SkymonkeyONE

Trees.

I had a round reserve in all of my first three rigs. Landed a Phanton 22 once.

That would be a nice route.

Well, if you read how your student progression is supposed to work (in the SIM), and you are filling out a 4-page A-license proficiency card, then you will know that braked turns, turning using both front and rear risers, braked landings, etc, are all a part of basic skydiving training. You should have accomplished every one of those tasks before you got your A-license. Let me caveat that by saying: anyone who has undergone student training since 1 October 2001 (introduction/implementation of the ISP and the A-card). If a school isn't training the canopy control portions on the A-card, then you are paying for an entire program, but only getting half the important stuff. There are more than a few schools out there that talk students down on radios all the way through seven levels of AFF, then send them on their merry way. Most of those places never once mention anything about the different modes of flight and how to control your canopy using all inputs. That's a shame, because if your card got signed, they perpetrated a fraud. Each category of skydive on the 4-page A-card is broken down into two parts: freefall and canopy control. As you progress in your training, you are required to do different things under canopy as well as in freefall. What, you didn't know that? What, you never even saw an A-license card? You are not alone. It's very common, and that's too bad. There are some very large/famous DZ's out there with incredibly poor "overall" training and recordkeeping. Chuck

I have it on my S3 (and will on my next suit), but do not have it on my GTi, nor did I have it on either of my two Classics. I have only pulled it one time (I pulled all three handles on a very bad spinner). I do not BASE jump, and I really don't think I would buy the option on an S3 or a Classic. The wing is short enough on a Classic that you can simply run out a landing with the leg zipped in and the stance is wide enough on an S3 that you can do the same. Granted, you might possibly tear the tail of the S3 on such a landing, but you are not so restricted (like on a regular SkyFlyer) that you can't jog.

We came, we saw, we jumped out of airplanes, and felt the pain. It was a very busy weekend.

Your commander has the say-so on whether or not members of your command may or may not partake in "high risk" activities while in training. An example of this is the reg covering students in any training at USAJFKSWCS at Fort Bragg and it's outstations (Yuma, Key West). NO student in any course at the Special Warfare Center is permitted to participate in any skydiving or SCUBA diving while on student orders. This is waiverable at the O-6 level, but does not often get granted. Same rule applies to students in helicopter flight school at Rucker.

SURE you will.

Yippee! More linear scar tissue for SunCheHag! How the hell do you get off snapping your ankle walking in a mud bog, woman? Did you lose your shoe? Make sure you get video of the operation. Love, Chuckie

Canuck, I can tell with every certainty that the E-line mod was invented for the purpose of avoiding a dynamic rear riser stall for times when a competitor feels he just "must" dig on rears as opposed to simply bailing to toggles. Is digging on rears the right thing to do? No, not in my opinion, but that does not mean that some people go to extraordinary lengths to stay on rears, regardless of dig. Your one high-tier name is: Jay Moledski, the creator of that mod. As competitors become more attuned to the stall limits on rears, they are willing to push it a bit further. I have, to date, not dynamically stalled my Velo on rears, but I have come damn close (one PST Panama City distance round) when I really got deep in the corner yet cranked it out on rears. Others have tried and failed in competition. Joe Bennet, Andy Anderson, and Andy Farrington have all dynamically stalled on rears in competition. When it's "all or nothing", some people are willing to risk such stalls in hopes of placing high. Likewise, competitors at the highest level are also pushing it to the opposite extreme, often getting "vertical extensions" and getting zeros on rounds because they were too lean; just barely missing the tops of the entrance gates in hopes of blistering down the course, right in the meat of the powerband. I have seen and continue to see both extremes in competition. Chuck a PST professional

Not sure if it's still the case, but the GK's all used dacron on their Stilletos (and Sabres before that) for the same reason.

Going to DeLand Nice to take a break from here Hope the weather's nice

I have not seen Tamer on the site in quite some time.

LOL! What you tryin to say, Trav?

The Flight Concept Rage HERE is totally different. They are actually nearly done with the testing on their 360 tandem version. I jumped it last week at Monroe. INCREDIBLY nice openings. It's just a scaled-up Rage. Chuck

What are you doing? I will be there this afternoon, late, and will be there all weekend, fool! Bring the PAIN! Chuckie

And water gear on the passenger as well as the TM. I don't think I would be doing it with anything smaller than a UDT vest if I were TM'ing at a place like that. I have a lot of intentional water landings under both rounds and squares. It's incredibly likely that you will get drug if you are jumping in winds. Landing facing into the wind will keep your head above water as you are being drug, but will make it harder to unhook your passenger. If landing in water was imminent, I would make damn sure that all unneccesary straps were loosened prior to contact with the water. No reason for the student to get out of his/her harness if they have water gear, but YOU as the TM had better have your chest strap undone, the passenger's lower connectors undone, and be staring intently, ready to unsnap that first upper connector at first contact. I have only had one friend drown as a result of a water landing (it was even intentional!), but that is enough. He landed crosswind and got a suspension line wrapped around his neck as he was trying to get out of the harness. The wind was strong enough and that he was being drug so fast that he could not free the line. His fully-deployed water wings did not save him in this instance as he was choked out and drown. Bottom line here is that you better be goddamn sure you have a water landing SOP and that you stay current on it. Chuck

over one third of my seven-hour first jump course is spend covering canopy control/landing.

No. Like everyone else said, I seriously doubt any "lifetime warranty" would cover wear and tear, like ripping the ass out because of ass-surfing. Even if it did, who has time to send their suit all the way back to a manufacturer just to get a patch put on? No. I don't buy my suits just because Tony, Ray, Mike, Bev choose to sponsor top-level teams. I am going to buy the suit that fits me best and gives me the best customer service. That said, people have incredibly diverse feelings about their experiences with certain manufacturers. Some people absolutely LOVE the service they get from Tony, yet others hate it, even though they are talking about the exact same product/person making it. Ultimately, you are going to buy from the person that gives YOU the best product AND treats YOU right. Peace, Chuck

One JM always stays with the student and rides the plane down anytime a student does not jump for any reason.

The only thing I can assure you is that "it ain't me!"

Why exactly do you feel that sponsoring a group of inexperienced skydivers in a college club is any better than sponsoring the instructors at the nearest dropzone, which generally always advertise on campus anyway?

You were obviously responding to the original poster, Rob.

Actually, I think you can choose either poptop with a new racer. Personally, aesthetically, I like the bigger poptop

Yep, it was Tamer's idea. I am sure he did it so that he could get in the pants of one of those 15 year-old waitresses. Tamer: "Hey, I'm taking a collection!" Me: "beat it, fool."