TomAiello

Once you reach your "cruising speed" will this matter? I had always thought that the physics worked out such that the head/tail/cross wind would only matter during changes in motion (i.e. turns, dives, etc). Why would a tailwind generate more lift? At rest, I would think that a tailwind would actually decrease lift on a wing surface. And once it was in motion, I can't see any effect on lift--just on ground speed. Does anyone who really knows the physics want to explain this to me? I'm very sketchy on all this sci-uhn-tific stuff. Thanks, -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

You definitely eat the cake. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Just noticed that this thread was about to drop off the bottom of the page. Can't let that happen, can we? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm pretty sure it's quite a lot of force. I've seen brake lines blow at the brake setting and at the toggle stub (pin) on opening. I'll definitely ask around and see what I can find out about the line attachments. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I think that very few people who are not either sponsored or employed by BR have put more than a handful of jumps on the Flik. The canopy is awfully new. You may have to wait a while for a consensus to emerge. That said, initial reports are good, and the canopy is trickling out to the general public. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Do you mean the attachment to the canopy (i.e. at the line attachment point)? As opposed to the attachment to the toggle? Or the line cascade? Can you clarify? I'd be curious to hear the reasoning on this, too. Thanks, -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Try this one: http://www.scuffmark.com/games/jumper.html Just don't name the site... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Naw. The future is all-virtual-reality skydiving. Turn 90 points on a four way, or build a 700 way, or get head down coaching from a VR simulation of Olav Zipser, all without ever leaving the couch. You could hook up with other jumpers, from all over the world, for insane jumping action, at any time of day or night. Just think, no packing, no pulling, just keep on jumping. Random folks cruising in and out of the jumps, dozens of skytoys at a time, 1500 foot swoops--in VR, anything goes. Maybe we can convince Sangiro to put a virtual drop zone in the Pub? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

My first canopy off student status ([ducking and looking for skybytch to smack me] starting around jump number 50 [/ducking]) was a Sabre 150. I put about 200 jumps on it before moving on. I was super-current at the time (all 250 jumps were done in around 2 months), and had no trouble with the landings. I don't recommend doing that. That said, if you are looking for good openings, don't get the Sabre (I assume we're talking about a Sabre I, here). My openings were often hard, and usually unpredictable. I've heard the same complaint from other Sabre jumpers. I've never jumped a Spectre, but they have a reputation for much better openigns than the Sabre. Have you demo'd the canopies in question? I'd certainly start there before buying one of them. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Me too! Oh wait, I'm still nervous after the exit, too. Welcome! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I see that your worship of the American Hero Skydiving Magazine Tour is showing. I'll let Mr. DiCola know he's now in the running to have the entire sport named after him. In all seriousness: When an untrained person shows up at a DZ and wants to jump, they are not allowed to do so without proper training and equipment. There are other jumpers, instructors, DZO's, pilots whose licenses can be at risk--basically an entire safety net. When a skydiver (the BASE equivalent of your "untrained civilian") shows up at a BASE site, he has none of that. Trying to control access to the sites, and provide proper guidance to those who want to go, is the BASE equivalent of having instructors at drop zones. In the 1950's you could pretty much just buy a parachute, show up at an airport, and flop out of a plane. Are you certain you'd prefer to return to those days? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Whoever will jump with a flailer like me, mostly. Um, what are you driving at? Nope. I don't know about other DZs but we got a ton of resources for the RIGHT way to start in BASE and haven't heard of anybody I know going into it without at least seeking mentoring. I have been to DZ's with zero BASE jumpers. I've also met BASE jumpers who started with absolutely no instruction, because they were unfortunate enough to come from a place with no experienced jumpers to help them out. California (northern or southern) is extremely atypical. Outside of Norway, it probably has the highest concentration of BASE jumpers per DZ on earth. So have I. Everyone does that. Again, what are you driving at? A bit of both. However, I like to think that it's more the former than the latter. There have been several cases of skydivers finding out about sites from internet discussions, then showing up there with skydiving rigs. Accidents often resulted. Obviously, in this case, the concern is not overuse (since the site is very difficult to access), but accident potential. I know that reminding people not to name sites will not win me any popularity contests. I believe it's important enough to pay that price. A great many people just don't realize that there are reasons for the etiquette. If you know the etiquette, and the reasons for it, and choose to ignore it, that's your choice. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I saw some of it when Douggs stayed with me in November. Next time you see him, be sure to ask him exactly what happened at that whorehouse in Tampico. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

