460

Yeah I know this guy. He also struck a wall in Mexico. Funny thing, there was a more amusing building strike when Hoover , BASE 95, (RIP) went through the glass and landed on a guy's desk. He was admiring the pictures of his family and proceeding to cutaway his parachute, at which point the damaged parachute still hanging outside the building reinflated and dragged him out of the building, hit the building two more times on the way down, and landed on the roof of a two story building adjucent to fixed object. At that point, the skinny fugger jumped up unscathed and relatively unhurt, tied his lines to something on the roof, and skimmied down them to the street below and made a clean getaway. The towers are very strong. We had one get struck by a Cessna and the Cessna lost the battle, badly. The directional transmitters are the only thing that are critical since a slight bump will result in a loss of transmission, or damage to the end transmitter will destroy the transmission all together. soft landings, Chris Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

I hope people realize that these facilities fall under some federal regulations with both the FCC and FAA. There have been jumpers in the past who have had to pay upwards of $5000 to cover expenses related to a complete tower inspection, following being arrested after a tower jump. The parabolic dishes on the side are pointed in a very specific direction, just like a direct tv dish at people's homes. If one of these dishes loses it's alignment from something as silly and criminally negligent as a bicycle strike, the tower will stop receiving the transmission, and will stop broadcasting on that frequency. For example, it could conceivably stop the transmission of a broadcasting TV tower. These could now potentially be major federal crimes and anyone releasing videos showing a large tower getting struck by a bicycle is seriously risking federal charges. Communications infrastructure is something the government takes very seriously in the post-9/11 era unfortunately. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

You know, when laws are outlawed, then only only outlaws will have laws. BTW, thanks Sangiro and Tom for all you efforts and goodwill for running this site!

This whole thread is too abstract for me. What the hell are you guys talking about? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Chaos theory deals with systems that are extremely sensitive to initial conditions, to the point that experiments seem unrepeatable even with what seems to be the same initial conditions. Quantum plays no role here. The so-called butterfly effect though is the idea taken to the wrong extreme. The is something called the KAM theorem that plays a significant role in preventing the butterfly effect from generating a hurricane on the other side of the world. Keep in mind, it is widely believed by aerodynamicists that the parachute opening is the most complex aerodynamic process known. I try to minimize some of the chance by simply staging my opening. But that's another story. I don't believe chaotic dyanamics play what I would call a major role in the openings, but that's just an opinion. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

When I dip my right shoulder, I almost always open to the left. I completely agree with Pope, and I think his advice is pretty good. "No your going to have a 180 with line twists." This sounds like a Mick saying. In actuality, I tend to go more by the tension feel of the risers on my harness to make corrections. 180s, 180s with line twists, slider up line over malfunctions have all been dealt with properly just by going by feel. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

In a John Lennon voice: Imagine being in freefall. At some point before pitch, you realize you're uncontrollably dipping a shoulder. Knowing instinctually which direction you canopy will open will lead you to anticipate which correction should be made once the opening is complete. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Think about it... It's the tensioning of the right lines prior to the left lines during the initial inflation, IMHO. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

I'm posting this to provide food for thought. There seems to be a number of misconceptions... If you jumped slider down and dipped your right shoulder significantly during pilot chute pitch and during the opening, which direction do you think your parachute will open? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

My wife made me join a bridge club. I'm jumping off next Tuesday! -- Rodney Dangerfield. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

definitely Brit is super cool. ;) beer... yummy! Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

