SkymonkeyONE

I thought I saw one that was a peach all by itself and another that looked like a chick bent over with a peach between her legs up near the top left.

Josh, you are not alone. I am a hairy scottish-blooded male, but I do have good grooming standards!

How much did this friend of yours weigh? That makes all the difference in the world to what I will answer. I know plenty of small people that would be absolutely fine under that main. Chuck

Not really true on all counts, Michelle. There are plenty of people at Perris (as well as everywhere else) that do not wear helmets or else just don't put one on for takeoff. Same for seatbelts. The door is now closed, true, but this was not always the case. Still, since that Perris Otter crash there has been a lot more instances of people practicing safer inflight practices. Chuck

Jumping in the cold sucks, but what's a man to do? I always wear my factory diver in the winter. That helps SO much, but you must be very carefull not to let your helmet fog and ice over in freefall. never pull your helmet down (or flip the lid down) until just before exit. That cuts down on the condensation which is the cause of freezing in the first place. As far as gloves go, I never wear anything thicker than winter-weight Neumans or Nomex flight gloves. While your hands will absolutely kill after opening, those gloves with "feel" are much safer for pulling handles, etc. My biggest problem with gloves is at the "unstow brakes" phase. If I catch a finger in the mix under my 2.4 wingloaded 75 foot canopy, then the SHIT IS ON! It is a complete motherfucker to untangle gloves from your steering line stows without having your main spin you into the ground. As such, I am VERY carefull when I unstow. Just some things to think about, but nothing to keep me on the ground, that's for sure. Chuck

I guess I will get up and make me some Easy Mac! Chuck

Welcome home. Glad you made it back in one piece. Indeed, there has been a rash of wreck-dot like behavior in your absence, at least in this forum. Subtle prompting on several of our parts has made no difference to this new, rogue breed and the people who have chosen this dark path. Oh well, I am sure it will work itself out with a little higher influence. Anyway, want to hear some Quincy stories? Chuck

At both my home DZ (Raeford) and at my dad's place in Alabama: -Pie for # 100, 1000, then every 1000 after that. -Bottle of premium liquor to the rigger that packed the reserve you just rode (his choice of brand). -Case of beer for every significant "first", regardless of whether or not you did it on one jump. We try not to break our new, penniless jumpers, but we definitely don't let them get away. Failure to pay beer will get you banned from group events and the club bar. At Raeford we have a beer line. It is clearly visible from the air and everyone is briefed on it's location prior to jumping there. Landing inside that line gets you a "case of beer" fine. This definitely keeps incidents of spectator/packer strikes to a minimum. It also keeps you out of "the Raeford Dragon", which is a vortice of wind that comes off the tall pine trees on the fringes of the landing area. Chuck

While my favorite disciplines are 4 and 8-way sequential, I really do love the hell out of large formation skydiving. Granted, my biggest dive was a 3-point 40-way, it was one of the most satisfying moments in my 20 years in the sport. As a light guy (I hover around 150-155lbs naked), I get plenty of opportunity to float and be last out of the plane. Both are terribly rewarding, as you get to see the whole thing building right in front of you. As a floater, it's great to be able to leave early and pop up to the formation in a sort of birdman track. Diving out late and last, it's great to be able to invert, grab your boc with both hands, set your dive and haul ass. Then you get to flare out, set your brakes, then glide into position. Lovely. As far as advice goes, I would definitely rate your "range" realistically. If you can't get back up, then don't volunteer to float. If you can't swoop, then don't be last out. Where most people get hosed is when they think they are outside people, when in actuallity they really needed to be more inside. If you don't have good control in a no-lift dive, then stay closer in that way you don't pile into someone if you don't raise your head soon enough. Some will recall the thread when I told about getting knocked out at 12,000 feet by a guy that "over-boogied" and hit me in a no-lift dive while I was shooting video. Very ugly. I recommend the "chicken dive." Look it up in an old Parachutist or ask around. It is a near-vertical dive, but your head is up so you can see where you are going. Accomplished freeflyers will also say that an inverted back-track works well to get down and keep visibility on the formation. Whatever you are comfortable with. The bottom line is that you can be a super skydiver, but go from hero to zero in about one second if you blow a swoop and go flying below the formation, never to be seen again. As far as additional equipment for swooping, I reccomend slip-ons for your forearms if you are jumping a comp suit with spandex there, plus webbed half-gloves to REALLY put the brakes on. Chuck

