SkymonkeyONE

He's Grey Mike because of his hair color, not because he had a suit of any particular color.

I have a wingsuit specific Wings W1-2 container with all the mods in which I keep a pretty-heavilly loaded Sabre2 97 (1.83). I don't use it for anything else. I stopped using Velos and my other, older, very-hp canopies in 2003 after two very bad experiences which resulted in ugly chops that I nearly didn't get away with. The Sabre2 does the job perfectly and has never been "a handfull" even on the occasions that I have opened into linetwists. It doesn't suck that it also swoops very well at that wingloading. Chuck

My only gripe with the whole thing is that Matt Hoover skated out of here without firewiring or simply taking my tapes with him for use in the video. I have a TON of shit that he was not here for. It's Monday night and the stragglers are still here. I was on six flocks today with at least seven on every load. Last load of the day was a rodeo dive where Kyle Thomas (Derek's son) rode on Robi's back. Kyle deployed off of Robi's back around 4000 feet. Both Zach and I got video. It was a great weekend to jump different suits. I put two on a new S-Fly expert today and liked it alot. I also made at least one jump on each of my own three suits and loaned them out to others. Our teamroom, "The BirdHouse" is fucking trashed. Jeff and I are going to take every single item out, scrub the hell out of the floor, then put things back in order. We definitely need more space now. People who showed up for the boogie could not believe how many suits we keep on the rack. More people need to set proper schools up like we have here. It definitely does not suck in Z-hills. Thanks to everybody that showed up for the event! We saw a lot of familiar faces and welcomed plenty of first-timers. I was sorry that some people could not make it (Voodew, Darren Kellet, etc), but we had plenty of fun without those guys, didn't we!? The level of competency exhibited by the GREAT majority of people were through the roof. There was very, very little zoominess and only one person had to be counselled about it. See you all in Texas for SkyFlock and then back here in November for Flock and Dock 3.5. Chuck

The first round of the distance challenge was a toss-up between Robi and Tero (that's how you spell it; he's from Finland), with Jeff and Theo rounding out the top four. Both Robi and Tero flew all the way from County road 54, all the way over the entire airport, and over Chancey Road where it turns East/West. Tero did that in 165 seconds. Jeff went 201 seconds on the same jump but only made it just past the pea pit. On the second jump Robi exited last and went zipping past everyone before he got tired and eventually pulled. Jeff, in "tortoise mode" changed his flight mode after being initially passed by the RobiBird and ended up flying over his head right after Robi pulled. It was truly a physically draining event. The event was into the wind as well, not with a tailwind as Matt posted. Round two was dropped a mile farther north (over Pretty Pond Road) than the first round to ensure that the leaders opened over the airport and help with judging. Two people who tagged along landed off (short, obviously) on that round, but the four top guys still made it halfway down the runway before pulling. Since someone asked about EG stuff: Nick Rugai had three EG suits here and lots of people jumped them. The arm wing on the Volturius is shaped just like a Tony Aerobat. Venting is different and the cutaway is along the leading edge, just like on an S-Fly, but with the release tabs at the cuffs instead of at the center. The legwing stance is very wide on both of his suits. The leading edge of the armwings are stiffened with two layers of foam and then covered in ParaPack. Actually, the entire suit is made of parapack, just like all of Tony's. Difference is, every surface that touches your body is lined with some cotton blend fabric for comfort. The Rigor Mortis has armwings about like a Tony Raptor or an S3. I expected something much bigger, but this suit looks good for flocking. Lots of people jumped it and flew it yesterday. The most noticeable thing about the Rigor Mortis is the butt deflector. It's formed to be very thick at the top to mate up to the bottom of your rig aerodynamically. It is not back vented at all. The Volturius is backvented. Robi had two "Charlie Browns" here. His first prototype which he was constantly cutting holes into to try new inflation techniques, and a second near-production one that Rob Jones was flying. Lots of people (who were slightly taller than me) got to fly it and said it had tremendous pop. I did not see anyone pooping in it though. There were three Blades here as well. Everyone who I let jump mine really liked it. Joni was flying hers some and Ed had a demo that he offered to a couple of people. It must be mentioned that Tero was jumping an S3S on his runs in the distance challenge and he looked to be tied with Robi (in a Super V2+) on the first round. The only suits that I did NOT see being jumped here were Matters (any model) and the S-Fly Access. I saw every other model of every brand available on the DZ and in the air though. I am smoked. It was a fantastic weekend. It's Monday now. People are still here and I have to go outside to organize again right now. See ya! Chuck

No.

I am sure someone will post something better than screen grabs starting tomorrow. Scotty Burns flew his digital still on the last two larger jumps. End of day flock was a 22-way V. It's a good event. Oh wait......the event doesn't really start until tomorrow! Chuck Fucking Veggie Reggie just got here from Kamloops!

