SkymonkeyONE

I like to always have a bag one size bigger; it definitely makes it less of a chore to get packed. For example, I use an RS bag in my XRS. It's only an inch taller, but it really makes a difference. The container cinches it down to the same size anyway. Another option is vented mesh bags. Pete Culbreth makes them down in Columbus, GA. This makes my one size bigger theory work even better, as the air squishes out more cleanly when you close the container. Chuck Are you a Monkey or a Flunky? HERE

Hey, you can't "third" anything; that's against the rules of parimentary procedure and results in a "case of beer" fine where I come from. On a different note: anyone considering a Cobalt who has previous HP experience really ought to try the Competition Cobalt as well as the "stock" model. They truly are two different-flying mains and appeal to different people in different ways. Chuck Are you a Monkey or a Flunky? HERE

I know that some of those Champaigne people will probably offer to pick you up. Beer gets many favors. Chuck Are you a Monkey or a Flunky? HERE

Not a bad bit of publicity there, my brother. Chuck My webpage HERE

I definitely plan on being at WFFC again this year. My webpage HERE

I am NO whore, thank you very much. LOL! My webpage HERE

Very funny.....You would hate Raeford then, I guess. 90 percent of the guys on the DZ walk around bare-chested wearing black nylon running shorts (the five dollar kind). If tie-dye is what you see on your DZ, then that is exactly what people wear nowadays; we don't give a shit what fashion slaves wear at the local disco or the mall. To me, it's all about the experience. Skydive hard, pull your jumpsuit off, then sweat all over your parachute as you pack it up. Next, walking around in the sun catching some rays and bullshitting with your friends as you plan the next skydive; that's the ticket! Skydiving is a melting pot of society. Young, old, filthy rich, dirt poor, geeky, hippy and yuppy. I don't give a shit what a person is wearing or jumping, so long as they can skydive. It's the skill set and the attitude that count. Chuck My webpage HERE

Yep, it takes me to or three times hitting the "back" button to get through, but the hardcore cadre have no problem making posts happen. I, also, will be glad when it is de-bugged. Chuck My webpage HERE

After reading everyone elses responses, I thought I would throw in my two cents. I like night jumps. I have a bunch of them; work, sport, and demonstration. Yes, they take a bit of planning, but are not that big of a deal; at least not in the basic license-requirement form. A good briefing covers all the "new" things a person will experience on the jumps. Gear selection is discussed, as well as equipment marking, landing area lighting, etc. It is not anything crazy, or something to be afraid of. It is also not hard to find a place to do them. Most dropzones run them at least semi-annually, and some do them every week, no matter what phase the moon is in. It boils down to a confidence exercise, pure and simple. I am also old enough to have had to perform a water jump to get my D-license. It was over a 4th of July weekend when I was 18 years old, jumping a ParaCommander. I have since done many water jumps as part of my job and don't mind them at all. I was kind of disappointed when the requirement was cut back to only "water training", since getting drug through the water backwards is quite different than hopping in a pool and just swimming out from under an old T-10. CRW is great fun and is not hard to learn. I don't neccessarily think it ought to be mandatory, but I do think everyone ought to at least do a two-stack fairly early in their jumping career, just to see what it's all about. I went nearly a decade without doing any, but now am back doing it for demos with my StarTrac. We used to teach guys with 50 jumps how to do CRW with no problems whatsoever. Jump numbers: yep, I think the USPA might be the only "civilized" national organization that has stuck with a paltry 200 jumps for the D (or most advanced) license. 500 is a much better number in my opinion; 250 for C, 100 for B. Changing it at this point would cause an incredible uprising from the old guard. You would have to grandfather a TON of people who have the "old" license and don't make a lot of jumps in a year. That would really piss off those same slower-pace, small DZ jumpers who want to compete, but can't get the 500 jumps. If we raised "D" to 500, then we would have to lower the competition licence requirement or face a dwindling crowd. You could not create an "E" or "F" license in the USPA without issuing them in precise order to the people with D licenses who already possess the new skills, in order of original issue. For example, giving Rook Nelson a lower E license number than Jerry Bird would probably cause a mafia contract to be written against the entire USPA board. Get my point? If you did not issue them in order, by who chronologically completed the task in order, USPA would implode. I know that with nearly 22 years in the sport I would have a complete hissy fit and want to stomp a mudhole in the USPA secretary's ass if some 1000 jump chump with two years in the sport got a lower number than me. Pure vanity, true, but that's the way type-AAA personalities think. Bottom line: I don't think we will see any higher "licenses" in the USPA's future, but we may well see the numbers and qualification gates raised. Canopy training: the ISP is fairly straight forward when it comes to this. It is, at least, a marked improvement over what we had before. Every student, intermediate, and experienced jumper should have access to FREE advanced canopy training. Can't get it where you are? Then get a sylabus from somewhere and study it. There is absolutely no need to spend your money when the knowledge can be obtained freely. Jim Slaton uses a borrowed sylabus in his course in California. People anywhere near me can get all the free coaching they need. Anyway, as far as canopy training goes, the general concensus here seems to be that the majority of jumpers are not getting it. Shame on your DZ for spitting out bare-minimum skydivers if that is the case where you are. I can assure you that is not the case here, at least not on my watch. Chuck (that's my name, monkey!) D-12501(indicating how long I have been at it) AFF,SL,and Tandem I (because I give back to the sport) My webpage HERE

