pccoder

I am curious if anyone has any data regarding the frequency in which one jumps to the fatalities that have occured over the past few years. i.e. Is a more experienced jumper who seldomly makes it to the DZ more or less likely than an experienced jumper who is doing 10-20+ jumps a week? Arguements could be made either way, but I am really wondering if anyone has any actual substantial data (experience and professional opinion are acceptable if you have been doing this for a long time) to share. PcCoder.net

ok, well then I guess I won't be getting one of those

$5,500 for all new gear around $1000 for jump tickets and about $13,000 on medical bills for the bad landing. PcCoder.net

Does anyone know of a computer canopy simulator? Perhaps something like Microsoft's Flight Simulator, only a canopy instead? Or, know of anyone who might have one in the works? PcCoder.net

From when you decided to pull at 6k and then finally got under your canopy at 1500 feet is a long time. In fact, it sounds like you finally pulled around 2k. That's very low, especially for someone with so few jumps. I am actually suprised you are not getting more flack for that. The tumbling, etc. certainly helped you lose more altitude quickly than you would normally. However, with you experience level you might not want to wait so long to pull next time. I am very happy you finally saved yourself, but it could have easily gone bad. Congratulations and living to jump another day. PcCoder.net

I agree on your statement of big wingloading and little skill being a killer. PcCoder.net

[replyThere was your first problem... waaay too agressive of an approach IMHO. ...but wouldn't you agree that your accident was more a function of poor judgement than w/l? I never said the approach was a good idea. That is not at all the argument I am making. And yes my accident was based on poor judgement. I never said it was because of wingloading, only that the results could have been way worse had I been more heavily wingloaded. I hope you don't actually believe that is not a true statement. Regarding your question to experts on the higher wingloading = more lift. I don't think that is true. I don't think you ever really get "lift" out of a canopy, just a decrease in altittude loss or a planed out glide. PcCoder.net

180 degree hook turn followed by double front riser approach and meeting the ground prior to coming fully out of swoop. Read my other post "Crash Landing - Very Lucky" in this same forum. But when it's higher wingloaded the possibility or should I say probability for an unhappy ending is much higher. PcCoder.net

Dale Earnhart had been in plenty of races. Just because you think you are safe doesn't mean you are. PcCoder.net

72 more..or whatever, the percentage is what counts in this type of comparison, not the actual number. If 72 more out of 1000 were being counted, well that would be pretty even, but that's not the case. 2004 Deaths (data from dropzone.com) Collisions 13% Landings 35% No Pulls 5% Malfunctions 23% Reserve Problems 5% Other 17% I'd imagine, since we all hear about low turns, hard landings, added danger with high wing loadings, that a great deal of the landings and probably some of those other categories were involving high wing loading. I stand here today ALIVE due to the fact that my crash landing 3 weeks ago was on a Sabre2 170 wingloaded at less than 1.1 instead of something having me loaded higher. And, my problem was target fixation; which had I been killed would have fallen into the "Landings" category and could have still been possibly attributed to wingloading. I am trying to say that perhaps we should all step back and say to ourselves that the rush and fun associated with the fast landings and the roller coaster ride we have under our canopies just might not be worth the consequences when we could have flown a larger, safer canopy and still have the fun associated with the skydive. At my DZ I never see anyone flying big 200+ sq feet canopies except for students. And I see where we are being almost rushed into gear that we just plain do not need in order to have a fun and safe jump. When I get back, and it will be months, I am going to fly differently. I will seek professional advice and assistance, and I will strive for the ultimate goal on each landing, which is to safely get to the ground so I can jump again. Now that I am off my soap box, my point is simple. Wingloading is critical to surviving when something does not go according to plan. Sure, it helps also under ideal circumstances; but you'll never know just how much it meant until you smack your back into the ground at 30+ mph (like I did) and get the wake up call of a lifetime. PcCoder.net

That's exactly the point I am making. Without doing the research (at work now), I imagine that the numbers might equal out alot more if they were here to vote. ...or I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

