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I know a lot about the train jumps from Rick and Joy. This has to be one of the most cryptic Magot-like posts I've read in years. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Phil Smith (BASE 1) has a nice photo of him hopping from the top of the train. The train jumps were inspired by Jimmy Tyler (BASE 13) who did a jump from the top of a moving truck for a show called "That's Impossible." Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Small rounds with the apex pulled down, using 52 inch parainnovator pilot chutes, and an 8 foot round reserve held in the left hand. Jumps were from grain cars moving 40 to 50mph into a 300 foot gorge and a still river at the bottom. Rick (BASE 38), can you elaborate? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Yes!!! It was done first in the early 1980's by some hardcore forefathers of BASE. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Tom Buchanan, BASE 104. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

A friend and I jumped from a 2000 foot antenna about a month ago. There was approximately a 30mph wind bisecting the wires. He and I both did monster tracks that I have a hard time believing. So get this, I tracked hard and opened at 200 feet. My friend opened higher but he got further out than me. We had gotten approximately 1200 to 1400 feet from the tower by opening time, without tracking pants, suits, or anything special. I have since not been able to repeat it. How the hell did we get into the zone to do that? I know how far we were because after we opened, we had to fly past a particular road. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

The accident that saved his life You would think that, having been charged with a felony in the States, barely escaping expulsion for the Air Force, being sent to Saudi as a punishment—and all for BASE jumping from a cliff—Steve would have been a little chastened. Alas, no. What did he do as soon as possible after arriving in Saudi? He went looking for a cliff, the purpose of which it does not take a genius to guess. (I must interject here: He sent me a photograph of himself at the bottom of said cliff, looking happy as could be, with this caption on the back: “ Me, shortly after making the first cliff jump in Saudi Arabia, a bitching 500 foot cliff I found in the desert!” Actually, it’s one of my favorite photos of him. It captures perfectly his personality, his smile, and that devilish gleam in his eyes. Also, the caption in pencil was so very Steve. Did the man ever write with a pen?) If I’m not mistaken, this must have been the very cliff that almost cost Steve his life but also saved his life in a bizarre turn of events. Near the end of 1988, Steve did a jump from a cliff in the middle of the desert, far from the nearest road. Friends video- taped the entire affair. Immediately before the jump, Steve, ever the macho man, grabbed his crotch, yelled, ”Party ‘til impact!” and jumped. Very shortly after that, there was a thud, clearly audible on the tape, followed by some pretty loud screaming allllll the way to the bottom. Then silence. The friends at the top of the cliff started yelling, “Steve, are you all right?” repeatedly, probably for several minutes. Finally Steve’s tiny voice could be heard from below, “Nooooooooo!” He had rammed into the cliff, shattering both feet and ankles. Later, he showed the video (to me anyway) over and over, finding it highly amusing. Weird. It took his friends several hours to carry Steve back to their vehicle. At one point, Steve claims that vultures were circling overhead like something out of a grade B movie. By the time he made it to the hospital his feet and legs had turned totally black. The Air Force would surely look upon this latest incident unfavorably, considering why he was there in the first place, so the official story became that he was rock climbing without a rope. I’m not sure which was dumber. ( I knew about the new BASE jumping, but I don’t know who else in the States did. It took his family a little while to see through the rock climbing story. Apparently the Air Force either bought it or pretended to. But there is the story that that Colonel that he helped land in a sandstorm protected him from immediate court marshal) Due to his little “rock climbing” mishap, while he was in the hospital, Steve missed his flight home for Christmas. That flight turned out to be Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland. If it hadn’t been for his illegal BASE jumping, he would have died in 1988, and we would not have had him with us for eight more years. (As soon as I heard about Pan Am Flight 103, as usual my Steve ESP clicked in and I called his mother and learned, and as usual, that Steve had literally dodged another bullet.) Steve told me later that he thought he could have survived the disaster because he always had his parachute as carry-on luggage, and if he had had enough time, he could have bailed out. However, having just spent eighteen months in Saudi and being the only survivor MIGHT have cast some suspicion him. He was such an optimist, I always thought a fitting epitaph for his tombstone would be, “This is only a temporary setback.” Steve’s mother has a great picture of Steve on his military flight home, both feet in casts after surgery to put his feet and ankles back together with as many screws, bolts, plates, etc., as required to create the bionic man, a big smile on his face that clearly says, “I am stoned on pain killers.” In fact, he frequently said that he never let anyone forget when he had a dose scheduled—nurses, doctors, custodians, whoever. Macho man could only take so much pain after all. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

now there are so many women in the sport that i now have to say "put on your gear and die like a ... person." An additional short Steve story when he was living in Saudi Arabia: This was confirmed a few months later when Steve was invited by a friend to attend an execution. Two men were beheaded (Steve thought it was for drug dealing) He got a great "I attended a double header tee shirt" but admitted privately that it shook him up to see the sword fall and the heads roll. Even more disconcerting was an accompanying execution by stoning of a woman for adultery. The stoning methods were much more modern than the old pick up and hurl a stone of biblical times. The woman was placed in a pit, and a dump truck full of rocks was backed up and emptied on her. "It's not them, it's just their culture" Steve repeated to himself, with considerably less conviction. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Steve Morrell, BASE 174: "Damn the cops! Full gravity ahead!" "That antenna looks like a death sandwich without the bread!" Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

I thought it was based on the PD 253 (and the other large sizes) reserve. The Dragon was well noted for having strange pressure wave oscillate through the cells for several moments even after inflation. It can look scary from what I recall. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

I declare myself king of every object even if I haven't jumped them. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Congrats Toshi. Welcome to Houston. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

yep, you're right. Thanks! Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

We used to call a friend assman, especially when there were women around. We called him that because he always managed to land on his ass when he base jumped. You should have seen the women clear, as if they could outrun Carl Lewis, when we would say "hey Assman!" Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Thanks Spacy. I'm very glad you are sharing your expert knowledge of microweather. I cannot read the image. It's too blurry. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

I'm gonna start refering to myself as a "G-man," with the G standing for gravity. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

That seems pretty pricey. My home built g-force data logging system costs less than $400 and less than $200 for the reduced version. Will keep the community tuned in... Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Super cool. Good to have ya back Brittany. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Crud, my spelling... I mean to say I put off a twenty-year old student yesterday. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Gotcha beat on that one. I put off twenty-two students on their first jumps last night! Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

http://www.mems.rice.edu/TAFSM/PROJ/AS/ World renowned simulation research of how parachutes open... Very interesting. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

http://www.mems.rice.edu/TAFSM/PROJ/AS/ World renowned research on parachute openings and air flows around them... Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

The one thing I've noticed about vented versus unvented: unvented - jumper less likely to hit the object, IMHO. jumper much more likely to incur a serious injury or die from object strike. vented - more likely to hit the object. jumper has far lower probability of serious injury or death from the object strike. Opinions? What's your take on it? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Cheer up! You're out, you're not paralyzed, you have your freedom, and you're on a road to recovery. You'll be back to 100% or at least near in no time. Life is good. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

My experience has been that I have on heading openings regardless of any details for any slider down packjob. So long as the packjob is relatively neat, symmetric, and properly tensioned, I have pretty much the same on heading openings every time. I might tailor the packjob a bit if the jump is very low, however. Most of the critical parts of the packjob technique seem to be important when doing subterminal mesh slider up jumping. What's your take on it? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174