Frodo

With 3 skydives? nope, it's too early for me to BASE. But if I'm lucky, I might make my first base jump at the Bridge day 2004. I think it was RealTV. By that time I already have read quite a lot about BASE, so I was quite informed on the part of equipment. Otherwise I wouldn't even have paid attention to such a detail, would I? Again, it seems like a good idea to me: I don't believe that two PCs might both get caught in dead air; and even if the bridles get tangled, it won't prevent both PCs to inflate, methinks.

I think I've seen it on some video -- a building jump with a pilot chute in each hand. Do people use this variation often? I downloaded about 20 other BASE videos and I don't see anybody else using 2. Maybe it could even save several lives. For example, Lukas's - apparently he had some time after he noticed his PC is caught in turbulence, so he would've had enough time to go for the other PC, right? Just a thought.

One situation I've been imagining recently: (in fact, half of it is quite realistic, because I am planning to always book airplane seats next to an exit, and I am planning to always have my rig with me in the airplane... as soon as I own a rig...) I'm flying a commercial flight to, wherever, let's say New Zealand (always wanted to live there, still want). We're somewhere above the ocean. An engine dies or something is wrong with the controls; the airplane starts falling. It's not nose-down, but obviously it will crash in several minutes. Everyone is in panic... except me I quickly put on the rig, alti & full-face helmet. Then I open the door I'm next to... (first I have to find out how to do it, but I can watch the flight attendant close the door back at the airport, and then reverse the actions) Here comes a problem -- we're so high, that all the air in the fuselage is sucked out with tremendous force, and so I have to think of a way not to be thrown out violently. And another problem is the lack of oxygen, but that can be solved with the masks that fall out of the ceiling... Ok, so most of the air is gone, and the pressures inside and outside are equal now, and the only problem with the jump is that the airliner is flying 5-8 times faster than an average Cessna on a jump-run. So I just have to find enough courage to jump out and hope the wind won't kill me and I won't hit the stabilizers in the back of the plane. Now I'm watching the altitude, assuming that my alti was zeroed at a level that's within a couple of thousand feet from the Mean sea level... So we were initially at 35,000 feet right? So now we're at 20... 18... at about 15 grand I... no I don't say prayers, don't expect anything like that from me... I close my eyes, take a short run and jump out... If i'm still alive and conscious five seconds after that, I find myself making the worst and the best skydive ever possible, at the same time... Worst because those 200 people onboard are going to die in half a minute, but best because I'm about the only person in the world to jump in such conditions. I gain stability, and deploy immediately - the idea is to land as close to the crash site as possible, so that the rescue teams can find me. So I nead maximum amount of altitude under canopy as possible. ...the canopy opens at 8,000... a perfect canopy overhead, not even a minor malfunction. Indeed, I can't have that much bad luck in one day. What I'm seeingis the most surreal picture imaginable - I'm under canopy, watching the airliner fall into the water. There is no fire. Debris all over the place. There is a slight hope that someone has survived, because the main parts of the craft are above water, yet... In 10 minutes I land in water, a hundred meters away from the plane, or what's left from it. Upo touching the water I cutaway. Drowning tangled in the lines after surviving an airplane crash would be the most stupid death ever... I find a floating piece of debris, which becomes my home for a couple of days, until the rescue crews find me...alive, though starving. The end. ---- You may find it stupid, ridiculous, cynical... Of course I don't dream that the airplane I'm on will ever crash. What I dream of is to survive in case it does.

This question was bothering me even before, but since I saw the program on Discovery about the Airborne school, I became even more curious. Why are they using round canopies? Some of the obvious disadvantages of the rounds are: - injuries - have you seen the landings? it's a disaster! the descend rate is so high that within several dozen jumps you're almost guaranteed to break something - (almost) not steerable -- the fact that square canopies can fly quite some distance seems to be invaluable to the military, yet they don't utilize the possibility. - heavier & bigger - in fact so big that they have to pack the reserve in the front! They could place some useful combat equipment instead of the reserve, had they been using skydiving-style rigs. The military are usually on the leading edge in terms of latest technologies, expensive toys and so on. Are they just "caught in a time warp" in this case? Whatever the reason, I won't believe they simply can't afford it.

