SkymonkeyONE

I made a few jumps on a GTi last easter and have been meaning to buy a suit since then. You are correct in stating that it is a great feeling. I am getting one of my Javs modified for BirdMan use so I don't have the problems my boy Bobby Pritchard has had. Bobby has had three instances where he has not had sufficient snatch force to get his main open. Being a smart boy, he immediately had his brand new Mirage modified to alleviate that problem. My webpage HERE

Errr. Phil, there are plenty of folks going. Has your monitor been broken? My webpage HERE

BWAHAHAHA! At first, I thought the picture really sucked because it didn't show any rooster tail or indication of how far I had swooped. I looked more closely and saw the error: I had skewed sideways at the very end, so my tracks are not directly behind me. The very-long indention that trails out behind me and to the left (as viewed) is how far I went on my belly. Oddly, my jumpsuit and rig didn't even really get wet all day. I simply jumped up and dusted of the snow every time. My webpage HERE

Ladies and gentlemen, there is absolutely no requirement to swoop whatsoever. It is just something that some people do because we want to add another element to our skydive. For some people, just the act of jumping out of a plane is more than enough fun, they hate the canopy ride and want to get down in as safe a manner as possible. Others really like to cut up under canopy and do CRW or parabatics. Others still get maximum satisfaction in that final turn and their grace of swoop. Nowadays, I get the most satisfaction from whatever I am doing in freefall, and what I do on that last turn. Under canopy I don't do anything nutty at all. I generally open at 3000 feet, though sometimes higher just so I am not rushed in my pre-swoop preparation. I don't make any crazy spirals to beat everyone down, and I don't enjoy "twitchy" canopies at all. Swooping is simply another form of expression. Do not try to do it just because of peer pressure. If it does not appeal to you don't feel bad at all. All I would ask though, is that if you are not swooping please do not land down "the beer line" or whatever the lane of choice is at your dropzone. Those of us who do swoop do our best to stay out of the way of the heavy traffic, which at my dropzone includes a ton of students on radios. We teach them to stay well away from the beer line and we teach all of our spectators the same. Chuck My webpage HERE

Pathetic post-whoring muldoons! BWAHAHAHA! Chuckie My webpage HERE

Riser dives to final- we don't toggle hook for any reason on the circuit- are learned at altitude, just like everything else. To figure your turn-in height for whatever degree of turn you want to do, do a hop and pop at altitude. Once you are open and are done stowing your slider, etc, take up a heading across the ground. Reach up with both hands in your toggles and grab both front dive loops. It does not matter that you only plan to turn one way; grabbing both loops will keep your body square in the harness. Once aligned with something on the ground, check your altitude and pull your riser (no matter which one) down far enough that you initiate a steeply diving carve. Hold that carve until you are 90, 180, whatever degrees from your start point and release the riser. Next, wait until your canopy "comes around the corner" and levels out with the ground. Check your altimeter again, do the math, and the difference in altitude is the altitude above ground level that you ought to be able to accomplish the same move safely. If you do what I said and your canopy comes around the corner too high and leaves you planed out too high off the ground to drag a toe, then the next time you do it bring it down a tad, or just transition to double fronts BEFORE you come around the corner. Wait too late to transition to double fronts and you will not be able to pull your dive loops back down due to the centrifugal force of your body swinging under the canopy. This is the main reason you have both hands in your dive loops when you throw a turn; that way you have the ability to crank it back the other way really quick, go to double fronts, or even better: moderate the degree of your turn. Every canopy has a riser-pull "sweet spot". That is the degree that you can pull a riser down to make that perfect, carving dive. Pull farther than the sweet spot and your canopy will spin quickly on it's axis, almost exactly like doing a toggle hook. Don't pull far enough and the riser pressure will become too great to hold it down, plus the canopy will barely be turning. Keeping your dive in the sweet spot is the very best way to build real, usable speed for the longer surfs. A snapping turn will initially dive very fast, but will also come around the corner too fast and cause shortened surfs. The only real caveat to that statement is that some canopies will continue to dive at the ground no matter what, so it doesn't matter TOO much how sloppy you are. The intent is to build clean speed and have your canopy come close to being around the corner on it's own at a height that you can drag your feet if you wanted to. In a pond swoop meet, that is critical. In a PPPB meet, it's only critical in the Acuracy event, and to a degree, in the Pro Distance where you only have five foot entrance blades. I generally only have to tap my brakes to finish coming around the corner, but I have a little bit of practice. Once around the corner, most canopies are going to have three or four seconds where they need no input whatsoever to just cruise along. This is called "ground effect". After they slow to a certain speed, they will start to sink out. At that point, you just start adding little bits on brake input until such a time as it is safe to lower your landing gear (feet) and either step out of it, or slide to a stop like I do. Pilots will understand this as the old "I don't want to land, I don't want to land" lesson where you are taught to slowly ease back on the yoke until your main gear lightly touches down. After a while you will cease having to look at your altimeter to get your turn-in point dialed. Eventually, you will just "feel" that you are at the right altitude to throw your turn. Normally, I like to do a long carving right 180. If I am too high to make my turn and still land along my desired "runway", I will rurn up to 90 degrees left, then go right 270. If I am too low for some reason, I will crank the turn tighter to make the same landing zone. Bottom line is that you need to practice accuracy on every skydive; swoops included. State clearly ahead of time that "I am swooping the beer line from road to runway" or whatever it is at your DZ. Try not to deviate from that course. Instead, vary the rate and degree of your turn to get you to that spot. A swooper must really be on his toes and cognizant of what others are doing around him. Getting your swoops on target will really help you later when and if you ever care to join me on the circuit. A person might be billy bad-ass at home without any blades to go through, but let me assure you that you must REALLY be on your game to fly through a course of 14 foot high airblades, or drag your toe the length of a pond on a course that is only four and a half feet wide. Practice, practice, practice. Ask questions of the smooth guys, and come on out to the competitions and watch for a while to see what it's like. EFS Unlimited! Chuck My webpage HERE

