SkymonkeyONE

Spaceland is south of Houston. It's nowhere near Austin.

I owe you a beer for making me laugh so hard I spit on my screen. Chuck

"Fly like a turd and act like a cheese-dick"

This is an excellent post. I wish more people believed that. Oddly, the WORST perpetrators are freeflyers! You can't swing a dead cat at most dropzones without hitting some dork in the head with no ratings at all but charging $70 a pop to teach people to freefly. It's a joke. Just because you personally can do something does NOT mean you are in any way qualified to, or have any business trying to teach someone to emulate you. PS: If anyone wants to come to Texas and attend a manufacturer-sanctioned Wingsuit Instructor/ Coach course, shoot me a PM. It's neither a waste of your time nor money. Ask anyone on here who's ever attended one. Chuck

I hope you bring your Skymonkey hat! Represent!

The Airbears with Tom Piras, etc, jumped 8-cell FTS canopies at their first world meet.

Good man, Gary.

The only people I have actually seen do it. (and I have seen it probably half dozen times) are experienced pilots who should know better. Absolutely true. I've caught MANY a freebag and having one get caught up mid-lines was eventful to say the least. Stupid. What I do now, and what I teach, is to circle down and land as close as SAFELY possible to your cutaway main so you can aid in it's speedy recovery. NOT paying attention to where your cutaway main has drifted and then landing under your reserve on the beer line and expecting someone else to shag your shit is not smart. Gear is EXPENSIVE, so if you can land SAFELY close to it, then do it. I can't count the number of times I've seen students or other people renting gear just drop their shit on the packing mat, then get in their car and go home with no care whatsoever that they just left a $2000 Navigator in the woods. Chuck

I seem to recall something to that effect, but that's nearly 30 years ago. My second square canopy was a 200 square foot 8-cell FTS canopy that Dave Davenport built custom for me.

The company was first called FTS then changed to APS when Bob Chafin took over (after Dave Davenport, the creator, went to prison). The first canopies were built in a garage in Columbus, GA and were later built for a time in my dad's (Buddy Blue, D-597) loft in Opelika, AL. They moved to a facility up in Alpharetta, GA for a while, then Bob took the company to TX after Dave "went away". I made a ton of test jumps on the smaller sizes of all the reserve canopies down to 150 square feet. They worked just fine for back in the day. I think I might still have an old Bogy 150 in a box somewhere...Lazers, Rascals, and Bogys were ALL TSO'd as reserves and also sold as mains and it's not uncommon to see a "reserve" with a bridle attachment point. Chuck Blue, D-12501

If I were to replace my reserves for any reason, I would put Optimums in there one size larger than my current PDR's.

You just lost 3/4 of the people here.... HAHAHAHA!

Positively true. Good camping, trailers for rent, nice showers, good food, a nice bar, free organizers in every discipline, a short bicycle ride to town. Z-hills is fantastic for newer jumpers. Chuck

Yes, it turns out that it was. Either way, I think the lesson stands. RIP, Nate Gilbert http://www.dropzone.com/fatalities/Detailed/36.shtml It was definitely Nate Gilbert. He was a TREMENDOUSLY good skydiver. A buddy cutaway his Velo and Nate caught it. It inflated and his impact with the ground killed him. This was maybe five days after the 2004 Wildwood, NJ PST meet. It was a horrible loss. Do NOT EVER try and catch a cutaway main. Chuck

Wait a minute here.....You have over 800 posts on this site and have yet to do even a tandem?

Just got the the Frequently Asked Questions sticky post at the top of the Wingsuit forum on this site. Chuck

You would be way better off asking this in the wingsuit forum, but from personal experience I have always found that I could produce more lift in suits with grippers than suits without. In that regard, you might want to consider a Ghost3 Instead. Just my opinion.

Ride the dog, bro. You meet the BEST people on Grayhound busses.

Guantanamo. Three times.

Thus the benefit of having multiple motorcycles!. I've carried all of my gear, a pile of wingsuits, and clothes for a month all the way across country on my Harley Road Glide. Three times actually. I would never consider hauling a gear bag on my back on my rigid-frame chopper more than about five miles though.

But, but, but, there are no greeeeepers!

She printed those????? Here's another one... Those were the days, kids...

I've met both of them, but I can tell you that I've never seen BillVon and HH at the same place and same time! You might be on to something! I, on the other hand, HAVE seen both Willem and Bill in the same place at the same time. As a matter of fact, I bet I am the first person in the USA to recognize Sangiro in person. Hey, Willem, remember when we took a stroll through the dropzone.com tent without saying anything just to see if anyone would recognize you? Chuck

What you are forgetting is that "this" is not the original version of dropzone.com and the "member since" date on your profile only goes back as far as the creation of this version. Unless you were a member back when we only had three forums on here, you are a fucking newbie. That is all. Chuck

You can fly to Toronto and then straight into Havana. I, on the other hand got there (both times) via C-130.