NickDG

Allen is an excellent rigger, it was just the endless PIA seminars on the subject, LOL, but he was correct to do so. On a serious note, you can still see pilot rigs that pop up from time to time that fail the PH test . . . However, it came up again when BASE manufacturers are tinkering with using mesh covered vents . . . and I have a 1980s 48-inch BASE PC that's mesh fails the PH test. Also, from time to time, BASE jumpers still use older rounds of this period for water jumps. For anyone not hip to acid mesh it was a fire retardant added to the mesh during the manufacturing process that caused the problem. When left packed for a period of time, like a round in a reserve container, the mesh could degrade the F-111 it came in contact with. I think it was first noticed when camping tents using mesh covered openings started falling apart after one season. The parachute manufacturers where purchasing mesh from the same place as the tent manufacturers . . . NickD

Starting the sport in 1975 I missed the era when most DZs are clubs and everyone just paid monthly dues. Parachutes Incorporated (PI) are the first of the commercial centers and having nice facilities and bigger aircraft wasn't something the clubs could compete against. I was fortunate to spend my early days jumping with a military sport club. We paid ten dollars a month in club dues (and that went directly into the club's beer kitty) and gear, instruction, and aircraft support is free. We got a lift everyday after work and lifts all weekend long. It was a symbiotic relationship between jumpers and pilots. We wanted to jump and the pilots, to keep current, had to fly. And they found it more interesting, and fun, to fly us rather than only bore holes in the skies. It also made these pilots familiar with jump operations. We always sent these pilots away with a couple bottles of Scotch at the end of the day. When I left the service I started jumping at Lake Elsinore. I was kind of shocked to find a lift to twelve-five was seven dollars and a hop & pop is three or four. To me that meant a full weekend of jumping costs a small fortune. Soon after the cost went up again and the standard became a buck per thousand feet plus a buck and a lift to altitude stayed between thirteen and fourteen dollars through most of the 1980s. By the early 1990s most large DZs like Perris are charging seventeen to eighteen dollars and old hands began to complain about the "yuppification" of skydiving. I was already an Instructor by then and I started to notice a disconnect. My students are driving Porsches while I had the same old bomb I'd been driving for ten years . . . The club idea had sort of a dying gasp when a partner in the Lake Elsinore DZ offered a package deal to jumpers. You paid a fairly large lump sum up front and received a year's worth of jumps at a much reduced rate. Many took advantage of this and are happy about it until the partner disappeared to Alaska with all the money . . . Lot's of jumpers complain DZOs are getting rich and certainly some of them are. But they made it over the long haul. I've been there when UPS delivers a small part for a turbine aircraft and the DZO's hand trembles as he signs over a check for ten grand. The DZOs I have heartburn with nowadays are the ones that charges the high prices and still run shoestring operations. Not so many years ago I visited one DZ that is using really burned out student Javelins equipped with Sentinals . . . Jumps are now twenty one dollars at most DZs and that's less about greedy DZ owners and more about what jumpers are demanding and what DZOs must provide to compete. My generation felt you only needed the following to be happy; a C-182 for students, a Beech or a DC-3 for the up jumpers, a liquor store within walking distance, and a parking lot to party in. Those days are gone . . . NickD

My God, don't do that, he'll ground your BJ cause it has an acid mesh problem . . . NickD

>>being thankful that I could finally disconnect the Sentinel

Tip of the spear, Brother! Cheers on ya . . . NickD

I'd have to know how many to sample to get a good result. To know that, I'd need to know how many active BASE jumpers there are in the world. And that's a tough one too . . . If you hit the max number on the above poll please include in a post what you think the number might be. NickD

I'm going to give the BASE Fatality List a make over soon, not so much in content, just going for a cleaner look. However, since the number is getting up there, I do want to add some perspective. I know in the end this will be a guess on everyone's part, but I'm interested in what everyone thinks, and who knows, a consensus may point us in the right direction . . . You can break out your calculators if you want, or just make your choice from the gut. NickD

The all time funniest one . . . 800 sky-ride NickD BASE 194

Here's the blurb from Aussie 60 Minutes . . . http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/sixtyminutes/stories/2005_05_22/story_1386.asp NO FEAR May 22, 2005 Reporter: Peter Overton Producer: Lincoln Howes, Julia Timms It's the ultimate thrill, an extreme sport with a capital E: base jumping — daredevils leaping off tall buildings and cliffs for a few seconds of raw excitement and pure adrenaline. It's highly dangerous — and illegal. Only this week, a jumper plunged to his death off the Eiffel Tower and last month a Sydney man was critically injured in a jump from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Now Australian base jumpers want to change their image. To them, this is an elite sport and they're world class athletes. They want to make base jumping legal. Peter ##### base jumping (See attached photo) NickD

>>Below 1500 Ride Plane Down in crash position.

