timbarrett

thks..i really appreciate the tips/suggestions "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I am just about to transition from my Navigator at about 0.85 W/L to a shiny new Spectre at 1.0 W/L. I would appreciate any tips/hints etc on landing the new canopy. Obviously I will be opening high, experimenting for myself and asking my instructors etc. For example have read that the flare point for the toggles is lower than some other canopys but as I don't have much experience I was hoping for some advice on this and any other points you might think relevant. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

sorry for the dumb question but..why is it called a Mr Bill? "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

While i guess you meant that as a joke(?), i reckon that there is something that differentiates fear of heights in rock climbing from the fear of jumping from two miles up.. I think that maybe our primitive brains recognize lower but still significant heights as dangerous but evolution never programmed anything into our ancestral brains to deal with diving from an airplane - evolution simply doesn't go that fast. Certainly I feel a lot more scared sitting on a tiny ledge a few hundred feet up than hanging out of the door of a helicopter at 5000'..there is of course a bit of me saying things like. "this would make a good BASE jump some day"... "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

if you go to the reception for the ski-slope and tell them you are playing at airkix all day they will give you a 1 pound all-day pass and with that you can park right outside the front door. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I think the lesson I learnt yesterday is that when, the DZO posts a 50 jump limit due to wind, think about it a little more and don't just say "okay, i've got 70, so let's go". The point was not whether I could handle the landing but that with a very conservative canopy loading at 0.85 what was going to happen to my penetration into the wind if we got the spot just a little bit wrong. I guess I did not appreciate the effect of 40 knots at 10,000 ft had on my drift in free fall. As it happened I picked a nice big brown field for a beautiful soft landing..into 12 inches of thick, goopy mud. It took me 30 minutes to wade and crawl the 100 yards out of there. No-one on the highway would pick up The Swamp Thing (until the DZ van found me). I spent the rest of the afternoon learning from the rigger how to clean a canopy and rig. Once everyone had finished laughing at me, they also pointed out that had the wind been blowing in the other prevailing direction then my choices for landing would have been apartment buildings or (the better choice) the canals...a lot less amusing. So the lessons I took from all that mud is that the wind at the point of landing isn't all I should think about. Not sure about the lesson on wing loading..but anyway I grounded myself for the rest of the day while the wind blew. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I have noticed some d bags with the stow attachment points seemingly down the front of the flap with the exception of the first two locking stows. This looks to be in contrast to the traditional arrangement along the edge of the bag. I asked why and was told one theory was that the newer location, by keeping the bights from hanging over the end of the bag, would not catch air during the deployment and thus make of a more symmetrical deployment process. Just wondering if this is the whole story and whether there are any pro/con arguments for this arrangement? "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I just jumped a helicopter (Jet Ranger) for the first time at RAF Weston this w/e...I just loved climbing out and lowering myself to hang from the strut (thinking WTF am I doing) before dropping off into dead air..the first time i have ever felt like I was falling! Can't say I would want to jump one all the time..i prefer the Skyvan..but this was serious fun. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

