tdog

So turning this funny into a learning experience... On a bad weather day I talked with a TI who has been jumping longer than I care to know... I asked him, "tell me your worst case stories, and what you did, or should have done, so I can learn from you." The story that hit me the hardest goes something like this: 1) Tandem student hears "Pull" at 8,500' instead of "Arch" which is what TI said. 2) Tandem student pulls. 3) Main has a malfunction (forgot if it was a line over or broken lines, but a slow mal) 4) TI Chops 5) Reserve deploys and snivels, and snivels, and snivels... 6) At 2000' manifest is calling 911 7) At 1000' TI says to student, "I don't think we are going to make it out of this one." 8) At 500' reserve pops open. If you do the math, the reason he is alive is that the student pulled early. The TI called the canopy manufacture, with a pale face and cold sweats I am sure, asking, "what the hell should I do?" The advice he got for a reserve that is sniveling... Aggressively pull down on the front risers... Get the nose digging into the air... Anyone else have any ideas to actually productively spend the last few moments of your life if your reserve does what Wise Geek says happens once every 100 jumps???

As I said in my post, they are now tacked and spin free. I hope others heed your advice too. Here is the text from that thread to prove your point... I thought I would post this as I have used many packers, even some of which hold their rigging tickets too, in addition to people on a few DZs commenting about "who makes your soft links, I am not used to seeing rings"... But no one has said, "even when they are set, they still can spin out just enough to cause problems... Tack those before the next jump." I learned the hard way (proof that if we all had the brain power to read every post on this website from the beginning of time, especially in incidents and gear and rigging, we might all be smarter and history would repeat itself less often.)

What type of soft links do you have on your reserve? I am not aware of any were the manufacture calls for tacking. Sparky The ones that came with my PD reserve (thus PD brand slinks)... And I want to say the rigger said he installed the tack with one stitch with a thin thread so it would break should it, and not the slink, actually take a load... It has been a while, so I am digging into long waisted away synapses. I checked the owners manual for my PD Reserve, page 33 says:

So my softlinks were never tacked when I put my main on. I thought they would set in on their own... (my reserve IS tacked) Well, 3 out of 4 set correctly. The 4th, my right rear, set a little askew... I normally dressed the ring back in when I packed, but it did not always stay hidden away because the "set" was not centered... Today it caused a minor mal (but one that made the canopy not landable using toggles until I fixed it)... And this was the second time this happened, the first time I did not have enough time to see what the problem was so I landed on my rears and it fixed itself before I could see what happened so I thought I put a twist in when I packed... Long story short, the Aerodyne softlinks have rings, but the tab version made by others could have done the same thing... The brake line got twisted around the ring somehow as the deployment occurred... I have attached two photos of how the brake can get caught on the soft link, either way causes a huge amount of friction (like you can pull the toggle and it works, but does not go back up on its own). Today, knowing I opened high and had time to tinker, I undid the problem above my hard deck. It was not as easy as you would think with the tension on the lines. I had the "softlink around" as shown in the photo, and as tame as that looks on the ground, under tension it actually twisted the riser 180 degrees between the loop the brake line goes thru and the soft link, causing enough friction that I could pull down but it would not go back up on its own without a bunch of shaking. So, if your soft links are not tacked, even if they are "set" in the correct spot, I would encourage you to tack them. I tacked mine tonight. I am sure the guys with a bunch more experience than I will say "duh", so this message goes out to those who are not "in the know" of what can happen if they are not in place. T. BTW... I pulled the link out more than normal for the photos, and yes, my dog sleeps on the carpet right where I took the photo and I need to vaccuum... The rest of the house is clean, I swear.

