Flat Turns are important

[TheAnvil 0]

Hello all. I normally don't post here in SAFETY very often and still being a fairly low-timer with only 500-some odd jumps don't feel very qualified to pontificate about safety from a pedestal. However, since I accidentally scared the hell out of myself this weekend and used flat turns to save my short little ass, I thought I would share the experience in case somebody else might benefit from it.

This weekend the JACKASS Anvil was doing a jump and setting up to land. I'd planned to come in after a 90 on the front risers. Whenever I snag the front riser I normally just grab the loop with two or three (normally the latter) fingers and bring it down smoothly. I've a very healthy and robust respect of coming in on the fronts and don't like to do things low or in a jerky manner. I set up just like I had intended and was pulling down on the left riser when the riser slipped out of my hand fairly violently. Don't know why, I had it with three fingers and I don't exactly have a wuss-like grip, as those who know me are aware (Andy, I'm being serious here).

I always keep the toggles in my hands and when the riser slipped out unexpectedly the toggle kept going down before I could stop it. The unexpected turn and canopy motion from the turn and riser releasing really disoriented me and put me way away from where I needed to be and headed into the totally wrong direction.

Because of obstacles around there, where I ended up was not good. I had to do some flat turns to get myself to a safe place to land and it:

A) scared the hell out of me
B) brought vile obscenities to my lips
C) scared the hell out of me
D) made me feel like an idiot (not a rare occurence)
D) made me really thankful somebody had taken the time to teach me how to do them and ingrain into the thick Anvil skull that it's important to practice them fairly often
E) scared the hell out of me

I think when grabbing the loops from now on it's going to be with all four fingers and a just short of bonecrushing grip. Perhaps it was stupid of me to do otherwise, but having it slip out of my hand like that was not something I had anticipated (duh).

I KNOW that if somebody hadn't taken the time to tell me about flat turns and really spend some time with me explaining how to do them, where to practice them (high up) and why they are important I would be in a world of hurt right now. I also know that if I didn't have the little experience I do have now under canopy I might not have had the awareness to unscrew myself after that happened.

Anyway, the point of this longer-than-I-intended post is that flat turns are important and sometimes when I mention them to a really really low timer off of student status they don't know what the hell I'm talking about, more often than not. This worries me. Take time to practice them and if you see someone coming off of student status, spend a second or two and remind them how important it is to know how to do them because when it comes time to do so in a pinch you don't have time to learn - you have time to EXECUTE and save your ass (dumb ass in my case).

Longer than I intended. Hope somebody finds this useful.

Beers to all, I am a happily alive, wiser, and unscathed

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[usskydiver 0]

Vinny,
That's a great post. The ability to perform a flat turn should be second nature. I have been required to perform them on everything from a Tandem down to a 2 digit Velocity. They can save you a trip to the hospital.

Tim T.
Team Paraclete

[FrogNog 1]

One thing I like about flat turns is that just knowing how to do them is a comfort when things get a little weird. Yesterday I was in more canopy traffic than I am used and I ended up lower than I like in my pattern, and the wind was in the "it never goes this direction" direction with people on the ground everywhere. I worked my way "down" the list of approach techniques from the hottest ones I know to the safest and settled on gentle turns and prepare for PLF, and it was all good. (If a bit short on grace.) Had I been any lower, braked turns would have been necessary and without them, panic and either ground-hurt or obstacles-hurt could have been in the forecast.

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Pull.