Been a no-show ? Qantas & Virgin probably owe you money !!!

[trooper]

Gawd... reading last nights post on a clear-headed morning....

In this case......In vino veritas..... NOT!

My sport? (Bullfighting!!!! Good one!!!) It's no biggie really, just that some folks don't like that it even exists...... I have been competing in pistol shooting for many years... at quite a high level the last 5-8. Lately I have been attending several competitions each year in NZ and the USA - thus the accumulation of "FF miles" and the interest in AFF and FT - and hope to get to the European champs the next time the Czech republic hosts!! To me it's just a great (challenging, frustrating, fun, legitimate!) sport... to others it is scary and unfamiliar! (The latter causes the former if you ask me...)

Off to a training session this morning as a matter of fact....

And if anyone at all is curious....travelling with firearms? NOT a problem.. IF you do your homework! (what else is new?) There IS paperwork (Customs/Police/import/export) to do before departure of course, but it is quite straightforward... Virtually all airlines have the same rules about how THEY want things packed etc... and their rules are sensible and logical.... as unusual as THAT may seem!!!:mrgreen:

Sorry to have dragged this so far OT.....:shock: It just happened, honestly!

 

[wallacej]

Ahhh.. pistol shooting... that was my next guess....

BTW - Good luck with it...

 

[Dave Noble]

It's no biggie really, just that some folks don't like that it even exists...... I have been competing in pistol shooting for many years... at quite a high level the last 5-8.

I didn't realise that there were people who didn't like pistol shooting as a "sport" or game?

Dave

 

[Evan]

People are entitled to there opinions.
I guess some people just see the work 'gun' and think about the shootings that happen from time to time. Like being scared of flying and not scared to cross a road, the perception is not always based on facts or reality.

I grew up in the country and i wish it was still practical for me to enjoy such sports but not any more with my city life and travel.

Anyway Trooper, best of luck and i hope you do well !

You mention guns, but parachutes are another thing you need to have the right CASA approval cards for ... the explosive device used to deply the emergency chute always causes some concern for screeners

E

 

[trooper]

It is certainly refreshing to see such rational responses.... I know guns make some folks uncomfortable... and I feel for them.. but as with many things a little knowledge or familiarity would make a big difference....

As the motto of PTS (the Army Parachute Training School) says "Knowledge dispels Fear".... which leads nicely to....

Parachutes!

No doubt about restrictions ... if that type of explosively operated rig...(Mainly used IME as "recovery parachutes" on Ultralights/Microlights - but actually available for small single engine GA a/c as well!!!! :shock: )... I'd be worried about transporting one of those!!!


Having spent 10 years (83-93) throwing myself out of planes every weekend I WOULD have assured the authorities that "manpack" sport parachutes simply have spring loaded reserve pilot chutes....but sitting here thinking - maybe the "new" European designed CYPRES (sp?) system (after my time really) may be what Evan meant.. I have no experience with such new innovations!!! That WOULD be a complication!!!

Funny (mean) story....

30 of us Aussies went to a "Boogie" (Skydiving meet) in Bali back in 1989 (we were jumping from CASA's, Transalls and the IAF's brand new STRETCHED Hercs right OVER THE TOP of DPS!!! The Hercs took 120 of us to 17000 in about 10 minutes!!! 75 seconds of freefall per jump!!!! Interesting watching a 747 take off under you when under canopy at 1800 AGL!) )... at SYD the airline told us we could take our rigs on as hand luggage (after they were told just how much the gear was worth!).. We were lined up waiting to board and a "wuffo" also on the flight asked one of the jumpers what "that strange backpack was"... He looked the guy in the eye and said "It's a parachute... you DO know this is a Garuda flight, don't you?"

(B*stard!!!! )

I know, I know.. Garuda! It was a package deal... Return air, 15 nights hotel, 2 meals a day, plus all the skydiving.. for about AUD$1500.. The a/c over and back was US registered with a US crew (flight and cabin).. This was during the Haji... and all REAL Garuda a/c were apparently shuttling to Mecca..(??) What we were told anyway....

