skymonkey

I think i'll eventually find myself there again and grant you those pics. Patience my dear boy...

If sh'ell do a tandem naked I'll pay for it!!

OHHH Yeah there sure are!!! believe you me, I remember

was there 420 at deland ,..... Um,,, don't recall that at all..... I think you made it up........ to start another nasty rumor... hahaha

A little over four weeks ago I lost a fellow PJ and friend in Afghanistan(SrA Jason Cunningham). I for on believe that his loss wasn't in vain and that he died trying to preserve our most basic freedoms as american citizens. We lost alot of inocense and some freedoms on 9/11. I for one stand behind all that we are doing to try to restore those rights and keep america free of the tyrany of terror. If I too loose my life for what I believe then I would like to believe that It wasn't just lost for nothing. Please appreciate what your fellow citizens and skydivers are trying to accomplish. (prevention of another 9/11). Soon I will be in harms way, but atleast I want to be thinking that there aren't a bunch of people sitting around critisizing what I or anyone over here is doing for their country. Alot of better people than you and me, died for that flag you people display on your cars, houses, and even on some of your work clothes. I think the opinions of many people sitting in their homes by a computer are a bit unneeded in this time of crisis. Keep all those comments to yourselves and lets get through this togoether, for once have a little faith in your Government, and when you see one of those guys that just got back, show them a little apreciation. Send them a letter over there you might just make a friend. If not send me a note, a sky diving magazine. well I just feel that we need to stay together and get through this. Anybody wanna join us we need a few good people. McKill See you in the sky ....

Those darn Jello Shots and after a long dehydrating day of flying and packing I tell ya.........

Nope that was in fact one of the wicked liquid guys. Joey Costa, that got the call... I think he broke a rule swooping his little tampon Miguel

I was pretty hard to miss, Had the Brightest Freefly(florecent yellow, royal blue, and Lime green) suit on the DZ and that Ugly Lime green Niton Canopy, wore a Black factory diver. I'm dark complected and spanish looking. I remember seeing all of you guys, next time we can all meet and make a jump or two. Blue skies Miguel

Hey all, I don't know how many heard about the 4:20 Boogie, but if you didn't here's what went down. The Boogie was from 18 to 21 April 2002 at De Land. I arrived late Friday night after the final load, I relly wanted to check in and get the vibes for the next day. Immediately I was greeted by Jimmy Tranter. He was super friendly and gave me the scoop, talked with me for a while and intoduced me to the rest of the instructors Alex Ramos, Hunter Roberts , and Francisco Neri? I think was his name. All guys were relly down to earth and cool, They really thought this boogie out and had a real good game plan for the most part. That night Scot Miller from PD had a high performance canopy seminar, it was a must attend to all those who want to dable in High perf flying. The way they had it set up was 3 types of dive groups, 3D, tracking, and Freeflying. Each group had one of the four instructors which would organize and lead the dive based on skill level of the flyers for the jump. I signed my name up for freeflying group and made some incredible dives with Alex. We made some 8 way flocking dives, docking drill dives and relative work headdown dives staying on the level. I also got on Tracking dives, finishing the day off with a 19 way tracking Sunset dive led by Hunter which gave me a new view on tracking. I mean they can track. That night a party was thrown with free beer and food for the boogie participants with live DJ's disco lights ect. On Sunday morning we did more freeflying, tracking, and 3D. By the afternoon Mike Swanson , Rook Nelson, and Dave Brown showed up and started doing bigways with the instructors. I believe they ended up building 10 and 11 ways. All in all it was an great boogie with some really instructional dive that I'm sure raised everybodies flying skills. The debriefs were thurough and complete and each instructor helped out their students reach goals and ways to improve. The only critique points that I had, even though I missed the first 2 days( some of us have jobs during the week) . They could of split some of the groups a little more as far as experience level, I felt that on some flights there were a few guys that didn't need to be on those jumps just yet. Another item is that on Sunday and only on Sunday when all the big boys showed up to jump on the big ways. Us little guys just got left out in the cold, they could of sacrificed an instructor every once in a while to atleast be in charge of organizing and debriefing with us. We just kinda got forgotten. And we certainly didn't get asked to join them on those jumps. I understand that they have to have some fun also, but hey this is our weekend to fly with the big guys and get inputs. Seemed a little clickish at that point. I'll certainly be there next year or when they have another boodie of this type, it was worth my 20 dollars and I learned alot. Good job guys...

