bmcd308

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I'd come out!

The plan, in the nanosecond before impact, was to slide it in on my butt like a tandem. The reality was that my descent rate was too high to do anything that even resembled a slide. I agree that I got lucky.

I realized the tooth was chipped in the pool later. This injury has led me to realize certain shortcomings in my chair here at work, by the way. My new gear is supposed to show up this week (hopefully on Friday), but it will not be assembled. I will give it to Dane this weekend to put it together. I am assuming that I will not be able to jump it, but stranger things have happened. Given my recent decision-making under canopy, the PD-300 is probably a good choice for me. My work e-mail is mcdadeb@mercer_nospam_capital.com - remove nospam and all underscores for correct addy.

There's more stupidity to this story than meets the eye - I can't really PLF because I injured the cartilage in my left knee about a month ago, so I have been landing on just my right foot. When I realized it was going to be a hard impact, I picked my legs up to protect that knee. I actually thought I was going to slide it in, but I would have needed another 12 inches or so of altitude to get the slide.

So I'm turning onto final a little bit low (but not terribly, or so I thought) with a slow, flat (or so I thought) toggle turn, and when I'm facing into the wind, I have plenty of time to let my toggles all the way up to fly final in full flight (or so I thought). Next thing I know, I am a good ways behind my canopy with very little altitude available. What to do? Stab both toggles to my hips, pick my feet up, and put three hell-acious bruises on my ass where the bones impacted the ground. I hit so hard I chipped a tooth. Don't try this at home. Hope you guys flew smarter than I did this weekend. Brent

If you have to ask...

I was a little disappointed in the lack of a ripcord, myself. I had heard that they only cost a little bit of money, and that you could keep it as a souvenir if you paid for it. Instead, I paid $75 for a video of me (in chronological order) confident, nervous, scared shitless, ecstatic, then saying moronic stuff into the camera on the ground. It would probably make me look cooler to have a ripcord to show people, as the scared shitless part of the video is pretty clear.

At 4000' I have no use for a RW formation. At 3000' I have no use for freefall. At 2000' if I don't like it I'll find it later. At 1000' no cutaways, just pull silver and pray, then chop or not as the situation develops. I certainly hope I am never in a low emergency situation, as my friends time and altitude really can't help me.

Roger that. You take care yourself.

Before my first jump I really had no idea why anyone would want to jump out of a perfe.... you get the idea. I paid my money and took my chances, and I was really just another tandem who thought of it as an amusement park ride. BMcD...

I'm so jealous. I ordered mine March 19 with a 6 to 8 week delivery estimate (May 1 to May 15). In late April, the delivery date was pushed up to May 22. Now I have high hopes that I will get it by the end of next week (June 7). The wait is killing me. BMcD...

>Actually, it would turn that area into a sandbox... Or a big sheet of glass...

This would be part of the 99.789% of your postings with which I agree. Strongly, in this case. Although "sandbox dispute" might be a little mild.

Glad to hear about your recovery, and terribly sad to hear about yet another jumper going in. I know we are all aware of the risks we take in this sport, but please try to take an extra moment before each jump to make sure that your gear and your dive plan are in the best condition possible to get you home safely. BMcD...

My condolences to all who knew him. Lots of bad luck being heaped on lots of skydivers lately - everyone please stay aware and stay safe. BMcD...

Phree - Would you Loctite your links?

Unfortunately, there is no real logical end to this argument. [sarcastic mode on] There are people who are much more deadly with just their hands than most of the world is with a knife of any size. I don't think we should allow people with martial arts training to fly on commercial airlines. If a lunatic with martial arts training just decided to start breaking necks, it would cause chaos on the flight. [sarcastic mode off]