I can teach you everything you need to know down here, just ask next time you come. Chuck My webpage HERE

Yes, you owed a case of beer for your first reserve ride, but also a bottle of liquor to the rigger that packed the reserve. Avoid having to ask this question in the future by not jumping a pack job that either you, a rigger, or a rigger-supervised packer did not pack. Chuck My webpage HERE

That is a very good point. I wear a wrist mount altimeter on my left hand. definitely get measured with the altimeter and whatever you think might be your thickest jump clothing on or you will pay the price with your arm zippers creeping up on you. I am going to put snaps on the wrists of my GTi to stop this from happening. It has never blown out or come unzipped that far, but still, it's disconcerting, so I am going to take preventative action. My SkyFlyer is sufficiently loose in the wrist over my strap that I don't worry about it. I personally have never experienced zipper blow-out, but have witnessed it twice in one day at a boogie; one arm and one leg. As a result of watching it happen, I am very cognizant of how they are secured on every flight. Chuck My webpage HERE

Why? Wanna buy one? Lots of DZ's use them as "big boy" rigs. I know where a bunch are. Old double-X's and their derivatives were auctioned off at military DRMO's when the services transitioned to the newer, but barely better, MC-4 system. Chuck My webpage HERE

Yep, the thicker fabric would be nice in colder weather, assuming you have a snug fitting suit. I am going to play hell getting anything thicker than a set of polypro under my SkyFlyer. My GTi has a bit more room everywhere except the wrists. Chuck My webpage HERE

Yep, I think that it will be something like that which will be "landed" first. After looking at the Apache Racing website, I thought that the larger one of those might be landable, since you "ride" on top of it and it has a smooth bottom surface which would skip or slide across the ground or water; whatever. I have been told, though, that the Apache wings are not that efficient. Anyone seen one in the sky with a BirdMan flyer? Chuck My webpage HERE

Good post, Derek. Man, I sure am glad we have nice mains to jump nowadays! We have everything from an ancient HiLifter 360 in an equally old Vector all the way up to a smacky-booty Sigma and everything in between. I also put the original test jumps on Dan's Competition Cobalt 350 tandem (which kicks complete ass). Still, when the DZ is busy I don't mind sucking it up and jumping our very-oldest original Vector tandem rig with the 360 HiLifter, so long as there is a slight breeze or I am jumping smallish passengers. I am not a big dude, so it doesn't matter much to me. As a swooper, though, I really dig the ZP tandem mains; especially the ones with low toggle pressure. I agree completely that paying the extra bucks for a righteous ZP tandem main is smart. That being said, my choices are the Cobalt, the Sigma, and the Icarus, in that order. My least favorite ZP's nowadays are SET's and EZ's, though I would obviously choose either of those over an old PD 421 or a tandem 500. It is SO much easier to safely land the new mains, whether you slide in or flare to a complete stop. Chuck My webpage HERE