I was just looking at the stats for the people who have voted. I wonder if the fact that 70% of those who voted are under or at the maximum has any direct relationship to the fact that they are alive to vote? PcCoder.net

*Update* Had another MRI yesterday evening and got the news from my Dr. just today... 4 fractured vertebrae, T7 through T4. I get to go through 3 sessions of pain block injections in my back starting either tomorrow or next Friday. So, I am very lucky (like I said before), but evidentaly not made of steel.

fair enough. i hope that many people learn from my mistake. at least that would be something good out of a crappy situation. PcCoder.net

Yea you are. If you'd read through my entire post you'd have seen that I took full responsibility for what happened to me and admitted it was stupid. Do you have nothing better to do than to "rub it in" or "kick a man while he is down?" My original post in THIS thread was made in haste and I believe I posted later on that it was a mistake to make the comment that I did. Perhaps I should "research" you and dig up whatever crap I can find to try to embarass you publicly. Not sure if this is the "stupidist thing YOU have done", but it is stupid none the less. PcCoder.net

I had one hard opening on mine, 17th jump on it I think. However, I have attributed it to my still being partly in a track when I threw out. Aside from that one time, I have really soft, long snivel, collapased end cell openings pretty much without fail every single time. PcCoder.net

Ironically, I had asked my girlfriend for that book for xmas, so if she doesn't get it for me I'll have to purchase it myself. Got my ribs x-rayed yesterday followed by a thoracic spine MRI. The xrays looked good, it was done with some cool digital xray machine so I could see the pictures right after they were taken. As far as the MRI is concerned, I hope to hear something from my dr. soon. I saw the Dr. last night after the MRI and he took me off the Percocet and put me on methodone instead. I had been waking up in the morning in so much intense pain in my back it hurt to breathe, move, etc. Finally, for the first time I woke this morning feeling quite better. So, although I hope I am just just healing I bet it's probably the new drug. I'll post more when I hear the results. PcCoder.net

I do look at my alti usually until I am on final (or in this case right before initiating the turn); however I do not remember what my altitutde was (under 1000ft). I do not have a digital altimeter. Unfortunately for me, I did a couple of double fronts, then went straight to big, harder hook turns, without truely knowing what I was doing. I did flare about half way at the last second. I spoke to (believe it or not) my AFF coach yesterday who told me he witnessed the entire landing and I asked if I flared; he said a little like I explained above. He also said I was coming out of the bottom of the turn so I didn't have a ton of vertical speed (some certainly) but alot more horizontal speed. I am obviously in-experienced. I do believe that the primary reason I smacked the ground was target fixation. This doesn't excuse the fact that I was doing a low turn, hooking it or progessing beyond my capabilities, etc. However, I had done at least 20 approaches like this already and each and every one would have me planing out at least 20-30 feet above the ground. On this one I just held the risers too long and kept looking at the flag. And that is why I believe the target fixation is what got me. Let me stress again however; everything else I did starting with the hook turn to the point where I hit the ground DID help increase my chances of this happening. I agree that coaching will be a top priority for me now. Not on high performance landings as much ( I just want to back off of that for a long time ) but for basic canopy flight and control. I've always flown well and had really nice soft accurate landings, but I need to understand why and not just be content with doing it. Also, on a negative note, I went to a followup doctor yeterday afternoon and he spent a great deal of time examing me and is going to do an MRI on my back. He diagnosed me with post-trauma to the T6 and T7 vertebrae (misspelled?) and wants to rule out any burst disc, or ligament damage. It still hurts quite a bit to take deep breaths and when I wake in the morning I am ungodly sore. As I move around during the day it gets better, but time will andn of course the MRI will tell what is truely going on. Thanks so much for all the advice, everyone, and for taking the time to post constuctive criticism without telling me "you're a screw up" like I thought I would get alot of. I really appreciate the help and comments and hope that maybe someone else learns from what I did too. Chris PcCoder.net

