outrager

Why not ? Just make sure you miss bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I have made 3 landings in deep water, both fresh and salty. Waited for a boat on one and had to swim a bit to the shore on others. I had to unzip in the water, being there in the first place because of flying too far and pulling too low. It really wasn't an issue even without any flotation gear. I could swim somewhat with my legs zipped (on one jump booties were tied with a pull-up cord ;) and quite easily with one leg free - even towing a canopy . Didn't need to get out of the suit completely. However these landings happened in calm water. Waves and currents can drastically change the situation - i would highly recommend some compact inflatable flotation gear if you are over an open ocean, for example. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo! If you didn't submit all necessary information to get an invitation for a visa (name, date of birth, passport #, date of issue, expiration date, citizenship) and also your jumping experience, please do so now! The deadline is June 10th. Please email it to stasy@aha.ru. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! A contact person for the "1-st Moscow Extreme Sports Films Festival" that will be going on during Ostankino event is Maria Nesterenko. She can be reached at maugliit@yahoo.it or Nesterenko@knknk-info.com They would like to receive the entries by June 20, however if you bring something with you by July 1 it will probably get shown anyway bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! A contact person regarding visa invitations is Stasy, she can be reached at stasy@aha.ru. The first batch should be out tomorrow, followed by the rest. Make sure you have submitted all necessary data - there are many incomplete forms! There will be a video festival - bring your latest BASE edits to show off! bsbd! Yuri.

Old Houston BASE/CRW croud used to do this out of Twin Otter for some cutaway fun. I believe it was a simple setup with a base harness worn under a regular skydiving rig and a canopy (slider-up!) deployed out of a normal hand-held direct bag. bsbd! Yuri.

Never. In fact so far nobody has even identified it as a parachute! I try to give an honest answer, such as "this is a BASE rig". Sometimes they ask what is a BASE rig - then "sports equipment" is a perfect explanation. One time in Paris they started to say that if it was a parachute they couldn't let it through... i had to lie and say it was a parapente, which kept everybody happy. bsbd! Yuri.

