Airtec will no longer be accepting Cypres back for service directly from jumpers or even riggers in AUstralia - unless they are an approved dealer or "service person." They aren't doing this to be difficult, on the contrary, to speed things up and save jumpers some cash. Airtec have over 67,000 Cypres units in use now, and receive many hundreds back from Australia each year for servicing. Often they arrive with incorrect paper work and invalid customs declarations, costing money on export and also return to Australia and as some people have found out, can be delayed for weeks of months due to customs.
 
$450 is a set price to include return Fed-Ex delivery (only three days each way) of your Cypres to/from Airtec, full service, new batteries, GST and customs clearance fees. This service is available from Total Control in Western Australia. Insurance is optional and is something like $20 - $25 possibly less. Delivery within Australia if required is additional.
 
There are several people with their Cypres currently in Germany, Airtec will be returning these to Total Control to take care of the customs and import duties on their behalf. They have a list of these people and will be contacting them individually where they can. There may be a reduced rate to take into account anything they has already been paid. Cypres and Cypres batteries are now also available in stock from Total Control.
 
For more information contact Nick Balgowan at nick@totalcontrol.com.au and check out their website at www.totalcontrol.com.au

To many of us, parachutes seem so simple, yet those of us who have studied them in detail, and those of us who have come to depend on them in our work and recreation, know that they can be complex devices as well worthy of as much study as the most complex of aerodynamic devices. Dr. Jean Potvin and Gary Peek from the Parks College Parachute Research Group have tried to do that very thing - to study the parachute as best they can.
 
They hope that you carry the same interest and excitement as they do about one of the world's most interesting mechanical devices - the parachute. Check out their web site http://www.pcprg.com and their latest updates. It describes some of the "Test Drops" they have been doing for the last three years, "Inflation and Glide Studies of Slider-Reefed Cruciform Parachutes", "More Scaling Laws for Ram-Air Parachute Inflation", and much more. If you are a skydiving tech freak then this site is a must!