SkymonkeyONE

It must be noted that Craig Girard is also an avid freeflyer, BirdMan pilot, and a fucking outstanding swoop competitor. Chuck

Orange and Blue are the two "tone" colors. The container is solid black beyond the center flap and the pop top. Jumpsuits are either white or black with orange and blue grippers. Main is orange with blue ribs, stabilizers, and diamonds. Helmet is blue with orange flames. WAR DAMN EAGLE

Here at Raeford, I would have that person step back to an ISP (which is what you should all be following by now) Cat C number 2 . That's basically an "old" level three with only one JM. More than 30 days out of currency mandates a step back on this dropzone, but a break this long definitely merits caution on the part of the school. Chuck Blue D-12501 AFF/SL/TM/BM-I Raeford Parachute Center School

Yes, Tim still makes jumpsuits, but on a limited basis. His primary thing now is making body armor and load bearing equipment for several of our "black" units. His company had grown exponentially in the past couple of years, but he still does suits (in volume even). Droopy or MattM would have the address. Chuck

Paplito! Quien es el mono? MonoUno

Who's yo monkey?

Thanks, but I think I will stick with RAM-Z bundles in that application. Chuckie

You poor, poor people. While wine does get me "hot in the head", the hangovers kill me. Chuckie Nine days and a wakeup.

that looked like the symbol for "huck-a-buck!" Chuck

my responses: 1. You lose altitude awareness, look down and see massive ground-rush (sub 1000 feet AGL)? say "fuck" and pull my reserve 2. The load organizer says before boarding the airplane, "that due to zero winds, we will all land facing North", then under canopy you are going to be the first person to land the winds are now out of the south at about 7 mph? swoop downwind, sliding to a complete stop. Then, stand there and get dead in anyone's ass who did other than the pre-declared landing. Doing otherwise leads to the chaos we witnessed at Eloy during the Collegiates when the alternate landing area was closed. 3. You are on a 6-way RW dive and notice one of the other skydiver's main pin has come out of the closing loop, but the deployment bag is still in the container? There is a video person on the dive. If I could not get to this person before exit, I would fly over, point at the rig, then probably dock on the person and hold my hand over his main container until a safe pull altitude, then make sure he gets his PC out fine. That's the AFF monkey in me coming out. 4. You are on a 4-way RW dive and realize that the 4-way is 500 feet below the planned break-off altitude. Do you track for the same amount of altitude and pull 500 feet low?, or track less and pull on time? I am going to un-ass in my most efficient track, then pull at around the same altitude. 5. You are climbing out after another group and you notice that a jumper in the group ahead of you, which is half-way through their climb-out, has their cutaway pillow folded under their main lift web. The aircraft is a twin otter and there are people between you and this jumper. How far ahead? I would holler to someone and try and stop their count. If I were in the next group and was not doing anything of consequence (like freeflying), I might just dive down and untuck the guy's handle for him. If I were too far back in the plane, I would just hope that the guy had a clean opening. 6. Same scenario as the one above, except instead of the reserve pillow folded under, the jumper's BOC handle is tucked completely into the pouch. Same as above. I would holler LOUDLY, and then assist if I were in a position to do so. 7. On the normal main you jump, a steering line breaks on opening? At 1,500 ft? At 1,000 ft? At 500 ft? Nowadays, on opening I would try and clear the other brake before my main spun up on me. If successful, I would land it on rears. I would also land on rears from any of the other altitudes mentioned. While I may not take my rear-riser landings to a full stop on most occasions, I always transition my hands to the rears at around 150/200 feet. I keep them there until I decide to either flare with toggles or just keep rear risering. 8. The first group is climbing out and you notice that a tandem Instructor, all set to exit, has forgotten to attach one of the passenger's upper harness attachment hooks? I scream at the moron LOUDLY and try to get him to stop. I doubt I would try and fly down to try and hook up the other attachment since I know that one hook will suffice. You can bet your ass I would unload on that person once he was on the ground, unhooked, and the passenger was out of earshot. There is no cause for this to happen. It reminds me of the person who left with only the two hip attachments hooked up. The passenger was fine, but this was a HORRIBLE failure of following basic procedure. 9. In a Cessna 182 on jump run, you will be the person spotting and just before you open the door you see the jumper in the back of the airplane push their reserve pin out of the loop, firing their reserve pilot chute into the back of the airplane? Yell "pilot chute" and control the canopy. Everyone lands with the plane. That is our SOP here at Raeford and at both military clubs. 10. On short final, you see another canopy coming directly at you. You neither of you do anything you will collide at about 30 ft. Who was following the correct flight path? Either way, I would throw a hard carve and get out of the way. Once on the ground safely, we would both talk it out along with the S&TA or whoever was watching. Someone is ALWAYS watching. Chuck

I have owned three rigs with round reserves, but then again I have been jumping nearly 22 years. One of my four reserve rides was under a perfectly functioning Phantom 22 over Raeford, NC after I mis-rigged my spare main into my extra rig one day. It opened smartly, then landed me softly in the biggest briar patch in Hoke County. I tried as hard as I could to get to smoother ground, but counted myself lucky to at least land on the airport property. Rounds are perfectly safe, they just require more attention to spotting. Chuck

BWAHAHAHA! Bring the pain!

