SkymonkeyONE

The problem is, Paige, your definitions and understanding of "right and wrong" are not anything like those of some other people around the world. There is no way, none, that we, or anyone else, can impose our morals and standards on others who have acted in a contrary manner since the beginning of civilization in their land. When I flew into Port au Prince in the back of that MH-53 ready to throw down, I thought I was setting down in a Mad Max movie set. You see, the USA had already intervened twice in a very-major way in the past hundred years in efforts to get Haiti to catch up with the rest of the civilized world. We went in, set up utilities and infrastructure, got some semblance of order established, then eventually left them to finish the job. Unfortunately, when "big daddy" left, corruption set in. There are only two castes in Haiti: the filthy rich, French speaking people in Petionville (an area in the Port au Prince foothills) and the dirt poor. All of the wealthy people, all of them, hire guards to keep the squatters off their property and to protect against theft. Squatters build shanties literally right against the back security walls of those houses, right on the sides of huge ravines. They, with incredibly few exceptions, practice SantaRia voodoo as their religion. They all, with no exceptions I could find, think it is perfectly alright to steal from you so long as you have two of something. They have no remorse whatsoever after you catch them hacking up a neighbor with a machete. It's not civilization as you know it. No amount of religious missionaries has ever been able to change that. No amount of money we (USA) have spent there has resulted in any lasting stability in the country. Every single time we leave there, the locals raid and loot the facilities which we have left for them. They leave nothing; not a single wire in any conduit, not a single fixture in any wall. All that is not protected is looted and sold in the markets in downtown Port au Prince. I could ramble on for hours, so I will just stop. Chuck

-60 way -4 point 40-way -lots of single point crap between 30 and 60 way

I wasted an entire year of my life in Haiti (two six-month trips). It's truly unbelievable what a difference an imaginary line (or not; there is a fence down a lot of the border) can make. The difference between the Dominican Republic (where I have also spent a LOT of time) and Haiti is night and day. Seriously. One side barren and treeless (they cut down trees, burn them and sell the coals to cook with) and the other side green and beautiful. One side lawless and nasty, the other side with an infrastructure and decent government. You know, the people who live up along the northern side of the border which separates the two countries on the island of Hispanola barter in markets in a sort of "caveman" language. The Dominicans refuse to speak or learn Haitian Creole (an incredibly bastardized language) and the Haitian vendors don't have sense enough to speak proper French (the proper national language) or learn Spanish. It's nuts; they sort of hold stuff out and grunt at each other and hold up fingers for how much they want to trade. I shit you not. Like my cousin Pajarito said (yes, he is my first cousin), there is no way in the world that any amount of intervention or money will ever fix that place. None.

I do. I also have seen plenty of instances where "standard" riser covers cause eneven openings. Hop and pops in swoop competitions are great places to see funky openings. It's for those reasons that many people exit for hop and pops with their riser covers either open or closed and under their risers. Chuck

Perhaps you can't, but maybe that is a product of doing a lot of flying on your head (or feet perhaps) and not being in a a position to survey the ground on a regular basis. Once again, perhaps you can't guarantee. I am far from irresponsible. I never indicated that I like to track directly back down the line of flight, nor did I ever indicate that I liked to track directly over the top of people behind me. I did say that I would absolutely make it back to the airport if I noticed that I was hosed, but had the opportunity to rectify it. As to Alan's comment stating "what about the guy with 100 jumps...." all I have to say is that personal preservation is an individual event. It's my duty to make sure that I land safely. If I am doing AFF, then it's also my duty to make sure that I do what I can to ensure my student makes it back safely. If that means me giving him/her the "pull" signal at seven grand as opposed to them opening at five, then so be it. If that means that I need to find an alternate, safe "out" for both of us right after I dump (always deploy immediately after my students), then I will find that area and then guide him/her in. I clear my airspace prior to pulling, you clear yours. Consider my opinion wreckless if you like, but I instruct skydiving for a living and my experiences tell me that self preservation tactics executed in a perfuctory manner, both in freefall and canopy control, can mean the difference between "oops, bad spot" and "call 911." I challenge you to compare the number of freefall/canopy collision incidents versus catastrophic off-landing incidents. Once again, the majority of such freefall/canopy collisions do not happen as a result of tracking back from long, bad spots; they happen right over the top of the dz. And by the way, my moderator status has nothing to do with anything I post in regards to this subject. My 3800 jumps, lifelong experience and every instructional rating do.