An excellent article in Moscow Times. It points out a trend that is obvious for somebody who got to see both systems first-hand, but can be an eye-opener for most US-born readers. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/05/17/006.html Bush Has Put the U.S. 'Back In the U.S.S.R.' By Alexei Bayer When the Beatles sang "back in the U.S., back in the U.S., back in the U.S.S.R." in the late 1960s, I suspect they were trying to rile up the dyed-in-the-wool anti-communists of their parents' generation by wittily likening the Soviet Union -- then safely tucked away behind the Iron Curtain -- with the United States, defender of the free world. How times have changed. You may not be able to fly in to Moscow from Miami Beach on the now-defunct British Overseas Airways Corporation, but apart from that all of those seemingly far-fetched American delights described by the Fab Four can be found right here in post-communist Russia. What's even more surprising is how much the United States has come to resemble the old Evil Empire. George Orwell, another sardonic Brit, would have been amused. Russians who lived through the years of "developed socialism" remember well the inane, almost surrealistic slogans and policies of the time. If you happen to feel any nostalgia for the years of stagnation under Leonid Brezhnev, try taking a trip back to the U.S. of A. You can start at the U.S. Embassy, which many Russians describe as the last vestige of the Soviet Union in Moscow. If fortune is kind and you actually receive a visa, brace yourself for your introduction to the world of Big Brother at the U.S. border, where you will be photographed and finger-printed. These procedures may seem irritating, but they could be big attractions as part of a retro-tourism package. The renaming of French fries and French toast as "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" in the cafeterias of the U.S. House of Representatives last year takes the gateau, as it were. Too bad the Supreme Soviet never came up with this idea. Just imagine a decree changing the Russian word for skunk -- amerikanskaya vonyuchka, or American stinker -- to "freedom stinker." Freedom is the buzzword in American newspeak. In Orwell's novel "1984," newspeak is a language that contains only words needed to express approved ideas. It has been calculated that in five speeches on Iraq last year, President George W. Bush used the words "liberty," "free" and "freedom" 131 times. In addition to freedom fries we have Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. The building that will replace the World Trade Center will be called -- what else -- Freedom Tower. This unhealthy obsession with freedom is reminiscent of the old Eastern Bloc, where words such as "People's" and "Democracy" were liberally sprinkled in the names of member countries such as the People's Republic of Bulgaria. This trend lives today in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. As civil liberties are increasingly curtailed in the wake of 9/11, "freedom" may soon ring almost as hollow in the United States as it did in the Soviet-era people's democracies. Patriot II, or the Domestic Security Enhancement Act, for example, stipulates that providing material support to terrorists is punishable with the loss of U.S. citizenship. There's just one snag, of course: This practice is expressly banned by the U.S. Constitution. Citizenship can only be renounced voluntarily. Not to worry. According to the Justice Department, a person's intent to renounce his citizenship need not be expressed verbally. It can be inferred by the authorities from his actions. Prosecutors at Stalin's show trials would have admired this twisted logic. The comparisons are endless. Consider the new Iraqi flag, unveiled in April. With two blue stripes and a blue crescent against a white background it looks so much like the Israeli flag that you can't help but recall the 15 look-alike national flags of the former Soviet republics. However amusing, alarming or appalling, these are facile parallels, of course. A more serious resemblance can be found at the level of government policy. Like the decisions of the Soviet leadership, U.S. policy is increasingly driven by ideology, not based on facts. In the old days, the U.S. government took a conservative, realistic approach to managing the economy. The Soviets, armed with scientific Marxism, were great believers in economic miracles. Shift productive assets from the rich to the state and -- presto -- you've got a highly industrialized, efficient and prosperous economy. Today, Russia has finally realized that double-digit economic growth will have to be sustained for a decade before the country can catch up with Portugal. Americans, by contrast, have come to rely on economic miracles. First it was the new economy of the 1990s, and now the massive tax cuts intended to generate universal prosperity. What ever happened to the proverbial Yankee with both feet firmly planted on the ground? The Bush administration's foreign policy is even more worrisome. It rejects the traditional approach that served the United States so well in the past in favor of Soviet-style adventurism. During the Cold War, Washington pursued a policy of containment, opposing Soviet expansionism and preserving the status quo. Now, driven by newfound ideological zeal, the United States is bringing down foreign regimes and exporting freedom at gunpoint. Ideology is the cause of America's current woes in Iraq. There is no need to plan carefully when you possess the one true creed. Minor setbacks will be overcome, and the glorious prospect of Iraqi Freedom makes it all worthwhile. This explains why the Bush administration never bothered to develop a realistic strategy for pulling out of Iraq, and why control over U.S. forces in the country is lax enough to permit the much-publicized atrocities against Iraqi prisoners. According to the ideology of freedom, the Iraqis, like every other nation in the world, should have embraced U.S.-style democracy and hailed the Marines as liberators. The fact that something closer to the opposite has happened is still being dismissed as a bump in the road to freedom, the work of a few Baathist extremists and foreign terrorists. Blinded by ideology, Bush administration officials appear increasingly divorced from reality when they discuss the situation in Iraq. As the Soviet experience has shown, you can live in this kind of dream world for a while, but not forever, even if you possess the most powerful military in the world. Alexei Bayer, a New York-based economist, writes the Globalist column for Vedomosti on alternate weeks. He contributed this comment to The Moscow Times. -------------------------------------------------------- bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! Russia uses GSM 900/1800. There are also some CDMA networks that may have international roaming agreements. If you are in the country more than a few days, it will probably make sense to buy a local prepaid SIM card. A web site of your cellular carrier and/or Google will give you more specific answers on roaming prices, preferred networks, GPRS etc. bsbd! Yuri.

Central Europe, there are many very tall flights to explore. Exit altitudes are rather high, generaly above 10k'/3km so they are directly comparable to a skydive. A shroom is as high as you make it, there's plenty more altitude to gain with a better flight. It is particularily cool because after a certain point a slight gain in perfomance gives you a lot more air. Up North the known walls are limited to about 1600m, but you land at sea level. Should be a fun season! bsbd! Yuri.

Last summer best numbers: 1700m (5600') rock, 3.2 km distance, 1:56 flight time. L/D about 2.1 (corrected for exit and deployment alt loss) a slightly better flight: 1950m (6400') rock, 4.3 km, estimated time around 2:10. L/D about 2.45 bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! There was a BASE fatality in Russia near Saratov on May 3. Below are relevant technical details: 31 year old male, 80m (265ft) tower, stowed. PC hesitation, deployment sequence started too late. I am told it was his third base jump. I do not have the name at this point. Please try to refrain from the obvious comments. bsbd! Yuri.

