SkymonkeyONE

So there I was, no shit, at a Shriners hall attending the first anniversary party of a fireman/emt motorcycle club in town. Live entertainment was the band "Rule Of Nine." Lead singer? Rocky Covington. Yes, Bucky's brother. They were great and, more to the point, Rocky was a fantastic lead singer. He's a better singer than his brother in my opinion. Likewise, he, and the rest of their band, were very nice guys. Katie and I shared many adult beverages with them. Turns out he had strep throat during AI tryouts and just didn't sing well. He is, however, trying out for the next "Rock Star" series. Apparently the band they are going to fill this year is either Stone Temple Pilots or one other band I can't recall right now. Anyway, Rocky was a nice guy and a great singer. Chuck

He flew it primarily on his back with the vents facing the ground. The suit was "belly to ground". The suit was laced to his rig backwards and he got in it that way. His zipper was from his ass to the back of his neck.

Time has told what? I don't get it. Also, Nobody ever added the Fort Bragg tunnel to that poll.

I like you Dan, but man, you are a really easy target!

I don't know of anyone keeping a "most hours" tally. It would for sure have to be one of the rats at SV or a HALO instructor from Yuma though. Back to the point though, I doubt it would be possible for any one person to claim any "record" with a clear conscious.

Chris, just so you know, this new date is the weekend of our wingsuit big-way boogie at Z-hills: Flock and Dock 2.0.

I just got a call from Sebastian, FL where our very own Medusa just landed from an odd stunt. Apparently, he rigged his suit backwards so that he could see how it flew fully inflated on his back. It worked and he lived. Sounds pretty silly, but I still want to see the pics. Post 'em up, Sucker! Chuck

RB names added

I don't think "one" boogie will ever replace WFFC. What I DO think is that people will split their boogie time between several other larger boogies, like Dublin, Couch Freaks, SkyFest, etc. I know very few vendors who will be making the trip to Rantoul this year. It's simply too expensive these days for us. It's still a fine deal for jumpers in my opinion though. I can, and do, always get my jumper registration money's worth in beer. Chuck chuck@bird-man.com

Nice. The front end looks "Buellish" to me. Very much like an older tube-framer.

I like Justin; he cut the graphics for my Ouragan suit.

That would be perfect for when you chow! "Weeeellll, since I'm in here I might as well have a coctail!"

I don't think it's posible that anyone I will be hanging out with will be "sober" on Saturday night, but thanks for the offer, Scott.

She's the best.

I don't care if it does ever make it "mainstream", bro. If it hasn't in the 25 years I have been actively skydiving and instructing, or the nearly 50 years that my father has been doing the same, then it's not going to. That, though, doesn't bother me a bit. Skydivers will never be paid like celebrities in this country. There are simply too few of us doing it and only a miniscule amount of us that even bother to compete or put on demonstrations. I have been paid to to skydive in front of people plenty of times......on demos. Lots of jumps into filled-to-capacity bowl stadiums with three different demo teams over the years. That's different though. Those people showed up to see a game and the sponsor graciously provided some "warm up" entertainment. Charging a price for admittance into a skydiving-only competition (any discipline) is pretty ludicrous to me. How do you propose to stop all the other non-paying whuffos and skydivers from observing an event? I would laugh if I ever saw someone trying to charge spectators....seriously Chuck

Thomaston is reasonably close if you must jump a turbine (Trey has a nice King Air), but if a Cessna is fine, then you can roll over to Tuskeege via hwy 80 (about 35 miles from Benning) to www.skydiveopelika.net. They fly two cessnas there. Chuck

That would be great, but the cops are on it, bro. You couldn't get away with any coolers in 2004. You damn sure couldn't get away with cans or bottles under the boardwalk near the pond. There are two under-boardwalk vehicle paths right there and they are frequently patrolled. We DID get away with filling big moose cups up from our cars and walking over though. Chuck

Yeah, I've got an idea: don't ever deal with e-bay again. There are a LOT of shady motherfuckers on there these days.

I will be there Wednesday night; definitely not later than mid-day Thursday. I am staying at Kramer's house. Chuck

The only thing that sucks about Wildwood is not being able to buy beer and drink on the boardwalk. Who made that rule? Oh well, we found bars one block off the wood. Chuck

It fascinates me from a Military Freefall Jumpmaster point of view that all these bigways go down without the benefit of a Phys-Tech or some other qualified monitor on board each plane. I would venture to guess that the GREAT majority of these participants have had no formal chamber training at all. Unbelievable. I am surprised there aren't more incidents of blackouts and less-severe hypoxia actually. In 25 years of jumping, particularly lately in these days of 14,000'+ jumping, I have seen plenty of people pass out in planes. I have also witnessed more than one person "fall out" of a plane in that state only to come to in freefall. This is dangerous ground. Having a bail-out/walk-around bottle handy at the back of the plane might alleviate some of these mishaps. Sincerely, Chuck Blue D-12501, AFF/SL/TM-I, BMCI-4, PRO, MFFJM Raeford Parachute Center, NC

I would not pay to watch any skydiving event, ever.

Ian hit the nail on the head.....sort of. Just like with NSL four-way (and all the previous RW leagues), the intent was to share the wealth. Bring people to other dropzones and let them meet new people who would, otherwise, not be able to make a single meet. Get guys from those other dropzones to step up to the plate and give it a whirl. Back in the day, every dropzone in a parachute council would shut down in support of regional parachute meets. They would all pack up and go to the meet; competitors and fun jumpers alike. Now the CPC isn't really going to be able to draw such support the way USPA regions operate these days, but if the CPC district directors are smart and align themselves with other meets (like the NSL), then they have a better chance of drawing competitors. I tried it that way last year in the Carolinas and still only got marginal participation. Those of you running districts in "not so busy" areas seem to be consolidating your meets at the "popular" dropzones. If you get the participation you need to make the venture viable, then good for you. If not, and you are running all your meets at one or two dropzones, then you had better ask yourself why. It's my experience that every "other than Deland/Z-hills/Perris" dropzone has one or two "really good" swoopers who are capable and willing to compete. Making those people drive across two states to get to one DZ everytime just doesn't seem right. Spread the wealth. Either way, good luck.

I totally agree about speed, even team speed and face-off. Instant judging is critical since most of the runs "look" identical in "standard" speed.