All potential Cobalt north-eastern demoers ought to show up at The Ranch this weekend in Gardiner, NY for the Pond Swoop Nationals. It is going to be an absolute hoot! Dan, Simon, Myself, Eric Butts, Bryan Harrel, and Tony Canant will be there representing Atair. Dan says that he is going to have demos available. Chuck

Chris, sorry I was off skydiving in Quincy and Key West and missed the beginning of this thread. I totally understand where you are coming from and what your concerns are for the "younger" readers/posters. Still, as "someone in the know", I can definitely tell you that Dan's recommendations are not out of line. Here is my input: Wingload numbers that you would associate with other planforms just don't apply with the Cobalt. The reason is due to the way you are suspended under the canopy, which is to say much farther back than most of today's mains. I will make my comparison in the 120 size to make my point. My wife jumps a Stiletto 120. It is a very twitchy parachute and zips along quite rapidly at my wingload. Body position is very critical at pull time on this main. Greg Offhaus, one of the other riggers at our DZ, jumps a Cobalt 120. To me, it flies like a complete dog. Noticably slower airspeed, much slower toggle response, etc. The difference is that it has a much more powerful flare and will keep on flying at a substantially lower airspeed than that Stilleto. Same goes for Eric Bush's old Sabre 120. His old main definitely "feels" faster than a Cobalt 120. That, my friend, is where the difference is. While the Cobalt has a longer recovery arc in a riser-dive than both of those other canopies mentioned, it handles "mushier" to me in the same size and wingloading, thus making it a safer bet for lower-time jumpers at the same wingload. So, the bottom line is that while "technically" you might think a 1.2 is too high a wingload for those younger jumpers, it actually flies MUCH bigger and acts more like a .08-1.0 wingload. To get the same "feel" with a Cobalt as you do with your Stiletto or Icarus, you need to load it heavier. That is how we get away with jumping our very-small Cobalts. Loading my Cobalt 75 at 2.4 doesn't feel a bit "faster" really than when I was jumping a Stiletto 97 regularly. The difference is that I have MUCH more bottom-end lift and the thing just does not bow-tie for any reason. My 75 flies great in deep brakes and I have had to land it straight in plenty of times to avoid student traffic. Perception that all things are equal at a given wingload only applies when you are comparing similar planforms. As the Cobalt/Alpha/Space/Impulse planform works in an entirely different manner, then we, as "the old guys" and professionals, must come up with new tests and ways of evaluating products. This is kind of like the square footage argument that was going on until recently where people were calling canopies one thing, but having them actually be up to 15 square feet different according to PIA. So, to recount: Is the Cobalt a high/extreme performance main? Yes, when loaded at 2.0 and above. Is it also a feasible intermediate main when lightly loaded? Most certainly. Two of my very best friends who are newish to the sport are jumping them now. One is a 130 pound girl with 100 jumps who has a spanking new Cobalt 120. Her last (I should say first) main was a Hornet 135. You have to believe that I as a very-experienced and conscientious instructor would not have recommended this main had I not felt it was perfectly safe. Chuck

I hope this was not a troll. Anyway, Zelmo, the typical 7-cell ParaFoil would definitely not be the hot ticket for a regular jumper's only main. Reasons are as follow: The parafoil will spank you BAD on openings from terminal velocity if care is not taken to retard the openings. My wife had the entire top skin pull off two ribs on a terminal opening on her 255 this spring. It almost knocked her unconscious! My wife has nearly 2,800 jumps and is a two-time member of the US Style and Accuracy team just so you don't think this happened to her because she didn't know her equipment. Second: while it is neat that a foil can fly backwards and does indeed sink very well, they are really not meant to be landed on anything other than pea gravel or a tuffet. The flare is one-stage and not very powerful. The ParaFoil does not have much forward drive either, so getting back from a bad spot is not such a good bet. Bottom line, in my opinion anyway, is that if you want an accuracy-type main, then get a StarTrac or a SharpChuter. They are much more versatile mains. But, just to stir the pot a bit: I was on the very first 3-stack and tri-plane CRW formation in Guatemala back in 1990. The guys that had previously done the only two-stack did it with old ParaFoils, so they were adamant about using them for the next step. I told them that if I could dock on them with my Bogy 175, then they ought to listen to me. I did, they did, and we did a 3-stack with ParaFoils on the next jump. Right after that I convinced them that they would be much better off using their new HALO rigs (Javs with Manta 288 mains, all camo of course). We did it with them, then I taught them more CRW stuff like side-by-sides and downplanes. What a great six months that was. Chuck

