SkymonkeyONE

Balloon ZP is the hot ticket nowadays and it is the only thing they sew SkyFlyers out of. My GTi is balloon ZP. As far as measurements: the key ones are the lengths. The whole suit must be very close to exact for you to be able to get it tight when you point your toes. Torso length might be ordered an inch long in your instance to make room for an added layer of clothes. Circumfrence of thighs and wrist would also be key; especially wrist. If you don't want your wrist zippers to creep up on you, then you will need to have sufficient room for a long-sleeve poly-pro top. My suit is too tight at the wrist to have an additional layer that goes down that far, so I would measure it a tad large at that point. get measured with your wrist mount on also! If you suit is fitted properly, the cuff of the suit will ride over the wrist strap of your alti 3-type altimeter. If it is too tight, your zipper will creep unless you put a snap on it as many people do. Zipper blowouts happen on occasion and they are generally caused by a suit being too tight (like jumping your buddy's suit, or an ill-fitting demo). Jari just got back from Finland the other day (visiting friends and family), so call down to Deland and talk with him. Chuck My webpage HERE

Exactly. Hell, I for one still remember when we did 4-way at nationals out of Cessna 182's! There was a plane flying right in trail of the jump plane with four video guys in it. When it was your plane's turn to exit, a vidiot would crawl out on the step of the chase plane with camera running, filming your climbout in the plane ahead. When you exited, he would fall away from the chase plane and zip over to you, generally never missing a point. The "video plane" would then cross over in trail of another team's plane and drop off another video guy. All very interesting. I used to really live for RW competition, but just had such a terrible time finding good skydivers with a decent practice ethic that could commit, so I eventually gave up. I still rule in the air (my opinion), as do those other people I jumped with (and still do on occasion) , but find it more rewarding nowadays to just do pick-up stuff at meets, plus stay active in a great variety of other stuff: bigways, wingsuit flying, swooping, etc. I still love competition (obviously), but feel no anguish whatsoever if I don't medal. Back when 4-way was my life, I was pulling my hair out; now I just chill and enjoy the ambiance. Still, I have the utmost respect for the people who have the ways and means, plus the temperance to make it work. Chuck My webpage HERE

yes. That means it is zeroed at ground level at that point. Each little dot around the perimeter equals one thousand feet, but you probably already knew that. My webpage HERE

turn the dial counterclockwise and see what happens; that is likely your problem. That, or your contacts are corroded. I still have two old-style dytters laying around. One went swimming in the pond at Perris last June and made a very sickening sound as it died. My webpage HERE

I know for a fact that Jason Eames will be there competing in prep for hopfully qualifying for the following week's pro event. Anyway, here is the poop: This event will be broken up into two events; Speed and Distance. There will be three rounds of each event, for a total of six jumps. Both events are judged seperately and whatever awards they have will be separate for each event. Distance will be run through five foot tall entrance blades, just like in the Pro event. You must score the entrance gate by having at least your feet below that level as you pass through our you will be given a zero for vertical extension or a complete miss. The course is laid out plenty wide for people who have made a good, clean turn. You must finish inside the course to be scored. Your distance is measured at your FIRST point of contact, so you "sliders" out there had better practice your long-jump type landings. Prepare to lose skin if you are not smart enough to compete in motocross pants and long sleeves (which is what a huge number of us do in PPPB competition). Speed for intermediate competitors is run through a straight course. Entrance gates for intermediates are 14 feet tall and, once again, some portion of your body must pass below the tops of the gates. Your run is clocked on mini DV cameras located at a vantage point about 200 feet away. The blades are aligned such that both entrance and exit blades are aligned so that they appear as one. You are clocked from when you pass the leading edge of the entrance blades until you pass the trailing edge of the exit blades. If you do not have enough steam to fly out the back of the course, then you may hit the ground runnning, "kiting" you canopy over your head until you exit the last blades. There is a time penalty for knocking down blades. You DNF if you can't keep your canopy over your head through the exit gates. All very simple. Where people make their mistakes is two-fold: -don't get any practice over this pond and you are pretty screwed. There are absolutely NO visual references out there for you to guide off of, so lots of people make their turns either too low or too high and suffer for it. Also, the density altitude is much different out there in the desert. The air is thinner, so you must make your turns higher than you would in say, Florida. Anyone wishing to compete in PPPB pro events who does not already have a pro competition record and references MUST compete in this intermediate event in order to qualify for later Pro events. Do not get in a huff if you have 5000 skydives and Jim Slaton watches you swoop in practice and then tells you that you cannot go straight to Pro. PPPB meets are entirely different than "swooping the beer line." It requires a very specialized skill set which cannot be duplicated outside a proper air-blade course. The intermediate events are much more forgiving than the Pro courses. Intermediate courses are shorter, wider, and the entrance blades are taller in Speed. I cannot begin to explain the joy I get from competing in these events. You run into the absolute icons of swooping on tour and they gladly give their advice freely in order to make all present better, safer swoopers. If you are having any apprehension about going out and getting smoked, get over it. To me, it's not about winning at all; it's about the overall vibe, the learning, and the creating of new friendships. Long swoops! Go compete! Chuck My webpage HERE

