SkymonkeyONE

No, it's better than that: The German military used to send out a picture/poster every year of their exploits. One had a formation of at least eight tandem pairs docked in a star. It may have been that same pic that had all of them with roller skates on! You can't make that shit up, kids. Chuck

Billy Vance missed a couple of places in Alabama: Jumpers in Opelika and Auburn first jumped right on the Opelika/Auburn Airport (which was about two miles from my house). My dad, Buddy Blue D-597 and all his friends. My dad had 1000 jumps and two airplanes when I was born in 1963. There was also jumping on the Tallassee airport on the other side of the interstate from Tuskegee. I'm actually very surprised that my dad never moved his operation from Tuskegee to Tallassee after all the BS he got over the years from the city. By the way, my dad gave up and shut down Opelika Skydiving Association (at Tuskegee) a couple of years ago and now a new operation (Skydive Tuskegee) operates there. I'm pretty sure both of my dad's straight-tail 182's are sitting in Lagrange or somewhere, out of annual and for sale. The very first boogie I ever attended was in Lagrange, Georgia. The Sugar Alpha DC-3 flew at that event. There are a ton of old DZ's that I can remember back in the old Cottonbelt Parachute Council that have faded into oblivion. I have very vivid memories as a child being dragged around to jump meets in the late 60's and early '70s. Chuck Blue, D-12501 Coolidge, AZ

Who you calling "baby"......Oh....Your wife....How cute.

We sharpen all of our scissors prior to every use in our loft. Good, sharp scissors are a must.

I seriously can't count the number of times I've been on planes when containers (either main or reserve) have come open. Many, many times......Always from laying back and scooting around. I've seen more than a few people have premature deployments off the step of Cessnas as well. It pays to be vigilant with your handles and pins in close quarters. Chuck

I totally agree with Gary here. I grew up on a dropzone and started jumping when I was 17. I've been an instructor since I was 18. I'm 50 now and have been a full-time instructor since I retired from the army 11 years ago. Students are what keeps me going. I truly don't know what I would do without the sport as my backstop. I still manage to do about 850 work jumps a year and I'll keep it up until my body won't let me anymore, then I'll be the old guy driving the tractor at Z-hills.... Chuck

So, after 33 years in the sport I finally got around to taking my Senior Rigger test along with two co-workers. I started, then never finished the process MANY years ago. Anyway, I gave away my complete rigger kit to a young guy at Raeford a few years ago and am now in the situation of being a newly minted rigger with no tools.......Idiot..... Our loft here at work has everything you can imagine, but I'd like to put together a minimalist travel kit for myself. Knee board, tension tool, etc. So.....Anyone not using their shit anymore who would like to hook a brother up?? I know somebody's got a kit in their closet collecting dust. I'll put it to good use. Shoot me a PM if you are feeling generous. Chuck Blue, D-12501 AFF/SL/TM-I, PRO Coolidge, AZ

That's why we change CYPRES loops every single packjob. Chuck

There is some truth in that. How many "at home" working riggers truly work in a space big enough to fit the "required" 3' x 40' flat, snag-free table? That said, most dropzones I've been to DO have enough space to meet the requirements for a "certified loft". Chuck

At least that plane has a step! We used to take the rear door off of my dad's Cherokee six for demos back in the day and had to fight our way over the sill and just sort of roll out.

The only real limits are max load on the total system (500 pounds) and the willingness of a tandem instructor to take on the challenge. I'm a small guy by your standards (five foot seven, 155 pounds), but I've taken two guys who were six foot eight and 280 pounds and well over 100 guys who were between 230 and 260 pounds with no problems at all. If you are physically fit and can safely be secured in the harness I'm sure you will find someone to accomodate you. My advice is call ahead. Most dropzones a "General" max limit of 220 or 230 pounds depending on your body type, but will often allow willing instructors to work up to the maximum limit of the parachute system for an additional fee. I've worked at dropzones where there was a flat $20 or $25 fee and other dropzones where the instructor was paid an additional dollar for every pound over the "general" limit. I have friends who have jumped people over 300 pounds. Good luck! Chuck

