SkymonkeyONE

It was 80 degrees here in NC all day Wednesday. Never got below 55 last night; I was out bar-hopping on my skoot till 2:30am with only a windbreaker on. Today it's a bit overcast and is eventually supposed to rain. Still, it's about 65, maybe 70 degrees. Chuck My webpage HERE

E-mail you submissions to Sangiro at (obviously) That is what I normally do. If you have some pictures to add, that helps. Remember that photos should be sent as JPEG's and graphic-type things should be sent as GIF's. Chuck My webpage HERE

Speaking of Canadian beer: a couple of months ago we had a group of about 15 that came down just to screw around and jump our CASA and party. They broght with them a HUGE amount of Labatte's Maximum Ice. That was some pretty stiff beer; they were giving away at night to whoever would drink with them. Chuck My webpage HERE

Still, the twisted variations on Michele's stories are fucking fantastic. That shit is nuts! OK, carry on. Chuck My webpage HERE

I am a serious trance fan; no particular favorite DJ or producer, but I do love George Acosta. One of the beauties of Satellite TV, DSL computer lines, etc, it that I can listen to streaming electronica anytime I want to. Out at the DZ, our RV is very easy to locate after dark. I need to burn some more CD's, it makes me nuts when they get scratched up out there. Chuck My webpage HERE

Actually, I think Alien Angel is the alter ego of Emma. I may be mistaken, but I have seen evidence that leads me to believe me I am on track. Am I right, Em? You did sign one of your posts about two weeks ago with a little "AA" Chuckie My webpage HERE

Sangiro, check you mail; my submission is there waiting. Chuck My webpage HERE

Right on. What's up with that? Do you also listen to N'sync and O-town?*** tsk tsk.... My webpage HERE

I am not sure how many times I am going to have to hear: "I saw you on TV again last night." This, of course, from flying Joan Lunden in our wind tunnel for the "Behind Closed Doors" series. I was nappy headed and pretty hung over that day, but got through it in typical slick fashion. Lovely..

Agreed. Sporting your rig around the terminal and onto an airplane is definitely not the hot ticket. That is just asking for it. I have a carry-on bag that is just big enough for me to fit one of everything I need to skydive in. Of course it helps that my rig is TINY. I also don't have a problem checking gear. I checked my other rig and extra main both times I flew this year. Never had them ask once what was up with the rig that I was carrying on. Chuck My webpage HERE

Lo que sea, quando que sea, donde que sea De Oppresso Liber My webpage HERE

BWAHAHAHA! Outstanding. My webpage HERE

Another exception I would make; good point. While I still do all my own packing at boogies, I DO get conned into packing for my dad and some others at Quincy. Chuck My webpage HERE

Rezz, contrary to what you might have heard from RSS at Raeford, there are three student training vendors jumping there. As you said you were retired military, you are therefore authorized to jump with both the Green Beret and 82nd freefall activities; both of which offer SL instruction, as well as AFF and tandem progression. By the way, Lousiburg (Carolina Sky Sports) is still there and is one of the busiest dropzones on the East Coast. They do all the training methods there too, but generally push AFF. As far as all this discussion about flying or driving all the way to Florida to skydive, I wouldn't advise that unless you are mister money bags. While the wind tunnel in Orlando is an outstanding tool which I wish everyone had the opportunity to exploit, I am not sure if I would mortgage the house just to get to it. By the way all you others out there: it's 80 degrees and severe clear today here in North Carolina. It really doesn't get cold here till January or February; then it only sneaks down to the 40's for a bit. Still, it is not uncommon to have 70 degree days during those two months. Anyway, if you would like a more "local" hookup, just send me a private message or drop me an E-mail. I have been jumping at Raeford since 1984 and teach at the GB club. Chuck Blue D-12501 My webpage HERE

I put my D-bag in the container with the lines toward the backpad and the bridle straight up, as you are packing. There is no way that you can rotate the bag to the "lines down" recommended configuration in my rig (Odyssey RS) as the pack tray is tiny. I have seen people killing themselves trying it, but my way is far more sanitary and definitely comes off my back a lot cleaner. Chuck My webpage HERE

