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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Tag Archives: Florida
Skyvan: at last a rear ramp :-D
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.
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, […]
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.
Understanding the Ford Mustang
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.
Tags: Driving, Florida, Ford, Mustang
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…
Tags: Florida, Skydiving, Top Tips
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, […]
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 […]
DeLand frustration, accommodation, the Mustang and the rig
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 […]
Tags: Driving, Florida, Skydiving
