TomAiello

I've found that my Troll 290 generally land me softer than any other canopy I've jumped, even the "larger" 310+ size canopies. If soft landings are a big factor for you, be sure to demo the Troll. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Wouldn't it be more fun if it was a sarcastic 8-ball? Those things are a riot. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Second that. The biggest currently available canopy is the Flik 321. The other big boy canopies are the Ace/BJ 310, Mojo 310, Troll 290 and Dagger 313. If you are really concerned with soft landings (recovering from an injury, bad ankles, etc) I'd try demoing all of them out of a plane, and seeing which lands you the softest. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

If you are jumping a hackey handled BASE PC, or have considered doing so, please read this gear inspection report. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I'm curious what most people are doing at pull time. By "flaring" I mean flying into a more head-up position, usually done to reduce opening shock. You might want to have a look at this gear inspection report after you answer the poll. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Paradise I'm pretty sure it's a Cessna DZ, basically a tandem operation. I don't know anything about them in terms of safety, personnel, etc. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

California has the same law. Enforcement is sporadic at best... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Because the ring didn't make Sauron invisible. Where do I apply for a job as a Nazghul? With the One Ring on his hand, the Dark Lord will be invincible! All of you non-Americans will perish in the flames of Mordor! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I had an email correspondence with Christoph a while back. I believe price was around 3000 euros (2700 springs to mind, but i can't find the email). I think he doesn't check his email very often. I'd give him some time. Meanwhile, I'll try to dig up the email (I think it may have been a different address than the one on the web site). -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Hasn't appeared to. I tend to pull higher at night, anyway, though. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Dexadrine. It's a prescription amphetamine used to treat ADHD. It heightens attention to detail, attention span and alertness. I guess that's why the AF gives it to pilots. Long haul truckers are rumored to use a lot of the stuff, as well. I've personally found it very useful for long drives, road trips, and all night jumping sessions. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Nearly a third of the schoolchildren in America are on those same (or similar but stronger) drugs. Why should the soldiers be any different? I dunno. I've jumped on those same drugs. It didn't seem to impair my judgment. Heck, I know a jumper whose doctor ordered them to take those drugs for jumping days. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

She testified to that. The boys testimony (last paragraph of facts) contradicted her, claiming it was consensual. In the first paragraph of the discussion, the court states that it will assume "for the sake of argument" that she did give consent pre-penetration, then rescinded it post-penetration. Appellate courts do this a lot. The reason they're doing this is to decide a doctrine of law, rather than this particular case. Basically, what they are saying is that it doesn't matter if she initially consented (in fact, let's assume she did), because the failure to withdraw after consent was rescinded was, in itself, sufficent to lead the court to conclude that rape had occured. It is interesting to read the dissent's take on the facts on page 14 (drawn from the same lower court transcripts). In part: "She did not say anything and she was not fighting or resisting while the rest of her clothing was removed. The boys were "fingering" her and playing with her "boobs" and kissing her and "like just trying to keep me satisfied type of thing." She acknowledged that she enjoyed these activities, enjoyed it "because it was like a threesome"; she was laughing and liked being the center of attention." Also note that she was on top of John Z. for four or five minutes at the beginning of their intercourse. The dissent points out that she claims to have been held there, but that it was done (by agreement from both testimonies, I believe) "with only one hand on her waist--not hard enough for her to feel the pressure or to create a bruise." It sounds to me like she rode him for five minutes or so, then, when he rolled on top of her, she demurred (not terribly forcefully). Didn't someone earlier in this thread point suggest that men should always be on the bottom, to head off rape charges? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ok, how about, from the California Supreme Court decision statement of facts? Text of Decision Facts of the case are stated on pages 2-5. Maybe we all ought to have a look at the actual decision, rather than reading the media reports, then complaining that the media reports are innacurate/biased/misleading. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

We've had several discussions about the Crossbow... Wingsuit Types Flying A Crossbow If I could make the BLiNC search engine work, there's a good review of the Crossbow over there, written by a guy who owns and flys both. As I recall, the consensus was that it floats a lot, is easy to learn, has less forward speed, and there were some problems with the manufacturing quality. I think that Parasport Italia isn't making them any more--I believe due to some dispute with Loic. Last I heard you pretty much had to personally know the French guys flying them to get one made, these days. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I just notice an increase in the number of my friends who aren't sleeping, because they're out all night jumping