Here at Raeford, students get the benefit of making those same types of jumps at a total cost of $36 per. (that's just the two jump tickets; them and the "I") Here, SL progression still reigns supreme, and all jumps from the first "30 second delay" until completion of the A-license are from 13,000 feet out of the otter. With the new ISP, there is absolutely no difference in the quality of skydiver produced by one training method over another, as they all must check the same blocks on their cards. Even if one gets all his blocks checked before another, they are both still paying for that extra slot until their 20th jump in most cases. As far as respecting the fact that some of these people are making their living by performing this coach function, That choice is entirely up to them. I have absolutely no sympathy for people who don't have sense enough to move to a more lucrative market in order to make ends meet. That, or get some REAL ratings so they can earn their money in a more traditional manner. In my opinion the Coach rating is there for those jumpers working their way up the chain and gaining experience for those more advanced ratings. That being said, those people ought not be charging anything more than their slot for that privilege. Before we allow any of our new "coaches" (formerly "jumpmasters") to fly with students, we take them up and evaluate them. If they suck, they are not going to get to do the job. We have forbidden several of these people from jumping with our students due to lack of skill. Off topic, but this goes back to the argument that occasionally pops up about supporting your local packing concession; give me a break! In my opinion, it is only the filthy rich and the tremendously busy jumpers who should even contemplate paying a packer. Confidence in one's ability should be paramount in this sport. If a packer can eek out a living on a dropzone, then good for him, but don't ask me to feel bad for him when he can't convince able bodied jumpers to give up their hard-earned money for something they can do themselves in six minutes. At Raeford, there are some packers who work for the civilian student training concession; RSS. Those guys pack all the tandems, student gear (included in the cost of rental), and staff gear so that those Instructors can turn around and get back in the air. Also, there are contract packers that do all the chutes for the Golden Knights competition teams. This, so that those guys can get straight back up in the air and knock out their ten or 12 jumps a day in preparation for their next meet. At the military clubs, we do all the work ourselves and do not get paid one red cent. We teach our students to be proactive and help others. In exchange for that, we often times get our ratings paid for by the activity, plus we get the benefit of making plenty of free jumps every time our students get to "altitude". My webpage HERE

Yes, this ties into a thread we had a few weeks ago. The deal is, at least with me, if you are going to pay someone to coach you, then that person had better be a nationally ranked competitor, not just some joe with an AD number (freeflying) or a skydive U coach certificate. Besides that, then you are better off finding friends with better skills, or that group of very-experienced skydivers who just love to help people out (like me). I have been to plenty of dropzones where there are people trying to rake people for money when they themselves have very little experience in the sport, much less teaching experience. This goes both ways, though, as there are plenty of very-good competitors out there who just don't have decent teaching skills. That comes with maturity and some "instructors" just don't have what it takes. The majority of people I jump with on most weekends are not on my level. I am not the kind of person to just sit around and watch a group of guys just off student status try and figure out how to do something; I go over and school them. That being said, every jump I do ends up being a coach jump, one way or another. If I am spinning 8-way and half the guys on the jump are members of the Golden Knights RW team, then it is I gaining the majority of experience. If I am jumping with three 300-jump wonders, then it is they who are getting the benefit of my organizing skills. It all works out in the end. At Raeford, it is a very common occurence for Chris Wagner, Joe Trinko, or Chris Talbert to be doing volunteer organizing. The dropzone pays for their slot and we get the benefit of their multi-world championship experience. These guys make plenty of money coaching full-time teams (when they want to), but give their time freely at their home dropzone. It is by jumping with these guys on a regular basis that I get invited onto "upper class" skydives when I travel around. The experience I gain with jumping with these people who have greater skills than I translates directly to the jumps I then make with the lower-experienced jumpers in the club. Do you follow me? While it is true that a person can make quantum leaps in his or her skydiving ability by paying for the "right" instruction on occasion, it is my opinion that one only do so if he wins the lottery, is living off a trust fund, or is working towards being a competitor in the least amount of time possible. Barring that, I feel it is better just to associate yourself with a group of jumpers who are better than you who will allow you to join them on their skydives. Rarely have I ever just walked up to a group and asked what they were doing on a jump and just join in without dirt diving every single phase of the jump. It is that phase, then the debrief, where you do your learning. Chuck Blue D-12501 My webpage HERE

Michele, unless I am mistaken your dad is the guy in "Outlaw Josie Wales" that said: "we got us the Josie Wales!" One of the two guys that got him near the river. Chuck My webpage HERE

We went to this system last year and have not had any problems whatsoever. It didn't make any sense to have to transition people to throw out after 10 jumps, so we just did away with it. Chuck My webpage HERE

Told you it would work itself out. I must say that I am terribly spoiled having SkyKat on my home DZ. Chuck My webpage HERE

BWAHAHAHAHA! My webpage HERE

Err.. He pulled out his hand deploy but did not release the pilot chute, so technically he did not "deploy". It's fascinating that he did not realize his mistake when he went in to pull the cutaway pillow; tells me he was not looking down at all. Ugly. Chuck My webpage HERE

Congratulations, Kreg. Chuck My webpage HERE

Yeah. at work (where I do 99% of my posting and general loafing about), I cannot access any Java or IRC-based pages or chat. As the site is now on it's own server, why can't we just have the Happy Hour chat back open, but on a continual basis? Enquiring minds want to know. Chuck My webpage HERE

Damn Karen! didn't know you were going. I couldn't have been there anyway due to the unforseen circumstances. Dan and his crew didn't make it down from NY either due to vehicle problems. Anyway, Christmas will be tied up in Salt Lake City (snowboarding and visiting in-laws), Las Vegas (partying), then in Alabama a bit (skydiving and visiting relatives). I am sure we will run into one another again, so have a nice holiday. Chuck My webpage HERE