Yossarian

i think my reasoning behind doing a solo after a long break is sound enough, its my safety im thinking about afterall. im just trying to get the most out of every jump, a 2-way track might be a plan, harder to mess that up as i know i can track, just not necessarily how well

im always honest about my numbers and skills, usually over modest as far as skills go just to be safe. i just want to make every jump count, so many exits to try and not enough tickets to do them all!

apparently relaxing is the best way to survive certain things (dont know about this though). for example your more likely to survive a car crash when asleep (passenger or not...) or plane crash etc as you dont see it coming and therefore are relaxed, dont ask me the medical science behind it but its supposedly true. then again even with your eyes closed on your back you'd still know it was coming relatively soon

i do love tracking, but without a reference (ie someone else) how do i know how far/fast im going? i may have a body position that feels good and solid and stable and be the right shape but how do i know its working?

I don't get to jump much, mostly for financial reasons, and so when i do i like to make it worth the money. ive got my fs1 and love jumping with my friends from my uni club but this time of year we're scattered all over the country so its hard to get together, and i dont like jumping with strangers i meet on the dz because im not that good and i always get the impression ive wasted their money if we didnt manage everything we planned, and theyre usually a lot more experienced than i am and i feel im wasting theyre time (i know they may not feel the same but thats how i feel). another thing is that when i do jump after a layoff of up to 2 1/2 months i also prefer to do a solo first to get back in the swing of things so i only have to think about me and my safety and not worrying about someone else. basically my question is, does anyone know any cool things to do on a solo? i do the usual backloops, barrel rolls etc (my dz doesnt allow freeflying pre-ff1 unless you're with a coach and the CCI has the eyes of a hawk...) but is there anything else i can do?

plus i suppose you cant watch things like 4-way live, and even when they play the tape a commentator couldnt talk fast enough

people jump off bridges into water to kill themselves and usually succeed, and they hit well below terminal, id say track down a steep hill...

ive seen a video on skydiving movies of someone managing to solve the seemingly impenetrable conundrum of the main/reserve entanglement, looked to me like he climbed his reserve lines and pulled the bastard out of the freebag with his bare hands. good fun.

are round reserves really still an option nowadays? another thing i was wondering was when you get high performance, small canopies etc, and very small reserves with them, a 120 for example, are they relatively hp too? how would an unconscious person fayre under one of those?

i have to make sure i find incidents in the paper before my parents so i can come on here and find what really happened, otherwise they give me 'the speech'

i know I can skydive in my sleep, can't you?

cheers, might be at nethers to get a few in before i go in

plus a malfunction may not be the packers fault, it might have been the jumpers fault, and sometimes these things just happen

the RN dont allow any kind of surgery for aircrew, and unfortunately different lenses wouldnt be accepted, unaided sight has to be within certain limits i'm not in at the moment. my prescriptions been stable for over 3years now. thanks for all your help by the way

so really im just swapping having contacts when theyre most annoying (especially in my chosen proffession, try doing 4hrs on 4hrs off and having to take ur lenses out everytime you sleep, especially when u hit rough stuff) for having to wear them in later life (probably an over-simplification, sorry) im 20 at the moment, will be 21 at the time of surgery. dont have a regular optician, just annual checks at the same branch of opticians. the Navy only allow Lasik, and normally i would be cautious about taking an option because i had no choice, but the past few opticians ive spoken to said i was the perfect candidate for intralasik. im yet to have the actual consultation so im saving all my questions about the procedure for then, just not sure what they'll say about skydiving, its probably not a question they come across alot and im worried theyll say something based simply on their limited understanding of what it involves. would pressure change have an effect? (i mean the rapid change of freefall rather than the ascent)

my prescription is -1.75 and -2.5 so apparently im pretty much the perfect candidate, im having it done near guildford, i know they all claim to have the best safety record and success rates but independent research actually appears to confirm their claims. im just worried ill look round at the crucial moment and lose something vital... also dont like the idea of wearing those goggles in bed and having to stay away from smokey environments for 4 weeks (gonna have to give up my job in a pub), and the lack of jumping soon after, but im sure ill survive. cant imagine life without contacts

im having the odd problem with landing accuracy, im always dead in line with the centre of the circle, but tend to over and under shoot alot (but not always) never by more than 30ft, but its just a little annoying, what i tend to do when flying downwind is turn into wind when im level with the circle, and look down and to the side to see what the circle is doing (moving forward/back etc) and adjust the length of my downwind leg accordingly. i tend to overshoot more than under, but this tends to be seemingly due to my flare more than anything, i hit the centre of the circle(ish) at around 5-10ft, then do a nice slow smooth flare that carries me for a distance (i jump a pilot 190 mostly and if i flare too quick i feel like i go up then come backwards so i prefer either a very slow smooth flare or a two stage jobbie) and i end up quite a distance away. trouble is i cant jump frequently enough (money and distance from dz) to establish any sure pattern.

RNR, going in to the regulars when i finish uni

im having intra-lasik, the one where they use a laser to cut the flap rather than a blade, for the simple reason that i need better vision to get into the RN full time as i failed the eyesight test by the narrowest of margins (same with the 2nd opinion) the first time, hence me being a reserve officer in the meantime. it is a very unfortunate necessity that skydiving must come second to a career ive aimed my life at for as long as i can remember. i have no idea why the Navy, in its infinite wisdom, will only accept LASIK, im not an optician, and i learnt long ago never to question the mod

would you recommend practicing a rear riser landing? is it dangerous to the uninitiated? i can imagine moving somewhat faster when arriving...

All things going to plan i should be having both eyes corrected sometime in september. i havent had the proper examination/consultation yet but im well aware of the guidelines regarding sport etc, but skydiving (unsurprisingly) isnt mentioned. has anyone had any experience with laser surgery and subsequent jumping? it advises no strenuous activity for 2 weeks after the surgery with full recovery in 4-8 weeks, but would the potential stresses (goggles slipping off for example) mean that i should wait longer? would the pressure change involved in the climb to altitude and descent be a factor? i will of course talk this over fully with the experts when i have it done, but i was just wondering if anyone knew first hand, thanks

i always thought there were 7... proper preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance

would a terminal mr bill be possible unplanned? as in grab onto someone in freefall (unconcious maybe) and dump and be able to hang onto them? would the main have to be packed to be a slow opener to reduce the opening shock due to the extra weight suspended beneath it? i was wondering more about opening shock and wing-loading than the plausibility of the situation

PAC 750, at anything less than capacity it climbs so fast you neeeed that seat belt!

what is it that causes spinning mals on high performance canopies to dive toward the ground like that? ive had twists once on a pilot 170 (maybe 3 or 4) and it flew just like it normally would (except the end-cells were closed), even though my head was being pressed to my chest by them. so why to elliptical canopies react so much more violently?