SkymonkeyONE

Aub, I jump a totally removable slider/RDS on my sport/swoop rig and the out-poking wings dive loops do not hang up my slider grommet blocks at all. I can't imagine that a one inch wide type 17 outward-facing loop would hold them up either. Chuck

because most guys who come across as "the buddy" are either trying to be your pal because they want in your pants (even though you don't want to believe it and even though your boyfriend has already told you as much), or they are gay. Chuck

Well, more than a few people on here "date" people whom they have never laid an eye on, so in that respect then, yes, I guess it would be OK for some people to date a lurker. Assuming they have all their teeth that is. Chuckie

I just want to know if Missy has actually met this Tuna person in real life yet.

I would not hesitate to fly my velo through that hole.

I have taken more than a few ankle docks in my day and found them no more difficult than a "standard" wrist dock. Not sure what the concern is. Chuck

Hey, Fool. All your pics which say "Dan" are of DAVE Brown.

THAT is why you don't need to be messing with single instructor tandem/hybrid shit unless you are dual-rated AFF/tandem. It is a fantastic program to run if you are an independant subcontractor with all your ratings, your own tandem rig, and your own student rig. It's also great for dropzones with a limited amount of AFF instructors, but who don't care to teach any variety of SL or IAD. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that once you have taken a person on three "real" ISP-type tandem progression jumps, then they ought to be fine on a one-JM AFF jump. Chuck AFF/TM/SL-I, BMCI, PRO

Six hours of freefall for civilians and four hours for specop military who only teach at their own closed courses. The AFF rating has never been about jump numbers.

Personally, I carry a gun any goddamn where I please (other than federal buildings). In states where there are proper concealed carry permits available, it is a felony to carry your gun into places where they are prohibited either by posted sign or local/state statute. Conversely, if you have no such permit and get caught it is only a misdemeanor offense. Reason? You have not been "trained" that it is wrong. I do not possess a current conceal carry permit for that reason (in NC anyway). The bottom line when it comes to guns is that if a person wants to carry a gun in a bar then that's what they are going to do, regardless of what the law says. I am totally for open carry and as a matter of fact it is legal in quite a few places. The knowledge that anyone you come into contact with might very well be armed is, in my opinion, a fantastic deterent to violent crime. I was raised on a farm in the country where guns (and gun safety) were a normal part of life. Everyone I know had a shotgun and a rifle on a rack in their back window. All grown men carried pistols in their vehicles and on their person when they felt the need and nobody thought anything of it. There was the same frequency of fist fights back then and even a few knifings, but very few instances of gun violence. I have been many, many places in the world where you would have to be a complete idiot to travel without a firearm and have been right in the middle of one situation in Guatemala where the guns me and my teammates were carrying saved our lives and those of quite a few other motorists around us. It's incredibly cliche, but the old bumper sticker often seen on the back of redneck pickup trucks really rings true: "when guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns." So, to reitterate, I am all for concealed carry permits including bars and restaurants, banks and other lending institutions, and most other buildings currently banning such carry. I promise you that you would not regret having me standing next to you (armed) if some fucking crackhead robber tried to roll you in a 7-11 convenience store. Chuck

I have a framed copy of that photo along with other framed photos that Mike took of our moderator jump and our cover photo for parachutist. I have not seen an electronic version of the group photo anywhere.

There is an awesome shot of me doing my lazyboy right in front of the balloon on the Airzone site. I copied it as my background on my computer.

I guess you missed me at Rantoul, then.

Shut up and POST THE PICS, woman!

Hooty HOO!

Don't get me wrong; I make my living as an AFF and tandem instructor as do MANY of the pro competitors and I was up there spending money instead of earning. I never said the dropzone didn't have cause to make money on a busy weekend. What I said was that it sucked that the aircraft issue made it such that the meet had to run longer than it had to. That concerns the competition itself, not the dropzone's day-to-day business. FWIW, there were at least 20 Cessna loads: round 6 and round 8 for sure. My (and at least several others, including Fruitcake) reason for leaving early was simply a result of needing to get home at a reasonable hour Sunday night/Monday morning. It was a 12 hour drive for me. The Ranch is an incredibly cool dropzone and the PSN has always been a favorite meet of mine. I will absolutely be back next year, but really hope that we have more favorable weather and a better aircraft contingency plan. Chuck Blue D-12501

If you carve your turns as opposed to "banging" them, you will increase the initiation altitude quite a bit. Make no mistake, a 135 is not a "big" parachute by any means, regardless of the fact that many of us now jump sub-100's regularly. You can swoop a 135 a very long way with the right input. The fact that you have to change your initiation height with different parachutes and planforms is elementary. Each and every parachute you jump will handle and dive differently, I can promise you that. The ability to fly what is over your head at any certain moment is what makes a good canopy pilot. On a regular basis I switch between three, sometimes four different mains: Velo 79, Sabre2 97, Firebolt 350 tandem, StarTrac I. All require very different flying styles in order to get them to do what you want them to do. Doing practice turns and flares at altitude and on pre-set headings gets your brain back in tune with your canopy. Sight picture and setup altitude are different with every canopy and at every dropzone at every altitude. Learning and practicing the basic principles of standard and HP turns is fundamental. You should not have any problem adjusting to another canopy should you use those same principles to dial in any new canopy you might buy. Chuck

You are right about the convention being fun this year. I only wish the weather had been more cooperative for wingsuit flights. We lost nearly four entire days to solid overcast and low clouds. The swoop meet was fun, even if I did get hosed on my last turn. Mel, neither Katie nor I saw you; were you there? If so, you are in the doghouse for not saying hello. Chuck

The video stream was a compilation of WFFC stuff from two and three years ago and the link to the 2004 competition photos was dead.

