More crazy newbie Q's

[Groundbound 0]

IGNORE IF ANNOYED: move along - nothing to see here...


Is a reserve chute a legal requirement?
Do some jump without them?
Can you land with both res and main deployed, or is there a 'good' chance?
What % of non-student jumpers use an automatic reserve deployment device?
If you deploy the reserve can you later cut away a main if it decides to fill at this point or is that riskier? Maybe it depends on what you are looking at.

Thanks for discussing these things with me. My book hasn't arrived yet.

[bob.dino 1]

The USPA SIM is available online.

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Is a reserve chute a legal requirement?

For jumping from an airplane, yes.

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Do some jump without them?

BASE jumpers.

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Can you land with both res and main deployed, or is there a 'good' chance?

It's possible, but not something that should happen unless you screw up.

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If you deploy the reserve can you later cut away a main if it decides to fill at this point or is that riskier?

Tricky question, and it depends on the circumstances. Use the Forum Search link near the top of this page to search for "two out" and have a read.

[bch7773 0]

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IGNORE IF ANNOYED: move along - nothing to see here...


Is a reserve chute a legal requirement?
Do some jump without them?
Can you land with both res and main deployed, or is there a 'good' chance?
What % of non-student jumpers use an automatic reserve deployment device?
If you deploy the reserve can you later cut away a main if it decides to fill at this point or is that riskier? Maybe it depends on what you are looking at.

Thanks for discussing these things with me. My book hasn't arrived yet.

reserve chute is a requirement.
only base jumpers jump without reserves, and they are mostly morons
you COULD land with both canopies deployed, but its dangerous and stupid.
most jumpers use AADs, students are required to
you cannot cutaway a reserve, short of literally cutting it off your container.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[FrogNog 1]

1. In the US, when jumping from planes, yes.
2. In the US, when jumping from planes, almost never.
3. This is a bad thing that we try very hard to prevent having to deal with before it starts.
4. I don't know.
5. This is a complex issue that can be found if you search the forums. (Searching isn't always easy, but it is rewarding.)

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[Griff69 0]

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If you deploy the reserve can you later cut away a main if it decides to fill at this point or is that riskier? Maybe it depends on what you are looking at.

I'm sure those with more than one jump have better answers, but according to the Safety Day refresher Saturday, the short answer is:
In a downplane, yes. Otherwise, generally no.

Chris

"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. Liberty is two wolves attempting to have a sheep for dinner and finding a well-informed, well-armed sheep."

[AggieDave 6]

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If you deploy the reserve can you later cut away a main if it decides to fill at this point or is that riskier? Maybe it depends on what you are looking at.

Although the short answer has been answered ("no" and "depends") I wanted to say a couple things about this and the rest of your questions.

Firstly, you only have 2 canopies with you (normally), your main and reserve. If you have plan 1 and plan 2 out in the air and they're flying, but you have no plan 3, why try to chop plan 1 and possibly screw up plan 2?

AND the most important answer is:

No matter what you read here on DZ.com, no matter how correct the answer seems and no matter how much experience the person answering your question says they have...ASK YOUR INSTRUCTORS.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[crotalus01 0]

just go to your local DZ and sign up for a tandem and groundschool...all of those questions will be answered in detail.

As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD...

[Avion 0]

The first four questions have been sufficently answered, so I will only reply to the last. Keep in mind I have only one tandem jump. Although I have been through AFF ground school and have been educating myself about skydiving for more than a year.

A two out situation is very bad. It it best to do everything you can in order to avoid it in the first place: Do your gear checks, and pull at the proper altitude.

To answer your question directly, after doing the search and reading the posts, it appears opinions are as usual, divided about the usefullness of cutting away the main.

Two points stand out:

1) The most important, if the main and reserve risers are twisted together, and you cutaway the main, there is a good chance, quoted as 50/50, that the mains risers will pull the reserves slider all the way up to the reserve canopy and keep it there, very bad.

2) If the two canopies go into a downplane and the risers are clearly seperate, it might be a good idea to cut the main loose.

Other than these two cases, if the canopies are stable, side by side, or biplane, it might be best to ride them both down and PLF.

This is one of those cases where you should read as much as possible and ask as many people as possible before making your own informed decision as to your procedures for this situation.

[Dougiefresh 0]

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If the two canopies go into a downplane and the risers are clearly seperate, it might be a good idea to cut the main loose.

Might be?

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. --Douglas Adams

[Avion 0]

It depends on who your talking with. Some people say to get them to got back together by pulling on the rear risers.

My AFF instuctor told me to cutaway the main if the two down plane. She failed to mention anything about the riser concern though

I hope to simply avoid the situation

Cheers

[IvanPeters 0]

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It depends on who your talking with. Some people say to get them to got back together by pulling on the rear risers.

My AFF instuctor told me to cutaway the main if the two down plane. She failed to mention anything about the riser concern though

Did any of those people say they had done it? It might seem logical to say that pulling on the rear risers in normal flight slows it down, so doing that to one in a downplane should bring it back above you. But a downplane is far from normal flight.

It might be an interesting thought exercise to wonder if that would work but do you really want to be trying an experiment like that while you are heading rapidly at the ground?

I think your AFF instructor failed to mention anything about the riser idea for good reason.

Ivan

[Avion 0]

Prehaps, I should have said omitted any mention of....

There are a number of posts here about people using the rear risers to get side by side down planes back together. I think I've heard that a biplane can also go into a front back downplane. I'd suppose it would take pulling on the front canopies rears to get it to slow up and go back together. I have yet to hear any stories about that or a pinwheel one.

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It might be an interesting thought exercise to wonder if that would work but do you really want to be trying an experiment like that while you are heading rapidly at the ground?

I would check for entanglement, hopefully would have enough time to do that before a downplane gets started, and if clear cutaway. I've seen enough videos to realize it would be an all too intense situation, and hopefully with the pratice of good habits will be prevented from happening in the first place.

Brian

[dorbie 0]

Your first jump course would cover most of this, especially the appropriate actions when you have a two out. Avoiding, recognizing and handling emergencies like this is a big part of any first jump course. Go take one and jump already. Your instructors will teach you how to handle the different modes of two out scenarios. Without the right level familiarity and comfort it may be best to just listen to what they teach rather than getting bogged down in nuanced opinions of online debates.

Go on a first jump course, listen to your instructors and jump.