tfelber

It seems like pulling on the front risers would have a tendency to keep the nose closed since you would be increasing the force on the already loaded outside edges. However, I've never tried it. In comparison, pulling down on the rear risers pulls the tail down and in, allowing the nose to catch air and inflate. This I have tried several times and it works. DON'T pull the toggles! I tried this once and the canopy opened unevenly trapping one of the brakelines putting me in a severe spin. Luckily, I had a lot of altitude to untwist the mess I created.

I have a Turbo ZX 165 and when I first got it, having jumped Sabre's til then, I was getting 1200-1800 ft openings. That was a bit nerve racking, I've found my hand on the cutaway handle multiple times. I got to the point I didn't like to pull below 3000'. One guy, when I got to the ground, said he couldn't believe I didn't cut it away. I even added a brake line, but the openings were so brisk that I removed it at Rantoul in 2002. A friend advised me to pull the rear risers if it was taking too long and that seems to work every time.

I'll be there, arriving Friday evening, the 1st... Hopefully there'll still be some beer left...

I've got a couple of good one's. 1. My first reserve ride. Jump #58 or so, one of the guys I was jumping with had packed up the PD170 (Rental gear) and then decided he didn't have enough time to get up. I threw it on and jumped on the next load. Threw out about 3000 and looked up to see a ball of fabric. I waited and waited and nothing was changing. I didn't look at my altimeter, but I felt like I was probably pretty low. I pulled the cutaway and started to accelerate (Oh shit, grab the reserve!!!). I reached for the reserve handle and before I could get it out the RSL had popped the reserve. I looked at my altimeter, 1200 feet. From there it was a nice easy ride to the landing area. 2. Jump #90-something. I had just bought a TurboZX 165. First jump was DeJaVu of #58. I opened about 4000 though. I looked up saw a ball of fabric. I waited and waited, and thought I got lots of altitude left, let's give it a shake. When I grabbed the rear risers and tugged on them the canopy opened, but immediately went into a hard spin. I reached for the cutaway handle and just as I touched it the spin stopped, but now my momentum was twisting the lines all the way to the top. I checked my altitude, 2500 feet. I'm flying level, let's try to kick out. By 1500 feet the line twist were out and I landed without incident. 3. Jump #123 or so, My friend just bought a new rig but was a new jumper and not quite ready to jump it. So I threw it on and went up. He had just bought a hackey handle for his pilot chute and sewed it on the night before. I wasn't concerned (How can you mess up a hackey handle). About 3500 feet I threw out the pilot chute, waited a moment, and nothing (He must have messed up the pilot chute. Actually he tied it shut when he sewed the hackey on.) With pilot chute in tow I decide it's time for my friend to have his reserve repacked. I pulled the reserve and felt something open over my head. Look up, IT'S THE MAIN!!!. I'm not worried, it's flying good, but I notice I have all these lines wrapped around the toggels. About that time something bangs into my side. It's the reserve still in the free bag. I'm thinking I don't want this thing to open up so I grab it and stuff it in my chest strap. I reach up and pull the reserve lines down and hold them with my teeth. I release the brakes and land without incident. By this time everyone on the ground was running up asking what happened. My friend landed and walked over to see what was up. After the third person asked him if he realized he almost killed his friend, I started to realize how close I had come to a main reserve entanglement. Lessons learned: - Give yourself plenty of room to deal with the sh*t. - When your jumping someone else's gear inspect it more thoroghly. - An RSL is not a bad thing. - With a pilot chute in tow, cutaway first. - When jumping something new, give yourself plenty of room to deal with the sh*t!!!