Kris 0 #1 September 24, 2001 Sigh, what is it with me and jumps on new gear? Here's a little history:First jump on the rig I bought off of student status: Down-rotor slams me in.First jump on my new Bonehead: The people I jump with crack my head into the side of the C-182 on exit and gouge it. First jump on my freefly suit: Had a brain-fart and ate tarmac, slicing through my chest strap. Maybe this is why my DZ nick-name is Master-"D" and no, think Disaster, not D-license.So, I show up at the DZ on Friday after work and my new Heatwave 190 is there in all its purple and green glory. Since my reserve isn't in yet I throw it in a staff Mirage after hooking up my Mirage bag, risers and pilot-chute to it. The staff Mirage has a PD-176R in it for a reserve, I'm 245# out the door. Aww, I won't have to use it. I had to teach the first jump course Saturday morning so I didn't get to jump it until it was time to take my students and fling them. I couldn't wait to try my new toy but I didn't rush them. Luckily, it was a small class of four and they were all enthusiastic and intelligent and we were done by 1:30. I geared them up, checked them, had another JM give them a second gear check (policy at my DZ) and off we went.All four students performed flawlessly! After a week off, things were starting to look good. After the last student left the strut, I threw a grin at the pilot and jumped. He was nice enough to keep climbing during the passes and we were at just under 4500 when I went. I took about 6-seconds made sure I was rock-solid-stable and threw out. Uh-Oh. That didn't feel right. The bag "felt" funny when it came off of my back. I looked up immediately as it started to stand me up and saw that there were about 6-cells open on the canopy and two line twists below the slider about two-thirds of the way up the lines. I immediately started leaning in the harness away from the twists. Then the other three cells inflated and the canopy immediately spun up at least six more times and I was now spinning on my back.I tried to get out of the twists, no go. I looked at my alti, 3400'. I tried again. 3100'. My next thought was, "That's a good-lookin' canopy!" Yeah, it would've looked better without the twists but I was digging the purple. I looked down (damn hard to do while spinning on my back) to see exactly where I was going to lose my freebag & main at. 2800' I had better do something riGHT FUCKING NOW!LOOK!GRAB!ARCH!RIGHT!LEFT!ARCH!I chopped at 2600' and I had a fully inflated PD-176R over my head at a hair under 2400'. Hell, at least it was green. I got an eyeball on my main and freebag and did a controllability check on this tiny (to my fat ass) reserve since I was loading it at 1.4. Good turn rate, the flare seemed okay; poweful and with no hint of stall. It felt a lot better than the Dash-M 249 I had on my first reserve ride.I looked for the DZ and thought to myself, "Well, at least the winds were running about 10mph." Turns out I'm not that lucky, the windsock was hanging straight down. What did I do to deserve this one...?Downwind, base and now I'm on final approach. 10-feet off the deck and FLARE! To a nice, soft, stand-up landing after about 15-feet of surf. My main landed in the prison on the other corner of the airport property and just three small feet from a razor-wire fence. The freebag was found a few hundred feet away.When we got the main back and I checked it and every seam over here were the general conclusions:1. I only left about 13-inches of slack between the risers and last stow, that could have caused the bag to spin in my burble, especially since I decided to try the new last stow on the Mirage bag which is a center-stow, not at the side of the bag. I usually leave 18-22 inches.2. I tried to psycho-pack an unfamiliar canopy and instead of flaking everything to ensure symmetry until I learned my Heatwave's quirks, I just did a "shake to flake". I had gotten away with it on my Sabre and demo Stiletto for over 100 jumps, but not this time. I didn't roll the nose, I just left it hanging, quartered the slider and I didn't roll the tail. I grabbed each end and just pulled them across each other making a perfect triangle, as usual. I then squeezed the air out, folded in thirds and rolled her up.3. While I was very meticulous in checking the lines and ensuring continuity, I futzed with the brake lines a lot while I was temp finger-trapping them (until I found the brake setting I liked) and after pulling the brakes on the ground I found that the right brake line had 9 twists in it, the left 0. The canopy spun to the right when it twisted up. I called the rigger who saved my sorry ass and I have a bottle of Crown Special Reserve for him. (Thanks Tony!) I bought my case of Corona and all is well.I didn't get to jump it today as we were on wind-hold the whole day.Here is the lesson peoples... Break the chain. Major problems are usually caused by a "chain of events". There were several important things I overlooked in my enthusiasm to try my new toy and things could have turned out a lot worse than they did. Props go out to our pilot Kevin as well who spotted the white freebag and pilot chute from 4000' while they were sitting in deep brush by the side of a dirt-road next to the prison. Damn, I'm going to bed now...Kris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymedic 0 #2 September 24, 2001 Sorry to hear about it bro...I guess you are just that much more of a "Master D"MarcBecause I fly, I envy no man on earth Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viking 0 #3 September 24, 2001 wow thats one hell of a weekend!!!I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mountainman 0 #4 September 24, 2001 So that was your FIRST jump on your new main?? OUCH!!--------------Richmond Boogie pics... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merrick 0 #5 September 24, 2001 DAMN KRIS!!! Sounds like a pretty evil Mal, I'm glad that everything turned out OK. Don't want to go back to the DZ & hear a bunch of "you hear what happened to Kris?" stories! Way to keep your head man! We may be in Cushing this weekend, at least for a little while, don't know if we'll have time to stay & make some jumps, but we'll definitely stop by. Peace Brudda!"Pammi's Hemp/Skydiving Jewelry" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pammi 0 #6 September 24, 2001 Wow Kris!! I'm so glad to hear you are okay! *hug*Hemp/skydiving jewelry pics! