NickDG

Jon is going to get the first posthumous "BASE Fellowship Award" and I'm now kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Someone please PM me an address for where I can send it. NickD BASE 194

Shit. God's got some explaining to do . . . NickD BASE 194

Three Golshen Events . . . (I might be spelling that wrong) This is no reflection on her, she's a good pilot, and one of the most beautiful woman I've ever met, this is just "stuff" happens. Event one – We took off from Elsinore with a first freefall student (first jump off static line) and the student, a young lady, refused to jump. We made another pass, while I talked to her, but it was no go, and when a woman says no, I take it seriously. I switched off her AOD and we came down and landed. By now the student was very upset with herself and we exited the plane and are standing next to the tail but just outside the propblast. I don't think there is anything harder for a student than walking back in with un-used gear still on their backs, so I started removing it. Goshen didn't realize we were still there and gunned the motor and hit the left rudder. Suddenly the tail is swinging our way and I had just enough time to push the student out of the way, but the horizontal stabilizer hit me hard. Golshen felt the impact, shut down, and came running. She was very apologetic, but in the end it was my own fault. The student made her jump later that day and is still jumping today. Event two – We'd just dropped a load of static line students and were coming down to get another. We approached the runway over the lake and we're just starting to flare. I was on my knees looking out the windshield when I saw another aircraft rolling for take off in the opposite direction. I yelled it out and Golshen fire-walled it, but now as the nose came up we lost sight of the other plane. We missed each other by feet. The other AC didn't have a radio and never saw us. Event Three – We took off with a full load of static line students and were turning onto jump run and I had one student hooked up and sitting in the door. A piston rod let go and blew through the side of the engine case. Oil was spraying all over the windshield and blowing in through the open door, the vibration felt as if we are about to throw a prop. Golshen looked at me and shook her head. I pushed the hooked up student out the door and put the other two out on their reserves while Golshen is shutting things down. I left at 1500-feet behind the Dairy thinking Golshen would follow. (The AC really felt like was about to come apart). She managed to land on the runway and everybody is shaken, but okay. All three events happened in a two month time span and Golshen and I spent some time trying to figure out which one of us was marked. But, in the end we chalked it up to a new phrase that was in the lexicon at the time. Shit happens . . . NickD

My Wonderhog also used the bridle bight closure method . . . and a belly band pilot chute . . . and a blast handle. I also remember being ecstatic when the 2nd edition of P'sPM came out and I saw my name in the index. It was like I "arrived" or something . . . NickD

Hi Mick, I don't know where he is now. But, I also lived next to him in the Ghetto sometime after you did. He was learning to play the electric guitar and to this day I still can't listen to Stairway to Heaven . . . He was certainly a character from the "old" days (who wasn't in the Ghetto) and many times I watched as young jumpers approached him with something like, "Hi, my name is Bob." And he'd say, "So what." I had Jana Logan over to the boat not long ago, and she hadn't heard from him either. NickD

There used to be many of these scattered around the Southwestern desert of the USA, most where early type cell towers and many of them have since been dismantled. One that I was familiar with, was as you describe, except it had an inside ladder and a short overhanging platform on top. If you did a rock drop from the overhang it would still hit the tower. Wind, was the answer here. It was one of the few low objects where no wind conditions were frowned upon. You wanted 10 mph or better and you got off on the downwind side. Both squares and rounds were used on this tower. One advantage I saw, from the tower's configuration (not being straight) was a jumper who had a 180 and flew right back into the tower. Because he was so close to the structure he had no time to gather any forward speed and he just floated into it very softly and grabbed on. He came away with a scratch . . . BTW, if your tower happens to be microwaving (large round dishes) stay as far away from them as you can while playing. NickD

Some time back I set Google up so it would e-mail me when there was news in the media regarding, "BASE jumping." At first these e-mails were mostly BASE related and included competitions, accidents, etc. Well, I still get those, but nowadays, many are only BASE specific in passing. Writers are now using BASE as an example to illustrate other points. For instance, a recent piece was saying the most dangerous sport in the world, in terms of fatalities, is motor racing. No argument there, but to make the point the following was included, "Sports like BASE Jumping, Free Diving, Cave Diving, Speed Skiing and Street Luging have fatalities, but participation is not that widespread and rock fishing claims more lives than all of them." The point is they are using BASE correctly (a capitalized acronym) and they don't feel the need to explain what BASE jumping is. This is only interesting if you remember when almost no one outside jumpers understood BASE and reporters didn't know BASE jumping from paragliding. I'm not saying this is good or bad, it's just what it is . . . NickD

