blair700

Thanks a ton, c-ya all on the 4th!!!! Blair

No problem, you guys can compare notes on 'indoor' BASE!!!!!! o AND he's got some really nice cliffs too. Cya 700

Yo, Ya'll got any room on the 'list' for a wanna-be from South Carolina the weekend of the 4th? BSBD Blair

Hey man, I only have 500 jumps, the last 75 or so on a Vengence 150 loaded at 1.56 or so. I'd say about 40 of them were tandem video jumps and the rest pretty even between winguit and freefly jumps. I transitioned to this canopy from a saffire 189 (flame away) and had a horrible time with opening headings on the first 20 or so jumps. Now it opens straight most of the time, but I've found my BEST opening are with the wingsuit. At pull time, I remain very still and symmetrical, and I'm not able to mess with the risers until I'm unzipped, and it seems to open straight. Less is more from my experience (not much obviously) on opening, stay centered in the harness and leave the risers alone. I leave the nose hanging straight down and exposed when I pack, and psycho it up like my sleeping bag from there. Always takes about 600-700 feet to open which is great with me....except on AFF videos As far as the swoop, I'm no expert there either, but I've recently started working on more than 180 degree turns using the front risers and harness, and I came out of a 270 last weekend with the most distance/speed of any swoop I've had so far. And believe me, I could really rag that saffire out. Anywho, my first inclination was to sell the canopy after all the bad openings, especially for wingsuit jumps, but I got it all worked out and I LOVE the Vengence now.

Sighting with the memory stick, could you explain or post a link?? Thanks Blair

Yo 570 Saw your island in the sky video, very cool, the bike idea will be really fun. I was amazed at the sound you made as you screamed past the cameraman. Very cool site, well done, hope I get to taste the fruits of your labor some day soon. Take care, Blair PS ME, 515 and Gabe fliked Wed. night out at the regular spot, he's in town through the weekend.

So I'm working on my 270's now, just begininng. It REALLY seems much different than a 180, but I can definately generate more speed and thus a longer swoop. I was having trouble putting it all together this weekend, primarily turning the canopy too fast in order to get back around to my landing heading, this resulted in coming out of the turn too high and having to stay on double fronts the rest of the way. One of my buddies was watching and I commented on how different I thought it was from what I was used to doing, and he said ..."break it down into 3 90's, that's all it is..." I did this mentally in the plane and from opening altitude until my setup time, and I had the best swoop I've had to date, maybe not the longest, (it was performed into a 8-10mph headwind) but definately the most effiecient. I finished my entire flare and had a nice set down with no running or sliding etc. I didn't really do 3 90's per se, just visualized it that way and carved it on around. So in addition to random nonsense in this post, I was hoping maybe someone else in my shoes would benefit from this. Methinks the best way to learn more turns, is start with the 90's then slowly 100-115 etc, all the way to 180, there just seems to be this huge jump from more than a 180 that has really been difficult for me to visually master. And this comment helped me visualize it, now on to the mastering part, I'll get back at you in about 1500 more jumps. Thanks for listening, any advice is appreciated and flames get me especially excited. For the record, I have 496 total skydives and for the last 60 jumps am jumping a Vengence 150 loaded at 1.56. Obviously I am a novice so if it sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about, you're probably right. Blair

Your'e SICK!!!!!!!! kan't wait to meet you Blair

Mac Congrats on completing the "word"!!! Like Carl B said..."the whole world is jumpable" BSBD! BASE 700

Yo Zennie! Thanks for bringing this up, I would be interested in statistical data or anything that has been studied regarding useing modern BASE gear from different manufacturers on the same system. For me personally at any given time, I may have a container from gear manufacturer #1, with a canopy from manufacturer # 2, and a PC from manufacturer #3...I'll pretty much use anyone's bridle as long as its 9'. I've often wondered what the 'experts' think about this, I don't feel I'm doing anything dangerous as I am setting up my rig EACH time for a SPECIFIC jump. Anyways, just hoping someone out there can shed some light, thanks for bringing it up Zennie. Later Blair PS I kan't spel worth a fuk

hehehe, go ahead and make your last few RW and CREW jumps (peeped your profile) cause once you fly the wingsuit, you won't get on the plane without it....umm unless they pay you Seriously, I only have about 14 BM jumps, so I'll not comment on preparation. I'll leave that up to the experienced folks 'monkeying' around on this forum. But I am DEFINATELY HOOKED, nothing even compares. Have fun, Blair

Same here in NC, that's why I drove 10 hours to the Emerald Coast!!! Blue ones soon my brother, Blair

Wingsuit jumps have definately improved my track. I went tracking with 2 guys this weekend out over the Gulf of Mexico, I was wearing tshirt and shorts, and tevas, I weigh about 215 without gear, the other guys are much smaller and don't have a beer gut, I left first and they were not able to stay up with me, much less get the same forward speed. hehehehe, can't wait to track with those freeflyers back at my home DZ, I'm gonna smoke em naked. C-ya Blair O yea, the wingsuit flights over the ocean with the beach swoops in front of the bar made for a nice weekend as well.

