TomAiello

I have read this thread on the legal ownership of video footage. I was wondering if anyone can answer a few specific questions. 1) If the person in a video doesn't wish it to be shown, can the videographer (who owns the footage) still show it to private audiences (rather than as a for-profit venture)? 2) If the video includes a fatality, can the family of the deceased legally prevent the video from being shown (again, not for profit)? 3) If the videographer gives a copy to a friend, can that friend show the video (not for profit)? I realize that the whole equation changes if you are making money from the footage. In this case, I am thinking about a very specific case described here. In particular, I am curious about the threat of legal action made by Wayne in posting #22. The actual footage was shot by a third (currently uninvolved) party, and given (with consent, but non-commercially) to various other persons, from whence it has slowly percolated in a friend-to-friend manner throughout the BASE community. Is anyone familiar with the legal angles, here? Thanks for any help. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have made about 50 jumps on rounds. I own three of them, and find that they are great for "normal" (i.e. no low pulls, 1-3 second delays) jumps over deep water. They dry and pack much faster than squares, making them ideal for repeated "easy" jumps. It should be noted, however, that a relatively disproportionate number of BASE accidents (including my own near fatal accident) in recent years have been on rounds. There are several contributing factors including: (a) advancement of round technnology--it's basically state of the art 1970's parachuting gear, (b) tendency to pull lower, because you don't need to fly anywhere to land, (c) inconsistency of round openings--they can snivel a lot more than squares, and (d) lack of current round knowledge--there are very few civilians who are current on the regular use of rounds. Rounds are kind of a novelty. There are many people who have made a BASE jump on one, but very few who have made many. While there are several people who have relatively advanced knowledge on the subject (including some gear manufacturers), the total number of real experts on rounds in BASE is very, very small (I can think of one--thank god he made a packing video). If you want to use a round for BASE, be very, very careful, and don't push the edge. I've seen one person who has successfully, and repeatedly done so with rounds, and, as we all know, Karin's boyfriend defies the normal laws of physics that apply to us mere mortals. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