Mike, Some other tidbits . . . The first contact (I know of) between jumpers and Rangers is in 1966 when two (possibly three) skydivers jumped from El Cap. I have the newspaper clippings, but not where I am right now, but you should be able to find them. Two of the jumpers were injured (they were jumping rounds) and the Rangers expressed shock and anger over the jumps. This the first time, I believe, the aerial delivery rule was imposed on jumpers. Prior the rule was only used to keep backcountry hunters from re-supplying themselves (cargo drops of ammo & grub) in order to extend their time on the hunt. In 1975 Carl Boenish (and still three years away from the first modern El Cap jumps he organised) was harassed in the park while filming two jumpers who jumped from a hang glider over the valley. The encounter was very heated and charges were filed, aerial delivery and also filming without a permit As for the legal season in the early 80s, it wasn't four months long. As I recall it was a matter of weeks. From memory (again, I don't have all my notes here) the Rangers were under pressure from jumpers and the USPA to allow legal jumping. They finally allowed it, even though they didn't want to, but they had an ulterior motive. Basically, they knew we wouldn't follow the rules, so the legal season was just a way to gather enough infractions to shut jumping down forever. And their plan worked brilliantly. I was personally at the meeting held at Perris Valley that summer to hammer out the rules for legal El Cap jumps and they seemed innocuous enough. All jumps were to be by permit, no jumps after a certain time in the morning, no night jumps, and hard helmets and boots must be worn. (The boots rule didn't go down well at the meeting as by this time all experienced jumpers are wearing tennis shoes, sandals, or no footwear at all.) All jumps were to be single exits, with no RW allowed. Parachute gear, reflecting the wisdom of the day, was to be square mains and round reserves. And you had to have a "D" license. In the short time the legal season lasted every one of those rules were broken. People jumped without permits. People jumped at night. People did RW. One jumper spray painted a rock with the message, "Man Small, Why Fall, Skies Call, That's All." And, of course, there was the Flatbed Ten. Now, it helps to understand what stage BASE jumping was in at this time. There is a small band of hardcore BASE jumpers led by Carl Boenish operating, but for the most part these are skydivers out on a lark. Most considered El Cap something you did once and that was it. There was no feeling among the majority of these skydivers that BASE was a stand alone sport. To them, and understandably so, it was all a big hoot. Even I felt that way about it at the time. When we turned to USPA for help after the program was shut down our pleas fell on deaf ears. Everyone at USPA headquarters had already made "their" jump. That's when Carl and Jean stepped back into the picture and began the long fight that leaves us were we are today. I gave up on my own hopes of jumping El Cap over the next few years, my attention centered on something new and exciting on the drop zone, it was called AFF. There's a lot more of course, but you'll have to wait for my book . . . As an aside, Mike, it's good when anyone gets into this issue with a fresh set of eyes like you are doing, but please be mindful about making comments about things like Jan's death. To those who were involved it's not abstract, it was very real and very emotional. And it was all done with the best of intentions. Saying it set things back is making the same mistake the Rangers make. They don't understand the sport. When people BASE jump, people will die, that's just the way of it. One of Carl Boenish's best quotes goes, "Cliff jumping is first allowed because it's unknown, then it's regulated because it is feared, then it's banned because it is misunderstood." (Not exact, but close.) NickD

Have a good one, Phil . . . a tad early, but welcome to the sky! NickD

LOL, I just posted this same thing down-board in the Zone. But, my first thought was, wow, BASE jumping ants . . . NickD

Over the years I've had many "discussions" with people regarding whether what we do can truly be called flight. Well, I've been vindicated. Freefall, according to the scientists in the following story is, "directed aerial descent." NickD

Percy, The really good thing is you asked . . . way to be. As for understanding lockout think about being a kid with your first kite. You're flying fine and all's right with the world, and then for no apparent reason the kite does a 180 and dives into the ground. That's lockout. It's whenever the righting force, the kites tail, or with the paraglider, the steering line inputs, cannot overcome the force of the tow. I also saw the video of the speed boat and the helicopter. That was lockout too, just sort of in reverse . . . NickD

>>My point is, I want my parks to stay as close to their original state as possible which is really only attainable by keeping traffic as limited as possible. Just my opinion...

