kellja2001

http://www.justgiving.com/Susie-Finnis Hey there all! Firstly, can I say thanks for looking. Myself and a group of my "University Buddies" will be cycling from Brussels (that's in Belgium, Europe) to London (UK, Europe) for charity this summer. Now, this isn't one of those "Tandem Skydive" things, where I raise £5000 and get a free train ticket to Belgium. All administrative costs (including train tickets, bicycles, maintenance, food, drink, hotels etc. etc.) are paid for by us. Every penny you donate goes to the charity. So, what is the charity? Right To Play (http://www.students4righttoplay.org.uk/) Right to Play are a global charity who have very similar goals to those of Sport Relief, starting at a grass-roots level, building awareness of safe-sex, community, disease, HIV/AIDS, promoting healthy living, developing understanding, tolerance and co-operation. In a society where conflict is rife, these qualities are crucial for youths to build a brighter, sustainable future free of violence, crime and war. Please, please, please, from the bottom of my heart, help make a difference for these children, and improve their world. Any amount is appreciated, even if it is just pennies. It is easy to donate, and I will literally love you (platonically) forever if you do! http://www.justgiving.com/Susie-Finnis An absolutely massive thankyou in advance for your kind, generous donation. Blue skies everyone! XxX Jase

Thank you for writing it! I, like you, am a relatively inexperienced wingsuit pilot, in similar circumstances (although slightly more current - above the "minimum"). Do you believe if you had identified the flat-spin earlier, that it would have been controllable? Is there any way to simulate a flat spin in controlled conditions?

Thanks again Jarno, extremely useful, as always Ok, its a bit of a long story. I'm going to be purchasing some equipment for my University's club. Being a University Club, we obviously have a tight budget. 95% of the time, my Vector will be online, useable, packed etc. and I will use it. If at all possible, I would like to purchase equipment that I will be able to use on the off chance that my Vector isn't packed, or the reserve is out etc. etc. so I can make back-to-backs. Stuff like that. Its basically a way of me squeezing every penny I can out of this equipment, rather than have it lying around if none of the other Uni students are jumping. I'm really just trying to get a feel for its limitations etc. I hope that explains it better? Don't worry, I know there are issues with size (both with our students, and with the fact that if I do this, I will be upsizing rapidly, then downsizing again). But I'll do more research into that once I'm convinced the equipment is suitable for the vast majority of our University Students. I am after all, the exception, rather than the rule

Thanks guys! That's really useful stuff! Deployment is BOC, but I'll have to check the pilot-chute. I've only ever seen one of those bungee-ones (it scared me), cheers for the heads up :) Its throw-out, but the handle is a plastic cylinder type - like most student gear. I think this type would be resistant to that "knotted pilot chute" malfunction (the plastic is light), but I could be wrong? Further information would be greatly appreciated. I can always get it replaced for a freefly pud, I can't imagine that costing too much (~$40 for the pud + a little bit of rigger's time). As I say, I have no intention of backflying in this rig. I currently own a Vector 3 with all the mod-cons, so if I was going to back/freefly, I would definitely use that ;) I wouldn't buy a rig that I wasn't happy with moving around the plane in, although I appreciate the input, as I do regularly fall under the "special needs" category Ref. the unstable exits, if I were to get into a flat-spin at near-terminal, does anyone have any information on how airflow is affected around the body? Can't imagine a much worse time for a premature I would imagine that this would be the most dangerous time for a rig that isn't freefly friendly? Just finally, I'd like to say thanks for the constructive comments, its really helping me make an informed decision :D I will of course also chat to my rigger, but unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to do this yet

Hey all! So I've just bought (well, sort of between submitting the order form, and paying the money) my f*rst wingsuit (beer!). I obviously cannot wait to jump my suit. My question is about my Rig (or a Rig I'm thinking about buying). While I would say this rig is not "Freefly Friendly", are there currently any guidelines about "Wingsuit Friendly" rigs? Just to clarify: I don't back-fly, and would not back-fly in this rig. Obviously I never want a premature deployment, and would rather be safe than sorry, but anyone who has any input at all, I would be greatly appreciative of! Please also consider that I am a lowly, poor University student, and I realize the safest option would be to spend money (after all, safety has no price), but constructive comments would be appreciated, as always :D

Pull letters from a hat http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk/cms/forums/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=11656

Surely this is the root problem here? Whether or not your b/f is a skydiver is history. For whatever reason, he doesn't want to come. I think you should respect that opinion, for whatever reason, and make peace in your head as to why that is (if that's because you think he's lied, maybe you should be questioning the values of your relationship). Never be afraid to ask questions of anyone at the DZ. They won't take it the wrong way, and if they do, they're probably not someone you will be friends with in the long-run anyway. The coolest skydivers I know have absolutely zero ego, and a load of experience (i.e. World Champions, WR Holders to name a small selection of these). They will answer any question, no matter how superfluous, or ridiculous. Why? Because they have nothing to prove. They're always happy to help, and will understand that you're new, and will want you to have the best information available.