I didn't even watch the video, but I will definitely say that you don't have any business fucking with your rears at all unless your slider is down and stowed (or removed) and your chest strap is fully loose. That's the progression. We don't pull down on our rears; we pull outward so that there is a seamless transition to toggles when we do finally release our rears. You cannot pull outward on your rears if your slider is over your head. Watch video, read the archived posts on the subject, and if all else fails: PM one of us who do this every single jump. Chuck

Either Nebelkizzy or Sato. On that jump three of us flew a backflying base. That screen shot was taken from my video mid-turn, thus the sloppiness of the formation. We are doing some very fun shit here already. Later in that skydive myself and Jeff were backflying docked with Eddie Pawlowski docked on me while others formed up in a wedge on us.

I don't even pay attention to the weather man. It's been fantastic here. A bit breezy at times, but never too bumpy for me to skydive. Chuck

The end of day flock was an eight-way at sunset. Jeff and I pooped it and flew base side-by-side on our backs. Lovely. There are rednecks, yankees, and plenty of foreigners here to flock with. Chuck

Brian, I don't know anyone else asking for such a load, but anything is possible.

I love you, Chris, but man did you murder the spelling of at least three competitors' names in that post. Read the entrance forms, bro. Chuck

Glide means somethng to YOU guys. Get that straight, brother. You can glide really far as fast as you like, but when you dump (on a skydive) and I am still high enough over your head to turn around 180 degrees and buzz you under canopy (while giggling) in my wingsuit you may wish to reconsider. Actually, that doesn't work either, because YuriBase still says the same stuff after being schooled here at Z-hills by me and my "stallflying". I really wish someone my size would come here to flock and dock and show any of us up to the degree which they spout here on the internet. chuck

I don't know where Grey Mike got the idea that one was actually showing up yesterday, because I knew a week ago that there were to be none. There might very well be the possibility of a high(er) altitude jump, but you better be here before Saturday. The last day of the bigway event is Saturday. You could have gotten 17k a bunch of times today if you got on trail planes. Chuck

It's about fucking time! Nice one, Billy.

Gus might have it then. I will call and ask him. Thanks for the quick reply, Marion! I had a blast jumping with you. Chuck

I like it!

It's Saturday and it's already a zoo here. If you are coming and own a wingsuit, please bring it. Our Flock and Dock 3.0 event will be going on concurrently. The events overlap and we already have a substantial amount of out-of-towners here. Also, if you get axed off of Guy's loads and you want something fun to do while you are here, come find us in the BirdHouse. I will be happy to show you what fun is really all about. Chuck

To all: I am missing a solid black wingsuit from the boogie. If you have it or know who ended up with it, PM me immediately or tell that person to get in contact with me immediately. I have a feeling Marion has it, so anyone who has his info please have him get in touch with me. Thanks in advance. Chuck

Mach 111. Very clever, Matt.

Bring video! We have flat screen TV's all over the damn dropzone now!

My Blade is very wide at the wingtips. The arms are a bit long on my suit, possibly by design, so in order to not deform the wings I am only holding the grippers about halfway down. It's a very different grip, obviously, than one would take on a "vertical gripper" suit like an S6/S3/S3S or Mach1/Raptor. It's different even than the grip I take in my Vampire. The suit feels very, very different than any of my other suits. Chuck

I have seen ever one of those as well, but will include 4000 foot tailspins as well. Sometimes it's not on that first flight, but one of the subsequent flights when they really think they have it dialed. Hitting the back of the door while rear floating, not launching far enough out on a floater exit and flying straight back into the next person in line, losing a bootie, or just exiting on their back in their first attempt to launch into a backfly. Any of those can be the root cause of massive instability. The key is righting yourself in as timely a manner as possible so that you can get on with the skydive. Some will have the natural abillty to flip out of it like a cat and others will struggle. Some struggle a very long time. I keep video of such exits and events to show my students and other visitors. It's pretty rare that a super-experienced skydiver flails for more than a couple of seconds after being hit or losing control for some other reason listed above, but it's not uncommon at all for those same super-experienced jumpers to forget about navigation and start flying north to Canada with the passing geese! In my experience, no amount of flight plan discussion will prevent some people from just having too much fun screwing around without thought of where they are flying. Chuck

I find exactly the opposite, actually, Boris. What I find is that people who only jump solo and "test themselves" against their clever gadgets (GPS, etc) typically don't do all that well flying with others as they are simply not used to it. Many proclaim their fantastic ability, but just don't measure up in real life. They are washy in slot and some of them are very zoomie since they are not used to keeping their eyes on the base or keeping watch for high pullers (like tandems and CRW guys). It's a double-edged sword. I have a great appreciation for those who truly do kick ass in both realms. Chuck

Can't wait to see you, brotherr! We are already having a blast.