I have been in the base of a handful of hybrids... The largest included over 10 people. Surprisingly, most were highly successful thanks to awesome freefliers... Like building the hybrid by 10.5 K and riding it down solid to breakoff... But I have been on a few that have exploded... The base has to have great RW discipline... Having 4way experience really helps in nailing an exit so you are "there" for the freefliers even on the hill... But also, having 4way experience will help with levels issues... Cross referencing across the formation and knowing what YOU have to do to fix problems and build the picture really helps... I worked my butt of last time stopping a spin and slowing down my side 3' to bring it back up to the other side that was going high. (And they should have been working to get their side down) If I didn't do that, the whole thing would have likely flipped and funneled. I learned flying in a few freefliers burbles, while taking high double over grips on the other base members, means you have to really fly with your legs... But as far as safety... The organizer should have very specific break off altitudes and pull altitudes for each group. Here is where the discipline comes in. When the freefliers leave, the base has to just stick around for a while... That is easy when the formation is stable... When it funnels 1500 above the planned breakoff, you still have to manage when you leave the formation despite the fact there is no formation. The ability to rebuild the base in a few seconds comes in handy, or at least the ability to stick around near your slot without grips, so when it is time to break, you know where your friends are. If you leave early, you might be too close to the freefliers who are not expecting you to join them. Ironically, my first hybrid, I looked down to the freeflier who was dangling from our two way, and said to myself, "now what do we do?" in reference to the breakoff. I realized that he had the most controlling grips, so short of shaking him off or causing the formation to funnel, I had to trust the freeflier to initiate the breakoff and be altitude aware because I could not leave until he let go... Went off without a hitch, but I realized we did not organize the dive as well as we should have...

Left legstrap on the back side... When I asked the same question, everyone said leg strap and I could not find it until I thought out of the box and found the built in pocket... ;-) There have been a few threads about the science and wisdom of which way the knife should face depending on which location you put it... For an example, cutting your chest strap off while removing your mud flap mounted knife would not be, as Martha Stewart might say, "is NOT a good thing."

I know a few people that use them with great success... Just keep it tight (snug fitting)... I have seen some loose ones bounce around too... If my head was about ready to hit something hard, I would take a ski helmet over a skydiving specific helmet any day....

Looks just like mine... Somewhat on topic... If you put these on your rig, and you choose to carry on you rig to a commercial airline... Check the knife in your baggage... I almost forgot last time I flew because it tucks in so well, I don't know if they would have seen it on the X-ray, but I am guessing they would have.

Yes, for the needle to go through your thumb you have to place it squarely under the presser foot. It didn't take me anytime at all to figure that out. I must be a fast learner. Sparky ________________________________________ Aaah! I have been doing it wrong! Chuck If you would like to practice with a manual unit before you move to an electric machine, I would recommend a stapler. You can find one at manifest, just pretend that silver plate is the foot of the machine for purposes of squaring it up. Put your thumb there and hit the stapler... Once you have done that 10 or 15 times, you can move on to the automatic machines with some accuracy. Remember, if you want the thread to have the right stitch thru your thumb, you will need to practice, practice, practice with the tension adjustments. Not that I sew much myself, these are just things I picked up from you guys here. (actually, I can sew, I just don't like to admit it in public because last time I did I had to sew a few thousand dollars of bolts of silk into a 90' foot X 40' sheet for a stage show.) Travis

Ever see the "behind closed doors with Joan Lunden" wind tunnel episode? I epitomized the term "hung over" when we did that. Chuck Thank you for the reminder... I just back from a frozen motorcycle ride (battery needs a workout every once in a while)... I nuked some popcorn and in 2.5 minutes caught it on fire... Put it out, still trying to get the smoke out of my place... Made some new popcorn, and sat down and said, "I was going to do something before I froze off my ass and caused my eyes to water with smoke..." For some reason, the talk of being hung over reminded me, I was going to watch Fandango (hence the popcorn) for a good laugh before bed... Anyway, thanks for the reminder... (And, the Colorado winter evening motorcycle ride reminded me why this tunnel will be recalculating – just guys, please don’t fart or burn popcorn, because it will not leave the tunnel.).

And if you know someone in the same market as you, you can split the cost of the shipping and demo it... The last one I demoed, the manufacture let us keep it longer because they knew more than one customer was demoing it... Its too their advantage too, as they want as many people seeing their product...

A while back, about 3 days before I was going to turn in my letter of resignation to a company I had a lot of passion for, which I helped build... The owner said to me: "Travis, I sense you are not happy here and that you don't see me as adding a lot of value to the organization. I have faith in you, would you like to buy the company?" I looked at him and said, "Ancient Chinese proverb say, 'never own a production company'". After looking at DZs and the troubles they face... I have reused that line over and over again, but now I say, "Ancient Chinese proverb say, 'never own a DZ'". I admire your courage to start a DZ. I also respect the fact you knew when it was time and opted to leave before the proverbial door kicked your ass on the way out...