The general reasoning is that the average viewer of RealTV won't have a desire to jump from anything. However, the average reader of this site will have just enough knowledge and gear (i.e. skydiving gear and some number of airplane skydives) to really hurt themself. Also, someone who is underqualified to BASE jump (and hence likely to hurt themself trying), but really wants to jump, will probably search sites like BLiNC, rec skydiving, and DZ.com looking for sites. They are somewhat less likely to just sit around looking for re-runs of RealTV, hoping to find a BASE site. I guess the bottom line is that the average reader of a skydiving or BASE web site is in far greater personal danger from the site knowledge (and is a far greater danger to the site as a result of having it), than is the average viewer of RealTV. What do you call...? Actually, I usually call it "that popular East coast span," or "the popular West Virginia span." Not to be confused with the "popular West coast span", or "the popular legal span in the potato state." I've got a giant lexicon of euphemistic site names. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Here's a copy of some PM's I've sent to the last three folks who started this thread over in the BASE Zone: [Quote] I erased the name of the site out of the posting. It's a major breech of BASE etiquette to name sites in public forums. The site has actually had a legal demo jump done off of it. I clipped this out of a random web page I found when I did a yahoo search for it. Hunt around, and I'm sure you'll find more. There's probably a long thread in the rec.skydiving archives about the incident. [Quote] Flashback to Nov. 21, 1996. On a windy, icy morning, TV crews and a crowd of 100 spectators gather at the base of the site that towers over the city. They crane their necks skyward to watch the tiny specks at the top of the observation deck. Steve Mulholland is up there, along with three other jumpers. It's the first authorized jump off the site. He's part of a cult of parachutists who call themselves BASE jumpers -- the acronym stands for buildings, antennas, spans and earth. They fling themselves off any available high place -- hotels, sheer cliffs, bridges. Such jumping is considered more difficult and dangerous than sky diving because the free fall takes place in just a few seconds, requiring chutes that open instantly. Mulholland is something of a local legend. A carpenter by trade, he works only to finance his next adventure -- scuba diving in Australia, mountain climbing in Antarctica. But, he likes to say, "nothing can compare, second-for-second, with the adrenaline of BASE jumping." Says a friend, Mark Lazerwitz: "He couldn't look at a building without thinking of how to throw himself off of it." Ruggedly charismatic, with long, dark locks, Mulholland has been nicknamed Tarzan, Fabio and Mr. Adventure by his many female admirers. He met his last girlfriend, Beth Melius, while camping in a National Park, where he illegally threw himself off a 3,300-foot precipice. She drove the getaway car. The television cameras roll. Mulholland and the other daredevils push off the site. Among them is 29-year-old Jessica Kluetmeier, who has done 50 similar jumps. She pulls her chute, but something's wrong. A steering line gets tangled, and she spirals down, out of control, at nearly 65 mph. She slams into the mud and grass only a few feet away from the pavement, fracturing vertebrae in her lower back. She is lucky -- she'll only have to wear a brace for a few months. Mulholland's baby-blue chute whips open in the nick of time. He lands safely. "I've seen thousands of BASE jumps," Mulholland tells reporters. "This is the first time I've seen this happen . . . It's an unfortunate incident." But it's risky, he admits. Accidents happen. Just to sound even more like a broken record: Please remember that it is a major breech of BASE etiquette to name sites, legally jumped or otherwise, in this or any other public forum. Thanks! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Thanks. All fixed now. I think I screwed up half of the links in that post. Never try to post after a long jump weekend with no sleep. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'd start with the manufacturers web sites: Flik and FOX Ace, Blackjack and Mojo Troll BASE Dealer and Troll Manufacturer Dagger Since most of those just have blatant self-promotion or relatively technical specifications, you might also have a look at the BLiNC Parachute Reviews. The BLiNC Knowledge BASE also has some gear articles, but the majority of the Walt Appel articles (which had some specifics on older canopies) appear to have gone missing. You can also find some discussion of canopies on this forum, on the BLiNC Forums (particularly in the technical archives) and on the ABA site. It's a lot to sift through. I hope this helps. Edited: Fixed links. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Correct. I have had problems with the openings of my unvented Troll. I am very impressed with the valve design (MDV) used on the valved Troll. I have always been happy with the way the canopy flies. It has an excellent control range (flies both very fast and very slow), sinks better than any other unvented canopy I've used, and lands soft, with a powerful flare, even from part brakes. I've also noticed that the Troll has small pack volume for it's area. These combination of traits (flies well, small pack volume) make it an ideal wingsuit canopy (especially because my real complaint--openings--is largely irrelevant in the wingsuit environment), in my opinion. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I have some break cord (used for tying static line knots) that I submerged in water. Is it still good, once it dries off? Or do I need to replace the lot? Can anyone tell me? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hi Dan, Can you tell us which companies include the stabilizer area in the canopy measurement? I've talked to CR, and they say they use the standard PIA (i.e. no stabilizer) size measurements. I believe BR uses the same standard. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've got around 100 Troll jumps, but very limited experience with the MDV system. Based on that, it looks to me like a 290 Troll MDV is going to perform better than your 285 FOX Vtec in virtually all areas. I'd say it opens roughly on par (on-heading performance looks very similar), flies far better, and flares much stronger, for a softer landing. I don't know about the valved FOX, but the MDV looks (to me) like a better valve system than either the BR valves or the CR PAC valves. Um, in case you weren't aware of this, Dan and I rarely agree on anything, so if you're seeing me endorse his product, you can bet it's pretty darn good. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have you considered an annular (donut shaped) PC? I have an AF reference with various parachute shapes, and it implies that an annular shape would actually be most efficient. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Should be easy enough to find someone who had a pro-track on the 300 way, and ask what the fall rate was. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

F-111 PC's oscillate and orbit even less than vented ZP PC's. If this is a primary concern for you, I recommend switching to an F-111 PC instead. In BASE, some situations (low deployments, for example), are best served with ZP PC's. However, most of the things leading us to use ZP PC's (which require venting to reduce oscillation) are not present in the skydiving environment. So, if you are thinking of venting your PC, why not just switch to F-111? Disclaimer: My knowledge of skydiving is limited enough that you ought to talk to an experienced skydiving rigger (or the manufacturer of your gear) for potential downsides to an F-111 PC in the skydiving environment. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I just wanted to add this. Yesterday I landed in a river wearing a full suit of body armor, additional kneepads, and a full face helmet. No problems getting out of the river at all. Even the full face helmet (which I had worried about before the jump) didn't create any difficulties. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com