SkymonkeyONE

Never met her, but I can guarantee she could not surprise me. What do you think, Lisa? My webpage HERE

Hey, gators are good eatin'! I sure do love fried gator tail. My webpage HERE

Actually, that is why we do multiple hanging harness drills. I put every one of my students throught "the washing machine" as many times as it takes for them to get it right every time. I have never in my 15 years as an instructor had any one of my students cutaway out of sequence. Chuck My webpage HERE

I have one set of 18's and one set of 19's on my two Javelins. I HATE to have to "jump" to get to my slider, especially under a 75 square foot parachute which is very prone to harness steer. Chuck My webpage HERE

Never heard of the guy, but it sounds like a good idea. My webpage HERE

speaking of the tunnel....Just found out this weekend that our club has it laid on for three hours per month from now on. It has been nearly two years since we have been able to take our regular students in. I am very happy about it. Chuck My webpage HERE

If you are referring to him getting beat to the punch with "Ninja", that is only because the other guys got their main on the market faster. Still, it would have been the perfect choice. I saw video of the new main at the CSS Easter Boogie and discussed the particulars with Brian. It looks very nice. Chuck My webpage HERE

April, you are a couch freaks girl, believe me. 'Nuff said.... Chuck My webpage HERE

The person that let this happen was definitely more concerned about the piece of equipment than his own safety. This goes right along with the dude that died at Quincy last year because he didn't want to lose the borrowed skytube he was jumping. LET IT GO AND SAVE YOUR LIFE. As for helmets fogging, here is how I prevent it: The rare times I wear my bug hat (factory diver), I do not ride the plane up with the helmet on or turned around backwards on my head. Do that and your helmet will get very hot and humid, just begging to fog immediately upon hitting cold air. I put the helmet on and tighten it down immediately before moving to the door. With the helmet on my head, I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. Immediately upon canopy opening, I loosen the cinch and pull it up slightly. I also leave the bottom center edge pulled out slightly to aid in ventilation. Using these simple methods, I have never had one fog/ flash-freeze up on me. Still, if it did, I would rip the face shield or helmet right off and toss it. This is another scenario that people jumping bug hats in cold weather might want to practice for. I rarely wear mine except for when it's very cold outside, so I am especially cognizant of fogging/ freezing. Chuck My webpage HERE

I am officially hot on the trail My webpage HERE

No idea why or how, but my firewall at work is no longer blocking dropzone.com! I am stoked to say the least. Chuck My webpage HERE

Stacy, there are plenty of choices for you. Miami, though, is a tandem factory, so I don't think you will like it very much. Oh, wait, you just came from a tandem factory! LOL! Just pokin' Also, as bad as I hate to say it, you are not far at all from Skydive America. I am no fan of that place, but now that Scotty Carbone is there (as well as Omri!), I am sure there will be plenty of good RW to get in on. Actually, the Candadian 4-way team trains there regularly. Chuckie My webpage HERE

Some schools still use the "two handed method", but most I have ever seen, and certainly the only way I teach, is the "one hand on each handle method". The only time I would ever use two hands is in the event of a hard cutaway or reserve pull. Properly peeling your handles before pulling them generally alleviates that problem. Chuck My webpage HERE

Chris, no we do not do a pull in the air as part of the training, but we do perform live pulls on the ground as part of initial training. My webpage HERE

The "party line" answer to the minimum jump requirements is that you are supposed to have 200 jumps (supposedly in the last year). I will will take those 200 jump guys on supervised jumps. Anyone with over 500 jumps is authorized to make a solo BirdMan jump after having only viewed the training tape and signing a waiver. My webpage HERE

Rhino, yes I lived through it, but the point of the post was that I failed to follow the correct procedure with respects to the wingsuit protocol. I should have just reached down and released my wings via the cutaway handles immediately and I would not have looked like a jackass as I was zipping in a tightening circle under a 75 square foot parachute. I wasted a good 35 seconds fighting a stuck zipper without even thinking of just pulling my wing handles; very dumb. Lesson learned. The parachute was not spun up, only diving right. Chuck My webpage HERE

Actually, I promply had three shots of crown and about seven beers before I drove 22 miles home on my hot-rod Harley with my non-DOT approved helmet. Couldn't jump anymore because my "primary" rig is at Sunpath getting the new PDF legstap hardware and new legstraps (the original pre-PIA Odyssey ones slipped like a motherfucker). My webpage HERE

Ladies and gentlemen. Feast your eyes on the new thread I just started in Safety and Training about my reserve ride today! I, Chuck Blue, a man barely alive, chopped an easily fixable spinner on a BirdMan flight this afternoon because I was too stupid to just pull my arm-wing cutaways. This was my first reserve ride since 1988; first in the last 2,520 jumps ( I think that's right; the last one was on jump 488). Read the article then feel free to give me shit if you are a BirdMan who has dealt properly with it. By the way, it was my fourth BirdMan flight of the day and I had been coaching a guy on his maiden flights all day. Chuck My webpage HERE

