SkymonkeyONE

Jari got in a flattie so bad this year that he had to chop his wings. Balling up didn't do the trick. I think it was this year anyway....

You are worthless and weak and your God is a woman! Suck it up, man! It's only two hundred dollars! Drive your butt up here to Fayetteville and we can split driving from here.

No luck yet. Looks like I am driving it alone.

Jiggs, I am not sure what reason you would want to d-bag an FX, but the only thing I can think of is that you possibly want the benefits of an RDS without the hassles of reeling it in. In competitions past, some of us simply used "expendible" deployments systems for distance runs. purpose-sewn d-bags with old, non-collapsible pilot chutes. Last time I saw any used was at Perris in the 2001 season and not a single one was lost; all were recovered.

Crossposting and I really don't care right now: Is there ANYONE driving north to the meet from anywhere south of North Carolina who would let me ride with them tomorrow (Wednesday)? I am going up to the meet, but am REALLY not interested in driving all that way by myself. Rantoul was a really long haul. If I don't hear back from anyone tonight, I will be leaving here tomorrow by lunch. I have already called everyone I know in Deland and Z-hills, so if you are going, gimme a holla! Chuck

Is there ANYONE driving north to the meet from anywhere south of North Carolina who would let me ride with them tomorrow (Wednesday)? I am going up to the meet, but am REALLY not interested in driving all that way by myself. Rantoul was a really long haul. If I don't hear back from anyone tonight, I will be leaving here tomorrow by lunch. Chuck

I watched the last about 300 feet of it from the BirdMan tent sitting in a chair. I watched slack-jawed as John stood on the other guy's shoulders at around 150 feet and was hanging onto what appeared to be either the B or C lines of the pilot's canopy. He was going "woo hoo, woo hoo!" I didn't see the dismount since they flew down past the organizer tent, but by all accounts the landing was uneventful. John had his packing tent set up right behind my RV at the convention. They did not appear to be coming in at any break-neck speed, even under the 210 canopy. Chuck

I was still awake at 8:00 am on more than one occasion this year. I heard the song every single morning. My favorite time hearing it was after an all-nighter (the next to last one I think) while standing in the middle of the main landing area. It was very nice.

Jake vs. Spectator Area...........spectator area wins Jake vs. Airplane....................airplane wins Jake vs. Altitude.....................CYPRES wins, camera helmet loses Jake's ass vs. Asphalt.....................Asphalt wins Macca vs. Asphalt and golf cart..............Asphalt wins handilly. Lewmonst vs. Altitude..........CYPRES wins My fingers vs. mystery object........mystery object wins at least five times on wingsuit flights. My hands got really beat up after openings this year. Luigi vs. VX-39..............Luigi wins and leaves me slack jawed. Fucking awesome. John the packer and friend vs. Death on the Mister Bill landing.........John wins. Crazy

You were not going to be able to compete at the Lake Wales meet unless you first qualified in (probably) the top ten at Nationals anyway. I had not given much thought to making it to Lake Wales for that reason. Too bad about the hangar; it was really nice.

You think it's lame? Not me. I have had a bunch of them in the past, but my favorite is my HOOKIT! tag.

This is covered elsewhere on the forums, but what we use at Raeford are small, duplex, motorola two-way walkie talkies. We put them, antenna down, in a modified CYPRES pocket that we mount on their chest strap. They work great.

We post no signs nor encourage any tipping at Raeford. If it happens, great, but like many others here, I never expect it. I have been tipped maybe five times ever (over 500 tandems and 500 AFF dives and god knows how many SL students back in the day). Chuck

I have typed out quite a few doozies when I was pissed off that I, ultimately, refrained from posting or at least greatly modified.

That's true, but I can kill two birds with one stone by telling you why I pull outward on my rears. By pulling outward, as opposed to pulling down, I have less chance of inducing an unwanted turn. Also, at the point in my swoop where I go from rears to toggles, there is no "bump" as the slack is taken up in the control lines. If your hands are already out to the sides, then the released risers will not pop back straight, but still be deflected a bit because your control lines are held taut by the guide ring. Almost seamless.

The less you worry about it, the better it will work. Just put you feet up on your butt for a second and keep your head up, like Ed said.

I am generally piked forward at the waist a bit when I back-fly the exit out of an otter, but immediately push WAY back and down with my arms and arch hard from my upper back. Relaxing my arms at all on exit allows my S3 leg wing to really take me feet-high.

Perry, you ARE one sick puppy! See you soon. Chuckie

If you are tenting it, you had better bring not only a good ground cloth and rain fly, but ideally something that will keep you elevated off the floor of your tent. There has never been a year to my memory that has not included a torrential downpouring, near-hurricane-strength storm. If you shit is not tied down, it will be long gone. Also, if you screw up and leave the awning to your RV out, it will tear cleanly off and you will cry like a baby knowing that it's gonna cost you $1500 to replace the fucker. Conveniently, there is a laundry service which operates during the convention! It's not that expensive and it (at least last year) is located right over across from registration on the main drag (same road as the main entertainment tent, but on the other side and nearest the golf cart rental place.

I am bringing my sled as well (unless I change my mind), but would not consider parking and locking it anywhere other than right to my camper.

totally pointless post whoring.

Negative.

Correction: BirdMan, incorporated has no allegiance whatsoever with any promotion group and is operating independantly at the convention. On that note, the wingsuit seminar at Rantoul will be given by Chief Instructors from BirdMan, inc and is not "sponsored" in any way by any promotion group. Another note: while coaching and first flight instruction will be available from both wingsuit manufacturers present at the convention, there will also be an actual convention Load Organizer for experienced individual wingsuit afficianados who want to play together with a little structure. That free organizer will be available all day, everyday and is not in any way affiliated with either of the two suit manufacturer vendors nor Airzone. Other experienced, BMI qualified wingsuit organizers will be putting together random flocks throughout each day of the convention. Feel free to drop by either suit vendor or the dropzone.com tent and see who is doing what. Yes, I am sure that there are going to be "end of day" flocks at the convention. I would just ask that everyone use some common sense in their planning and ensure that different groups coordinate with each other for safety sake. At last year's convention we had an absolute stampede on the BirdMan booth, taking more than 200 people on first flights without incident. We intend to keep our safety record clean this year and are leading the charge to keep wingsuiters safe and fairly represented at this years convention as well. Once again, make no mistake, BirdMan incorporated is not in any way associated with any private promotion group or entity. Chuck Blue D-12501 BirdMan Chief Instructor and head representative at WFFC 2004

-jockstrap -green beret -light coat of oil

Nah, the GK's have not done anything as a unit when it comes to wingsuit flight. I am supposed to be giving training to a bunch of guys on the Black Demonstration Team this week and them jumping them at Rantoul, but that's it. Chuck