First: Mike, and everyone else that is reading that has a gripe for that matter, it is a shame that you feel slighted by Atair. Dan, Heather, Simon, and the rest of the gang do a very good job of juggling their demos considering their finite resources. As I stated prior to leaving for Quincy: when Dan doesn't show up at an event like that, it's because he doesn't have ANY more demos to loan. Dan does the best job he can with the demo canopies he has on hand. The Cobalt is a great parachute or I wouldn't be flying one on the tour. Second: If you want to spout about something gear related, then do it in that forum where the right people can react to it in a timely manner. Dan Preston reads all but this "chatter" forum every day. I just did get to this thread after not checking in for a week, so it was quite lengthy by then. Too bad, as I would have gotten with you privately and connected you with the right person. As it is, I know that you have talked in person with Dan and actually had a fit and hung up on Heather. Lighten up; it's a demo, not your own main. The man was trying to appease you and you shined him. You want to talk SHITTY customer service, then order you a custom VX or Crossfire and see how long it takes after the "promised" date. Mine was over a month late and didn't even have side panels sewn on! This, of course, after paying cash in advance. Everyone has their personnal favorites and everyone has a "horror" story to tell about one thing or another. The truth of the matter is that stock Crossfire you are getting is a fine parachute. It flies almost identical to a Cobalt, and most people can get them for about the same price. Openings are nice, too. The big difference comes when it's time to order a custom-color main. Most will find that they can have a Cobalt in half the time as any Icarus product. Period. Be happy with your decision, one way or another, but base it on flying characteristics; not the fact that your specific demo dates could not be accomodated and you are pissed. Chuck Blue D-12501

One-pin Teardrops are sexy motherfuckers when they are ordered with the "vector III" type bottom. I almost ordered one of those myself! Still, I will definitely have to agree that gear choices at "most" DZ's are very much dictated by whatever the party line is there. Raeford is primarilly a Javelin/PD dropzone, but there are a lotof people jumping Cobalts now and plenty of PISA Hornets around that younger jumpers are using. Not many people jumping tri-braces around here, but a few are jumping Velocities. There are very few Icarus mains in this area, but several people at CSS jump them. Chuck

Very true, at least with regular Joes. Still, with the enormous volume of jumpers they don't do a bad job of getting people into the mix. Even *special* people have bad days, as we both know. To the person who made the comment about using cammo tandem rigs: we have plenty of those, but they do not get used in standard-force infiltration. We use them to carry very-heavy loads in a container and to infiltrate specialists who are not jump qualified. Still, you just can't mix rounds with squares in the air, especially at night as you would have people running all over each other. On mass tactical jump exercises in the regular force of almost every airborne-capable country in the world, jumpers use non-steerable parachutes and are instructed not to even pull risers except to avoid collision and right before landing. This allows the wind to carry them to the ground with sufficient dispersion, but to keep them in a fairly orderly line so as to aid in link-up on the ground. Finally: Me too, Brother! I am dropping my retirement paperwork at the end of this month. Chuck

My favorite T-shirt and sweat-shirt purchases were the ones that had the funny little guy saying " yes I am a skydiver, do you want to touch me?" Jumper sportswear had them. Concerning Scott: yep, I am sure he was blistered. Several days prior to that he was up on the roof of the bar trailer dancing with the blow-up Santa and Aligator. He took a step out onto the top of the flip-up "roof" over the liquor trying to fetch a glow-ball and came crashing down onto the bartender. You see, it's only two gas cylinders that hold it up and Scott weighs about 240. It was the funniest thing I have seen in quite some time. The bartender threatened to call the law, but Scott told him "whatever, man" and gave him a mean look. Nothing came of it. Tell Merrick that I will be on the road to The Ranch on the 23rd for the pond swoop nationals. I will probably be staying in NY most of the following week, then going over to Newton, NJ for their pond swoop money meet the next weekend. Bottom line is that I will probably miss seeing Merrick, but he should definitely check out both CSS in Louisburg and Raeford. Chuck

If it is an older BT-40 or BT-50, then no, it is not a good beginner parachute. Blue tracks were one of the first tapered, or eliptical, zero-p mains. They were not very popular in the US due to limited import and something about TSO requirements, but the one that I flew, a BT-40 was a sweet main. Blue Tracks were made by Parachutes De France and are now modified a bit and called Pro Series (unless I am terribly mistaken). Check out the PDF website. Chuck