Actually, Eric, the tabs that hold down the risers on two sets of my Wings risers work great, but pack bulky at the yoke. They are also totally redundant and I only use them on wingsuit jumps under my Sabre2. I don't use tabs on any of my other risers because they don't really pull your slider down far enough to be out of the way for swooping or when you are wearing a camera. As to dive loop designs, I really like the way the ones on my wings pop out to the side on opening. I hate nothing worse than reaching up for my loops after a perfect setup only having to fumble for the types that seem to just lay on your risers. The only problem with the wings design is that the webbing is really skinny and it bites into my hands. I hate to wear gloves, so my hands really get beat up by them on busy days. Peace, Chuckie

Me too. I want to hear your bad story. I, on the other hand, have had absolutely first-rate customer service from Roger and Cathy at Alti-2. I can't imagine ever jumping anything other than a Neptune as an alti anymore. Incredibly light, multi-function, waterproof. I also own a very-old altmaster II that they have serviced for me repeatedly for free, and an altimaster 3 which they fixed for me for free. Nice people.

There was also a shortage of porta-potties this year. I had to walk quite some distance (in the middle of the night) to cop a squat this year. More water sources would be FANTASTIC. We were very fortunate to be able to score a freshwater tank refill from the fire truck about half-way through the convention for our camper on vendor row.

The real deal: There are only two monkey numbers......period. Me and Kip Lohmiller. Anyone who is a member of the (then) Green Beret Parachute Club or (now) Fort Bragg Parachute Club is automatically a Skymonkey after they graduate student status. Hats may be awarded by myself, Kip Lohmiller, and whoever the current manager of the (former) GBSPA is. John Hayes was awarded his hat by the manager of the club and has been a fantastic host to the club since it moved to his very-friendly dropzone in Parkton, NC. Matt was a member of the club when he was stationed here, and LeRoy used to jump at the club. End of incredibly lame pissing contest. On a separate note: Once both Kip and I left the club upon our retirement from the army, we, as the originators of the clan, became the only Skymonkeys outside the club who can "give" you a hat. With incredibly few exceptions, I have bought every single hat I have ever given out, with my own money. The only people who can simply go out and buy their own hats are members of the (now) Fort Bragg Parachute Club. Those outside the club but jumping at the same dropzone may only be given hats, or given permission to buy hats, by the manager of the club (or the former manager, Arlo Guthrie). The people outside of Raeford/Parkton, NC who have been given a hat by myself or Kippy in the past few years need to remember what this is all about. It's about you being on my good side to the degree that I felt like including you in my tightest circle of local skydiving friends. We club locals/veterans get to regularly experience the brotherhood and cameraderie that originated in 1998 in that ratty-ass building off of Macomb street on Fort Bragg. We have phenomenal cook-outs and parties on a regular basis and truly love bringing the new jumpers into the fold. That's what it's all about. Peace to all, Chuck Blue, SM-1

Yep, I am there and back now. Saw Remi and Karen when they arrived and warned them against pitching a tent in the low ground. It rained cats and dogs everyday but Sunday.

This was a very fitful meet for me. The drive up sucked, the weather sucked completely, the vibe was very different than the last time I was there for the meet, and attendance was way down (only 44 entrants). I still found ways to entertain myself, but ultimately the aircraft fiasco on Sunday made me have to leave early after only completing five of eight rounds. We did one round (water targets) out of the Otter first thing Sunday morning, but then got relegated to flying all the rest of the rounds (at least until I had to leave) out of a C-182. The school and the fun jumpers had full priority on the remaining otter after the total weather wash on Saturday, so that was that. The other regularly scheduled otter was out of commision as someone taxied it into a tree damaging the wing following some scheduled maintenance. Ugh. There were a bazillion people standing around in the mud waiting to skydive on Sunday. I was incredibly disappointed during my drive home yesterday afternoon evening. I was tied for 21st with Brett Willard and Sonic going into Sunday's rounds. It was WAY too long a drive for me to have stuck around for 33 Cessna loads though, so I had to book. I have not checked to see how the meet came out, but Jeffro had a nice lead when I left. There was a LOT of chowing going on at this year's meet. I butt-surfed out onto the grass one time, but otherwise stayed dry. Most people I saw got totally submerged at least once. As a plus, the meet only cost $200 this year, including jumps! Hopefully, next year the weather will cooperate better and we will have first priority as competitors. People came from as far away as Brazil, Florida, California, Washington, and Hawaii for this meet and it absolutely sucked to get stuck in that Cessna. Peace, Chuckie