SkymonkeyONE

I've seen drozpones pay as little as $30 (USD) either side (and for tandems) and I've seen dropzones that paid as high as $45 for maini-side (with the responsibility of briefing/training the category and responsible for conducting the debrief). It varies wildly. I've worked at dropzones that pay $35 per student (maximum five students) for teaching the FJC ground course and I've worked at a dropzone that pays a minimum of $50 and another $30 per student on top of that. Again, it varies wildly. Chuck

Exactly. I haven't worked at a dropzone in a LONG time that does not require instructors to wear AAD's. I can also not remember the last time I saw an AFF instructor NOT wearing a hard helmet. It's just smart, good business practice. Chuck

I hear you, brother. As for the "leading edge reinforcement": that's like an old BM Blade then. That shit didn't work at all. Same problems with not maintaining it's form after you packed it up in it's bag. I prefer the foam stiffener that Tony uses to maintain a strong leading edge. Still, these new Squirrel suits DO look fantastic. Chuck

Nice

Paul Rafferty was awesome at head-down tandems! I don't remember him ever blowing up any drogues, but I know for certain that the German guy that used to do them on the North shore of the Dominican Republic blew up quite a few drogues. Chuck

Good plan, John! I like it.

Where is the mylar in the suits? If it's supporting the ribs then I can tell you with 100% certainty that it's going to be problematic. Both BirdMan and PF played with mylar and there was simply no way you could keep it straight and not crack all to hell. Many, MANY of us had to deal with this problem back in the day. Chuck

What about a 12Volt one that runs of the ciggie lighter? I'm pretty sure the "automatic" electric pump I had was an Ozark. If it detected low air pressure it would kick on and maintain "optimal" pressure. Mine was battery opereated. Two problems with it: -it would kick on at odd hours and wake me up -the hose would come unplugged from the air bed and the entire thing would deflate around me pissing me off.

I have never, EVER had any luck with blow-up airbeds. I've found the taller they are the worse they are. They ALL leak down and collapse around you. I've even tried the electric air pump that automatically (supposedly) keeps the damn things inflated (they don't). I still own two of them, but I don't ever use them. A thermarest pad under my bag works best for me, plus it rolls up and stows in my bivvy roll. For those times when I want to truly "primitive camp", my setup is dependent on whether it's just me or i'm sharing a tent (with another person or my motorcycle) . I've got a two man tent and a six man tent. The larger one is big enough to park my harley inside with me. I"ve got a modular army sleeping bag, a Gortex bivvy cover for it, a thermarest pad, a blow-up pillow, and a heavy duty poly-e tarp. I also have a shit-load of bungee cords, 550 parachute cord, and tent stakes. I carry fire starting equipment, at least one headlamp (and extra batteries), 100% DEET bug juice (the only thing that truly works), and my fucking pistol (at a minimum). If I trying to keep weight way down I'll leave the tent at home and just bring the tarp and the rest of the stuff. Either way, it's always clean, packed, and ready to go.

@ Kallend: Yes, I'm all for putting lower-experienced guys out as floaters, but I really think it's important that they have a tight, distinguishable base to locate very quickly.

Nice looking product; at least on this screen.

Pretty easy decision so long as you decide on what type of flying you are after. As a bigger guy stepping up from a P2, are you looking for belly performance or are you just looking for a "bigger" phantom-type suit you can do acro and a lot of backflying in? Far and fast?: S-bird. a bigger PF suit that's great for flocking and backflying?: Havok or Ghost3. I generally only fly my S-bird for faster, longer flights on my belly. I don't like the way it flys on it's back (too much leg wing for my taste in that orientation). I have no use for a suit bigger than that as a smaller guy. . I have a Ghost on the rack that fits me, but I'm small enough that I generally only have my Phantom2 rigged up for 90% of what I do. Chuck DragonFly Wingsuit School

This is a good post. ASSUMING the person is qualified to be on a flock at all, then I will generally place them far enough back that they have a solidly-built formation to approach without wondering "where is the base?" If the formation is diamond or arrow-shaped I will put them on the outside where a bit of washing around will not hinder the others in the core of the formation. On larger flocks I will not place them far from the base and force them to stuka dive through traffic and potentially pile into people. Chuck

The AR2 was/is an utterly unreliable piece of crap. Given a choice between that and the older FF2, I'll take the FF2 anytime. I don't believe any active US unit is still stuck with AR2's. Chuck MFFJM/MMPCI-18 (among other things)

That's a fantastic video. Thanks for sharing.