Oddly, I am in the minority of Pro swoop competitors that actually use trips. I like them for all of the reasons listed so far in this post: lower toggle pressure, increased "feel", flatter tail, etc. None of the members of The Extreme Team (team Icarus) use trips and all four of them out-swoop me right now. It is all a matter of personal preference, but I simply prefer them as I am now very used to jumping them. Chuck Team Atair

I promise you that anybody from the Alabama Gang would have gladly done that deed, including my very-outgoing dad. Chuck

I am TDY in Key West again until Thursday evening, but I just wanted to logon real quick and tell you guys that I am sorry I didn't get to party and jump with yall. I DID get to see Sis for about one minute as she was going back to the hospital to pick Pam up, but that was it. Yall were supposed to come back by the RV and have a beer, but oh well, next time. I did meet a couple of others from the forums, though. I jumped with Lewmonst on a Muff Brothers raft dive where we both got our cards. I was surprised to find out that she was a girl as I had never read anything stating so. Her original pic made her look like a long-haired metal-head pretty-boy. I saw her rig and the "Lewmonst" on the yoke and figured it out. When I spoke to her she saw the "skymonkey one" on my mudflap and we laughed out loud. Odd as the realization was for me riding up in the plane with her, she turned out to be a very cool chick. I tried to talk her into competing in the intermediate event of the swoop competition, but she didn't bite. There were three girls that jumped after the Pro event, but I had already left and missed them. I will write a FULL report on my Quincy experience when I get back home. It will be titiled "Quincy: Hell Ride 2001". Anyway, Merrick, I am sorry I missed you and Pam. I told all the Alabama Gang to relay where I might be if you came around. Next time we are definitely going to have to set some firm link-up plans. Chuck

Look in the gear reviews and the gear forum for more detailed reports, but like Lew said, Odysseys rock. I got mine prior to the PIA symposium. The rig just sticks to your back and doesn't move. Very-small rigs like mine (an RS) tend to wash around on your back, but the cut-in laterals on the Odyssey make it fit like a glove. Chuck

Lisa, you are referring to Karen Berling, my wife's best friend. My wife's maiden name is Kris Ward. Chuck

The web phone is working fine as a modem, so yes, I got the replys. Someone came by the camp today, but I was up jumping, so I didn't get to see who it was. I did see Josh Hulse towards the end of the day and we were on the plane together then swooped the pond together. Note: we had a guy pile into the ground just short of the pond today. Right fucking in front of me! He was actually about 200 feet below me when I was on my downwind leg. I didn't think he was going to swoop, but he hauled that riser at maybe 100 feet and paid the price. I am not sure if he made it or not, but I know he was in very bad shape. Once he piled in, I swooped the lane anyway. While collecting my gear I saw that he was still not moving. Three golf carts full of people rushed over and pulled him out of the pond (he hit, then flipped into the water face down and unconscious). Ugly, but this stuff happens when you don't really have the experience. Hopefully the guy made it. Anyway, see yall when you get here. Chuck

Just a quick note to say that all is well in Quincy, IL. Not the crowd that you Quincy veterans will remember (due to the Skydive Chicago thing running at the same time), but still fun. I got here on Saturday at about 6pm and settled the MonkeyBago right beside my dad's monster RV and the other Alabama Gang crowd. I made six jumps yesterday and the same today. Sport accuracy is tomorrow and my wife is entering. I feel sorry for the people that think they can beat a six-year golden knight at stand-up accuracy. The pond has been open since I got here and good-spot permitting, I hit it every single time. I have run into six of my fellow competitors from the Perris meet and am quite excited about the competition. The pond is very nice but is kind of built up, so you kind of finish your swoop down a hill. Odd, but not a big deal. At least it's grass out there! I have STILL not met a single dropzone.commer. Where the hell are you guys? I am VERY hard to miss in my Skymonkey hat and my Odyssey with "skymonkey one" on the mudflap. That being said, I had NO problem finding the rec.skydiving guys. I was on Peanut's 500th jump today. It was a 20-way that turned into a zoo, but he had fun and that's all that really counts. As he is actually from Alabama, he is camped out about 40 feet from my RV ane parties with us every day. I repeat: when you come into the skydiver entrance of the airport, you follow the "avenue of flags" until it crosses the closed runway. My RV is right on the left, just in the grass in the Alabama Gang enclave. It is CLEARLY marked, so if you are coming, just ask for me. Gotta run. I am signed on with my web-phone as modem and it's only hooking up at 14.4. If you are coming, I will see you here. Have a safe trip. It took us 17 hours to get here. We drove straight through, only stopping for gas. Chuck

Don't make me stick your head in a toilet, boy. LOL! Chuck