DutchSkyCam

After your latest remarks i read the original post again. You came from a Sabre 150 @ 1.67WL and went to a Samurai 137 @ 1.70WL (My conclusion: either you lost 20 lbs during your layoff/recovery or you are now jumping at a WL of 1.82). Even after your accident you mention you were happy about landing so close to the peas (My conclusion: You have always had problems with accuracy). You couldn't handle a straight-in landing (500' final) on a no-wind day and you yourself concluded the wingloading and the lack off wind were the cause of the accident. I don't know anyone jumping a samurai, so: http://www.bigairsportz.com/samurai.php So after an accident on your previous canopy (also high wingload, but at least square) you think you can do better on an eliptical at an ever higher wingload? Maybe it has a better flare, but it will almost certainly have a higher forward speed on landing (see your own conclusion above) You need to ask yourself a few questions: -Can you understand that some people in this forum are concerned about your health? -Do you understand the flying characteristics of (ellipical-)canopies @ higher wingloads? -Can you land your current canopy straigh-in on a nill-wind day? -Can you land your current canopy in a tight spot? -And next to understanding it: "When the shit hits the fan, Can you DO it?" Normally I am not so much of a poster on this forum, but your story has the word ACCIDENT written all over it.

I am not a regular visitor to this forum, so i had not heard of Rich's passing. When I saw his name it made me really sad... (i'm actualy crying now). His name is on my Skydog card, he signed it in 1999. That year i worked and lived at skydive Houston, he was on some of the best dives i did there. I still have some photo's of those dives on my website. http://www.skycam.nl/index.html?pagina=us_jumps&showfoto=32 http://www.skycam.nl/index.html?pagina=us_jumps&showfoto=35 Hutch, You lived a great live, they gave you a great farewell. I can only hope to do as good as you did!!! Barry skydog #1503 And in good tradition: WOOF!!!

Overall 7 times in about 2800 jumps makes 1 in 400. 2 times in 2000 funjumps (13 years) on normal sport gear (makes 1 in a 1000) Both cutaways were in the same week on jump # 720 and #740. first was packing related and second was broken steering line. I have 1000+ jumps on crossbraced canopies WL 2.2. No reserves on them. 5 times in about 800 tandems (makes 1 in 160) None of the 5 tandem reserves were own packjobs and 1 broken riser was gear related. edited to add: All tandem reserves were in the same year(2003). I'm a tandemmaster since 1999...

On my Tandemmaster certification Course (in 1999) it was explained that's exactly one of the things NOT to do. Some students tend to grab anything they can get their hands on. I don't have a problem with giving a student an alti, even acces to the ripcord is no problem. But only after they ask and some additional brieving... I have my students help on steering, canopycontrol and sometimes on landing. depends on weather conditions and the student. Barry

The above link points to the Dutch canopy regulations. Jumpers here are devided in 5 categories. I: < 25 jumps II: 25 - 100 jumps III: 100 - 500 jumps, > 25 jumps last 12 months IV: 500 - 1000 jumps, > 50 jumps last 12 months V: > 1000 jumps, > 100 jumps last 12 months The restricions are I: WL =170 II: WL =170 III: WL =150 IV: WL =120 V: use your own judgement. Also all canopies on the market are devided in categories: a few examples: Cagegorie I: Navigator, Manta, Cruislite, Sabre, e.a. Categorie II: Electra, Merit, Spectre, Silhouette, e.a. Categorie III: Sabre2, Safire2, triathlon, e.a. Categorie IV: Stiletto, Vengeance, Katana, Crosfire, e.a. Categorie V: Extremes, Velocities, whatever. The complete list of canopies is here:http://www.parachute.nl/ikbeneenspringer/bvrbb.pdf At first I did not agree with those regulations, but I do notice people are starting to think about the canopies they jump. Obviously we have our problems, an electra 170 @ 1.1 is still a handfull for the heavy < 100 jumps student while the category I, 170 @ 0.6 is underloaded for a 100 lbs ferry on a windy day. But overall I think this is a good system. Hope this clarifies things Barry

How/why does that make you a safer jumper?

#1: Jump #731, 18/01/1999 Tension Knot in outside A/B lines on my largest formation jump (even upto today) #2: Jump #809, 10/4/1999 Broken steering line, spinning and lots of line-twists... #3 to 8: All tandem Malfunctions Lineover (2x) Broken steering line (1x) Broken riser (1x) Sticky lines (slider high) (2x)

Does anyone know why people started to jump with full face skydiving helmets? I do, it's because of high-speed rw formations and sometimes people got a foot in the face... It also helps with riser slabs or a bad PLF (Parachutist Landing on Face). After the big teams started wearing them everyone started wearing them (beforehand everyone was either jumping bareheaded or with a wraphat)... Why would you want to wear a motor cycle helmet or a helmet with similar high specs (name a situation)? The only really catastrophic impact you can make in a skydive is a low turn, in that case the rest of your body will probably also be... (fill in the rest)... Or obviously a no-pull, but no helmet in the world can protect you from that. OK, hitting the tail on exit (should never happen, but it has happened) requires a good helmet. Since I am required to wear a helmet on swooping contests, I bought a nice helmet on my last wintersport, at least it has an independant(CE) certificate saying it is designed to protect the head from impact... (unlike skydiving helmets which have signs that say it MAY protect your head from impact)... Edited to add: The certified wintersport helmet was even cheaper than a Gath at the local skydiving shop and rectified some typos...

