NickDG

>>BTW, where is mr Hewitt these days? I remember him back in the 80's @ Perris he was one of "the valley boys" (San Fernando that is).

I just got a call from MSNBC in San Diego where Todd was heading for a damage control interview to be aired later tonight. I haven't confirmed this with another source but I was told the producers have killed the story and they (MSNBC) are saying Scott has been found alive and the whole thing was some kind of hoax. Scott's parents are in route right now from LAX to Perris but their cell number isn't answering. I talked a lot with Scott's mother this morning by phone and she's a heck of a lady and in no way did she deserve this ordeal . . . Again, this is not confirmed. NickD BASE 194

>>Anna Grace

Deborah Kerr in pearls . . . NickD

If anyone has contact info please clue me . . . NickD

Here's a website that allows scrolling over all the U.S. Sectional Maps which is great for finding antenna towers. There will be two numbers printed on the map in the vicinity of the tower symbol. One number is the altitude of the tower above sea level (MSL) and the second number is the tower's height above the ground (AGL). http://skyvector.com/ NickD

There are many endearing stories about Tom but I like this one: He'd once inherited a lot of money and the first thing he did was tell his third wife to get dressed and pack a bag as he was in the mood to party. When his wife asked how she should dress Tom said, "I don't care, just be outta here before my pizza arrives . . ." Sweet dreams, Brother! NickD

Somebody already tried riding a jet ski off Niagara Falls wearing a parachute and they were killed. This fellow was not a jumper and the parachute he used (some type of ballistic recovery system like on a ultralite aircraft) wasn't properly connected to either him or his machine . . . So yes, that stunt is still lurking out there and begging to be done right! Just don’t put the jet ski through the deck of the “Maid of the Mist!” NickD

>>How do you pronounce "Kjerag?"

The only way it's going to work is if 835 of the home buyers are skydivers, and the other 835 are motorcross folks. In very raining times they let water out of Canyon Lake which used to be considered all right, except for its impact on the DZ, and as long as the water stayed inside the flood plane. I remember rowboating around SkyWorld even inside the big hangar that used to be there. Everyone called it CarpWorld after that . . . NickD

>>A Short Antenna Story...

That's fine, but I find BASE jumping is a leveler of generational differences. Sure, jumpers come to BASE, pursue BASE, and practice BASE, each in their own way, which is the essence of BASE, but they (and we all) still experience the same feelings. I can speak for most men and say we get from BASE one genuinely masculine thing. A tingling scrotum . . . NickD

Carl Boenish, if we had like a time machine or something . . . NickD

In the rig stagnation period that was the entire 80s and early nineties Mick's Reflex was the only rig that showed some imagination. I always liked Pop Tops since the Wonderhog became the Vector and everthing since has been another variation of "trap the reserve pilot chute in the container" type rigs. The ones I never really understood were the hybrids, like the Javelin. Sure, you got the best of both world's, a Pop Top and a flap, but you also get the worst of both too . . . I like the fact the reserve pin(s) is up against my back on a Pop Top and I can let later level AFF students practice their gear checks on me. But they can't mess with my reserve pin(s). The knock on Pop Tops, seems to be, the possibility of snagging a line. But, even with today's small diameter line, if your hat is sticking up that much - get another rigger. But, it's a well known Rigger dilemma that in order to get some older Pop Top rigs (like the Racer Elites) to seat correctly you must put a little more pressure on the closing loop than most might feel comfortable with. It's why it helps to be a Rigger if you own one of these. There was also some controversy concerning one and two loop Pop Tops. John Sherman, over at the Jump Shack said, you need two loops to get a symmetrical spring loaded pilot chute launch. But, Mick's single pin Pop Top is the best I've ever seen . . . NickD

I'd move to Paris and do BASE tandems for 421 (€) a crack with tourists from the top of the Eiffel Tower. "La première dame obtient un saut libre." And write a book . . . NickD

Good call . . . Better than being a paragraph in the morning papers. Walking back down is easy . . . NickD

It's funny now that most rigs have built in hook knife pouches, but I recall one guy who had a hook-brush in a two sided pouch. A hook knife on one end and a hair brush on the other (the 80s ). The worst thing we did is wore hook knives on our shoes. Intergrated into our shoelaces and they looked cool sitting there, but as canopies became speedier the spins went higher-G so you'd be looking at your hook knife, and your shoe, and the horizon spinning around and around . . . Everyone should carry a knife even though the chances of ever needing one are slim. A rare line-over on your reserve? Some could do it, but find and pull out your knife, find and cut the right line, and do it all in a spin . . . If it was a real course of action the lower control lines would be, at least, color coded. You're probably be more prone to needing a knife to help someone else, i.e. someone hung up in a door or like once we had a seatbelt that wouldn't release, so I wacked it . . . Still, it's always better to have and not need . . . It's also one reason lower aspect ratio reserves have some advantage as they are "slightly" less prone to line-overs and if they do, and the canopy is big enough, it's not an automatic death sentence. But the landings are worse overall, so pick your poison. If jumping a high aspect ratio "and" highly wing loaded reserve you're burning that candle on both ends. I'm thinking rigs need to be built the other way around with the reserve on the bottom. I know it's a geometric nightmare in rig design, but we are forced by the fact our mains are smaller and so must be our reserves. If hurt, dazed, or slightly malfunctioned under a reserve, bigger is better . . . NickD

