SkymonkeyONE

Possibly, but I would not hold my breath if I were you. I am hoping for good weather at CSS over thanksgiving, but if you read my first response, then you will know how sketchy it can and has been. Chuck

spill it, monkey!

Stacy, I believe your boobs are bigger than those in the picture. ciao bella, C. Blue, esq.

Hell, I would probably venture that it's a bit of both. I would also say that while the SkyFlyer is the cutting edge wingsuit, it may not be the suit which yields you the best time or distance. A fellow BM-I here at Raeford still sets his longest times in his old Classic, but he can cover much farther distance in my SkyFlyer and GTi. For me, my times are not really any different in either suit, but I can go much farther and faster in my SkyFlyer. Chuck

skydivers where you are wear underwear?

It has always been my opinion that one should find a decent dealer, then form a bond with them. THAT is how you will end up getting the "good old boy" hook-up later down the line. Once you have a good relationship, your customer service experience will generally get better and better. How you find the right vendor the first time is probably more what we are talking about here. Generally, these forums are a good place, as are word of mouth recommendations, though you ought not take the word of just one person. Shopping around is key. Like Paul said, I am extremely spoiled to be living, literally, 100 feet from one of the best gear shops in the world. I give them my business and in return they treat me right. It also helps that we are friends and have been for over 20 years (thanks Tony). Chuck

Skydive U? Didn't that operation go tits up when Danny left? Anyway, I currently own two Michigan comp suits with knife edge booties. They are big, single-seam suits and did take some getting used to as compared to my older suits with "standard" booties. After a short time, though, I really appreciated the increased leg power offered by them. The only thing that makes me nuts is the "windvaning" under canopy (I don't pull my booties off to land). The larger booties also require a different swoop stop (in the freefall vernacular) when diving down to a large formation. Chuck

Yeah, there are still plenty of people around Raeford with vintage gear. Back to the ParaCommander thing though: I never failed to stand up a PC, nor did I ever fall down jumping my R/W/B Papillon (which my dad still has in his loft). I DID, on the other hand, land both the Pap and a 28 foot 7-TU in a swamp; the Pap while jumping in Lagrange, GA out of the old Sugar Alpha DC-3, and the 7-TU at Elmore field in Wetumpka, AL out of a C-182 on my first freefall in February 1981. Chuck

Zennie, I can recommend the following boot: Adidas GSG-9 "wing walkers". They are tactical assault boots with a sort of knobbied sole. Very lightweight, durable leather (but not stiff at all), and fantastic traction. Another good option are the new tactical Oakley boots. Both are great choices. Chuck

Don't troll in these specified forums. Actually, don't troll AT ALL. Chuck

You guys are killing me!. No, ya idjits! I'z talkin bout a BOOZEHAG!

Don, just in case you missed my edit of your hissy-fit: Keep your "sissy" comments to yourself around here and you might not find yourself permanently banned. That being said, keep a civil tongue around here or carry your rant "back across the street." -Chuck Blue Beyond that, feel free to cuss all you want, make inane conversation with others and say what's on your mind. Calling an angry little man like myself or a big fucking galloot like Dave Lund a "sissy" is fairly stupid though; we get around quite a bit.

Dave, you can sleep when you are dead. Chuck

If it were not for the long hair, I was sure I had those boobs identified. Chuck

I jumped Stilettos for six years (107 and 97) before moving on to other things. I bought a Vengeance and didn't like it because (my opinion as a guy who actually owned both) I felt it dove like a Velocity, but only surfed as far as my old Stiletto. The reason I didn't go straight to a cross-brace was that I felt a fast diving canopy would be hazardous at our student-heavy dropzone. After jumping the Vengeance and not having any problems in traffic, I ditched it and bought a cross-brace (a VX), which I then later ditched due to quirky openings. I love my Cobalts (H-mod and comp versions), but jump a crossbrace about half the time nowadays. Chuck

OK, it looks like I will be at CSS after all, weather be damned! I will have the RV there, so even if I can't find power I will run my generator and let people snake cords off the side outlets. Lew gets first dibs. Chuck

Dude, better return them for a cash refund! My guess is that they are designed only to fit the latest in Finnish technology. Chuck

My dad had one of the first Para Planes. He acquired it straight from Dickie Morgan; I remember it vividly. Chuck

a LOT: 10: 0 Chuck

Lew, I will be in Lousiburg over turkey day. I am not sure what the Fayards have planned as far as canopy classes go (they had Brian Germain at Easter), but I will gladly teach a class in exchange for a jump ticket and a coctail. Chuck

