SkymonkeyONE

I agree with Paul Quade. Most young upstarts would do good to remember that the great majority of competitive skydivers in the 1960s were out for medals in style and accuracy. For the uninitiated, before a looper (what you call a stylie) throws a style tuck, he or she does about a 20 second head-down dive, then throws turns and flips, not on their belly, but at an angle very near vertical. For the likewise unitiated, "freak flying" was any and all varieties of 3D jumps. Lots of back flying, standing, multi-tiered "Enterprise" dives, etc. The jumpers partied just as hard as they do today, and the boogies were actually rowdier. Anyway, those that have been around long enough and have the requisite skill set can, and do perform all types of skydives. The current freefly versus RW stuff cracks me up. Chuck D-12501

The free-stow bags you are talking about used to be vogue back around 1989 around here. I never saw anyone have to chop because of one back then, but we weren't jumping tiny ellipticals either. Chuck

I will and have bailed plenty of friends out of jail. Some of those same friends have repaid me in kind when I got out of hand. That being said, whenever it was drinking related, I would get them out (assuming I had the cash), then take them straight home, to their hotel, or to my house until morning. No way would I ever drop someone who had just been released for drunk driving back off at their car. I know for a fact that the authorities will sit near such cars and wait to see who comes and fetches them, so it's stupid to do that. Worried that your car will get stolen or looted? Better just make sure your insurance is paid up and then not sweat it. Anyway, you can stop by there and police up all your jump gear or other expensive items before you secure it for the evening. Chuck "been there and done that on several occasions"

NOT!

Concerning pulling the LQRS first: I got that straight out of both Jari and Vladi's mouths when we were drinking like vikings at the Daytona Ale House one night. Chuck

Well, I guess it's still broken! I just tried three times to get in and it would not connect to the room. Oh well. I will talk to you all later. Chuckie

Steve, the father you speak of is Gene Paul Thacker. Yes, he is an original Golden Knight; yes, he was a Special Forces E8; yes, one of his sons died skydiving. The son was Paul Keith Thacker who died practicing for the 1976 nationals. Tony is the oldest living son, and it's he and his wife Kate that now run the "sport" side of operations at Raeford. GPT still owns the CASA and one Otter, which he flies military contract stuff with. Chuck

Uh, I don't think so, Nathan. LOL!

I have no idea what people are waiting for orders nowadays. Question: were you smart enough to get the LQRS? Jumpin a small main, you are more likely to have to deal with the occasional line twist or even a spinner. The SkyFlyer is very unforgiving at pull time as compared to the other two more-stable suits. Until you get the suit wired, you will feel it's a bit squirrely. Also, the leg wing goes all the way down to your heels, so you have a harder time kicking out of a spin with it. The Leg Quick Release System (LQRS) is the recommended first handle to pull in case of line twists and mild spins. Pulling it will give you all the range of motion your legs have, thus giving you more torgue for your "kick out". This extra leverage will more than likely get you squared away before you have to chop wings, or even more severe, cutaway a main. My SkyFlyer has the LQRS and all the other BASE options; not that I BASE jump or anything. Chuck

Waiting drives me nuts. Luckily, I didn't have to wait a single day for either my GTi OR my SkyFlyer (mafia hook-ups, LOL!!). Still, I promise you the wait will be worth it. Did you demo a SkyFlyer before you bought it? Chuck BirdMonkey!

just a guess, but I believe you could pick it up from either the DSS people (everything they play is also sold by them) and also at www.digitallyimported.com . Actually, that is where I would look first. Chuck "currently listening to the hard trance channel"

I guess that would depend on how adept the "student" showed himself to be. If you are referring to Joey D'Annunzio, then I guess you would have to take into account that he had tunnel time and was a natural talent. He was far from being as squared away as another recent graduate though. Sean Sweeny (18 years old; ex GK Mike Sweeny's son) did AFF last week with Raff, myself, and Tim Tennant. He did about 20 points of three way on his second jump, then completed EVERY single AFF TLO (minus the other exit type) on his next jump. It may have helped that he had well over 100 hours in the wind tunnel, but I don't know... In the end, we actually did all the requisite number of AFF instructor-accompanied jumps just to check the block, but he was completly finished in two days. I was his "I" on his last three "legalizing" jumps. Chuck

