SkymonkeyONE

Hey bro, I am not noisy by any means, but the fact of the matter is that I am one of the poor fuckers that does have to read every single post on the boards and doesn't have the choice to just scroll past the drivel. I don't really care if you keep her in the quadruple huck-a-buck all day long with a ball gag in her mouth; I just loathe hearing about it all the time, as does the boss. I am just here for the beer, so don't mind me.

That the entire last part of her last, "last" post talked about her sex life with Roy. The single thing that she was reprimanded for in the first place.

what you talkin bout, Willis? You KNOW you are gonna be hanging with me and Katie.

Did you just miss the point completely?

Did someone say SunCheHag was a sweaty boozehag with stinky feet? For shame!

Hey Deuce.......only been on there once? Yawn.... Chuck

Having met you both, I can say for certain that Keith is substantially bigger than Dave, though Dave is a big galloot. Both of you are sucking when it comes to hauling big meat though. My lithe 155 pound frame and incredible monkey strength allows me to haul some big folks without overloading the rig. Chuck

I got my original PRO card under a StarTrac 1, but later completed the qualifications under as small as my old H-Mod Cobalt 75 and as large as the Sigma Tandem System. Every member of the GK tandem section trains to that standard, right here at Raeford. The poster "DalaiLama" is a member of the GK tandem section and a former member of the GK style and accuracy team as well as the former National Sport Accuracy Champion. All I have to say to Art is "you da man" and "your nuts are bigger than mine." I have been into many a bowl stadium under a "proper" demo main, and even stuck an old Bogy 175 into The All American Bowl at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL one time (with 13 other guys), but man, sticking a Sigma in a bowl is bad-ass. My question to you guys is were there cables all the way across the bowl where they hoist the field goal net up? When I jumped into FedEx field in DC, those cables made for a steep sink in order to step down on the Indian Head. Chuck

Yo Shimell, I have three suits, all of which would fit you. Bring the pain. That said though, doesn't Baxter still jump up there with you? He has some suits as well. Chuckie

I think my point is that.....I am not sure what my point is actually, other than I think it has a LOT to do with body position at pull time. I have not changed my "standing" portion of my packing technique since I first started pro packing (my then brand-new Excallibur) back in the late 80's. I don't get any different openings on my Velocity 79 with the nose straight than I do when I put one roll in it just to keep it under control. More important, I think, is keeping the nose in the middle of the packjob and making sure you coccoon the same amount of fabric around both the left and right sides before you S-fold (or roll it down like a sleeping bag like I do) into the D-bag. I have never chopped a crossbraced canopy. For that matter, I have never had one get more than two twists up on me before I was able to un-fuck myself. I don't think it's just me being lucky; I think it has more to do with my post-opening procedures. Two guys around here both had a rash of spinners and chops when they went to crossbraced canopies. They both swore it was the canopies, but when they both still had a chop after having their shit packed by the lead GK packer, I convinced them that they needed to be more careful at pull time. As far as I know, neither has chopped in over a year. It was two freefliers if you want to know. After flattening out after their head-down dives, they were rushing to deploy, then subsequently paying the price for their haste with sloppy throws. Chuck

That was a good post.

I have Ride LX bindings on my old Gnu Pharoah and love them. They are light, incredibly strong, and have great hardware. My old Airwalk boots are definitely played out after five years of use (and lack thereof), so I am going to need to buy me a new set this season (if I make it to snow at all this year) I never, ever buy "this years" stuff. I am all about buying last years model equipment at the beginning of the season from the NOS supply of the major catalog retailers. You can get INCREDIBLE deals from places like Mikes and Performance. That said, I just had to buy those Ride bindings last time I was in Salt Lake City. Chuck

I have put a roll in the nose of every packjob on my last three crossbraced canopies and have never experienced any of the horror you describe. wonderfully on-heading openings every time. You must not be holding your mouth right. Chuck

I get $30 if I don't pack it and $40 if I do.

