TomAiello

I split this off the Summerfest thread, because it's a separate topic. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ah. I see. I think perhaps I was just confused on terminology. I'm used to thinking of the "brake setting" as the distance from the loop that is used to lock the brakes off for deployment, and the "toggle setting" as the distance to the toggle attachment (in both cases, distance from the control line cascade). Apologies for the confusion. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have an old Classic II that was retrofitted with LQRS on both sides. I'm actually pretty fond of the setup. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Do you know if the archives will still be available somewhere? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm confused. How would the brake setting effect the flare stroke? The brakes are released already, aren't they? Or are we talking about a rear riser flare with the brakes still set? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No. Intentionally killing an innocent would. But accidentally hitting a human shield during a heated gun battle? I'm not willing to say that. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I wonder about the trend lines, though. Is it possible that at some point the rate of "increased environmental friendliness" will overtake the rate of "consumption increase", resulting in a net reduction in ecological damage? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Would you blame the patient for being sick when the surgeon slices through the carotid artery? A disease is not an active, intelligent agent, like a human being. Hence, the "sick" can't share responsibility--it just is. A gunman using his own daughter as a human shield, on the other hand, is an independent, intelligent actor. He made choices and took actions that put that child into harms way, and hence he, unlike the disease, bears responsibility. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, I'm fairly convinced that our technological progress has become significantly more ecologically friendly in the past 100 years. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Gravitymaster, AlexCrowley; Leave off guys. If you've got snippy one line responses, please send them via PM. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Back in days of yore.. BASE jumpers once experimented with very long bridles (like 20'). There was once an incident in which an extra long bridle allowed the PC to catch and entangle the still descending slider, halting the slider and snivelling the jumper all the way into the ground. The jumper wasn't killed on impact, but sustained severe enough injuries that he later committed suicide. You can find him on The List, in the "Outside the Sport" section. I've got a complete copy of his log book, and while he doesn't list the length of bridle he used on that jump, on previous jumps he's listed bridle lengths of up to 15 feet. On a skydive, fortunately, if this happened you could just cut away and use the canopy with no bridle attached. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The guy used his own 19 month old daughter as a human shield? That's pretty messed up. I'd say that the bulk of the responsibility lies with the father. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The DZO is running a private business. A jumper can choose to do business (or not) with the DZO. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

To follow up on this: I've spoken to the folks at the newspaper, and given them my contact info. They've agreed to contact me to ask for details on future accidents. I'm not saying I'll be able to control what they print, but I ought to at least give them some straight facts before they go to press. I'm also talking to the news editor about coming and giving a presentation about BASE to the staff. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

More interestingly, I'd don't think he's representing the majority of Republicans, or the majority of conservatives, or even the majority of his own constituency. Ya gotta represent. It's the basic rule of republican (the type, not the party) democracy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I actually know several regular drug users who function pretty effectively in normal society, holding down jobs, supporting families, etc. In general, I don't think it's a good idea, but I absolutely believe that the right person to make that decision is the individual involved. Regardless of perceived benefit to society as a whole, I do not believe that the government ought to be making decisions for individuals--at all. That's one reason I find taxes so abhorrent. They represent the government taking of your hard work, to make decisions about how to spend your money, and potentially overruling the way that you would most like to see that money spent. I'd like to see that money, and the ability to make decisions with it, left in your hands. And, yes, I still feel the same way if your decision is to spend it on heroin. When the government starts dictating lifestyle choices to individuals in the name of the "greater good", you've walked away from freedom (and capitalism) and started the path toward authoritarianism. It's a slippery slope, and I'd hate to see the idea of "from those with the ability, to those with the need" end up in "you will do this, because it is written thus in the 5 year plan." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yuri (Outrager) has flown both the V1 and the original prototype suit that was posted as the first S3S picture. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Please take it to PM's. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Isn't the rig box pressurized? Perhaps I assume too much. I had thought that the box would stay pressurized in various flight orientations. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

With that big "rig box" the GS-1 ought to be a good backflier, too. The uneven rig on the botttom skin has got to be causing all kinds of turbulence and drag. Anything that reduces that (like the "rig box") should improve backflying efficiency. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Well, by Santorum's criteria, I guess I'm pretty liberal. I'd guess I share that with Thomas Jefferson, though. I think the following quote from the speech is actually a very accurate statement of my political views: Somehow I doubt that Senator Santorum has ever read The Declaration of the Rights of Man. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I really think we need to make "Russel's Roadies" t-shirts. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

5. Outlaw skydiving. Oh, wait, that didn't work for BASE in National Parks, did it? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

More information on the development of rigid wing wingsuits which can take off and land can be found here. Information on powered versions of this flight form can be found here. Only partly joking.

The McConkey, or Rollover, is done with the canopy already at line stretch, hanging below the jumper. In practice, it's tended to have a lower malfunction and off heading rate than the TARD, likely because the canopy is already at line stretch (and the majority of off headings develop while the canopy is moving to line stretch). This maneuver was first done by paragliders (there's a web page with photos somewhere, maybe someone can dig it up). I was the second person in my area to do this with a BASE canopy, and at that time I posted some photos on the internet, christening the maneuver "The McConkey" for Shane McConkey, the first kid on my block to do it. The name has stuck to some extent. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com