As compared to a "stock" Cobalt, the Competition model dives one size smaller, but ultimately has the usable end-of-swoop lift of one size larger. It has a longer recovery arc, thusly building more speed without any effort on your part. A CC, in my opinion, is the best opening parachute I have ever jumped. There are plenty of other threads on this forum concerning the differences between stock/h-mod/competition Cobalts, so just do a search. PM me if you cannot find what you are looking for. Chuck My webpage HERE

OK, after much deliberation, I feel the need to step in and clarify a few things: First, Derek (hooknswoop) is a "hooker", which means he makes snap riser turns to gain the speed he likes for his swoops. While this technique works best for him in his dropzone swooping, it is not what the great majority of professional swoopers do. We, almost as a rule, make tall, carving dives from 180, 270, or 360 degrees, staying away from the pendulum effect as much as possible. Second, Derek jumps a main quite a bit smaller than the great majority of professional swoopers do. last year the average competitive pro wingload was between 2.2 and 2.3, this year it will definitely be lower. Jim Slaton has upsized to either a 77 or a 79 for this year; T.J. Landgren just got a new 92. Nate Gilbert is loading at 1.8 this season. I load at 2.2, which is the highest of anyone on my team (and I finished the season shorter and slower than my two teammates loading at 1.9). Bottom line here is that smaller is definitely not better in the eyes of the people who take swooping serious enough to get out there and compete and set records. Luis "Luigi" Cani made big headlines for his antics under the VX-46, but let me tell you, that was just for the purpose of collecting data and making some PR points for the Icarus project; he never jumps anything smaller than a 65 in competition and my guess is he will be upsizing this season. There are exceptions to every rule, as in the case of Mikeal Stevens (Precision Xaos competitor) who had a 52 made for Speed rounds. Mikeal is also one of the odd competitors (along with Andy Anderson) who throws wild 360/540 and 180/360 combos in competition. While it entertains the crowd and certainly builds speed, it is very "hit or miss" and terribly dangerous. I love those guys, but they are definitely on their own frequency and have hit pond and land very hard in competition. I, like fellow competitor Jason Eames, completely disagree with Derek's statement that people don't have any business learning performance (or "swoop") landings under larger, lighter loaded canopies. I learned to swoop, or "turf surf" as we called it back in the day, under a 150 (which was considered absolutely tiny then). The reason for that was that was that is the canopy I was currently jumping when I saw Tom Piras and the rest of The Deland Gang doing it before the world meet that year. I watched them land all day and then mocked them. From that day on (1988 I think), my friends and I experimented with every canopy we could get our hands on. Today, while the canopies are smaller, better constructed, and certainly more aerodynamic, the basic techniques I use are exactly the same as I used then. Will you surf as far under your Hornet 170 as you will 500 jumps later on one 50 square feet smaller? No, but you can definitely make your turn look the same and get fantastic gains in the process. Smooth carves build speed linearly and that additional speed translates directly to distance gains. As for the issue Derek has with much shorter recovery arcs: he finds that parachute more dangerous to hook because it brings him closer to the ground and shortens his reaction time. Well, of course it does using his "snap" technique! To get anything out of a snap riser turn or a toggle hook, you have to time it almost perfectly to get any semblance of a stylish landing. Too low and you pound in; too high and you are cruising along like a moron, ten feet off the deck. He gets around his technique by jumping a 60 square foot main and the extremely long recovery arc it affords him. It is for this reason that I promote work up high, making all varieties of turns and checking my altimeter for altitude loss and "feel" as it comes around the corner. Precision swooping is all about getting your parachute on plane at a specific three-dimensional point in space; usually inline with a pond or air-blade course and just low enough to the ground to either make a clean entry to a gate or start dragging your toe along the water. At your DZ it might just be to set up to swoop "the beer line." Every jumper will have a different altitude and turn style to get that job done. The recovery arc is different on my two competition mains, though they are exactly the same size, therefore I make entirely different turns on them when I swoop. Watch any competition video of me and you will catch me flying through the entry gates in Speed rounds still holding one front riser and carving like mad. I let us sooner on my other main due to it's longer recovery arc, but I don't go a foot farther in distance on that main. My entry speed is identical, so it translates into a very-similar swoop. The best way to avoid the reduced reaction time Derek discusses is to ease your way into swooping. When you get to easy 90 degree carves you will start really getting the feel for your main and how it is going to react coming out of a turn from front riser input. Do not be disuaded by naysayers just because you are not jumping a hotrod canopy at a "performance" wingload. On that same note: absolutely do NOT downsize or attempt to swoop out of vanity. There is no rule requiring you to do so and you will only make an ass out of yourself if you repeatedly pound yourself into the ground trying to impress the girls (or guys) on the DZ. While tiny little rigs look cool on people who can skydive their asses off, they draw criticism from those same skydivers when seen on the backs of people who clearly cannot handle what what is contained within them. Some "grown up" people go to major DZ's and see young guys out there ripping it up under sub-100 mains and say "that guy can't have the experience to be jumping that thing", but they don't stop to find out that the kid in question has 4000 skydives over the course of two or three years and lives on the DZ. People with 1000 jumps in 20 years probably don't need to be jumping a VX 74, nor do young kids with 100 skydives and a bulging wallet and the ego to go along with it. The fact of the matter is that more people die from botched "hook" turns than they do from ANYTHING else we do as skydivers. Even the very best canopy pilots in the world pay the price. I know of at least four PPPB tour competitors, all but one ranked higher than me, who have broken legs or ankles since December. This is not something to be taken lightly. It is for that reason that I STRONGLY recommend learning under larger, more lightly loaded mains; even if they don't meet most people's idea of "proper." I think everyone of consequence has now said his piece, so let's get on to something different. Sincerely, Chuck Blue Team Atair member, PPPB association and two-year pro competitor My webpage HERE

