NickDG

Usually, something like an evaluator giving the slip to a candidate in the door is because the candidate wasn't paying enough attention to the evaluator on the way up. I saw one poor sap go unsat while he was yakking it up with other jumpers on the plane so much he didn't notice his student/evaluator completely took his rig off. One time, I was with a Korean candidate who was having troubles in the course and getting flustered a lot. We were doing a back taxi down the runway for take off after I told him before we went "time in" to be more attentive and talk to his "student" a bit more on the way up. I looked at him and could see he was desperately searching for something to say to me. Unbelievably, he looked me in the eye and said, "Show me bail out on your reserve!" I had to climb around several people but made it all the door before he barely caught and stopped me. Thank goodness too, as I probably would have turned an ankle or something jumping onto the RWY from the moving Otter. When these types of things happen in front of up-jumpers they think it's excessive, and you hear them saying sometimes evaluators go too far. I'm sure some of them do, but in most cases, evaluators realize these larger than life lessons are the only way to get through to some candidates. The underlying lesson is that students are like time bombs, and every once in a while, and when you least expect it, one will blow up in your face. The part of the AFF cert course candidates most often neglect to prepare for is the ground stuff. When observing your ground prep, evaluators are making note of the mistakes you are making and most of the time the dive to come is going to have those mistakes come back at you. Think of the ground prep as a soup you have to eat later . . . NickD

Saturday night, 6:00 PM Come and give Mike Pelkey a hug . . . PM for directions. NickD

>>Why do people continue to say that?It has no real meaning.If it does explain it.What do you mean by that?

>>- BASE Jumping has just hit 13 y.o. Yep, she's a teenager now.

As times change, and over the years. I've thought hard about the value of the List. And it seems to stay constant in the end. It's our cemetery. And a place you can go by yourself and be quiet, and walk around for a bit. NickD

On a practical note, one thing has always been Bridge Day's time limit. Jason must shoehorn the various needs of 400 jumpers into a small six-hour window. Every organizer before him has had to do the same, but there is much more going on these days and it's all being stuffed into the same size bag. The easiest to implement change would be to allow jumping from the catwalk for several days prior to and ending with Bridge Day itself. I hear some describing Bridge Day as a zoo, a nylon miracle, or something that's not really BASE jumping. And they're right, but for another reason. To me, Bridge Day has always been a demo jump. And what other "show" goes on in front of 150,000 people without some sort of preparation and rehearsal? The WX and the LZ are sometimes significantly different from year to year and we all get one or two shots at it with the added pressure of not being able to say, "Gee, well, maybe tomorrow." That's a risky lack of choice when spread out over 400 jumpers of various experience levels. On the other hand, we want Bridge Day to remain a place people can come and fulfill a dream. So I'm not talking about making the two days prior to Bridge Day try outs for the real "show" but more time gives us more choices, more options, and more control. Sure, I know that won't solve everything, and it will probably raise new issues – but at least we are going forward. And some new things aren't always better. I was the guy arguing against a fixed launch point on the bridge, because the conditions sometimes made somewhere else better . . . And the "security" thing is really getting out of hand. I've been to Bridge Days in the past with 400 other BASE jumpers, perfect WX, 250,000 (that's a quarter of a million) spectators, and no National Guard, no Park Rangers. Just a few policeman and EMTs, and it went fine. These guys are just feeding at the public security trough. Besides, if Al Qaeda attacked Bridge Day four hundred pissed off BASE jumpers would decide the battle of Fayetteville, West Virginia in a hurry. NickD

You just reverse grab the MLWs below the handles and flip them over. Although, that's usually easier done on an evaluator, than a real student . . . NickD

With your permission Mike . . . . NickD

I'm here . . . NickD

The first parachute jumps were made many years before the hot air ballon and the airplane were invented. What you are talking about is the first "Skydive" and the advent of charging money either to watch it or do it . . . It's been pretty much down hill for skydiving ever since. NickD

