SkymonkeyONE

Man, I can't wait to get back down there! Katie and I roll into town very-late the night of the 27th or morning of the 28th. Caw! Caw! Chuck

Put aside some of your jump money and do it now instead of later. It'll be the best money you'll spend in skydiving, guaranteed... and what you learn just may save your life someday. Or better yet, just find a fully qualified competitive canopy pilot to help you out for free. Not everyone out there feels gouging students is a way of life. Chuck

What do you mean "non american?" the Buell is positively american. What the title of the thread meant to imply was "american bikes other than typical HD". The Buell is a harley-motored sport bike. Chuck

" I thought he surfed that student really well" "The mollecules were rarified!"

Jason, I know plenty of people that fly wingsuits with chest-mounted altis with no problem whatsoever. This, assuming belly-to-earth flight. I would not trust a chest mount if I were back-flying anywhere near pull altitude. Chuck

Even hypothetically: NO. I have known Arthur since he was a student and I really like him. That said, he is positively NOT current, nor has he been able to retain current status in the four years since he has been jumping. No, I would not take him up on "20 or 30" currency jumps and then train him to fly a wingsuit with less than the requisite amount of skydives. Yes, there are a few people out there who have gotten away with jumping a wingsuit prior to achieving what we instructors would consider to be "minimum" skydiving experience, but that is not prudent. The ONLY modern era (post Deug death) skydiving wingsuit fatality was a kid who not only did not have the requisite number of skydives; he did not receive proper instruction on the use of the suit. There is a reason for that: no reputable instructor is going to be willing to sacrifice the safety of the student for ANY reason. 200 jumps in 18 months is a remarkably small thing to ask these days. Beyond that, I won't hesitate to make a person wait till they have the "minimum" 500 jumps. Jumping a wingsuit is extremely simple when everything goes right. When things go wrong, though, they can get very, very ugly. Even incredily experienced skydivers can have a tough time; just ask Skratch Garrison if you don't believe me. Chuck Blue BMCI-4, AFF/SL/TM-I, PRO

I completely agree, Rob. Those of you pathetic butt-throwers ought to have to endure something as fucked up as military people have to twice a year: post police call. There is simply nothing more disgusting for a non-smoker to have to do than pick up cigarette butts on the side of the road. Seriously. Chuck

My dad will be 70 in this year and he still does the occasional tandem.

My weapon of choice for wingsuiting is my Sabre2 97. It does everything I need it to do and, plus, has a great swoop. If you are looking for a wingsuit-specific, safe, straight opening main but you don't want to spend a lot of money, you might want to just pick up a used original Sabre. Chuck

BWAHAHAHA!! You got THAT right, my brother!!!!! Chuck

I am pretty sure I personally know (actually met) just about every single dropozone.com "regular" that actually gets out and skydives; at least those in the USA. I don't pay much attention to those "regulars" that don't make the effort to make it to boogies. I particularly don't pay much attention to those who post whore, but don't jump. There are people who come across as complete assholes on this site who, in real life, are great to be around. Right Derek? Right Ron? Right Jason? Conversely, there are some people who seem OK on the site who are POSITIVELY CREEPY in real life. I won't mention any names......yet. Chuck

Right. I don't see why anyone would have a problem buying a camera just because the model is "discontinued." It's my opinion that is you bang a camera up, it's gone anyway and will need total replacement. I don't know many people who have sent cameras back to service stations. Also, even if a camera IS discontinued, that's not saying a service center won't be able to work on it. I am perfectly happy with my "discontinued" PC 109. Chuck

An MC3 is just a long-line ParaCommander. Anyone want to buy one in mint condition? Chuck

Money game? Boy, you know you can't cipher!

You beat me to it!

Ever see the "behind closed doors with Joan Lunden" wind tunnel episode? I epitomized the term "hung over" when we did that. Chuck

Three minutes per pound in a deep fryer at 350-400 degrees and you are set.

I don't do anything BUT deep fry turkeys these days. Katie and I drove down here to Conyers, GA (outside ATL) to my mother's house. They had all the stuff to do it, but had never tried. I took command and we had ourselves the best damn 22 pound turkey you could ever wish for. 66 minutes at 375 degrees (350-400 degrees F is ideal) and wa-la! NOTHING locks in the flavor and the juices like deep frying. It amazes me how many morons still burn their houses down doing this, but you read about it every year. Chuck

Actually, Cal's son Shaun is now a member of the USASOC Parachute Team "The Black Daggers" on Fort Bragg. He left the USAPT about a year ago. Chuck

CSM (ret) David L. Clark is still very-much a jumper. Not only does he still sport jump, he is also still on orders to do military freefall jumps, which he does on at least a quarterly basis. He is also still an active member of the Green Beret Parachute Team. He is a GS-13 (I believe) and works as the special advisor to the commander (a two star general) of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School on Fort Bragg. Dave Clark will never retire. When we worked in the same office in 2001, Dave would do PT every single morning. He ruck marched twice a week with COL Edwin "Andy" Anderson and could get down and knock out 100 pushups faster than I could. I would, even with him at his age, hate to ever get into a fist fight with Dave Clark. I am pretty sure he would kick my ass all over a parking lot. Dave's hair is always "perfect." He is very involved with his church. He is still married to his long-time wife. I am pretty sure Dave Clark taught me to piss off the back porch of my house when I was a kid. He and my dad have been very, very good friends for over 40 years. Chuck

Come on, Bro! I thought for sure that LeRoy was in charge of all NC jump activity? What gives? Ciao, C. Blue, esq.

How about the video and camera forum.....

That's fantastic, man.

Just a quick note to point everyone to the thread in General concerning Don Yahrling, BMI, AFF Course Director, and Former President of USPA. He was found dead in his office/loft which, in case you did not know, was the first office that BirdMan used when they set up shop in Deland, FL. Don flew a SkyFlyer 3 and was one of the original BirdMan Instructors. Rest in peace, Don Chuck

Holy SHIT! You have got to be kidding me, Peter! Don was in fantastic shape. I am shocked! A quick edit to say that I have known Don for over 15 years and that I will miss him. For those that did not know it, Don was a US Army Special Forces guy way back in the day. He was the course director (the only one in the USPA at the time; Paul Sitter passed the job onto him) for my first AFF Instructor Qualification Course in 1990 (the one I failed). He was a straight-forward, very thorough instructor. He served a variety of posts in the USPA heirarchy over the years and stayed on top of things like very few others are capable of. He was a really smart guy and had a dry wit. Some would describe Uncle Don as "Napoleonic". BSBD, you ornery cuss! You will be missed by a lot of us here at Raeford. Chuck