>>the toggle pressure was greater at flare time

Someone in the History Forum mentioned how everything in skydiving is so upside down nowadays. My first jump "with" a Cypres was as big a deal as your first jump "without" one . . . NickD

I've always told students it doesn't matter where they land as long as they land safely. Some Instructors never realize students, especially the first jump variety, come with a built in idea that who ever lands closer to the target wins. With continuing students I tell them there's no such thing as "landing out" unless they manage to figure a way to miss the whole damn planet . . . On a personal level I've met some of the nicest people while walking down a country road, parachute over my shoulder, and miles from the DZ. NickD

>>Has any BASE jumper ACTUALLY sued a property owner after a BASE related accident? If so, WHY?

When in New Zealand in the mid-90s I remember Anthony Oakley doing the most tandems in one day. I can't remember the exact number now, and won't post what I think the number was as I don't think anyone would believe it . . . Maybe someone from NZed remembers and can fill in the number . . . NickD

>>Back when we were jumping canopies that required little in the way of jumper input

>>In this case the word was out. Everyone knew, in advance, that jumpers had bailed from the project because they feared it might turn into a hack job.

>>These guys are way ahead of the game. Making legal tower jumps....

>>So does this make bungee jumping from a balloon a bit precarious for everyone? If just losing the weight of a jumper is bad, the dynamic loading to nothing must be worse.

Burn-ability has morphed over the years . . . There was time early on when it was almost impossible to burn a site. Before BASE jumping was a "known" jumpers caught red handed generally got off rather easy and local authorities didn't get too upset. After all they figured, "how many morons like that could there be in the world?" The first truly burned sites were the ones that got specifically posted with signs that said "No Parachuting Allowed." This was the mid-1980s. There was a RR bridge in Texas and some tall towers in Northern California like that. But even then we didn't see them as burned and never got upset at the jumpers involved. That would have been like one bank robber getting mad at another bank robber that got caught. And you know, some banks get robbed over and over anyway. The first outright attempt to protect sites was in Florida in the late 1980s when some towers became "locals only." But that was more of an ego thing, and not a reaction to a problem that was still years away. Today most cops, judges, and site owners know what BASE is all about. Cops will stake out, or at least keep an eye on a site where there's been a recent bust. That's how the term "hot" came to be. Judges now are less lenient as they feel the need to send a message to other BASE jumpers. Gone are the days when a BASE jumper was a nice court room diversion from the usual line up of thugs, robbers, and murderers. Site owners will press charges always, in case you pop back up in a month to say you hurt yourself. On the other hand we can also congratulate ourselves. I know several sites within a hundred miles of where I am that have been jumped for over twenty years that are still very much jumpable. I'm sure there are places like that all over the country. The biggest problem I see is sometimes BASE jumpers get lazy. They start out jumping at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, then it gets earlier and earlier and soon they are doing 11 o'clock loads and finally they get popped . . . The next step that could really hurt us is if cities and towns begin to enact ordinances that specifically prohibit BASE jumping. That would take away what little wiggle room we have left. It's a fact that every new generation of BASE jumper does the most damage, and I don’t think we'll ever figure a way to preempt that . . . NickD

First jump: 28-foot Cheapo (No Malfunctions) First Round: Papillon (No Malfunctions) Second Round: Piglet (One Total, Not Canopy Related) First Square: Strato Star (No Malfunctions) Second Square: Cruisair (No Malfunctions) Third Square: Cruiselite (No Malfunctions) Fourth Square: Sabre 150 (No Malfunctions) Fifth Square: Stiletto 135 (Three cutaways, All Spinners) Wanna do BASE jumping? NickD

>>What would be the proper action to take in a situation like this.

