SkymonkeyONE

I use a sidemounted PC 109 with a .3 lens ran all the way out for Cats A and B. I pull the lens back to about .45 for release dives. I jump my camera for every single AFF dive now. We hardly ever get anyone to buy outside video for AFF and we do not push it here at Raeford at all. I think the POV of the AFFI is superior for video debrief anyway. On a side note, I am considering jumping my handcam glove when I do reserve side on Cats A and B just to see if that is something that may be a sellable product. Chuck

Likewise, Tom. My original GTi, the first suit I ever made a jump on, had been in the demo fleet for nearly two years when I bought it. I put around 200 jumps on it and then sold it to Scott Campos. He kept it for about a year and then I traded him my original skyflyer in early 2003 when I got my S3. I got my that original GTi back in the deal. That suit has well over 700 jumps on it and has had more than a little abuse. Zippers failed at times due to having too much clothing on underneath, broken off slides, etc. Each time they blew open I was generally able to keep the suit tensioned with the thumb loops and the booties. When I could not keep it gliding efficiently I would just pull everything in and fall down to a safe altitude and pull.

I agree. The hell you pay trying to pack that Samurai into an XRS will make you nuts. "Sub 100" standard canopy means sub 100. I had a Stilleto 97 in my old XRS and it was tight. I had a Tempo 120 reserve in it.

That's the L1 in Maggie Valley. There are a ton of threads in here about it. Dawn Suiter posts here a lot.

Not me, bro. I am not about to chop my wings in freefall unless I can't find any other option of flying myself down to a safe pull altitude before deploying normally. I have blown out every zipper on a suit other than a main zipper and have had not problem in any of those cases simply taking my arms and legs out of the equation (both arms behind my back, feet on my butt) to fix the problem. If one arm came totally unsewn on the inside seam because of getting snagged on the door or something I am sure I could still get everything out of the wind behind me and pull safely. For that matter, I have generally been able to maintain a decent glide even after losing a bootie and blowing a zipper. I have not had cause to chop a wing in over 700 flights. You have a lot more flights than I do now, Perry; have you ever run into a situation where you thought you HAD to chop a wing?

Yearly dues to the CPC are $50 and will be collected at the first meet. As a result of me not wanting to fleece anybody, any prize money for that first meet will be donated by sponsors if I can get any to donate.

Starting pissing contests in topical forums is pointless, particularly when the initial thread drift was caused by your first post berating the original poster. Everyone, please remember that the point of starting and perpetuating threads is to relay information on the topic at hand. Keep the one-liners out and please refrain from hijacking threads. Chuck

Likewise, I am sending about ten new suits for sale at Dublin. Five or six GTi's, two S3's and an original SkyFlyer. Bunch of Pantz too.

I am going to respond to this one, but it applies to some of what Glen and Scott both wrote earlier: Initial training- If you have over 500 skydives, have a suit to borrow that fits you, a wingsuit-safe rig, and the flight manual (from whichever suit manufacturer you happen to have borrowed), you are free to read the book, assemble the suit and go jump on your own. Nobody is stopping you from doing that. Likewise, nobody is stopping any other experienced wingsuit pilot from helping you if that is the way you choose to do it as a "grown up" with over 500 skydives. If you have under 500 jumps, then you are not going to do it in a BirdMan wingsuit without the proper ground instruction and a properly filled out waiver. The company is very clear on that, so if you are using BirdMan wingsuits for your instruction, you had better fall in line with those basic manufacturer guidelines. If you are not using waivers for first flight students, then you are wrong. Feel free to interpret the SIM anyway you like, but know that you are opening yourself up you and your dropzone to an aweful liability should you misuse equipment which has set guidelines for its use. Consider that the same as a type-specific tandem rating. My Vector/Sigma rating allows me to jump that rig, but it does not qualify me to certify a Strong rated guy to jump that rig. My Racer rating, on the other hand, allows me, as a rig owner, to certify other rated tandem instructors to jump my rig. Very different levels of certification for what is essentially the same task. The myth that every very-expereienced skydiver can fly a suit safely without proper instruction or coaching- Ask Scratch Garrison about his two experiences in wingsuits. He almost died. Likewise, ask me or Ray Dutch how Carl Doherty did on his first flight. Even with instruction he instintively went straight to the boxman. The myth that everyone at the forefront of wingsuiting is "just in it for the money"- Scott and I trained over 200 first flights at Rantoul two years ago and not many fewer this past year, plus well over a hundred the first two years of Eloy. We do not "force" people with over 500 jumps to jump with us, nor do we beg anyone to pay us for "coach" dives. We simply show up to a boogie with a wide selection of suits and offer legitimate, well thought-out and documented training. Once a person voluntarilly walks up to our booth and we have taught that person their first flight course (which, by the way, pays our vendor fee, gas up there and back with my camper/dually, and feeds us while there), we then invite them to flock with us for the duration of the event. Many, many of the posters in this forum learned from us and got every bit of their flocking skills at no cost (other than their own jump ticket) at those major events. Likewise, the posse that really wants to get better and learn from others is the one that hangs out at the tent and allows themselves to become part of the movement. I have trained many hundreds of people to fly wingsuits safely and have done quite a bit of that instruction for free for friends. Still, if a person wants one-on-one advanced coaching (with video) in order to fix a problem they are having or to improve some part of their game, then I am certainly going to charge for it at events which I am at in a vendor capacity. If you ask for it and are willing to pay for exclusive attention,then that's what I will give you. If you are content to take in the free coaching that is offered on every single freely-organized flock dive at those events, then great! That's what those dives are for; they are group learning environments. Ultimately, if you choose to amass a collection of you own suits and want to train experienced skydivers (over 500 jumps) for free, then go for it. Please don't whine though when your bros turf the butt wing off of your suit on landing and don't tell you about it. Suits are expensive! Repairs to tail wings are incredibly complicated and EXPENSIVE. If you do not charge at least a rudimentary fee for your instruction and suit rental you are soon going to find yourself with a big pile of trashed-out, unusable suits and an empty wallet. Lastly, to to reply to Jason's post in particular: You will do no such a thing. You will do so only when you are not on call for that next AFF jump (and the money that comes with it) just like every other multi-rated wingsuit guy does. All of us who skydiving for a living do the same. When I am here at my home dropzone I haul meat, do aff, coach, do video, and occasionally pack when it's needed. I fly my wingsuit when I have free time to clear my head. I hardly ever charge any local for a first flight course; just collect the ten dollar suit fee for upkeep. Beer for FFC's is the most common payment at my home DZ. I don't have any problem whatsoever, tough, charging individuals or groups who come here specifically for wingsuit training. That, you see, makes it business. If it's a specified task that takes me away from my other responsibilities at the school then yes, I am absolutely going to charge for the course. If it's for fun (a buddy or visiting buddies) then it's free; if it's work I am going to get paid. Chuck

