nigel99

Well a summary of my thoughts. I think it would be nice if tunnel flying became quite big, I enjoy flying my body but can't because of family commitments. I am not sure it has that much spectator apeal - although you do lose the sights of people hooking in etc. 2nd it is much cheaper than jumping and a nice idea to learn stability in a less intense environment than freefall. Last point I believe that it is naive to believe that tunnel-time = skydiving skill. A tunnel is safe - skydiving is not. I doubt that the tunnel raises the level of adrenalin/freaked out feeling that comes in skydiving and a cocky attitude by a virtual whuffo could kill them. If a paraglider pilot capable of CRW/swooping? or a snowboarder of skysurfing? Thats all - BTW I intend spending time at the tunnel in Zurich when we can get babysitters for twins - unless there is one in the UK? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

A few years back some guys from our club tried hang-gliding, all broke bones within the first few attempts.(I seem to remember the collar bone was the favourite) I doubt its typical but it sure gave hang-gliding a bad name at our DZ Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I just checked properties on the vid and it says the codec is "Windows Media 7" Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

A computer with a screen? Sorry couldn't help it - I'm bored My played in Windows media player Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Don't know I'm a Zimbabwean - now theres a job market that SUCKS!!! When I got here 4 yrs ago you could name your price if you did RF Design (cellphone & satelite markets) but since the collapse of telcoms :-( Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

For most guys here its going to be friggen tough - we're engineers and in the current UK job climate it ain't going to be easy Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Well I am fairly pissed off. 2 yrs in this company having stopped contracting when I started working here. We are now informed that odds of anybody being paid this month are fucking slim. It happens to shit loads of ppl and we have been kinda expecting it. Major issue is I found out through a friend(colleague) who has VC contacts and the CEO has asked him to pull all stops to raise cash. Hence I know the situation through this guy and still not a fucking word from the company. Not to harsh for me personally as my friend with VC contacts is busy raising cash for 3 of us anyway and that is well advanced but it sucks for the other guys here big time. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Its a big plot by the west to use Southern Africa as a GM testing ground Have you heard that Zim & Zambia said that the US could stick its grain where the sun don't shine? Why cause its GM - go figger I reckon not eating anything will kill you quicker Next issue - here in the UK the emphasis is on the "white" farmers and how they own 70% of the fertile land - no comment that they employ(ed - past tense now I guess) at least 50% of the working people - who are now by and large homeless.They also hold certificates of non-interest issued by Zim government for their farms - these certificates were issued post-independance as all farms sold had to be offered to the government first. Well I am an ex zimbo (never farmed though) and am seriously pissed at the wests handling of Zim. The UK government friggen put Mugabe in power in the first place. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I used to dream that for some reason I had nothing open and that I fell till about 300ft at which point I would "bounce" off successive friends canopies much like a trampoline/bouncy castle effect till a "safe" fall distance. Their canopies felt like bouncy castles on impact no pain etc. Maybe it was hopefull as a back plan for a double mal? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I took it for granted that as a leftie you used your right hand for loads of things - driving, mouse etc,(skydiving??) etc. It would be quite fun to see a left handed skydiving rig - BOC opposite way round, cutaway and reserve swapped! Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

My wife and I are both lefties. We've got left hand scissors and stuff real nice and comfie. I get a real kick out of the fact that our kids are right handed and have to use our left hand scissors and stuff Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

the UK has a restriction on motorcycle licencing based on the horse power etc I believe I started this post as I saw someone hook in on a small elliptical and has since died of injuries received. As a direct result of this accident I know of 2 people who were intent on starting jumping who now have changed their minds. I personally was going to be starting again and my wife has put the brakes on (she is 1 of the 2). Swooping is possibly one of skydiving's best "spectator" friendly events, but not will not do very well while 50% of skydiving deaths are a result of it - and that % is growing. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I am not an expert on all rounds, but have done numerous T-10 & C-9 jumps. As both of these canopies have about 3-5 knot forward speed I either looked at the grass/trees or at circa 1000ft do a slow 360 turn watching ground speed - worked every time. Lastly on a T-10 or C-9 you could do stand up landings by yanking down the rear risers HARD at about 6ft. I would ask someone about your canopy before doing it though. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Yip I've a 6 year old daughter and firmly believe in the death sentence for sicko's like that. Poor little kid. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

READ BEFORE OPENING ATTACHMENT: ******** A class of primary children started a class project to make a plant pot to take home. The teacher wanted to have a plant in it that was easy to take care of, so it was decided to use cactus plants. The children were given greenware pottery in the style of a clown plant pot. They painted them with glaze and had them professionally fired at a class outing so they could see the process. It was great fun. They planted the cactus seeds in the finished planters and they grew nicely. Unfortunately, however, they were not allowed to take them home. The cactus plants were removed, replaced with a small ivy, and the children were then allowed to take them home. The teacher said cactus seemed like a good idea at the time... Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

OK cleaning up my work h/drive found a few funny pics. Not skydiving related. Not really work safe. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Well my original point of view and is that if a canopy licensing system were in place then by and large even a visiting jumper would be allowed based on a proven training and licensing system. In much the same way as the BPA has different categories of specialisation within its licensing for freefall disciplines. Thereby you could be a super hot RW person who is not "licensed" to jump a high wingloading although you have 1000 dives, alternatively you might be a swooper with only 100 jumps but you are licensed to - based on the fact that you have been through a supervised progression system. Just my 0.02cents worth on it. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