Ramon is right. Jay took a LOT of time to get this contraption reeled in, then removed and stuffed in his shirt or behind his back. This creates problems when a person should be sucking it down and getting out of the way due to their higher wingload. When that person does not take it down, the people behind him get hosed and have to compromise their turns in some occasions. Short swoop comp lesson: In competition, we normally get out in groups of four, the highest wingloaded person out first and burning it down in order to "set up the stack." Contestants swoop in this pre-declared order and landing out of order will get you a zero for the round. It's no big deal if you follow the rules and respect your pass-mates. When someone ahead of you dumps right out the door, then hangs in brakes, he creates problems for those behind him. This is exacerbated when the plane continues to make climbing passes because there are "fun jumpers" on board going all the way up. If someone gets out last on a pass from 6,500 feet, dumps right out the door, then dicks around with his gear and then hangs in brakes, then the first guy out on the next pass is likely to skydive right past him on the way to his pre-planned 4000 foot opening. I hope this makes sense. Rejumps are granted in cases where two competitors get too stacked up near "turn" altitude. Both T.J. Landgren and myself got re-jumps at the spring ASC/Team Method swoop meet when the guy in front of T.J. sat up in brakes too long then promptly chowed heavily, right in front of us in the middle of the course. The first guy hosed both himself and both of us by not following competition protocol. We had to pay for our re-jumps even though it was not our fault. -end of lesson The D-bag/pilot chute is attached to the slider with an RSL quick release and can be attached to a non-removable slider just as easily. The removable slider is sexy, but I seriously doubt I will go to that as it seems sketchy and I have seen, first hand, the problems it causes. This is not something that a beer-line swooper needs to be putting on his rig. The full removable slider/d-bag combo is a complete pain in the ass. The first removable slider I saw was at the 2001 PSN on Sonic's rig. He played hell getting the slider down the lines and chopped it several times in development. Chuck

I arrive in Eloy on Christmas day and leave on 3 January. I will coach for slot (and beer). Chuck

Not replying to any one particular post here, but I will throw in my two cents on several things I read: -Mid Atlantic region candidate Tony Thacker. Livendive rated him a "2" on his scale, but I do not think they have ever met. Anyway, since I have known him since I was 12 and have jumped with him since I started working in North Carolina in 1984, I figured I know him enough to give a good description. Tony is a second generation jumper/competitor/commercial jump pilot/instructor. He and his brothers were national competitors for many years and he was a member of the US style and accuracy team in the classic disciplines. He attended one of the very first AFF Instructor Certification Courses and was an active instrutor for many years, though he now leaves that to the rest of us on staff. What some of you may not know, though, is that Tony was also a golf pro for a number of years and still likes to smack whitey on a regular basis. He likes to eat hot wings and Monkey Fries and is generally very social. Tony is totally approachable, and as a person who literally grew up on a dropzone, is very knowledgeable about all aspects of DZ operations, training, management, etc. He and his wife, Kate, run SkyKAT gear shop as well as the "sport" skydiving side of Raeford. Tony fun jumps as much as possible and organizes big (for Raeford) formations on a regular basis. He and Kate are both on our new 8-way intermediate team which we are taking to the nationals next year, of which I am also a member. The bottom line here is that Tony is fully qualified to fill the position. I think there may be a write-in candidate also trying for the Mid-Atlantic position, but I feel Tony is best qualified to take the job. -Now, concerning the Don Jardine for National Director issue: my feelings are totally mixed. I truly loathe the fact that he, among others, ruins the rec.skydiving experience for those seeking "real" information. I used to post there on occasion, trying to add a bit more "signal" to the excessive "noise," but was, in the end, so disappointed by the rampant thread hijackings that I now only logon to scan for news of meet results and injuries. This truly is the only sane place on the internet to get any great quantity of "real" skydiving information. That being said, as a moderator of this forum, I will not allow it to become a free-for-all in the rec.dot tradition. I have absolutely no problem with Don and his supporters (if you will) posting here, so long as they understand that I won't tollerate a troll, regardless of "disclaimer." As someone who got suckered into one of Don's rec.dot ambushes some time ago which got elevated all the way to the Executive Director level, I can assure you that I am not impressed with that sort of nonsense. That being said, I am all about the "for the fun-jumper" stand he is taking, and am compelled to give him a vote just to put his feet to the fire and either put up or shut up. Personally, as a guy who has been skydiving just under 22 years, I doubt he could do much harm as a national director. I didn't see many other candidates I wanted to vote for anyway. If he does get elected, then he will be forced to "show what he is made of." In my line of work that's how it has always been, so while I am certainly not a Don fan, I would be non-plussed if he did in fact get elected. It might just do him some good. Call my thinking flawed if you like, but it's just my opinion. Chuck Blue D-12501

Our boy Nathan is still here, skydiving and being a general man about town in lovely Raeford and Fayetteville, NC. He is currenly either in the MonkeyBago or over in Aviators doing some TRICKS! The boy is a mess and I am certainly doing my best to corrupt him completely. I will let him post the details. Till then, ta ta. Chuckie

Just to add a bit to that, our own Geanky flew all the way down from Michigan for a first flight course. In all, we made eight jumps, including the four-way dive LeRoy posted about. We had two PERFECT days of weather; I am so glad. I made a new friend, trained a new BirdMan, and had some righteous skydives. Hey man, can't bitch about that, can you? Chuckie BM-I Thanks to Kim and Jari for getting me that demo suit so quickly; it fit Gean perfectly.