I am organizing flocks for the entire boogie, Billy. Also, that's the perfect opportunity to do some practice air evals with the actual BM-I course director. Chuck

Background: -3800 jumps -nearly 2000 on canopies under 100 sq ft. -over 350 wingsuit flights -about 250 jumps on this Sabre2 97 @1.83 I have owned a lot of parachutes in my day, but this ranks as my favorite "all around" parachute. It is the perfect wingsuit canopy for people wanting more performance than that afforded by seven cell varieties. It opens great, flies great, and lands great. It affords me a lot of piece of mind when I am flying my wingsuit, even loaded at my heavier-than-recommended wingload. Packing: I pack one of two ways; either a standard PRO pack with no "tricks", or an old-school stack pack. I find that stack packing provides me the best openings for wingsuit flight, but your mileage may vary. I have never had any "spinners" using either method. Openings: soft, but not "snivelly", predictable and on heading within about 45 degrees everytime. Performance in flight: very stable in straight flight. Low front riser pressure and a steep dive at my wingload. Good deep brake stability. Landings: powerful flare with long control range. Rear risers nicely. Nice distance in a properly executed swoop.

John is a good sort.

I totally believe it's possible. Hell, Stefan Lipp has over 1300 jumps on his Vectran set on his Velocity 84. Yes, that's way overdoing it, but it made it that far before someone "made" him send it back for a reline. It's all in how you take care of your equipment.

Rob, I have not done it yet, but know exactly what I need to do to make it happen. The smaller PC and IP cameras will easily fit in a cypres bag-sized container which you can sling under one shoulder under your jumpsuit. Not at all in the way.

I will absolutely track back toward the airport and encourage others on my formation to do so if that is what it takes to land on. In doing so I will ALSO keep a keen lookout for my fellow jumpers who exited in front of me. I will deploy above them, always. In tracking back toward the people who exited before me I am not putting any person in danger for I am not blindly hauling ass. By pulling high, I didn't infer that I meant dumping higher than students or tandems. If I am jumping a "one pass" plane at a "one pass" dropzone, if I am going to skydive, I better get out of the damn plane. If I am with a student and we are TOO long, I will demand that second pass (or a 180 if possible), but if I am at a boogie, then I am going to do what I have to do to make it back once I figure out where I am in the sky in relation to the dropzone and the groups before me. These days, it's rare that I am not in a wingsuit if I am not hauling meat or doing AFF. That said, it's incredibly rare that anyone is behind me. Chuck

Carbone clan on the premises? Oh no, call me a doctor. Chuck Blue

Chu doin ML?!

I have seen some very good handicam footage. Beezy Shaw does it all the time at Chris Martin's dropzone in TN. I have also held and examined Rob's mount; it's very nice. With the device on, I still have full range of motion with my wrist and had no problem whatsoever getting to my handles with my tandem rig on. I think that in the right hands handicam is a great tool. It fits perfectly into Cessna operations and, once again, in the correct hands, makes it entirely possible to get two tandems with paid video in a 182. The system also works fantastically on the wrist of very-experienced reserve-side AFF instructors. Actually, I think the video from that usage are even better than the tandem ones. I am going to end up getting one, but wouldn't dare jump a camera as big as our PC-120 in it. I have what is probably the best answer to that problem already though: bullet cam mounted on the top of your hand. Less weight, faster reflexes in case some monkey does try to grab your wrist. Chuck

Both. Generally, I freefly in my BirdMan Pantz and a long-sleeve T-shirt, but I also have a baggier one-piece suit laying around.

That's not an accurate statement. Larger sizes of Javs and all the student ones are still very prone to come open.

I will absolutely dump high if I know I am hosed. Generally, in those situations, I am in the front of the plane with an AFF student. If I think I can make it back, then I am going to exit and traffic behind me is minimal; tandems and wingsuits. If I am in a "middle" group that exits after the first group which happens to have gotten out on a downwinder (lets say it was pilot error..), then I am going to do whatever I can to land on the airport. I am going to point wildly toward the airport to my buddies, then I am going to track my ass off in that direction, then I am going to dump high enough to make it back safely. Before I throw my pilot chute, I am going to wave off very conspicuously then let it fly. If anyone got out after me and didn't realize that they too were hosed, but kept on humming it down over the swamp then that's their bad. I don't think the risk of getting hit by a "raining skydiver" under canopy is any greater than getting badly injured by landing in the middle of the piney woods or in a city street under my Velocity 79. Just my opinion, but then I have been jumping for over 23 years now and have seen MANY more instances of bad injury and/or death from landing off than I have from people falling through canopies. Both happen, but generally not for the same reasons. Most of the instances where I have seen and heard of people coming through canopies were straight over the top of the dropzone, right in the correct spot. Never heard of it happening when someone dumbed out, way out, and trying to get back to the airport. Peace, Chuck Blue D-12501