There I was, no shit. Soaring along in my very-stylish BirdMan GTi at about 4000 feet after coaching one of new students on his 4th flight. I sit up, throw my pilot chute and bring my arms in near my handles like I normally do. Oops! My "never spinning" competiton cobalt 75 opens in a hard right dive. I know my legstraps were even and tight before exit and I know I threw out dead on heading..... BirdMen, what is the first thing you would have done? Proper answers in a minute, but listen to what my dumb ass did... My main is spinning right due to closed end cells on both sides, but I try and harness steer left, which normally would work fine on my tiny main. I IMMEDIATELY reach for my left arm zipper and start to unzip. Oops, I pulled my thumb loop off before pulling tension, so the left zipper jams up three inches from my wrist. Fellow BirdMen, after failing to do this first off, what did I again fail to do immediately???? I manage, somehow, to reach my left rear riser while my arms are still sewn in and clear the left and right end-cell closures, but still, I have a right turn. No tension knots visible, no released toggle, must be a loose leg strap. Still, I try to un-fuck the left zipper. I am burning through 1500 feet. BirdMen, I still have not gotten my head out of my ass..... Well, looks like I am fucked.... Even harness steering very hard to the left, my main is still diving right and I can't un-seize that left zipper... Look right, grab right. Look left, grab left. Pull right, pull left (at about 1000 feet), then see my two arm wing cutaway handles (what a moron), reach and pull both arm cutaways. Land the Tempo 120 right across the paved road in a freshly burned grass field. Butt surf in because I was too low to get my booties and leg wing undone, then hop up and wipe off the "evidence". This was my first reserve ride since 1988; you do the math. first reserve ride in the last 2,420 jumps. First cutaway with a "pad" reserve handle (didn't like it). This ride could have, and SHOULD have been prevented with about 1/2 second of work. My main was mostly open, but spinning. My first move should have been to reach down and cut away my arm wings. I could have then just reached up and cleared my closed end cells, got out of my leg wing, then swooped the blades as planned. Even though I practice my emergency drills on every skydive, and had just gone over them with my junior BirdMan, I failed to follow my own guidance until I had already chopped. I felt like a complete moron just as soon as I pulled the handles and saw those arm wing cutaways, but it was too late. Anyone think I will ever do that again? No way in hell. Just like your first standard cutaway, you never know how you will react until you first have to REALLY deal with it. Generally, after I toss my pilot chute in my wingsuit, I drop my knees and bring my hands in to a position near my mudflaps. I will now amend that to having my hands down near my arm wing cutaways. Jesus, it only takes a minute to sew your wings back down if you chop them; no big deal at all. It is CERTAINLY much easier to do that then have to find your main, freebag, etc, then repack your reserve. Bottom line here: Do not get complacent, no matter if you are straight skydiving or adding to the mix with an additional piece of equipment: tandem, skysurf, wingsuit, etc....Know your emergency procedures and be prepared to use them. I will now treat every opening as I do when I am jumping with freefall students....You never know what is going to happen till it does! Anyway, I lived (obviously), bought beer (It was my own reserve pack job so no liquor) and retold the story many times afterwards. Chuck My webpage HERE

John, it was very nice seeing you on the dropzone again this weekend; also nice seeing you posting again after such a long hiatus! The Sigma main is very nice. Less toggle pressure than an EZ, much like an Icarus or Cobalt tandem main. I am sure you will love it. Chuck My webpage HERE

I am world famous for my first-rate kiss passes. I NEVER miss an opportunity to throw one on a fledgeling female student. Chuck My webpage HERE

I was giving that canopy hell. It was a lot of fun. Chuck My webpage HERE

You should not have a problem finding a dropzone in your area that will let your kid jump when he is 16. There are a lot of small dropzones in your area that I KNOW will let him jump at that age. PM me for a list. Chuck My webpage HERE

I would never not drive to a boogie just because the weather channel said it was going to be shitty. Always give it a whirl anyway, even if you get stuck only getting to party. Chuck's weather channel interpretation: If it says there is a 90 percent chance of rain, then that means I will generally get to skydive 90 percent of the day. Speaking of weather: It's nasty as hell in NC, but sunny and 90 degrees here in Key West. I came back down Tuesday afternoon and fly home again tomorrow at 6pm. This is my 38th time here since July 1998. All business, I promise! Chuck My webpage HERE

Oh, that is just TOO much! Someone call a medic! My webpage HERE