SkymonkeyONE

2(days I suffered through tremendous hangovers):6:1(case I didn't owe, but brought to the pool anyway) I am on leave for about two and a half weeks, so I saw no reason to limit my partying. Oh, the PAIN. I was "officially" awarded my double diamond wings yesterday in front of the school. 3000th was actually on the 4th of July, in case you forgot. No telling how long it will take to get in Parachutist. I am pretty sure I spent at least as much time in Scott's pool as I did in the air this weekend. Chuck

Likewise, I have handles on both of my suits. The one time I did chop from a spinner, I was easily able to swipe my arm-wing handles on the way by with just two fingers (I had my reserve and cutaway pillows already in my hands). Chuck

I have seen used suits as low as $300 USD and as high as $600. Chuck

At my dad's DZ down in Alabama, they have "Ivans" that you kick on the way by. These are the plastic, formed targets that we use on pop-up ranges in the miltary. You swoop, kick the Ivans, then stand them back up after your run. Simple, but very fun. Chuck

Nice

A true work story: "There I was, no shit", attached to another MFF team to observe and grade their EXEVAL (a mission based exercise that we do in the military at least once a year). This team was short-handed, so for their infiltration jump they had a dude from the "B" team as their MFF jumpmaster. I was already an MFFJM, but could not assist at all, only critique their spot (after the fact) and follow them off the ramp of the C-130. The dropzone was to be a Marine Corps auxilliary airfield (Bogue, for those of you in the know) where jet drivers go and practice touch and go landings. It was a fairly large area, but is surrounded by large obstacles on every side. Drop time was 0300. Anyway, the JM and the aircraft navigator compare plots and agree on a release point. The spot is over a mile out to sea, but the winds were honking upstairs, so I wasn't sweating it. Now, here is where things got nutty: The JM and the pilots had the right spot, but they chose to fly the jumprun stright downwind. As I said, the winds were honking; over 65 mph at altitude and they were over 35mph down to about 1000 feet. I shake my head, but can't really argue, seeing as how the plan will work, assuming they get out over the spot. Drop altitude was 18k, so we were on O2. We stood up, moved to the rear, stood by, then went on the JM's "go". Oh well, we only got out about 20 seconds late, on a downwind jumprun...... I knew we were hosed the second we got off the ramp and I could see the airfield lights directly below us. I weigh a buck and a half soaking wet and was jumping a light ruck; maybe 45 pounds (all I had was chow, my bivvy sack, and my note-taking stuff). These dudes had planned for a 4000 pull, but I knew that dumping that high would only hose us worse, so I rode it down until my FF2 fired at 3000, just to try and make the DZ; it didn't work, or I wouldn't have this nice tale to recount to you. *Disclaimer: no, you are absolutely not supposed to ride your timer in on MFF jumps, but I didn't give a shit in this case, since I knew it was in my best interest to make the DZ or risk severe injury. Under canopy, I realized that I had opened past the downwind boundary line of the airfield and had absolutely no "safe" outs. I only kept one other canopy in sight, and we seemed to be drifiting at the same rate. In the end, I was blown over 4 miles backward at a speed of at least 45mph from the intended point of impact. Looking backwards over my shoulders, I crabbed left and right to avoid the following: the ocean, the intracoastal waterway, a huge powerplant, 150 foot tall trees, high-tension powerlines running everywhere out of that powerplant, and finally into a neighborhood with very tall trees along the roadways and in the yards. Since I did not want it hanging up on anything, I never lowered my ruck. The last 30 seconds of my canopy flight went like this: "I'm in the trees; NO, I'm on that house; NO, I am on top of a boat in the yard!; NO, I am in the street and flaring to land." I stood up the landing right in the middle of the very-narrow street and was promptly nearly ran clean over by some teens in an old Nova. They slammed on the brakes, gawked at me, then hauled ass! I looked ahead of me about 200 feet just in time to see one member of the team (the lightest guy), hit, then fall away from a set of huge powerlines. No broken bones, but he was knocked senseless. I knew he would not be the worse off. Anyway, I scurried out of the road, dropped my ruck, cutaway my main, and looked around at my surroundings. Unbelievably, the door to the house I nearly landed on was open, and there was a "50-something" couple in there watching a movie and drinking a bottle of wine. Remember, it was 0300 in the morning! NICE! I walked up to the front door, camo all over my face, and with an MT1-XX still on my back, and knock.....You would have thought these folks thought they were in the middle of the movie "Red Dawn" when the Russians land in the High School parking lot and start shooting the place up! These folks were incredulous when I calmly stated that I was a green beret from Fort Bragg and had just landed WAY off target on a parachute jump, and could they please contact the airfield and the local authorities, since I was SURE there were injured people strewn all about the countryside. Unbelievably, their best friend was a retired guy who just happened to be on duty over at the airfield... I escaped uninjured, but three guys on that team were badly broken up; one landing backwards in a dried up pond and literally tearing his shoulder blade off his back on a tree stump. It took until 0900 to police all the jumpers up and get them back to the airfield. I dumbly thought they might cancel the mission, considering they lost three personnel to injury on infil, but that was not the case. I stayed ou there in the woods in two separate hide sites collecting data on the activity at the airfield. Three days later, we exfilled via Coast Guard patrol boat. That, my brothers and sisters, was the absolute scaredest I have ever been on a jump. I am lucky to be alive and that's the God's honest truth. Chuck