I have 2500 jumps, 12 years in the sport and cannot jump in the winter (OK, maybe I can but I don't like freezing my hands, balls, and other bodyparts off)... My first jump in the season should obviously not be a fifty way on a tight landing area, but do you really expect me to do a jump with an instructor? (Maybe a linked exit so he can check my alti-awareness and pull for me when I forget?) For students: (maybe upto around 50 jumps) something special has to be arranged. what exactly depends on the time out of the air. More jumps: Review of procedures (including, but not limited to emergency procedures) and no complex jumps for a while. What is complex? Differs from person to person. How much time should you spend on the reviews? Differs from person to person. Who is responsible? You, yourself, and until you get a C licence (in The Netyherlands) your Instructor... Barry. USPA D22224. KNVvL D65607, T158.

Expecially during opening the weight of a (hard-)cast could cause more damage to the arm (or the instructor's head). I would tie the arm across the chest to the chest strap. After the opening it could be untied. Barry.

I mainly jump strong/master (jumped Vector in the past) and I disconnect the side laterals after I hand the toggles to the student (it gives them the illusion they have something to hold on to, just in case they feel like they are disconnected, or even notice that they are). If they notice (happened once or twice in 500 tandemjumps) I tell em i just loosend em. I cannot see how a steering line can get hooked on the snaps. Even if I am spiralling down -with help from my student- the steering lines don't even come close to them. (I normally don't spiral down, I don't like being puked at) Reconnecting them costs time in which you could talk to the student, point to the dropzone give steering instructions, etc, etc, etc... I never read about any incident involving steering toggles cought in the side snaps. Barry

6 in 600 tandemjumps #1) Broken steering line (Cause unknown) #2) Tension Knot (fuzzy lines) We asked a rigger for a reline afterwards, but he said it wasn't nessesary. #3) Tension Knot (fuzzy lines) Same canopy, we got the canopy relined. #4) Lineover (packing error?) #5) Lineover (packing error?) Both of the lineovers were on (our only) eliptical tandem canopy (contrail) that requires pro-packing... The other reserves were on F111 Squares which are flat packed. #6) BROKEN RISER!!! (skary shit) It appears the small ring attachment failed on deployment. The manufacturer insured us it was not a standard flipthrough of the rings, in that case the middle ring would be dammaged and it wasn't. It was on the NON RSL side) Barry

As a cameraman of over 1000 Tandem video jumps and a tandemmaster with around 500 tandemjumps, I was asked by my DZO if handycam wouldn't be an option in our operation. We both agreed that a real cameraflyer delivers better footage than a handycam. The problem is that sometimes I am the only cameraflyer AND the only tandemmaster. (The DZO is a tandemmaster, but he rather stays on the ground). I told him I would refuse to jump it. For several reasons. #1) Safety, I don't like showing/presenting my hand/arms to the student. #2) Quality, The students have a better video to show at home so a higher return rate. Many of our tandem customers are comming because they saw video of relatives or co-workers.... #3) money, In the season we get more tandems than we can handle, so selling them tandems AND video gives a higher profit. At least one or two cameramen can make some money while I do the tandems. If there are no other cameramen around, The DZO can do the tandems and I do the video. Barry

I have over 2000 jumps and know I turn with my feet, knees, hips, body, arms and shoulders (did I forget a part of my body?). The funny thing is: I don't know HOW i do it. I just feel the wind and instinctively know what to do with my body to get to the place I want to be. I have never been tought to steer any different than the standard "student" method of dipping the shoulders. I have seen my flying on video, and see what I do (mainly knees and lower legs) and I see the result but I don't have a clue how it works. FEEL THE WIND...

I Have been in the sport for 12 Years and have only witnessed two Cypres activations. Both of em were jumper stupidity (Altitude awareness) But I have lost two friends in skydiving. I was not present at either accident, but at least one, possibly both would have been saved by a Cypres. I jumped without a Cypres from jump #1000 to Jump#1800. Never worried about it. But things could happen... Also because I jump a lot with low-time jumpers. The DZO on the Dropzone I work insisted that I jump with a Cypress (He even paid part of it) so I installed one. At least I am setting a good example. Barry.

