SkymonkeyONE

I caught you with an EMPTY tequilla bottle on at least two occasions, Vinny. For shame.

Brilliant.... If only this crop of post-whoring newbies knew...

That was actually another good post. Ultimately, if unsafe/wreckless jumpers are left unchecked, the entire dropzone pays. I can't count the number of times I have seen the families of some of these idiots thinking they can get away with suing the dropzone, other jumpers, and even the industry for the stupid mistakes made by their "free-willed" loved one. Seriously. At most reputable dropzones there are real rules in place governing who can jump what and when. There are people charged with maintaining a safe atmosphere; they are called Safety and Training Advisors, Dropzone Operators, and Instructors. Most places I have skydived, and that is a LOT of places in 25 years of jumping, do a pretty good job of it. Is there a lack of responsible leadership at some dropzones? Certainly. I have been to a few of those places. Places that put the "sunset load" up at like 9:30 PM because they still have paying tandems that they "must" get done. Places where guys are smoking payday hooters on the ride to altitude. Places with absolute gutter gear for students. If you are jumping at one of those places and you hate what you see, then LEAVE. There are plenty of other places to skydive. Another option would be to MAN UP and get some ratings and then do what you can to clean the place up. Another option yet would be to get your regional director involved. If you do not use the system that is in place or don't feel like doing something on your own, then why complain at all? Believe me, there are more "responsible" dropzones than not. There are also many more responsible, senior skydivers/instructors/staff than not. The small pockets of "bad" out there are generally permitted to propogate only when the jumpers at those dropzones stay there and don't ever travel to boogies, competitions, or get away to other places to see how they run. Chuck Blue D-12501 AFF/SL/TM-I, BMCI, PRO Raeford Parachute Center- "a very safe dropzone with responsible leaders"

Eric, that was some funny shit!

Didn't you just say you went up to 24's? The reason your canopy is staying in a dive longer is because of those longer risers. I am going to go ahead and state that I don't think any riser mod that changes the trim of them is a smart idea. Yes, you could then do the old-school fix by putting slinks on one end and longer rapides on the other (like was done in Daytona and Venezuela by at least two people I know), but more to the point: I would like to know the effect that this stitching has on riser integrity. Every manufacturer has pull-testing equipment these days, so I wonder if any have done such testing? If I were wearing a bunch of lead (I don't, ever), then I would be very hesitant to take risers modded like this to terminal (or near terminal) without first knowing if their integrity was compromised in any way. If you don't think you will ever reach terminal velocity in competition you are sadly, sadly mistaken. First out on a pass of four (especially after the first pass out of an Otter) will generally always have to take at least a ten second delay. Just stuff to think about, guys. Are you jumping those risers on every jump, or just hop and pop swoops with all your comp RDS stuff hooked up? If it's more of a pain in the ass to get a good grip on your rears, then I think it's probably counterproductive at best, but you young guys feel free to work that out. Me? the only time my full RDS is on is for distance and speed rounds in "classic" competition. It's not on for Accuracy and it is certainly not on for short ponds. I pull my slider off everytime, but keep my RDS lines rolled up in my mudflap most of the time. Chuck

Thread drift, but here goes anyway. I would never, ever toggle whip a tandem, but I know people who do/did. As to front risers, I can pull mine down on my Firebolt 350, but can't say I have ever tried on a Sigma (though most of my tandems are under Sigma 370's). I haven't ever tried an "actual" rear riser landing on my tandem, but have done some "emergency" practices at altitude and didn't find it particularly tough. YMMV. Chuck

Arthur, you are on the right track with your thinking, but working out those altitudes with a Neptune will give you more precise numbers. I don't know how many times I have posted this, but it's a lot. Search this forum for "four second rule" and see if you can find it. Ultimately, what that talks about is how to practice whatever degree of turn you wish to employ the same way, every single time, and what altitude you can expect to lose. Averaging that out on on a hop and pop (or several) will give you a safe inititation altitude (plus a small buffer) for throwing turns for landing. PM me if you cannot find the post. Chuck

You KNOW Lee was in my camper, as were YOU. Thankfully, neither of you tried to launch Seal Team Six in my toilet! Hooty HOO!

