What would you have done?

[weegegirl 2]

Had a weird thing happen under canopy yesterday and I'm not sure if I did the "best" thing. It kept me up thinking most of the night last night. Now my question is, if it happens again, would i do the same thing?

First....

I'm 5'6, 135lbs... 440 or so jumps... stilleto 135.

Normal freefly. Break. Track. Check. Wave. Dump. The opening was a bit choppy. Look up and the pilot chute has gone around the left side, and threaded it's way through the lines and back out to trail behind. Looked pretty fucked up. I was in the saddle at 3, so I played with it pretty gently until 2... turning, flaring... to see if anything i was going to do on landing would piss it off even more. It flew fine, but it was really kinda freaky. I decided to land it (it was a perfectly good canopy)... flew it straight in and landed in the student landing area (less wind off obstacles and such).

Has anyone else had this happen? If I had gotten some weird wind or was forced to make a hard turn, would I have had a potential mess on my hands?

Am I just totally over-thinking this??

[AggieDave 6]

Did it fly?

Then IMHO you're overthinking it.

I've landed my sport canopy 3 times in similar configurations and a tandem twice similar to that.

On one of the sport jumps, I had my PC/bridle wrapped around a control line. I hadn't realized it (lot of traffic on opening), got below the traffic, hooked the piss out of it and swooped. Something felt a little off, but I didn't really think about it. It wasn't until I saw the video from the ground of my swoop did I realize what was going on.

That wasn't really a smart thing to do, but it still flew fine.

Edit: On the sport canopies its happened on my Crossfire2 loaded 1.9:1 and it happened on my old Heatwave loaded at 1.7:1.

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

[speedy 0]

I think you did exactly the right thing. Checked it flew properly, checked it flared, all above 2k. If it flies O.K. then land it.

Dave

Fallschirmsport Marl

[Brains 2]

I agree with the others. You did the right thing by checking out the canopy first. Look at it this way, if it happens again it won't freak you out, been there done that etc.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[AndyMan 7]

Pilot chutes going through the lines is a very common "malfunction". I put that in quotes because its the only mal I can think of that usually results in a perfectly flyable, perfectly landable canopy.

I teach students that they need to decide if a canopy is landable by using the "3 S's". is the canopy Stable? Square? Steerable? Land it. If not, chop it.

It sounds like your canopy fit all 3. It passed your controlability check, so you landed it. I would've done the same thing, under my Stileto I load at 1.7.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Stacy 0]

I had that happen on my old spectre twice. Both times it looked odd to me, but like yours flew fine and the bridle didn't appear to be affecting anything. Just kept my eye on it, flew it conservatively and landed without incident.
__

[davelepka 4]

***or was forced to make a hard turn, would I have had a potential mess on my hands?
==================================

To start, what happened to you, if you have a collapsable PC is usually not a problem, and landing it was a fine idea.

Something to think about, for next tine, or any 'questionable' situation, is if you were open at 3, and doing your controlability check, really wring the thing out. Full flare to an impending stall, and hard turns in either direction, while looking at the canopy for any 'weirdness'. I'm guessing you've done this with a good canopy, and seen what the canopy looks like, so you can identify any differences during your test.

The idea is to really investigate the problem between 3k and 2k, so if you see trouble, you can still cut it away. If it checks out, THEN take it easy under your desicion altitude, with the knowledge that you should be able to fully fly the canopy if you have to.

The easy landing in the student area was a good idea.

[weegegirl 2]

Yeah, I know all that... so I just followed normal procedure. I guess the part that bugged me out, was the "unknown" factor of how the canopy might react if I had to make any fast movements. the PC was pretty well wrapped around the lines. I'm glad I didn't chop it because I would have felt like a total ass chopping a perfectly good canopy. just an unfamiliar situation, that's all.

[AndyMan 7]

I think these "malfunctions" were of much more concern back before colapsible pilot chutes were common. I just can't imagine a colapsed one provides that much drag...