Thanks Kim, cool pic....ummm about the arms. Do you roll them over so far as to make your elbow ponit directly up and the back of your hand into the relative wind....or is it only rolling your arm over enough to point your elbow towards your feet or backwards, and your thumbs being the most forward point on your hand. This pic looks like the latter, but I know its more important to maintain the profile of the wings, not so much which way your elbow and hand is pointing. I'm just trying to figure out if I'm overdoing it by rolling my arms to far forward, I have less than a dozen jumps, does this even make sense? I also have the tendency to keep my arms straight as apposed to bending at the elbow, I am working on that. Thanks Blair

heheh....my first stowed was also my first slider up, went from 1000', took maybe 1.5 secondsdepolyed while kicking and wildly twisting on my head, the lights looked real close but luck was on my side and I had a 180, so my canopy was flying away from the object man that was friggin scary....

I'm with 704, I was taught off low stuff with assisted deployments. I guess the 1100' jump means you'll be deploying subtermially (sp), unless the newbie takes it to the BASEMENT,and a subterminal deployment with a slider on could put you in some twists facing the tower etc. if you have a really bad launch and deployment. The folks that taught me figured a really low jump is best as the mentor controls the deployment (to some extent), all you do as a student is nail the body position on exit, get the toggles quickly and land. From there we progress to 1-2 second delays while going handheld. Around here, you gotta earn your right to use a slider and go deep....unless your Tegro Rodriguez, he gets all the breaks man. Just my .02, and I suck Blair

HHHmmmmmm, I'll bet you could fit in my GTI, that way I get the best of both .

Got it, thanks to both of you. Blair

Nice one, best wishes for many more long, low flights. Hopefully I'll have the chance to try it one day. C-ya Blair

BASEPEACH, you define love, thank you.

Thanks Mac, I can imagine this is a very personal letter, I promise you my utmost discretion. o, and stay away from that freak FABER, he's sick

My story, At first, just getting past the skydiving thing with my folks was tough, my mom still worries, my dad is ex-military and he gave me all the lines. He used to jib me by saying we can get hundreds of troops out from 800' in 60 seconds, what's so hard about a freefall where you open at 3000AGL. So naturally after I had about 50 BASE jumps, I took much delight in showing him my 300' freefalls and 130' PCA, night BASE jumping etc. Basically, I decided early on that I need to know a ton about the sport in order to educate my family on it and why I do it. I chose to do that versus letting on in the beginning, mainly because I was evolving as a jumper (still am) and wanted to be sure 1 BASE is for me, and 2 I can tell you why that is. So my mom, still worries, afterall she is mom, but my dad thinks its pretty cool. Both of them talk to their peers about my skydiving, but I asked them not to discuss BASE without me for various reasons (ask DB from Kentucky what I mean). My girlfriend always wants to go watch us BASE etc. She thinks its way cooler than skydiving (gotta love her) and was totally fine with my risk...until she remembered we only use one chute.... The main thing I try to get across you guys already nailed, BASE is a part of me, and sad as it may be, often times defines who I am and where I am going. I read this somewhere and I use it often when non family members/friends ask why I jump, same reason they breathe, I have to, without it, I'm not living. But for my family and friends I will go into detail about it and where my goals are in the sport. I think the letter you guys wrote is a great idea, if anyone wants to PM me a 'generic' example (no names etc), I'd love to read it for some direction. I have had the conversation about it with my sister, but I need to put it in writing for my folks. Sorry for the ramble, this is something that is easy to not address if you don't have to, but going in without it could be far more damaging to the ones you leave behind. Good luck! Blair

I'm Blair and I'm a mortgage broker Actually I'm a skydiving BASE jumper that works during the weekday, daylight hours to supplement my jumping habits. Oh and they pay me to video students on the weekend at the DZ.

Yo, I'm a total newbie bird boy but I love flying alone, all but one of my 10 or so filghts are solos. Part of the reason I love solos, is because I haven't done any flocking yet, don't know what I'm missing I guess. I do have another guy with a suit at my DZ that started with me, so we've made one 2 way (not even close), and plan to do more ASAP. I imagine I will always enjoy solos, I still do solo skydives and love solo BASE jumps, but the next level of enjoyment probably lies in living all those incredible moments...with your friends. C-ya Blair

Yo the Florabama boogie is off the hizza for shizza...yo. I think its Emerald Coast Skydiving. C-ya Blair