don't rush so much that you aren't giving _yourself_ a good gear check. That's more important than any gear check someone else gives you. Roger that. I always inspect my rig thoroughly before I put it on and then give myself a good check after. If I ask you for a gear check and something is wrong, I'll be both very appreciative and a little embarrassed. Also, I don't want to start an argument with you, since I have agreed with probably 99.789% of everything I have read above your name in these forums, as well as the bulk of your message here. If the rest of this post seems argumentative, it is only because it is difficult to disagree on a forum without sounding like you're really going after someone else's position. But anyway, here goes: The gear check vs. main pin check thing is something we really don't do at my dropzone (WTS near Memphis). Everyone calls it a gear check, and we basically do all the checks that you'd do for an AFF student. At least that is what I do, and that is what people do for me. This may be because there are several AFF-I's running around the place, and they are generally the people that I ask. They are also generally the people who ask me, and they make sure that I do it all. When I am giving a gear check to another jumper whose equipment prevents my going through the whole list, I will say out loud "I can't see your Cypres; I can't check your reserve pin" or whatever just to jog his/her memory. If your RSL is undone, I will not hook it up, but I will mention it to you, as it is your gear, not mine. But I doubt your leg strap system includes having one or both straps twisted right before you board the plane. I do not know that I have ever thought about checking for tightness, but if they were visibly loose, I suppose that would get mentioned to you, also. But anyway, if you say "main pin check", I'll probably make you verify that your main pin is all you care to have me look at. However, I'll probably look you over on the sly, and if you start to board the aircraft with your chest strap undone, I'll probably just be rude and mention it. Please show me the same lack of courtesy. I hope we have the chance to meet someday. I have several of your posts printed out, as they are very clear statements of great info. I also hope you don't get the impression that we are arguing, since I don't really think we are. I did not really know that a more cursory examination was standard practice for some, and I was disappointed that a guy who isn't even qualified for his A yet was on his way out to the plane without a chest strap. When combined with the recent fatalities, I guess I got onto a bit of a rant. Stay safe. BMcD...

I posted this over on Talkback, but I guess this is really the forum (and thread) for it, so I'll retell the tale here. This weekend a guy with about 20 or so jumps asked for a gear check from an up jumper, received said gear check, then headed out to the plane. The pilot had been fueling the plane between runs, so he was boarding as well. As we were standing around waiting to board, the pilot pointed out to him that his chest strap was undone. He thanked the pilot and fastened it. I asked him whether he got a gear check before he came out, and the up jumper who checked his gear was actually on the load. What kind of pissed me off about the whole thing was the attitude of the up jumper, who said "both pins were seated" and acted like that was the end of the issue. I really think that when someone asks you for a gear check, you have an obligation to give a good one. I know we don't like to be obligated, so I'll just ask you to give a good one. Guys, if I ask you for a gear check, please do it like I might die if my shit isn't right. Please look to make sure my Cypres is on. Please check both my pins. When you check my main pin, make sure that you can see some green in the observation window of my bridle, because my pilot chute works better when it is cocked. Please make sure my flaps and riser covers are squared away and that my risers are not doing anything funky over my shoulders. Please make sure my bridle isn't hanging out. Please make sure all three handles are where they are supposed to be. Please make sure my three rings are correctly assembled. Please make sure my RSL is not hooked to my three rings, and let me know if it is not hooked up (don't just assume I want to jump without it). Please make sure my reserve cable has the little ball doohickey on the end so that the handle actually operates something. Please look at my chest strap to make sure it is correctly routed and tug on it to verify. Please look at both my leg straps to make sure they are not twisted. If I have B-12 snaps, make sure the gates work. Are my shoes tied? Do I have a helmet? Do I have an altimeter? Do I have goggles? Am I wearing my gloves when it is 50 degrees on the ground so I don't really need them there but 30 degrees at altitude and I always forget that? Then say something cute like "you'll probably live", smile at me, and tell me to have a good skydive. Elapsed time: 2 minutes tops. I may not thank you as adequately as I should at the time, because I might be rushing to get to the plane or something, but I really do appreciate it when people take a moment to make sure I'm squared away. BMcD...

I opened the forums thinking, "Please don't let there be a fatality from this weekend posted" and here it is. Everyone...let's be careful up there. I could not agree more with either sentence. This weekend a very capable but very low jump number skydiver started to board the plane with his chest strap undone. The pilot pointed it out to him while walking to the plane. He had put his gear on, asked for AND RECEIVED a gear check from an up jumper, and still would very likely have been a fatality had not someone else noticed his mistake. Take care of yourselves and take care of each other. And take seriously the burden of a "quick gear check" when someone asks. The up jumper who gave the gear check basically said, "I just check the pins - I figure he knows how to put his rig on." We have to watch out for each other better than that. I did not know the SDC jumper, but I am sad that I never will. My prayers are with his friends and family. BMcD...

That's because it gets you to 14,500 before you have a chance to appreciate it. ;-) I don't know that any plane is really all that "special", it is just fast. And Mike is generally good about not hosing you on the spot.

A week in TN? Are you coming to WTS to jump the King Air?

I had checked the pins prior to jumping but noticed that the swage ball was a little closer to the reserve handle than usual. I was in a hurry to get to the plane and shrugged it off. Umm ... Don't hurry to make a load at the expense of checking out questionable gear. I think you probably know this very well from your other posts, but this one spells out so clearly the dangers of doing this that I could not resist pointing it out. When I look through gear-related IR's, particularly ones that should have been caught on the ground, I wonder how many have hurried to make their last load.

Do you care to share the specifics of what you understand happened? I know it is very early, but I hope we can learn something from this such that the same thing does not happen again. BMcD...