SkymonkeyONE

Actually, the 904-0000 number is to manifest, not SkyKat. My webpage HERE

Congratulations Lisa! 10 February (Sunday) will be my 21st anniversary in the sport. I don't want to hear any wise cracks from the peanut gallery about being "old" either! Chuck My webpage HERE

Other than Raeford, it definitely has to be The Ranch.....PERIOD. There is no other DZ on the planet that has as good a "apres skydive" vibe. The bonfire crowd there is like no other. Chuck My webpage HERE

Yeah, you couldn't have done it either of the TWO times I have been out there in the past year. Damnit! My webpage HERE

Tim, you are confused as to the beer rules. Only a yuppified human being would dictate that "fancy" beer is the only choice. Down here in the south, we drink plenty of canned beer. I personally don't drink Budweiser anymore, but plenty of my buddies do. To reiterate my choices from the epic "beer of choice" thread: Rolling Rock when I want to drink to get drunk; and Coors light or Bud light or Miller light any other time. Around here we enforce the hell out of beer rules, therefore it is not prudent to dictate that these penniless students spend all their jump money on foofy beer. Hell, as much as we drink, it all tastes the same anyway. Chuck Blue D-12501 My webpage HERE

One point that was not covered at all in this entire thread was the part about team dedication. The original poster made it sound like the only reason he would want to skysurf is so that he could compete. Tsk tsk. I made a couple of hundred board jumps in the very-early ninetys. I still have the board (actually pieces of two), but lost interest after a while. Back then, there were absolutely no competitions whatsoever for the discipline. I did it just because it was something new that I wanted to master. Not that it might evolve into something that I could compete in. Actually, I started it as a diversion because I was absolutely burned out from shooting video and competing in 4-way meets. I was also dead tired of training students, so I needed a new challenge or I was going to quit the sport. It was something FUN that I could do solo, so I wouldn't feel bad if there weren't enought accomplished skydivers on the dropzone to do some cranking RW. As far as competition goes, it's getting to be a smaller and smaller crowd. Now that it's off the TV screen and the sponsors are not really that interested in it, competition minded people are getting into other disciplines. Still, do not let that bother you if you really want to do it; it truly is a rush. By the way, I had over 1000 jumps when the Coke commercial came out with the guys in Australia on little surfboards. I had a very fast learning curve and built my own very-reliable equipment. Conversely, I taught John Hoover (the current team leader of the Golden Knights competition RW team) to skysurf on his 200th jump. Chuck My webpage HERE

Clayton Fowler: Boondoggler Extreme. My webpage HERE

Awe man, it's all good. Still, if you don't think too much of a good thing won't kick your ass, you are wrong. I leave again on my THIRTY SIXTH week-long trip to KW on the 18th of this month. That's just since July 1998! Do you think there isn't a single inch of that 9 square mile Island I have not seen? Too much steak, not enough potatoes. I would rather just retire so I can fuck off at the dropzone all the time. Chuck My webpage HERE

Kip is currently in Arizona going to an AFF certification course. I am not sure what Suzy is up to, but I believe she is a contract packer for the USAPT. She also works as a bartender at Aviators bar and grill, our DZ restaurant. Both of them are doing fine. Chuck My webpage HERE

The video rocks completely. I had one of the first copies. Yes, it has much more than just swoops. There is some very campy stuff at the end, as well as plenty of interview and comentary. I am the monkey with the orange H-mod Cobalt with the blue diamonds and ribs which you will see in there. Buy it, you won't regret it. Chuck My webpage HERE

Don't sweat it Dan. You did hit the nail right on the head when you said that this was what was neccessary at YOUR dropzone. I understand your dropzone's philosophy completely; they are in it for the cash. That is entirely their prerogative, but what my main point was is that the up and coming jumpers out there who read these forums need to understand they have the option of seeking out those dropzones with different ideals. Sure, there are plenty of small one-Cessna dropzones that are just as bad, but in my experience those smaller dropzones seem to coddle their junior skymonkeys to a greater degree. I am very lucky in that I work and play at a three-turbine dropzone with all the goodies, but a distinctly small-dropzone "feel" and attitude. We have Instructors and tandem masters coming out our ass, but very few work for the contracted "civilian" training vendor. I give a rats ass whether that vendor makes a penny, so I (and my fellow Instructors) constantly hook whoever needs assistance up when we have the time (which is usually). Nobody should have to sweat having to come up with $50 for a fucking packing class. Same goes for the simple pre- A licence jumps a person needs to get his or her blocks checked. Cost of the coach's lift is all I can see a person charging for those jumps. That being said, I don't have any problem with a junior coach-rated guy taking those jumps. It makes him much better prepared for his "REAL" ratings. Only when a student has a nagging problem and starts wasting money on fruitless dives will I take the opportunity away from these up and coming trainers. It is then that I really make my "money". I get to not only un-fuck a problem student, I also get to help that young coach. Hey, it's all good with me. My webpage HERE

We will be in both Utah and Venezuela unless something at work comes up to stop me. Either way, Eric will be at both, even if I get hosed. Chuck My webpage HERE

I really like Casper creepers, but would hate to pay for them (good thing they are laying all over Raeford DZ). I have gotten excellent service out of every set I ever made for myself over a case of beer in the shop. My webpage HERE

I am just walking out the door to go to work on Wednesday morning. It's going to be 80 today! NICE! Later, Chuck My webpage HERE

