brianfry713

AADs are a personal decision. I don't think people should be forced to use them, but that is up to the DZO or load organizer. They have to deal with the aftermath if you bounce. The USPA also insists that students use one and the FAA insists that tandems use one. Some situations where you are better off without an AAD is pulling your main low, doing a demo or similar jump where the aircraft's altitudes or duration is outside of the AAD manual's recommendations, riding the airplane down, on some pressurized aircrafts, doing a BASE jump, during CRW, water landings with some AADs, or during swooping where you exceed the AADs firing parameters under a perfectly good main. Ideally the AAD will never fire.

Yes I have, it is fun. It's not too hard if you know what you're doing. With only a few skydives, it might be best to work on that first. You could ask around the DZ if anyone there does any ground or ski launching and go with them.

I had one result in a lineover and a cutaway, but I still got talked into doing it again recently. It worked, we had fun. I guess some people never learn. I agree that bigger aircraft are easier than small Cessnas. I also agree it's best not to do it until your reserve is almost due if you're concerned with the cost of getting another repack right away. It's easier to hold on if Mr Bill uses a canopy that opens softly and is packed for a slow opening. Try to exit stable and not roll, that'll help for a cleaner deployment and less chance of an entanglement. Hang on tight all the way through the opening. Try and let go if everything goes to shit. After Mr Bill pitches, he/she can hold on to Sluggo underneath their rig to help out. Try not to die. Have fun.

Pulling low is not illegal. There is no law or FAR saying that you have to open above a certain altitude, or open at all. In the US we have the USPA BSRs, which require pack opening by 2,000 feet, but those are not law, only requirements to be a USPA member or group member DZ. You should have permission from the land owner before making an intentional parachute jump onto their property, otherwise you are trespassing. To make it legal, you'll have to notify ATC at least an hour before the jump and maintain radio contact with them.

brianfry713 Elisha Feeblemind johnsw71 McBeth monkycndo NWFlyer Any chance of a helicopter or balloon jump this year?

You mean like a pond? It helps, and is used in many but not all swoop competitions. I think there may even be a requirement for one at some of the pro level competitions.

I've had control system malfunctions and the occasional brake fire, but I haven't had to cut away from one yet, and I've been able to fix them well above 1,000 feet. What works best for me is stowing the excess line according to the owners manual, and taking an extra second to make sure I have a clean grip of the toggle before I unstow them. I loosen my chest strap, collapse and pull down my slider over my slocks and behind my head before releasing the toggles.

Did you have the backlight and alarms activated at the same time? If so the backlight turns off while the alarms are sounding. http://www.alti-2.com/neptune%20owners/night_jump.htm

Repacks are worth whatever the rigger wants to charge and the customers are willing to pay. I usually just leave mine at whatever place is most convenient, since I trust most of the local riggers and I don't want to make an extra trip to drop off or pick up my rig. I'm not going to drive a few hours to save a few bucks on a repack when I'm spending much more on gas. If the prices go up a little bit, I'll probably pay whatever their charging, as long as it's not way out of line with what other local riggers are charging. But for me it's usually more about where I want to jump the weekend before and after my reserve is due. I would guess that most people have a home DZ that they frequent and just give it to the rigger there. If his price goes up, they may complain, but few are going to shop around for the next closest rigger. Other people use a friend that doesn't work for a DZ.

Glad you're still alive man. Pull a little higher next time. Didn't you hear there isn't a list anymore? Have fun on the rest of your trip.

It was fun flocking with you all on Sunday.

I've never landed in a jump plane, but I don't have a problem doing it if I have to. I just like to jump out too much. The first time I ever landed in a small plane was when I took my first flying lesson. I would guess at most DZ's you wouldn't have a problem filling up a load for free, on the condition that it did a pattern first. I'd even buy my slot and enjoy the extra ride in addition to the jump. I hear from a lot of skydivers that are terrified of airplanes, heights, and other simple things. If you don't trust that the airplane can be landed safely you shouldn't get on it even with a parachute. You never know when the engine is going to die shortly after takeoff, and below 1,000 feet you're probably better off staying in the airplane. If you jump at a DZ where you don't like the pilot, DZO, airplane, maintenance, procedures, or see anything else that makes you feel unsafe, you probably shouldn't be getting on the plane at all.

To everyone who has said here that they'll never make a mistake and die on a BASE jump: you're not perfect. The Nall report for 2005 General Aviation fatal accidents lists the major cause as pilot error 82.9% of the time. Mechanical/Maintenance is second at 7.5%, and everything else is 9.6%. The statistics for non-fatal accidents are similar. Look through the BFL again and see how many of these cases the jumper did everything right and still died. It could usually be argued that they could have done something better and still be alive. Look at the people who you think were great base jumpers that still made a fatal mistake, or a chain of mistakes. Making the judgment call to jump when the conditions are really bad could also be a fatal mistake. Mistakes could also include gear choice, rigging, packing, site selection, lack of training or experience, poor exit technique, poor canopy piloting, poor body flight, and many more. I think pilot error is the number one killer in general aviation, skydiving, and BASE jumping. Both the BASE newbies and the experienced jumpers have to admit that they are capable of the same mistakes. In order to keep our odds of staying alive as good as possible we must do everything we can to avoid repeating mistakes, or making new ones. We are all test jumpers. I know I've made mistakes and gotten away with them, as I'm sure most of us have. We must be ready to adapt during flight, as things don't always go exactly as planned. The gear that we have now is reliable only if maintained, configured, packed, used and flown correctly. I do my best to not screw up, but if I do die while flying something, I'll admit that it was probably my fault. I'd rather not die flying, but I accept the inherent risk every time I leave the ground.

http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/content/twm/news/story.aspx?brand=westonmercury&category=news&tBrand=westonmercury&tCategory=znews&itemid=WeED14%20May%202007%2015%3A17%3A57%3A760 This has the pic of a naked male jumper if you want to see it. Warning, this has the pic of a naked male jumper. Or you can just click the link that says naked jumper in the first post.