Shimell, that new avatar is the fucking shit, bro! I like it alot.

The APS Ranger was an 11 cell if I remember correctly. The "old" Aerodyne had the AR-11.

What's a "patton?" Do you mean patent?

Agreed. I got my handicam glove from Rob. It's very nice.

You can argue all day long about what works and what does not. With todays very-wide angle lenses and solid flying skills I don't see any reason in the world why a person would need, or even want to clutter up their helmet with a ringsight for tandems and tight formations. I jump my PC 109 sidemounted on my Optik Illusion with a .3 lens. I use a "paper asshole" for tandems when I have my zoom pulled back to about .45, but don't use anything at all when I have it all the way out at .3 for other multi-person skydives. I still have a very steady head for video (after a very long hiatus from camera work) and have no problem keeping my subject perfectly in frame with a paper asshole. I did four-way for about a decade and did four-way video to defray the cost of that habit. I jumped a top-mounted camera back then (VHS-C like everyone else back then!!) and had a Newton cross ringsight; it was fantastic. These days it amazes me how incredibly poorly thought-out some people's ringsight setups are! After Jan Davis's death, you would never catch me in a million years with anything other than a contoured mount affixed with nylon nuts. Just my opinion. Chuck

I think it's scott@freedomofflight.tv, but that may be incorrect.

"where are the white women??"

Liver transplant?

I know of and have been witness to many such banishments. I have also been present and participated in more than one forceful eviction.

Right. I don't have any problem with the Continenal (Rionda) either.

No, I do not think there will be any reversing of the upsizing trent. Jonathan would not have went nearly as far under a 75 at the same 2.5 wingload. The larger wing will always give you more usable lift. Will other top-10 pilots follow suit and try to work out this same heavy-wingload distance technique? Sure, but you won't see everyone doing it; certainly not me. I am never going to win a meet and won't fool myself into thinking that jumping that wingload enough to get proficient at it is going to do anything other than wear out my 41 year-old, 155 pound body. I think I will stick with my 2.05 wingload (for distance, freestyle, and accuracy) and just be satisfied making the gates every run. On that note, I was positively fascinated at how many competitors posted clean, scoring runs in the preliminary rounds. All the way down to 20th place before the first vertical extension! I have not seen one meet in five years as a pro with so great a clean-scoring average. That is testament to the increasing degree of competence displayed by all at the competitive level. Prior to this meet one could almost guarantee that at least one person finishing in the top ten had blown the gates once in the meet. Still, it is a testament to the incredible ability of Andy Farrington (11th), Luigi Cani (13th), and Ian Bobo (14th) that they all pulled off top-20 finishes after verticals. Our boy Eames got 20th with two verticals! Performances like those define the phrase "go fast and take chances!" Chuck

I believe that guy was just trying to figure out how, exactly, you three guys all broke the record in such quick succession, Bruno. The answer is that Bruno was on one load and broke the record. Both Shannon and Jonathan were on the next load and broke the record one after the other. Fabulous job by the way, Bruno! Chuck

I think you missed the point about "not looking up." That is only half the answer. No, if you are wanting to float straight back up to a formation you should not look straight up while staying faced-off with the formation. If you are low, simply turn 90 degrees in place and turn your head straight to the side to keep your eyes on the formation as you extend your body and pop up. The intent is to not spill air off your chest past your head; nobody said to take your eyes off the formation.

Mark, you really, really need to proofread your posts before hitting "send". Tagle was loaded at 2.5, not 1.5.

That video is several years old and has already been posted here.

Why don't you just call Nancy at the shop in Deland? Her number is: (386) 748-7217. I know she was in Sebastian last weekend for the Naughty Cupid Boogie.