SkymonkeyONE

Actually, I would love to be able to make a nice wingsuit weekend in a warm clime. Unfortunately, I will be away working a military contract. Hog Flop will be my first boogie since SkyFest.

Rosa, I think your entire post was a crock of shit. Dawn has many, many hours in many windtunnels and her review of her experience really doesn't require a critique such as yours. No need to sharpshoot her, particularly at your experience level. If she didn't like the 2.5 minute rides, then she didn't like them. Same goes for the video coverage. Ultimately, those who spend a lot of time in the cone become more accustomed to the strain on their body. In that regard, 2.5 minutes in the cone is laughable. I have spent many an HOUR in the cone working with students who were coming in and out. Yes, it's a lot of time compared to a skydive, but to people who really don't jump much (Paige, Dawn, John, and other "rats") 2.5 minutes can seem very constrained. Keep it real, folks. Chuck

So, I guess that means you are willing to relocate to the DC metro then? You ARE talking about taking Kevin Gibson's job, right?

Hey man, it's all chilly-willy, Millie Vanilly!

I don't know if you could handle the ambiance, Frizzle!

Go faster and take more chances!!!!! Hooty HOO!

I will positively be at SkyQuest. My wife's team is competing in the four-way event and I will be there to swoop. If you want to meet up and kill some brain-cells that would be great, Steve. Chuck

Then a Lightning is what you would buy in the first place then. The ONLY "real" differences in the two are the bar placement and the footpeg height. The clip-on bars on the Thunderbolt can be bought for under $300 for retrofit to a Lightning. The riding position on the Thunderbolt if much more strethed out than the Lightning. The standard Lightning riding position feels more like a dirt tracker and it make for easier wheelies. The one-inch-lower Lightning footpegs are actually much more comfortable than the Thunderbolt pegs. As a matter of fact, there are a LOT of jap bike guys who retrofit Lightning pegs on to their ricers to make the riding position more comfortable. Personally, I like the fairing on the Thunderbolt and I would retrofit it to my Lightning if it were cheap and feasible, but I like the bobbed rear-end of my Lightning much better than the long tail on a Thunderbolt. Either way, I gotta warn you, I ain't running stock. Chuck Edited to fix one mis-typed word and to talk more about riding position on the two bikes.

All of my early role models ended up being "false prophets" and it took me quite a long time to realize that my alliances and allegiances were bound to change over and over again as I went through different phases of my life. None of that bothers me. I am incredibly self-sufficient and am not particularly bound to anyone (other than my wife, obviously.) When you drink alot, your drunken buddies are your best friends. When you tea-total, your religious-zealot friends take up most of your time. Ultimately, I try to strike a happy medium these days. Chuck

Well, Katie got her new NC drivers license with "M" endorsement today, so she is totally legal to ride on the street now.

Actually, just about any competitor I know would be very happy to help people out. The problem is, it's like pulling teeth in some regions just to get people to compete at all. There are tons of "beer line swoopers" at most every dropzone, but it's incredibly rare that any of those guys asks me a single question about competition-type swooping. Even when I went through the trouble of getting a sponsor to finance the purchase of state-of-the-art course markers and volunteer to run my district of the CPC I got very, very little participation. Conversely, there are places where people just want to wing it and don't give a rat's ass about asking qualified people for advice. In my opinion, if you want to learn about competition, ask a competitor. Why don't people get that? Anyway, I welcome the opportunity to train and mentor others on competitive flying. Thankfully, there are a couple of guys at my dropzone (and in my region) that are starting to take it seriously. Want to learn setups? I can train you to do them right. Want to know about RDS systems, how to rig them, use them, and stow them safely, and when it's worth it to use them? I can show you all of that and tell you the best place to buy the hard components. Want to practice through regulation courses? I have the real deal. Once again: bring cheap beer, the requisite minimum jump numbers to compete in the CPC, and a good attitude. I will gladly set up some regulation courses, talk you through the basics, answer any questions you have, and talk you to death over beer. I will even help you make your own RDS (minus the slider). Chuck

Mike Mullins has flown curved jumpruns for as long as I can remember.

Anyone interested in learning any and all things about competition at the professional or CPC level feel free to PM me, call me, e-mail me or whatever and I will either (A: teach you here at Raeford for free or (B: direct you to another professional swooper in your area who will also train you for free. If you want to come here to Raeford and don't mind getting your hands dirty helping set up courses, come on over. I have a full set of IPC/PST regulation course markers, five years of professional swooping experience, and the desire to see people get the training they need without being fleeced. Bring cheap beer and a good attitude. I may not win any meets, but I can damn sure tell you how to compete successfully and safely. No, that's not a joke. Chuck Blue D-12501

Not sure what he is saying, but I will. If I were going to start busting multi-rotational turns from above 1000 feet (I won't be), then I would leave my CYPRES off. I try to have fun on every phase of each and every skydive, but I am not going to compromise my safety by performing a maneuver which is proven (more than once now) to allow a CYPRES fire after an AFF jump or some other "regular" skydive. I would love to be able to swoop my velo on every jump, but the fact of the matter is that it's simply not a good choice for wingsuiting; I have a small Sabre2 for that. I jumped for nearly 18 years without an AOD. I have one in one of my sport rigs, but not my wingsuit rig. It certainly does not scare me to turn off the CYPRES in my swoop rig for meets. Chuck

Orly King does that for a living too.

Troy Ketsdever wrote that article. I don't know how both of these threads got separated (I didn't do it).

Actually, several people have done tests to try and get a CYPRES to fire. The best-written account I know of is the one that Troy Ketsdever did a couple of years ago.

Wasn't the MD telethon just held over Labor Day? Are you raising funds already for next year?

dig in the top drawer of my dad's dresser at his house in Opelika, AL.

My wife really likes hers. The "first" one took a long time to get here, and was the wrong size (much too large, even with "custom" measurements). Thankfully, she was able to sell the first one to Arvel Shultz (who really loves it) while they made her a new, smaller one. She jumps a PC 120 in hers.

Yep, Zagi's. Everyone and their mother flys those things at Perris, Z-hills, and CrossKeys.

No, "real" undies are not my idea of styling. That said, at Raeford, half the dropzone runs around in "ranger panties" (nylon Soffe running shorts) most of the year. No practical difference really. Chuck

Well with nearly 300 jumps I doubt he regularly talks to "his instructors" anymore, but I will say this. At 300 jumps I would let you jump a 1.3 wingload at our dropzone. Chuck

Man, that's FUNNY!