SkymonkeyONE

That's smart, Billy. When I travel I usually have two rigs with me. I will only check both rigs if I don't have to skydive that or the next day, but I never carry a rig in the open. When I MUST arrive with a rig I put it in my Eagle pistol bag or the smallest carry-on-type bag I can find. That's not hard for me since my rigs are so tiny, but carrying it in my very-small pistol bag is nicest because nobody in their right mind would think it possible that there is something like a rig inside. With the rig I also keep a pair of goggles, my Neptune, and my swooping shorts. Generally, I think it is a very bad idea to travel with your rig in the open. It draws unwarranted attention onto yourself and can absolutely lead to problems as was evidenced by the original poster. A few years ago someone posted that they had seen some moron in the terminal repacking his canopy! Unbelievable! You know what? Skydiving is a very fun sport and all of us obviously think it's cool or we wouldn't be doing it. Still, sporting your rig through a terminal and onto a plane seems like you are screaming "look how cool I am! Check me out, I'm a skydiver!" Some people will not only not be impressed; they will find someone to report you to and then you will find yourself having to talk your way out of a corner before you miss your flight. Be smart and keep your rig in a bag. I have been jumping nearly 24 years now and have flown back and forth across the country (and around the world) with my equipment many, many times. I have only once in that entire time had to "convince" the security people that it was OK for me to have my CYPRES equipped rig with me. That was right after TSA started up and they were working out the bugs at the new security checkpoints. The post-X-Ray inspection was done very-discreetly by opening the bag it was in and letting them see my CYPRES card and the rig. Chuck Blue D-12501

Glen, I am not sure why you think there is some conspiracy going on, but I can tell you for a fact that wingsuiting was nearly shut down at both WFFC 2003 and Eloy last year because of problems with individuals flying back into the pattern. We had less problems with "zoomies" this year at WFFC, but still had some close calls which got the attention of the staff. If you did not hear that at either event it was because you were not involved with the air meetings every morning like I was, nor did you have Bryan Burke come to your vendor tent and express his disdain nearly every day. I am pretty put off that you think "the establishment" would be making this shit up. The bottom line here is that there is little room for error when the skies are crowded. Safety is paramount. Chuck

It was a great meet and the weather, at least for the most part, was absolutely perfect. I was bummed not to make the first cut (at 20), but many, many pilots who generally finish at the top did not make it either. I think I finished 26th or 27th overall; I forget. Tagle was killing it, as was Eames. There were some amazing performances and I don't think I ever saw but one botched turn in the entire Open event. Chuck

Repetitive or not, it was a good discussion and bringing it up on occasion keeps the point of it, safety, on peoples' minds.

If you are at Perris, come find me. I am having a coctail in the bombshelter, but will be at the swoop pond during freestyle. I am done jumping for the day, am dry, and it's a beautiful day.

Hello everyone! We just got done with the last round of Open Accuracy and there is one more round of Intermediate to go. That completes all the "official" preliminary rounds of the actual nationals competition, but Open Freestyle is about to begin for people wanting to pad their PST standings. After freestyle is done, they are going to sit down and judge the "official" rounds and calculate who made the cut to the semis. In Open, they will advance 50% of the competitors (minimum of 20). A minimum of 10 will advance in Intermediate. We all did six rounds of prelims: two rounds of speed; two rounds of distance; two rounds of zone accuracy. The weather is perfect! It's really been a fun meet so far. No injuries in Open, but I just saw a guy smack very hard in Intermediate Accuracy (no idea what damage, but I didn't see a meat wagon). I am not doing freestyle, so I am in the Bomb Shelter having a beer (it's about 10:00am). Come find me if you are here. Chuck

Get your own fucking golfcart, Sunny! And for God's sake put a rollcage on it!

Slightly off topic, Tom, but the last bit there needs repeating. Old tests are effectively obsolete now and USPA will not accept licence applications which include the wrong paperwork. All you chief instructors and S&TAs can save yourself and your jumpers much heartache by administering the correct test and sending in the proper paperwork. Once the A-card went in to effect in October 2001, many "resistant" dropzones got their paperwork kicked back because they continued to send in obsolete paperwork. Chuck

Why would he be joking? As previously stated elsewhere in this thread, there are at least four different ways to make soft links and NONE require much skill to make. Jimmy Cazer was making them at least as far back as 1990.

Steve, you need to demo the main and make your own conclusions. Everyone you ask is going to give you their impressions of the canopy, but the only way you are going to find out how it's going to open for you. Me? I jumped ST's for six years in sizes 107 and 97 and have jumped VE's in 75,79 (the only one I have now), 84, 90, and 96. All have opened OK for me, but then again I always got great openings on the supposed "spinnetto." Never ever chopped an ST or a VE in over 2500 jumps on those canopies. A Velocity is a very, very different canopy than a ST. In full glide and in diving turns you come out of the sky like a bomb. Amazingly, the toggle stroke is long and the canopy has tremendous float in deep brakes. The VE has much more usable lift due to its increased efficiency and will, potentially, take you much longer on properly executed swoops. Demo, demo, demo. If I were you, I would not get one smaller than 84 for general purpose jumping. Actually, a smarter move might be a 90, but you will have to try them out and see what you prefer. Chuck

I would not sell that guy the suit either, no matter how long he told you he was going to wait. 200 minimum with proper instruction and in-air coaching, 500 recommended.

