SkymonkeyONE

Somebody give us an update on the competition! It's GOT to me ON out there!

Nice one, Karl! Ian just landed from his first fucking 8-way flock. He was in frame in at least three video angles the whole time. It was Jeff Nebelkof (SP)'s 1000th jump! It was fantastic. There were loads at full altitude, even though it looked like the ceiling was at like three grand, and we sailed a very, very nice flock. Oh, Jeff and Lea Turano were both in single-skin suits. I was pretty fascinated that both of them were cruising along at a 76mph average with Jeff backflying the entire skydive. It was beautiful. Anyway we "toasted" Jeff with a half a case of warm Miller Lite and he got pied with no less than seven cream pies. Nice. Cheers to Jeff! It was a great way to end the day. Chuck

Here is proof that we are NOT sucking in Z-hills! Karl is totally sober in this photo, as are the rest of us, especially Johnny Gates! Hooty HOOOOO!

Ryan flys an S3 now and kills it. Ian was flying the suit that you sold to Ryan, who also killed it! Nice one, Phree. Chuck

I am definitely going to stick your head in a toilet next time I see you, Zach!

Zach, you are a LONG way from Voodew style, boy! Hooty HOOOOOO! Chuckie

Make that THREE flights today. We are not sucking here at Z-hills on a balmy Friday afternoon. Ian is docking and doing barrel rolls aready. Yes, it's a fuzzy picture, but I didn't figure that out till I got back to the camper.

We just landed from our second birdie of the day. The clouds are very, very tall. We got out straight over the top of one and carved around it. It was fantastic!

Nice. There are tons of tall ones here at Z-hills today as well. I just landed from my second birdie of the day. Chuck

Nope, but we have thought about it. We have also thought about doing the same thing with wingsuits. Chuck

I just got down from a fantastic first flight with Ian, who packs here at the DZ. Myself and Ryan Dellibac accompanied him on the flight and he did an outstanding job in Ryan's old Classic II. A tall and lanky guy, Ian really kicked it out and went just over 2 minutes at a 58mph average on his first flight. Not too bad, eh?! Great job, bro! Chuck

Karl is here in Z-hills, not up in North Carolina with Scott. Karl lives about 100 yards from me. We are not sucking in Z-hills.

The tunnel time you get before you start AFF will positively help, so long as you spend your time in there practicing the skills you will need during AFF. Heading mainenance, right and left turns, forward (and backward) movement. Practice touches, practice circles of awareness, etc. I don't think there is a single tunnel where you can't schedule time to work on those specific tasks with a qualified tunnel rat/AFF instructor. Chuck PS: I am an AFF instructor with more than 200 hours of tunnel time.

You can get the Stryker C right now RTF, but not plug and play. I am going to use my Hitek radio gear with a C plug and play that I have pre-ordered. Yes, I could just as easilly put my own brushless rig together, but as I have just destroyed two airframes, I might as well just order this already-brushless option for $150. Also, the reason that I trashed both of my planes yesterday was a combination of weak battery (NiMh, my LiPos are dead), sunset, and alcohol. I am positively capable of handling the brushless plane. Also, I still have all the guts and radio out of my P-51 (Parkzone) that I am going to put in a new Focke Wolfe (also Parkzone). The FW is a much, much more durable airplane. I am just waiting for Hobbyzone to release it plug and play. Chuck

"Hey Nigel, can you drive me back to my camper to pick something up?" "Sure, Chuck!" "Let's take the dually" "Uh, OK!" "Go FASTER, Nigel!" (Nigel reaches 100mph in very short order in the turnpike) "Man, this huge truck sure is fast!" "Good man, Nigel!"

There are a lot of those suits here at Z-hills. Some people swear by the gloved hands, others don't like them. I don't like them, but Scotty Burns really does. I am sure Cancer Chris would like them too, since he jumps them with all of his other suits anyways. I have jumped with guys in the smaller suits that fall out of the sky and others, like Jeff, who can fly the exact same design with absolute authority, on his belly or his back. I am not very keen on the smaller-wing Z-wing suits with the hand gloves, but I do like the big black suit that Jeff normally jumps (no gloves). He has positively no problem staying with anyone on this dropzone, in ANY suit, when he is flying that thing. I believe the arm-wing length is a bit overkill on that suit, but for such a massive suit, it exhibits none of the "pure float/lack of forward speed" characteristics of say a GS-1. In my opinion, Tony is going to make money with two kinds of suits: -The very-large thing that Jeff jumps, once they finalize the design -the smaller-wing design (but without gloves) which permits a person to reach all the way up to their toggles if need be. Basically, the suit that has been reviewed here, minus the gloves. Who knows if Tony and Jeff will listen, but that's what I would be pushing. Perhaps I should drive my golfcart one block up the road to Tony's shop and discuss it with him. Chuck

The Firebird R has mylar in both the tail and armwings, bro.

My Blade CP is sitting, broken-framed, in a box about five feet from me. I have at least two each of every replacement part I need to fix it, but have been lazy......At least up till now. I smashed both of my Strykers last night repeatedly until neither one of them would fly anymore, no matter how much tape I applied. I guess I better order some parts today! Chuck

I've tried watching it a few times, but never really got into it. The main character is a bit too "over the top" for me.

It's already been stated, but the Cherokee and Cherokee six are both legal to jump with the rear door removed. We didn't do it routinely (we had two C-182's for "regular" jumping), but we used to use my dad's Cherokee six for demos on more than a few occasions. Chuck

Minus the empty pond, I am really digging it.

I know for a fact that Tom Dellibac, Jr is there practicing. I believe John Zuliani flew out with him on Tuesday morning. They were both very clean in practice here at the Hills.

Positively NONE OF THE ABOVE

I have jumped in clean air as high as 23mph (not Knots), but only with heavy passengers. I generally sit down at around 20mph max.

There have been at least two or three wingsuit tandem jumps done (both people in wingsuits). The first I ever heard of was at Deland with Vladi Pesa and someone, maybe Kim Griffin. Chris Martin and Egon did one as well. It was Egon's first wingsuit flight! Rest in peace, my brothers!!! Chuck