fab777

or tripping And thus shattering your left collarbone... Fabien BASE#944

I don't think so. It doesn't really make sense from an aerodynamical point of view, and the argumentation about total energy is solid. BTW, this is what I did skydiving with a GPS: -Got a 0.6:1 tracking with short pants, regular sweater, legs closed and palms down ( regular tracking body position, as taught by skydive instructors ). -0.8:1 with a BirdMan trackpant worn UNDER the harness, regular sweater, legs slightly open, palms up. -No data, but seemingly much better than the preceeding ( so I can assume 0.9:1 or even 1:1) with trackpant OVER the harness, same body position, wearing a columbia softshell, which seems to be a hell of a trackjacket, by the way it catches air. This was terminal tracking, with no preceeding dive to gain airspeed ( and cross wind, for those who'd ask ), so I assume a 1:1 glide is fairly easy to acheive, provided you got the speed and the proper body position. And speed needs height... I've got to do this again with the last setup and the GPS working to be sure... Fabien BASE#944

Hey, do you plan on crossing the ocean? BTW, I'll be in your place next week ( monday-tuesday ). and you should call it: "le marteau" A+ Fabien BASE#944

I believe you British have always rejected any kind of ID card, for freedom-related reasons, but those situations have always been considered as normal procedures in other countries. Small offences don't earn you a night in jail if you can show your ID, and that's pretty cool... Fabien BASE#944

Looks like we'll be in the same place at the same time... Fabien BASE#944

if you plan on crossing the atlantic, you won't be far from my place... what's your schedule? I'll be off during all of june... Fabien BASE#944

The "dishes" are microwave arrays. Like directionnal ovens, if you like. You just don't want to sit in front of them. Further up, there are some cell phone arrays. The maintainance crews don't even shut them down before working on them... Seems pretty jumpable... Even if it looks a little low for me to really enjoy. Fabien BASE#944

Wrong... To secure the slot as the 1st superpower against the soviet union, and a few others reasons, related to the geostrategy of the world that was to come. When the 1st A-bomb was on it's way to Hiroshima, the emperor of japan had been trying to negociate japan's defeat for days (and maybe weeks). The war was already over... That is History. Fabien BASE#944

"Psychotropic medication just doesn't work like that. Say I forget to take my dose. If I had been taking it regularly, there is enough in my system to keep me balanced until I had a chance to take the next dose. Similarly, if you take a dose, it doesn't mean you'll automatically calm down and be balanced again. It can take weeks to reach the proper level of dosage...weeks. And it can take weeks to have it completely leave your system. It's not like a valium, or other sedative. It just doesn't work that way. " Well... The guy living right below me was suffering from the same disease. Last time he didn't take his meds, he committed BASE jumping from the 5th floor, without a rig ( he should have asked me before, I'd tell him the conditions were less than ideal ) I just heard no pax heard anything about a bomb? That would change the situation... Fabien BASE#944

Anybody there between 12/26 and 12/30? Fabien BASE#944

The X9i is a pretty cool set up , if you can afford it. However, it is far from ideal in the GPS department for skydiving. The GPS receiver logs in ten second intervals and the software is proprietary. So as of now, no luck with downloading data to anything other than to their software. If the GPS feature is what you want, then there are far better and cheaper alternatives out there than the X9. The thing is that I'm looking for: 1~an altimeter for the purpose of measuring objects before the jump, 2~a GPS for assessing the track, and for WS jumps/skydives. The X9 looked pretty cool, as it combines both. However, what would you recommend for those purpose? Fabien BASE#944

Did somebody use the X9 GPS watch for track/WS before? Fabien BASE#944

My job drives me sometimes to south american capital cities, like Santiago del Chile, Mexico city and Buenos Aeres. I'd be happy to get some info about DZ's located near those cities, which would be suitable for a single day visit. I'd also like to know if there's any issue with foreign license ( in my case, french ), and if one experienced jumper can show up any time ( week days/WE)... Thanx for making my business trips happy! Fabien BASE#944

I've been there during the week, along with a bunch of girls who I persuaded to do a tandem jump. No problem for the tandems, but I've been told ( in a cold manner ) that experienced jumpers could jump only during week ends... So I spent the whole day on the ground, watching my friends jump. This DZ is a money machine.

I think we should build a real experience return system for this kind of things. Via a dedicated website, maybe? Fabien BASE#944

Yep. Some locals objects can be described this way. 600', 3 wires sets, only 2 wires per set. Jumpable by daytime... Am already been planning that... Anyway, I think that, considering the number of jumps being made, things can be looked at in a statistical way, when it comes to safety. Hence my wondering for some statistical answer. Ironically, I've been growing more and more afraid of guy wires for the last times, and this misfortune won't help me to feel more confident... Fabien BASE#944

I think you've misunderstood what i was saying. I've been reporting two cases of O/H, which were controlled by riser inputs, and THEN was made the decision of flying the canopy between two wires, that I could SEE. this on particular objects whose clearance between wires allows that. The purpose was to highlight the difference it makes between night/day jump. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Anyway, you didn't answer the question. Fabien BASE#944

dude you really need to work on your tracking skills. twelve inches really isn't that far. if you push really really hard you can probably get almost 12" from the tower without tracking at all. You know, there are people in some other places who speak some other languages, and some signs may have some different meanings... Fabien BASE#944

What I'd like to know is: what's the proportion of wire strikes due to obscurity. That is, are those strikes mostly simply due to offheading, or would most of them have been avoided if the jump had been carried out in daylight? My concern come from the fact that I've been flying through the wires a couple of times after offheadings. At the time, it seemed safe to me since I could see what I was doing. On the other hand, I've been jumping only once a wired A in obscurity, had an offheading, and didn't feel confortable AT ALL, 'coz I could see where the thing was... even knowing I had much clearance, after a 12" track. To make it simple: should we consider guy wires dangerous in themselves, or are they dangerous in certain circumstances... BTW, do anybody know more about this one? Night/day, winds, etc...? Fabien BASE#944

??? Can you describe that? Fabien BASE#944

The change in direction is mostly due to the proximity of the ground, which slows the air down. Being slower, the air is less affected by the coriolis effect, and thus tends to drift in a more direct manner from high pressure to low pressure. When observing the ground wind, one can theorically expect the wind aloft (~1000'/2000') to turn 30° to the right and increase by 50%. This doesn't take local particularities in account. Fabien BASE#944

I don't really feel confortable about hating a guy for being the victim of something that could happen to me ( since I'm not on the local scene, I don't know about the other parts of the story ), but you have to agree with me: knowing the lucky end of the story, listening to that was a kick! Couldn't stop laughing for 15 minutes... Exactly the same way one can laugh at a friend's tree landing vid' Fabien BASE#944

"It could be worse, trust me" Really? Can anything be worse than having this thread open on his name? "I don't know why he's smoking" "Because he's nervous?" Fabien BASE#944

[replyThe French have long since had a problem with immigrants. Tell me, what happened in Birmingham 2 weeks ago? Anyway, haven't seen anything yet... Fabien BASE#944

Like any glider ( or aircraft with power fixed at a definite setting for a moment ), forcing it to fly above its trimmed speed makes it climb... Fabien BASE#944