Hey Lew, me and Katie have "Ducky" sitting on the bed. Raccoon the cat is fascinated with it. Chuckie PS: sorry we were to sick to participate in the "ritual", but I am sure I will see you guys sooner than you are ready.

I have jumped a great variety of suits, but have jumped Michigans for the past 8 years and love them. I actually got six years out of my first comp suit, only having to patch the sides and replace the soles of my booties on occasion because I swooped them to death. I passed that suit on to MattM a while ago and he still has it somewhere. Matt: gimme that damn suit back if you are not going to wear it! Another favorite of mine are Tim DiAnnunzio's "Paraclete" comp suits. I have owned about seven of his suits over the years, but his new, computer-plotter cut designs are the bomb. Droopy (a poster here on the boards) has a truly bad-ass comp suits with flames cut into it; very stylish. I jumped Tony suits back when the Pit Special was all anyone with a sense of style would be caught dead in and I liked it. This, of course, was the "pre-bootie" days. I like the new comp suits, but think they are pricy and the legs are a bit stiff for my liking. In all, I don't think there is a single bad design out there nowadays. There are horror stories out there about every single brand that others hold in highest praise, so in the end it comes down to what kind of experience you have. Dropzones and gear dealers make allegiances with manufacturers which generally allows them better customer service. If they fuck it up too bad, then you can rest assured that they will never sell another suit on that dropzone again. Raeford is primarily a "Michigan" dropzone, but there are plenty of "Tonys" around also. If Mike Sandberg messes up a suit, then you can bet your ass he will have it replaced or repaired VERY quickly if it was ordered through SkyKAT. It's the same at most places. It's strong dealer/manufacturer bonds that keep those small businesses going. And believe me, jumpsuit manufacturing is small business . Chuck

The "museum" is to be co-located with the new USPA headquarters, right off I-95 in Virginia. That part of the construction will be entirely privately funded, therefore not taking a penny of your (and my) dues. Chuck

SL in Wetumpka, AL in 1981 3260 skydives

OK, just for you fellow "Junkyard Wars" fans, I have come up with an economical "wind tunnel" variant that would likely work. It would also certainly get you on your local news: First, go to your local heating and airconditioning supply and rifle through their scrap heap. Get yourself a few heavy-duty industrial air movers (blowers) and some ducting. Next, go back home and affix these fans to a solid (yet portable) object, like a 4' by 8' piece of plywood. Adjust the outlets up at a 45 degree angle and then create some ducting shrouds to focus the airflow a bit. About ten feet back from this apparatus, place some old mattresses on the ground, directly inline with the fans. This, of course, is your "landing pad". Next, create some simple harness to join yourself (no need for you to wear your rig) to a tow line. Rig some sort of winch (also attached to your plywood base, in the center of the fans) with about 25 feet of cable or rope (cheaper) that will allow you to feed out and retract line in order to get you into the best, most forceful airflow (over the mattress of course). Finally, rig into your suit (minus your rig, as that is only extra weight in this application). attach into the tow line, face the fans, then have your buddy fire that mother up! Should you be successful in your effort, feel free to put the working mechanisms in the back of a pickup truck and power your fans with a Honda generator as you fly tethered to your line while your buddy drives the truck through town, toasting the gawking locals with his cold beer! THAT, my friends, is redneck ingenuity. Chuck Blue

My reasons for not having an RSL at all on my rig are the same as Adam listed. Chuck

Danny also took a prop strike from his own C-182 not long ago. He jumped with me at Raeford for QUITE some time before he left the service as an E-6 Airforce Combat Controller, yet he could not remember me when we were both at the last WFFC at Quincy, IL. I am not sure he is "all there". Just my opinion. Chuck

Nig-Noggery is partying (by way of intoxicants) and mischievousness. There are, of course, varying degrees of nig-noggery. I can attest that there was evidence of "highest grade" examples during the Eloy Holiday Boogie.

I have sky's back on this one. While he may come across as a complete flake and free spirit (both of which may apply to both of us actually), he was right there at exactly the time he said he would be. I love both Sky and Lisa, so it's all goody in the hoody. Pack it up kids, this story's over. Chuckie

Outstanding. Simply outstanding.

Katie and I are both still sick as dogs. chuckie

BWAHAHAHA! I saw the dead soldiers ALL over the parking lot between the Bent Prop and the portable team rooms. That makes me sad that I was sick as a dog on New Years. Still, that is VERY tame by comparison on several of my days where I was "unable" to skydive. Say no more... Chuckie

So, Baxter, did you wing it from the heli as well? Report! Chuck