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkymonkeyONE 4 #7 September 24, 2001 Kris,not sure why you would psycho pack a Heatwave, as they don't open hard when PRO packed or flat packed. Plus, since they are made of Nylasilk ZP they don't squirt around. All of that is besides the point anyway, and people are free to pack any way they choose. I doubt that had anything to do with your spinner. The spun-up steering line was probably it, though I would check your line trim just for shits and grins.Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aviatrr 0 #8 September 24, 2001 Damn, man...sorry to hear it, but glad everything worked out.. As Chuck said, I'd check the trim.. It's probably ok, and it was probably something else that caused the mal - but take a look at it.. I think that your line length between riser and stow, and the fact that you didn't properly flake it were the biggest factors.. The line length more than the other....but, it could have started spinning because of the cells all being jumbled from not being properly flaked.. Of course, this is all just speculation on my part - but I know what it's like to be under a spinner....not fun.. Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydiveMonkey 0 #9 September 25, 2001 Way to go dude !! At least it wasn't your first mal to deal with !! BPA - A102345 Gravity doesn't exisit - the Earth just sucks !!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Dutchboy 0 #10 September 25, 2001 Glad that everything worked out OK for you.A note on packing the canopy. I have a Hornet and just PRO pack it. I have tried the psycho pack a few times. Whenever someone else did the psycho pack all was fine, but about 50% of the time when I did it I got twists. Since the canopy always opens nicely and doesn't squirt around while folding I just stick with the PRO pack now. Also, I'm told that psycho packing without a bridle extension can cause twists and canopy wear.The Dutchboyhttp://www.geocities.com/ppolstra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Kris 0 #11 September 25, 2001 Skymonkey, I psycho-packed it because that is how I have been packing since I got off of student status and it was what I feel most comfortable with. Thanks for the advice on the trim, I'll check it.Aviatrr, I think it was the short line length left and the lack of flaking. SkydiveMonkey, Since it was my second mal, I didn't owe beer for it but I have a bottle for the rigger and I bought my case for my first jump on my new main. Dutchboy, Good catch on the bridle extension for psycho-packing. I do have one on the canopy.Pammi & Merrick, awww, you know I luuurve you guyz. Kriszilla Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Aviatrr 0 #12 September 25, 2001 Quote I have tried the psycho pack a few times. Whenever someone else did the psycho pack all was fine, but about 50% of the time when I did it I got twists. I have about 200 jumps on psycho-packed mains(about 95 of 'em on a Hornet), and have NEVER had a single line twist on any of those pack jobs....the only times I've had line twists were on pro-packed canopies.. Psycho-packing is great when you have a main that is very hard to bag....in the case of the Hornet I was jumping, it was 40sqft larger than the container was built to accept.. Quote Also, I'm told that psycho packing without a bridle extension can cause twists and canopy wear. I've never heard of it causing line twists - but it can definitely cause canopy wear if the rapide link is dragged across the canopy..Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Dutchboy 0 #13 September 26, 2001 What can I say, I must be doing something wrong. That is why I don't have anything bad to say about the psycho pack, because I only have problems when I try it not when somebody who knows what they are doing packs it. Since it is so easy to pack the Hornet I don't go to the extra effort to psycho pack anymore.The Dutchboyhttp://www.geocities.com/ppolstra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
Dutchboy 0 #10 September 25, 2001 Glad that everything worked out OK for you.A note on packing the canopy. I have a Hornet and just PRO pack it. I have tried the psycho pack a few times. Whenever someone else did the psycho pack all was fine, but about 50% of the time when I did it I got twists. Since the canopy always opens nicely and doesn't squirt around while folding I just stick with the PRO pack now. Also, I'm told that psycho packing without a bridle extension can cause twists and canopy wear.The Dutchboyhttp://www.geocities.com/ppolstra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kris 0 #11 September 25, 2001 Skymonkey, I psycho-packed it because that is how I have been packing since I got off of student status and it was what I feel most comfortable with. Thanks for the advice on the trim, I'll check it.Aviatrr, I think it was the short line length left and the lack of flaking. SkydiveMonkey, Since it was my second mal, I didn't owe beer for it but I have a bottle for the rigger and I bought my case for my first jump on my new main. Dutchboy, Good catch on the bridle extension for psycho-packing. I do have one on the canopy.Pammi & Merrick, awww, you know I luuurve you guyz. Kriszilla Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aviatrr 0 #12 September 25, 2001 Quote I have tried the psycho pack a few times. Whenever someone else did the psycho pack all was fine, but about 50% of the time when I did it I got twists. I have about 200 jumps on psycho-packed mains(about 95 of 'em on a Hornet), and have NEVER had a single line twist on any of those pack jobs....the only times I've had line twists were on pro-packed canopies.. Psycho-packing is great when you have a main that is very hard to bag....in the case of the Hornet I was jumping, it was 40sqft larger than the container was built to accept.. Quote Also, I'm told that psycho packing without a bridle extension can cause twists and canopy wear. I've never heard of it causing line twists - but it can definitely cause canopy wear if the rapide link is dragged across the canopy..Mike Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dutchboy 0 #13 September 26, 2001 What can I say, I must be doing something wrong. That is why I don't have anything bad to say about the psycho pack, because I only have problems when I try it not when somebody who knows what they are doing packs it. Since it is so easy to pack the Hornet I don't go to the extra effort to psycho pack anymore.The Dutchboyhttp://www.geocities.com/ppolstra Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