Recurrency dives are planned according to the license you hold and the time since your last jump. All of this is covered in detail in the SIM, so just go to the USPA site and check it out. Chuck My webpage HERE

I guess you missed the requirement for a 4-point 4-way (C-license) and a 2-point 8-way (D-license) in the SIM. They have been requirements for at least the 21.5 years I have been skydiving. Chuck My webpage HERE

I got my vector ticket from Paul also. He parks his HUGE RV about five slots over from mine at Raeford. 14,000 skydives and he is still having fun jumping. Chuck My webpage HERE

I have ridden bitch several times for buddies getting their ratings. Overall, I find it a bit disconcerting and will not do it without chicken handles. Not a big deal, just something that I really don't enjoy. Chuck My webpage HERE

Hackey, In my nearly 22 years of skydiving I have "quit" several times; one time even selling my last rig. Still, I would wander out to the DZ once or twice a year and hop on a load. I got plenty of the "I thought you were dead" crap, but that all ended when I let my experience show. The worse part in my opinion was going from "BMODZ" to just some guy who "used to skydive here". Once I would get back into it full-force the last time, I could not let myself get distracted with other fringe activities. I am too close to retirement to not have my shit completely wired for my soon to be full-time DZ occupation. As a result, I don't get out on the water much anymore or do any of the other stuff I used to spend so much time doing. Maybe after I retire I will be able to split my leisure time in a more equitable fashion, but for now, I am totally stoked to be back skydiving enough to be on the cutting edge. The bottom line here is that while you may take breaks, the sport and it's participants move on. It will be here anytime you have the time and money to spend on it. The faces may not be the same when you return in full force, but the "people" will be and they will welcome you with open arms once you prove yourself. Anybody want to buy a 96 Sea Doo XP (not stock) with a trailer for cheap? Chuck My webpage HERE