Schwans.....LOL! We have them come by. The last one was a complete perv and I didn't trust him as far as I could see him. I told him not to come around anymore if he couldn't keep his visits "business only". I seriously thought he was hitting on my wife and was casing our house. Lucky for him, he quit after about two months. What a shitbird. That being said, they do have some good chow on the truck and we spend quite a bit with them. As for ice cream, I am a sherbert fan (sorbet for you uppity fruitcakes) and really like lime. Chuck

Unless the world comes to an end, I will be driving Bessie the Volvo from NC to Richmond about a day prior to commencement of festivities. Chuck

Just to get the thread kind of back on track for the non-scientific set out there: YES, there is definitely a learning curve for every single DZ or course you are jumping. Beer line swoopers get very used to the set of visual cues they see each and every time they make their turn. People who travel and compete (not cracking on people who don't, so don't think that's my intent here) absolutely MUST show up at least one day in advance to make practice runs over the pond. Every single course is different, at least in my experience, so one must take full advantage of any practice time alloted them. Case in point: my first PPPB meet in Perris last spring. I showed up the day before the meet, late in the day due to work constraints, and only got two runs on the pond prior to competition. My sight picture was completely fucked, so the next day I was at a distinct disadvantage. I did pretty good at that meet (12th), but that was only because I got much better every round. You see, the Perris pond had absolutely no terrain to judge your turn off of. I, as a "terrain judging turner" had to modify my technique to the new sight picture I was seeing. The people that were "altimeter height turners" had a much easier time. In the end, you have two choices: start making your setup and final turn based on altitude and density (if you are jumping at a very-different altitude than normal), or show up early and ease into the new terrain. Both work equally well. Chuck

This is getting very interesting...... I am thinking it would be cool to get a bunch of blow-up punch dummies, like you had when you were a kid. You know, the type you punch and they stand straight back up..... Chuck swoop lord

Outstanding. Please make it available to all wingmonkeys. Chuck

I have had a couple pass out under canopy, but never had one barf on me. Chuck

OK, I have ideas on where to get them (pool supply), but what is the consensus on the best place to buy "monster noodles". I talked about it yesterday with Tony Thacker, the DZO, and I am definitely going to expand my blade course with these things in an effort to save some cash. As for the problem with "non qualified" people getting caught in the lane, we currently have a 1000 jump restriction to swoop the course. This, of course, in an effort to minimize injuries. We set up little training events on occasion to get people in the "course" mindset also, as swooping blades, a pond, or a course requires a different skill set than just throwing a turn and letting God sort out where you land, no matter how good it looks. But of course, most people know that by now, don't they? Chuck Noodles for my friends!

The "black widow" type poles that you will find in Walmart or, even more likely, in K-mart will be found in the fishing section. They are sold as a "smarter" cane pole for Bream ("brim" if you are a redneck) fishing and Crappie fishing. My blades came with 13 foot Black Widows, but when they got too broken to function I replaced then with both 12 and 14 footers. Anyway, these collapsible fiberglass or graphite poles run between $18 and $22 here in the USA. Chuck

I NEVER let my arms get extended, always drop my knees or lever back over when neccessary, and always keep my eyes on the center of the formation. Staying tight and not letting go of either grip works for me every time. Chuck

I will train and jump with a current jumper who has 200 skydives. I will rent or loan a suit to a current jumper with 500 jumps, so long as he or she watches my BM tape and I brief them on the ground. Chuck BM-I

concerning ground dowels: I like mine sticking out of the ground around 8 inches because they will snap easier, as opposed to snapping the base of your Black Widow (talking about airblades here). Another way I lessen the risk of having people break ankles on the dowels is to drive them into the ground with the grain perpendicular to the direction of the swoop lane. Chuck

Well, the question here is "what do I want my canopy to do?" I have owned both airlocked and crossbraced mains and would have to say that I preferred the openings of the airlocked canopy I had (a Vengeance 97) over the openings of my crossbraced VX 74. For my purpose though, the VX was the preferred swooping main of the two. I still like crossbraces and have one in my spare rig right now, but I don't think I would jump it with my wingsuit on due to the increased risk of a spinning opening as compared to my competition main. Does this mean I think everyone should choose a crossbrace over an airlocked main? Absolutely not. I wouldn't consider buying a crossbrace if I planned on loading it under about 2.0. Still, that's just me, and I know people that have fairly lightly loaded crossbraced tri-cells and swear they think it's worth it. The main drawback to "larger" crossbraces is the fact that they pack so big. Also, if you are not loading them fairly heavy and flying them hard, you are not going to truly be exploiting the canopy to it's designed limits. Do you have to hook a crossbrace or an airlock? No again; they land fine straight in, but if that's your bag, you might as well have saved some cash and bought a more "traditional" eliptical. Just my opinion. Chuckie Chuck

