TomAiello

Hey, now, leave Asylum out of this. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it...Lemme tell ya them guys ain’t dumb... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Then why did you only quote the part that didn't show the obvious joking nature of my post? To make your point naturally. And with the use of comments taken out of context. I did provide a link to the entire thread, and the post in question, in my original post. I had intended that to provide context for anyone interested in reading it. In all seriousness, I was unable to tell that you were joking by reading your post. Given your past statements here, along with the angry correspondence I received from other jumpers in your crew when I first posted a draft of my ethics article, and the fact that you seemed pretty serious in most of that thread, I think it would be understandable for me to take your statements at face value. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Thanks. I sent him a PM pointing him at the thread. Maybe he'll drop in and help us out. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I don't know the specifics of this "Fair Tax" proposal, but it sounds like it's simply a flat tax on consumption. A flat tax can address the issues you raise very easily, in several different ways. For example, you could exempt "essential" goods and services (defined however you like, but for example food and housing), either altogether or up to a certain amount. Or you could allow people with an income below a certain level to receive tax exemptions (for example, you could hand out "food stamp" type vouchers that allowed you to purchase tax free essentials). Alternately, you could allow everyone to make subsistence level "essential" purchases in a tax free manner (so, everyone would get the "tax exemption vouchers" good for not paying taxes on their first $25,000 per year of "essential" stuff, or exempting $10,000 worth of food, $10,000 worth of housing and $5,000 worth of gas, or whatever else you decided was "essential.") You could even adjust the basket of "essential" services, depending on your personal views, to include (or not) things like child care, education, or skydives. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I didn't think that the technical thread about CWADs needed to be side tracked into an ethics discussion, so I started a new thread and referred you to it. That wasn't an effort to take you out of context, it was my way of trying to keep that thread from drifting. Why don't you provide the context for me, and help me to understand. Do you think that BASE ethics are a crock of shit, or was that just a joke? What, if any, ethical code do you subscribe to? It sounds like you are saying that you are just misunderstood (or perhaps that I am intentionally misunderstanding you). Here's a chance for you to clear up that misunderstanding. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Does anyone have any information about the Stealth BASE canopy? Anyone in Carolina happen to be a test jumper, and want to tell us about this thing? I've heard absolutely nothing about it, although from the web page it looks like it's been on the market for over a year. I only found it when cruising around that web page looking for something else. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm actually interested in discussing that one specific statement of yours. That's why I quoted it. So, does that mean that you aren't willing to discuss it? Or that it was just a joke and you didn't really mean it? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Shane, I've started a new thread to discuss this view of yours. I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts in that thread. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hi Shane (and everyone else), I hope you'll respond to this thread and we can discuss this a bit more, and that everyone can learn from it. First, I've attached to this post three .pdf files. They are 3 articles about BASE ethics, written by Adam Filipino, Tom Begic, and myself. If you have the time to review them, I'd love the hear your thoughts on each of them, and specifically which points you feel are incorrect, unnecessary, or irrelevant, and also what leads you to your view that this is all "a crock of shit." In my opinion, the bottom line here is about hurting other people. If we care about hurting other people (mostly other jumpers), it makes sense that we would consider the consequences of our actions in terms of how they impact (both positively and negatively) others. Do you think that we should care if our conduct hurts others? Should we actively try to help others? Does it matter if other people are hurt by our actions? Let me be clear that I am interested in discussing these topics, regardless of my personal views on the subject. edit to replace Filipino article with copy on current CR letterhead ~TA -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You are definitely not alone in feeling this way. I know numerous jumpers who feel that the numbers game is pointless. Many very experienced jumpers I know have stopped logging altogether because they don't want to get drawn into that kind of thing. Personally, I just stopped numbering the entries in my log book a couple years ago (because I like to have a record of the jumps) after a couple discussions about numbers with some friends. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I disagree. If you are worried about camera snag, there is a simple solution: Don't wear a camera. Having the tension pulled through to your hips gives you a better chance to steer the canopy through an opening with body english--not worse. Have you ever tried to steer a skydiving opening by leaning? Did you use your hips or your shoulders? It absolutely can with some containers. This is a characteristic of the specific container. For example, my Gargoyle allows this snag (there is a relatively large inset between the harness and the bottom corner of the container), but my Prism does not (the harness is flush with the bottom of the container). In my opinion, it's better to have the harness flush, but container design involves many considerations, and there are likely to be many trade-offs made by the manufacturers that few other people have ever considered. Bridle snagging between the body and container corner doesn't even have to be temporary. There was a student fatality from this malfunction in Europe a while ago, and in that case the snag stayed and the PC towed until impact. Both. Backing up buys you the time and distance to make the turn. Be aware that backing up eats up a lot of altitude, though, so if you can make the turn in the available space, you ought to skip the backing up. The trick is to instinctively know if you have enough space, and unfortunately no one can get that one right 100% of the time. In the strict sense, that is true. It's important, though, to recognize that the time it takes to turn away is not the same as the distance travelled before turning away. Taking more time to execute the turn does not mean that you are more likely to strike unless there is a headwind (viewed from exit) pushing you toward the wall. Video from directly above is also a good tool for testing DBS. If you do a floater, the straight down video angle gives you a very good understanding of the speed with which your canopy closes on the object (or flies under the bridge). Nice job! This is one of the big tests in BASE, and you passed. Good work! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have you considered a trip to Thailand or Malaysia (or both)? You could try to time it to get to one of the big Malaysian events, and then spend some time seeing the sites up in Thailand, where they have (cheap) great beaches, some more jumping, diving, and generally good relaxing. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The funny thing about this is that although the advertising/TV guy posting obviously has very little clue about the jump, Dave Barlia (the jumper) is for sure the real deal. Dave was jumping some pretty hard core stuff before most of us had even made a skydive. He also went up to that island of big walls in Canada (and did it all the hard way) years before it became a highly publicized place. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Let me add to that: Next time you get the calling, the experienced BASE jumpers in your area will know that you're not just some yahoo (that's roughly yank-speak for "wanker") out to kill himself. Which means that if BASE ever does come back to you, you'll have a much easier time finding help. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Calvin19 can jump out of his and his friends private aircraft, somewhere that is not a dropzone. I think that's what he means when he says he will never be grounded. If he's grounded by a DZO (or other authority) he'll just go home, go flying with a friend somewhere remote, and get out of the plane. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dude, are you feeling ok? My whole world view is being shaken here... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You'll want a canopy in the 240ish range. You might consider something slightly smaller for skydiving (because in strong winds you might not be able to get back to the DZ), but for BASE practice, sizing right on what you'd use for BASE is best. Your best bet is to find a local BASE jumper and get them to coach you through your skydiving with BASE in mind. Definately work on accuracy (including cross-wind and down-wind accuracy, if your DZO/S&TA are ok with that). Also practice some riser flares (again, check with your skydiving folks to make sure they're ok with it). Try to do some CRW. If you can convince some locals to do CRW on BASE canopies, that's a really good learning experience as far as the canopy's performance envelope. But even just "normal" CRW is really good experience, too. CRW jumpers are the only skydivers who are really used to flying in close proximity to obstacles (which is a mandatory survival skill for a BASE jumper). Also practice tracking. Tracking well is a major plus for a BASE jumper. If you get a chance, trying out a tracking suit like the Phoenix Fly suit is both fun and educational. Depending on your skydiving experience level, you may be able to throw on a wingsuit as well, but if you're just skydiving for BASE, that's probably not going to be as easy, due to low skydive jump numbers. Be aware that the Prodigy is a very BASE friendly suit (Phoenix Fly claims to have developed it as a beginner suit, but my honest opinion is that they were really trying to build the world's best BASE tracking suit). The S-Fly Access should also be good for BASE. (Basically, you want to be able to get to your risers for heading correction without spending the half second to pull the cutaway cables.) To repeat: Your best bet is to find an experienced local BASE jumper who can guide you through the skydiving progression. This will also set you up with a mentor for your BASE career. Hope that helps. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In the words of my buddy "quadriplegia or death." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I can think of a place to ground launch for short flights that is in your town. Have you tried contacting local jumpers for guidance? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why not just build a giant 'T' shaped bar, and use close pins to clip the canopy to it in a pre-spread position? Don't laugh--I did that once, a long time ago. Oh, wait, I have another idea...Why not just find a good headwind, and use it to blow the canopy up over your head. Then I bet you could use the risers to control it, and just step off the object. In fact, if you were really good at it, you wouldn't even need an object. You could just launch straight off the ground. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Why do people always lump welfare and education together? In my opinion, they are vastly different. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That depends on how you define "school system." Is it _all_ schools, or just the public ones? FWIW, I think that competition produces more efficiency in almost all settings. A little dose of competition would probably be helpful to the schools, too. If the public schools have to compete for students, they're going to try to provide the best value for the money, which will lead to them finding ways to improve the services (i.e. education) they provide. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Most voucher programs actually save the taxpayers money. I can't speak to this particular program in Florida, specifically, though. It's interesting that the NEA acts more as a union, basically working to save public school teachers jobs, but individual teachers are often more concerned with what's good for the kids than what's good for their jobs. Most of the people actually doing the teaching aren't in it for the money. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You're not the only person who thinks this. Go read up on the Phoenix Fly instructional program, and you can see that there are widely varying opinions on the effectiveness of inflight instruction. Note that I'm not expressing a view on one way or another being the "right" way--just noting that a variety of views on this exist even amongst wingsuit manufacturers. Edit to add link to PFI program description. Note that the presence of an instructor on the first flight is at the student's option. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com