Can I get a hearty "hooty hoo" for the junior skymonkey? My webpage HERE

Remi, while wind tunnels are outstanding tools for un-fucking problem students and working on new skills, I don't think the average Joe is going to be spending all his cash in their just for sport. In reality, the only real "tunnel hogs" at civilian operations are the ones who don't pay a dime to use it: staff and paid coaches. Military tunnels have far more hogs; at least the one here on Bragg does. I have about 200 hours in ours since it was constructed and there are PLENTY of people with way more than that. I am well past the "needing it" stage and now only go in their on rare occasions. Someone else brought up a good point: tunnels up North would really help out in the winters. I agree completely. Now that the SkyVenture company is branching out so widely, I can't believe some rich Canadian hasn't thrown down the money to get one up there. Lord knows it would get a lot of business. Having a tunnel at Perris is perfect. Like I said, they are just the thing for fixing a student's freefall problems without wasting a ton of money on terribly-expensive level III make-up dives. You would not believe how much good 10 minutes in a tunnel can do. Soup sandwich to "getting it" in no time flat. Besides that, I believe that they will have an initial rush of curious up-jumpers, then settle into a schedule of student training and RW tunnel camps. The Vegas tunnel sucks and was really too far of a drive for west coast people in my opinion anyway. I am sure the new tunnels will be swamped. Chuck My webpage HERE

[drunken british accent] "Fack offffff!"[/drunken british accent] My webpage HERE

1:7:0 It rained all day Saturday and I hauled seven hunks of meat on Sunday (we were understaffed, so I volunteered). The only thing that sucks about it was that the indians weren't there; you know, the "packa-ho" tribe. I made a ton of cash, but having to pack my own tandems made it impossible to find time to fun jump. I get very cranky when I don't get to jump my wingsuit or swoop. Carlos Azul My webpage HERE

Yep, I heard all about it from my boy Paul "road kill" Cozic. He said it was pretty awesome. Chuck My webpage HERE

Well, since I just read this post, I will say that this weekend it piss-rained 90 percent of Saturday, then I got saddled with seven tandems yesterday (with me packing due to lack of help on the DZ). John (slotperfect) was also busy hauling meat all day. Meanwhile, my wife was down at the CSL meet in Chester competing in the open class. Her all-female team finished third in handicap open. They travel to another meet this weekend at CPI in Connecticut. The weekend before, I was down at the swoop meet at ASC. I made 15 jumps and had a blast. Next weekend I will either be working/coaching at Raeford, or at the Skydive Coastal Carolinas beach boogie in the Raeford Express Super Otter (Bravo Sierra). I plan on doing big-way sequential stuff and flying my wingsuit alot. Chuckie My webpage HERE

BSBD My webpage HERE

that depends on a lot of things. For one, do you pack on a smooth surface, or out in the grass or dirt? Do you drag your main and lines around on the ground after you land, or do you pick up all your kit right away and carry it back without dragging anything? I pack in the grass a lot and have about 500 jumps on my small spectra lines on my orange main and probably won't be replacing them anytime soon since they are still not fuzzy at all. The spectra lines on my old Stiletto 97 had well over 1000 jumps on them and they were still fine in my opinion. Chuck My webpage HERE

Nice job. Now get back over to the DZ and make some more skydives! Hooty hoo! Chuck My webpage HERE

Required reading are Volumes 1 and 2 of the Parachute Manual by Dan Poynter. Rigging is not difficult and it is something that I believe everyone ought to have experience in. Being handy with a sewing machine makes one a fairly popular person on a DZ in times of need. Also, not having to pay for reserve repacks makes things cheaper for me. Packing certain people's gear (like my wife's) keeps me in good graces. Most DZ riggers I have ever met will allow, and even promote, apprenticeships. I never paid a dime for any rigger training and studying under a DPRE certainly didn't hurt!

Get them to hand you like 30k and go fuck off for a year! My webpage HERE

Like SP (John) said, bring your tired asses down to Raeford and we will do all that crap for you, gratis. Chuckie My webpage HERE

Phree. That registry is not accurate. There are plenty more CASA's out there. We have one at Raeford and I know there are plenty more. My webpage HERE