blair700

Skydance sells one made by cannon, its a Cannon Elph that shoots APS and its a POS Later Blair

Congrats on your first flight! Post the details of the suit, model type etc. I know SM1 has a few suits, and a good idea of what the fair market value of a used one is. Enjoy your flights, Blair

Check it, I got worked! Blair

reply] Again, my ignorance reigns supreme, but does it make sense that if you configure your rig for the lowest possible jump, you could use that same configuration for all other (higher) jumps? Correct me if I'm wrong... Not necessarily, it depends on your delay off that particular object...and we don't do too many hop-n-pops from 2000'. If you were to remove your slider, and go to terminal, the resulting opening would be disastrous for you and your equipment. In addition, if you were to take a slider up rig off a 200' object, you would likely open extremely low, or worse, snivel into the ground. These are very basic ideas, trying to keep it simple for you, but there is MUCH more to gear setup for different altitudes than just slider up or slider off/down....things like, brake settings, PC size, reefing methods.....the list goes on. Hope that helps. Blair

Wrong, wrong, wrong...we're not sticking to an acronym. BASE jumping is FIXED OBJECT jumping, no matter what type of AIRCRAFT it is, its not a fixed object jump, no matter what altitude or airspeed. Its a SIMPLE concept to grasp, skydiving is skydiving, BASE is Fixed Object Jumping. Yes, commercial bungee towers can be A's, crane's, I believe as I have not jumped one personally, fall into the same catagory as some smokestacks, and any OTHER type of FIXED object that doesn't fit into the criteria of B A S E Hence why some BASE logbooks contain a catagory for O's If you search some BASE forums, you will find out how we define object types, however I can assure you, we don't BASE from aircraft, EVER. Thanks Blair

This weekend I had the pleasure of doing a high speed exit from a CASA while wearing my GTI. I was wondering if any other folks have had much success with this. My goal of course, was to go out poised and try and fly up the prop-blast. I managed to stay relative to the wind, but got rocked around pretty good, I also blew both arm zippers from the wrist about 4 inches up the arm. From the video, and my recollection, I think I was too stiff, not nearly relaxed enough. I think given enough opportunity it could be done very smoothly, what do y'all think?? Thanks Blair O and the top of the CASA did look kewl though

Blair - so i take it this means you're S/L off the building? Actually last night I was PCA'd off, we had 5 on the load and usually the last guy off S/L's himself. I have S/L this particular B a number of times as well. But, I've also seen 2 freefalls off it, with no problems......except for one REAL low opening. But in the right conditions, this B is totally freefallable...I'm just not ready....yet

Congrats to my new friends Kevin and Larry on their 1st Building jumps. For Kevin that completes "the word", very well done! And Larry, your one step closer, very nice job as well. Thanks to my 'buds' 704 and 515 for being there as well, and 570 for making it all come together, we missed you bro, but we definately thought/talked about you. Later Blair

Like Carl said "the whole world is jumpable" There is different ways to measure altitude, the range finder is probably most accurate. Get yourself a sectional from the airport, and you'll have all the tower's altitudes right there. I like to count floors on the B's as well, I figure 8-10 feet per floor, for example, the B I jumped tonight is 22 stories and 222' from where we exit on the roof. Normally I would think it would be higher based on the # of floors, but a closer look reveals that the 'lobby' has a massive cathedral celing that makes up for at least 2 floors before you actually get to the 'second' floor...so every site is different. We don't get much E around here, but rock drops can be an indicator there. And the spans....uuummmm, I think you know how tall they are The amazing thing about it all is, on one day you'll see an object that is clearly not jumpable....then another day you open the other eye and find out it is!!!!! As for a safe altitude to do a 1 sec. delay from, well that's all relative for what each jumper is capable and comfortable with, for me right now its 300' off a wind through object. But one day that's likely to change Hope this helps, its late and I'm rambling as usual. Later Blair

Dude, help a bro out....I'm super slow and this is something I'm constantly trying to get better at. What EXACTLY is your technique for getting out of the booties. And any other advice you could offer that would help speed up the process for a rookie flyer. I'm flying a GTI, and I have a beer gut Thanks Blair

Tony and I will just be getting back from Idaho on the 7th, hopefully I'll be 'current' enough to hang with you guys....bring it Blair

Hey Gabe, Will be in TF next weekend, think you'll be able to join us for a few?? Blair

Hhuuuuuaaaaaa! Mike, congrats!! Thanks to 515, 516, and 570 ...they're the heart and soul of Carolina BASE. Blair NC BASE 5

Yo, I jump a Vengenge 150 loaded at 1.56 or so, I love the canopy, but I want a Sabre2 My Vengence opens great, and its big enough that on the occasional line twist, it flies straight...however I think with enough twists it will start to dive. Especially if the risers are twisted and uneven. After opening, while the brakes are still stowed, the canopy is extremly sensitive to harness input, which for me, means I'm cruising all over the sky while trying to get the booties off. Not a problem usually, but the weekend I had at Raeford where the standard was at least 4 BM each dive, I found it took longer to get unzipped as I was constantly correcting my heading to be sure I was avoiding others. All this can me managed with enough jumps I think. You could totally steer with your harness while unzipping with enough practice. This is my first true elliptical canopy, and it took awhile to get an onheading opening without the suit, but my body position is good now and I primarily use the canopy for tandem video (hey! gotta earn jumptix for WS jumps somehow!) I have no problem jumping THAT canopy at THAT wingloading, but you are talking about a much smaller wing, where things could magnify quickly, even at the same wingloading. I'm sure with your general skydiving experience and WS experience, you'll be alright, for me at this stage (500+regular and 30 WS) I'd rather not have to worry about a spinning, diving opening each time I jump the WS, its just a personal choice, not that its the RIGHT choice. One day hopefully I can have a rig just for the WS with a conservative main and big reserve, and then a hot little rig for 'other' jumps. That's a ways down the road, and I LOVE wingsuit flying so much, I'm willing to sacrafice a little performance on the canopy side...plus moderatly loaded tapered wings can swoop like hell!! Sorry for the ramble, if I was still a 'freeflyer', I'd be sticking with the Vengence, its really NOICE!!! Hope this helps, Blair

Thanks for the info everyone, Tom I don't want to get off subject here, so move this to a new thread if you see fit....but... How far is too far for a tailgate to be positioned from the line attachment tab. How much does the location vary from canopy size/type, or should it be relatively in the same spot on all canopies? I've only owned 2 canopies (Mojo, Ace) but I think that the tailgate was around the same spot on both, which is definately not right up against the line attachment tab..and the canopies are 280 and 310 respectively. Any help/discussion on this would be great!!! Thanks! o and I haven't had any lineburns on my canopy BSBD Blair

Yo, I had about 420 jumps when I got my GTI as my first wingsuit. I echo the others comments, get a GTI, take a BM course and have fun. I'm 6'3" and about 210lbs. and I can get the GTI down to 50mph in about 30 jumps now, and I still have SOOO much to learn on it. Great fun! Blair

Thanks Robert!!! Just one question, HOW COOL WAS THE MUSHROOM FLIGHT???? Blair

Yo PilotCHick HIt me back with a PM, I'm sending SKymonkey1 a video today, and would like to make the post office in one trip, I have a handful of in-air stills, and a few ground shots as well, I've sent you a PM, let me know ASAP Thx Blair

PM sent

YO! I'm a rookie skyflyer with just shy of 30 jumps on my GTI, I've never jumped anything else, and after talking with some experienced Birds, and the manufacturer, I decided to purchase the GTI instead of the classic as my first suit. I've felt very comfortable with the characteristics/performance of the suit since the first flight. I've learned alot on the suit in just 30 jumps, but most importantly I've learned that the suit has a much larger potential that I've not even tapped yet. Its a great first suit, like Manbird said though, it can bite, I lost control last weekend for the first time, but do what you're trained to do (in a BM class) and you can get back on top of it. Have fun! Blair

Dude, I saw them in action this weekend for the first time, and let me tell you, THE S3 RULES THE FUKIN SKY! Period, there is no substitute........... Blair

Just be sure to take them out before you stuff them in your gearbag for the night Otherwise you may end up with a tie-dye GTI Blair

ANYTHING coming out of Raeford is DEFINATELY NOT SUCKING Yo Skymonkey1, did Dave get the WS chit from Kevin's camera??, let me know if not, I can send what I got to you. later Blair nugget

Congrats to BOTH!!! Blair BASE 700

What an INCREDIBLE weekend!! I had a blast, made 13 flights on my GTI, and made many more new friends. Personal highlights included a 9-way with some of the world's best wingsuit pilots, a 2-way disco-suit night flight, in-air fireworks displays, and partying with so many cool folks. Thanks to everyone at Raeford for the hospitality, I'll be back soon. Wishing Jari and Raefordite a speedy recovery. Take care, Blair