TomAiello

It's a geek thing. In an internet argument, the first person to invoke the Nazis is automatically the loser. Edit to add: I mean "geek" in the best possible way, because I are one. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's quick and easy to get a wireless router... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'll be here. I'm teaching a week long FJC during that time, though. We'll be into the jumping by Sunday afternoon, so I'll be out at the bridge quite a bit, but no guaranteers on timing. I believe that Bryan is getting shipped off to the sandbox again. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Can you describe the S3S for us? How's it different from the S3 and the Blade? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

How long are you there, and are you going anywhere else aside from Prague? I don't know about Prague, but Budapest has a friendly crew with a web site here. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

3000-4000 ft. I'll go lower if the jump makes it safer to be low (i.e. more folks around), but on solos, where I'm almost always last out, I'll dump good and high. This may be because I'm just a big chicken--my first ever wingsuit jump was also my first ever reserve ride. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Pretty sure not. Just after that bit, the PF web site says: ***Instructor or teaching experience outside of skydiving may also be considered.[/url] -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm pretty sure that Blair has more than 10 jumps on bigger canopies, flying his V-1. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In this case the word was out. Everyone knew, in advance, that jumpers had bailed from the project because they feared it might turn into a hack job. So "I didn't realize" is not an excuse for this one. If it turns out to be an anti-BASE piece, the jumpers who were involved had full knowledge going in. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I bought mine at REI. I think they're a bit pricier (I can't remember offhand), but the batteries can be replaced, you can attach them to each other to make longer sticks, and you can select the color (red, white, green) on the fly. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's my understanding that many of the Aussie jumpers wanted nothing to do with the project after they got a feel for the content. But I'm still curious to see how it turned out. I'm also curious to see which jumpers they got to help them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm guessing it's this one? I guess I have one big question, which is how much it's worth. Your web site has an approximate value of $150,000 in the corner. Is that accurate? And some little questions: How much does it cost to operate something like that? In terms of how much fuel (and what kind) you have to feed through it per x minutes of operation? And I see that you'd recommend some safety retrofits. What kinds of things? Thanks for any information. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

No. Opening speed is controlled by properly finding your customized deep brake settings. It is relatively unrelated to maximum available speed in full flight. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I believe it's the front 1/3rd (i.e. from the B lines forward), but that's really a question for the manufacturer. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If anyone could record this I'd love to see it. I've heard some (bad) rumors about the content. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hey, Does anyone know what one of those little portable tunnels costs? The kind you see on trailers getting towed out to the county fair? I understand that they're not really a serious training tool, etc. I'm not thinking about them in those terms. There's one for sale near me that was a bank foreclosure, and I'm trying to get a handle on how good a deal it is (or even if it is). Thanks for any help! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Terminal jumps on: Blackjack (CR pac valves), ZP foreskin, large hole mesh slider: ~80 jumps. I found this actually opened nicely--probably softer than my FOX 265 Vtec (no zp) with a large hole mesh slider. It was the original line configuration, and there were reports of slow subterminal slider up openings with it, so maybe that plays into it. I did have a couple slammers when flying wingsuits like this, but I think that has more to do with the forward speed of the suit than the canopy. Blackjack (CR pac valves), ZP foreskin, small hole mesh slider: ~20 jumps. I thought this opened super soft. If I was trying to soften the openings, I can't imagine needing to go further than this (small mesh slider). Blackjack (CR pac valves), ZP foreskin, F-111 slider: 1 BASE jump, ~ 30 skydives. Honestly, when I switched to the F-111 slider on a BASE jump, it scared the crap out of me. I thought it was opening way too slow for a BASE jump. The skydives I did on this slider (freepacked into a big accuracy rig and mostly dumping in the 4-5 second range), I found the openings to be totally acceptable. My experience has been that adjusting the slider material can totally tame hard terminal openings. I think if you're having trouble with the openings, progressing your slider down from large mesh to small mesh, then to F-111 with some holes, then to solid F-111, then (if that's still too hard) to ZP, ought to find a good point of comfort. I really can't imagine anyone jumping a ZP slider and thinking the openings were too hard. Note that for all of the above jumps, I had approximately 6 inches of titanium in my spine (i.e. I have a really bad back). I've also put more than 200 slider down jumps on this kind of setup. I didn't have any complaints there, but I like quick slider down openings (because I'm almost always scared). I'll not worry too much about those, since it sounds like you're mostly thinking about slider up stuff. Bottom line for me was that changing the slider was the ticket. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've had the same two problems. I even had the pin digit problem in Canada. Also, if you remember your PIN by letters (that's how I remember mine) be aware that Euro ATM's often have no letters on the keypad, or have the letters corresponding to different numbers. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My skydiving is almost exclusively wingsuit. My jumping on the other hand? Tons of non-wingsuit jumps. But that's because of where I live--not much time to fly from 486'. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

What about the (most) folks who would have to be german-italian-filipino-native american-americans or some other multi-hypenated variation? Trying to pigeonhole people as having only one ethnic grouping is pretty silly in this day and age. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

It's actually Tom Manship, who is currently well over 1500 BASE jumps, and likely has more BASE jumps than anyone on earth at this point. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Check out the attached picture. For extra credit, name the jumper. Hint, if you're not a BASE jumper, you may not have heard of this person. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

They tied bridles together and lowered them down the guy wire to retrieve him. It was _very_ sketchy. He sometimes reads this forum, so he may join the discussion. But then again, he may choose not to. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

John, Toggle location ought to be customized (just as brake setting) for each jumper/canopy combination. For example, I am a short fat guy, so in order to get the bottom end of the control stroke on a Mojo 310, I once had to shorten the toggle more than 12 inches. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've never had good luck making a prussik work on a steel cable. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com