Nice. I saw the footage sort of by accident, flipping through the channels. No, the flocking was not technical at all, but it was beautiful. There was quite a mix of suits there, so it's good that they got the formation together and flying (sort of) cleanly. Little girls with S-3's mixed with at least one bigger guy in an old Crossbow. Other than the cold, they looked like they had a blast in NZ. Wish I could convince someone to sponsore ME on an around the world tour. Very, very nice. Chuck

Jumping an X, XX, XS, or MC-4/5 with a wingsuit is not advisable due to the ripcord/spring-loaded pilotchute configuration. Also, the side panels would not fit under the wing. Wingsuits are build for "standard" equipment and I don't see any way to route th additional bellyband, side panels, etc through the wings. I, like my fellow monkeys, have "more than a few" jumps under all of these rigs and don't consider jumping a 65 pound rig with a 370 square foot main "fun." Hollywood jumps in any wind whatsoever were cause for concern with me. I would MUCH rather have a ruck hung on me to get me down. That said, I am equally happy with either a front or a rear mount, and have jumped both together on several occasions. Flying a ruck is much akin to doing a tandem with no drogue. I never really got taken for a ride that I could not control, but did experience a couple of broken shoulder straps while jumping rear mounted that took some funky flying in order to counter the spin it induced. Chuck MFFJM (among other things)

I lived on the dropzone in a camper for about a year and a half while I was managing the school. It was not a bad life, but most everyone I know who has done the same, or still is, finds themselves sort of "stuck" on the dropzone, rarely leaving (assuming a dropzone with a bar, restaurant, etc). That can grow very old after a time. Fun jumping comes seldomly if you are a working man. If you have all your ratings and are making a living off of them, then you will have to work very hard in order to support yourself. If you are a packaho, then you will be too busy packing to skydive. You can make more money packing than instructing and hauling meat, period, but that is not "making a living skydiving." Some people are suited for dropzone life; I am, others are not.

I don't know how many times I am going to have to hear these stories before I just quit bothering to say same the same old thing: You are a student until you have your A-license. You don't have an A-license until you have a fully completed, signed and stamped A-card. Graduating seven levels of "old" AFF does not make you an experienced skydiver, nor does it mean you are off of student status. It simply means you are to the point in your progression where you are no longer required to jump with AFF certified instructors. Substitute "AFF" for "SL", "IAD", "AFP" , or whatever they call it at your dropzone (assuming USA here). If you learned or are learning at a school that doesn't spell that out to you in no uncertain terms, then they are doing you a disservice.....period. Why does this still happen? Simple, they don't want you driving an hour down the road to the next dropzone. The one that says that they can get you through AFF for $400 less. Until there comes some industry standard/requirement for advertising the complete cost of the program from FJC to A-license, then dropzone owners are going to try to lure you to their place by telling you half the truth or just outright lies. This isn't just happening at podunk dropzones in the middle of the woods, it's happening at some of the largest, most popular dropzones in the USA. There is no excuse, none, for "graduating" a student with seven (or eight, or ten...whatever) skydives and sending him/her down the road without proper documentation (read: A-card, completely filled out and signed logbook, etc) and no concept of what USPA actually requires in order to get licensed. Yes, your dropzone might make more money because you lured more people there under the perception that yours was a complete course, but in the end you lose. You get stories just like the person who started this thread circulating all over an internet site with over 30,000 registered users. Get the picture? Educate your students from day one on what it will take for them to actually become licensed and thus able to travel to other dropzones and skydive. Give them all the training they need to check off the blocks on their card. Do the right thing. It's all there in black and white (the SIM), so anything you do to the contrary will simply not pass the litmus test should you get an informed or inquisitive student who has "done their homework." Chuck Blue D-12501 AFF/SL/TM-I, BMCI, PRO

To that end, I know quite a few people who do exactly what you just said: unstow brakes after slider stowage/removal, then fly to a complete stop on rears. The upper strata of canopy pilots reguarly perform this "art" on very-small canopies, yet the great majority of skydivers nowadays have never once even tried to turn their canopy with rear risers, much less practice landings at altitude in case they ever break a control line and need to actually land on rears under their canopy. Practice using all of your control inputs on a regular basis up at altitude. One of the first things a pilot does when flying a new type of airplane is practice stalls, both power off and full power. Most people I see nowadays who downsize or change to a more HP planform simply try to live through the landings, barely touching the toggles or risers. Senseless and dangerous.

That was a good little movie, Erk.

Absolutely. Some of the worst wrecks today are people stalling their wings because they dug too hard or they stayed in their rear risers too long and deep.

KAZ SHEEEEEKEY! Whassup? Lake Motski is the name of the swoop pond on the dropzone. Chuckie Blue