Excess brake line came out of the finger trap and...

[lewmonst 0]

Regular tandem video. Open around 3k. All is well, I hang out in brakes up high waiting for a few others below to set the pattern (slight downwind according to the first one down, although the winds vary tremendously in elsinore mid a hot day). Bleed off some altitude and 90 into final, about 6 feet above ground I start my flare and my left steering toggle would not pull down. A quick glance before I thud into the dirt shows a tension knot with the excess brake line in the keeper ring.

Luckily, somehow, i manage to hit my right hip and thigh and slide in pretty hard, but only with a few scrapes to show for it. I am honestly surprised I am not hurt. I had no flare and was coming in with decent speed, then dove a little right just as i flared and the left one got stuck, I went a little further with the right and then just tried to slide and protect myself. Witnesses also thought I was lucky to not be hurt.

The excess brake line which I had fingertrapped had somehow made it's way out. There was no sign of a problem until I flared on landing. And I had already released and flown some with the brakes up high. It just happen to work into a tension knot on final. Scary. Thankfully Brian replaced and tacked my lower control lines immidiately. Next jump I landed just fine through a dust-devil...

just a head's up, if you have excess steering line in a fingertrap, watch out for it. And if you are happy with the brake settings, tack em.

peace
lew

http://www.exitshot.com

[PhreeZone 20]

Lew, as part of your opening under canopy sequence do you do practice turns or practice flares?

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[falxori 0]

i think i'm missing something.
if the brakes were unstowed, where did you have excess brake line?
i'm pretty sure you're not talking aout the excess line left after stowing the breaks, but thats the only kind i know of.
can you clearify?

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although the winds vary tremendously in elsinore mid a hot day

yeap, caused a few hard landings on my first few jumps there last month

anyway, glad you walked away in one piece

O

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."

[ianmdrennan 2]

Phree,

Not sure where you're going here with this, but at 6 ft after a 90 degree turn on a katana, there's no time for a flat turn/flare turn. All controls appeared normal until final. Not really sure what he could have done here other than make an attempt for rears (which would be pushing it that low) and/or brace as best as possible.

Am I missing something?

Blue ones,
Ian

Performance Designs Factory Team

[Newbie 0]

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Phree,

Not sure where you're going here with this, but at 6 ft after a 90 degree turn on a katana, there's no time for a flat turn/flare turn. All controls appeared normal until final. Not really sure what he could have done here other than make an attempt for rears (which would be pushing it that low) and/or brace as best as possible.

Am I missing something?

Blue ones,
Ian

im not 100% sure, but i think Phree meant whether she practiced them up high, not as a means to know how to avoid them at 6ft off the ground, but to see if the tension knot would have revealed itself earlier? I could be completely wrong however. Lew did say she had flown in brakes already, which to me would mean that the excess brake line would not be "excess" anymore, as it ceases to be once the brakes are popped right?
I dont fully get it, or rather im having trouble picturing what went wrong - lew could you explain how it got trapped in a tension knot? Were there twists in the brake line? How can this be avoided?

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[Ron 10]

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The excess brake line which I had fingertrapped had somehow made it's way out. There was no sign of a problem until I flared on landing. And I had already released and flown some with the brakes up high. It just happen to work into a tension knot on final

The excess brake line went into a knot and that caught on the guide ring on the riser correct?

Sounds like you need to make sure that not only do you finger trap the line, but that you also tack it.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[PhreeZone 20]

What I was wondering was if there was a lot of turns that could have been rubbing on the lines to force the finger trap to come undone.

Was the Finger trap secured by a knot or was it just relying on the line tension to keep the finger trap held?

On all the toggles on the canopies I assemble I finger trap a loop, tie a knot then put the toggle on. How was your toggle assembled?

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[FrogNog 1]

Quote

Quote

The excess brake line which I had fingertrapped had somehow made it's way out. There was no sign of a problem until I flared on landing. And I had already released and flown some with the brakes up high. It just happen to work into a tension knot on final

The excess brake line went into a knot and that caught on the guide ring on the riser correct?

Sounds like you need to make sure that not only do you finger trap the line, but that you also tack it.

I had this exact problem a week ago. Since I discovered it up high during my controllability check ("turn right, turn left, practice flare - what the hell?"), I had plenty of time to reign my panic and fix the problem.

And, yes, I need to not only finger trap the excess, but also tack it. Bad me.

-=-=-=-=-
Pull.

[lewmonst 0]

To clarify further... Yes, I did contollability check up high. No problem. I hung in brakes waiting for other traffic to land, then when I went to full flight, and approached on my front riser, it was only then that the problem occured which of course I had no way of noticing until i went into my flare. Had the problem occured up high, it could have been easily cleared before final. It occured on final and not before. Some people are also confusing what I mean by excess brake line... Since this is a new canopy, I had only set my lower control lines to a length temporarily, leaving excess line incase i decided to lengthen them... That excess line, (after the toggle attachment) is lose. So to temporarily store it, it is fingertrapped back into the steering line that has tension on it (in full flight). That excess line came out of the fingertrap, but was not noticeable and did not cause a problem until the flare. (again, yes, I'd already flared up high, no problem)

The toggle assembly is the same as yours I believe phree, but is not the issue.

And as I said in my first post, I replaced it with permanent settings that are tacked.

peace
lew

http://www.exitshot.com

[mjosparky 4]

Lew brings up a good point. I have seen this condition before on newly assembled mains. After the brake setting is determined to be correct, a bartac or zigzag is used to finnish it off. Until then it is often left loose or finger trapped with out tacking. I use a double stitch of FF thread to hold the trap until the final setting is determined.
Glad you landed without hurting the left side Lew.
Sparky

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[billvon 3,120]

>That excess line came out of the fingertrap . . .

Yep, that's a problem that can happen on most canopies, and is exacerbated by a new canopy with a lot of "extra" line. A good reason to deal with that extra brake line flopping around. It takes only a few seconds to re-fingertrap the excess material, and can save you some pain.