Gandhi

Indeed Tom, I do completely agree with what you say, and certainly would like a more regulated pilot force in skydiving. As you mention, there is a lot of 'show-boating' amongst the para dropping community. It is only a matter of time before they start slamming into the floor. Completely unnecessary, and done for the most part by pilots that really shouldn't be showing off. A lot of para-dropping pilots are also using the experience as a stepping stone to the airlines, so one could presume these ones are fairly fresh out of training, having just been issued an ATPL. Hopefully most will be enthusiastic and mindful of what they have learnt to date. What bothers me is equally what bothers you, it is the practicality which is the main hurdle. When you consider that a 172 pilot who holds a PPL and nothing more, and a King Air pilot who has an ATPL, and everything inbetween, I just think that the test would either be a formality of sorts, unless there is to be individual tests for all different aircraft. Not a bad idea in theory I guess. One way or another, I do agree - aerodynamics and performance parameters in skydiving are as dynamic and variable as any other aviation out there. Re Joellercoaster; I don't know for sure, but I think the pilots operating on BPA dropzones are as a minimum PPL holders, and in order to drop us, they must have a BPA recommendation. I don't believe there is anything formal about the process though, alarmingly. Kind regards quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

Tom, Whilst I completely agree with what you have said, the majority of the non-skydiving specific points are in fact ATPL level performance and mass & balance, and a little touch on principles of flight. If you consider that at least in the UK, a PPL and single engine class rating is sufficient to fly jump aircraft, do you think its feasible to expect ATPL theory of a pilot flying a 172 in an upwards spiral? I do think all your points were very valid, and there are more t add, but I think implementing that level of required theory isn't practical, and therefore I personally can see a 'rating' being a little farsical to be honest, maybe more an effort to be seen to be doing something. The UK CAA would like nothing more to charge people for the stamp in a para-pilots logbook and written exams! Regards.. quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

from what I've seen and been told (by Swiss 4-way team who also use them) - very well made, the vented booties are very powerful, with a sole under the heel and the toe. Interestingly, one of the swiss guys who showed me the differences between his parasport and my simbi excel was that the grips on my legs are not sewn straight on to the legs themselves, but attatched to the legs by another bit of material, which if you imagine (ive described it very badly) makes them easier to grab in a hurry than if they were sewn straight to the legs... well the p'sport ones have this feature on the arm grips too. Other than that, the suits look WAY cool! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

This is true... I've had my neptune tell turn into a stopwatch in freefall, telling me how long i'd been falling... Also it told me i climbed from 6k to 10k, interesting, as i could have sworn i was at terminal. All in all a heap of DogShit. quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

Depends when he registered the domain. Provided info already on public record.... Two words.... YOU GIMP. ..................................................................... quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

he aint in lillo, mate. What the hell is this site? Why aint my pissing ice-man ass on there?! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

Had the same snag, paid someones jump ticked and told them to fall straight down! try dipping a knee, and hold it dipped, you'll end up doing a turn pivoting roughly about your head.. then while your doing that, move the arm on the same side, as if you want to do an arm turn (ie right leg down, and trying to arm turn to the right) in THE OTHER direction, start off with a little bit of arm, and you will find that the turn rate caused by your leg is reduced, this is because on top of turning, you are sliding at the same time. This is how you control the radius if you are doing nice orbiting turn (ie filming above a formation) it would pay to do this with another jumper to get a point to relate to. keep adding a little more arm, and at the point when the turn stops. you've totally counteracted the leg turn using ur arm.... you're side sliding! i find also that that if i wanted to slide right, if i clench my right arse cheek, that helps to shove my right hip down and thus my body has tilted (like an aircraft fuselage in a turn), deflecting air to the left, and pushing me right, vice versa to the left. i find this helps with my fall rate, if i do this, i need less arm/leg movement, and so a spoon like me has a smaller change of fall rate to contend with.. trying to link for example right elbow to right knee if you think about it like that, may cause you to de-arch... slow down etc, and in my case, on top of that, my spine lost its straightness and banana'd, and i kinda lost it! Hope this helps! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

ey, michele sweetheart, im fine.... quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

bear in mind the sudden burst of acceleration when you pull your yellow bits down... WHOOOOSH! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

ive used it as a student with mikey carpenter of euphoria a while back, and its the tits... regarding noise cancelling not being necessary with a full face... i disagree, it may be quieter than an open face, but the sound within from wind and vibrations rattles around the inside of a full face like you couldnt believe. quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

snap... its quite snug when trying to route through the hardware, but thats not a bad thing. quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