I remember a pic of Rob Harris and one other person flying in a tunnel on their boards some time ago, but don't remember where I saw it. Chuck

I too was a bit fascinated by the "too big" comment and can only say that I find it a bit ridiculous. A team that gets used to "jammed-up" proximity in the tunnel and relies on that condition to keep their reference is not, in my opinion, training wisest. The more room the better, so long as it's clean air. Staying centered in the cone is all a matter of reference. Every tunnel has a reference, you just have to adjust to the sight picture. Chuck

absolutely. It's like beef jerkey from heaven. Who thinks I am joking?

Yep, but don't any of you peasants think I am going to let you fill up my toilet with your butt loafs. If you need to piss, go piss on a fence! The nerve of some people.

That shirt is funny to me (and most everyone else from the state of Alabama) because we would never, EVER root for our in-state rival no matter what the circumstances. An Auburn truth: "my favorite teams are AUBURN and ANYONE playing Bama". Chuck

I partied with a bunch of folks at Z-hills this year (an understatement), but really had some good laughs with Bill (Happythoughts).

Wooohoooo! Fécilitation! Me: 9 days, 45ish jumps. Hey, fool, I think you meant to say "Felicitation" Chuck

Oh yeah: PhychoBob, I have your coolers and will gladly return them in Dublin so long as you pony up a case of Michelob Light. PS: Lisa Marie, don't fuck with the moderators.

Remember: lock the front door and only use the back. It will keep the riff-raff out!!

I am glad that Rob-o, Arlo, and Ratboy were able to take the reigns and keep the dropzone open. I really, really like all those guys and I am sure they are doing a great job. You will absolutely be seeing me out there some this year before I leave in July for Florida. Chuck

That totally depends on what tandem main you are jumping and how in shape you are.

Back in the day (I attended in 1982), there were two very-different groups of people who were charged with your care at Airborne school: the Black Hat instructors who worked at the three branches (ground, tower, jump) and the TACs who handled all the admin stuff at the company like formations, details, getting you to chow, issuing your equipment, etc. Back then, the cadre all had specific jobs and you only saw the next group of Black Hats when you advanced to their "week." Later, sometime in the early 1990's, it was decided that it was "better" if one group of instructors took a class all the way from start to finish, so they split the branch Black Hats up, assigned them to specific companies and had to certify every instructor on every aparatus. They also changed the company designations from numbers in the 40's (I was in 42nd Company) to actual regimental companies at that time. That still left a few non-instructing-billet slots at the company and Bn to handle admin and logistics. I think those people are who Matt is referring to as "Regimental guys."

That's awesome, Loic. On another note: it was great flying with you and Kathy on the bigways in Deland. Chuck

I have one of those on my swoop/aff/RW rig and like it, but would not consider it a good idea on a wingsuit rig, so I opted for the oblong, but still short one on my other, identical rig.

I can't say that I have ever encountered that problem on a tandem. Like most everyone else has stated, I just stick it down the back of the harness or invert it and stick it back down their back. Chuci

It is positively destroyed. Arm wings shredded, leg wing shredded, torso shredded. Thankfully, Macca has that sporting good insurance that they offer in the UK, so his loss is totally covered. Chuck

ACTUALLY, the pre-registration list was started at Z-hills and my and Katie's names were NUMBER ONE on that list, so here is a revised version: SkymonkeyONE and Katiebear21 (wingsuit organizing, tandems, fucking off) bdbrown ccowden Chaoskitty CSpenceFly and Mrs. RoamingDZ (aka, Julie) Darkwing freefalle Gia jelloJ Jessie07 Jumpchikk Keith Kramer Lauraliscious Lisamarie mcneill79 Micduran Missg8tordivr MOUTH Namgrunt Nanner selbbub78 The_Don & jeannier Wingnut XenaSwampJumper Yardhippie & Hottieliscious vdschoor