I've had to make some changes . . . I took out the Reaper photo which carried the current number of fatalities because I was getting too much grief from some people's relatives. I try to explain how "death is an educational tool" in BASE, but they don't understand that. I also removed the photos from the second section of the List, the part that deals with those BASE jumpers who died outside the sport. I'm having bandwidth issues with AOL (I'm probably their last paying customer, but still they are jerking me around) so maybe that will help. I am, however, considering removing that section all together. Right now the site will load slowly, at first, but once the photos are cached on your hard drive it will be faster the next time. I apologize as I know it's tough on the dial up folks. I've received many offers to help with hosting the site (and I really appreciate that) and I'll look into it when I have a chance. But, if you want to help right now – just stop dying! Also, use this URL http://hometown.aol.com/base194/myhomepage/base_fatality_list as the pointer http://www.basefatalities.info/ isn't working right now. It's been a tough week and I'm going to go have a drink now . . . NickD BASE 194

I'm a bit further down the street from the IHOP, but right across from it a large electrical contractor moved in over the last few months. You know that "beeping" sound that big trucks make when they back up? Well they have some type of loaders over there that start doing that at 4:00 AM and it never stops. There's no way you are going to sleep through it, ear plugs or not. (Weekends are all right because they are closed.) It's waking us up in the Ghetto (and we sleep hard in the Ghetto) and we are thinking of getting signs and doing some protesting . . . And the IHOP is a lot closer than we are. If you are looking for something better, and you have a car or bicycle, PM me for a phone number. I know a local jumper who bought a nice modern home in the neighborhood up behind the railroad museum just for visiting jumpers. (I'm not $$$ involved in it). It's cheaper than the IHOP and depending on when you come it's possible to have the whole place to yourself. I stayed there for a month once and it's great. It's very clean; you get a dedicated bed, high speed internet, Sat TV, and there's toilet paper in the bathrooms. NickD

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/wife-reveals-base-jumpers-final-moments/2006/09/25/1159036447100.html NickD BASE 194

Brian had a heart the size of ten men . . . and it was made of solid gold. And when he smiled, his eyes twinkled, and you could still see the little boy in his face. Sleep tight my friend . . . NickD BASE 194

Incredible . . . Ain't human beings neat? NickD

A lot better world, Brother. NickD

>>Americans sleep soundly in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would do them harm.

I'm years away from the hardware needed to run it. But with FS9 I can do 13-minute turn arounds at Perris with the Otter. Of course, the "realism" is turned down or I'd be shedding the wings . . . NickD

I think of John's death as heroic as any soldier . . . Give peace a chance . . . ! NickD

I remember "Ripcord" in color . . . Of course, we were the, "Just Say Yes," generation so I could be wrong on that . . . NickD

>>and how much is the the cheapest one you bought ?

>>Ya, but if I ever want to sell it, then I will care if others like it.

I still wear my Frap Hat. I like taking it off after opening and clipping it to a lateral. Anyone remember when skydiving was about freedom . . . ? And here's a little secret. You look like an idiot doing this! LOL . . . PS - I do wear a hard helmet for BASE, but that's survival, not fashion. NickD

I began correcting some things I've neglected for too long (the main one being the chronology of fatalities, where many of the entries were out of order) and I was in the middle of that when the last two fatalities occurred. When I get that finished I'll update. A couple of points: The BASE Fatality List is not a newspaper. There was a time (long ago) when I always tried to be timely because there was an original lesson to be learned. Sadly, nowadays we seem to be, more or less, making the same mistakes over and over. I really thought we'd learned the lessons of biting off more than we can chew – but of course, as long as there are new, and not so new, BASE jumpers who ignore past lessons it will always be a problem. The biggest lessons missed are the very first ones we learned. Don't be over confident, and don't gulp down BASE jumps like they were skydives. Something has changed in the tone of written reports I receive. It used to be they were more analytical and straight forward. Some of them now are too heavy on rationalizations and too light on facts. In some cases I can read three full paragraphs on a fatality and still not know what happened, so it takes it bit more time to figure things out. The List is for the record. It's not so much to educate current jumpers who if active will hear about fatalities from various other available sources. The List is really for the person who starts BASE jumping next year, and future jumpers, the ones who aren't paying attention to BASE fatalities right now. Another thing is the media now turns to the List right after a BASE fatality, and in most cases I'm not interested in doing their job for them. Once it's not "news" anymore they forget all about it. NickD

I had a girlfriend once who had this one. We never put them on the car, really, just on the living room wall . . . NickD