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JohnRich

Skydiving on TV

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Umm, I just caught the end of part 1, somebody exiting from a hang glider wearing a BASE rig. It kinda pissed me off how they made the guy out to look like an adrenaline junkie (he actually didn't need much help with his quote - "I can't scare the crowd unless I scare myself" or something to that effect, with regards to his low pull), and made a big deal out of him jumping a 1 year old pack job in a rig that had been regularly worn as a pilot rig for the past year.

Then the quote by the announcer (less than 1 minute after Miles' quote that he was in search of accomplishment, NOT adrenaline), that he was off in search of the ultimate adrenaline rush. Oh the irony...

Then the beginning of part 2, they made it out to look like 3 wingsuits in close proximity was some sort of record breaking feat or something. "As soon as the skydivers exited the plane, they realized the conditions were PERFECT for their formation." Hmm, good to know there weren't things flying through the atmosphere to create imperfect conditions.

Yeah, I'm cynical...
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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>1 year old pack job in a rig that had been regularly worn as a pilot rig for the past year.

Nice FAR violation on SOOOOO many levels there. At least the jumpers name was given if the FAA was watching also. :ph34r:
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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The show started out great, except for a few times where they made things look more "extreme, adrenaline junkie" type stuff. The show's second part, especially the last BASE jump was very overstressed (go listen to the soundtrack), its very overplayed.
As an outsider to the US most my life, it was interesting to see how they made the American (Miles) look like the biggest Hero. The freeze-frame with him punching the air, and of-course his gainer, no-one else could get close to how good the american is! They overstress this whole show about Miles, (who I personally think is a retard, he might have good skills, but a ridiculous personality.) But its an American production, so naturally they will make the American the absolute kick ass craziest most extreme adrenaline junkie there could ever be and no-one can beat him.

I think there was way too much directing and acting going on for it to be a worthwhile program. I bet if this wasnt for TV, but just a movie, it would be very different.

Did have really good footage though!

(No negativity towards you Americans who think for yourselves, but towards arrogant self centered ones, who doesnt realize the rest of the world is also there.)

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>1 year old pack job in a rig that had been regularly worn as a pilot rig for the past year.

Nice FAR violation on SOOOOO many levels there. At least the jumpers name was given if the FAA was watching also.



This was all filmed in New Zealand, so U.S. FAR's don't apply. I don't know what repack requirements there might be in New Zealand...

They did play that up as if it was some kind of big deal, and meant that the canopy might not work. But every skydiver probably realized it wasn't a problem.

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I was just very annoyed at the presentation. I thought that the producers would have more common sense, to make such a good production more appealing to the world community. I was just amazed at the typical American arrogance that entered this sport. And not just the american arrogance issue, but also the issue of making the public perceive these sports as absolutely insane with uncontrolled risk.
Because of issues like this, I have been alienated from friends because of what I choose to do. I'm sure its hurting a lot of people everywhere.
But as someone said earlier, it is designed to please the public. So let the public destroy what could have been an astounding production. Let them sit on the couch and get scared watchin Telly.


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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

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The show started out great, except for a few times where they made things look more "extreme, adrenaline junkie" type stuff.



I had mixed feelings about it.

In some respects they made these skydivers look like irresponsible idiots. In other cases, they seemed mature and responsible.

On the stunt when he was supposed to fly a wing suit up next to a diving biplane and touch the wing - I couldn't figure out how he planned on doing that, since the wing suit restricts arm movement so that you can't reach forward. They failed to even get close. Not impressed. This stunt has been done before, without wing suits. These guys just didn't know how to plan it and time it.

Flying the five wing suits in formation - no big deal! But to the general public, I guess it looked pretty neat. If they think five people flying in close proximity is pretty cool, I wonder what they would say about the 357-way freefall formation?

The episode where they towed the junk car off their property and abandoned it in a parking lot showed immaturity. They got rid of their problem - by giving it to someone else.

Skiing off a cliff for a base jump has been done before - in the James Bond movie - with a round parachute. Still, it was pretty neat.

All in all, there were some very good skydiving scenes, showing a lot of preparation and planning. The general public will still consider them daredevils. But they don't think they came across as reckless or as having a death-wish.

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I was just amazed at the typical American arrogance



I didn't detect any hint of this "arrogance".

Where are you from? I notice you don't seem to be willing to reveal anything in your profile. That makes it easy to hide behind an anonymous identity and make such accusations of arrogance. But it doesn't say much for the credibility of someone who is not willing to stand behind what he says.

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Nope, but they mentioned the pilots name and he's a US pilot. The rig has no certification at all and neither does the canopy. Even in NZ they require bailout rigs to have the equalivent of a TSO certification, that rig had neither. NZ is on a 180 day repack schedule.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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What is the requirement for a bailout rig in the US? Most Cessna pilots will wear one, but I can't recall seeing many (if any, of course I wasn't looking) in larger aircraft. If one is not required, then the pilot is free to wear whatever he wants (or nothing at all), without any backlash from the FAA.

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alright guys, does anyone here know this Miles Daisher? Anyone jumped with him?



Yes, and yes.

Miles was the first person to try to teach me head down. I've also done a fair number of BASE jumps with him over the years.

He's actually a super cool guy. I haven't seen the TV program, but I think you may be judging him harshly based on the TV editing.

He's not the most intellectual guy, but he's definitely one of the good guys.
-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

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