skykittykat

Dean is an English bloke who came over here with 30 odd jumps and did a whole bunch of jumps with Stefan and Omar - he was basically the first member of Flight Club. I don't think he is a member of dz.com, so I will mention this thread to him later - I think he will laugh heartily Liz

Hey Andi It will be great to see you again. I am part of a scratch team from Eloy - we have zero jumps together as a 4-way as well, hence A class beckons! Let the fun begin Liz

Coudn't edit, my last post, so my qestion is, will he maybe take on what Al did or are you moving up and taking on more responsibility? Liz

I know 2 Arabic phrases (phonetically): Yellah - hurry El Has it easy - lick my ass Liz

Please repeat, I couldn't hear you I apologise - I suffer from hearing loss as does my friend's husband who has been skydiving for 20 years. It is all down to planes and pressure changes. Liz

***Todd is still an Airspeed member, and organizes the Ultimate Skills Camps. Todd is coaching on a regular basis and may be taking on a new role at the DZ. *** Is he taking over Al's or your job??? Liz

Congratulations!!! Your enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge is awesome, Landing your canopy with a bit of wind always helps, but great to see you want canopy coaching anyway! Methinks we will be seeing you in the future and in print. Liz p.s. There is no such thing as a stupid question, only a stupid answer.

Regarding the length of most dz relationships - some do last the distance, most don't last more than a night/week - don't s**t in your own nest unless you are sure Liz

It's hard! I've moved heaps of times and have a little system. Put everything in piles like fave clothes, personal effects, etc. Have a separate pile for things that you think you may use again, but haven't seen/used in months/years. Get rid of those. Be tough!!!! Liz

Dom, you are the King and no-one can take that away from you! Liz

And they have the Unibomber... He is sooo sweet and lovely, before I get flamed Andi - revel in being the only Andi on the dz now!!!! Liz

Yup, have you been? Liz

Sorry, I just had to post, after a couple of years of staying silent (sort of!!!!!). I love dz.com and there is a lot of great info/knowledge here, but I hate the ATTENTION SEEKERS, What do you all think? Liz

Hey Rosa - you are going to have a blast there. Unforuntately I haven't been, although I was offered a job in Bombay years ago, but never made it there. Check out this website: www.lonelyplanet.com It is the website of the Lonely Planet guidebooks and there is a forum on there so you can get all the info/travel advice from travellers past and present! It is a wicked resource. Liz

Couldn't you just do your marking between calls - a bit like when the GCSE/A level examiners marked all the exam papers on their trains home??? Read Private Eye's Edukashun articles - Private Eye sympathises with you and you'll get a laugh. Liz

Those polar bear cubs are wonderfully adorable looking. There were awesome pics taken of a mother polar bear and her cub playing and then the last one was of her lying next to her dead cub and crying. It was pretty heartrending Unforuntely, I haven't got a link to it as it was published in an English newspaper - and no, NOT the Sun newspaper! (the pics didn't feature nudity or sex) Liz

Hey Adrian, how's it going? Back to thread! I did 2 tandems in 1995 as a work thing and then started and completed my AFF in 2000. I didn't consider my 2 tandems as having "started" skydiving or being involved in the sport, hence my profile says 4 years (soon to be 5). Liz

The Mag is brilliant. I must disagree with there being no content - I don't know what you mean by "no content" but personally I find it educational and fun. It is great to see what is happening in the UK (especially as I am living overseas). Most of my American friends here love the Skydive Mag way over the USPA Mag. Skydiving Magazine is totally different as it is subscriber only and not part of a country's membership. One example was the issue covering the World Championships in Brazil and Croatia. The reports not only focused on the British teams, but also the winners and the photos rocked. USPA's coverage was shockingly bad. I actually gave 2 copies of the Mag to friends who live here and who had competed for the US/Japan and they were stoked by the overall reporting and photos. We also get sent the minutes of the council meetings, which is something that the USPA does not do. Basically the Mag is there to keep British skydivers informed of what is going on in British and world skydiving. In fact, the only people I hear whinge about the Mag are Brits!!! I have a solution - if people are not happy with the Mag, then write to Lesley with suggestions. Liz

Hey David Come to Eloy and do your AFF. They have the best instructors, planes, weather and the cost is fab. OK, I am biased as I live here, but I have jumped all over the world and I would totally recommend Eloy. Also, the training you get for your A licence is the best in the world - body flying and canopy flying. The dropzone if very friendly - you have world champions who talk/jump with you and are totally genuine. Tunnel training is great and I would totally recommend it, however start your AFF before commencing your tunnel time as your first couple of levels of AFF will be about awareness and survival in the air (something which the tunnel cannot teach). Beer - depends on how much you drink, although it is cheap here. A link www.skydivearizona.com If you have any questions, etc, pm me. Liz You can cook - you are my new best friend!!!! I can cook very well, although it does get a bit boring for one.

Yay, bring it on girl!!! Noooo, you never tortured me - it was probably the other way round as I was docked onto you and someone landed on my back and tried to take me out (unsuccesfully, but you had to bear the aftershock). Are you doing the skills camp or wot? I would love to come to Las Vegas, but my cypres is on it's 4 year check and there is no point in getting packed, then unpacked and then re-packed! If, by any chance, there is to be no skydiving, pm me and I will be there in a shot!!! Liz

Please, before anyone flames me, I am not an instructor. I have thought about this a lot, not only from seeing injuries, etc, but from my own experience. Quick background - I did AFF and I was 145lbs at the time and on a 360 sq ft canopy and had very little canopy instruction on the ground. I could not even flare the thing. I was told if I went on something smaller, I would kill myself. Incidentally, I finished my AFF in the UK and was put on a F111 210 and found it much easier to control, but did not know how to flare at the right time, plus having the mental thing of "you are going to kill yourself" goin on in my mind. Anyway, to cut a long story short, if I had had the proper instruction to start with, then I would not have had the struggle with canopy control to start off with. From spending a lot of my jumping time in the UK, I could see the difference in canopy control between the static line students and the AFF - the static line students were way more proficient in canopy control and landings. OK, maybe it was not that short!!! My thought is that during the AFF/A licence training, there should be a number of hop'n'pops to concentrate solely on canopy control which come after a certain level. To keep the costs down for the schools/dropzones, these hop'n'pops come directly after the AFF hop'n'pop (solo) level and are coached accordingly (maybe another day in the classroom). Liz

That is a great story. No offence, but I love hearing all the old stories about skydiving and the lives that the skydivers were leading during the 70's and 80's. There are some pretty amazing people/stories out there. Liz

It could've been worse! Liz

I was in exactly the same boat as you during AFF, although the program I went through you had to do so many stable poised exits before moving onto the hop'n'pops. I funnelled nearly every poised exit. To cut a long story short, it was all about relaxation. Once I relaxed and stopped stressing about doing a poised exit, I flew it fine. Without overloading yourself, try visualising before your jump and then in the door, take a big deep breath. One person told me: An exit is not an exit, but an ENTRY into a skydive. I hope this is some help to you. Good luck and let us know how you get on. Liz p.s. If you would like to know the whole story, mental and all, pm me.

Thanks Jon for uploading piccies from the AGM for all those interested parties. It was great to see all the people I know looking sooo well and having a great time. Oh, go on be a sport, publish the "Beaver Photos" Liz