Malfunction canopy replace or not?

[DroptheMan04 0]

If happen that day, malfunction and cut away, during main canopy floatin (cutaway) anywhere during riding resevre and landing, do you need go pick it up main canopy to repair or have to buy new main?

[MB38 0]

That is completely dependent on the type and severity of the malfunction. Most of the time [lets say 9/10 times] the canopy will be fine. Just untangle it and reconnect it to your rig after a reserve repack. Good to go.

Sometimes, however, there can be damage. It could be from any number of places... line burns on the top-skin from a line-over malfunction... maybe the canopy landed on a cactus... maybe you snapped a line or two... who knows. Small problems can generally be repaired.

Catastrophic malfunctions [canopy blows up] will end the life of a canopy. It's pretty clear when that's happened.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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If happen that day, malfunction and cut away, during main canopy floatin (cutaway) anywhere during riding resevre and landing, do you need go pick it up main canopy to repair or have to buy new main?

If you are renting gear, then yes, you are positively responsible for recovering that main. It's pretty fascinating to me that these days so many people happilly fly their reserves back to the main landing area and don't pay attention AT ALL to where their main fell. What ever happened to flying in a circle under your reserve and landing as close as safely possible to your main?

Chuck

[kenneth21441 0]

I guess they dont teach that subject any longer....

I sure want to knwo where my stuff went even if I rented the item.

I remember many a days looking around Bragg for a cut away main to only get kicked out of the area due to dam wood peckers...

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[NWFlyer 2]

There seems to be a mixed message on that; when I was at Perris last year a jumper followed his main down into a clear area and was lectured by someone (who I believe worked for the DZ) about doing that ... the message was "worry about the gear later and focus on getting yourself down safely."

I suppose to some extent the advice should vary based on experience level; when I cutaway as a student, I confess I didn't have all that much awareness of where my main went ... I was very focused on getting myself down safely on an off landing. Fortunately it didn't go far.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[billvon 3,111]

>the message was "worry about the gear later and focus on getting yourself down safely."

That's true in any case. A broken femur will cost you a lot more than a new canopy, so it's generally best to ensure your own safe landing first. At a place like Perris, their retrieval crews are really good, so the best bet is to land nearby in a safe area and get a good bead on where it landed.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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.. the message was "worry about the gear later and focus on getting yourself down safely."

Don't worry about the main. Chase the free bag and handles. They're harder to find.

I would hope no one would lecture me on where to land my reserve.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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I would hope no one would lecture me on where to land my reserve.

Exactly. I didn't say anything about making an "unsafe" landing. I intoned that it was wise to keep an eye out for your main and land as close as is safely possible. I am not about to land out in the piney woods or the swamp, but I will damn sure keep an eye out and land as close as I can.

Likewise, if I am on the ground and someone chops I am going to move to a fixed object and watch which direction any drifting main/freebag goes behind trees and out of sight. There is nothing worse than having to wander aimlessly through the woods in search of someone's chopped main. If more people would take the time to actually get a fix on a drifting main/freebag from the ground then I might consider blowing it off and swooping the beer line with my reserve. I just don't trust that anyone else is going to give a shit about my $2,000 Velo though, so I will stick with my plan: pay attention, then land as close as possible (safely).

Chuck

[7of10 0]

When I cut away in Z-Hills in January I saw where my main landed but by the time I got to it Robert was already fishing it out of a tree.
You gotta love that kind of response.

[riggerrob 643]

It really depends upon what type of malfunction you suffered.
If it was a simple case of "line twists from hell," then you retrieve the main, repack it and try again.

On the other hand, if your main suffered catastrophic failure (holes big enough to drive a bus through), then it goes straight to the trash can!

[JerryBaumchen 1,466]

Oh come on, Rob.

That would make a great project for a new, eager rigger. Where else can they get that kind of experience?

I mean you could send them off with that canopy and never see them again until they were old.

Jerry

[packerboy 3]

Just make 2 new smaller parachutes! Isn't it cooler to fly a smaller parachute anyway?

--------------------------------------------------
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[georgerussia 0]

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If happen that day, malfunction and cut away, during main canopy floatin (cutaway) anywhere during riding resevre and landing, do you need go pick it up main canopy to repair or have to buy new main?

You'd better recover it anyway, even in case it is completely non-airworthy.
Otherwise you'll have not only to buy a new main, but also to buy:
- a set of risers;
- a set of steering toggles;
- a deployment bag;
- a pilot chute with bridle;

which may cost a lot (about $500 in my case).

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[CSpenceFLY 1]

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When I cut away in Z-Hills in January I saw where my main landed but by the time I got to it Robert was already fishing it out of a tree.
You gotta love that kind of response.

My last mal was in Lake Wales.By the time I walked in from the field their guy not only had my main but also found my cut away handle that I had thrown after going from a one handed pull attempt to two hands.


.

[tbrown 26]

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There seems to be a mixed message on that; when I was at Perris last year a jumper followed his main down into a clear area and was lectured by someone (who I believe worked for the DZ) about doing that ... the message was "worry about the gear later and focus on getting yourself down safely."

At Perris, Tim Farnam's recovery crew will often have your main waiting for you at manifest when you get there, and more often than not they'll have your freebag as well. Not to mention they send a truck out for you if they see you landing out, or anywhere beyond the grass strip. But other places simply don't have their act together and some expensive canopies have been lost or stolen, while manifest is paging you to tell them what color your canopy is (as if that helps). If somebody isn't chasing a canopy on its way down, your chances are slipping away by the moment.

At Perris I won't worry about it, anywhere else, I'll follow somebody's cutaway as closely as safety allows.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !