Liv

I received my copy of Fly the Line a couple of days ago. I was glued to the screen from start to finish. Gorgeous long flights in areas with majestic scenery juxtaposed with proximity flights that had me biting my lip and cursing. To have the ability to fly wherever your imagination can take you like that looks truly amazing. Very inspirational viewing. Liv

Neil, I have a couple of questions regarding National Park legislation in NZ. If you could get in touch that would be great! Thanks, Livia livia.d@ozemail.com.au

The media statements are speculative. Please don't discuss this matter on a public forum while investigations are still taking place. Thanks heaps guys! Livia ABA Secretary

When doing low FF’s and PCA’s I always use a slightly shallower brake setting. This enables the canopy to open flying instantly and minimises any surging when the brakes are blown. It also results in a better flare on rear risers if necessary. The setting I use is not so shallow it results in dangerous amounts of speed on opening, just shallow enough. Jason F did a large number of PCA’s from a 140ft tower playing around with brake settings and this was what he found worked best for him. In regards to the general toggles vs. risers debate, it’s important to consider what brake setting you are using. When brakes are stowed at the deeper end of the spectrum a canopy will open with minimal forward speed however noticeably more height will be lost with riser turns. If a slightly shallower setting is used the response to riser input will be better however speed on opening will be a little more resulting in slightly less time to react. Liv

Jason wasn't doing a memorial jump. He didn't believe in the concept of memorial jumps. It was a jump he had been working towards trying for a while. It just happened that the inspiration for the flight down to Sydney that weekend was to attend Slim’s funeral. Josh - Thankyou for posting those images, I look forward to seeing the others you have. Thanks to everyone for the supportive messages and emails.

JasonF took some photos before he died intending to prepare a post regarding packing technique and line overs. I’m going to do my best to convey the essence of his intended message. During one of the early Petronas events in Malaysia, several people had partial line overs that cleared on opening (thanks go to Annie for filming these and pointing them out to the people involved). Jason was one of these people who had a self-clearing line over. He spoke to everyone else who had also had a self-clearing line over in an attempt to locate a cause. Over the years, Jason critically analysed the way he packed in an effort to reduce the chance of slider-up line overs. At the most recent event, there were again several people who had self-clearing line overs. Jason spoke to them and examined their packing techniques. He concluded that they were all missing a crucial step in their pack-job. Hence, Jason came up with the following suggestion. The attached photo shows the left-hand side and right-hand side of a pack job flaked slightly differently. On the left-hand side, the first stabiliser fold has been consciously pulled out and the brake lines pulled in towards the middle of the pack-job. The brake line on the left-hand side is now significantly impeded from leaving the middle of the pack-job during deployment. However, on the right-hand side, the stabiliser was not pulled out when the three outer cells were folded in. The result is that the stabiliser on the right-hand side is now hidden, and the brake line’s movement is less restricted. Jason believed that ensuring the stabiliser was pulled out, and that the brake lines were pulled in to the middle of the pack-job was important to avoid line overs. Logically, having the stabiliser pulled further out - and the brake lines further in - makes it much less likely that the brake lines will end up on the wrong side of the stabiliser when it inflates. Some of the other people who had self-clearing line overs in Malaysia had some of the most anally retentive packing techniques I’ve ever seen (sorry Ray), so sloppy packing can easily be ruled out as a possible cause. Since changing his packing technique, Jason has never observed another self-clearing line over on footage of his jumps. Something to think about…

For those who have not heard... On the 29th of October Jason Fitz-Herbert died while BASE jumping from Bungonia Gorge, NSW, Australia. He was attempting a difficult jump. He waited to pitch until he had achieved a safe orientation for deployment. He had insufficient separation from the wall to clear an underhung section after pitching. Jason touched the lives of many people and will be sorely missed. His motivation for jumping in recent times had been fuelled by a desire to help improve safety in the sport. He was recently appointed the Director of Safety and Training for the Australian BASE Association. He had mentored numerous students who will now help to keep his memory alive. Jason also leaves behind his former partner Melissa and their 6 year son, Blake. Livia