Right where it says "English" http://www.jumptower.com/index_en.html bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! Here is the latest news from Den: If you sent your application form, they will be sending you an invitation to get the visa sometime next week. "Sometime" being the key word Last year it was a rather last-minute effort so please be patient. There will be an entry fee of $500 covering hotel, daytime food, tower activities etc. Unfortunately the sponsors don't line up quite as expected - any help here is never too late and is appreciated! Now please chill, relax and check http://www.jumptower.com for updates bsbd! Yuri.

That's the same Den, taking it down on 26-way in Ostankino bsbd! Yuri.

A bunch of teenage chicks picked by MD crew have read this post, left us and wish to do Utah immediately. The only adult female member, however, has refused to even consider such a possibility. bsbd! MD crew.

Luckily The Ugliest Packing Weight himself, Tom Aiello, is still here... bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! I voted yes, but that's an understatement ;) There are people who are paranoid about their employers finding out the truth... sometimes it may be justified, but in a regular corporate world things are not that bad! Let's see: I work for a major international financial organization. I got this job by meeting my former boss on rec.skydiving. My current boss thinks i ought to make money by doing all these jumps There has rarely been a work trip without a jump or two, some rather unique places where i'd never go on my own. I keep warm memories of a particular retreat on the beach in Brazil, with a beautiful 300' freestander next to a hotel... a hard choice between a barefoot walk and a short lift by an office car Dozens of my colleagues have seen base jumping live. Most are aware there is an illegal side of the sport. There are plenty of pictures hanging in my office that frequently start a funny conversation. Now the point of all this is: during the last 10 years i have been a corporate slave, not a single person has ever said anything negative about BASE. Not once. Most of the world loves and welcomes BASE jumping. Try to be open-minded and cheerful about it, and you will be surprised how well things may go! bsbd! Yuri.

Yes they are, with the tower itself on July 1..4 and rain dates 5..6. There will likely be some buildings and other entertainment June 26..30. bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! They have just done 2 loads and now going for the 3rd one... This is only a little warm-up for July. Can't wait for the summer! bsbd! Yuri.

Way cool jumps... still, the ultimate wingsuit low pull award belongs to Den. He nearly landed a wingsuit a couple of years ago, impacting at line stretch with his slider still stowed in a C-line rubberband. If you have a chance, ask Den to show an impressive Terminator-style x-ray of his titanium lower back. The only way to beat this is to land a suit without a scratch ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

Yo ! In BASE jumping, logic and emotions are generally disconnected. The fear and the actual level of risk on a particular jump, for example, frequently have very little to do with each other. What this means in your context is that it's very easy to _know_ the risk and still _feel_ immortal I know - i did for a long time. I don't feel bulletproof any more, in fact i get much more scared these days. Ignorance is a blessing...

As there is already packing for hire pretty much all summer at Norway's most popular site, it may be a little late to draw a clear line. Yep, you can bitch all you want but the market already exists

Because unpacked (McConkey, TARD etc) exits are by definition not BASE jumps but rather variations of a paragliding launch. Fun nevertheless! ;-) bsbd! Yuri.

I don't agree. The longer time equals the minimum sink rate that does not equal better glide ratio. This is true. However for many wings (including our wingsuits) these two dots on a polar will not be too far apart. To complicate things a bit, we don't have a single polar here because most people would change the shape of their wing(suit) trying to achive either a minimum sink or a max glide. What that means in practical terms: your mileage will vary (so it doesn't mean much eh? ;-) Most of the time i go for max glide i seem to fly at/near my minimum sink rate. Others with a similar wing loading achieve their highest glide at significantly higher vertical/horizontal speeds. Since the laws of aerodynamics don't bend, we do by shaping our bodies (the wing) differently according to personal preferences. For example bending the knees, while bad in theory, gave me the best possible glide flying Classic. Even in Skyflyer 3 i push my knees down and keep a slight bend to balance the suit. Other people keep them straight and get good results. A stronger stomach would allow one to dearch more while keeping straight legs, but extra muscle bulk and mass can bring their own disadvantages. IMHO flying a suit is an art of balance, and everybody finds it at a slightly different point of the curve. bsbd! Yuri.