TomAiello

Ahem...Rocket? The first ever live animal BASE jump was done years ago by the legendary Rocket the Wonder Dog (aided and abetted by a few looney Aussies). Let's not even start on the "not so live" animal BASE jumps. I even know of one dog who did a gainer--firmly duct taped to the chest strap of the late, great Dwain Weston. BASE will never be the same without him. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ok, guys, let's try and ease off on the flame throwing. As far as I can see, the most important thing in this thread is Zeemax's reprint of the editor's words: How's that for "Beware of the Press"? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'd PM Kevin922 and ask him. He's been doing some neat stuff with GPS. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Honestly, I'd say that jraf pretty blatantly violated the rules. Calling someone a "dope" _is_ a personal attack. Personal attacks on moderators count, too, you know. But re-posting the attack after it was removed? That's really just asking to be banned. Just my two cents. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Perhaps someone ought to mail PETA a copy of the Rocket video? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think you saw a Skyflyer 3 and what you saw on the end of the wings are standard on all Skyflyer 3s. As for the the next suit released, it will not have any of the things mentioned for just the reasons mentioned. I'd guess that, given his location (SA), he saw Shaun testing his Sugar Glider. He had an early prototype with "paddles" (his term) to increase surface area and try to eliminate wingtip vortices. When last I spoke with him about it (August) he had abandoned that train of research. I think he was having too much trouble holding the paddles in position and staying stable. Is this pic of Shaun flying yet another of his prototypes something like the suit you saw? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Some prototype suits have been built with stiffeners of various kinds to try keeping the airfoil in the optimum shape. Production costs were too high for the gains in flight performance, as far as I know. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Start with Accuracy jumps on a big canopy. Then add CRW and max track training dives. Pure jump numbers are actually often a very bad indicator of preparedness for BASE. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The more I understand about BASE, the more scared of it I am. Personally, I'd say that if you aren't scared, you don't really understand the situation. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That's been on line for about a year. You might do a search in this forum for the link, which was posted both here and BLiNC around February 2003. I understand that Dwain (pictured in the link) did make a jump in KL this year, though. Hopefully that panorama will stay up for a long time. Rest in peace, Dwain. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'll second that. Can you say "legend"? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sending PM on DZ.com... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I jump a stilleto loaded at about 1.5 or so. I fixed my problems by dropping out of full flight for several seconds before the pitch. I'm sure all the standard stuff (dynamic corners, long bridle) helps, too. I also found burrito or mushroom packing the PC to be quite helpful. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

That one's on my all time top ten list, too. "Why'd you do it?" "I was out of cash, and needed a ticket home. Figured they'd deport me for sure..." -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hey, I only saw it once, too. I've watched the video a few dozen times, though. The way I remember it is pretty impressive, too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The system has an automatic time out. If it's been more than a certain amount of time (I think it's set at 24 hours) you can no longer edit the posts. If you really need to edit an older post, send me a PM and I can do it for you. edit: Hmmm. Your posts were only eight or nine hours apart, though, weren't they? Let me see if I can figure it out. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This seems intuitively simple. I'm just thinking aloud, here, so bear with me, but... If the PC is pulled to one side (left or right) of the pack job as it extracts: a) a single bridle attachment will "tilt" the canopy a little bit, but mostly it will rotate around the single bridle attachment. b) a multi bridle attachment will spin the pack job more. One of the multi lines will load first, causing the same kind of spin that you see when you load one riser first (just on the other side). Hmmm. Let me think about this some more and try to organize some more coherent thoughts... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Sorry. That was meant as a friendly poke at PerFlare's gung ho jumping style. Everyone has a different tolerance for risk, and correspondingly varying tolerances for conditions. I think that your personal jumping style shows far better judgment, and far more concern for safety, than the average jumper. I admire you for that. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Oops. Missed this bit. I merrily mix my gear configurations between manufacturers. I have had my Blackjack in a Gargoyle, as well as a Prism. I've had no problems at all. There was a poll on BLiNC a while ago about mixing harness/container and canopy. As I recall, no one reported any problems with mixed configurations. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

In general, I'd not recommend them for simplicity. Most skydiving rigs don't use them these days, hence most beginner jumpers won't be accustomed to them. I'd avoid adding too many new things at once. I do agree with Jason that B-12's can be very handy. In addition to helping get out of the gear faster (in the event of water landing or police pursuit, or whatever) they can help get into the gear faster/easier (and that's really handy in some funny places). Still, on balance, I'd get used to BASE gear on the whole before adding B-12's in. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I can't be the only one who's laughing at PerFlare's continued protestations that he has terrible body position. Per, I respectfully disagree. It's also amusing to see two Scandinavians trying to converse in English, and having trouble understanding. Somehow, I think that Swedish and Danish are a lot closer than either is to English. But, personally, I still prefer bad english. In all seriousness, I think that the big difference between Per's results and Kevin's probably has more to do with wind than body position. Kevin is a long time jumper, and as such has the luxury of perspective (and wisdom) to not jump when the wind kicks up. Per, on the other hand...I seem to remember hearing "see ya!" over my shoulder as he plummeted off an exit point in pitch blackness and swirling wind. Only Dogs and Swedes are that crazy. And not even all the Swedes. edit: that and I seem to recall hearing Kevin say that he generally prefers light to no wind for the lowish cliffs in his area, and I believe PerFlare said that he thought his multi/heading issues were worse in wind. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Results with this method seem good so far. But I wouldn't call it an established method. I'd consider myself a test jumper using anything the manufacturer hasn't tested before releasing the gear. As long as you accept the risk of being a test jumper, have at it. I think the only real risk with the "coffee can" slider is that it may be less consistent and/or less symmetric than the mesh. Introducing yet another inconsistent variable into an already very random system just kind of scares me. I'll agree with Avery. I'd rather have regularly hard openings than getting a weird snivel every 50th jump. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think you may be confusing parts of two different jumps. The "freeflying" filming was spectacular, but I'm pretty sure none of it was done in a wingsuit. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Um, this makes as much sense as: I mean, if they have the largest market share, they must be the best, right? Funny. I heard CobaltDan making the same claim last year, and the year before, in favor of Atair canopies. As I said then, the quality of the jumper determines their performance far more than the quality of the canopy. Put Douggs on a clapped out Cruiselite, and he'd still be ten times the jumper I am. I'm also not certain what the ability to give free canopies to good jumpers indicates, other than good cash flow. I would be more interested in what percentage of those jumpers actually chose and paid full market price for the gear they jumped. Give people free gear, and they are almost certain to jump it. There are definitely a few issues you've left out of your comparison. My fears with pin rigs have absolutely nothing to do with the pin not coming out. And I don't think a beginner who plans on jumping nothing below 300' is going to be effected by the difference in opening speeds. In my opinion, that difference only starts to become important on freefalls below about 200'. I am not certain that I agree with you that pin rigs are "more secure". I believe they stay closed better in terminal airflow. I don't believe this is the same as being "more secure". It's far easier to pop a pin on accident (while, say, wiggling through the structure of an antenna) than it is to peel the whole shrivel flap (if only because the shrivel flap gives you auditory warning that it is going before it goes entirely). Velcro rigs are also much easier to close without distorting the pack job. This is important for a beginner, who is probably having enough trouble packing already. I really don't think that any system is best 100% of the time. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Yo! TOTALLY INCORRECT I am not sponsored by anyone. I have never been sponsored by anyone. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com