SkymonkeyONE

Around here, we walk our students around the landing area at the start of every jumping day. We discuss the pattern at length, then, later, we discuss the landing direction prior to each load, just in case the conditions have changed. Chuck

Marc, better hope you don't ball it up on the tie-dyed side of that container! LOL!

"That boy's got a head like Sputnik! Spherical, yet quite pointy in parts!"

A&E Discovery Channel Comedy Central Scifi TLC HBO (but only for "The Wire" and "The Sopranos" History Channel I used to watch more before by sattelite card got burned.

I really like Infinity containers, but don't currently own one. They are the rig of choice at my dad's DZ down in Alabama. The newest ones are even nicer and they look great in tiny sizes. Team Extreme used to jump them. I would just as soon jump an Infinity as a Micron (I like both). The only reason I am not wearing one right now is the fact they are not sold with a four ring harness option and side cut-ins. As far as riser protection and main pin protection goes, I have never seen a newer one come open. Very solid rigs. Chuck

Easier? Maybe, but MY risers cost $80. I have a couple of sets of spare risers, but none that match my very-short swooping risers. It's just easier to swap mains out on links sometimes. Chuck

Actually, very few places still offer a seven-level AFF program. Most places have some ISP derivative or tandem progression, one-JM AFF program. At Raeford, we train AFF using the ISP. That's a minimum of ten jumps with real AFF JM's, then coached and "other" instructor-supervised jumps up to the A-license. Right out of the book. Oddly, the other factions that train on our dropzone use several other combinations of training to achieve that same goal. The only thing in common is that we all use the ISP A-license card.

The sister is a complete jackass.

We will have at least one PC in our camp. Both my wife and Scott Sheck jumped in a five way last year. Sheck was dicking around and almost landed on a balloon! I was laughing my ass off. My first rig was a R/W/B mini system with a R/W/B Papillon. I am talkin HIGH PERFORMANCE here! We had the POPs nationals here at Raeford two weekends ago. On the dummy load for the "hit and rock", Scott Sheck jumped an MC-3 long-line PC and scored a 7.8 seconds I think. Nice. Unfortunately, he is only 32 years old and it didn't count. Chuck

High energy? Gwar: Scumdogs of the Universe. Specifically, the song "Maggots".

Yes, I have that on my pathetic little website. I ripped it off a site that had about five different versions of it. Still, it's very cool. Chuck

I didn't see the whole loop, but there is a nice shot of my leg tattoos in there. I think Kreg took it during the swoop meet. Chuck

Think about what you are saying. Sliders come down because of outward opening force on the canopy. What keeps them down is either more outward force (by loosening a chest strap) or some mechanical means of stowage, or both. Grommets come in brass or stainless and a variety of different sizes on different mains. Most companies give you a choice of grommet type. I have jumped a LOT of different mains and cannot say I have ever noticed any difference whatsoever when it comes to a slider "working it's way back up the risers". If my slider stow comes undone, the slider is going to get up behind my head or a bit higher, but outward riser force will not let it any higher. You simply cannot expect any slider to stay behind your neck without some sort of restraining measure. Chuck

Uh, that has absolutely nothing to do with the type of canopy that is attached to the end of the lines. What pulls a slider up the risers is wind. How you keep it down varies. I kill my slider then wrap it on itself forward, then stow it back behind my neck with a keeper of my design. Others use little blocks of fabric low on their risers which the grommets kind of "lock" over once you kill it and pull it down. Another big help to keep it down is loosening your chest strap. If you don't kill then pull down your slider, then there is absolutely no benefit to loosening the chest strap, but if you DO pull it down, loosening the chest strap will help to keep it down, even if you don't stow it with any other device. Chuck

Yep, step straight back and pop clean, strong wings and point your toes, then BAM! Up you go. Keep your head up and watch the other monkeys in the plane; it's neat. Chuck

actually, the myth that you can't freefly in a bootie suit always makes me laugh. While it is true that you can't do a proper sit, you can certainly do a righteous stand, knee fly, and head-down moves. Bottom line, though, is that you ought to have specialized clothes for both, if for nothing else but to appease the style gods. Chuck

Anyone who gets into skydiving for recreation thinking it's not going to be VERY expensive must be out of their minds. It gets much more expensive before you can even begin to recoup any of that money by instructing or through sponsorships. I could have paid cash for several houses with the money I have spent on skydiving. Chuck

Nah, it's not that it would jump forward and start hauling ass (like an Icarus tandem main). Any deeper setting on it and I believe it would have spun up. It wasn't a hard opening by any means. It would just jump forward, then settle down. Chuck

OK, Paula, time for a change. If you are getting smacked with a Z1, then I certainly don't think an A3 is going to help matters. They are fat at the ears too. I will stick with my tried and true non-flip factory diver for fast FS. Hey, it's fine for the GK RW team, it's fine for me. Never had the thing even think about coming off. Plus, it's narrower than what either the Z1 or the A3. Chuck

I am not an Eloy fan, but it IS one busy ass dropzone in the winter. Perris and Elsinore are both great places too, and I would choose either of them over Eloy, just because I like to be near other things to do. If you like the desert, all three are right in it. Being "old school" though, I am still all about Z-hills and Deland. While, yes, it does actually rain in Florida, your gear will not get ruined out in the desert. Grass and trees makes me happy. Chuck

1 (student we had fly downwind into a fence):9:0 I flew in our CASA to Fort Rucker with Johnny Mulford and a few other teammates and did a demo on Thursday and Friday. I made seven jumps on Saturday back at Raeford; mostly work jumps. They had a student in the 82nd club, a 19 year old girl, fail to turn back into the wind prior to landing(which was blowing maybe 10 mph at the time). She rocketed over the DZ, through a tree line, over a house, then through a bush and into a fence. Lucky for her, nothing was broken except possibly her tail bone. Whew! On a brighter note, two more "my generation" skydivers had their sons advance farther down the AFF pipeline. Tim D'Annunzio, a former member of the GK 8-way team, had his 18 year old son get through two levels. His 19 year old son has just over 50 jumps now (in under two months). Poor old Tim was bitching about having to throw down another four grand for gear! He had recently bought himself all new kit the same time he bought gear for the 19 year old. BWAHAHA! He was also inquiring about getting his AFF ticket revalidated so he wouldn't have to pay for his ever-increasing skydiving clan's training. Another former GK, Mike Sweeny (who now runs the wind tunnel on Fort Bragg) was out there watching his 18 year old do his level 5 and 6. Nice. His kid had been a tunnel hog for years, so he is a natural. Chuck

I technically prefer soft links nowadays, but still keep one of my mains on number 4 Rapides because I switch it out fairly regularly. I don't like the idea of taking slinks on and off more than once or twice. Still, the newer, modern soft links do make it much easier. My first ones were "permanant" ones that Jimmy Cazer did for me over a decade ago. Chuck

Personally, while I think PD makes a very nice reserve (I have owned two), I won't spend the extra money for one anymore. I have had Tempo reserves in my last three rigs and see no reason whatsoever to replace them. They pack small, are well built, you don't hear about them blowing up, and they are reasonably priced. Yes, I have taken a ride on my Tempo 120, and yes, it landed me fine. Chuck

I didn't mind the riser pressure on my VX at all, but I know people who bitch about it. I never had my VX spin on me, but I didn't like the way it surged on opening. It would sort of "jump" forward on opening. About half the time, it would do it so hard the lines would go slack. Still, I liked the main. Chuck

You are talking about Mike Elliot. I mentioned him in my first post. Yes, he used to jump and instruct at my dad's joint in Alabama. You are correct in stating he is a big motherfucker. Chuck