SkymonkeyONE

I was happy to be a part of the support effort for this event. It was hard work. Chuck

Myself and Kevin Orkin will be at ASC in Cedartown, GA doing wingsuit FFC's, organizing, and suit demos later this month. Unless I am mistaken, it's 20-24 May, whatever that weekend is. Anyway, I plan on bringing around 25 suits with me (PF, Tony, S-Fly) and look forward to seeing anyone who shows up. Chuck

QuoteAt your dz: 1.what is the seating config for LV 1 w/video in a 182? Screw "outside" video when doing AFF out of a C 182. Every person with a brain that I know nowadays wears a side-mount video for debriefing purposes. It is particularly effective on the main-side. 2.How do you teach COA's & short circles? On a Cat A? Exit, take a breath, heading, altimeter, reserve side, main side. Short circles after the second COA, until lock-on at 6000 feet. 3. what is the hard deck for Lv1? & Pull priorities? My hard-deck for main-side is 4000 feet. Priorities taught? 1: Pull. 2: Pull at the correct altitude. 3: Pull at the correct altitude with stability. 4. What is the decision altitude? For the student? After pull? 2500 feet. 5. Would ever have a LV 1, 2 or 3 student next to an open door with out a grip or restraint? No. If it's a two JM dive, the outside (main) JM blocks the door with his left foot until the student starts to rotate outside. The inside JM always has a grip on the student prior to him/her rotating out the door. I don't do a lot of 182 stuff anymore, but that doesn't mean that my techniques have changed since I moved to a full-time turbine DZ. Chuck

The main difference in the Phantom line is in convenience or rigging. It now has the over-the-shoulder zipper rigging which makes it possible to "sew up" on a ten minute call or less. As far as performance goes, at least in the Phantom series, I cannot tell a difference between my very-nearly-new P2 and Scott Bland's "newest" suit. As to the Stealth2, it is a quite-different suit than it's predecessor, which already has the over-the-shoulder zips. The inlets on the new suit are totally different. Frankly, I think the Stealth series is MUCH too large and flappy for everyday flocking, as is the Tony XS. The people who routinely jump and promote the largest suits will likely argue, but none of them in their right mind will say that I am lacking on those dives when I jump the much, much smaller Phantom2. It's simply more manageable in every way. FWIW, my weapon of choice in the Tony line is the Raptor.

Yes to the backvents, no to the mylar for the same reasons already listed. The Phantom2 is my "default" suit. I only take it off when I really want to haul ass or go very, very far.

Very clever.

That was a perfect explanation actually! FWIW, the newest Tony's all have "crotch" zippers as well which control the inflation of the legwing. I generally fly with that one nearly fully unzipped for backflying. I generally fly with my inside arm zips fully closed. Chuck

Pony!

That's simply fantastic looking.

It was fantastic seeing the film on the big screen at Flock and dock. It put you "right there". Some of the flying is simply terrifying. Amazing stuff that definitely took balls of steel to pull off. The secondary Point Of View flying of Robi maxxed the fuck out in his V3 is fantastic as well. Flat as a board and hauling ASS. Great stuff. Chuck

I worked this boogie a couple of times and I have to tell you guys that it is great up there. I hope they still go to the Firkin Bar! The scenery is beautiful, seriously. Chuck

18 jumps in two days, already. It's great. Jarno is hiding from the party people. We will post more pictures later. Chuck

Jerry Bird is on the DZ at Z-Hills at least twice a week drinking beer with us and just generally visiting and screwing around. He has an old Studebaker that he drives around now. Jerry Bird is awesome. Chuck

I have around 15 PF suits hanging on the rack in my school here at Z-hills. Don't bother bringing anything other than V3's or Acro2's. I have everything else in most sizes here already. Chuck

I second that.

Well here is what I am personally organizing at FND5.0: diamonds; lots of them; all configurations and manageable sizes. -little 4-way diamonds -9-way diamonds -16-way diamonds -vertical diamonds -vertical diamonds with hollow centers (formerly known as "flying vagina dives" -backfly diamonds as big as we can get them, transitioned on key from belly-down diamonds -vertical backfly diamonds -combination flat/vertical diamonds That's all I am doing, so if you are interested in joining up (and have SOLID backfly skills), get with me when you get here. Chuck Z-Flock Wingsuit School

1999 Easter boogie at Carolina Skysports. I believe this was the first US boogie that Jari and Kim showed up at when they set up shop in the US. Kim Griffin actually trained my FFC.

Tell those people to fuck themselves. I ALWAYS wear a camera on my AFF/coaching jumps for debriefing purposes. A side-mounted camera with a .3 lens is a no-brainer in this scenario. Having "outside" video on anything other than a tandem or a level 1/Cat A skydive doesn't make any sense to me when I am going to get all the same debriefing footage with my own camera. Outside is great for those students who want to show their friends at home what they did this weekend or on vacation, but having video guys whine at you for enhancing your ability to debrief your student at no additional cost to them is stupid. Tell those guys to get some ratings or stick to tandem videos. Just my opinion. Likewise. My setup is exactly the same. Chuck

I use it all the time.

Forgive my ignorance, but do all RDS have to be deployed at sub-terminal speeds? Or does this damage only apply to PD's RDS and HMA300 combo? I take my RDS to full terminal on almost every single skydive as well. Only a poorly designed RDS will affect your openings in a negative manner.

I much prefer the S-Fly Expert to the ProFly. I have both in my school and I just find the Expert to be much more maneuverable and much better suited to my kind of flying. Unlike LePat, I think the Expert is actually very easy to backfly in. I have backflown in the ProFly too, but found it a bit "flappy" in that configuration. Chuck

Is this the same camera that Scotty Burns just got?. I know it's a 5D, but don't recall if it's this "mark II" you guys are talking about.

That's the Xaos 21, not the 27 though. A Xaos 27 is a poor choice for a camera flyer in my opinion. I own a Xaos 27, 80 and love it, but it's openings are far from reliable and on heading.

The Holiday Boogie lasts like a month here at Z-Hills. The huge Finland group is starting to arrive today already; they stay like five weeks. Anyway, the New Years Eve party here is simply phenomenal. Like 700 people, Pirate ship with people forced to walk the plank into the swoop pond. Bands, Techno rave in the bunker, Huge bonfire gatherings. Tons of people to wingsuit with. If you are getting your tandem rating from Bram, then you will be two teamrooms down from my wingsuit school. Look me up. Chuck Blue Z-Flock Wingsuit School Skydive City, FL

I have heard that there was a cricket there.