TomAiello

I live in Budapest and coming here for a visit is definitely recommended. Beautiful city and great night life I lived in Budapest for about a year and a half. Definitely worth a visit, at least. As an aside, doesn't "Judit Forro" roughly translate to "Judy Hottie?" -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My personal favorite is Insanity (I've got the poster, as well as a stack of the notecards). I bet most freeflyers will like Idiocy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, I find it interesting that the proportion of leading female BASE jumpers actually seems higher than the overall proportion of female jumpers. Why not just find them and ask? That's what everyone else does, too, so you're in good company. I'm curious as to why you want a leader in the sport to mentor you? Usually, that's not a characteristic that has a lot to do with mentoring. I'd look for a mentor who is geographically close, knowledgeable, experienced, and reasonably connected with other jumpers, as well as a good teacher. There are plenty of people who meet those criteria, but are not leaders in the sport. It seems like you are unnecessarily restricting your options. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'll take auditors at my BD course in the same way I do at my other FJC's. Basically, just let me know before hand, so I can get a handle on attendance. The free BD courses (the ones on Friday) don't take attendance or anything, so there shouldn't be any problem going to one of them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

To avoid side tracking the "Wheelchair Jump" thread, I've split this off into a separate discussion. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It is impossible to see down the river (toward the park) from the exit point. In order to verify that the river is clear in that direction, you must use radios to someone who can see that side. In fact, Russel postponed one of his jumps for 5 or 6 minutes waiting for an approaching boat to pass under the bridge and clear the area. Without radios, he wouldn't have known that boat was approaching. And his surfboard? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

??? I think that your understanding of proper PCA technique may be a bit different from mine. Could you start another thread (or, if it's ok, I'll split this one off--let me know) and describe proper PCA technique for me? I believe (and teach) that the bridle should be used to bring the canopy to line stretch. This minimizes the chance of damaging the PC. I've seen numerous PC's torn apart by PCA's where the force was transmitted through the apex of the PC. See this post by BASE 428 for the general technique I use. I've also recently started using a technique shown to me by DexterBASE, where the "backup" hand also holds a fold of bridle (rather than the PC), and the PC is left dangling below that hand, which pretty much completely eliminates the chance of damaging the PC. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The two major differences were: 1) We used radios to the boats in the water to be sure the river was clear, and; 2) The wheelchair had a parachute recovery system. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

We had some concerns about the stability of the wheelchair in freefall, so it was decided that a PCA would be best to do first. Russel still has some plans to try stowed freefall with the wheelchair. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Man, it's weird how these revivals of year old threads can make you think. edit to add: Blue Skies, Neil. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sports N' Spokes is another magazine that would probably love to run a story about Russel. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is actually very normal. The active BASE jumpers who are also active skydivers tend to be the exception, rather than the rule, in my experience. I think it's because few people have the time and energy to do a lot of both. What's stopping you from approaching those jumpers, even if they're not skydiving a bunch? Calling someone up and asking them isn't very hard. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There is already good cell service in many areas of national parks. I get service in both Zion and Yosemite. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

There is no formal instruction available in Carolina. There are plenty of local jumpers, though, if you want to meet some. The nearest place you are going to be able to get formal instruction is West Virginia, during Bridge Day. With Morpheus (Florida) no longer offering instruction, the closest place you will be able to find a full class is Twin Falls, Idaho. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This past weekend, Russel made a couple jumps with his wheelchair (actually it was a spare chair loaned to him by the wheelchair manufacturer for the jumps). I've put a post in the BASE forum about it here. There are a couple of photos here. For those who don't know Russel, you can find his web page here. He's a T3 paraplegic who has now made 21 (is that right?) BASE jumps. Big props to Russel. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A couple photos from Russel's wheelchair jumps over the weekend can be found here. I'm pretty sure that Russel has to use 2 wheelchairs now--one for him and one for his balls. Photos were taken by Jay Epstein Ramirez of Adrenaline Exploits. The relatively poor quality of the photos on line is my fault. Jay's camera and photo skills kick ass, but I wanted to save space on my web page. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's also in a National Park. If you're serious about doing it, drop me a PM, and I'll try to fill in some blanks for you. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

How much for the boob jobs? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Deal. My MINI gets about 30 mpg. Can I start sending you my receipts for gasoline, and getting reimbursed? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I was a landlord in Davis for many years. It's going to be very difficult to find a short term rental there because 95% of the rental apartments are for student housing (the university is by far the largest thing there). Your best bet is probably to look for someone who is late getting back for the start of the term (which is usually around the end of September) and could rent you their place. The vacancy rate in Davis is pretty high in the summer, and lots of students pay rent on apartments they aren't actually living in during those months (but as I said, the term will start during your stay, so that probably won't apply). The ASUCD (Associated Students of UC Davis) maintains a community housing listing service that might be a good place to start. Another good source would be the Education Abroad Office. They usually have a need for short term housing for visiting students, and also usually have some students abroad who have vacant apartments and might be willing to rent for a short term (but might not). Another thought: You might find it easier to find lodging in Winters, or Woodland, or one of the other towns in the area. They're pretty much just as close to the DZ, and are going to be cheaper, and with more flexible vacancies, than the university town of Davis. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The same jump from a different angle is on my web page here. We had 3 cameras--one at the base of the tower, one directly under the wires, and the helmet cam. There's more footage of this jump, and other Dwain stuff, on several of the ABA compilations. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've just been informed that Morpheus is not running any FJC's at this time. So I guess that means I'd recommend going with Apex for this poster. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You do realize that Whatever is a local, and did advise him to travel to Idaho for an FJC, right? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The search function (find it in the upper and lower right corners of the forum screens) is very helpful.

Dwain was referring to the cutaway handle for the wings. He was wearing a wingsuit with the cutaway handle mounted on the center of his chest, and needed it to be pulled so that he could extricate himself from that cactus. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com