LOL! Yet another reason to put students in Frap Hats, bro. There are SOOOOOO many benefits to it: -keeps their hair out of your mouth -keeps them from bashing their head when you maneuver them to the door -keeps them from knocking YOU out when they try for that "sweet backflip" -keeps them warm in the winter and drastically cuts down on wind noise -it's a great place to store their goggles. On the other hand there are so FEW reasons not too: -"I look dorky in my video" -the DZ doesn't want to spend the money on them. It really pains me to work at places that don't provide that basic level of protection to tandem students; PARTICULARLY in the winter when they freeze their asses off. I personally wear an old Bonehead Mindwarp for tandems. Why? It protects my head from getting banged up on the way to the door and I always jump with a Dytter, and lastly: it's very stylish. I see lots of guys out here in AZ doing tandems in their G2's/G3's, but I hate full-faces for anything other than tunnel (too clausty for me). At Raeford, all tandem students were required to wear frap hats and all instructors were supposed to wear a hard helmet of some type. Chuck

Advisory Circular 105-2E clearly covers this. An "approved" parachute assembly is one which has either a TSO or a military drawing number. The MC4/5 has the latter and is "approved" under part 105 as are it's sub-components if someone wanted to mix them with other TSO'd components so long as the certificated parachute rigger deems them "compatible". There are plenty of demilitarized MC-4/5 and MTi-XX's in use on civilian DZ's. Chuck

Well, I was a Static Line instructor first, then tried (and failed) to get my AFF rating when I had about 800 jumps (but did not practice at all), then I got my tandem rating, then I went back and got my AFF rating. If you are going to be a working skydiver and you want to get your ratings in as quick a time as possible (assuming you put in the right practice work) then you would clearly get your AFF ticket first because you don't have to have three years in the sport and 500 jumps to qualify. The guy that posted that he would just get his rigger ticket has a good point though. Having a rigger ticket will keep you fed when you injure yourself or the weather sucks. Chuck

I've always wondered why the hell they were sitting there in that rusk yard on the side of I-10 about 10 miles East of town in the middle of nowhere.... At any rate: in Texas Can Am's are called "Texas Snowmobiles" Those things are everywhere between San Antonio and Austin Chuck

I didn't get any messages from anyone about this. Alex Swindle is a current Phoenix Fly Coach (who I trained) and James Yaru is as well. Both of their contact information is listed on the PF site. By the way, my ankle is healed and yes, I am available if Alex or James do not want to do it and both my e-mail and phone number are listed on the PF site. I'm rarely on this site anymore, so hitting me up on facebook (chuck.blue) or e-mailing me is the best way to get me. I'll PM you my phone number and e-mail address (although both listed on the PF site). Chuck Blue PF Coach Examiner (among other things)

I've got Lenn's 8x10" Skydive Dubai staff photo and the LT memorial staff jump photos hanging over my desk here at work.

If you are going to Z-hills to skydive and want to stay cheap, then renting one of Pip and Judy Redvers' trailers is definitely the answer. I lived on the DZ for about four years and wish I had never left. Seriously. Chuck

I just replaced my Velocity 90 work canopies with Storm 120's and I LOVE them. They open great, fly fast, and land great whether I'm swooping the hell out of them or sinking them in when I have to land out in the desert. Chuck

"hold my beer and watch this"

I second that!

I am a huge proponent of teaching packing as part of a complete first jump course. While it may take up more of some instructors precious time, I think it's TREMENDOUSLY beneficial for a student to jump his/her own supervised packjob on their first jump. It's how we have ALWAYS done it in military freefall and it's how we ALWAYS did it at the sport parachute clubs on military bases. Chuck

that's not going to work out the way you hope You would be surprised. I train military freefall parachutists for a living. Each of our students gets 20 minutes of tunnel time prior to their first one-on-one jump: ten minutes with just a jumpsuit and another ten minutes with a tunnel rig on. In that second ten minutes during one of their rotations we teach them to track. We, as instructors, put our back up against the wall and have them fly up to us. We then grab them by the rig at the shoulders and give them a shake to prompt them to transition into a track. Another instructor on the net adjusts their body position. We shake them again and they resume a neutral body position. It works perfectly. Chuck

From the pics on the page, it appears that at least the "Glide" version has first-generation (read: old school BirdMan) arm inflation. While this works when flown properly, it proved to be problematic for inflation when a student/ novice wingsuiter was flying with elbows bent like in a "boxman" body position. The vent closes off when it lays on the inside of your shoulder and bicep. Chuck

Google Earth is a tremendous tool for locating missing mains and freebags. It's SO MUCH EASIER to plot a line on a smart phone from the landing area to where you found the first piece, then walk either upwind or downwind from that point using the GPS function. Chuck