Towing is the most dangerous thing you can do with anything that flies. If you missed it up-board the term to understand is "lockout." This can happen even if you really know what you are doing. Also, just as in any form of aviation, going up in something you aren't "checked out" in is very dangerous. Find an experienced paragliding tandem pilot and pay the freight. Although, I've always wondered if being that lightly wind loaded (after you leave) under a tandem paraglider is a good thing. I suppose it's a matter of picking the right conditions. The paradox being good conditions for going up, would be bad conditions for coming down. Disclaimer - I have twenty flights on the bunny hill! NickD

Jon is a Bridge Day treasure. And ultimately responsible for rescuing more BASE jumpers than anyone else on the planet . . . My good thoughts are with you, Jon. NickD BASE 194

>>Matter of fact, I have a prayer that I say in the plane on each and every skydive for my own safety and the safety of all those on board.

I don't think I've ever been called a "good" before, thanks, Faber . . . NickD

Keely & Karen, are both what God had in mind when he tempted us with beautiful woman, and both can call me anything they want. And, oh boy, aren’t those two a young man's fantasy . . . Nick

NZed 1993 or so . . . I broke my legs jumping from a Bridge in Hamner Springs in New Zealand (I'll always call it Hammer Springs) and when I asked the bungee operator if I could BASE jump from his Bridge, he said, "Sure mate, what can we do to help?" It was 120-feet and I jumped downwind and never got my canopy flying. I crashed into the only rocks there were on a big sand bar . . . My two mistakes were being too horny to jump, and not walking the landing area. Don't do this . . . ever! NickD

When We Were Nuts . . . And that's a Cruislite in a Racer, a Strato Cloud in a Wonderhog, and a Peggy in another Racer. The canopies are all bagged without tail pockets . . . The only concession to BASE are 48 and 52-inch hand held pilot chutes. Nick

As an aside, I've been corresponding with a "radio head" (not sure what to really call him) who mentioned in passing the jumping going on at KFI on his website. This fellow knows his Ohm's Law and he's been helping me better understand electro magnetic radiation in regards to AM towers. He mentioned a tour his group arranged at KFI, and what made me laugh, is he said in order for them to even stand at the base of the tower, the power was reduced to 25 kilowatts from the normal 50. When he realized we were climbing and spending as much as 45 minutes to an hour actually on the tower, when it was at full power, he was surprised any of us were still alive. My point is if you want to legally recon a local tower, get a half dozen fellow BASE jumpers together, have T-shirts made that say something like "The Watt-Not Club" and just call and arrange a tour. Bring you cameras . . . NickD BASE 194

The whole, "exceeded the speed of sound," thing is more a marketing and publicity generator than anything else. Kittenger milked that (not proven) aspect of his jumps all his life. I used to be an admirer of his, but he gave a talk once and someone mentioned BASE jumping (as the opposite extreme to what he did) and Kittenger said he thought BASE jumping was foolish and nothing more than a circus act. Oh well, another hero dethroned. NickD

We noticed . . . http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1399266;search_string=kfi;#1399266 NickD

My generation coined the phrase. "Make Love, Not War," but we were fortunate to come up in a time when sport sex wasn't deadly. I lament (I always wanted to use that word) those who came after the free love movement ended. You really missed a high old time, and never mind the sex, it was a time when we all felt "in it together." I remember being seventeen or so, and hot on the radio is "Get Back" by The Beatles, and my favorite, "Hot Fun In The Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone, along with the caveats we learned in "Bad Moon Rising." Nineteen and sixty nine was a hell of a time and one of the best years for music. Sure, not everyone was cool, or what we called "good people." But everyone walked around like everyone else was. We weren't afraid of anything. It was a year of optimism and the year John Lennon gave us "Give Peace A Chance." In another thread, in another section of this board. I read of someone who wants nothing more than to become a sniper. And, I don't know what to say about that. It's sad when I realize it's only a cure for AIDS that might get us back to more peaceful pursuits. Having relations with 200 people will make you contented and wiser. Smoking thirty people with your 50. caliber will make you a madman . . . NickD