how is march 10th mid 2006? well... ive been waiting for almost 70 days, and im looking for excuses in my small mind that its coming soon! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

thank you kindly. I chose to thank you rather than dino because you're answer was a better one! im gonna look behind the sofa for some money, any ideas on cost? thanks! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

im just wondering if anyone has any news on the arrival date of the VISO digital visual monster alti... The Optima and Solo i think are out, and on the website it says the viso is coming in 'early 2006'. It is moving into mid 2006 and im getting nervous!! any heads up would be great, as i stood on my neptune, so i'd like to know whether to fix it or wait! cheers quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

for BASE, i'd definately go with The Shovels: Racking up our remains. its primarily the Aussies doing what they do best and its fucking nuts!! breathtaking scenery, jumps and antics from the worlds best... it gets better every time i watch it. you can get it from the cookie composites website along with the other shovels stuff. cant recommend it highly enough... MEGA... mite go and watch it now...! hope this helps... quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

beautiful jc! pm me, i intend to head to ocana next month dude quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

sabre2 and saffire 2 are in the same league, general purpose all round canopies if you like... at higher wingloads, the tapering makes it fairly high performance. the stilleto is a hp eliptical, it dives as soon as your hands go near the toggles... its very nice but its fairly dated, i demoed one and i also demoed the crossfire2... i'd take the crossfire2 anytime as it has the performance of the stilletto and all the creases in the stilletto have been ironed out... but be aware that they both will demand a hell of a lot more respect in the air than a sabre/saffire/pilot... on the fully eliptical but slightly lower performance front there is also the vision from aerodyne.... enjoy them!! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

i was sick of jumping the same DZ month-in, month out, so when i was reccommended to oncana, i thought i'd give it a whirl... its always strange turning up to a new dz on your own but i was collected from the station and introduced to the faces on the dz... its a serious shame that this place has gone un-noticed, its the size of the arizona desert, the instructors and coaches are world class competitors, and what i enjoyed most was the atmosphere - its as relaxing or hardcore as you want it to be - a big bar, swimming pool and all that george... or on the other hand they'll have you up and down like a bloody yo-yo if you feel the need..! i thoroughly reccommend ocana to anyone wishing to do AFF or coaching/fun-jumpng, and i'll be back soon!!! GHANDI

yeh douggs has the vid im talking about, thanks for your help... quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

hi guys, im off for a few days of jumping where i intend to practice camera flying, however there are a few mods i wish to make to my camera setup. the setup i use is an optik illusion with pc350 in a BH Dbox. the box is padded with foam which holds the camera snug, but having tried it out i wish to angle the cam up just by a few degrees. is it adequate to merely pad under the front of the bottom of the camera (i would use some thin spare helmet lining for this) to raise the angle a little? any advice will be greatly recieved... quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

hey guys, I watched a video at my DZ by the aussies known as the shovells, and i'm after some clips from it to compile... i'm more than willing to mention credits where due if anyone can point me in the right direction as to finding the vid? many thanks in advance quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

well the feet may well slow his fallrate down to the point of hypoxia on a delay like that... i discovered a streamer is a good way to slow yourself down at 16k too... err... quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

last time i was in Lillo i got a few coaching jumps from mikey... the guy is a world class flyer and a top quality coach... also pablo who's out there with mikey is awesome too.... both great fellas, i'd recommend them. my only regret is that i went out there to do ff coaching and got roped into fs, therefore didnt get as many jumps as i could have... its not cheap but you get what you pay for, and like i said, mikey is ace.. chill quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

i have an excel from symbi which i love.. i've put over 200 jumps on it and its still like brand new, no complaints.. i had a rigger alter it slightly when i stacked on a few pounds... i can honestly say its the best FS suit i've jumped... ovbiously some suits will fall apart, thats the same regardless of who you buy off... i've seen rainbow suits come apart, even though i've got rainbow FF pants which are bombproof... its luck of the draw to a certain extent.. look after your kit and it'll look after you. original lizard i think is the new competition in the FF world though, i think their suits knock spots off rainbow in terms of performance.. cant comment on quality as ive not put many jumps on them but all the ones ive seen including mine seem very robust... enjoy your rainbow suits though... as has been stated... typically german! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'

it wont increase the risk of hypoxia, as pilots, we've done hypobaric training in decompression chambers and are taught to maintain a slow breathing cycle. fast breathing will increase heart-rate and consequently lead to hyperventilation. so i would guess that whistling will naturally slow down one's breathing.. happy noisemaking! quote 'you are to go around... next time extend your landing gear'