Tornolf

This is what I don't really understand. As posted immediately above, the union is adversely affecting market forces. What happens if someone who has skipped across the border happens to be better than these top dogs, simply because they're naturally talented when it comes to welding? How about someone who isn't in a union, but is more efficient and just happens to be better than these top dog union welders? Why should someone be paid more solely because they're in a union, especially when they're using anti-competitive, anti-capitalist tactics? When companies do what unions try to do, it's called anti-competitive and hurts everyone except for the company unless the government steps in. It appears to me that unions tend to only look at the short term, microeconomic issues, rather than long term or macroeconomic issues. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

I would still like to know if I'm one of those people your writing appears to hold such contempt for. You seem to have constructed some persona of a white collar arrogant academic. For the most part I fit that description, but I've also learned more than a fair amount of blue collar skills. I apologize if my post came across as demeaning, it was not my intention. I'm merely trying to understand why you appear to have such anger against, as freethefly put it, "suit and ties" and support a union, something I view as unfair and inefficient. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Uh, I know most of the first part and know that TIG is tungsten inert gas. I learned how to do that in about a day and it took about another day to become very proficient at it. I learned from my roommate, for whom I designed (from scratch) and help build a hydraulic dumping trailer capable of holding about 3 tons... when I was 19. To top it off according to every standardized test I've taken I'm smarter/more educated/whatever than 99.9% of the country who's graduated high school. I'm also going to a college where my tuition, housing, utilities and travel expenses are fully paid for, and clear well over $10k a year solely from academic merit based scholarships. Am I one of these people your writing appears to hold such contempt for? I'm not trying to brag, I'm honestly curious because I'm the type of person who tends to characterize what academia is perceived as. You say you deserve your pay, which is how much? How much compared to a doctor, lawyer, or a biomechanical engineer? The impression I'm getting is that you feel entitled to a high wage for a comparably simple to learn task. Am I correct? A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Actually, to make a very narrow point, I believe that most average, ordinary people are born with sufficient raw intelligence to absorb the education and practical training needed to become reasonably capable doctors or lawyers, given enough time and opportunity. But...that's not the point of the thread. Sorry. Replace intelligent with "driven" and add "skilled" in front of "doctor or lawyer". I've found in engineering that there are a lot of people who are driven and dedicated, but just aren't very smart. They'll be ok engineers, but not skilled or talented ones. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Why such anger against this strawman union buster? People are not created equal. When it comes down to it, more people can work well in construction than in rocket science. Therefore, rocket scientists make more than construction workers. It takes over 8 years of post high school schooling and well over a hundred thousand dollars (usually in loans) to become a doctor or lawyer. Most people are not intelligent enough to become a doctor or lawyer. Therefore, doctors and lawyers command a higher salary than most professions. I have worked as a carpenter and an electrician before. The work was far easier, at least in my experience, to become proficient than it was to learn fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, circuit design, or elementary number theory - which I actually use fairly often. America is supposed to be about capitalism and the free market, right? Since the relative supply of people capable of being a "suit and tie" compared to demand is lower than the relative supply of people capable of being an union carpenter, union electrician, or union factory worker compared to demand, the people in the former group will make more money. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Terminal on a street luge is around 60-70mph unless you're really heavy or have weight added to your luge. I'm guessing terminal for him would be near the same, since he should have less drag but also less weight. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

My Skyflyer 1 has been physically the hardest suit for me to fly so far. I believe you're the same body type as me - tall, skinny, not much muscle. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Try asking some Eastern Bloc DZs. I've seen video of it being done there and no one seemed to be too concerned. If anything they might be able to point you in the right direction. You also might have better luck asking on basejumper.com since those people would be more likely to know and not jump down your throat so quickly based on incorrect assumptions. The level of North American ego-centricism in this thread is appalling. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Right. You can jump a certain BASE container with a front mount reserve (and therefore still pull at 300ft at terminal fairly safely - has worked for me nearly 90 times in base) as long as you're a citizen of Germany and visiting in the US. You'll be in full compliance with German TSO's and therefore you're legal as far as the FAA is concerned. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Cause it's fun? Probably the same reason people will do other higher risks things in skydiving instead of only doing static line solos with 290 mantas in constant 5mph winds. I've done a couple wingsuit jumps with my base rig from a flying vehicle (at the time not an "aircraft" therefore TSO didn't mean anything) and it was some of the most fun I've ever had. The crowd loved it too and went away with a positive view of parachuting. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

co-operative education program. Basically you work with a company as an engineer (not a gopher or secretary who gets engineers their coffee) part/full time during the school year. University of Louisville and University of Cincinnati are two that have co-op programs. I go to UofL and work full time alternating semesters and part time during the school year for an electronic connector company. http://speed.louisville.edu/coop is UofL's program. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

spend more time on academics. get close to a 4.0 in high school and score over 1440 on the sat's (old score when 1600 was max, dunno what equivalent is now) and it's pretty easy to get a full ride to most places. throw in a bunch of ap classes in junior/senior year and you can go into college with 20+ hours which will save a semester or 2 of costs. you can always walk on to a college team. high school classes, even ap stuff, aren't hard. it's just putting in the time to do well enough. same with the sat's. imo it's much easier to get school paid for through academics then sports, especially if you're a guy. btw, when looking at engineering programs look at ones that have co-ops. they're worth their weight in gold unless your kid is smart enough to get into an MIT or CalTech. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Structured Programming (MATLAB. fuck matlab) Thermodynamics II Fluid Mechanics II Engineering Measurements & Lab Art History - lol along with working 40hrs/wk at my engineering co-op designing/testing specialty high data rate electronic connectors. my weeks rock. school or work every day from 8am to 9pm with 30min breaks for lunch/dinner every weekday. at least I get paid pretty well and school is free. edit: the 8am-9pm doesn't include time spent studying or homework. if thermo/fluids requires me to do homework instead of skip class and show up for tests I'm going to go insane. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