That is an interesting opinion.... I "slept on it" and woke up this morning equally pleased with the show... I remember thinking one part was boring, and I thought, "this was boring in the staged version too." That particular section I just don't like the music as much.... So, that is how well it translated to the screen... I do have to say, if you go in expecting (and requiring to like it) the same minimalistic show (harsh lighting angles in color correction blue, very little set) as the staged version, you are going to be real upset... The movie has a lot more rich colors in lighting and much more dynamic set (uh - New York City), and in the protest scene, they go all out with making the set that much more absurd... But the additions to the protest made me and the other 900 people laugh HARDER than the staged version, so I actually feel some parts were done better, or worked better on the screen... But Mark wears his trademark costumes from the staged version, so some things are a direct link...

I was in college when RENT, the musical, first came out. I can't believe it has already been 9 years since I graduated... Being a theatre major, my peers and I really studied the "RENT Phenomenon" that in many ways revitalized theatre. RENT brought teens and 20 somethings, in their torn blue jeans, to the theatre houses that normally saw 50 something patrons in suits and ties. My RENT soundtrack CDs collected dust for the last few years, I don't think I played them for at least two, maybe three years. Today I saw the movie... Wow... Kind of nostalgic in a way, but at the same time, I think it will again revitalize the "next" young generation... If you have not seen the musical, you will enjoy the movie. If you enjoy the movie, you will enjoy the musical. Well done... I was worried the script would not translate to the screen, but it did... For those of you who do not know, Johnathan Larson, the guy who wrote the musical, died from AIDS just before opening night of the show... Anyway - go see it, I think it was well done.

he he he Do you still have that suit, because "flat flying" is still my discipline of choice... Something about nailing the accuracy of 4way... But, I think the jury has a verdict... Ouragan for my freefly needs...

This is real sad news... Don was in Colorado a few weeks ago teaching an AFF certification course. I happened to be taking my Coach rating course at the same time. I saw Don make an "impression" on the DZ, it was my take that he was trying to show a little intimidation to the prospective AFF instructors, taking them (in a good way) out of their comfort zone... Don came into our classroom and entertained us with stories and words of wisdom greater than what I can express here. He clearly wanted to share his energy and spirit with us, even though we were not his students, he just had time to share with us. Don volunteered to do some of our eval check dives. I saw this as a challenge, so I took it head on. I asked him if he would evaluate me. He told me he would be playing the character of "Vinny" - a New York Taxi Cab driver, who had come to Colorado for a three week vacation to get away from home on some well needed R&R after a death in the family. Sure enough, when we timed in, there he was, the taxi cab driver - the polar opposite personality of me. He pushed gently to see what I would do and what I would say. He picked up on everything... From me slightly extending my index finger while saying "good point" and him responding, "you want me to pull, I am not even wearing a rig?" to small manurisms I made when I was not comfortable teaching a subject matter out of my comfort zone. I had already decided, when it was time for me to get an AFFI rating, Don was going to be my instructor... Don, you will be missed by all those who knew you. Thank you for investing in our community. Travis

I do lighting for concerts and events... I have seen $250,000 projector lenses AND $1.50 adapters both shipped in Pelican with great success... And, often the truck loaders will use the $250,000 lens in a pelican to stuff the gap between a heavy road case and the wall of the truck, and the lens stays unharmed... There is my vote...

