Re: [brianfry713] BASE from London Eye
I don't know this fellow, or agree with how he day-blazed this jump, but the story called him a "stuntman" and over the years we've had more than a few out-of-work or beginning stuntmen who use BASE jumping to gain publicity for themselves. And most of them don't go as well as this one did. Often a stuntman knows there's a part coming up in a movie involving parachutes and these are what can be termed, "guerrilla auditions."
In the late 1980s there was a "stuntman wannabe" who jumped San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. But like many stuntman who had a lot a mad skills posted on their resumes he wasn't really proficient with them all, and especially he knew nothing about BASE jumping. Using non-BASE gear (round military equipment) he became snagged and hanging from the bridge after the wind got the better of him. He finally hand deployed his round reserve (chest mounted) and cutaway his main before landing in the water below. The way this works is the "film" then makes the rounds in Hollywood where standing out in a crowd is the only way to get noticed.
There was another stuntman in the early 90s but this one actually called me for some assistance. This time its San Diego and he wanted to jump from the Coronado Bridge but he'd never made a BASE jump before. After I explained the high security and the low height of the bridge, plus the landing in a Bay that can be cold and rough, I told him with no BASE experience there was no way I'd help him. But he went and did it anyway.
It actually went pretty well considering. He hired a stretch white limo and clinging to the trunk lid came speeding across the bridge, in broad daylight, and leapt over the rail with the limo going about 50 mph. He deployed a square (he got somewhere?) while very unstable and landed pretty much out of control, but okay, in the water.
Probably, in both the above cases, these guys got their chances in the movies. And if you follow along long enough, this Brit will most likely get his shot too.
Not all professional stuntman are so flippant about BASE. David Nunn, who was a working stuntman really got into BASE and went on to do some amazing gags, but he had the jumping background and his reels protected sites and other BASE jumpers, so there is a way to do it right . . .
NickD
BASE 194