Exactly. If you are burned out, then you are not going to have any longevity in the sport. When what ever discipline you are doing becomes too much of a job, then I recommend working on something else. don't you have a wingsuit? Find a flocking partner or two and go soar. Still bored? Go to a boogie. Don't want to jump at all? Go water skiing or climbing; whatever it takes to get that bad taste out of your mouth. Still, you have to admit that you got what you asked for. Being the cool guy instructor and organizer might get you plenty of free loads, but it DOES take the fun out of it if you don't leave time for your own fun stuff. I know where you are coming from, brother. I have taken three pretty substantial breaks from instructing and competing in my 21.5 years under a parachute. Chuck

Just to introduce this young upstart a bit more: His dad is Tim D'Annunzio, an 80's member of the GK 8-way team. Tim also owns Paraclete, a jumpsuit, body armor, and riot gear manufacturer in North Carolina. Poor Tim had the misfortune of having two sons, eleven months apart in age (19 and 18 respectively) start skydiving at the same time. He plunked down about 12 grand for three new rigs (he had sold his last rig) and we rifled the two boys through training in a VERY expeditious manner, with myself and Paul Rafferty being the primary trainers. Tim hasn't done any AFF in about a decade, but is getting his ticket renewed so that he doesn't go broke training the rest of his kids! LOL! Joey's 15th jump was a five-point ten-way, and no, he didn't have an easy slot. He is a good monkey. Chuck

I consider an S-turn to be an easy, almost flat turn. Sashays are hard tugs right and left on the toggles that rock you side to side while losing altitude. Chuck

Well, a sashay, whether rear riser or with toggles, is a move that you generally do to burn off altitude without going forward much, so as avoid over-shooting a target. It's a method that you do below 500 feet when you are not supposed to be making anymore 360 degree turns. Chuck

You cannot expect to get any of that with the purchase of a main, but you might enquire and see if the owner has any extra risers he or she can send them on. Dave is correct, though, in saying that all of those items are considered part of the harness/container system. Generally, when you buy a main, you get it sent to you with the connector links and brake lines tied off to a piece of cardboard. Chuck

Somebody tell me if my roommate, Josh (SeaMonkey), hooked up with yall alright or not. He should have got there late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Chuck

Here is a sunset swoop

This is typical Aviators Bar nig-noggery. On the left is Tony (not Thacker), the grabber is Mac, the grabee is Laura.

Here is one of Pammi, Merrick and the kids (Sammi and Monkito!) hanging out in the Winnie. Note the monkey-lip face that Monkito is making. NICE!

OK, now that I figured it out, here are some more pics from Raeford this past weekend. The first one is of John's (slot perfect) new rig. He hasn't bought a whole new rig in about a decade.

We have one pooch, "Billy Bob", and four cats. They are all indoor/outdoor and shit outside. The animal door leads to the back yard, so the dog doesn't run the neighborhood; not that he would. One of the cats, "Mowgli", has six toes, big eyes, and does tricks. She sits, begs, and shakes hands on command. She learned all of this in ten minutes while an ex-roommate was trying to teach the same tricks to her very-stupid dog. Mowgli just watched a bit, figured it out, smacked the dog out of the way, then started doing the tricks. Terribly intelligent. The quietest one of the group has the best camoflague for our yard, so she kills the most birds. She does not like to be petted unless she initiates it first by rubbing against you. The other two are solid black and are fairly hard to tell apart other than the fact one of them is as round as a bowling ball. The fat one doesn't do anything special other than drinking from the faucet. My cat, "kitty", is the hoss. He announces himself loudly when he comes inside the house or the bedroom and always sleeps at the foot of our bed. He is very loyal. Cats make you live longer; it's a fact. Chuck

A search would give the answer to what Dave is up to, but I am far too lazy right now. Anyway, he found a source for some very lightweight grommets. I don't know that they would discolor the lines any less, but personally, I don't care that lines get discolored. It's when they start shrinking, stretching, or getting frayed that you consider replacing them. Chuck

Yankee assed beer snoots!