NickDG

And I can't believe I forgot this . . . The only thing that ever burned up at Perris (besides the DC-3) was the pool. Some girl (to remain nameless) drained some avgas from one of the planes and dumped it into the pool. I remember stumbling out of the bombshelter and the flames were 100-feet in the air. Look under the aluminum ladder and at some of the tiles around the edge and you can still see the burn marks . . . NickD

LOL, I can always count on you Gary . . . No, when Ben first wanted to build permanent structures the local Perris fire department wouldn't sign off as there weren't any water hydrants anywhere nearby. The pool was the solution as the fire department said they could use their pump truck, using the pool's water, to douse any major fires . . . NickD

>>'What the f..k was that?'

>>1) Remodel the bathrooms; I’ve seen outhouses that were nicer.

An early last instruction given many times to new jumpers prior to launch is, "head high, risers . . ." Not, "head high, toggles . . ." I was kind of shocked when I saw Slim go for his toggles before hitting that cliff. I thought at first, okay he's human and he just made a mistake in the heat of the moment. I never touch the toggles until my canopy is heading in the direction I want to go. There's always a chance for a toggle miss, or a pure hang-up, and if that happens you certainly want some clear air around you. A short delay from a hard object after a clean 180 puts you in the kill zone and you need to get the hell out of there. Why pop the brakes and deal with the surge, a big surge if you have deep brake settings, that will just put you into the object harder if you can't make the turn? You are also betting it all on a clean toggle release and we know that's not always assured. Leaving the brakes stowed and rear risering yourself back onto a safe heading is easy, it's fast, and it serves another purpose too. If you can't avoid the object using the risers (and in that case you never would have had a chance using the toggles) when you do hit your forward speed is lower, and if you come back off you'll get a less wild re-inflation with the brakes still stowed. If it's really not your day and you come off groggy or unconscious, but keep flying back into the object over and over how do you want to do that, certainly not in full flight . . . Now, if you're jumping something tall and tracked away prior to deploying being a toggle grabber is fine, but it isn't when the object is still within spitting distance. I've seen more than a few short freefalls end with a good on heading opening and then the jumper fumbles the brake release and turns himself back into the object. It's always better to fly away for a bit, and give yourself some room before releasing the brakes. If altitude doesn't allow for that, then gee, just leave the damn brakes stowed. Landing on the rear risers is even more viable now than it used to be as we are jumping much larger canopies. While any BASE jump is dangerous in its entirety, there are certain points that are triggers for doomville. The launch is one, when you pitch is another, releasing the brakes, and landing round that out. You can blow, or be less than perfect, on one of those things and probably still survive. Fail at two or more and you're counting on luck rather than skill. Something I think that's happening is we are forgetting the golden rule that everything is very site specific. A technique that works on the potato bridge or tall wall is death off a small wall or the Flatiron building. We are making so many more jumps now that we are forming habits that don't translate from site to site. Mentors who teach site specific courses must reinforce that point. There are also so many more of us these days it's possible to meet enough other jumpers who are doing things wrong that these practices appear right. So don't take any passed on information for granted. Knowledge and skill is our second chance, we carry our reserve parachutes in our minds, not on our backs . . . NickD

Cool . . . Thanks for that, and man, Go Army . . . NickD

No. I'll sink or swim on it . . . NickD

Thanks, R/L, but like most writers I read that again with an eye I could have wriiten it better, but the point remains figure out what you are going to do ahead of time, and realize you're playing a deadly grown up's game . . . NickD

Look for, "The Pact" it's something i wrote years ago and is out there on the web, somewhere . . . NickD

You may have missed the trashing, but we didn't miss this earlier hug, and you know I've always had an eye for you . . . Thanks, Sister . . . NickD

Nirvana . . . But, what's this crap about not smoking during the day . . . ? Seriously, drugs are harmful, but they spawned a generation that finally looked inward, and it was the closest we came to getting it right. The "Just say No" idea is an absurd extreme many bought into because it's easier that way . . . and it's all they know. It's as ugly in there as it is beautiful. It makes you realize how it really works because it strips away all the crap. "Just say No" is the American version of the head banging Mastrasa . . . Let the Brothers go . . . NickD

I BASE jump for all the usual reasons, but the main one is because so many said I can't . . . When we get BASE all squared away and humming along, and we will one day, I'm going to have to look for another fight, medical marijuana maybe. NickD

Thanks, Brother, "we" needed that . . . NickD

Hi Al, Years ago we were discussing Frank Donnellan and Jimmy Tyler who both died the same year (1982), and it was mentioned Frank had spent some time at Perris. Sure as hell, your story came up, and it was basically the same way you just told it. The reason it came up is because earlier that day we'd been at Elsinore where a BASE jumper, and good friend of mine, had just went up and jumped after some parking lot coaching. He had a 100 BASE jumps, but had never skydived before. Many jumpers don't stop to think that current accepted training methods are mostly geared to the masses but isn't the only way to learn. Skydiving is still young enough that there are plenty of experienced jumpers walking around who never had a traditional first jump course. My friend Lupe G. made his first jump in Texas after a friend with something like twenty jumps "taught" him. Then he had to go up alone as all they had was a Cessna 150. Come visit the BASE section of this forum. Any Frank stories you could tell would be most welcome . . . NickD

The hardest part of Zero G I've ever encountered is getting the 2-foot stream of beer back in the can . . . NickD

Yikes . . . ! NickD

>>beware of the word "backcountry."

Norm, I'll come and see you all as soon as I can. And thanks for the Welcome . . . NickD

The very first fixed object parachute jumps were done centuries ago. The first ones where clear photographic evidence exists are from 1912. There is a reported earlier jump in France from a building and there's supposed to be a photo I've never seen, but others have. Another fellow did the first indoor fixed object jump (from the rafters of a blimp hangar) in 1949. The first semi-modern jumps are from the Italian Dolomites in the late 1950s and at El Cap in 1966. The first modern jumps, or at least the jumps most like the ones we do today, are Carl Boenish's El Cap loads from 1978. Fixed object parachute jumping has a long and storied history that's all but ignored in modern history texts. And also by some modern jumpers who kind of act like they invented it all . . . NickD

I still stick to what Carl Boenish said . . . If the wind blows around it, it's a Building. If the wind blows through it, it's an Antenna. If the wind blows under it, it's a Span. If the wind blows over it, it's Earth. NickD

Thanks for the memory jog, Mark S. told me about those jumps. BTW I see Peter from time to time around San Diego. Someone else also wrote to say someone did an early jump when the Bridge was under construction. This would have been with gut gear and from one of the pillers. circa 1971 . . . BTW, if BASE jumping was put on scale you'd have Kleggo on one end, a man who's quietly doing the deed longer than almost anyone I know and doing it undercover, the old school way. On the other end of the scale would be Miles D. Hero to Zero all in one neat package . . . NickD

>>As long as you respect the establishment and don't endanger the platform that other people have worked hard for.

http://www.10news.com/news/4536227/detail.html NickD

I recall when you had the "hot setup" if your cones swiveled . . . NickD

POD is an acronym for Parachute (or Pack) Opening Device (here in States anyway). They are the missing link between the Sleeve and the modern Deployment Bag. I used a POD on my round Pap in the late 70s. Some called them Short Sleeves . . . NickD