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Friday: one windy jump then weather hold?


Two-way from 9000 feet this morning. Dived at Mark, slightly late, then practised fore and aft movement. Very windy landing – 20 knots? – with no progress upwind on full drive. Landed gently enough though. Hoping for a cheeky one before catching the flight to Utah, but probably forlornly. What a great week 😀

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Skyvan: at last a rear ramp :-D


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It’s a peculiar little box, but it has large capacity and a ramp (image from Wikipedia): First up was a 2-way back-flip exit: you just jump out feet first facing aft and the air flips you over. Then a three-way with a fine gentleman who turned out to be an airline, F16 and Hercules pilot among other things. Great stuff, especially for a day of dodgy weather.

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Four way with champions


An early hop and pop turned into a 10500 ft fun jump when the clouds parted: dived out, rolled over and watched the plane rise away before spinning round to look at the view and the other skydivers. Next a four-way with Mark, Pete Allum and Steve Hamilton: Steve and Pete were champion formation skydivers for years. Mark left late but joined within a few seconds. Took a few points and learned not to reach for grips, but to relax, […]

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Sub-optimal weather today


One proper skydive – worked on leg turns – and two “hop and pops” under the cloud. One from 5000 feet with a 15 sec freefall and the other from 3500 feet, with a 5 second freefall. Which was exciting 😀 I have a vivid picture in my mind of hanging under an opening canopy, watching other jumpers accelerate out of the plane, pulling at various heights. Truly awesome.

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Understanding the Ford Mustang


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It’s clearly a mistake to judge the Ford Mustang by British standards. Much better to consider it in the context of The Dukes of Hazzard or even The Dukes of Hazzard: Suddenly it makes sense that the V6 is cheap, powerful, equipped with high-sidewall mud and snow tyres and plenty of ground clearance. Unfortunately, Ford forgot to supply ours with Jessica Simpson.

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The greatest hangover cure


Jump from an aeroplane at an unexpectedly-low altitude. We intended to go to 12500 feet, but cloud brought us down to 5000 feet, the lowest I have jumped since RAPS. It turns out I can get stable instantly and enjoy about 12 seconds of freefall, still pulling at 3500. The team who went first took a few points before pulling…

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Tuesday: plummeting hilarity


Two coached jumps, the second being an exercise in crossing above the coach from side-body to side-body. Crossing the burble is hilarious: the “lift” disappears and you collapse onto the coach or fire yourself out about 20 feet by driving aggressively off the legs. I laughed out loud 😀 Mark and I had two attempts at two-way. Great fun trying, but we need to fix the difference in our fall rates with ballast on Mark. Had a big night out, […]

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Achieved 50 skydives and over 40 minutes of freefall


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Six jumps today: 3 coached, one fun and two two-ways with Mark. Some snaps here. To take the edge off the endless glamour and unceasing “cool”, we drank tea between jumps. Hot tea. With milk.

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DeLand joy!


Four great skydives today, once the weather cleared around 11:00. One stable for familiarisation: dive exit, three practice touches, then turns and side slides to pull at 3500′. The new canopy is beautiful and flies wonderfully. I’m delighted to have a 210 sq ft canopy not a 190. The loading is one-to-one at my generous body mass and it’s pretty sporty. DeLand arranges to collect you by pick up from the main landing area, which is nice. Jump two was […]

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DeLand frustration, accommodation, the Mustang and the rig


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Well, I have faith the weather will improve this morning and for the rest of the week. Yesterday was a washout and it’s overcast now; apparently we are expecting a front to shift… The accommodation is great fun. Bags of American character with old-fashioned furniture and slat windows for my room under the veranda that let the breeze in 🙂 Great breakfast and a friendly atmosphere. More here. The Mustang is highly amusing. We have a V6, which actually accelerates […]

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