I also jump a Nitron with HMA lines and also second the motion for double stows. I use regular rubberbands and double stow them. Mckill D-24275

Here it is dude. http://www.sonystyle.com/digitalimaging/P_Feature_PC101.shtml Mckill

Hey all people on the market for a new vid camera. Wait a month or so more. I just found out Sony is releasing a new Mini DV camera similar to the PC9 but with megapixel tech. It's supposed to come out in May. I'm waiting for it. gotpo the Sony website for more info Mckill

Well Iv'e put about 50 jumps on my nitron and this is what I think. Well, I got my canopy three weeks after ordering it, kudos for the guys working their asses off at precision. It arrived by UPS in a box that apparently had been soaked with some chemical during shipment (UPS's fault for shure). Luckily inside was a bright brand new canopy that had been thuroughly sealed and wrapped in plastic. Yes the canopy had survived unharmed. Oh yeah did I mention the free shirt they sent also!!! I called the guys at precision and they told me that if the plastic bag was intact and not melted then everything would be kosher. Lesson learned, make sure they don't ship yours by UPS, Fed EX is the way to go. On inspection I found out no problems with the workmanship, but they could of paid a bit more attention to detail with the little strings on the stching and tacks and trimmed them away.After all this isn't a $15 dollar T-shirt. Well hooking the canopy up to the risers was no brain surgery. I do recommend having a rigger do it if you have limited exp. They do include instructions for the Slinks. There are 10 lines per riser, was a little tricky, but a line check found no problems. Man these lines are tiny and soft. I mean dental floss. You can't stow them tight enough. After an uneventful exp of hooking the d-bag and pilot chute, it was time for the pack job. Yes, it is soarcoat so it is a bit of a bitch to pack at first but it gets better with jumps. Now for the flight characteristics. My first few jumps with the canopy were a little hard, but after I figured out to make those stows as tight as a frogs ass, the problems went away (remember the tiny lines). Being a previous spectre owner I can say the openings aren't as soft but they are damn close. As with all elipticals you need to watch you body position on opening. It consistently opens with closed end cell which I easily solve with rear riser input, it does have this mesh on the end cells which might be the perpetrator of this phnomenon, but i've already gotten used to it. I found the front riser pressure a little heavier than I wanted to, which is causing me to have to shift my weight in the harness a little more on a fron riser carve. I also found that originally it had a short recovery arc. Enter my toggle settings. Originally I set them on the factory setting(the little paint mark), and after much trial and error i've ended up adjusting the length of my brake lines about 1.25 inches longer. I had noticed when I was performing front riser turns or followiing through on both front risers, that if I pulled down the ammount I needed on the risers, I was also starting to pull on the toggles, which slowed me down and killed my dive. Basically I was losing the dive and speed I was creating. It also solved my recovery arc problem. The carves start out slower than comparable ellipticals, but seem to dive steeper. The flare is powerfull and toggle pressure is just about right at this wingloading. It has a good glide which can be increased with rear risers in case of a long spot. How far you can swoop this canopy is all dependent on you experience, she'll hold her own, but this isn't one that's meant for a swooping contest against those crosssbraced monsters.I think all things being equal it will out surf a stilleto. About those little hot dogs really haven't noticed them and nobody has either, that's that on them. This is definitely not your one jump a month parachute, this is in all aspects a high performance canopy, which you must maintain your skills. All and all I am glad I made the purchase and 50% off at that. It was a steal. This is a good canopy for an intermediate to experienced canopy pilot(200 + jumps) to hone their skills before going cross-braced. I give it a 9 of 10, there's allways room for improvement. About those tiny lines.......... Rating: 9