You'd be surprised how much money you can get just for busting your ass academically in high school. 4 years of financial worry free living afterwards (college), plus extra play money, was worth all the work especially since I don't even have to work a job. And I'm a white male who doesn't qualify for any need based aid. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

83 worked fine through all levels of calculus, number theory, numerical methods (practical application, lots of matrixes), statistics, and something kinda like probability. really I never used it in calculus except to check myself when possible. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Cause it's fun as hell. That's why I do them. The point was that there are so many random factors in low freefalls that can kill you. The risk cannot be managed nearly as easily as other jumps and the inherent nature of low freefalls exposes the jumper to significantly higher risk. We're on the same side... A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

So true. Do it long enough and it'll kill you. However, I haven't found a more powerful feeling than the one when your canopy is out of the container slowly moving to linestretch and you're staring at the point you're going to impact thinking to yourself "well fuck me" A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Most of my data comes from a bridge, where jumping in a headwind is not a problem. There is a significant difference between a low freefall (where the wind will have the most effect on opening) in a tailwind versus a headwind. Myself and others have also jumped a certain antenna in a headwind, which I find to be within my limits of risk assuming certain precautions are taken. The way I think it causes higher openings is what's been said before - a headwind will push air into the nose causing faster pressurization. Wind (in any direction) will also cause linestretch to occur faster due to faster overall speed relative to the air mass. That is merely a hypothesis. I have made numerous observations, on video, showing that jumping in a headwind will result in faster primary pressurization than jumping in no wind or a tail wind. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

My experience with low freefalls very strongly disagrees with this. A headwind will cause you to open higher/faster, though the difference in opening speed will not be very obvious. The difference in opening height will be obvious. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

If you treat them as a solid wall, you will not get an accurate assessment of risk exposure for each available option given specific conditions. ^yay wordy sentences A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

How so? With winds down the wire, the canopy is being pushed down the wire, where the wires are converging and distance between the wires is decreasing. In no wind, this added factor is not there. I've personally watched 3 seperate occasions where people have flown between guy wires on a large tower, with 150' between each wire at the tower connection point. I do not have an accurate guess of how far away from the tower they were. This is not a simple problem. Which is safer will depend on whether you consider the wire or the tower more of a threat. Personally, I'd rather hit the tower than the wire. I'm also much more confident in my ability to avoid a giant obvious tower at night than a thin, hard to see guy wire (with half or less moon). If jumping slider up and taking a 5-6 second delay, you have absolutely no excuse to hit the tower in no wind. If jumping slider down and taking around a 3, which I have done many times, I feel the same way. A guy wire is not a solid wall. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

You mean like bladders on performance kites? Hmmm... I'm designing and building some high performance kites right now... A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Too bad I have a hell of a lot more fun for less money jumping from 250ft than from 12500 I get your point though, I'm mainly just looking for tips. For example, the guy who advised me to try this is nowhere near my body type, but it's worked fantastically and he flies in a similar way. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

Go on a diet! This is what I was wondering. Thanks. Never flew a V1. Thanks for the tip. I was just guessing they were similar. A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world. -TJ

I'm 6'0, 130lbs with long legs. Curious as to what everybody else is doing. I started out doing the straight legs, flat, slightly head low style that is in the PF manual and I sucked at it. fallrate in low 50s, was hauling ass forward but nowhere near 100mph. I talked to a certain helpful Russian who suggested basically the way I always flew my Skyflyer1 for max glide: ass up, knees bent, slight de-arch, arms slightly cupped. In skydiving this is giving me about 42-44mph fallrate with 85-90mph forward speed. Exit weight is somewhere around 150lbs. The horizontal speed is averaged over several jumps with NO/LITTLE WIND from exit to opening. I got lucky with a couple days where it was light and variable from ground to 6k and took advantage of it. Horizontal speeds are calculated from exit location, flying straight back, and opening at where the pilot has his GPS zeroed. He ran jumprun in all directions for me. I've been experimenting some and using more advice to increase forward speed and I can tell it's slowing me down vertically. It feels like when I change from speed position (first style I described), to the other one, I can feel myself being sucked up from above, mainly pulling from my lower back to hips, and not losing any forward speed. I know this is actually the air being cupped from below me but let me feel like a hippy about it From there I increase forward speed by tipping slightly lower or pushing with hips/legs a little, but not too much that I lose the fallrate I have. dunno, hard to explain. Mainly I want to know how other poeple are flying theirs. btw, these jumps are with me being extremely uncurrent in wingsuit flying. not to mention that if I do this from 13k my arms are totally shot by 5k and I just give up trying to maintain a fallrate. Still get 3min/5miles pulling at 2k though (with wind)