Andy made a fantastic analogy in my opinion. If you know you are throwing a motorcycle into a turn too fast you can slow down. You get exactly the opposite on a botched canopy turn; there is no slowing down....only speeding up. Like the original poster, I have been on a motorcycle since I could say the word, but that does not mean that I was ever able to fully exploit every single motorcycle I ever rode to its maximum potential. The worse I ever balled up a motorcycle was doing a 4th gear wheelie on a CR 500 Elsinore, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't ride the hell out of it. It was just WAY more motorcycle than I could properly exploit at my body size and currency. I was much better off on my YZ 250 as I could throw it around much easier and was comfortable with it at its perfomance limit. Did the CR 500 keep me on my toes? You bet, but I was a better rider and could do more radical shit on the "slower" bike. I have regularly jumped canopies as small as 65 square feet, but found out that after a certain point you just reach a point of diminishing returns. I gave back the 65, ended up giving back a 75, then settled on a 79, though I am sure I would get better competition results under an 84. The point here is that while smaller might be faster, it's certainly not "better" if you are not able to get the desired performance out of it. Chuck

The original poster would do good to check out section four of the SIM and note that canopy control using all available input methods ought to have been covered in his basic student training at some point. It's my guess that he never saw a four-page A-license proficiency card either..... Chuck

I came up with my technique because it keeps my sub-100 main flying straight during the unsnapping and unzipping process. Simply put, I draw BOTH feet up under my butt and reach down with both hands to grab and unsnap the leg snaps simultaneously. While my hands are down there, I next grab both zipper slides then extend both feet back out simultaneously, thus unzipping the suit. I next stick both knees outward towards the sides while pulling both feet, again, back under my butt so that I can grab both toe loops with my hands in order to pull both booties off simultaneously. Some people with looser fitting suits can simply kick their booties off; I can't, so I have to reach down somehow and get them off without spiralling my canopy. Hope that helps, Chuck

Unless something has changed, Mark doesn't need a new car, Ed. He already sports a pretty pimp ride.

I agree with Kelly: "death zipper"

Looking at that video I can assure you that the guy in question did not land downwind in 30+ mph winds. He might have had a 5-8 mph tailwind, if that.

Either way, it wasn't that bad of an ass-plant, even for a downwinder. I saw it on some show this morning here in NC.

We have several options as to where we might "move" something, several of which are not accessible to the masses. Chuck

This has been an extremely busy month for Katie and I. We spent the entire month, minus a few scant days, on the road skydiving and visiting friends, primarily in Florida. I actually only spent three days in NC the entire month. Here's where we (only me in one case) visited and jumped: Deland (four visits for me) Sebastian Key West Z-Hills (twice for me) Palatka Fantasy of Flight (SkyQuest swoop meet) Opelika, AL (Skydive Opelika) Monroe, GA (Skydive Monroe) Lots and lots of driving, but a great month. We didn't jump in Key West, but did stop by and visit my boy Mark Sunman at the dropzone. The rainy, windy weather followed us around quite a bit, but we still managed to get quite a few good skydiving days in. It was great getting to see so many old friends and very nice meeting some others for the first time. See you in Eloy, Chuck

Plenty:7:0 Well, I guess I should have bought beer for my first jumps at Monroe, but it was Sunday and they don't sell beer in Georgia on that day. Oh well, next time

Downsizing to "keep on your toes?" That sounds pretty reckless to me. Someone just stated the obvious: unless you have fully mastered every aspect of your current canopy's flight potential, then it's pretty pointless to downsize. If you are already jumping a Velo, then you had better have your head on a swivel during your descent; I know mine is. I come out of the sky like a bomb as compared to "regular" traffic and it takes all my concentration to find my way to my perfect line without endangering myself or others in my path. I have never experienced complacency under a swoop main; I couldn't afford to. Peace, Chuck