Me: 3000 jumps, with over 400 jumps on 75 square foot mains in the past year. I Currently own two Cobalts (competition and H-mod) loaded at 2.3 After I got my Alpha 84 a few years ago, I couldn't believe how much I loved it. It was one of the very last custom-color "Alpha's" produced before Atair stopped making the "Impulse" as it was known overseas. Oddly, just as word was spreading about the swooping performance and overall great opening/flying characteristics of the "Alpha", the truth came out about the way they were being marketed in the US by SkyDepot. The fact is that the "Alpha" and "Space" were actually made by Atair in Slovenia and sold in the US with different badges on them. Neither of these canopies (actually the same main!) are made any longer, but the good news is that the replacement, the Atair Cobalt, is a BETTER parachute. This parachute is not available through SkyDepot; only Atair USA and it's dealer net. The stock Cobalt looks almost identical to the old Alpha (or Impulse), but is sewn differently accross the top skin, thus loading the ribs differently and providing for a stiffer wing. The top skin of a Cobalt is made of 18 seperate pieces of fabric, unlike other mains. This means that you can load the Cobalt heavier than you could the Alpha/Space. I was loading my Alpha 84 at 2.23 and it flew FANTASTIC. Also, the double diamonds that are sewn to the bottom of every Cobalt are parts of the bottom skin, not appliques just sewn on. There are three distinctly different-flying Cobalts available: "stock", H-mod, and Competition. I am sure that there will eventually be a separate listing for the latter, so I will wait and not write a complete review in this space. Just let me say that a lightly loaded stock cobalt is a very forgiving main that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to an intermediate jumper, while the same canopy at wingloads of around 2.0 and over is a complete rocketship with tons of lift which translates into huge surfs. The H-mod and competition models dive longer and steeper and build more speed on the bottom end, resulting in markedly longer surfs than the stock model when piloted by experienced swoopers. The Cobalt is made of the non-slippery zero-p fabric produced by Gelvenor Textiles in South Africa, making for some very speedy pack-jobs. Canopies are shipped with microlines on mini-links. Custom colors are available in about FIVE WEEKS, can you believe that? The opening characteristics are fantastic. They open slow and on-heading every time..period. I have never been smacked by a Cobalt of any type, regardless of how fast I was going at pull time. There are two ribs that are not crossported on the Cobalt; this allows the center cells to inflate and start decelerating you before the end cells come open. It is just NICE. Flight characteristics are pretty similar to most other performance mains- meaning the control range and the recovery arc are much longer than a Stiletto. Turns are not snappy unless you want them to be, but when nailed hard Cobalt spins around and just dives at the ground and keeps picking up speed. If hooked high enough, the Cobalt will come around the corner with tremendous speed and you will have control high up in the control range. Surfs can be quite a bit longer than the Stiletto; actually almost as far as my old VX! Otherwise, if you hook low, you will have to "dig" out and pay the price with a shorter surf, like the 21 and 27 cell mains. The Cobalt is interesting in that it will continue to provide lift and glide at a much slower airspeed than most performance canopies. It takes a while to get over the temptation to put your feet down at the speed you would under say a Stiletto or a Velocity. Keep your feet up and you just keep swooping along, without the fear of "bow-tieing" your main and eating it. This is a result of the center of gravity being placed back toward the middle of the canopy. Do not be mislead; the Cobalt is distributed exclusively by Atair USA in New York (Dan Preston). The website is www.xtremefly.com; check them out. His dealer network is expanding quite rapidly and now more and more Cobalts are showing up. If you were an Alpha afficionado, then you will really love the new Cobalt. I know I do. I really liked my VX, but I LOVE Cobalts and old Alphas. Chuck PS: I have been an Atair factory pilot for the past several years and have had the opportunity to jump all the company's offerings. I compete under a Competition Cobalt and H-mod 75. None of us are paid; we jump the Cobalt by choice and make a very respectable showing in competition under this "standard" canopy. Feel free to PM me at any time with specific Atair canopy questions.

I will definitely get some digital photos this weekend of both. My SkyFlyer is black with red wings; quite menacing looking. It has the LQRS and all the other options; NOICE! My GTi is red with white wings. I love this shit. Here is something Bobby Pritchard and I plan on doing and almost got away with last Sunday: Dive out dead last on a large "standard" tracking dive, fly very dirty to dive bomb to the front of the pack, dock on either side of the lead back-flyer's hands, then "pop" and swoop off with him in tow, like a hawk, eagle, or other bird of prey! Imagine the visuals.......As it was, we did everything but drag Steven Lee away on our last dive Sunday. At everyone else's pre-determined breakoff, Bobby and I popped clean wings and rocketed up and away. The video is righteous. Chuck Are you a monkey or a Flunky? HERE

Donna, I tell young jumpers to set their three-tone audibles to: -breakoff -pull -hard deck for chopping a mal and dumping a reserve If they are broke and can only afford an old one-tone audible, I tell them to set it for breakoff, just to wake them up and get them in the "track and pull" state of mind. Chuck My webpage HERE

Chris, I am with you on that, brother! BirdMan flocking is the most fun I have in the air nowadays. I am not terribly fond of solo flights, but always plan and execute airplane chases everytime I do so. Hooty Hoo! My webpage HERE

I used to always preach that the smartest first purchase was a good jumpsuit. The reason for that was so that you wouldn't be fighting with your fallrate everytime you jumped a borrowed or rented suit; it really does make a difference. At this stage in your career, you need to be concentrating on learning new skills, not new equipment every weekend. Nowadays, though, I recommend buying a good , three-tone audible altimeter as a first purchase. That will save your ass if and when you ever get into any freefall trouble. They "wake you up" so to speak. Chuck My webpage HERE

Andrea, you can say that again. Typically, though, I am the instigator when I am around those guys. My webpage HERE

Oh, forgot to mention that an 8-way I did on Friday was almost entirely through a pouring rain cloud. I was completely soaked and my lips and face hurt very badly for over an hour. I was at the end of a zipper, so I pulled my piece partner's hand under my face towards the bottom end of the dive. OUCH! Still, it cleared up five minutes later and got to about 95 degrees and severe clear. Also, concerning Florida weather: It rained almost the entire time I was there last week; lame. Chuck My webpage HERE

Pammi, you are far from freaky... I can introduce you two to the freaky people next time you come down, assuming yall stay more than a couple of hours! LOL! My webpage HERE

Easy now....... My webpage HERE