TomAiello
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Everything posted by TomAiello
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Is your profile accurate? It looks like you are averaging just a touch over 10 skydives per year, for the last 16 years? Is that right? My advice is to get a little more current. Spend several weekends in a row at the DZ, jumping as much as possible, preferably on a 7 cell, or, even better, on a BASE canopy. Practice accuracy and canopy drills, and make sure you're comfortable with that parachute. If you need gear for this, I've got an old accuracy rig that I could loan you to practice with. Aside from that, my advice is pretty much all in the article that Jaap pointed out, which you can download directly (as a .pdf file, so you'll need Acrobat reader or a real computer ) here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Check out the ABA videos for some footage of that sort of thing. I think it was on the 2005 ABA compilation? I can't remember exactly. I seem to recall some on the Rob Fry memorial segment, too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Did you see how close he is to the ground? Imagine having to bail on the flight because you've flubbed the exit or something, and pitching that low with your arms and legs still tied up in the wingsuit. Tracking suits allow BASE jumpers to open significantly closer to obejcts (including hills, slopes, and tourists standing on slight rises) with a much greater safety margin. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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This kind, I'd bet. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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...check this out. I'm not sure if it's really a "wingsuit." It might be more of a tracking suit. Still, it's sure more interesting than the "my brand is better than yours" bickering. Oh, and I'm pretty sure those are real wind tunnel tests, too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Without commenting on the actual question (on which I do have some opinions, but insufficient time to express them adequately); Remember that BASE canopies are assembled by humans. My experience has been that you can have 2 canopies of exactly the same size and model that greatly differ in their opening and inflation characteristics. It's possible that the variation between 2 different examples of the same model and size can actually be so great that they are nearly as important as the underlying design differences. In other words, if I say that my Unit opens like crap, and you say that your Unit opens great, we may both be right. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Try using a carabiner to clip the break cord back to the carry on cord. This will allow you to do everything except the final "clip" in the comfort of your own home. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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If you tie the break cord around the object, you risk a premature break on any object with some sort of corner. It's far preferable to attach the break cord only to other cords, and use a stouter cord to take the friction/corners of the object itself. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I'd recommend giving a shout to your local BASE gear manufacturer. I'd guess that they can put you on the right track. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Floating or actually flying? Flying, in my opinion. There was noticeable forward movement. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I know of 3 cases in which a slider down, tailgated canopy has experienced a line over. I am only familiar with the packing of one of these canopies, but in that case, the packing was very good. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I've seen bent pins on WLO's. I'm not sure if the Morpheus and Apex versions use the same pins or not. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Opinions from experienced jumpers
TomAiello replied to matt_f_001's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Can anyone elaborate on why this would be a bad technique? I have rolled my nose in a 3/3 split (on 7 cell canopies) for something like my last 900 BASE jumps, with good results. This is also the technique I teach in First Jump Courses. I've also got a couple of jumps with the nose shotgunned, spread, folded, and placed in various other configurations. In all honesty, I can't tell a difference in the opening altitude on the various techniques unless I'm under 200' at exit, although I do think that the 3/3 split and roll gives me noticeably better heading performance. I do realize that nose treatments won't translate all that well to-from skydiving, but I'm interested in learning why skydivers think this technique would be a bad one, so that I can add that into my thinking on how I treat the nose. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com -
I like to include physical artifacts in my log books (I tape them onto the pages of various jumps). This is difficult to do with a spreadsheet. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Which is thicker? The S6? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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In theory, with all else equal, the wingloading ought to be the main determinant of when the suit starts flying. Once your fall rate overcomes the stall speed (which is determined by wingloading, amongst many other variables) you start flying. My experience has been that "big wing" suits start flying much sooner for me (keep in mind that I'm a big fat-ass, so the effect is probably more exaggerated than for those with normal physiques). I thought the monowing suits I've tried (that's the S-fly/Crossbow/MTR style) started flying noticeably sooner, and I know they had much greater wing area, and hence lower wingloading. Note that the tri-wing suits (Birdman/Phoenix Fly style) seem to give me much greater maximum speed. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Even if they're not used against you, an over-eager police officer (or D.A.) could always start notifying property owners of other sites you had jumped, or even try to set up a surveillance to catch you (or other jumpers), especially if you beat the charge when they got the log book. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Either a real bargain of real dangerous
TomAiello replied to Scoop's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
The PD 7 cell canopies used by the AFA team are used for demos, not as student gear. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com -
Wow! What is the range of motion on that suit (arms and legs)? Can you still run and grab toggles/risers, like a tracking suit (as opposed to a wingsuit)? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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As I said the first time this was reposted, let's keep the discussion in the original thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Let's keep the discussion in the original thread. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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I've climbed the other side of that rock, and unless I'm really mistaken, it'd be slider down at best. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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Yes, it can. In general, I recommend that you treat your logbook as a secret document. Don't ever take it to a less-than-legal jump site with you. Avoid writing actual names and locations of most objects. If you can remember what "KimCo Tower" is, then there is no real reason to write out the actual name and GPS coordinates of the site in your log book. Nicknames are good. Leaving your log book at home when you're playing at night is also good. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
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You're more than welcome to ship stuff to me, as well. PM me if you need my address (but pretty much all the manufacturers already have it, anyway, since I've received gear for someone about twice a month for the past couple years). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com