Hjumper hit the nail on the head: narrow legwing. When the Skyflyer first came it out it was definitely not suitable for newbie wingsuiters, yet I know of at least two people who made their first flights on them when they first came out. Personally, I really liked the original version. It was really easy to backfly in, particularly when you added stiffeners to the wingtips, like on the S3 and S6. They aren't backvented in any way, but they are still good suits. A modern day Phantom (1/2/or3) is a far superior suit though as far as general performance and utility goes. Chuck

UPDATE: I've packed up all of my toys and have moved to TX until at least March. I'm at Skydive San Marcos. I have a total of 15 suits here with me and can do FFC's, advanced coaching, and PF Coach courses for anyone interested. Chuck

good point. My vanity was showing and I apologize.

I don't agree with that statement at all. In the 1.5 range it will perform well, you can get good, smooth swoops out of it, of course you'll feel like when you jump a smaller one loaded in the 1.7-1.9 range that it's "better" but that has more to do with you having more jumps, having less drag and the ability to generate more speed. I agree with Dave. Sure, if you bang a quick, shitty turn then your turn is going to be much lower than under a crossbraced canopy, but there is simply no reason to be banging quick, shitty turns is there? BTW: when you could still be competitive under nine-cells in the PRO category of the PPPB and, later, PST, we were throwing 270's as high as 800 feet under our Cobalts. Check the old records and see how me, Butts, and Harrell did back in the stone age against early FX's, VX's, and Velos. Chuck

Thus the reason that I no longer have a Velocity 75 in that rig (like Jay Moledzki used to as well). It's not the size, it's the canopy type. I traded my fully-sponsored Velo for a fully-sponsored Sabre2 because it was the smart thing to do as a person who fllys a wingsuit as more than a hobby. If I had to replace my Sabre2, it would be with the smallest Storm they make. Chuck

This absolutely depends on your GENERAL skydiving experience and the TYPE of canopy your plan on using. My personal wingsuit canopy is a Sabre2 97 loaded at 1.85. I've never chopped this canopy, but then again my "other canopy" is a 27 cell crossbrace loaded at 2.3 and I'm not a newbie wingsuit pilot. If you ARE a newbie wingsuit pilot and you DON'T have thousands of jumps, then I don't recommend jumping any canopy TYPE which does not open straight and predictable. That's the best advice I can give.

It costs zero dollars to cut the corners on that rig if you do it yourself. A rigger ought to do it for $20 or he's taking you for a ride. Like John K. said: having dynamic corners and a longer bridle does not affect your "normal" skydives in any manner. Both of my rigs are set up exactly the same (AFF/Swoop and Wingsuit) with dynamic corners and nine-foot bridles. PC size has never been a consideration to me in over 2700 wingsuit flights.

Ouch

If you are not a US citizen then please log off right now. I NEVER, EVER post religious or political posts, but here it comes: We, the United States Of America have subsidized the Gross National Product of every nation we "created" after WWII like Isreal and Liberia to our own demise. Man, I love me some democracy and independance, but if we, the US citizens, are the only means of YOUR livelihood and independance then you have a problem. Our LEGITIMATE citizenship suffers and we are at a turning point. It is my opinion, as a 21-year-retiree from the US army Special Forces that I should not have to die for your failure to defend your own turf. I'm a mono-theist. Do you all understand what that is? It means that all Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Jews all believe in one true God. That means I think that people in Northern Ireland and Ireland are idiots for killing each other over the Catholic VS Protestant idiotic argument. YOU ARE BOTH CHRISTIANS! Likewise, in the middle east; SHIA vs SHITE is STUPID because you are both mono-thiests who worshp the same GOD with only a very-small degree of "you are wrong" and "We are right". IN the USA it's even more ridiculous: Mormons (HAHAHA), versus Jehovahs Witnesses (HAHAHA), versus, snake-handling Southern Baptists (HAHAHA), versus Pentecostal Holiness Church of God Snake Handlers (HAHAHAHA), versus Roman Catholic pedophiles (HAHAHA) all swear that THEY are the only ones going upstairs and EVERYONE else is going to hell. (HAHAHAHAHA). Could you all PLEASE get over yourselves?. It truly fascinates( and frightens) me that every "powerfull" religion in the world all worship the SAME god, yet they all venture to destroy each other. Stupid, stupid people. Don't ask me to fight your stupid, stupid religious wars. You got a problem with that? Don't come to the USA and take my job opportunites when you could be home fighting your own stupid war against fellow mono-theists. Retards. Need a history lesson? watch some damn documentaries, read books other than what you were indoctrinated with. It's not my job to save you and it's not your job to save me; i've got my end under control. PS: I'm tired of paying 60% of ANY country's GNP . If YOUR stupid conflict starts MY country's end of days then I can promise you that all of you religious zealots will only succeed in pissing off those of us who can live without government subsidies. Stupid, stupid people.

OUCH!