Well, I got my canopy three weeks after ordering it, kudos for the guys working their asses off at precision. It arrived by UPS in a box that apparently had been soaked with some chemical during shipment (UPS's fault for shure). Luckily inside was a bright brand new canopy that had been thuroughly sealed and wrapped in plastic. Yes the canopy had survived unharmed. Oh yeah did I mention the free shirt they sent also!!! I called the guys at precision and they told me that if the plastic bag was intact and not melted then everything would be kosher. Lesson learned, make sure they don't ship yours by UPS, Fed EX is the way to go. On inspection I found out no problems with the workmanship, but they could of paid a bit more attention to detail with the little strings on the stching and tacks and trimmed them away.After all this isn't a $15 dollar T-shirt. Well hooking the canopy up to the risers was no brain surgery. I do recommend having a rigger do it if you have limited exp. They do include instructions for the Slinks. There are 10 lines per riser, was a little tricky, but a line check found no problems. Man these lines are tiny and soft. I mean dental floss. You can't stow them tight enough. After an uneventful exp of hooking the d-bag and pilot chute, it was time for the pack job. Yes, it is soarcoat so it is a bit of a bitch to pack at first but it gets better with jumps. Now for the flight characteristics. My first few jumps with the canopy were a little hard, but after I figured out to make those stows as tight as a frogs ass, the problems went away (remember the tiny lines). Being a previous spectre owner I can say the openings aren't as soft but they are damn close. As with all elipticals you need to watch you body position on opening. It consistently opens with closed end cell which I easily solve with rear riser input, it does have this mesh on the end cells which might be the perpetrator of this phnomenon, but i've already gotten used to it. I found the front riser pressure a little heavier than I wanted to, which is causing me to have to shift my weight in the harness a little more on a fron riser carve. I also found that originally it had a short recovery arc. Enter my toggle settings. Originally I set them on the factory setting(the little paint mark), and after much trial and error i've ended up adjusting the length of my brake lines about 1.25 inches longer. I had noticed when I was performing front riser turns or followiing through on both front risers, that if I pulled down the ammount I needed on the risers, I was also starting to pull on the toggles, which slowed me down and killed my dive. Basically I was losing the dive and speed I was creating. It also solved my recovery arc problem. The carves start out slower than comparable ellipticals, but seem to dive steeper. The flare is powerfull and toggle pressure is just about right at this wingloading. It has a good glide which can be increased with rear risers in case of a long spot. How far you can swoop this canopy is all dependent on you experience, she'll hold her own, but this isn't one that's meant for a swooping contest against those crosssbraced monsters. About those little hot dogs really haven't noticed them and nobody has either, that's that on them. This is definitely not your one jump a month parachute, this is in all aspects a high performance canopy, which you must maintain your skills. All and all I am glad I made the purchase and 50% off at that. It was a steal. This is a good canopy for an intermediate to experienced canopy pilot(200 + jumps) to hone their skills before going cross-braced. I give it a 9 of 10, there's allways room for improvement. About those tiny lines..........

"There were atleast 1 Romad, 2 CCT, and 1 PJ" Actually the fact is that there were 2 PJ's (Tim Wikinson, and Scotty Fales). These were the guys that in the movie were in the helo the whole time with the steel saw and all. The fact is Fales and Wilki both got hit and eneded up with the Rangers in that room treating casualties for most of the night. As a matter of fact Wilkinson was the one who treated Rodriguez 2 Controllers (Bray and Schilling) Bray roped in with the boys, and Schilling was with the convoy. Never heard about any TACP. Not to knock on TACP, but around that time the only Romads in the spec ops community were from JCU and they were not kicking doors. The only SOTAC's were the CCT guys. The PJ's were only there in a CSAR role as medics. I've actually heard the story from Wilki's perspective himself over some beers. Sure beat the book or the movie.

Here's some more on the Nitron from todays jumps. Only able to get six flights. After some different packing techniques last weekend, I got it wired. Can you believe it opens softer than my spectre, this is no shit all six jumps had the sweetest opening I have ever had in my life. I leave the nose hanging but push it in a bit before rolling the tail and I also pull the slider a bit more out in front. Opening shock is almost non existent. Also I'm getting used to the front risers more now even though the front riser pressure is a bit higher it doesn't increase exponentially, it keeps increasing gradually through out the turn but still manageable. I still think it has a short recovery arc, but then that's my opinion. Awesome glide and flare characteristics. I had to set the brakes a bit loose, because of their short range(similar to stilleto) for front riser carves, but only about 1/2 inch for now. All in all I am very satisfied with this canopy. Everybody keeps freaking out about my lines. They are tiny. I'm glad I jumped on the deal. Miguel

I'm loading around 1.55 give or take. My stilleto had a bit of a steeper dive, probably due to the fact that the front riser pressure was a bit less and I was able to get nice long carving dives.Seems like I'm doing pullups with this one. I have to give it more time maybe it will all come together. I think the main reason that it recovers a bit quick is maybe its trimmed a bit flatter than a stilleto, who knows... I'll tell you this it sure does have a powerfull flare.