If someone had video of your experience, I would buy it (so I could sell it)! I have been there and I am sure the video my friends wanted of me would have made it to america's funniest home videos... I fly a Pilot 210, the same canopy you fought... I have landed in 15-25 MPH winds a lot, ranging from going backwards on landing to going straight down... After a few similar battles with my canopy... I disconnect the RSL at 500-1000 feet if I look down and see I have no penetration or am going backwards, because I have a skyhook and I have this vision of the skyhook working so good that I will just transfer my canopy war to my reserve should I cut away because I am unable to fight the main... (The odds being that landing backwards is difficult, and I might have lines twisted after a PLF where I can't pull one, or might be injured with a twisted ankle or something, so it is my plan C to chop) But, I never have even been close to cutting away with the following technique... Land. Drop left toggle. Turn 180 degrees counter-clockwise. Using right (dominant hand), reel in right toggle line as quickly as possible. If the canopy was still flying, this will cause it to turn 180 degrees and dive into the ground using the ground to plug the nose cells... Then keep reeling in the line until I have fabric in my hand... As I am doing this, I try to run to the back side of the canopy, so if it wants to blow way, it blows into my legs. In order of priority, reeling in one brake line seems to be more reliable than the running behind the canopy, for me, that is... By reeling in one line, you basically have turned the shape of the canopy into something that catches a lot less air... Imagine taking a flag and holding it by one end, as it flies on a flag pole... Easy... Now try to hold both ends, it becomes a sail. By reeling in one toggle, you have turned your canopy into a flag shape instead of a sail shape.

I know more than one person who has wondered the same thing as you... Seems like a pretty advanced move that is real hard to practice in that we can't go on a hop-n-pop and try it 10 times... My biggest fear.... Two out... If you have it, the odds are you had a cypres fire right as you pitched your main... I don't know the stats, but everyone I know who has two out, that was the cause... So where are you at with two out? Somewhere around 500-750 feet, maybe higher, but not by much... Is this the altitude to try something???? I guess what I am saying is... I am no longer a student and I have the attitude that I should research all my options and preplan my plan A, Plan B and Plan Cs...

Say, I ran to the Sony Style store at the mall... The guy behind the counter said that he "was told" that a few of the Sony models had an issue with wind blowing into the camera causing the tape to have tracking issues on the head as the tape "was blown around inside", and thus, he recommended using gaff tape to seal all the seams/opening where air could get into the camera... Anyone heard of this on the PC 1000 or any other currently produced Sony??? I played with the camera. Felt nice... But I could not see any difference in color or contrast side by side with the HC42 on the small LCD screen and the store employee just did not think my desire to hook the cameras up to the 50" TV was worth it.

1-800-WX-Brief for the FAA Flight Service Center. Follow instructions to get pre-recorded messages... The service center you go to seems to be dependant on the area code of the phone in which you call... In Colorado, I choose to play the "Wave Soaring Forecast" and the "Hot Air Balloon" forecast. Not only will the winds aloft help in both forecasts, but you can use things like the "K Index" to determine how stable the atmosphere is...

Not to say you should not work with people you trust in person, but I can say, I never have had a problem telling the difference between my hacky and other parts of my body/rig.... I think you will like it...

Well, when you jump all day, all weekend, you tend to do this just for comfort. I fasten my leg straps, but leave them a bit loose at first. However, they're snug enough to jump in an emergency. Then at 9K or so I snug them down really tight, the way I like them in freefall. The problem is that if I did that "really tight" from the start on the ground, my legs would probably be numb from lack of circulation by the time I got to jump run. I don't really consider that a bad example, just a necessity for frequent jumpers. John, I just got back from a 4way camp... All morning in the tunnel followed by 6 back to back jumps every day for a week... I can say, not once did I think, "these leg straps are bugging me"... (now my jumpsuit rubbed some areas raw). I would imagine if 6 jumps had ZERO discomfort, that 12 would have the same. Even when I did 10 jumps a day at a boogie, I never found my legs numb... I am just a novice, but I don't agree with your post... On a tight plane (such as a fully booked otter with tandems), the one guy who always seems to tighten his straps ends up putting his ass in my neighbors face, who then leans over into me to avoid the smell, causing me to lean over, which causes a chain reaction of closing pins rubbing against the plane.... Just my two cents...

Can you educate me why that is, in relation to this incident???

Before I read your post first thing I thougt was "I sure would like to have this to read since I learn better by reading rather than listening". I will ask my wife to transcrip this into a doc format this week and will send it to whomever would like to read rather that listen - send me a PM in a few days to see if it has been done yet... Make it a great day! That is so funny, because I learn by hearing!!! If you want it in text form, buy the book, "the parachute and it's pilot" by Brian. I hope this radio show will translate to text well, as tone of voice and the placement of laughs and such, give more meaning than the words alone... But, once it is translated, will you please post it to this thread or PM me it? I would like to share it with friends and students.