SkymonkeyONE

Big E is my BOY!

Eat a 714. That will chill you out, Val.

gluebee

The Dave Brown and Gillian Parker suits are very tailored and have next to no "flap" at all. If you need additional drag on your legs to stay head-down, then that isn't the suit for you. If you have your moves dialed, then that's probably what you want. My Ouragan has only slightly more bagginess to it than a "Dave" suit, but is very, very tailored still. I was fascinated at the degree of workmanship used in my suit. Chuck

EG Sky Technology (Edgardo owns it and does most of the sewing) will sew "aftermarket" booties on any brand suit.

Answer C.

Luigi Cani was wearing 50 pounds of weight at Wildwood. He wore it as a combination of a pull-over vest that weighed about 30 pounds and a leadbelly belt that weighed 20 IIRC. His vest was weighted on all sides and was actually pretty thin, though obviously heavy. Jumping lead over deep water can be incredibly dangerous. You would not want to chow in the middle of the pond at The Ranch with Luigi's setup; I wouldn't anyway. If you are not absolutely confident in your ability to "get out of the pond" on your swoop, you had better made damn sure you have some EP's in place for getting out of your lead. I have seen many methods over the years for attaching weight. Troy Ketsdever used to have bags which hung from his hip rings which he could jettison. Leadbelly belts worn ON TOP of your harness are easy to jettison. I just saw another competitor who had a combo "fag bag" which held both his weights and had a pocket for his RDS. He wore it straight in front on opening, then spun it around behind him after RDS stowage. If you have not done so already, you might want to go to a pool with a proper lifeguard, put your weights and a water-training rig on, and try to stay on the surface while you attempt to get out of your shit. I'm serious. I saw at least one weight-laden competitor at the PSM have a very hard time getting to shore after a chow in an early round. While most purpose-built swoop ponds are only 2.5 feet deep, I can think of more than a couple that are over your head (or quite near that). The Ranch, SkyQuest, and the "downhill" side of the pond at WFFC come to mind. Be safe in your pursuit of greatness, Chuck

Brilliant!

No shit, Jeff! You'da thunk he was from DUBLIN or something!

I deleted the chest-beating pissing contest in it's entirety; all involved should no better than to let a relevant thread get so far off-track. Now, my opinion on the topic at hand: I believe that any major dropzone in FL is going to give you the same professional level of training in AFF. Also, each and every one of them has systems in place to take you to the tunnel if you are having a hard time getting through a level. The tunnel is a fantastic tool for fixing basic problems that some people get early on in their training. Likewise, it is a fantastic tool for experienced skydivers to hone their art in new and exciting ways. No, you don't have to go to the tunnel to pass AFF or become a champion skydiver, but that's not the point. The point is that it IS a great tool when used with a purpose in mind. Well, for that matter, it's also a load of fun to screw around in when you don't have to spend your money on it. Me? 254 hours in the cone at Fort Bragg. I have trained many, many people in the finer art of freefall stability in the tunnel (including Joan Lunden). $500 is a lot to ask for the amount of tunnel time afforded by SDU. Like others have said in this thread, there are many, many people over in Orlando who would gladly coach you for much less. Chuck

Maybe I am mistaken, but it seems like I just saw the turbo mingo in the Soul Flyers video.

Hint: never say anything bad about a person behind their back which you would not say to their face if given the opportunity.

Worchestershire sauce or soy sauce. I generally add the Worchestershire sauce. I also like to sprinkle Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy in.

I believe you can get ahold of Scott using his USPA address if nothing else. You may want to call Perris and get a contact info if someone from out there doesn't step in quickly and post or PM you his info. PS: no tequilla this time!

You are gonna have to get with Scott Smith, the meet director, to see if FLCPA quals will count. I will be arriving out there on the 7th and leaving the 13th and am competing in Open (Pro). Chuck

I don't buy the "watch the nylon stack up" part of your post. Where I jump, the first things that get packed are the rigs which most need to be repacked: tandems and student/rental rigs. If you are going to pack for our school, then that is your priority, pure and simple. Most dropzones don't have big packing concessions like Eloy and Perris where you can choose a packer and get your sport main packed at their convenience.

That is exactly what I have always preached. Nothing pisses me off worse than seeing busy dropzones, and even the GK tandem section, walking their students to the plane with harnesses hanging off their asses, totally slack. Not adjusting your students' harnesses down until hookup time is incredibly stupid in my opinion. You NEVER know when the shit is going to hit the fan and you are going to have to get out low. Chuck

Regal Eagle, War Damn Eagle, Kick'em in the Butt Big Blue!

Agreed. I will reiterate what I said long, long ago: You can learn HP landings on anything over your head. A three second turn is a three second turn is a three second turn, no matter how high or low you initiate it. Your final turn altitude is determined by the altitude lost over whatever period of time it takes for you to complete X amount of rotation with the altitude needed for the canopy to complete it's natural recovery arc. The amount of time it takes to complete the turn remains the same. Arbitrarilly throwing turns without knowing nearly precisely how much altitude you will lose and how long it should have taken is dangerous and amateurish. Those of us who began doing HP turns when the smallest canopy available was a 120....period....know good and well that the shorter recovery arc offered by those canopies didn't make for any more injuries than todays jumpers experience under sub 100 mains. The difference is that nobody back then in their right mind was stupid enough to start throwing radical hook turns with only 200 jumps. Today, it's simply vogue to sport tiny shit on your back and throw turns LONG before you are ready for it. I see very few instances these days of people truly wringing out their canopies. They would rather get bare-minimum experience on the smallest "first" canopy that someone will sell them, then hastilly downsize in hopes of getting "better" landings. Yes, there are some people out there who progress very quickly while maintaining a good safety record (Rhino is one....I have met him and seen his landings), but he is not the norm. He got coaching very early on and stuck with "training" hop and pops for quite a long time in his efforts to get his canopy dialed. The bottom line here is that you can swoop anything you like. No, you are not going to kick my ass (or anyone else on tour) under your Spectre, Safire, or whatever, but who gives a shit. There is a big difference in what we do through courses and what is "fun" on the DZ. Be safe, get training when it's available, and then be satisfied in the knowledge that it's all good so long as "it feels good and is stylie." Chuck

Likewise, I will be arriving in Ontario on the 7th and need to bum a ride to Perris. No idea what I am going to do for lodging either until I leave on the 13th. Chuck

Anything that you are comfortable with, no matter how potentially sketched out your deployment might end up being. My choice: Sabre2 for all my wingsuit flights.

Steve, those are simply fucking fantastic! Brilliant! Drive on, you freaky fuck, you!

Not really.

Listen, I think this is a complete sham, but I challenge any of YOU to show me pictures of YOUR free TV or I-pod to make me a believer. I have already told one person on here not to post this crap, but since someone else already put it up, I am not going to be the one to delete it. Once again, show me YOUR free prize. Conning your buddies into buying shit to make yours free does not count (that makes it a pyramid scheme and I won't let that slide.) Chuck

That's the first parapente CRW I have ever seen. Odd that the bottom guy in the Pendullum (that's what the GK's call drag planes) was dropped straight off the bottom. Everytime I have done one, the third guy up drops the bottom two in downplane configuration and then they subsequently break at whatever altitude they can get away with.