Dan may just jump in and answer, but the fact of the matter is that the mod that is done on my orange 75, the "H-mod" makes a canopy REALLY snivel. It is fantastic once open, but man does it open slow. It would not be a good mod for general consumption on a regular Cobalt. The Competition Cobalt has a VERY different nose and flies completely differently. It dives steeper and flies faster. If that is what you like, then feel free to purchase one; they are for sale by Atair. What the original post was about, though, was the yet to be named 27 cell x-braced canopy that is in prototype testing. The main is based on the proven Cobalt planform, but will obviously be much shorter in the rib, etc, etc. Dan or I will write more about it as testing progresses. We all hope to be competing on them by March. My webpage HERE

Believe me when I say that I have both the time and expertise to do anything that needs doing. I have had an Instructor rating for nearly 15 years and have taught more students than I could possibly count. I didn't get my ratings to make money, but do not turn the money down when there is nothing else that the vendor or DZ can trade me for my time. I would MUCH rather get a few jump tickets and a case of beer for teaching an FJC than the pittance that most DZ's pay nowadays. As far as "coaching" goes, I am referring to those jumps taught after a student gets off student status. The only thing that I, or any other instructor at the club I teach at gets is their load payed for. Do you REALLY think that those people are getting second-rate instruction just because we don't "care" enough to charge them? Man, do you have a lot to learn. Bill Von Novak had a good reply, as did Ron Schott, in another post I read about the same type of thing on rec.skydiving. Ron wrote about having some yuppified cocksucker in a BMW who jumped at the same DZ as him in Florida. The dude REALLY thought he was the cats ass and told Ron flattly that he was absolutely not in the sport to make friends and help others out; that was passe. He was in it for the glory and what money he could get out of it. The dude clearly needed his head stuck in a toilet. I am the antithesis of that. I am ONLY in it for the fun and the friendship of like-minded skymonkeys. I am a second generation skydiver and I do things as my dad still does. Now, just in case the derogotory remark you stated earlier, "you assholes, blah, blah", was aimed at me, I recommend you check the attitude. Chuck D-12501 My webpage HERE

Just thought I would write and say it was HOT today here in Fayetteville, NC. It got to 78 today! Nice. Needless to say I had WAY too many clothes on at work today and on the bike ride home this afternoon. Is it FREEZING cold where any of you are? Chuck My webpage HERE

Lisa, I am loving you too. Chuckie My webpage HERE

I wish I had seen this thread earlier than I did. I absolutely agree with Bill Von Novak on this one. In general, the sport has gotten WAY too competitive. Skydiving is a HOBBY for the great majority of people. While it's definitely true that there has always been a high percentage of "type A" personalities in the sport, it seems that everyone nowadays thinks they must be a competitor. I see no problem with people wanting to get as good as they can in as fast a time possible; I just think they today's jumpers are getting fleeced by the establishment. This, of course, has to do with the way the "sport" has progressed. 21 years ago when I started skydiving there were VERY few full time dropzones and as such, very few people trying to make a living off the sport. Most people worked a 40 hour week somewhere and then went out to the DZ on the weekend to blow off steam and hang out with like-minded individuals. It didn't matter what you did during the week; on the weekend you were all just skydivers. Just like Bill said: you brought the younger jumpers along and didn't ask a goddamn cent in return most of the time. You did this because you wanted the people to stay around and be a part of the family. Nowadays, sadly, the caste system has reared it's ugly head (at least on big DZ's) like I would have never imagined. There is now an entire stata of "full-timers" who try and make their living on the DZ. It amazes me what some people get paid to do nowadays: packers, loaders, manifestors, massage, fuelers, etc, etc, etc, and now COACHES. Where I come from, the older guys trained the younger guys and everyone on the DZ took turns doing the nug work. "Hey boy! Go fill up that damn airplane!" Hey Boy, take this kid up on his 30 second delay". My answer: "no problem." I really do like turbine aircraft, and I really do like the full-service bar and restaurant we have at my DZ, but I fucking HATE it when I see students and intermediates getting fleeced. As I have previously stated in many other threads: feel free to come to Raeford and let me show you how my crowd does business. I don't want your money; I just want people to hang out with me and my friends. Every single person I jump with got his ratings at their first available opportunity so that they could give back to the sport. We thumb our noses at the vendors. THAT is what this sport is all about. If your current boutique DZ is raping you, get the hell away from there and find you a small cessna DZ to hang out at until you get your skills they need to be. Hell, you might end up actually having a good time! Shit, many of them still operate on a sort of barter system; I know my Dad's does. Pardon my ramble, but it seemed like it needed to be said again. My webpage HERE

Goofy? Nah. My webpage HERE

A person should definitely be able to do all the tricks he ever wanted to do under what he has before downsizing. The main thing that changes with downsizing is your forward and downward velocity. chuck My webpage HERE

Pete Culbreth at Skydive Opelika makes nylon mesh d-bags which are really cool. Not flimsy at all like one might imagine, and very easy to compress the air out of (obviously). He sells them in any custom size for around $30. Chuck My webpage HERE

Started jumping at age 17 and now I am 38. That's 21 years straight. Chuck My webpage HERE

Magic buttons? Give me one! Fuck that, give me TWO! Chuckie My webpage HERE

Not really a dropzone.commer, but my Atair teammate, Bryan Harrell from Elsinore is shown in the swoop instruction article. That, my friends, is a shrunken down version of possibly the sweetest swoop picture I have ever seen. The water was perfectly smooth and Bryan just ripped that carve. Lovely. There is an article in there written by Donna Barber, who is a Skydive Opelika regular, about COL Eddie Daly. Eddie successfully cut a hung jumper off the step of one of my dad's 182's a few months ago. Very similar to the deal in Virginia, except he actually got the guy off the plane and didn't have to land in that configuration. A very heads-up pilot and overall nice guy. In the same article is a nice pic of my ex-Raeford buddy, Todd Hoover. Of note about that pic is I landed about 10 seconds later, right beside him. Chuck My webpage HERE