SkymonkeyONE

However you stow your lines on your bag, what's most important for consistency is the way you put your bag in the container (grommet straight up is best) and having cut (open) bottom corners. Our deployment forces are to the rear and up at around a 45 degree angle at pull-time in the skydiving configuration. This, assuming you are breaking at the legs and "sitting up" when you deploy. If you break at the legs without sitting up then you risk throwing your PC right into the leg wing. If you are throwing from full flight then do not break at the legs. Let the PC go past your leg wing, drag your bag out, and then deal with the whiplash and potential line-twist after your main sits you up. It's a total trade-off. BASE guys throw in full flight because they do not want to lose altitude during the throw. Skydiving wingsuiters generally deploy MUCH higher, jump MUCH smaller mains, and need the time to sort out their canopies. FWIW, I jump a 97 square foot main in my wingsuit rig (a Sabre2). It's simply vanity that precludes me from jumping ~120 square in that rig, but I accept the risk so that I can still swoop it. BOTH of my sport rigs (swoop x-braced 80 and 97 nine cell) have open corners, one-foot-longer bridles and are packed grommet up Chuck

I moderated these forums for a LONG time, as did quite a few others back in the day. When you have a cake job where you are tied to a desk it's pretty damn easy. Still, when the site went from thee to five, to more forums and we got spread thin it was a CHORE. It's a thankless job with no pay or benefits. Eventually, it becomes too much and for whatever reason we (so many of us now) had to walk away from it to make actual skydives for a living or go into mental rehab. Anyway, I propose a new organization compromised entirely of former dropzone.com moderators. As we can no longer access the Team Room, we should just post to this thread and pontificate about our experiences. Hooknswoop? Remi? Who else is with me? That is all Chuck

Funny stuff. You know, I moderated this site from 1998 when there were only three forums for nearly eight years. It's easy to keep up with everything when you have a fuck-off job, but it's REALLY hard to keep up when you live in a place with a shitty internet connection and you have to actually jump out of an airplane all day long to make a living. I was fascinated last month when SO many of the original posters came out of the woodwork to say" congrats" for my 31st skybirthday. I love all of you old guys Chuck

That's different than a Prius with a big rack on the trailer hitch?

are you staying in the bunkhouse? You should have just taken the shuttle if so. There is no reason to leave the DZ if you are there to "just" skydive. You can eat, sleep, skydive, wash your ass, and fuck on the premises (sic?). Chuck

just spent two days "back home" in Z-Hills. Lovely new pond configuration, nicer bar, same old buddies. Thankfully, the old El Camino is finally dead and replaced by new trucks

I jumped Stilettos for six years (97 and 107) and never chopped one. The only reason I would not go back to one in these, my older skyding years, is the short toggle stroke. I would actually just rather upsize my wingsuit main, a Sabre2 97, back up to like a 107 or 120 (if I got REALLY fat and out of shape). I'm 48 and have 7500 jumps in 31 years BTW and currently jump a Xaos 27 80 and a Sabre 2 97

I've owned four velos and loved them all. At one point I traded a pristine-new 79 for a first-year demo-fleet 84 to get longer distance. Good lines, but the ZP was totally worn out and I regretted the trade. I never cutaway a Velo in the four years I jumped them.

just shallow enough in the middle so you can stand up and your reserve pack tray is out of the water. Most I have seen/ swooped are around 2.5 feet deep in the middle. Ours here at Raeford Parachute Center in NC is 100' x 300'

Can't wait to sit on the bleachers and watch the action. If any of you guys show up early or stay late, please come out to the DZ and have some beers with us "regular" staff skydivers. PS: if you have not signed Team Teamroom at Raeford, then you are missing out. Thanks to the French guys, 4-Speed for being such good sports last weekend! Chuck

like a fat baby's dick?

Now

"Graduating from AFF" doesn't really mean anything in the big picture. You are a student skydiver until you have at least 25 skydives and have COMPLETELY filled in your A-License proficiency card. If you were not told that right up front, in your FJC, then I feel bad for you. Skydiving IS expensive and it will never be anything other than that. Initial training is expensive, follow-up training (coaching), gear rental, and gear purchase is expensive. Jump tickets are expensive. The only way to eventually defray the cost of this habit is to become an instructor. Some people are cut out for that; others are not. I love skydiving and I have been doing it since I was 17 (31 years ago). It's been TOTALLY worth it to me. Hell, my dad is 79, had 1000 jumps when I was born, still skydives, and still thinks he's better looking than me! Chuck Blue, D-12501 AFF-I, SL-I, TM-I, PRO, S&TA

Mark, I thought I was a year older than you... Whatever, brother. I love you man!

No. List it on craigslist and have people come to YOU with cash or verifiable "same as cash" for big sales. When I sold my big-ass fifth-wheel in FL, I carried it all the way across the state to the buyers bank so that they could pay me cash. I'm just not a fan of PayPal for large purchases

He's a homo

Jari Kuosma was doing exactly this in the Helsinki (Finland) horizontal wind tunnel a LONG time ago. There is video of it somewhere on here. He was laying at about a 45 degree angle secured to a stand. This was when he was testing the original SkyFlyer.

Absolutely nothing. I was the last jumper in my club to switch to BOC.

Cannot connect

As to "sitting in the harness", I totally agree. Reconfiguring the student for the canopy ride is my second priority, after performing my canopy control check. Still, some people's bodies are simply not made for tandems. Some instructors/students just cannot get the leg straps pushed forward under the meaty portion of their thighs. Some instructors can't get the legstraps situated nor the chest strap loosened enough to prevent "round" people from passing out. It happens. Chuck

No moonshine for you!

You're pretty damn smart for an OFFICER.....

We old-timers used to REGULARLY meet there. There were some fantastic discussion. Problem was, there was the ability to save the stream and some people did that (which pissed others off). My opinion was/is that if you were not there, then you don't need to know what went on. Chuck

Just for the sake of discussion: I'd pee in her butt

Every manufacturer will make a left-handed BOC at no extra charge as far as I know.