Well, I suppose "Technically" my first "Jump" of the year was from a Super Twin Otter. The plan was to do my first "Jump" of the year from a balloon, on New Year's morning at 0730hrs, but it was cancelled due to high winds That said, I was on the DC-3 just before midnight on New Year's Eve, so my first "deployment" of the New Year was from a DC-3

Cheers Scott! Had such an awesome time doing the FFC! :D Was such an awesome boogie all round, so many F*rsts (much beer was bought) and a wicked atmosphere to boot! I definitely hope to see everyone at Eloy next year! Thanks again !!! Jase

Because I wanted to, It looks better

Thanks for the replies guys! I was expecting this thread to be ignored Unfortunately, being students, we have an extremely limited budget *sigh* these Uni-types, eh? I'm going to have a chat to the guys involved with the campaign today, and see what money we can get. Given as the point of the campaign is that we have no money (the strapline is "Breaking the bank"), I very much doubt we'll be able to get together more than £60, which is about $100. Even that isn't a promise, they could come back to me and say "we'll give you £10 (~$15)". If it is possible (which it sounds like it is, but its too expensive at the minute) then the quality simply has to be having a shot of the guy falling, holding the poor little bank for a couple of seconds, then breaking the bank/emptying it, and whatever we get from that I think would meet their needs. I don't think the point is having super-high resolution pennies etc. but rather the image, and the metaphor. This footage will be collated with footage from a load of other sports (kayaking, sub-aqua, rugby, soccer etc.) so even if the quality wasn't perfect, it wouldn't be a massive issue. The movie would not be used commercially, although it would be shown on 36" displays as a way to raise awareness of the campaign. It might also be sent to a few University Directors, as part of the collated movie. Ultimately, this concept is in the "feasibility" stage, to see if it could be done on a budget. If it can't, c'est la vie, and we'll come up with another idea (maybe fake some footage of someone landing on one and breaking it). How much would 6 hours compositing and assembly time cost, so I can give that to the guys running this as a way to get a little more money for the project? I look forward to your replies! Many thanks! XxX Jase

The way I think about it, is that mass is added in three-dimensions, surface area (proportional to drag) is added in two-dimensions. Think of a cube, of mass 1 unit. Each of the sides is length 1 unit. If you double the length of each (every) side, you have four times the surface area in any orientation prevalent to the oncoming airflow, but you have 8 times the mass (think of one corner of a rubix cube, and add the surrounding 7 squares). Thus, in a perfect world where people are shaped like cubes, mass increases a power of two greater than surface area. People are not shaped like cubes, nor is mass added evenly as they gain weight, but the same principle applies.

Hey all! I'm going to get straight to the point. In my country, releasing things in freefall is a massive "no-no" I've been asked by someone at my University if its possible to provide a video of someone with a Piggy Bank in freefall, then EITHER: releasing the pennies and allowing the money to fall, while throwing the bank away to land of its own accord (all clearly visible on camera (not the landing obviously, but the gist)), OR: breaking the bank in freefall, then tracking away (all clearly visible on camera) and allowing the pennies to fall. Is this something that is possible for someone to do, and then send us the footage to use? Or would it simply be a case of "No"? I'm pretty sure we could muster some money together for a couple of jump tickets, but you would have to provide the piggybank/pennies The quality of video needs to be quite good (not necessarily HD), but we have to get from exit to deployment in shot, with as little blurring as possible. Time is also of the essence. If its possible, we need this done within a few weeks. Would anyone be up for that?! Many thanks! Jase

Ram-Air Progression System

If it were up to me, it would be I sincerely hope you were joking though

Dude... I think you're arguing with yourself...

People clearly haven't read the question. The question is: "Is waterboarding torture?" The question isn't, "Is torture right?", "Is torture better than killing people?", "How can abortion be acceptable when torture isn't?", to name but a few of the questions people have asked in this thread. My dictionary at home defines torture as: torture VERB [tr] 1. To cause extreme physical pain to, esp in order to extract information, break resistance, etc.: to torture prisoners. 2. to give mental anguish to. 3. to twist into a grotesque form. NOUN 4. physical or mental anguish 5. the practice of torturing a person 6. a cause of mental agony or worry. HISTORY C16: from Late Latin tortura a twisting, from torquere to twist If you take "1." to be the most valid definition of torture for this question, then there is no valid counter-argument. Waterboarding is torture. I'm not going to discuss the morality behind that, because that isn't the question that was asked.

Wikipedia says so, so it must be true! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding On a serious note though, I cannot believe people even consider this a debate. If you are going to argue it isn't, can I respectfully suggest you have a friend do it to you, then come back and say it isn't torture?