SkymonkeyONE

Hey Baxter, I will be down there again the last weekend in October for the swoop meet, so look for me. I will bring both of my suits with me and will not be in a hurry to get back to NC this time, so lets do some flocking! Chuck

Get it right! "Oh! I HATED the Colonel, with his WEE, beady eyes! And that smug look on his face:" Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken, Ooooh!" Chuck

Jack, you may want to pan slightly right. Also, it looks like the winds are honking, in true mid-day Perris fashion. Chuck Blue

Now I know why they changed it. Didn't want to confuse ASO, with A-hole. But the S-T&A is cooler to say and refer to. BTW, I though the military teams get PRO waivers... ASO= Area Safety Officer. They were the true authority for people wanting to do demo jumps in their geographic area. We, as active duty military teams, are still required to have PRO tickets just like everyone else in order to get FAA approval for tight demos. We have non-PRO's on our team, but they can only do low-level demos and pull dirt. They do, however, reap the benefits of many, many free skydives and first-rate training for their labor and effort. We have a guy who completed all the ten declared ten-meter PRO landings before he had 40 jumps; outstanding. Chuck

What effect, if any, has this new urge had on your glueteous maximus? Also, how do you rate them as compared to my personal favorite "mint" cookie, the Girl Scout "Thin Mint"? enquiring monkeys want to know.

I am assuming that they (USPA) didn't think anyone would want a PRO ticket with a round, but the card makes no mention of what configuration the parachute must be; only that one make the requisite pre-declared landings in presence of one of the three certifying officials. Even if it says something in the SIM, I am sure you could get a waiver if you worded it correctly. Chuck

No, they don't have to all be under a square. As a matter of fact, if you wanted to get a PRO rating with a Para Commander that would not be a problem either, so long as you can stand it up ten pre-declared times in a row in the ten meter target. Your PRO ticket has printed on it which canopy you got your rating under. What that means is that you are only certified PRO under that canopy (actually, that canopy size. For example, I could not jump into a pro stadium under my 75 (not that I would want to either) since my PRO card says "StarTrac 1" on it. Chuck

Remember what Peter (the original poster) said was his proposed end state: to be able to easily pass the AFF Instructor course. 12 Hours in a wind tunnel, assuming you and your buddies have that much cash to spend, would best be broken up into different types of drills. I spin a lot of 4-way in our tunnel, but nowadays I spend most of my tunnel time honing my instructor/coaching skills. Things which are more relevant to what you are working towards would be spin stops, proximity drills, un-flipping people who are on their backs, etc. Proximity drills and over/under drills both apply directly to both 4-way and AFF, so you absolutely cannot do enough of that stuff. All that being said, I would probably clarify your ultimate goals, then figure out how to use your tunnel time most wisely. Chuck

Wow, bad weather at Perris? I thought only happened when I was in town for a swoop meet? Seriously though, big, tall clouds are VERY cool to fly in and around. Too bad you guys didn't get to jump with Jari; he completely rules the skies. Chuck

[reply Like you pay for jumps anyway! Well, in that case I certainly would be. Well, maybe not; I do have an awful lot of jump tickets laying around..Those, of course, from slaving away as an AFF and tandem bitch every weekend. Still, what spare time I do have to fun jump, I generally find myself jumping my wingsuit or organizing and jumping with my friends. Once again, I really do like to mix it up on all axis', but the "return" I get amplifies as the FF time goes up. I liken fast head-down freefly jumps to doing AFF from 8,000 (very busy, to say the least, and over too quickly). Chuck

Walterboro? Tell my boy Tony Canant to tighten up! I haven't seen him in over a year now, but I hear he is till down there. Chuck

I haven't ever really tried, so no, I can't. I can see where being a teacher would give you cause to learn such a skill though. "write on".

Yep, I thought I was "high tech" being able to do e-mail on my phone and use it as a modem to my lappie until I realized that every single person in Japan and most of Europe (especially Finland) have WAY more sophisticated hardware for cheaper than I pay for basic service. Chuck

I won't jump in winds anywhere near 20 mph on either of my small mains, but I have done demos in winds up to about 26 with a StarTrac 1, backing it in all the way (not fun, but it had to be done). Generally, as a rule, if I can't put my students up (14mph limit), then I am not getting on the airplane. I will do tandems up to about 20 mph if I have a LARGE passenger, but that is the only exception. Chuck

I can read upside down or backwards with no problem whatsoever. Chuck

Forget that running comment, that is if you want to avoid unneccessary wipe-outs. At a low wingload, you ought to be able to completely stop your main. If you cannot stop it, then "put down your landing gear" and scrub off speed that way. You ought never have to take more than two steps; if you hit the ground running, then you will eventually ball it up on your face. This is especially true when landing crosswind and downwind; always slide, just like you did in when you were a kid wearing socks sliding down a hallway with tile or wooden floors. At the end of the slide, simply come to a complete stop or take a step or two to catch your ballance. Chuck

Your canopy is played out. A decent rigging loft can test the porosity of your fabric, but my guess is that thing is leaking air like a seive. While it may be large enough that you think it ought to let you down easy, if it's worn out, that just won't be the case. Chuck

Last time I checked, $1,600 was "retail". Not that anyone I know pays true retail for anything.

I have jumped plenty of stadiums, but then again I have a PRO rating. "Back in the day", before that rating, it was entirely up to the ASO (later renamed S&TA) and the local FAA. I jumped into Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama (for the All American Bowl) several times with nothing but a fairly fresh D-license, but that was then, this is now. One of the other demo teams here on Fort Bragg has a guy who was granted his PRO ticket with less than the requisite number of skydives. His appeal to USPA stated that since he did not "fun jump" and only jumped with the team with "real" demo gear, all his jumps should be considered demos. Also, as such, he claimed he was far more proficient at the requisite demo skills than most people with over 1000 jumps. Well, he got the waiver (and his PRO ticket), then promply femured in on a fairly straight-forward demo (which I was also on) this summer. It was all over the local papers; unfortunate. While he did have the skills to get the rating, he didn't have the pure jump number experience to be able to deal with the odd wind conditions and the constrained landing area. Bottom line here is that you really have to have your shit together to be able to deal with the "unknowns" on a demo in front of a crowd. Every year we see examples of people making a spectacle of themselves in front of huge crowds. Real TV and other shows like that thrive on the mishaps that result from poor planning and indecision at critical times. Chuck

I wish I were twins (or more); I would make each and every boogie there was. It's all about mixing it up. Chuck

That is exactly correct, Bill.

You know what? I like freeflying too, but I will be damned if I am gonna waste all my money on 40 seconds of freefall on a regular basis. (much less in Dave's case) I can see it now: "And now an award for our friend Dave Lund; 2500 jumps and just now receiving his 12 hour freefall badge.." Dude, you better buy yourself a wingsuit to even out that deficit. It's all about the two and a half minute freefalls. Chuck

Not at all. Having the longer bridle really makes a difference though; before that, I had some "slow" openings.

Paul, I think you making that goofy face didn't help matters much..... Anyway, give up the poop, how did everyone do? Chuck

April, do you still have all your teeth? Do you still have boobs just the way we like them: one on the left and one on the right? Glad you are OK. Chuckie