SkymonkeyONE

Your numbering system would not be accurate no matter how hard you tried so I don't see the point.

I missed the convention this year because I was away on business that was too lucrative to turn down. I loathe missing the convention.

I got in a lot of clean kicks, but didn't even singe any leg hairs (even though I was playing in my Tevas). One guy, Festy I think, had his lower leg on fire for like fifteen seconds.

Wait.....a post by Sebazz? I thought he was dead? No, that was Nathan who was supposed to be dead.

I am hopping on my Harley right now and heading to Deland. With one stop enroute, I will see you guys at around 8pm tonight (Friday). See you all in not-too-many hours. I will need a flat surface to lay my head on tonight and tomorrow if anyone wants to offer up a couch. Chuck

You list Rockville, MD as an address, yet Skydive San Diego as your home DZ. As has been stated already in this thread, the major suit manufacturers mandate and USPA "reccommends" that a person has at least 200 skydives (in 18 months) prior to getting trained to fly a wingsuit. We will generally not train a person with under 500 jumps who intends to jump without supervision. Technically, at 500 jumps you can do what you like, but proper instruction/coaching really does a great deal in making it a fun, safe experience. Chuck

16-18 September is horrible for me.....Ugh. Also, the Deland bigways are tentatively rescheduled for February unless Ray has changed the date again. Chuck

"somebody throw me a rope!"

IBTL Blues, Dave And that will do it. chuck

187 is bad-ass, bro. Nice flying.

Katie and I both just watched, not two hours ago, a Military Freefall Parachutist land a downplane and walk away without injury. I simply could not believe it. Katie and her unit were running a unit proficiency jump on St. Mere Eglise dropzone out of a CASA 212 and there were a group of strap hangers from USAJFKSWC and other tennant units making a Hollywood (no equipment) pass. I just happened to be standing there visiting Katie at the family support group BBQ tent when they opened. It was either a low pull or a fairly-common AR2 AAD firing. Either way, the jumper was clearly seen just after opening with his reserve trailing behind him, still completely coccooned with the slider up at the stops. I was certain what it was right away, but it just trailed back there like a flag for a very long time without catching air. I did not see the jumper making any real effort to pull the reserve back in (at this point that would have been totally possible by the looks of it) and all was well until, of course, around 1000 feet. At that altitude the jumper made a pretty hard turn back around 180 degrees and the reserve caught air. It went directly to the downplane configuration without ever once attempting to fly up behind the main. At that point the guy had LOTS of time to simply cutaway the main and land uneventfully, but he, instead, opted to pull a lot of brakes and simply ride it in! His dutifull application of deep brakes kept him from slamming straight in. He hit the ground at around a 45 degree angle with the reserve flying nearly fully under him in what most CRW guys call the drag-plane configuration. He, amazingly, hit in a good PLF and was uninjured. This was due in great part to the 370 square foot main over his head. Once again, I could not believe this guy did not chop the main once the reserve was fully opened and turned downplane (at around 700 feet). Oddly, nobody even bothered to hurry over and check on him until he had been on the ground a bit. When I saw him up and walking I strolled over to the DZSO (who I know) and let him have it. As the jumper himself was up and walking, I went ahead and left. Katie might write more when she gets home if there was anything to add. The lesson here is that one of the very last options you want to take when you have two out and they downplane is to just ride it in when you have ample opportunity to do otherwise. This incident would have had a very, very different outcome under a sport main. Be safe and smart, Chuck

Archimedes Principle put to the test!

I am otherwise occupied or I would have loved to be in attendance. No more gin mixes in chemlight-lit bottles though......ever.

Will there be white people at this boogie?

Hybrid! Excellent!

I hated missing the convention this year, but, alas, I was away working and just got back in town today. Although smaller, all of my friends said they still had a good time. Chuck

Negative. We will not be running at CPC event at CSS this weekend, Eric. We will, instead, run one (actually a double meet) at Parkton, very possibly the next weekend. Chuck

Fumble-fingers can't work a camera; you know that, Kris.

Anyone got any pictures of that perfect raft dive we pulled off at SkyFest? I think that's the only jump I did with Egon at MudFest, but it was fucking perfect. OK Egon, just one more and we will crash for the night. Peace, Chuck

Hey, if you took photos of this meet (Andy and LeRoy), get off your asses and post some pics! Anyway, here is the list of total contestants/finishers: 1)Greg Windmiller (Veloctity 103?) 2)John Lyman (Velocity) 3)Joey D'Annunzio (Nitro 120, Stilletto 120) 4)Jake Conrad (Crossfire2 99, VX 98) 5)(tie)Tony Thacker (Sabre2 150) 5)(tie)Tim Tennant (Velocity) 7)Rodney Cruce (a terribly worn-out Stilletto 97) 8)Ken Ates (Velocity) Special Mention: Katie Blue (Pilot 124) who swooped a clean 180 feet on her first ever attempt through a distance course. There were no injuries in this meet, but three individuals hooked very low and wiped out the course markers. We did NOT get the second meet off due to rain, but will attempt to run another "double" meet at Parkton in August. Thanks to all who bothered to show up and compete. Chuck Blue

I thought Roy was a fucking Homo until I met him, but you know what? He is a pretty cool guy. Feliz Cumpianos, mi negro.

And a GREAT, LARGE MELON!

Nice stuff.

Well, we got the meet off cleanly, even with what we thought would have been prohibitive weather. Overall results: 1st: Greg Windmiller (golden knights/Raeford) 2nd: John Lyman (Carolina Sky Sports) 3rd: Joey D'Annunzio (Raeford) 4th: Jake Conrad (Raeford) I will post the rest of the results and write a report about the meet a bit later. Chuck

Likewise, I am positively floored. Another huge loss for our community, particularly those of us who followed each other around boogie after boogie as vendors. My circle of friends continues to shrink, tragically. Unbelievable. Chuck Blue