I like the "noodle" idea, especially for marking the route after your initial entrance gates. The only downside I can see to them is that they don't create much of a profile when viewed from straight above, where I set up my swoop. Being pretty color-blind, I need a lot of contrast or something flapping about to get my bearings. I believe shoe-goo'ing some small flags or short fabric streamers to the tops of the noodles would help in that respect. This plan would certainly cut down on the cost of buying airblades (I own several 12 footers that I scored for $60 apiece) and replacing broken black widow poles at $20 a pop. Hell, I think I may just go shopping this afternoon! Chuck

No rig....Good point. Why would you need it if you were truly committed to landing the thing? Still, as a "chicken" precaution, I would recommend wearing a small BASE rig or a pilots rig (very low profile and light). Chuck

In no specific order: -I have a "promtness issue" and absolutely HATE to be late for anything. -The only condiment I will eat on a sandwich is cheese. I had a bad experience with a McDonalds hamburger when I was about 8 years old. Wanna see me barf? Just sneak some mayo, pickle, or any other fluff onto something I am eating, but you had better be ready to receive a serious ass whipping; no lie. -I have been getting paid to scuba dive for about 16 years now, but don't own any sport diving gear and wouldn't consider a diving vacation something I would want to spend money on. -The bottoms, water intakes, and propellers on large ships make me nervous. The inside faces of large dams do the same; that is where the man-eating catfish truly live. It is also the most likely place to find that dead body you have been searching for. -I love cats and well mannered dogs, but have no tollerance for any animal that pisses or craps on anything in my house. -I have owned three Corvettes and a ten foot tall 4WD show truck, but now drive a 1988 Volvo station wagon and like it a lot. -I have been a patched member of a motorcycle club for nearly seven years and would die defending my colors. -I have never smoked a cigarette in my life and absolutely abhor the habit. -I drink like a viking and party like a rock star on occasion, but do not have an addictive personality. I very, very rarely have so much as a single beer during the week and don't yearn for anything of the sort. -I have been known to procrastinate for extended periods. Several cases in point: I could fly a Cessna 182 when I was six years old and have many, many hours as PIC, but I never took the FAA practical, even though I got a 98 on the written when I finally got around to taking it when I was 28 (that was ten years ago). I have been rigging for a VERY long time as an "apprentice" and have 45 reserve packs in my logbook, but I have never taken the written or practical tests, much to the chagrin of the DPRE who runs the loft at Raeford airport. . I will put off projects until I make others absolutely crazy, then knock out the job by myself in two hours flat; same with Harley or car repairs. -I could drive a car when I was 10 and a tractor before that. I have driven that same tractor to school before, just for shits and grins. -I have seen the inside of the Myrtle Beach jail on 10 occasions and have been arrested for driving 137 in a 55 and running from "the man". What a dumbass. -I get paid to speak Spanish and do so with very little accent when I have to. That's all I can think of right now. Chuck

Yep, Klaus beat me to it. If all you are concerned about is the "bump", then just have a set of continuous brake lines done up. Still, trips do have their place in the market. I still have a set on one of my rigs and love them. They are not practical for people who rear-riser their landings, though, because it just adds another piece of webbing that you might mis-grab while transitioning from fronts to rears, then you have the problem of transitioning from rears to toggles. There is quite a bit of play in trips, so that transition causes another sort of bump. If you do not rear riser at all, then trips allow the tail of your parachute to flatten out more, and to me this does in fact help out. They also give you a lot more options on where to hold your arms and hands durning canopy flight without deflecting your tail. While it is true that rear risers can be deflected during a "normal" flare using standard "double" risers, that advantage only occurs when you flare to the rear or rear oblique. Flaring straight down your main lift webs will not deflect your rear risers. Flaring in this manner will not give you any advantage with trips neither; your hands need to be out to your sides if you want your tail to flatten out with trips. Chuck

I am not exactly sure which watch it is, but there are a LOT of people around here using these things as their only visual altimeter (along with one or two three-tone Dytters). Two teammates of mine both did a full-day's testing while doing tandems, comparing the reading on the watch to what was on their visual altimeter; they were dead on, every single skydive. As for the sampling: they change at least as fast as a digitude (also tested as one of the visual altis). I will get the watch model and post it here in a bit. I am definitely going to purchase one for myself. Chuck

Told you so. Older RV's are CHEAP, so get with the program, kids! Chuck

Judy, I don't believe that is what they mean. Drogueshave blown up if they are jumped until they fall apart, but I seriously doubt that you would have a problem getting one fixxed that tore up when new due to no "out of the ordinary" actions on the TM's part. I guess the bottom line, though, is that if you want the parts, you are going to have to sign the paperwork. I believe the paragraph you are referring to is designed to cover the company should the part fail and the TM not react to it properly, thus resulting in the pair's injury or death. Chuck TM-I (Vector 2 and Sigma)