Another Blue Peter Gem.....! ! !

[Techy111]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/aerialjour ... =2&id=5340

Tony

[TSR2]

ah... Jannet Ellis....

[DaveB]

Been there.. done that.. with the Falcons too!

Seeing that other vid with John Noakes reminded me of my last jump. Out I tumbled and immediately realised something was amiss. Looking up confirmed a BP (blown periphery.. eg, the chute looked like a big bra with bits of the outer edge going up and over the top). While hurtling toward the deck.. the odd thing that came into my head was John Noakes famously saying 'And I can see for miles' from one of his many adventures so I shouted this out much to the amusement of the troops below (not the instructors I might add).

Well.. the story ended well cause I'm here to tell the tale. I opened the reserve chute and came down on that. Got a rollocking for throwing the release handle away but what the heck! They wouldn't let me jump again :-( It was our last day and they didn't want a casualty

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[forthbridge]

While hurtling toward the deck.. the odd thing that came into my head .......:

It had to be Noakesy! I was expecting something totally different!!! :o

[Techy111]

It would have been his feet if the reserve hadn't opened....

Dave the daredevil....ohhh the youth...the horror.....

Tony

[DaveB]

Well Jim.. when you start at 2500ft, the ground still looks a long way off. I tried to clear the BP but it was firmly stuck!! Panic would have set in at 1000ft had the reserve chute not opened then I'd have probably shouted something like 'Oh Sh1t' It's only when the ground is say 20ft away that it becomes incredibly close, incredibly quick.. almost like it's been shot up toward you. As it happened, at about that point and while I was wondering how the f*** I was going to land on my back (the attitude coming down on reserve puts you as it's strapped around your belly).. my main chute cleared and I landed on my feet. The training you get insists that you roll so I rolled as an afterthought. Quite comical really

We should have been jumping from much higher but high crosswinds during the first week precluded launching from an aircraft which in turn, put our schedule back. I got 6 in which was cool and much better than a mate off the same ship who was on a similar course elsewhere. He was caught in the girlies quarters early on and as a punishment, never got a single jump in Dirty Boy!

If any of you get a chance to do a parachute jump or better still, go on a course.. take it. There's nothing quite like it ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Techy111]

I'd rather be in the girlies quarters....you nutter...... :roll:

Tony

[DaveB]

You didn't see the girlies that were jumping with us at Weston-on-the-Green/Brize did you. No need for barbed wire around their quarters matey.. only to protect us! I think they both managed a max of 2 jumps each over the last week.. perhaps less. The one I remember distinctly as she kept landing on her @rse (not surprising really given the size of it) and after the second jump she got stretchered away. The other hurt her ankle and that was that

There was a flash git from the 'Green Jackets' who landed smack in the middle of the DZ on his first jump. His second landing was somewhere in Oxfordshire but not at Weston if you get my drift AND he landed on a fence.. rough justice we thought Moreso, the instructors were asked if a land rover should be sent to pick him up towit the answer was no.. let him walk back. He'll do it right next time

My 3rd jump was great. I was no.2 out (we jumped from a Cessna with all the seats removed bar the pilots!) and the routine was/is that you do a full 360 as soon as your chute is open to check the sky is clear directly above or below you. I looked around and saw the first bloke to jump below me and off to the right then I found the bloke who jumped after me ALSO below me :o I'd managed to stumble into a thermal and was going up.. a very odd experience!. I watched the Cessna land then takeoff again and became a little concerned that I might end up like our Green Jacket in another county We were told NOT to try and turn out of a thermal as this effectively takes you UP like a glider but given no other option, I DID turn and was happy to see that I was now lower than the Cessna I'd seen take off. Landed on the airfield too so got my monies worth out of that one When you're that age (18).. tweaking the nose of terror and laughing in the face of adversity comes natural. Not sure I'd be so calm and collected now mind you

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Techy111]

Hmmmm......lets weigh this up...... :think:

Ugly woman...or near death experience hanging under bed linen... :think:

Nope...its the ugly woman every time i am afraid Dave.....Matelots......all mad.....

Tony

[forthbridge]

You didn't see the girlies that were jumping with us at Weston-on-the-Green/Brize did you. No need for barbed wire around their quarters matey.. only to protect us! :

:o Where they that bad you jumped out of A/C to avoid them? ;-)

I'd managed to stumble into a thermal and was going up.. a very odd experience!. :

No Wonder you thought about Noaksey before - you can fly!!

Wonder what then DaveB.cfg will need for realism? Must be able to glide EGQL-EGPH? ;-)