It took me a long time to finally keep my legs extended. Jump in shorts ONE time and you'll know that your legs are extended when you feel the wind on your shins. PcCoder.net

Wendy, The details are not crystal clear to me but what I believe happened was that I initiated my riser turn lower than I should have. A the time I did not think this was the case; however someone from the DZ emailed me this morning and told me that I turned low. Additionally, I was looking at the wind blade because I was concerned with running into it at the bottom of my turn when I would have planed out in a straight glide. I was fairly confident that my turn had completed and I was starting to plane out in a straight glide path, but obviously this was not the case and I did hit the ground with a great deal of both vertical and horizontal speed. However; I believe there was more horizontal than vertical, based on the fact that I am still here to talk about it. I was down before anyone else in the main landing area, so I was not really all that concerned with other jumpers, other than that I had checked briefly to verify no other jumper was initiating any landing directly in the path that I was. I think my concern with being so dead on accurate with landing next to the wind blade had a good deal to do with why I did not focus on my altitude or the low turn. And I am so disguisted with myself for that. I know better than that, at least I thought I did before this happened. This whole incident has really made me think deeply about my involvement in skydiving and how critical it is that I take it easy and not push it like I did. I was cocky, plain and simple. "It couldn't happen to me" is the additude that damn near got me killed this weekend. I feel like I really let down the people who trained me and who jump with me everytime I go out there. And above everything else I hope that they forgive me for being so stupid. PcCoder.net

Thanks, I thought so. From my recollection you don't have to die to post in the Incidents forum. And there is no doubt in my mind that had I landed differently it could have easily been way worse. I was just discussing this with my girlfriend and think maybe the reserve saved me. Sound strange, but the fact that I landed right on my back I hit the reserve against the ground first, so the padding from that extra canopy on my back could have been the difference between the extreme soreness I have now and a broken back. PcCoder.net

You're right. It was stupid. Badenhop, sorry I posted in the wrong area. I am really hurting today and so sorry I made such a foolish mistake. PcCoder.net

First thank you for your sentiment and your advice. Today was a real wakeup call for how complacent I have become in regards to landing. The DZ owner told me when I called her a while ago that people on the ground could literally see me bounce; and although I knew that I bounced, the fact that I landed about 50 yards away from the viewing area and it was still obvious that I bounced..well, it could have been so much worse. PcCoder.net

I had a crash landing today, jump 120. I did a 90 degree riser turn and got completey fixated on the wind blade in the middle of the field. By the time I realized I was too tow, it was too late and I bounced on my back/butt and flew through the air on my back stratling the wind blade and landed again and layed there. It seemed almost instantly everyone was on the field telling me not to move, etc. The ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and took me to the hospital. Believe it or not, all I have is a really sore and painful mid-back. I was shocked and suprised because while I was flying through the air after bouncing I was certain that I had completely hurt myself seriously. Many x-rays later showed that nothing was broken. However, the two doses of morphine at the hospital and the Loritabs I am taking right now are helping make it bearable. This only happened 7 hours ago, so I haven't truely had any time to really think about lessons learned. But one thing I am sure of is that I was completely lucky. It could have been so much worse. And, everytime I try to replay it in my mind and think about how quickly I realized the ground was coming up on me and then a sudden smack and bounce...it's almost nauseating. This is not the first time I have had issues with hiting the ground, only this is the first time I have done it with any decent amount of speed. About 50 jumps ago I flared a little late and bruised my cocyx, but was able to keep on jumping that day. Something I most definately need to learn from this is how critical it is to not ever loose focus of what I am doing and where I am in the sky. Also, I need to consider the very true reality of my not being ready to start such aggresive landing approaches like I have been for the past 20 jumps or so. PcCoder.net

In case you don't realize it, the President is on duty every minute of every day. His "post" follows him wherever he goes. This has got to be the dumbest thread yet in SC. That is absurd to assume that he can be focused on his job and world events while fishing, hunting or god knows what else he is doing when he's away from his "office" PcCoder.net