TomAiello
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Everything posted by TomAiello
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The bridge is usually one of the windiest places in town, especially out at the exit point, where the canyon can channel winds. At my house, which is in a quite protected part of town (lots of other buildings and big trees), the windows were rattling all day yesterday. Data from the Perrine Bridge NOAA station (which is located in the parking lot of the visitors' center) is available on-line here, and records winds of 17-23 mph at the time the 911 call was placed. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Press report here. The jumper's family and friends have been notified. No jumper has yet examined the gear, but it appears that this was a closed container impact. The coroner told me that the pilot chute appeared to be fully extracted and unrestrained. Winds yesterday were both very high and turbulent (so much so that initially local jumpers refused to believe this was a BASE accident, because none of us could imagine that anyone would have been jumping in these conditions). My best speculation is that the strong, turbulent tailwind blew the PC or bridle into some kind of entanglement with the jumper when he pitched, but that is largely conjecture, based on my conversation with the coroner and reports from spectators (that the parachute never deployed), both of which sources lack any technical expertise or familiarity with parachute systems. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Please do not advertise in the forums. This should be posted in the Classifieds: Employment section. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Some new wingsuit pics from Flock and Dock
TomAiello replied to SkymonkeyONE's topic in Wing Suit Flying
Nick's created an "impersonation" account, giving a false name (to anyone who asked), and proceded to antagonize people with it, making them angry with the (real) person whose name he had given them as being the poster from that account. Announcements about this were made by Sangiro here and here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com -
Yes. And several others. Dave has been doing TV and movie work for a long time. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I converted my "pocket money" in the KL airport. For almost all my transactions (anything large enough to be out of the "pocket money" category) in Malaysia I used credit cards because (a) the big companies that run them tend to get better exchange rates, and (b) it saved me having to convert a bunch of cash and become a target for thieves. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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There's a giant thread in BASE about this game, where the developer has solicited input from jumpers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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My experience, which is going to sound incredibly racist, was that the (ethnically) Chinese taxi drivers always turned the meter on without being asked, and the (ethnically) Malay taxi drivers always tried to get away without doing it, telling you it was broken if you asked, or just pretending not to understand you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Um, I don't know? You were the one who responded to a post from 2002, after all. I'll stand by the post. When I made it 5 years ago (post dated: Dec 6, 2002, 1:45 PM), Yuri was the best BASE tracker I knew. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Does anyone know if the new ABA video is out yet, or when it will be available? Who do we contact if we want to buy a copy? Any info is appreciated. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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When I was 20 I bought a house. When I was 30, I sold it and went on a 3 year jumping vacation. Is that what you'd call a good reason to buy a home? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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If you are not able to make small adjustments (or large ones) on a BASE jump of any kind (which includes many performance wingsuit flights) you are going to be in trouble sooner or later. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I do think you're pushing it with the wingloading, and I'd recommend something bigger (probably a 280 or so) for a beginner your size. That said, you likely have a lot more accuracy experience (I'm assuming that's why you're jumping the sharpchuter) than 99% of beginner BASE jumpers, so I'd feel a lot better about putting you under that Dagger 244 than almost anyone else at your level. For what it's worth, expect the Dagger to feel a lot "swoopier" than your Sharpchuter. It won't sink nearly as well, and will have noticeably better glide and flare. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Learning to make slight adjustments and corrections, and small movements, which is something you don't do much unless you are flocking, can be very useful in learning to "fine tune" your performance flights. Quite honestly, if you want to be really good at anything, cross training in related disciplines is going to help you improve. Flocking and performance flying are related disciplines, and learning to do either is likely to help you improve at the other, provided you maintain your focus on whichever you are doing at the time. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Mesh slider for sure. I'm not sure if they'll allow the Raven or not. Personally, I'd use a real BASE canopy, even an older one, over the Raven. You can direct specific questions about what is allowed directly to the Stavanger BASE Klubb here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I recommend searching the forums before posting. This one has been posted several times already. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Since you appear to have so much free time why not turn the question on it's head? What are the advantages of that? I'll try to write some of my thoughts when I get the time. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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skydivers voluntarily quitting the sport?
TomAiello replied to aguila's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
I think that you're missing out on about 75% of the stuff I value in the sport. A wise old man once said "the jump lasts just a few minutes, but the community lasts a lifetime." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com -
The best "training" jumps I ever had (in terms of learning to make the suit perform better) were all solos, but they had massive frame of reference for me to watch. I'd imagine that if you have the appropriate visual cues (not gadgets) they can be quite useful. I bet the huge Florida summer clouds can be good for this (and probably less harmful if you screw up than some of the other options). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I've switched out the soft bumpers for hard ones on multiple rigs, both my own and my students. Mostly, I used the hard ones because that was all I could improvise at Home Depot for less than 10 bucks (I still have a virtually endless supply, if anyone wants some). The first time I did it I had the manufacturer take a look at it about a week later, and he said he didn't see any problems with it. Electrical tape has also worked pretty well for me on dedicated slider off rigs. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I wonder what the numbers would look like if we could have an accurate count of injuries? My guess (note the emphasis on the word "guess") is that very serious injuries happen to experienced jumpers (much like fatalities), but that relatively minor injuries (mostly landing injuries, either as a result of choosing the wrong landing area, taking a downwinder, or just screwing up the landing itself) are more likely to happen to beginner. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Wouldn't the wind put out the flames? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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In addition to Todd and Adam (mentioned previously), you may want to find the original NASA research (that Adam drew on when deciding to go with the ZP front third) that suggested that the vast majority of the benefit to having a ZP topskin was achieved by merely the front third. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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"Florida. It's like a sauna, but with bugs." - Vrank LePoole -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Clicky. I ban you for failing to make a clicky, and for reposting that bridge. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com