One thing I did realize about the Nitrons is that they have a bit of a heavy front riser. I've been having to shift my weight in the harness to compensate, which seems to work for now but cuts down my options a bit. It also has a short recovery arc, unlike other elipticals I have flown. I did have to lengthen the toggles a bit so as not to pull down the tail when performing front riser turns, just a bit though. Has a short toggle input which is fine by me. Does have good glide characteristics though which help from a long spot. I'll be able to give more info on this canopy when I have, say 50 + jumps on it. Miguel

What a coincidence I used to be a ROMAD also. I crosstrained in 97 and became a PJ. Im stationed at Moody AFB Ga

If you have never done this before, take it to a qualified riger. The few bucks you will spend to get it assembled and to make sure it will function correctly and safe aren't worth your life at the least a reserve ride.

I ended up adopting that helmet as is with no visor. I did buy the visor though and really wasn't to happy with how the stars aligned and ended taking it off. I''ve probably done about 200+ freeflys with that particular helmet. As for being free i can't complain. The only drawback is there is only one audible pocket. Of all my helmet I have only ever bought one brand new, the others were all hand me downs. I can't speak for the Z1 as far as the shield flying off. That is a very nice helmet though and well constructed. But I did witness some faceshields tearing away during some sitfly jumps I was on only seen that on the Oxygen type models. They do not have the button lock yours does. Mckill

I consider myself a strict freeflyer, only belly to earth to do coach jumps and pull time. I own an Nvertigo, Aviator Hawkeye for camera, protec, gath, and a factory diver w/o faceshield. I find myself flying my Factory Dive most of the time I'm not filming, because of it's ease of use. Just put on your goggles and slip it on. On the other hand I have seen people flying oxygin helmets that when they went to sit fly their visors tore away. Funny as it might sound, it could of been uglier. that's my take on it. Mckill D-something or other

Yes you are right it's almost impossible to land out at thomaston. If you are looking for something smaller around the 150 range give Percision Aerodynamics a shot, I just purchased a Nitron which is similar to a german made Nitro. Nitros are pretty sweet flying canopies. They also sell this seven cell model. And all at 40% off the retail price. I ended up paying 950 for my Nitron. You need to trade in a canopy offcourse but it can be one you used as a car cover. Can't beat the deal for a zp. By the way give greetings to Ferg for me if you see him from the Moody guys. Miguel

here's the deal freeflir29. It's ultimately your decision to make wether to downsize or not. When you consider downsizing your canopy there are a few trade offs you need to consider. First am I ready to downsize ( both skill and experience wise). Talk to other flyers you trust that have had the oportunity to observe your canopy control skills over a period of time. If they are honest they can give you the best feedback. Second, will I be able to land this canopy safely in someones back yard without puting myself out of commision for a while. What I mean is, have you ever had to land out of the DZ wether it be your fault or not? My first out was a real humbling experience for me that made me realize I had alot to learn, maybe I could wait a little longer for that smaller canopy. Third are my landing skills solid. In solid I mean am I pretty much error free. Remember, the smaller the amount of material over your head, the more expensive the price for mistakes. nuff said on that. Fourth and last, do I jump enough to be able to always stay current on this canopy. I know few people(with over 1000 jumps) that make 1 or 2 jumps a week on their 95 sq ft rockets, and you can see them struggling to survive and on the other hand a guy with only 400 jumps almost all made that year flying the same canopy with no noticeable problems . If you believe that you are outflying your canopy and pretty much bored with what you have, hey it's you decision to make. nuff said just my 2 cents.

After three months of being gone on a business trip, I gota say that I really miss my home dropzone(Skydivetallahassee). See you soon guys really miss you all. Mckill