NickDG

I had the opposite concern. I did all my S/L student jumps (and many others) from helicopters while a member of a military sport parachuting club. After I left the service I climbed into a DC-3 at Lake Elsinore (my first airplane jumps) and rolling down the runway I remember thinking how weird it all was . . . NickD

Long ago Carl Boenish and Phil Smith (and some others) are using 16-foot cargo parachutes from cliffs and bridges and landing into water. They were hand held, sometimes even using two, one in each hand. Before rollovers and tards (in BASE jumping) these are the first real un-packed jumps done in significant numbers . . . NickD

http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/11/hang-glide-skiing.html Keep your tips up! NickD

Don't do it . . . In everything I've written over the years involving Rangers I've never used their names. At worst it could be considered "targeting" them; at best you may suddenly get an audit notice from the IRS . . . When we realized the NPS was photographing jumpers at Bridge Day for their "BASE Facebook" we thought of turning the tables and doing the same thing. But we didn't. Why sink to their level? A good lesson is not to confide in anyone about your plans. While most are busted in the Parks by pure happenstance there have been more than a few who were ratted on. It can also happen outside the Park. In the late 1980s there was a snitch at Perris, and if he/she (we never figured out who it was) heard you talking about your upcoming trip to Yosemite the Rangers there would be laying for you. NickD

I was evaluating in one of Rick Horn's courses, and on the second day all the candidates were doing okay. So I asked Rick, "Should we turn up the heat a little bit?" And Rick said, "Nope, they will do it to themselves." Sure enough, the next day several of the candidates began to crash and burn . . . NickD

In my world we are trying to keep a liitle airport open. A letter to the editor . . . "Capt. Eddie . . ." Having a pier, a harbor, and an airport is a southern California rarity that elevates Oceanside. When a storm takes out the pier we will rebuild it. When the harbor entrance fills with sand we will dredge it. When the airport is under attack we will . . . In the 1980s when the first housing development began on the northern front of the airport I went and talked to the sales agent. Saying I was interested in buying I offered up reservations about living so close to the airport. "Don’t worry," the agent told me, "they hardly use that anymore." And to put the cherry on it he continued, "and it's slated to be closed soon anyway." No study will uncover the true value of the airport. There's no price to be put on how many careers in aviation have begun there, how many folks looked up during the annual air show to see a world larger than the one they inhabit, and never mind flying is one of human kind's better achievements and so should be celebrated. But, let's get away from the abstract. Let's talk about this airport. Let's talk about Cub Ernie, who along with his high school chum Tim, built a Piper Cub from parts when they were both 17-years old. Twenty five years later they were still flying that plane out of Oceanside. I don't know how many people had their first taste of flight in that Cub, hundreds anyway. Let's talk about Captain Eddie, a retired Eastern airline pilot well into his eighties (WWI Ace, Capt. Rickenbacker was his boss) who spent his last years happily in his hangar building his own aircraft. Anyone could walk in there as he worked, and many did, and Capt Eddie would just start out, "We're into a stormy Pittsburgh night in the DC-3 with an engine out and the visibility is nothing . . ." Meanwhile his hands never leave his work. Let's talk about Old Bud, a mechanics' mechanic, always wiping his hands before tirelessly moving on to the next thing. Many a pilot with an irksome warning light are very grateful for Oceanside airport, and that on a early Sunday morning Old Bud was there to say, "Go ahead, it's all right now." Those three people are dead now. And if you knew them you would have loved them. But, you know what? There are others, who just like them, love aviation, and they are hanging onto this airport by their fingertips. And once it's gone, it's gone forever. I know we will never change the minds of the totally airport opposed. But, I do know there are more than "sixteen" of us. There's everyone who's ever built a model plane. There's everyone who flies on an airliner but never watches the movie because they are too busy looking out the window. There is everyone who knows it's a risk in having an airport close by, but there is so much more than that . . . Nick DiGiovanni San Diego, Ca

>>this only works if Nick DG was correct about te LZ being the only part that matters in NPS laws, and i kinda dont buy that

At an early Bridge Day (late 80s) we are still doing the BASE trade show at the gym in downtown Fayetteville. It wasn't much, just a few folding tables along one wall. Todd's there when he was T&T Rigging, Adam is there as Consolidated Rigging, and Dennis is on another table with Gravity Sports. A few others are selling pilot chutes and accessories, and from year to year that was about it. Except this year is different. No Fear had a booth. Now a for real "booth" at this thing was a big enough deal, but this is "corporate" and none of those types had ever come within a million miles of BASE jumping before now. Of course half of us thought it was great and the other half thought the bastards were using us. Ritchie and I are talking to the No Fear reps and we asked, "Are you jumping from the Bridge tomorrow?" And in a sea of shirts proclaiming No Fear, they all said, "No Fucking Way . . . !" It was hypocritically funny and very sad all at the same time. Moe suggested they change their name. Over the next ten years we still laughed every time we saw someone wearing a lame No Fear shirt. NickD

Here's a look from Google Earth, I can't find the exact LAT/LON for the Skywalk (anyone?) but, I think it's somewhere in here. Also, look at this page and the video about halfway down. At 1:09 you can see a photo hanging on the wall showing a downward view. If this was a totally shear cliff they would be showing that view more. http://www.thegreenhead.com/2005/08/glass-bottomed-grand-canyon-skywalk.php Although the Grand Canyon has jumpable spots (especially with a wing suit) the problem has always been finding a way out of the canyon. You'd either need a waiting raft, and then hours, maybe even days of river travel to get out, or you need a helicopter. However, these days aircraft can no longer fly below the rim of the canyon never mind landing down there . . . NickD

Slow down boys . . . The correct pronunciation of this tribe's name, the Hualapai, is WALL-uh-PIE . . . http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061214/news_1n14skywalk.html NickD

Peter Boyle just died . . . NickD

Try two years at Cal City . . . NickD

The problem is canopies will be so much better in twenty years, you'll scare people with your 2006 FLiK, or whatever . . . NickD

You know I could come up with four paragraphs about this, but all I can say is WoW! . . . NickD

>>my application is in the next selection batch.

There have been several Astronauts that flew who were USPA members. Are you on the fast track? Could you carry this roll of dimes for me? It would really do it for me with the ladies in the Perris Bombshelter . . . NickD

They will pick up the count at the 9 minute mark in 14 minutes. They are, however, having "discussions" about the winds . . . NickD

Everybody else is too busy typing Brittnany Spears into Google . . . NickD

There's nothing more real than this . . . T-9 and holding (built in 45 minutes). If you're going to the bathroom, go now. NickD

Man, when you look at those big black engine exhaust bells it makes you realize the single thing that midwifed humanity to every achievement since the cave is we can control fire – sometimes. Clock's running - T-18. NickD

They showed the Close Out Crew driving away from the pad. It's funny that when approaching they do about 20 mph, but when they leave they're doing about sixty . . . HA HA They just set the altimeter in Columbia, just like in a C-152 . . . 30.92! NickD

Wow, they just said the liftoff weight of Columbia is 4.3 million pounds. The thrust at liftoff is 7 million pounds so I guess it pencils out . . . Here's something I never understood, they run the main engines at 104 percent initially which sounds kind of Spinal Tapish – why not just call 104 percent one hundred percent? T-41 . . . NickD

They just closed the hatch . . . WX looks good. Jimbo, hurry up and drive back! NickD

Don't hang them (not very practical anyway) just separate the harness and do a loose rigger roll and put them into heavy duty plastic bags. Store in the driest darkest spot you have. Good for twenty years . . . NickD

>>..."PROXIMITY" flying...