I apreciate that in the skydiving community for the people who are willing to ask there are many extremely competent people out there willing to help out. I just believe that it would be benifial if these canopy classes were not only advertised but enforced. Nobody is allowed to skip AFF levels just because they show talent, I believe the same should be true for canopy classes. Same time your comment on novice and intermediate jumpers I guess that even under training there will always be that category and the resultant consequences. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

my point exactly - a licence as in current BPA B license is only obtained once a competent instructor has validated that you have passed the requesite tests and proved that you are competant. You can't legislate EGO/incompetance out of existance however you can curtail its effects and the sport as a whole gets more respect. Legislation is a bitch but my concern is that people out there simply do not understand the dynamics of what they are flying. I believe that what I witnessed yesterday was a genuine mistake - but a mistake that if the jumper had been reinforced landing and canopy flight discipline to the same extent that other emergency procedures are drummed in may have been avioded. The current figures for deaths in this sport are about 50% are under a fully functioning parachute. Would people sit back and accept it if 50% of deaths were due to pilot error whilst in the jump-ship on take-off? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Yesterday I had the misfortune of watching someone do a radical turn way to low that has resulted in severe injuries. Skydiving has moved on from Round parachutes where "flying" was freefall and the parachute was a safety device to safely put your feet on the ground. Why hasn't the skydiving community put in place licences whereby you can only jump a certain windloading/performance with relevant qualification. These are wings that have high performance make a mistake and you can die. I know that this stuff is not cool to talk about. It really unnerves me that there are hundreds of DZ's offering AFF and yet only a handfull of Canopy flying schools. Please people it may be cool to jump small fast swooping machines but nobody can afford to learn the hard way anymore - put in place a self regulated licensing system - little labels recommending 500+ etc are not good enough. A proper progression system needs to be enforced. Honest mistakes happen and always will but if people are trained and understand what they are doing alot less incidents will occur. If skydiving is going to get a respectable image in the community they are going to have to work hard to add a safer environment - it is not spectator friendly to see someone carted off in an ambulance believe me. Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

this has got to be one of the coolest exit pics I have ever seen http://www.herculesboogie.com/02/images/gallery/exita1.jpg Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

Embarrassing Moments A radio station in the Australia recently ran a phone-in competition to find the most embarrassing moments in listeners lives. The following are the final four place getters: 4th place "While in line at the bank one afternoon, my toddler decided to release some pent-up energy and started to run amuck. I was finally able to grab hold of her after receiving looks of disgust and annoyance from other patrons. I told her that if she didn't start behaving herself right now, she would be punished. To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening, "If you don't let me go right now, I will tell Grandma that I saw you kissing Daddy's pee-pee last night!". The silence was deafening, after this enlightening exchange. Even the tellers stopped what they were doing! I mustered the last of my dignity and walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow. The last thing that I heard as the door closed behind me were the screams of laughter." 3rd place "It was the day before my 18th birthday. I was living at home, but my parents had gone out for the evening, so I invited my girlfriend over for a romantic night alone. As we lay in bed after making love, we heard the telephone ringing downstairs. I suggested to my girlfriend that I give her a piggy-back ride to the phone. Since we didn't want to miss the call, we didn't have time to get dressed. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, the lights suddenly came on and a whole crowd of people yelled "surprise". My entire family, ... aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and all of my friends were standing there! My girlfriend and I were frozen to the spot in a state of shock and embarrassment for what seemed like an eternity. Since then, no-one in my family has planned a surprise party again." 2nd place "A lady picked up several items at a discount store. When she finally got up to the checkout, she learned that one of the items had no price tag. Imagine her embarrassment when the checker got on the public address system and boomed out for all the store to hear. "PRICE CHECK ON LANE 13. TAMPAX, SUPERSIZE." That was bad enough, but somebody at the rear of the store apparently misunderstood the word "Tampax" for "Thumbtacks". In a very business-like tone, a voice boomed back over the public address system: DO YOU WANT THE KIND YOU PUSH IN WITH YOUR THUMB OR THE KIND YOU BELT IN WITH HAMMER?" AND THE WINNER IS! This one happened at a major Australian University in October last year. In a biology lecture, a professor was discussing the high glucose levels found in semen. A young female freshman, raised her hand and asked, "If I understand what you are saying, there is a lot of glucose in male semen, as in sugar?" "That's correct." responded the professor, going on to add some statistical data. Raising her hand again, the girl asked, "Then why doesn't it taste sweet?" After a stunned silence, the whole class burst out laughing, the poor girl turned bright red and as she realised exactly what she had inadvertently said (or rather implied), she picked up her books, and without a word walked out of the class, and never returned. However, as she was going out of the door, the professor's reply was a classic. Totally straight-faced, he answered her question, "It doesn't taste sweet because the taste-buds for sweetness are on the tip of your tongue and not in the back of your throat!" Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

http://icaruscanopies.com/canopies/EXTreme_FX/ this seems to provide a good explanation on the crossbraced canopy - says pretty much what you just said without the bread sack Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

So where is skreamers comment - there is a video here of him exiting 4miles from the DZ (at least thats what the title says - and in the audio someone says he's going the wrong way Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

does that include a rig? Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.