None of the guys I jumped with there in July were locals unfortunately. I don't have the faintest idea who might own a suit at CK.

That's fantastic, Steve!

If you are not cranking down on the side straps too much the student will have more freedom of motion and you will better feel what they are doing under you (instead of simply being squashed to you). Also, I don't have any problems looking down and around them to see if they are dropping their knees, etc. At pull time, I keep an eye out on the alti and when they reach their hand back to pull, I go ahead and put my left hand on my other drogue release right after making sure their right hand is in the correct place. Great thing about working tandems is that you can holler at them and manipulate their arms very from the back. Remember, on CAT A it's perfectly acceptable to "help" them pull. By that, I mean it's ok (read your A-card kids) to help them get their hand right on the drogue release and get it pulled. Chuck

Some of the best passive advertising one can do is wearing skydiving t-shirts and having DZ logos on your car with the phone number. Bumber stickers don't do much in my opinion, but nice vinyl graphics really get attention. Chuck

Every tandem rig is rated to a minimum of 500 pounds combined weight. I weigh 155 and have taken a guy 280 no problem.

No, that's not the point at all, Kev. The point I and others (career active and retired) are making is that voicing dissent in the field only breeds contempt and is incredibly bad for discipline, morale and esprit de corps. Most of the people who write crap like that back home to newspapers and the like will gleefully complain the same way in real life. It's those people who make it so hard for others to do their job. I would not hesitate to drag someone out behind the teamroom and put the smackdown on them under those circumstances. The last thing a combat leader needs in time of war is dissent in the ranks and even mutiny (it happens). If you don't want to be there, then DON'T SIGN UP! War is hell and the "gravytrain" days are GONE.

Uh, nobody uses 500 square foot tandems anymore. The average is 350-370.

Sure. You can get hundreds of opinions in the photography and video forum on this site.

Anyone else just see the guy in the wires on CNN today? 1st BASE jump, "A", night, in the wires about 150 feet up. Oh, and his "buddy" (who's rig is still in the wire apparently)left him there. Way to go. I have never laughed so hard in my life. edited to change a word which some of you seem perturbed about. Still, it doesn't change a thing in the overall scheme of things. CNN HEADLINE NEWS.

Military service, particularly combat arms, front line military service is not supposed to be easy. If you signed up to be combat arms, then you had better be prepared to rain death and destruction (and deal with seeing the damage you have done or has been done to you) from the moment you sign that contract or volunteer for that type of assignment. Such is life in wartime....period. If it's not for you, then you better put in your 4187 for termination/reassignment. I won't listen to any whining from people who volunteered for military service. The military is NOT the "gravy train." Likewise, I am most disturbed by the incessant whining from Rear Echelon MotherFuckers who object to being sent forward, even in their candy-assed support roles. Holy shit! You mean you are gonna cry because the locals "don't like you?" Shut the fuck up and eat your hot, contractor-prepared chow while the MEN take care of business and maybe change uniforms ONCE A MONTH. Once again, if you don't want to deal with the rigors of basic military life, much less WAR, then don't volunteer. Nobody wants to hear your shit. edited to add: Chuck Blue SFC (ret) 18F4LW9QB

I have never, ever been tipped for any part of an AFF progression.

Uninformed, non-jumping, potential students often storm right in and say that they "want to jump by themselves." Not just AFF, they seriously want to jump alone from altitude. They think they have it all worked out. It's normally the ones that are most gung-ho that give you the most problems in the air on real AFF jumps. I would much rather talk a sketchy walk-in student into doing a "working tandem" than having to wrassle his ass around in the air on an AFF that he, potentially, is going to do bad on because of his attitude. Me pulling you out at the end of an AFF jump that you were totally "turned off" on is no different than you failing to pull on a working tandem that took me six and a half hours less to train you for. We don't generally advertise Tandem Progression as an option, but I have on many occasions convinced people that doing well on a working tandem and skipping the Cat A AFF might be their best option. Chuck

It pissed me off as well, Mandy. When the casino security guy (who was supposedly a TM also) went "YEAH!" after the guy left the rig in the plane I was not happy. Oh, I was especially not happy when the idiot did it right over downtown Las Vegas. Very, very poor choice of endings for that show. edited to add: yes, he was wearing a Strong tandem rig; so was the other guy. Having the hotel security "magically" being a tandem master reminded me of old "CHiPs" episodes where Ponch and John would partake of adventurous sports, including skydiving with some degree of competency, on a regular basis in their off time.

go to www.flybirdman.com and read all about everything that is available (in mass production) there. You could also simply take the time to scroll through all the threads in this forum. The same answers are here, they just take a bit more searching.