Tom's letter requirement was a factor in which FJC I signed up for, as well as references from friends about BASE instructors. I also thought it was just a letter to your family, I never realized that is was a "now that I'm dead" letter. When I was looking for a FJC, I had not yet told my parents I was skydiving, or planning on BASE jumping. I did tell them right after my first skydive, which was 6 years before my second, and I knew they didn't approve of me doing it again. I told my parents about everything the week before Bridge Day. After finding out that I had been skydiving almost every weekend for a couple years, my mom asked "why don't you just go jump off a bridge", and I responded, "that's what I'm doing next weekend". At least this made skydiving and flying small airplanes seem safe in comparison to BASE. They're not happy about me BASE jumping, being a pilot, or skydiving, but at least they now know that I do it because I enjoy it. I can guess that they would throw a fit and possibly sue someone if I went in. They did try to sue some people after a major skiing accident I had when I was 13, but eventually gave up on the case. This post doesn't really have a point, I guess I should probably write a will, talk more to my parents about what to do if I go in, and leave instructions for what to do after I die. I'll try my best not to, but I would want the real story on Nick's BFL.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/276058/1/.html This link also has a video where the writer talks about the film and includes tow-in big wave surfing, BASE jumping, and wingsuit flying as possible stunts. I'm looking forward to watching it.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/dropzone/finder.cgi Don't forget Bay Area Skydiving in Byron, it's the closest DZ to SF and has some good friendly AFF instructors. It can tend to get windy sometimes. Santa Rosa is no longer operating. Skydance is also a great fun place with top notch instructors. I don't get out to Lodi much, but I know bodypilot1 is a good instructor who has taught a lot of people to skydive. I haven't been to Cloverdale yet. Hollister usually has good weather and is a friendly place. Monterey is beautiful when the weather cooperates and they've got a super fast plane.

See this poll: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2520077 BASE is currently unregulated. The difference with the NTSB and the USPA is these are the "official" organizations publishing airplane and skydiving accidents. Therefore they decided to not include names or photos for whatever reasons. USPA also doesn't include locations, so as to not offend any DZs. When reading a USPA report, I have to try to figure out what accident they are actually talking about so I can connect the details I've already heard about it here. The NTSB does list the location since a lot of accidents occur during takeoff and landing so the local conditions are usually more of a factor than in skydiving. The BFL run by Nick and the forums are not official so they include whatever information people post, so long as the mods deem it acceptable. From the BFL: "NOTE: - This List is not 100% accurate." The BFL information is already on the internet so removing it will not make it disappear completely. There is no governing body for BASE that publishes incident results in a formal, anonymous manner like most of aviation. Pilot error is a major cause of fatalities in flying, so all of us should be learning all we can if we want to have the best chance of staying alive. Part of that is reading about and learning from the mistakes of others. I can't imagine that maintaining the list is an easy job, and like moderating the forums I'm sure it can offend a lot of people. However, if it keeps people from making the same mistakes over and over like leaving a pull up cord or rubber band on a pilot chute, and saves one life, then IMHO it's worth it. I'm sorry for the loss of Jimmy and all the others on the list. If you don't want specific details about the incident known to the whole world you have the option of keeping them from the public and having just a vague newspaper-like entry on the list. In BASE we usually try to keep information about specific sites from the public. I feel that knowledge is a good thing to be shared among responsible BASE jumpers and it's up to everyone to use that information correctly.

http://www.bridgeday.info/ It sounds like this would be perfect for you. It seems to me like around half the jumpers there are skydivers wanting to give BASE a try. Buy, rent, or borrow a suitable rig and try to sign up on July 1st if you meet the requirements. Show up for the safety briefings there. I'd also recommend taking a full FJC. Read, learn, and practice all you can. Talk and learn from any other BASE jumpers you meet. First decide if BASE is really for you before you get to the exit point.

I've seen many people refuse to land slightly downwind even when the conditions are light and variable, and also refuse to land anywhere but close to the hangar. In this case you get people landing in all different directions chasing the wind sock. I've recently seen arguments in the plane regarding setting the default landing direction, by people who just say that they will land into the wind no matter what everyone else does. I think follow the first person down usually works. There should also be a default direction but if the first person down goes the other way, then everyone else should follow them. It also helps if someone lands well before everyone else, as long as you don't have people competing to be the first one down.

I agree that this is ridiculous, but I don't think you'd need to buy new batteries again in 3 to 9 months if you went with option one, so that total cost should be about $75 less.

I look for a rigger in the most convenient location and who has a seal. I'll probably go to whichever one is closest unless I keep hearing of mistakes that rigger has made and don't trust him/her for whatever reason. I'd like to get my own ticket eventually, then I won't have to travel further than my house for a repack.

Try getting a hot chick to jump with you, then you'll probably have a few freeflyers with cameras wanting on the load. Keep asking around, I'm sure there are lots of freeflyers with cameras there at around your jump #'s. It's much easier to make friends in person while getting ready to go jump than it is on the internet.