SkymonkeyONE

Huh? Try Parachutist magazine, which comes free monthly to every member of the USPA, or Skydiving magazine (produced in Deland, FL) You can get subscriptions to both. Do a search.

Locked at the request of the original poster.

The site is less than a mile down the road from Raeford, and yes, we skydive all year long in North Carolina. It's never too cold to jump there. Chuck

No such a thing as "used to be a rigger."

Judy, My first sponsored container was a 50% wings which I got as a result of being an active instructor at the GBSPC on Fort Bragg in around 2000. There are plenty of opportunities like that in the sport, you just have to catch them. Yes, sponsoring current instructors and schools is a fantastic way to promote products.

Sponsorship is not a "reward" that companies dole out to their buddies; it is a marketing tool that they use in order to get their name and face out to the masses in an effort to sell more parachutes. While you may see what you deem to be an inordinate amount of sponsored athletes on championship teams in parachutist magazine and at major dropzones, there are just as many people "in the trenches." Manufacturers try hard to get the word out about their equipment. They try to outfit people who do a great deal of traveling and have a love of the product and an understanding of what makes it good. They try to pair their equipment up with the types of people who will best represent their product out in the field. They sponsor people with good reputations and positive outlooks on the sport and industry; people who have "been there and done that." The larger companies obviously have larger advertising budgets which they spend in what they believe is their best effort in maintaining and/or gaining market share. Seeing me with a logoed Sabre2 over my head at boogies all around the country makes for a good billboard. I am incredibly proud of my achievements in this sport and am lucky that I have a good name from them. My sponsors feel the same, and for that I am extremely grateful. I do everything I can for them because I believe in their products. I don't have any "freebie" anything; I take my sponsorships seriously. Chuck

Perry is pretty scary looking, isn't he?

Right. I was loading my Vengeance 97 at about 1.85 and it dove about as far as the Velocity 96 I jumped the same day as a comparison. Recovery arc felt about the same, only the Velocity went much farther across the ground.

I will be running a BirdMan Instructor course at Skydive Alabama in Cullman.

Vector III's have wrap-around corners, so cutting the inside seam down would work just like on a Wings or Mirage and would, in my opinion, be accomplished the same way. Yes, you should also get a long bridle if you plan on using this as your primary wingsuit rig. Can you get away without doing any of this? Sure, but what's the point? Using "the right tool for the job" makes sense.

I jumped Stilletos for six years in sizes 107 and 97, owned a Vengeance 97, and have jumped Velos in every size from 111 down to 75 (I jump a Velo 79 regularly nowadays). What you will find from going from a Vengeance to a Velocity is that it really doesn't dive all that much steeper, but builds up more speed and carries it farther across the ground much farther while maintaining a rigid airfoil in the process. PM me for more info if you like.

I believe Stefan Lipp made 1300 last year. He works WAY too hard. I did around 380 last year.

Just as a note here, old Sabres make brilliant wingsuit canopies. Our decreased vertical speed make for better openings and Sabres open straight all the time. They are also dirt cheap on the used market

My question exactly. My rigs are incredibly well put together.

very entertaining

That's awesome.

Checcck it! I am all about french vanilla creamer. No need to add any sugar. Hazelnut is also in the fridge though and I like that too.

PW as often as you like, just make damn sure you hit the "donate" button once in a while.

Every Walmart I have ever been in has black widow poles. I don't think I have ever paid more than $16 for even a 14-footer. Buy extras, because you can damn sure bet that your idiot buddies will be flying into your blades and breaking your poles.

Wings EXT! Represent!

Be in good shape for PT and know some cadences. Keep your damn mouth shut and don't "coach" your fellow tryouts. Realize that you are trying out to be a demonstration parachutist, not a member of a competition team. Understand that you will partake in peer evaluations every week. Know that even if they cut so many people that they don't have enough to meet their loss quota for the year, you are still not immune to being cut if you are a jackass. Keep a positive outlook and don't let any disdain for your fellow tryouts or the cadre show in your face, ever. Be prepared to work very hard......painting rocks and weeding runways at Laurenburg. Practice "real" target accuracy under a proper parachute so that you don't kill yourself or break your legs and tail-bone pounding in under a StarTrac (or PD 7-cell). There are a lot of current/former GK's who monitor these forums and post here. There are also more than a few people who have tried and failed (or were not released from their units after completing the program). I am sure you will get plenty of responses from both sides. Chuck I tried out in 1990, made it to the last day and was pulled back to my unit because my branch (SF) would not release me. I was INCREDIBLY pissed.

Personally, I don't care who has the fastest King Air; I don't like them. They are a complete pain in the ass for "work" skydiving (tandems and AFF) as compared to larger door airplanes and even C-182's. "fastest" only means something to people with the money to pay packers and rack up jump numbers really quick before noon so they can get dressed up and go play golf. I would take a slower Otter over a rocketship King Air anyday. And for the record: every dropzone has cliques. Chuck

Haven't seen it. Scan it and upload it.

If you are a young jumper with little experience in the sport and no instructional ratings, then you have no idea what you are talking about when you start comparing different training methods and "which is best." Please refrain from stating so until you have that experience. The bottom line here is that all methods of instruction lead you to the same level of proficiency by the time you are actually off of student status (read: A license). This, of course, assuming you jump at a DZ with a proper student training progression. Chuck Blue D-12501 AFF/SL/TM-I, BMCI, PRO

Brian gives a good talk. He is very animated, thus keeping people from falling asleep.