safety in the UK /US

[miss3sixty 0]

Oh my God, try jumping in New Zealand!

Talk about laid back!!

You don’t even have to be able to pack to get an A license!

Is that common?

When I eventually return to Pommy-land I think I will have a rude awakening!

Im not IN ANY WAY implying they are negligent or even complacent, but Kiwis certainly dont appear to be anal!

Miss3sixty

Skydiving- it has its ups and downs

[Yossarian 0]

Dont need to pack to get an A-license in the UK either, you do for a B now i think though, i really should learn, its all i have left to do to get it, that and practical spotting which noone ever lets you do in case u mess up and they have to go around again...

[jakee 1,489]

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Oh my God, try jumping in New Zealand!

Talk about laid back!!

You don’t even have to be able to pack to get an A license!

Really? I learnt in NZ a couple of years ago and I had to learn to pack to get my A. In the Uk you don't need packing until you want a B lic. Otherwise yeah, New Zealand has a nice attitude about skydiving regs.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[jools 0]

I have jumped in Oz, New Zealand, Russian, Spain and over half the DZ's in the UK (never made it to the US)
Yes the UK is painfully slow in getting lifts in the air compared to anywhere else I have jumped.
I don't think this has anything to do with flight line checks,but more to do with people not getting their sh*t together, ie. if you are a sausage grabber dirt dive before the lift is called not on the way to the plane, turn on your AAD and do your own gear check before you manifest, then get your ass to the FLC area before the the boarding call so you can meet the plane, have the lift waiting for the plane not the other way around and while you are all waiting for the plane to land sort out you exit order.
One other problem I have found jumping in the UK a large amount of jumper prefer to talk a good skydive than to actually make one, the UK scene in my opinion is social first jumping second.
I am not saying this is a bad thing it is just the way I see it compared to other countries.
Yes I live in the UK and I am pi*@ed off I can not make 10 jumps a day without a lot of hard work and hanging about waiting for others to sort themselves out.

rant over flame away but then sort yourself out so we can jump more.

PS I only talk about the majority NOT all the UK dz's I have jumped at.

"If you don't like it then fuck off" BASE 621

[miss3sixty 0]

ok, bad attempt at a joke!

It is an NZPIA requirement that you are able to pack to get an A license, its just that I have met so many A license holders that cant !!

With regards getting on loads, it also has a lot to do with what sort of dropzone you are based at. A fun-jumper friendly training DZ will be very different to having a tourist area tandem factory for your home DZ!

With tandem DZ's, as much as they welcome sports jumpers and students, the tandem business will always come first, thats what Ive found anyway!

My home DZ is the most stunning place on earth, but it has its draw-backs!
It put a hold on all students and fun-jumpers for over a week not so long ago which drove us all mad, and now we all have an issue of not being able to jump at 15k becasue of fuel costs and slowing thet plane down! The funny thing is, I was on a load yesterday that let some tandems out at 9k, circled round to let us out at 12, then went up to 15!! Surely this costs just as much in fuel!

And we are often getting bumped off loads for tandem passengers that decided they want camera at the last miinute!
Happy days!!

Miss3sixty

Skydiving- it has its ups and downs

[riggerrob 643]

And we are often getting bumped off loads for tandem passengers that decided they want camera at the last minute!
Happy days!!

[mr2mk1g 10]

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Tell your DZO to "get with the 1990s" and buy Hand-Cams.
That will eliminate one excuse for bumping fun jumpers.

They're considered a saftey hazzard in the UK. You'd have to tell the BPA to "get with the 1990's" first and have them 'ok' their use. The question came up last year and there was little support.

[sabrelover 0]

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Tell your DZO to "get with the 1990s" and buy Hand-Cams.
That will eliminate one excuse for bumping fun jumpers.

They're considered a safety hazard in the UK. You'd have to tell the BPA to "get with the 1990's" first and have them 'ok' their use. The question came up last year and there was little support.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Four hundred jumps ago, I taught myself how to fly tandems with a camera strapped to my hand.

Yes, I have heard plenty of arguments about why Hand-Cams are dangerous, just haven't seen anything dangerous.

And yes, it often seems that BPA is "in tune with the 1980s."
Hee!
Hee!