SkymonkeyONE

Hey J., I don't know if it has been posted elsewhere in this thread lately, but I just found out that Paul Fayard is NOT sending a CASA to this boogie. I had actually planned on scamming a ride straight there and passing on our commercial tickets, but Paul says he didn't have a plane to send. Instead, Larry Hill is apparently sending a SkyVan from Eloy for the boogie. Just as fun, only I can't scam a ride straight from NC. Chuck

COCK-A-TILLIOOOOOOOOOOO!

Does that mean that JayMo took everyone's lunch money in Norway?

Negative. You should ALWAYS have both hands on the controls, no matter which controls you are using. It not only steadies you in the harness, it gives you the option of adjusting both your turn rate and dive rate. Chuck

I am pretty sure Katie and I arrive in Houston on Wednesday evening. We will be at the DZ first thing Thursday morning.

Yep, I would say that you definitely need to adjust which "missing tab" you are skipping. A good test, which you should know, is to have someone come up behind you on the ground and pull up on your rig to see if the cables are binding. If they are, then move your skipped tab up higher. Likewise, make sure you check your rigging job every single jump before you suit up. I sometimes have my back cables come out of the top one or two tabs after opening even with what I think is the perfect tab skip. Chuck

Geeez relax already You also would not ask Rembrandt to show you how to use a paint roller. I think most coaches would be good for helping with AFF basics - and you ought to choose the right value tuition. Actually, the best coaches to fix AFF problems in the tunnel are AFF qualified people. People who only fly in the tunnel fly, well, like tunnel flyers. The intent when trying to fix problem skydiving students is to get them in a stable body position that is going to best help them in freefall. Likewise, an AFF instructor is generally going to fly and/or stand in the tunnel in a position where he/she is able to give proper hand and arm signals to work out their problems. I have found that most spinning problems can be fixed in just a few minutes of tunnel time. Ultimately, if the fix calls for an Instructor, then work with a real, rated Instructor. Chuck

I can promise you that we are going to bust some sick-ass flocks every single day of the event. See you all very, very soon. Chuck

What did I miss? I am on vacation in Alabama, but I guess I missed some standard-fare drama? My remark back to James was not a dig at all. It was in fact a question/observation I had about the leg inlet on that new suit, which is, in fact, very similar to a similar Robi-designed protype that never made it to production with either company. Some of you people really need to get out and jump a wingsuit more often. Chuck

If I am not away on a contract then I will certainly be there.

dirt water dirt is exactly what it sounds like. Start dragging before the pond, then continuously across the pond and out the other side onto the dry ground.

I actually jumped the Flight Concepts tandem canopy down at Monroe and thought it flew great.

I am still promised my Phi by SkyFest, but we shall see.

No, the S3S is not the S5. While the design of the S5 is close to final, Jari felt the suit "took too much out of you" on long flights and in tinkering with the wing profile. The S5 will look a whole lot more like a Phi than an S3. None of us have any idea when the suit will get done and be released.

Nope, some are just that ugly. (ok, ok, yes, me included). BWAHAHAHAHAHA! You got THAT right, my brother! I am spitting on the fucking screen just thinking about some of those people!

There is nothing wrong with flat formations. As the burble is behind and to the rear of a wingsuit flyer, it's actually counterproductive to "ramp" a formation up too much as you go back. Now if you are talking multi-level flocking, then that second, upper level simply needs to maintain a safe distance above the people below them. At the deland bigways we were doing sequential dives where we would transition from single-level to multi-level and then back to single level. All you really need is about five feet vertical separation at flocking speeds. I don't think you guys will be getting multi-Otter big at this event, so I would probably keep to big wedge and diamond formations, primarilly working on no-contact proximity.

The design of that suit looks very nice, but also quite familiar. If the red area on the side of the thighs in the front view are where the air scoops are, then that's exactly like the original Phi prototype that Robi designed and Jari had in Deland a couple of years ago. Jari's brother made his first five flights on that original suit with Jari, myself, Scott, and a couple of others flocking along. The problem with that method of leg inflation was that it simply didn't work, particularly when you were on your back. Even if you were flying on your belly, if your legs were bent at all the scoops would bind up and the leg wing would simply flap, uninflated. I am sure Robi has worked the problem out to his satisfaction if he is now using it on this new suit. As I recall, the problem with that early prototype (Robi's, not the new BirdMan design) was that the scoops were too high on the hips. Still, that's a really nice looking suit and it's sized correctly for it's target use. Chuck

That's great, Jim. Smoking is a nasty fucking habit. I am glad I never fell for it. Chuck

My boy Kramer called Katie and I FUCKED UP on the morphine right after it happened. Strike that...Actually, his mother called first and Katie answered the phone "what's up, boozehag?" Kramer has had a rough run here lately. LUCKILLY, though, this one was an Army jump and so they get to foot the bill for every bit of his recovery, including any damage that might have occured to his left leg and artificial hip. Why don't one of you loose boozehags (not you, Arlo) run over to his condo and service him; he could probably use it right now. Chuck

You have simply not lived until you have sat through the entire "Okie Noodlin" DVD at Arlo's house.

The only dropzones I have seen beer lines at are ones that have specific safety reasons to do so. At Raeford, the beer line extends from the third bush on Doc Brown Road all the way across the main landing area to the edge of the ramp. It's out far enough from the trees, the packing pavilion, the mockup, and the spectator fence in front of the bar to keep jumpers away from trouble. It also serves to keep jumpers out of "The Raeford Dragon" when the winds are blowing over the trees, parallel to the runway. Our "regular" swoop lane is setup straight down that line on the "safe" side, thus effectively moving the safe-to-land area for non-swooping jumpers out another 30 feet. Yes, you are going to buy beer if you bust our beer line. If you bust that line at our dropzone, you would be flying straight into spectators, metal mockups, buildings, and trees. Chuck

BirdMan has never manufactured wingsuits in the United States. It has never been an "American" company, even when Jari was living in Deland. chuck

Airspeed will be doing a 40-way camp that weekend. We were all just in Chester this past weekend for the four-way meet.

Yep, and the thing about BestBuy is that if they do not have it in their store they will ship it store to store for you.

You, my man, are in the tiniest minority then. The only person I have ever seen do this is one guy that goes to WFFC every year. Every single other person I can think of these days rolls onto their back when the tandem opens, dumps, then races down. Once again, I get back to the statement I made in the other thread: that the majorty of people bitching about handcam are the ones who feel they simply MUST be able to swoop their velo on every jump. Opening shots? I don't miss them whether I am flying outside video of doing handcam at TM. I have yet to sell a handcam video, but my second-ever attempt was absolutely sale-worthy. It's a different product than outside video that's for sure, but arbitrarilly calling it "crap" makes me laugh. There are a LOT of tandem instructors who read this forum who can testify to the joy on the passenger's face when they see that video. I am not about to fault a one or two-cessna 182 DZ owner for opting to be able to do two tandems with video per load. Doing so gets the tandems out of the way quicker and frees up entire airplanes for fun jumpers. I grew up on a Cessna DZ and my dad still runs one. If he had the staff talent I can promise you handcams would be exactly what he would be doing. Chuck