Why? Out of the whole philosophy that I have to, and can, do a lot of things most people can't even dream of. Skydiving, racing, travelling lots and lots... ...Because sitting at home, reading books and educating yourself just for the hell of it, is a thing of the past... Time to see the world! And to experience what it's like to risk your life. To throw away the notion of God from your mind, to be the master of your fate. ...To feel that you're ahead of the others, in a sense. This sport is still so young and new, you feel yourself on the cutting edge, like an astronaut or a scientist. Again, in a sense. ...To let others play golf and watch baseball and ask questions about the perfectly good airplanes. I believe my ultimate experience will be BASE. And maybe skiing or mountaineering (it doesn't have to be extreme all the time, after all.). But BASE is... Id say Freedom in the absolute degree -- when you know dying is an option, a very probable one, but you won't regret... in your - what, 20? 40? years you'll have accomplished more than most whuffos will in their whole life. So this is the vague image, a sketch of the answer to your question. As a conclusion, I'll place my two favorite quotes here. "One might say they have no respect for life. I would say they have more respect than someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to risk it. It’s easy to fear or ridicule something you don’t understand, to say "These guys are crazy, they have a death wish". I probably would have agreed with you not so long ago. So stay ignorant if you choose, or open your eyes to those that truly live and choose to fly." - Megan Mansbridge, A Different View "BASE. How to ride it through!?! Every moment, thought and breath. Then the moment approaches. Position and poise. Survey the panorama. A cliff top or a German village. Each one unique as a star. Draw "it" in the breath. It is now. Embrace with vigour and passion. Launch up and out - hips high and forward. You're suspended in space, momentarily defying gravity..." - Trevor Yates. Died BASE jumping in April 2000

I've never seen a single issue of Parachutist, but I get Skydiving since September. It seems that they have more of the events coverage, statistics, etc., but few articles. I thought Parachutist was more of a magazine than a newspaper like Skydiving, with more articles like those we have on dz.com more pages, and so on. But if you guys are saying P is the same, and even follows the "party line", then I don't really need it? But then again, by the time I'll be getting my license, I'll have to be a USPA member, and the subscription to P will be added auto. I'm new to skydiving so enlighten me please: is there some kind of small unofficial tension between skydivers and BASErs? Do they kinda dislike each other? I mean in the same way as Northerners and Southerners in America, or French and English?

disgustingHope they're not like that really.

First, folks at home were frightened to learn that I have to jump out of airplanes, not buildings etc., or, in our terms, that BASE is safer than skydiving because the altitudes are smaller Second, a TA (teaching assistant) in the geography course I'm taking, seriously asked "So do you use parachutes?" (No, not necessarily, I don't really need it much

Welcome to life! Tell me about your neighbours - the new-zealanders. My impression is, they mainly do bungee jumping, whitewater rafting, paragliding, etc., and, in general, most of them are complete nuts, is that so?

I'm thinking of having a video of my jump taken, but I also want to be able to send it over the internet to my friends. So, in what format is the video usually made? Is it on tape or some computer format like MPEG? If it's on tape, is there a way to convert it into MPEG etc.?

Thanks y'all! What do you think, is it just an impression or is it true: everyone I know related to skydiving is a great person, very nice to talk to, very friendly, and they accept you in their circles because it's such a close community? Btw today was my second skydive, AFF level 2...what can I say, it was great too, though kinda rushed. Like half an hour of preparation, relatively quick climb, and no hesitation whether to exit or not... I guess that's the way it should be, except I have to check the details more, like how comfortable and tight the harness is. At opening I had a small line twist, about 2 or 3 turns, but I did just what I was taught to do - forced the risers apart and tried to "kick out" of the twist. But the first thing I thought of was cutaway, but when I saw that the canopy looks good otherwise, I decided to try fixing the problem. When I succeeded, i was quite happy, meanwhile noticing that my pulse hasn't even raised when I knew of the problem Since there was a thick cloud layer between 2,000 and 4,000 feet, I didn't know which way to fly, and when I finally saw, it looked as if I can make it. But at the altitude of 500 feet I saw the power lines in front and instantly turned away and made a stand-up landing off-field. I haven't done everything in freefall exactly as planned, but I guess because of my altitude awareness, arch, and landing they cleared me for AFF 3!

What's it like? about two days after the jump, when thinking of it, I still couldn't believe that it was me who had separated from the airplane... Damn, when you fall, it's not like a rollercoaster, it's incomparably stronger! My instructor told me prior to the jump to look up and see the wonderful view of the airplane flying away... No way! I only looked down, and could do nothing about it. Though my arch wasn't perfect, my altitude awareness was very good, I can feel when another 5-5.5 seconds/1,000feet pass. It's an unusual experience, certainly. It quickens your heartbeat when you visualize the moment of exit in your mind... One more point: I didn't feel any fear. Adrenaline, excitement, but not fear. I did not hesitate for a moment, whether to go for it or not. As to the canopy part, it doesn't feel like it's moving forward at all. Steering was easy, and I haven't tried any fast turns, though did normal 360-degrees several times. Landing was 100-200 meters away from the windsock, but I didn't care about that really. And later the photos showed that my ground speed was 0, which means 15-20 mph wind. So landing so off-target wasn't entirely my fault

Hello divers, I've made my first AFF on the 19th of January, and that's my new official birthday! My second is tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited about it! Unfortunately I'm not having a video taken yet. (I'm in Austin, Texas. Anyone here jumping over Lexington?)