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Ron 10]

#1 you lived therfore you did the right thing.

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I was in the saddle at 3, so I played with it pretty gently until 2... turning, flaring... to see if anything i was going to do on landing would piss it off even more.

The only thing I might have done was flown it hard, not gently till around 1500. If it lasted through me flying it like I stole it...Then I would feel safe landing it.

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

[weegegirl 2]

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The only thing I might have done was flown it hard, not gently till around 1500. If it lasted through me flying it like I stole it...Then I would feel safe landing it.

Yeah, you and Dave make a really good point. I had plenty of time to "fly it hard" and see if it would do anything f*cked up. I definately gave it full flare a few times and watched it hard, took a few light turns, but then I just flew a straight in landing.

Good thoughts for next time. Thanks.

[billvon 3,098]

I've seen this happen perhaps a dozen times on student canopies. The only time we had a problem was once when turbulence partially collapsed his canopy and the PC did not allow it to re-inflate normally. He ended up cutting away at 1500 feet.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Interesting, but I still think if ii is 3S thats not enough reason for going plan B.

[wildchild 0]

I had a similar thing happen about a month and a half ago on a student canopy. Spring-loaded pilot chute though, it went under the back of the canopy and around a few lines. My first reaction was a lot of swearing but decided to do controllability checks as well before chopping it. With gentle treatment it flew fine. And then I hit turbulence at 800ft. It was a hellishly hot day, very bumpy but there was no way in hell I was going to even consider chopping it so resigned myself to whatever shit was coming my way. Flew a very long very straight approach, a bit bumpy in the air, but also landed fine.

Hey, all's well that ends well!

____________________________
"If there is doubt, there is no doubt." - Tonto

[CornishChris 5]

How bizarre. I was thinking of posting almost exactly the same this morning as that happened to me on my last jump of the weekend. Really choppy opening so I grabbed the toggles and it sorted itself out. Looked up to see PC wrapped around one of the brake lines. It was square, it flared but I still weighed up the options. Decided that I would not trade a landable canopy for an unkown and took it in fine although very steadily and landed way away from all others. Still scared me a bit but was pleased with my choice.

Asked a few people at the DZ and they said I made the right decisions so all good. Still not sure exactly how it happened but hey...

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[jimoke 0]

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I'm glad I didn't chop it because I would have felt like a total ass chopping a perfectly good canopy. just an unfamiliar situation, that's all.

I had a friend who chopped a while back for a stuck brake. she recieved some comments from people. the next time it happened was a few weeks later she did not chop (out of embarassment?) she rode it to the ground and did not survive the landing.
Please remember that it is your ass on the line, no one around the bonfire was there. if you need to cutaway, do it!

I believe you handled yourself properly with your pc scenario. you did what you needed to do on that descent. Good Job!

Oke

The ground always, remembers where you are!

[lug 4]

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...I played with it pretty gently until 2... turning, flaring... to see if anything i was going to do on landing would piss it off even more.

I agree with Ron, in flying your canopy little more aggressively it would check a broader range of the canopies controllability. Harder turns and flares to see is something might be wrong at the canopies higher performance end.

I disagree with Ron's altitude, I think it too low, you are right to limit it to 2,000, besides it was with in your comfort limits.

Memento Mori

[Cacophony 0]

I brought my friends reserve PC back to her VIA the lines in my canopy a long time ago. I didn't intentially get it in there. I was planning on catching it in my hands, but I didn't know what I was doing. It was a stupid thing to try and I'm not going to ever again, but I did land just fine. I landed a little crooked, but uneventfully.

Personally, if I had determined through lots of deep flares and moderate turns that it was not effecting my canopy beyond a landable state then I would keep it. I'm not going to be so quick to get rid of a good canopy in hopes that my backup will work perfectly. However, if you have any doubt in your mind that you cannot land it safely and altitude is permitting then perhaps you should get rid of it. Better to be safe than sorry.