WO was jumping a round. The footage of his accident is available at REI, and many other outdoors stores. It's on a climbing video called Masters of Stone (I think it's on volume 2). But other than that, it does sound a lot like that accident. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Thank you for sharing that. Here's a (longer, and less poetic) piece I wrote on a similar subject a few months ago. I posted it on BLiNC at the time. Sorry if I'm boring anyone with the repetition. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Wow. I haven't had any of those problems with my iPod. Have you tried that particular one? USB sucks. Firewire is soooo much better. I can't imagine trying to do any sizeable transfer via USB. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I am posting this on behalf of an anonymous Colorado jumper. Please contact me if you have any questions, and I can facilitate communication with the Colorado crew. Note that I have edited the message somewhat, to keep it within the spirit of the Dropzone.com community. I have posted the original, unedited, message on the BASE Board at BLiNC. If you know this jumper, please ask them to contact me. The world of BASE is way too small to be making enemies this early in your career. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm a huge fan of the Apple iPod. It's too pricey for a "running only" music system, but I pretty much use it for everything. It's replaced the CD player in the car, the home stereo (aside from the speakers, of course), and the walkman for running. I so love having my entire music collection available all the time, especially with the amount of time I spend on the road. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Just saw a segment on headline news. How do I get a job as a CNN reporter to get free tunnel time from the army? And now they're talking about giving reporters tandem jumps into combat zones. Yep, I need to work for CNN. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I just switched to another machine so I could read your profile (the other one is having some wierd error). Now I understand. BTW, I'm trying to refrain from using his initials. I usually call him the Little Aussie, but D-Dog has convinced me that we should all switch over to calling him K's Boyfriend from now on... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Somehow I doubt it. I know them both, and I read that as friendly fun. The Little Aussie is just so damn good that his friends have to make fun of him. Otherwise, the only possible response is jaw-dropped-in-amazement awe. And it's very little fun to hang out with a bunch of people who are in awe of you all the time. Correct me if I'm wrong, Narcimund, but I didn't hear any mean-spirited undertones. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I spent three hours sitting at the end of the runway at Aviano in September. The public road runs right down the fence line at the end of the runway, and all the locals come out and sit there, watching the USAF jets. It's pretty freakin' awesome. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Kiwis are part of the evil PAL conspiracy. The Aussies, Kiwis and Euros are conspiring to make sure that poor wandering Americans can't get decent dubs without expensive translators. I'm hoping that the state department will soon realize that this is actually a greater threat to our domestic tranquility than some silly bunch of arabs, and take immediate, forceful action against this conspiracy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have you tried the email address summit@baseclimb.com on the BASEClimb Web Site? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Today I tried this as a ground test. I attached the two handles with a velcro slider tie down (it's a short piece of velcro that you use to keep the slider connected to the front links), and waddled around the back yard pulling the tie down to extract both handles. It was a bit harder to pull, especially in "high tension" positions (like legs spread as hard as possible), but not too bad. I think this method (connecting the two normal handles) might offer an easier pull than actually sewing all the cables into one handle, since it allows the pull to be a bit more "outward" before the cables have to move. I'll be curious to hear how it works with both cables sewn into one handle. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I got a PM asking for more detailed shots of the handle itself. I've attached photos of the handle, both in place and removed from the suit. I've shown it from the front and back, as well as "sideways" (the way it sits when you actually have to pull it). I've also shown it with a standard arm wing cutaway (stock bird-man size) and a deck of cards for size comparison. Hope this helps. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Open corners (whether Morpheus' Dynamic Corners or any other mod) will allow the bag to exit the container more freely. The problem is that when you deploy out of a wingsuit flight, your bag tends to leave toward your feet, rather than straight up. The corners of your rig can catch the bag on the way out, and start it spinning, causing no end of headaches during deployment. Open corners are meant to address this problem. Since it's fairly cheap, and (when well done) will have no negative effects (that I'm aware of) during standard skydives, I'd say it's definitely worth doing. The longer bridle is intended to get the PC out of the (quite large) burble created by the wingsuit. Again, low cost, and few negatives. There is some chance that the extra bridle could entangle the PC with a weak toss (the flailing wads of bridle and the PC sometimes have weird interactions), but the odds of that are very low. I'd do this one, too. Great choice of canopy for a wingsuit. Stable openings are really helpful, especially when you are just learning to fly the suit. I've seen a lot of people who just toss their regular rig on the suit for their first jumps, and end up getting wild openings on small ellipticals, until they've sorted out the deployment (or even after). Good on you for avoiding this problem. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have you suggested this to Bird-man? It seems like a really good idea. Can you post pictures when you do it? I'm thinking I'll have to try something like that for mine. I's only gots me two suits. But iffin' I gets a S3, then I'll haves threes'um. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Did I read that right? Jari said that the S3 is easier to fly than the S1? Can you clarify? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I am bumping this back up. I've done a fair bit of editing on my original posting, after a long conversation with Kevin at Bombproof. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Here are some photos of my modified Classic II. I have identical cut-away systems on both legs. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Is it possible to create a function that will "dump" PM's, either to a local text file or to an outgoing email (presumeably to yourself)? I have quite a few PM's that I want to save, but I feel bad about taking up the space. If I could find an easy way to dump them to my local storage, it'd be far easier to clean them up. Just a thought. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Me too! Whenever I show up at a Bay Area DZ, I seem to be flying alone. Where are you jumping? At least two-ways would be better than solos. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I am now experiencing this problem on yet another machine. I still can't figure out what makes it come and go. I've experienced it on three different OS's (Mac OS X.2.3, Windows XP, Windows 2000) and three different browsers (IE for Mac, IE for Windows and Safari for Mac OS X). I'll keep trying to figure out if there is any pattern. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Most BASE jumpers seem to use em. BASE jumpers use integrity (reversed) risers because they are marginally stronger. However, a standard riser (i.e. with a hole in it) manufactured to RWS current specs, using large rings and wide webbing, has never (to my knowledge) actually failed in use (skydiving or BASE). That said, I prefer integrity (reversed) risers on my BASE gear because all the (rather considerable) down sides to them are inapplicable to the BASE environment (you'll probably never have a hard cut-away on a BASE jump). There are also some advantages to integrity risers for BASE that don't apply for skydiving. For example, I frequently pack on unfriendly surfaces, and the reverse riser configuration protects the white loop. When was the last time you packed your skydiving rig in a greasy parking lot? BASE jumpers use them because they work better for BASE. That's a long way from working better for skydiving--especially on a highly loaded elliptical canopy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

They've done three sets of dynamic corners for me. I paid $35 each. Definitely call them. I've never experienced better customer service. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com