It was a DC-10.....:shock: we were delayed leaving SYD cos they had trouble closing the "aft cargo door" :shock:

Late each afternoon we'd load up the Herc - grouped in order of which hotel along Kuta we were at... and do a sunset jump .. landing on the beach across the road from our respective accomodations.... TOO cool!

"Wuffo"? Non-skydiver. Comes from "Wuffo you jump out of them airyoplanes?"

Thanks for the good wishes for the shooting competitions.... Luck shouldn't come into it of course... but I'll take all I can get!!!! Next International comp is in Cleburne TX in October... Then NZ ... Arizona ..... New Mexico

 

[Evan]

but sitting here thinking - maybe the "new" European designed CYPRES (sp?) system (after my time really) may be what Evan meant.. I have no experience with such new innovations!!! That WOULD be a complication!!!

That was the system i was refering to

My friend went to the same boogie you did, said it was fantastic ! best thing was drop on the beach, walk upto the hotel and bar and have a drink.
Or maybe it was a different one as i thought he said it was in Thailand, but maybe i had had a few too many drinks when he told me

I can imagine as a rec jumper out the back of a C130 would have been a very intersting experience, some fantastic group jumps i would imagine.

Arizona airspeed is it ? where the huge wind tunnel is for practice. Wonder if its available for people scared of hights to try the sensation if freely moving around in the air.

E

 

[trooper]

It WAS great even for me.. and I was Military Basic and freefall qualified - so I'd done quite a few C-130 jumps.... but leaving a Herc at 1000 ft on static line, or 10000 freefall carrying equipment pack AND rifle as well as rig (125lbs all up IIRC) doesn't compare to sports jumping for "fun" obviously...

The first is plain scary (1000 ft is NOT far!!!) .. the second is hard work... bioth are even more "fun"..... at night!!

ANYone pretty much can have a go in those "vertical wind tunnels"... Two problems.. it is very $$$$ and the airflow is actually pretty marginal - sure isn't 120mph.. so you have to wear a BIG flappy jumpsuit.. like Skydivers wore in the 70's.... Like, far out man.:mrgreen:

 

[Reggie]

And if anyone at all is curious....travelling with firearms? NOT a problem.. IF you do your homework! (what else is new?) There IS paperwork (Customs/Police/import/export) to do before departure of course, but it is quite straightforward... Virtually all airlines have the same rules about how THEY want things packed etc... and their rules are sensible and logical.... as unusual as THAT may seem!!!:mrgreen:

Most people would be surprised what can be carried in the cargo area of an aircraft. Pretty much all commercial aircraft can and do carry certain dangerous goods, for example detonators with a 1.4S rating can be airfreighted on commercial passenger flights in Australia, unless the flight originates in NSW, who like to operate under their own rules seperate to the rest of the world.

 

[straitman]

Definately OT now :!:

... but who really cares.

 

[simongr]

Most people would be surprised what can be carried in the cargo area of an aircraft. Pretty much all commercial aircraft can and do carry certain dangerous goods, for example detonators with a 1.4S rating can be airfreighted on commercial passenger flights in Australia, unless the flight originates in NSW, who like to operate under their own rules seperate to the rest of the world.

There is a world outside SYdney?

 

[Reggie]

There is a world outside SYdney?

Just like the question - Is there life in Sydney?

 

[straitman]

Just like the question - Is there life in Sydney?

Good question, and from the lack of responses one would have to surmise that the answer is NO :!: :mrgreen:

 

[Dave Noble]

Good question, and from the lack of responses one would have to surmise that the answer is NO :!: :mrgreen:

No, it means that there is so much life, that sydneyians have little time to reply to such jibes

Dave

 

[straitman]

No, it means that there is so much life, that sydneyians have little time to reply to such jibes

Dave

If that's the case then I take it you're not from Sydney Dave.

 

[NM]

If that's the case then I take it you're not from Sydney Dave.

With his accent?

 

[Optics]

No, it means that there is so much life, that sydneyians have little time to reply to such jibes

Dave

Or more likely, that they spend so much time in traffic jams they have little time for anything else .

 

[Keith009]

If that's the case then I take it you're not from Sydney Dave.

He obviously had enough time to respond.

 

[Dave Noble]

He obviously had enough time to respond.

I had time since I am currently working in the Sleepy Hollow Capital of Australia

Dave