Be a man and squash that bastard in there. You will probably have to loosed your closing loop a bit, but I think you will be able to get it in there. My webpage HERE

Nah. The original EXTremes said just that on the sides. I doubt Omri has a tri-cell there. JYRO means "jump your ring off". Chuck My webpage HERE

That sounds like good business to me, Chris. Drive on with yo bad self. Chuck My webpage HERE

You mean that double mastectomy? BWAHAHAHA! I love you man! My webpage HERE

Fascinating. Run around and make "woosh" noises, that will really fuck them up. My webpage HERE

I used to bitch quite a bit that Slinks were a pain in the ass if you swapped mains around a lot on the same set of risers, but now I use them regularly. I have extra risers laying all over the place, so no need to keep the rapides. Chuck My webpage HERE

There you have it: a fantastic reason for wanting to know how to perform a specific task. Right on, Brother. My webpage HERE

We are working on a project to collect the most valid tips from all the skills forums for future reference. Hopefully, somebody will let me go back in and re-edit that post before it gets saved to that place. I noticed several typos and dropped words which I need to fix, but waited to long so my "edit" timeframe has passed. Oh well, I am sure yall got the idea. My webpage HERE

Packers, Shmackers! Fuck that. Pack your own shit and you won't have to worry about some moron not knowing how to set your brakes and trips. Chuck My webpage HERE

If I get a rig for repack that has the main still in it, I will open the container, lay the d-bag and risers over the front near a wall, cut the main away, then duck tape the risers to the floor in two places so it does not get disturbed. I then repack the reserve, hook the main back up, and close the container. I generally do not repack the main unless the rig is given to me with the main unpacked. My webpage HERE

Just read the updated posts. Everything about sinking any ZP main is right on the money. It is an iffy proposition and should be practiced at altitude during your formative jumps on the canopy. I once landed a Sabre 135 in a dudes VERY crowded back yard for a demo. Stupid, but I lived through it. My buddy Randy Phillipi landed on the roof of the house next door, Kenny Lovette swooped the pond and landed in the yard next door, and lastly, my buddy Norm pounded in under a Sabre 190 and hit the far fence. The most critical piece of advice given so far was NOT to let the toggles up abruptly when you are sinking it, no matter how much the main bounces around. Chuck My webpage HERE

Obviously you didn't get my PM. We taught an FJC all this week, but only had two students. Call the loft at (910) 907-2369 and schedule yourself or whoever with Kip Lohmiller or Greg Offhaus. As a matter of fact, we are teaching another course all day Monday if you (or that other person) can make it. Chuck PS: Tom Wood is a strange agent! Coconut Monkey! Hooty Hoo! He is an official member of the LATE night monkeybago crowd. My webpage HERE

You laugh, but I used to own an 8-cell canopy! Hooty Hoo! My webpage HERE

To answer the original post: only if there was some freak deal keeping me off my belly. That being said, the situation that Bill Von wrote might be one of those circumstances. To answer Bill's question: if I were at 4k I would deploy my main. I would ensure that I deployed my pilot chute straight out to the side, on the "clean" side so as not to entangle myself. I definitely would not fire my reserve at 4k if I was "only" on my back. A similar situation here is the dreaded tandem side-spin phenomenon. While not technically on your back, there is the possibility that one might get stuck on his side. If you cannot track out of the spin (my technique), then I would throw the drogue if I were clean side up. Chuck My webpage HERE

Not sure, but I think Jari will let you try one with 200 jumps nowadays, so long as you jump with one of the instructors. Man, I love birdman jumps. I had absolutely love it. My webpage HERE

I load my 65 at up 2.6 on a regular basis and have no problem landing it straight in. My webpage HERE

I am Skymonkey ONE as I am the creator of the monkey kingdom at Raeford dropzone. I coined the term skymonkey when I was teaching a FJC with Kip Lohmiller (SM-2). I called my students monkeys or skymonkeys and it stuck. We have been hat wearing members since 1999. My webpage HERE

I haven't really ever had that problem. I ride my Harley everywhere when it's warm with only tiny little KD sunglasses; no problem there either. I do end up having to wipe tears off the glasses after some jumps, but that's about it. My webpage HERE

I am not bent at all, just pointing out a misconception. Also, I DO pack reserves on a regular basis and find that doing things right the first time makes for a more streamlined timeline. Hooty Hoo! Chuckie My webpage HERE