SkymonkeyONE

Dave is a good friend and old co-worker of mine. We served in two special forces groups together (7th then 3rd) and both of us jumped on the GBPT for years. That team is now primarilly comprised of retired guys since the formation of the USASOC (all active duty) team, but most are very, very experienced and all of them have PRO tickets. I can't say what his currency is these days, but most all of the civilian jumps he has made in the past decade have been demos or practice for demos. He is also a Military Freefall Jumpmaster and if I am not mistaken went through the advanced course and has an MFFI number as well. Chuck Blue

If you are already riding a Duck, then I guess it would be OK for you to get a crotch rocket. That said, insurance is very high on sport bikes. If you are concerned about gas and can live without a vanity bike, then just look in your classifieds and find you a 1980-something standard bike. They are a dime a dozen and can be had for a thousand dollars or less, generally in great (possibly dusty) shape. Me? I have a Harley dresser (2001 FLTR Road Glide) and a Buell Lightning ('03 XB9S). The best of both worlds in my opinion.

Just so people know, it's incredibly easy to go from the top half to near the bottom in a single skydive at a "classic" swoop meet. One vertical can usually ruin a meet for you. Two verts and you are really done. It is much more important to get the entrance gate than it is to go 400 feet or do a sub-three-second speed round. Without the gate, the round is for naught, no matter how cool it looked. The very best compitors cut the gates the closest, knowing that if they do just barely clear they are going to sail much farther and rip through much faster. Chuck

Right on! JP and Lew making me all proud and shit!

You got that right! Those young'uns ought not to fuck with their elders.

The Fort Bragg tunnel was designed specifically to get the burliest SF guy off the net with full combat gear and pin him to the ceiling.

Smarter is to get coaching right there at the ranch from Sonic who has been swooping professionally since at least 1998.

This is talked about in about five other threads in this forum, but yes, I use it on both of my rigs and yes, it aids in cleaner deployments. I do every type of skydiving with my rigs and haven't had any ill effects whatsoever with my cut corners. Chuck

I figure I am very close to Derek in this regard. In all but the strongest winds I am going to end up sliding on my feet for some time, layed back. I try to slide, slide, slippity-slide on my feet and then pop to a standing stop. My Firebolt 350 carries alot of speed across the ground during landing in no wind conditions. If it's a big, tall passenger though, I am generally going to forego the stand-up in exchange for a clean butt slide. I have only ever had one person; a tall, older gentleman; injure himself. He broke an ankle when he reached for the ground.

I too have seen plenty of people that don't do anything but "work" jumps and even a few who don't even own any gear (sport or tandem) of their own anymore. You would not believe how many members of the USAPT do not own their own gear. Me? I own two sport rigs and my own tandem rig and my wife has two rigs of her own. Chuck

I have met Keiko at no less than three boogies. She used to follow Max Cohn around a lot, but last I saw her she was getting coached by Heath Richardson (in Deland of all places).

Awesome color combo, Bro! WAR DAMN EAGLE! Chuck

that's a perfect analogy, Matt!

Any word on DZ damage? Did the plane get moved prior to the storm? Are the buildings still up?

Cars: -74 MGB. The last year with chrome bumpers. British racing green -76 Ford Courier. Red -74 Ford Pinto. Green metalic. Smoked like a chimney. Broken seat-slide latch -'68 Camaro Z-28. White with black mean streaks. Blew up the 302 and put in a 327/350 -'85 Corvette. Black. Lost my license for three years running 137 in a 55 in it. -'83 Toyota HiLux 4x4. 22" lift, 44" swampers, 350 chevy/turbo 350 auto "High Anxiety" -'87 Mustang GT. Red -'96 Corvette. Red/Red. ZR-1 wheels -'97 Corvette. Black/Black. 1st C5 in North Carolina. A complete lemon. Dealer ate it. -'87 Volvo 240 DL Sedan. Silver. Died at around 350,000 miles. -'87 Volvo 240 DL Wagon. White. Blew engine two years ago and still waiting on repair! -'98 Chevy C3500 crew cab dually. White, 454, incredibly cool and gas guzzly We currently still own the dually, the still-broken Volvo, and Katies '01 Jimmy SUV Bikes: -two briggs-powered mini bikes -'74 Yamaha MX 80 -'75 Honda XR 125 -'80 Kawi 400 street bike -'87 ATC 250R -'87 Harley Davidson FXLR "the redbone express". incredibly custom 21-time show winner -'86 Harley Davidson FLHT bagger. Silver with blue/white "taxi cab" stripes -'01 Harley Davidson FLTR Road Glide. Bronze pearl, pro pipe, 95" waiting to install -'03 Buell XB9S Lightning. Black. Jardine pipe, "pasta eliminator", open airbox We currently still own the Road Glide and the Buell

