Xtreme? I think it is time for me to change my standard Vigil II into a speed type AAD and since I've been happy with my Vigil so far, I was considering going for their Xtreme version. I'm looking for reasons to choose the Cypres Speed over the Vigil besides the usual reasons such as past incidents with missing cutters, no mandatory overhaul and so on.
  6. I put a couple hundred jumps on a standard velo 96 WL 2.0 with an RDS-slider and to be honest the openings wasn't good. Once in a while it would be fine but most of them would smack open. I don't know what manufacturer made the slider, but definately not PD. Right now I'm jumping a comp velo 90 with an RDS and here the story is completely different. It opens quick, but not hard which is exactly how I like it.
  7. Calling others assholes for not talking to you makes you the asshole. Maybe there's a reason they don't want to. If you were at my dropzone I'd probably be one of the assholes you are talking about, but the only one who would be sorry about that is you.
  8. The best advice I would give myself 900 jumps ago is that you are never as good as you think you are. I certainly wasn't, but it has taken me a long time to realise that. When you are on top of your game at 300 jumps, you propbably aren't. Be humble and listen to what the experienced guys have to say.
  9. Regardless of his motives for using his technique he is still an ambassador for the sport, just like many of us are, whether he likes it or not. Like I said, the swoops are impressive, but flying like that might give new jumpers a wrong image of how to fly your canopy. Maybe it is fun for Charlie going in the corner and digging out every time, but come on.. Since when was that OK just because it's fun?
  10. Impressive swoops, but I have never in my life seen anyone use that technique in their turns
  11. I've used my GoPro 2 for every single one of my tandem videos. I'm not a professional but I still think my work lives up to a lot of the work I see from the pros. I do have a concern regarding GoPro 3 and 3+. A lot of my friends who use them experience them turning off mid jump for no obvious reason, and for me that's reason enough to stick with the GoPro 2. I really hope this problem has been solved on the 4. And when it comes to flying below tandems - I'd never do it and I wouldn't want another guy doing it when I do tandems. Never. It's just stupid. I'm glad to hear that the one guy in this thread who disagrees is not doing videos anymore.
  12. As far as I know, leaving the slider up can cause line wear. That's reason enough for me to pull it down if I was in your place. I don't get why people make such a big deal out of the fact that you want to pull your slider down all though you probably won't feel any significal aerodynamical benefits. Pull the thing down and make it a part of your procedure so if you one day start jumping something smaller where it acutually can make a difference, you've already got it under your skin. My humble opinion. Now do you have anything to cover your slinks or what exactly stops the slider from coming down?
  13. The vast majority of students at my DZ have never done a tandem before doing their first solo skydive, AFF students as well as static line. As I see it, there's no reason to do a tandem before doing solos unless the student wants to. When someone asks me if a tandem is required I tell them no and that it's a waste of money if the plan is do solo jumps anyway.
  14. I won't give you any money because I, like someone stated earlier in the thread, find it distasteful to ask someone for money to go have fun. But I will give you the advice of doing like I did which is to go abroad to do some work at a dropzone where you will get paid more and have a better opportunity to increase your skills. If it is really your 'truest' dream you should drop out of school and pursue a career in the industry. If you wont drop out of school, have some patience.
  15. I've done a fair amount of terminal jumps with a removable slider on my velo and they tend to be a bit snappier than with the standard slider. I'm not saying that this will be the case on your canopy though. I can see on your profile that you're not jumping the typical canopy for the use of a removable slider. Have you checked with the manufacturer that it is recommendable?
  16. You did a good job making the film. Nicely done. To someone who doesn't skydive, this is a nice little documentary.
  17. I'm actually quite happy that my post started a discussion where people were looking at things from more than one perspective. To all of you whose opinion is that my choice of canopy is bad or downright stupid - I understand you. In my case I don't agree with you, but I get your point. When a guy you don't know posts a canopy progression history like mine, the only things you can take into account is statistics and your own experiences and not if this guy actually is able to fly the thing. I think we can all agree that the best advice you can give when it comes to flying your canopy is 'get coaching'. Coaching was exactly what I did get and on top of that I have never hesitated to ask a skilled canopy pilot to look at my landings whenever I had the chance. I'm not going to say "don't do like I do" because that would be downright stupid. But if you feel confident that you can do as I have done without getting hurt, do yourself the favour of getting coaching and have as many qualified eyes as possible to look at your flying and of course be open to their opinion.
  18. Maybe that's your opinion, but it's definately not mine
  19. Usually I've been very reluctant to post this kind of information for the reason that I don't want to listen to all the flaming it could result in. But since I just came home from a canopy course where I received a lot of nice words from my coach about my flying, I couldn't care less about the potential flaming, so here it goes
  20. As far as I know, Swindon has an Airvan
  21. I spent my summer this year at Skydive Hibaldstow working as a packer. It is hard work, but it pays well and you can get a shitload of jumps. If you can deal with the sometimes immense amount of hard work, I say try it out.
  22. I am currently working full time as a packer on a big dropzone i Europe. The tip varies a lot. Some don't give any tip and others are very generous. Americans are usually more generous than the average. A tip is always kindly accepted because we always make sure that the jumpers' kit is ready to jump before the next load even if we have to work much harder than what a regular no-rush-pack job requires. If a packer promises to have a kit ready and for some reason it is not, I can understand why a tip would not be given. But otherwise I don't see anything wrong with tipping.
  23. I was 13 years old on my first tandem. Did another one when I was 14. First solo jump December 31st - 5 days after turning 16.
  24. I'm usually quite hesitant with posting anything here, especially when the topic is downsizing because you easily burn your fingers, but since I'm in the same position as you I'll take the chance anyway. I was recently attending a canopy control course flying my Sabre2 120, loading it at 1.57. After the course, the coach encouraged me to look for a Katana or similar once I reached 400 jumps, which was 20 jumps away. Two weeks later (and 20 jumps) I did my first jumps in a Katana 120. I haven't put that many jumps on it, but differences are showing right away. It is a very different machine. Ground hungry as hell compared to a Sabre2. My advice would be to hear a skilled canopy pilot's opinion, and of course someone who knows your style of flying. If I'd been told not to look for a Katana, I wouldn't have. Good luck!
  25. I also did my first demo with around 200 jumps. But I was the least experienced on the load and my WL was below 1.0. I'm no expert, but IMO this jump put a lot in jeopardy.