Aviatrr

On a high speed spinning mal under a Spinetto, from the time I chopped to the time I was under a good reserve was about 6 seconds, and maybe 700ft......and I took the time to get stable, since I had plenty of altitude.. On my baglock, it took about 2-3 seconds from the time I pulled the reserve handle until I was under a good canopy....and under 400ft.. I waited a couple seconds after cutting away to pull the reserve, and I tracked forward a bit to get away from the main falling in the bag......with my luck, if I had stayed under it, it would've wrapped around the reserve freebag and baglocked it.. Plus, I had plenty of altitude to burn.. Mike

You're right about that.. The other 4 percent are from Florida.. Mike

Cool....it's a great feeling to get (some of) your own gear, isn't it? What kind of canopies did you get? Mike

Cool man! Death Valley is a pretty cool place.. Several years ago, some friends and I took a motorcycle trip out to the Death Valley area.. Passed through there a couple times, and camped there for 2 nights.. There were some pretty cool, windy roads out there, too.. We had a blast.. You'll see some really cool things......don't go anywhere without your camera! Mike

Most DZ's that I've been to have separate landing areas - usually at least one very large area, and several smaller.. Most experienced jumpers want to land in the small areas right next to the hangar....but, unfortunately, so do most other people.. Then we begin to see a dangerous mix of very fast, high performance canopies, and slow, large canopies.. For me, that's when the "traditional" traffic pattern goes out the window.. I fly what keeps me(and everybody else) safe - period.. I'm flying a moderately loaded elliptical - a Crossfire at almost 1.6 - so things happen fairly fast....especially when you mix in much slower canopies.. At my home DZ, it's no problem - the landing area is huge, and everybody has plenty of room.. At some other DZ's, when you get 20+ people in the air, with a small landing area that everybody heads for, it can get kinda hairy.. I don't think that dedicating certain landing areas for specific types of canopies/wing loadings is a very smart move - many very experienced jumpers are jumping lightly loaded canopies due to injuries or just a conservative nature.. I do, however, believe that certain landing areas can have requirements - such as a minimum number of jumps.. The more experienced a person is, the better their judgement(hopefully), and the more they understand what's going on.. Bottom line, IMO.....It's up to the jumpers on the faster, more maneuverable canopies to avoid the slower, less maneuverable canopies.. Mike

No, a Heatwave is definitely NOT a suitable canopy for you.. A Heatwave is a high performance full elliptical - quite similar to a Stiletto.. The other three you listed are suitable beginner canopies.. Try searching the gear and rigging forum for info on the Hornet, Sabre2, and Safire - they have all received quite a bit of attention in this forum in the past.. Mike

It was a Cessna 310....and I was the only one in the airplane, so I guess I was PIC.. Mike

I have about 200 jumps on psycho-packed mains(about 95 of 'em on a Hornet), and have NEVER had a single line twist on any of those pack jobs....the only times I've had line twists were on pro-packed canopies.. Psycho-packing is great when you have a main that is very hard to bag....in the case of the Hornet I was jumping, it was 40sqft larger than the container was built to accept.. I've never heard of it causing line twists - but it can definitely cause canopy wear if the rapide link is dragged across the canopy.. Mike

Yea, it definitely looks weird.. I had something quite similar happen once, and it scared the hell out of me.. Turned out to be a hairline fracture(or so they suspect) in the crankshaft that finally gave - allowing the prop, hub, and half the crankshaft to depart the airplane.. Mike

Well, I sure as hell couldn't go OVER 'em....and most of 'em never even noticed...until I opened my stupid mouth..

Hey now....I resemble that remark! Mike

Damn, man...sorry to hear it, but glad everything worked out.. As Chuck said, I'd check the trim.. It's probably ok, and it was probably something else that caused the mal - but take a look at it.. I think that your line length between riser and stow, and the fact that you didn't properly flake it were the biggest factors.. The line length more than the other....but, it could have started spinning because of the cells all being jumbled from not being properly flaked.. Of course, this is all just speculation on my part - but I know what it's like to be under a spinner....not fun.. Mike

Build something that is "idiot proof", and guaranteed, a bigger idiot will come along and prove you wrong.. Mike

I can't say for sure, but I believe the CASA is has conventional-rotating props, not counter rotating....this would mean they both rotate clockwise as seen from behind.. Mike

Ok Zen, I'm not sure what Cross Dressing has to do with skydiving.....but whatever floats your boat, man! Seriously, though....don't worry about how to break up the jumps, just do whatever you can whenever you can, and you'll get a feel for which needs work more.. If you get a chance to jump with an awesome freeflyer, don't pass it up because it's your "RW day".. Mike

Uhhh....what's a gripper? You mean those things on the arms and legs? Damn....I thought those were just to look cool.. Think I could put some on my freefly suit? Mike

What exactly are you basing that on? I agree - they make good canopies...but ever tried to get a line set from 'em? Sometimes it takes 3 days, sometimes 6 weeks.. And don't get me started on their "used demo canopy" sales program.. Mike

Uhhh...what's the deal with 82 more jumps? You need a certain number of jumps to do those? As far as skysurf, you just need good freeflying skills.. BirdMan is pretty easy, but you definitely need good body position awareness, and being good at tracking helps - since your body is kinda stuck in the tracking position, you need to know how to maneuver in that position.. Mike

Don't you mean short skirts and no underwear? Mike

My god....you mean you.....actually jump WITHOUT a CYPRES?! You must have a death wish! I can't believe you do that! You must be nuts! In case you didn't notice, the first one was a bit sarcastic....but this one.....this one's totally serious.. Mike

I didn't realize you were into freestyle, Clay.......not that there's anything wrong with that..

I'll sell ya my C license for $500....I won't need it much longer.. I'll get around to getting my D one of these days.. Mike

Sweet! I'm gonna try skysurfing before too long - it looks like a blast.. If you haven't tried it yet - try the BirdMan suit.. Mike

*** but now that I have my rig...it will be much easier for us to get that....I might need some freeflying instruction as all I do is more of free tumbling!!!! *** Cool.....we can do that.. I love teaching(or trying to) freeflying.. I'm actually planning on doing the USPA Coach course here pretty soon(as soon as I can get enough people together to schedule one), and then eventually do freefly coaching.. I love this shit!

Even if it had been the other prop, the outcome may have been the same....or it could've gone really bad with this incident.. With the engine under high power(such as on climb), the prop will go forward very fast as it departs.....the problem is if it glances off the side of the airplane as it goes forward.. A prop spinning that fast will slice through all the metal it comes into contact with - and will certainly slice through a person - quite easily.. Things like this are freak accidents - and there's no rhyme or reason as to why they turn out like they do.. Many of you may remember the ASA Embraer 120 Brasilia(30 passenger turboprop) that shed a prop about 8 years ago after departing Atlanta, and ended up crashing in a field because they couldn't maintain altitude after losing one prop and all the damage it created when it left.. The only thing that is definite about this incident is that the pilots did a kick ass job.. Leave the speculation to the FAA.. Mike