Fistfull of F-111 is my personal favorite. The (little) skydiving is kind of so-so, but the BASE footage is very good. You might also check out Beyond Extreme, which has no skydiving, but some outrageous BASE footage. Have a look at this thread in the BASE forum. Most of the BASE I've seen on skydiving videos is pretty mediocre. It always amuses me to see "tandem video" BASE stuff in the middle of a bunch of radical freeflying. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Full facts, as found by the juvenile court, are given in the opinion. In fact, there is much discussion of them, particularly in the dissent. We have nearly as much information as the appellate court did when they ruled. Unfortunately, the .pdf of the ruling is too large to be posted to this board, but a link the the file is given in my last posting. Interesting point. I'd be curious to see the court take a whack at that question. They'd probably revert to "understood meaning", which would just re-open the whole post-penetration debate again. Fortunately, most people participating in games advanced enough to use safe words are a bit more mature than the participants in this sordid little drama. I doubt it. That legal precedent (post-penetration rape) is already well established in California. There was no need to decide this case, if that was the primary consideration. If that were the situation, the Supremes would have just let the appellate decision stand, and denied review altogether. Aren't we all. I'm definitely troubled by the 90 second rule implicit in this ruling. As the dissent points out, there needs to be some better enumeration. What about a 10 second rule? Is sex like food? Less than three seconds on the floor and it's ok to eat? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Have you used the Bohn system that Actionstation sells? I've got a set of it, and I far prefer the Dainese armor. I have this slightly older model (check out my forum pic--I've got the full set on in that photo). The Dainese armor has hard shells over the protective pieces, adding protection for sharp edges and other pointed impacts. I know that mine has saved me on several occasions when my Bohn armor would have allowed an injury. I do like the low-profile Bohn system for sneaky jumps, because it is a bit easier to hide under street clothes. But for general use, I like the Dainese quite a bit more. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

This is not aimed at LJ. I just wanted to say this to everyone reading this thread. All right, I'm calling us all on this. DANGER! There are about five people on earth who have done enough Tards to even consider doing one off a low, technical building. They are fun, they are crazy, and you are taking your life in your own hands. This is not something that a beginner jumper ought to be attempting, or even considering. Please, anyone reading this, don't consider a Tard unless (a) you are already an advanced BASE jumper, (b) you understand all the extra risks (have you considered what happens if you stick your foot into the nose of a cell, for example?), (c) you have someone who has done one to show you how (not via internet), and (d) you have a will. Unpacked canopy jumps are silly, dangerous and only mildly amusing. If you want to do one, be sure you know what you are getting into. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

I've just looked at the delay/altitude/equipment chart on the BR Web Site. This chart calls for hand held pilot chutes lower than 600 feet. This is a good, conservative recommendation for beginners. I think it may be a bit of overkill, though. I don't think it's a particularly good idea to go handheld past three seconds or so since bridle flap can cause complications (entanglement, premature pin extraction). BR recommends it, though. I guess opinions vary. What other charts are you looking at, aside from the BR one? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Ahem. The facts of the case clearly indicate that the first defendant (Juan G) was prosecuted. I believe he struck a plea bargain, and his case was separated from the appeal and resolved. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Actually, her testimony in court gives us a pretty good idea of what the most that could have happened was. While the actual facts probably lie somewhere between her testimony and the testimony of the two boys, we can safely assume that they are no worse than her actual testimony. Laura T. testified that: She consented to having her clothing removed. She consented to having sex with the defendant (John Z). She withdrew consent sometime during sexual intercourse, post-penetration, with the second defendant (John Z). Intercourse continued for 90 seconds (note that this is her testimony, his allows for a lesser period of continuation) after she said she "needed to go home." We don't know. However, from the testimony offered at trial, we can surmise that the actual facts lie within a range of possibilities. The limits of that range are defined by the points of conflict in the testimony given. More interesting, really, is the doctrine this case establishes. It is now law, in California, that withdrawal of consent must lead to immediate cessation of sexual intercourse regardless of whether or not such withdrawal is understood by the other party. The male must know immediately (90 seconds has been ruled as an overlong interval) when she changes her mind. As an aside, did anyone but me notice that she was on top for the first four or five minutes of intercourse? Link to the decision can be found in the first paragraph of this discussion. I know you've all read it closely already, but just in case you haven't... -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

A few thoughts... How strong was the tailwind? I would suspect that the tailwind was the governing factor in your opening. In my experience, when the absolute wind (tailwind, in this case) exceeds the relative wind (relative updraft from freefall), freefall deployments tend to open into the wind. We had a discussion a while back about this, but I can't seem to find it (the search function on BLiNC isn't working for me with the new forums). While I think this is a bad PC, I doubt that it was the primary cause of your off-heading. Load tapes help the PC maintain shape, which both reduces wear and contributes to a symmetric extraction force. Venting can also help this. Two thoughts: 1) I think the tailwind was probably the big factor. 2) It is often impossible to pinpoint why an off-heading developed. Sometimes they just happen. With the current gear, it is impossible to perfectly manage the opening of a parachute. The system is just too complex. I find it amazing that we think we can predict this, a massive wad of cloth and string, unfurling in swirling, unpredictable winds, at all. So, yes, change your PC. But don't think that that was the problem, and now you've solved it. It's just not that simple. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com

Wow, talk about throwing a firebomb. I really try to refrain from posting in this (women only) forum, but I'm going to share a few of my thoughts on this. I don't see this as a "women's only" issue. Maybe you ought to have considered putting it in Talkback? The whole point of this forum is to create a safe place for women to discuss things (and give guys a peek into their heads--so long as we lurk quietly). I don't think your posting is helping this feel like a safe place for women. Although my thoughts on the Court's ruling may be similar to yours, I really think you might want to reconsider throwing this out in this forum. I'm sure we can have lots of interesting and valuable discussion about this somewhere else. I'm not sure this is the best place to do so. Just a thought. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com