Once I cocoon the parachute, I kneel on the line end, pull the fabric up and roll it back down like a sleeping bag. I then bag it, spin my body around to the top (facing the container now) and s-fold the bottom part into the bag prior to closing it. Very tidy and flawless openings for several thousand jumps now. I have never chopped any of the three velos I have owned, nor have I ever had more than one complete line twist. Chuck

Raeford's Paraclete Freefly took third in freefly open.

There have not been anything other than active duty, green ID card holders able to jump for the past two years at least. Quite a bummer for us retirees and the boad-load of reservists and national guardsmen that used to make the trip up here. Dependants used to be able to jump as well, just like they could in the military clubs. There were, however, some allied forces jumping the past few years. I know the Canadian Skyhawks were jumping at the meet two years ago. Chuck

Raeford's own Paraclete Freefly took third in Open! Not bad for a bunch of rednecks, eh? Chuck Raeford Parachute Center, NC

You do have it totally wrong. I, as the pinnacle of instructorship in "our" camp, have absolutely nothing derogatory to say about the flight caractaristics of the Prodidigy. It's a great idea for an easy-to-fly suit that fits most people. What I had to say was that if there was a way to tighten up the connection between the bottom and the top then it would really help the one problem that several of us have seen with it. It's amazing the flight performance people get with this suit which has a non-pressurized arm wing. I think it would be a better suit if the leg wing had a narrower stance as well, but I think Robi did well with this suit. Chuck BMCI#4

It's at least that fast at CrossKeys too. At Raeford the speed in which we get people in the plane changes dramatically depending on how backed up, or in some case empty, the planes are. It's entirely possible to show them the video, have them fill out waivers, give them ground training, suit them up, and get them to the plane in half an hour or less. What makes it harder is when they don't make an appointment, don't show up on time for their appointment, show up in a huge group when we don't have sufficient instructor staff, or there is an issue with getting enough slots on the plane. It varies wildly. Chuck

They sell some of them with an air pump that automatically turns on when the pressure drops to a certain level.

I would never, ever purchase an above ground pool. No amount of additions to it will ever make it anything other than what it is and in some cases they will actually lower your property value. I have seen more than one which started out really nice puncture and then totally disintigrate and flood a yard. Now as to what kind of in-ground pool to get, you have quite a few options: shotcrete (concrete), fiberglass, stainless, and "liner". The great majority of people I know these days end up with liner pools. My dad's has been installed for over twenty years and he has only had to change the liner once. I believe they are the best value unless you find a place closing out fiberglass. Chuck

That's fucking cool, Lisa.

I regularly read and post to two other-than-skydiving forums: buggies unlimited and the Buelletin Board. Buggies is the absolute standard when it comes to golf cart stuff and they have individual forums for every single type of cart made, including a separate forum for jacked up, offroad carts like I have. The Buelletin Board is a Buell riders forums. As aftermarket parts for the bike are hard to find, that forum is a godsend. I also check in on two other skydive sites pretty regularly, though neither gets much traffic: www.canopypiloting.com and www.flybirdman.com. Both are put together really nicely, but they will never have a chance of getting a big crowd as long as this site continues to exist. Chuck