never seen a Havok in the UK dealers but if you are anywhere near London or hang out near Weston or Hinton you are welcome to try mine out... "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I started with the Havok but then switched to the Mamba which i much prefer now. The Havok was very easy to use with glasses but it never felt totally secure on my head. I felt too reliant on the chinstrap adjustment sometimes and it slipped slightly - especially during long tunnel sessions. Vision was slightly restricted when looking straight down my body so i tilted my head a bit to see cutaway for example The fit and the seal on the Mamba worked much better for me but without the compromised visibility. With a tight fit I had no difficulty in using it with glasses although it worked better with thin frames. The neoprene seal works well and it takes my Neptune very simply. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Read it..but frankly I found the endless failures as uninspiring when I really wanted, as I was just starting out, to believe success was going to be a little easier than she found it... want a fun personal read, then try "Base 66".. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Amen, i am new to this but opening up dropzone.com this year and seeing so often a new incident report waiting to be read does make me wonder about how those who have been in the sport for many years cope.. don't stop caring... "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I am trying to improve my exits and am trying to understand a bit more about what I should be feeling as I fly on the hill. I can practice everything else in freefall in the tunnel until I run out of time or more likely money...but there are only a few seconds to get a feeling for the exit. I expect I try to rush the transition and my body turns with my head as I focus on linking with a partner. It seems easier when linked because then you can present relative to something. When unlinked it feels a bit mushy and uncertain..more so when you exit facing forward rather than diving to the rear. I am probably not explaining this very well but hopefully you all out there will understand what I am trying to ask... Any help appreciated..especially on how to practice this. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Ah so...much for me to learn and understand it seems..will go away and think about it some more..that and study Kallend's piece... "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Advice needed...i buy the theory and totally agree but being new, often jumping with a coach and/or at a new dropzone I find some pretty wierd variations.. I was in Spain this weekend and i sat on the ride up and listened to the 45 degree rule being explained by one freeflyer to the guy who would follow him ( i think quite a bit got lost in the translation from english via Spanish to French) and then participated in (and this was organized by the JM) an exit order that went: Tandem/Tandem/FF/FF/RW/RW/Tandem/Tandem. My question is once you are in this type of process what do you practically do. I chose to wait a long time before I jumped and got shouted at..and then prayed that the next guy did the same... "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I am pretty new to this wonderful sport but I must confess, when I read the stories, to being stunned and amazed - to say nothing of incredibly impressed - that anyone who has been jumping since the "old days" is even alive let alone still jumping. I run into guys who have more years in the sport than I have total jumps and it seems to be another world... "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

I find the peripheral vision better on the Mamba than the Havok (plus no Darth Vader jokes)..the seal on the Mamba is also excellent "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Where it can be properly contemplated at leisure...bathroom wall next to..well you get the picture "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Thks..just needed to be reminded tim "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Is this how it begins?... It was my first day checking out a new dropzone and looking to find a few new friends to continue learning with. I was just standing waiting for the next load when someone says to me, "Man, that's a big rig! What's in there?" "280", I respond. "Yeah, thats almost as big as your tandem isn't it, Joe (or whatever the TI's name was)." No-one means anything by this idle chatter I guess. However I must confess that my very first thought afterwards was that maybe I could get away with accelerating the downsizing progession I had planned. Right now I jump witha WL of around 0.85 (i weigh in at 215 naked) and had planned in the autumn with around 100 jumps to move to a 1.0 loading after completing a canopy control course. Why not bring that forward I thought, my landings are pretty consistent and I can do (most) of the things on Billvon's checklist....besides then I would be cooler. Is this how they get to you? How do you silence the siren call? Or should I just grow up and stop listening to the playground noise? Tim "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Just starting to get involved in basic RW jumps and I'd like to understand a little more about is meant by "average fall rate". I have consulted my shiny new Neptune which reports an average around 115mph and then gives rates for 3 different heights where i seem to top out around 134mph when just doing a solo. When I am considering my fall rate and what i should be aiming for when making RW jumps which number should i be looking at? Obviously when you have others with you you can work to match them but should i be thinking about one or other of these numbers in terms of my weight/jumpsuit construction etc? "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Do you think we will ever end up in the US with the UK "checked and signed off" system? Not sure what i think of it yet myself but wondered if it might be implemented elsewhere? Does it work? "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

thks caz, i may be having some problems sorting things out on the coaching side but the skydiving community is just as full of great people here as anywhere else in the world! See you there.. tim "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

Phil, thks for the advice..i am living in London and have made a few jumps at Hinton so far..willing to travel tho'... did you find it easier to get coaching in Spain?If so, could you tell me where you did it. I have heard a lot of good things about Empuriabrava but not much about the coaching specifically. "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"

tash, thks v much for any help. pls do PM me..i am living in London and have done a few jumps at Hinton so far...willing to travel tho' tim "Work hard, play hard and don't whinge"