I found the URL's of the video clips in the source of the page. Hanging static line exits from a C-182. About 3 Mb per 10 second clip. http://webpages.charter.net/skyjump/All%20the%20way%20out.mpg http://webpages.charter.net/skyjump/ken.mpg http://webpages.charter.net/tonedog1980/Tony3.mpg http://webpages.charter.net/tonedog1980/craig.mpg

Even if you jump a familiar canopy for the 501st time, you have to be sharp... I even dare saying @2000+ jumps, 700 of em loaded over 2 lbs/sq ft, I am sharper on my Velocity now than when I jumped a Manta 11 years ago. The faster your canopy the more reflexive your response -to ANY situation- has to be, faster and more accurate. How do you train those reflexes if you don't give yourself the time to train 'em? To respect your canopy you need a near accident (or a real one). You can also try to learn from mistakes others made. OK, agree, there is a second killer... Complacency... That mainly happens (my personal opinion) to people who have not had an accident for a while and start thinking they master the situation and nothing can happen to them anymore (in other words: They are not sharp anymore)... Have you ever wondered why so many unexperienced skydivers were killed or injured while landing their parachutes? Back to your statement: While reducing your chance of complacency, your canopy piloting skills are likely not improving with the performance of your canopy. You may be sharp as a knife, but stil respond too slow or just respond in the wrong way. Hope you agree. Barry Edit: Just read your profile; It just seemed like a 100-"jump-wonder" question... You jump a Velocity @600 jumps? What is your wingload? How did you downsize? Ever had near misses? Sorry, don't want to sound like a canopy nazi.

A big tear (width of the complete center cel) in the top skin near the bridle attachment. I landed it and only noticed the damage while packing. The canopy was in good shape, but alread had about 1000 jumps on it. The damage was probably caused over a period of time by the killine that was too short, slowly damaging the top skin by pulling bits of it in the bridle on opening. Not a construction error, Barry

Just resized from an Extreme FX 104 to a Velocity 103... Although they may seem big, so am I, loading about 2.3. Did about 500 jumps on the FX with NO hard openings and most of em (99%) straight on heading... Did some nice swoops (200 ft+) with it. Floating (after a bad spot) worked best on rear risers. After my FX blew up, I bought a second hand Velocity 103 (newer lineset, so this may infuence trim and overall performance). Opens a bit tooooooooo sllllooooowwwwwww, but also pretty wildly searching for a direction. That searching got better after a tip to NOT STEER the opening too much, but I stil get a 180+ swing to either site every once in a while. On a bad spot, use your brakes (deep) to get back. It keeps diving A LOT longer after starting your final turn, on the first jump on it I was DEEP in the corner. Because it stays in the dive so long I builds up more speed. After finding the correct technique on this canopy I can swoop a lot further (250 - 300 ft). I now have about 170 jumps on the Velocity and I prefer it over the FX.

OK, sorry, thougth there was public in the stadium. They have to decide for themselves if they want to do a stadium jump in 20+ gusting winds... Barry

On a demo??? OK, I understand it's a newspaper article... Was there public in the stadium? What is 'high winds'? Two out of four is a good score... :-(

Clicky: http://www.performancedesigns.com/docs/ControlSysMalf.PDF Page 4 on this 5 page document is about slinks, the rest is about proper brake settings.

OK to have the lineover discussion again, but if you have a lineover your canopy will not look as good as the picture attached above. It looks like an entanglement between the outer D line(stablizer) and the cascade of the linegroup next to it... If the canopy is steerable and controllable it looks like this canopy was landable. Do a few practice flares up high and you wil know... Barry

I always left the slack of my break lines loose. On my -late- Extreme FX it didn't matter too much, but this year I started jumping a Velocity. This canopy has a lot more slack in the brake setting and at first I just left if flying around. After two messages on the incident forum I decided that I had to do somthing about it. I jump a Mirage G3 and now tuck the slack in on the bottom toggle keeper. I guess every rig has a way of getting the slack out of the way, if not... Talk to a rigger. Barry

1)If you are just entering a downplane you will accelerate towards mother earth... 2) if you are in a downplane and release one of the two canopies , your body will swing in the direction of the remaining canopy. During the swing forward your canopy will give you a flare effect, then your body will swing back cousing the canopy to surge forward again.. @ 50 feet, ehhhhhh On the other hand, if you are in a STABLE side-by-side you should not "just get in a downplane". Just turn your canopies (gently) in the wind steer it (gently) to a wide open landing area. Don't flare, ROLL If you are not sure if your configuration is stable you should have cutaway earlier. If you don't dare cutaway (main/reserve risers are entangled) than you should try to keep the canopies together. If they have the tendency to fly away from each other try to (gently) steer them back together (or let them fly away and cutaway). Minimal rear riser inputs on both canopies should work to keep them together. Correct the situation before you are in a downplane, stay ontop of it. This works best if the main and reserve are sort of equal... Barry