Don't BASE jump at the drop zone . . . NickD

This works both ways. I've heard EMTs ask skydivers standing around an injured jumper what happened, and they answer, "he didn't flare." Like an EMT is going to understand that . . . Then the same skydivers get overly concerned about a rig being cut off the injured. On the other hand most expereinced EMTs around a big DZ know what's up as they've been out on similar calls many times. NickD

The "roll pack" is by no means new. It's been around much longer than PRO packing and I wouldn’t use it on a modern canopy. Read you owner's manual as many say, "no roll packing." BTW, roll packing means laying the canopy flat on its side, folding the tail over once and setting the brakes. Then the tail and nose are "rolled" or folded into the center. Sometimes the outer cells on the nose are stuffed into the center cells before rolling. Some problems with roll packing are excess wear on the lines above the slider where the twists are. You can negate this a little bit by making sure the slider is snugged up as tight as possible against the twists. (And if looking at that mess doesn't put you off roll packing nothing will.) I've see larger PD student canopies need new lines in 60 jumps from sloppy roll packing. And I think PD is now a company that says no roll packing in their manuals. Another thing with a roll pack is the nose and tail tends to inflate at the same time (when you really want a nose first inflation.) And forget on-heading openings, when roll packs open on heading it was just the luck of the draw . . . Roll packs were used on canopies that opened too hard in the old days. It was not designed to be used because you have trouble packing. There are some modified roll packs specified by manufacturers like Strong tandem reserves, but there's no reason you should be doing it. I know how difficult new ZP can be, but it is all in the technique, and applying yourself. Don’t press too hard, use your knees and your elbows. If that's not in the cards pay for the first twenty or thirty pack jobs until the canopy gets handier, or get a SLIGHTLY bigger deployment bag for a while. Note: I said "slightly" larger, not humungous . . . Personally, being old school, I don’t mind someone else packing for me, but I would never jump something I couldn’t pack myself. I realize that's not the current mindset but come on, don’t let that canopy beat you! NickD

They have fixed a glitch and there are a lot more letters now. Please take a look . . . If you help out write a reply here so the thread stays up a little longer. http://www.santasheart.org/ From the Site: "Every year thousands of children write letters to Santa and in these letters they tell him of their desires for Christmas morning. As you just witnessed not all of them are what you might expect. The Postal Service does not fund nor maintain a national “Letters to Santa” program. However in 1912, Postmaster General Fred H. Hitchcock first authorized postmasters to allow individuals or institutions to use letters addressed to "Santa Claus" for philanthropic purposes. May God bless his soul for doing so. Today volunteers from far and wide collect these precious letters from the Post Office and upload them to the Santa's Heart website. This allows people the opportunity to view and participate in the "Adopt a Letter" program. This "adoption" requires the commitment of at least writing a letter, (on behalf of Santa Claus, of course!) acknowledging the child and the letter that Santa received. Many people see the need written in the childs letter and assist Santa Claus by sending the letter writer gifts. Today because of technology, many more children and people in need benefit from the kindness of strangers during the Holiday Season. Santa's Heart, Inc. and this site are singular in purpose. We are a Non-Profit Corporation dedicated to facilitating the volunteers who work to spread the magic of Christmas by answering the letters written to Santa Claus that the big man is unable to do himself. These volunteers make the world a better place." NickD

Yes, you're right, I didn't scroll down to see Carl's shadow. There's another photo from this site that looks very similar. I know Carl did do some long static line jumps at this place with a static line attached to his hand held pilot chute. This is also the only site where it would be fair to say Carl burned it . . . I guess he was a victim of his own success. For a couple of the early years, Carl and his crew (although they would not have used the word "crew then) pretty much had the entire USA to themselves. Carl didn’t think too much about bringing in a helicopter to this site, without realizing by that time others were now jumping it, and these other jumpers had made a deal with the locals. The "deal" called for no publicity, no helicopters, etc. After Carl broke the "rules" the locals no longer welcomed BASE jumpers. I think it was an honest mistake on Carl's part (some jumpers said otherwise) but the ruckus it raised was sad, as it showed all of us we weren't quite the happy band of brothers we thought we were . . . NickD

The first one is Jean. Carl is jumping with a long static line and is above her and shooting this photo. The photo that Jean took with the rearward facing camera of Carl is cool too. The second is Phil Smith and I'm not sure, maybe Phil Mayfield. I don't know who the third is . . . NickD

>>Then they had some fun recreating the problem with real experiments hanging from the step

The reason we use rubber bands is so if they somehow hang-up they will break. When you triple stow you are essentially tripling the resistance to breaking. Get the proper size stow bands . . . NickD