Be 800ft, they hook a flag every 200ft on the cable so the ground observer knows what height you are at if your chute fails. He will shout to open your reserve over a megaphone. If the reserve doesn't open you take them back to stores to be replaced as one first time jumper was told by his PTI. It's very quiet up there in the gondola, just the sound of the wind in the rigging.:)

The Irish army SAS can't afford new chutes they are all WWII second hand ones, are told not to open them until they are ten feet from the ground in case they fail. One lad asked what happened if the chute fails? The reply was, "Jesus Christ man you can jump ten foot can't you". :D:D
 
The Irish army SAS can't afford new chutes they are all WWII second hand ones, are told not to open them until they are ten feet from the ground in case they fail. One lad asked what happened if the chute fails? The reply was, "Jesus Christ man you can jump ten foot can't you". :D:D

We were told that if your chute don't open hold your left hand up in the air. Sprog question Why? trusty jumpmasters reply is that if you smash in your watch might be of use to somebody on the ground.:D:D
 
We were told that if your chute don't open hold your left hand up in the air. Sprog question Why? trusty jumpmasters reply is that if you smash in your watch might be of use to somebody on the ground.:D:D

I was a Loady, AQM in my day. When the trainees came to board, as we took the chute numbers and their names, we checked they had the names on their helmets (not the ones in their pants before wammers says different). They were written on masking tape and when they asked why the names were there we used to tell them if the chute doesn't open, the helmet will be the only bit sticking out of the ground. A tin of vegetable salad in a sick bag was another good one if it was a bit bumpy, pretend to throw up into it then put your hand in and start eating. You can imagine the reaction. Jokes and tricks.:D:D
 
I was a Loady, AQM in my day. When the trainees came to board, as we took the chute numbers and their names, we checked they had the names on their helmets (not the ones in their pants before wammers says different). They were written on masking tape and when they asked why the names were there we used to tell them if the chute doesn't open, the helmet will be the only bit sticking out of the ground. A tin of vegetable salad in a sick bag was another good one if it was a bit bumpy, pretend to throw up into it then put your hand in and start eating. You can imagine the reaction. Jokes and tricks.:D:D

You are a cruel man Alan. :D:D
 
Proof today it was never the cold affecting the trans as today it is -18, started just fine transmission all ok,
New problem was that it overheated so i'm guessing my antifreeze was not up to the job and probably due to me topping up the coolant a few times I have diluted it. So topped up with some fresh. just hope the water pump and thermostat is ok and it has pumped around the system. Its the first time it ever run out of normal operating zone. so guessing up to -10 the antifreeze was ok that extra 8 just pushed it over the top.
 
Proof today it was never the cold affecting the trans as today it is -18, started just fine transmission all ok,
New problem was that it overheated so i'm guessing my antifreeze was not up to the job and probably due to me topping up the coolant a few times I have diluted it. So topped up with some fresh. just hope the water pump and thermostat is ok and it has pumped around the system. Its the first time it ever run out of normal operating zone. so guessing up to -10 the antifreeze was ok that extra 8 just pushed it over the top.

-18 plus the chill factor when you start moving through the ice cold air.

Had a similar experience some years back on the M6 in Cheshire (admittedly not as cold as -18)

I left the in-laws to head home, their house was about 3 minutes away from the M6, a few miles down the M6 the temp gauge was almost touching the red, I pulled into Sandbach services and found the rad was stone cold. After wondering around for about 20 minutes trying to sort out some help (unsuccessfully) I got back in the car, the rad had thawed, I ran it up until I got heat flowing through and drove all the way home with no further problems.

It did have a 30% antifreeze mix at the time, I always run 50% strength now.
 
Just went out again to try a few things but still -13
topped up with some more water and ran around the area and she hit full on red up the stops again. checked the overflow bottle and it is a nice and dark pink colour again so tells me that the pump is working (sigh of relief.) Top hose is hot but the rad is stone cold which here is cold so thought of the thermostat being frozen. But thanks for the thought it could be the rad frozen over I just never suspected that but it makes sense. Also no oil in the water and no water in the oil is a good sign, Its not going to lift above -10 here for a while so it will be a long wait to see if that is indeed the problem.
 

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