This is an absolute scream. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

This was done years ago prior to the invention of the line-mod by Mark Hewitt (BASE 46). It has been historically known to be inconsistent. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Yes, like our local tower here in Houston widely believed to be the best in the world when the elvevator is running that someone we know jumped in the middle of the day. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Hi Gabo, if it was legal with sanctioning by the local police, how was it burned? Chris Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Don and Francis were indeed true jems. I first met Don through a fellow jumper. Interestingly, the fellow jumper was a Houston Police Officer, and for privacy concerns for him, I’ll refer to him as “Mr. White.” Don’s home was a simple shack, complete with an antique wood burning stove in the center of the shack and an outhouse that was really only used for the purpose of number 2. The shack had about 5000 empty beer cans unintentionally arranged into a large pyramid near the front door. Don also had a habit of cutting the filters of his cigarettes. He was sort of a weird John Wayne type for the local scene. This place was party central for all the locals, some of them shrimpers, some of them elderly, some of them elderly shrimpers, and a strange assortment of country people. These weren’t country people in the normal sense. This was like stepping back in time, several decades. In fact, the year easily could have been 1920. At least there was electricity powering the lights in his shack. Don’s wife would drop by for the partying and would occasionally pull out her harmonica. It was impressive to listen to since she could jam better than any musician I've ever listened to. I got the impression that Janis Joplin may have hung out there at some point in the distant past. To the jumping… Mr. White and I showed up at Don’t place around midnight. His lights were off and Mr. White had to beat on Don’s door quite a bit to wake Don. Don answered the door with a large shotgun, followed by a smile, and an invitation to come on in. Mr. White chose terrible conditions for jumping simply because of his police career. He could not or would not get caught. There was no moon and it was very dark. Or rather, it was dark as hell. This was far out in the country and there is no light pollution that many jumpers rely on for night jumping, usually without even realizing it. This was early in my jumping and I only had a few jumps under my belt. This was to be my second BASE jump on a square canopy and I would consider myself very inexperienced at this stage. We gave Don the beer (Schafer’s light, his favorite) in exchange for a ride in our vehicle to the tower. I was a little surprised to discover a large herd of cattle at the base of the tower. Mr. White informed me just to punch them in the nose if they gave us any problems. This was fairly disconcerting, since the cattle were pretty much so thick that they were knocking us around as we tried to walk the 100 feet just to get to the object. Mr. White and I climb up to 600 feet, at which point we pulled out our pilot chutes to go handheld. This was in the day before going stowed was so common. My BASE rig was an ancient rig I inhereted from Steve “Deadman” Morrell that was built in 1984 and it had no spandex pouch, just two rubber bands to hold the pilot chute. Mr. White went first and I immediately lost sight of him after exit. I then exited, opened perfect, and continued to fly out. I was concerned that if I turned too soon that I would hit the object because it was so dark. I eventually turned completely around to face the tower, to land into the wind. At the last moment, a tree line appeared, and I realized I had flown out much too far. A turn at the last moment put me into the smallest of the trees and my feet touched the ground but my canopy was thoroughly caught in the tree. The ground was muddy. At this point, I just cut the canopy away to retrieve it the next morning. As I was proceeding to walk out through the field of mud, I thought “I’m glad it’s a winter time 50 degrees so any alligators that might be out here would be inactive.” After about 10 feet of walking out of this mud pit on the tree line, I notice something quite large and dark walking with me, about 2 feet to my left. I looked down again, jumped back, and then I noticed that it was a large alligator moving onto me. When I jumped back, it let out this death scream growl and then it lunged for me. Even to this day, I don’t think I’ve been so terrified. I immediately started jumping side to side and started running through the mud field. Even more terrifying was the thought that the whole field may have been covered in these alligators. I discovered later that this area had the highest concentration of alligators in the whole state of Texas. At this point, I think I could have passed Carl Lewis. Mr. White was on the side of the road, laughing quite hard as I was yelling “The’re alligators out here!” I wasn’t nearly as amused. Don went out the next morning and managed to get my canopy down in pure Texas style – with a shotgun. He shot the offending limbs, without damaging my canopy in the slightest. It was an impressive feat. There were many interesting experiences out there. To me, one of the coolest was coming in to land when Don would have his friends at the bottom of the object. A crowd of 80 year old people clapping when I landed really made a strong impression on me. BASE just wasn’t nearly as radical when you have all these elderly people congratulating me on a good jump. Pure gold… Chris BASE 460 Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Hi, I am Chris and I am scared of going stowed in the dark. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

while packing a newbies BASE rig, look confused at one point in the packjob and say "was that always, or never?!!" as you're folding. or on a reserve packjob. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

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

quoted by Tom: I was also bleeding to death from the tears. Tom, were you crying blood? Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Even as a physicist, I am confused about what you are saying. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

I've seen it both ways. Life or Death was quoted to me by an ER physician (who actually graduated first in his medical school!) who came out on my first BASE jump at a BASE boogie. My understanding from people who've hit the water successfully at high speed have (including the military doing drops from helicoptors): bring feet and knees together, point toes (some do, some do not), bring arms in (to prevent breaking them, the torque is on the elbows), pull head back slightly to prevent water surge under eyelids and subsequent eye damage. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

From a statistical analysis of Emergency Room visits, LD50 is 90 feet over water and 30 feet over concrete. This is an average for the population as a whole without consideration for how the person fell. LD50 means Life or Death at 50% odds. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

Dear Scott's Mom, my sincerest condolances for your loss. You are in our thoughts. take care, Chris Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174

if i die on a jump, just leave my body there and call the authorities to retrieve it. at that point, it's an empty dead shell. and then said living jumpers should call my family and provide sufficient details. if i'm hurt, i expect my fellow jumpers to make any sacrifice required to save my butt. FYI, when Susan Ottley died in Yosemite, her jumping partner was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Abandoning this guys body for so long without accurately informing the family borders on evil. Looks like a death sandwich without the bread - Steve Deadman Morrell, BASE 174