Without the Balloon being in a decent the basket can ricochet into the envelope when the jumper leaves . . . Not good. As for jumping at three thousand feet keep in mind your starting downward airspeed is zero. It's not like passing through 3000-feet at terminal velocity. I understand your reluctance, since we raised the student jump altitudes (my generation made first jumps from 2800-feet) we sort of made people too afraid of these lower altitudes. I found that out during several emergency exits when even at 2000-feet so called experienced jumpers by the door are confused and balking . . . I did an emergency exit from a Balloon at 1700-feet (with skydiving, not BASE gear) after the pilot over-temped the envelope and blew out the top. Another jumper with us refused to jump and almost killed himself when he suddenly later realized he was going to die if he stayed. I've also done many Balloon jumps from 600-feet with BASE gear. I think it's important for skydivers to experience minimum altitude exits as in a career, sooner or later, it'll happen to you. I see DZs where AFF students make their hop & pop from 5000-feet or even higher. What's that about? After all the underlying reason for the hop & pop is an emergency exit situation. It's because their Instructors, now that several generations have passed, have never gotten out low themselves. That's dangerous thinking. Keep in mind if it all really goes to hell, it's always better to jump and try, than stay and fry . . . Oh, and the fellow who said he put his slider half way up (or down) is giving bad advice. Generally what happens is during line stretch there's a good chance the slider will be "blown" back up the lines. And if it doesn't and you have a stability or gear problem that delays your deployment you're asking for trouble. Even BASE jumpers using BASE canopies, which are very overbuilt, won’t delay more that 3-seconds with the slider disabled. The "best" opening he ever had stems only from the fact he was going so slow . . . NickD

Yes, the word "eXtreme" is Madison Avenue marketing term used to sell stuff to gullible teenagers. The first two sports I remember being called "extreme" were Land Luge and BASE jumping. Land Luge because it was an extreme form of Olympic sled sport, and BASE because it was an extreme form of skydiving. Nowadays the term is applied to any sport where the marketers find a buck to be made. In 1987 the first "outside the sport" vendor showed up at the Bridge Day trade show. It was "No Fear" a company none of us ever heard of before. We thought their shirts were ridiculous and told them they'd probably sell more if instead they said "Big Fear." I went to their table staffed by "hip looking edgy kids" and asked if they'd be jumping tomorrow. Surrounded by a sea of "No Fear" shirts they all proclaimed to be chickens. I asked Andy, the BD organizer, why he allowed them in and he just shrugged but I suspect money had changed hands. Eventually we got rid of the "No Fear" company, and just for good measure, got rid of Andy too . . . NickD

CBS has wronged BASE jumping on several occasions. Anyone who gets involved with them isn't paying attention to history. These guys play newbies like a fiddle. On one occasion a CBS producer called me and asked if I wanted to be "on camera" for a piece they were doing on BASE jumping. I asked the two questions all jumpers should ask in these situations. What's the angle of the piece and how much are you paying? He evaded the first question and said of the latter, "we don’t pay for news stories." I told him he wasn't doing a news story, he was doing a feature story, a piece CBS would ultimately profit from, and just being "on camera" didn't do it for me. So, no thanks. Eventually they found a jumper who fell for the "star" treatment and it turned out they damn near burned a long time local site and editied the piece in order to make the BASE jumper look like a total idiot. What they did was also interview a Yosemite Park Ranger and then they spliced the comments of the BASE jumper and Ranger together. The angle of the piece turned out to be why should the tax payers fund the rescues of people who are basically too stupid to live. It was horrible and when the said BASE jumper saw the final broadcast he was almost in tears. This well meaning, but naïve, BASE jumper got so much flack over it he left the sport in disgrace. In those days the rule was simple. Just hang up when they call because no matter what they say, you and the sport, will come out looking bad in the end. These days it's not so simple. In the last five years, or so, there have been some very positive pieces done on BASE jumping. And I know the positive stuff is good for us in terms of access and other issues. So now the trick is knowing "when" to say yes or no. For awhile during the early nineties what we'd do is always refer these calls to someone like Tom Sanders. That would accomplish two things. Tommy knew how to play the Hollywood game and he'd make them pay through the nose. Tommy would then bring you in on the project and would be your protector from the sharks. I still get a residual check every now and again from doing this with him. The problem is the sharks will just keep contacting BASE jumpers until they find a helpless fish, set the hook, and the next thing you know you're flapping around in the bottom of the boat gasping for air. And at this late date saying you didn’t know doesn't cut it anymore . . . The above lessons probably need to be part of every BASE first jump course, but in the end we'll never totally solve the problem as vanity often trumps good sense. If you are fairly new to the sport and you get the "call" it probably means other more experienced BASE jumpers already turned them down. That's your first clue to swim away as fast as you can . . . NickD