davelepka

Crying like a bitch might be one. Those shorts seemed like a good idea until he got a line group wrapped around his leg, that probably hurt. Otherwise, standard horseshoe mal procedures. If you're above your hard deck, try to clear the entanglement until you succeed or you reach your hard deck, then continue on with your EPs. Horseshoe mals suck ass, mostly because there's not always a 'good' solution. Check your gear like crazy and protect the hell out of your handles/pins both in and out of the aircraft.

I have made many thousands of jumps without an AAD with no issue. I have made a couple of jumps without goggles (or other eye protection), and remember them as unpleasant experiences that I do not wish to repeat.

On the ground, keep it to generic questions/answers, and if they ask specific questions about what their jump will consist of, refer them back to their instructor. In the plane, follow the lead of the TI. If they are having a 'non-essential' conversation, feel free to chime in, again making sure not to instruct them on what they should be doing. You can ask them if they are excited, you can asnwer questions they have about anything besides their jump. If they want to know about your jump, that's fine, but be clear that everythying about their own jump is up to their instructor. Have you ever been in the emergency room with a friend or family member? It's like that, with the TI being the doctor. When the Dr isn't around, you can talk to your friend, and when the Dr is in the room, there is a time to be quiet and let the Dr do their job, and sometimes the Dr will engage you or the patient in non-essential small talk, or lighthearted banter, and you can usually chime in at this time as well. While the Dr is removing whatever your friend got stuck in some part of his/her body? Probably not the time to speak up about anything, especially the medical procedure itself. Ditto with the TI, when they are 'talking business', leave them alone, and when they're not, leave the 'business talk' out of your part of the conversation.

Thanks for making this comment. You do have a point, that you are better off paying attention to other things under canopy. Of course, if you have sufficient experience with the move and are alone in the sky, it's not tough to spin the toggles a couple times to untwist your lines. If you're not familiar, you can spend time looking up, going the wrong direction, and not watching where you're going. There's another, much better reason not to do this under canopy - the problem with twists in the lines is that they can lead to tension knots if the lines 'curl' up in the line stows. So in order to avoid the tension knots, you untwist your lines before you pack, not after you open. That may help you in terms of the next opening, but you just put the cart before the horse with the previous opening.

This is a great case against soft reserve handles. Here you have a 'less than' ideal situation, and if you watch the method in which he ends up getting the reaserve handle out, I would be surprised if he could have done that with a soft handle.

I agree, to each his own, but it's very poor advice to encourage newer, or low-time jumpers not to log their jumps. Outside of their own nostalgia, the logs will provide a record of their expereince for the purpose of earning licenses, ratings, being allowed onto specialty jumps or demos, and a host of other administrative functions. There does come a point where much of that falls by the wayside, but that's somewhere upwards of 600 jumps, where you're on the high-side for any ratings. As long as you're logged up to that point, you'll be good to go. That said, I know several people with 2000+ jumps who still log every jump, on paper, at the end of every day. It's nothing more than a single line entry into a logbook/notebook, but it doesn't take more than a minute or two to log 8 to 10 jumps at the end of the day.

No, you don't. An AAD isn't an investment strategy, it's a safety strategy. It's a double-edged sword - if you don't jump all that much, your lack of currency or experience makes an AAD a good idea. If you jump all the time, your increased exposure to risk makes an AAD a good idea. All of the AADs out there cost about same. With that said, your decision is more functional then financial. If you're going to buy an AAD, buy the best one for the job, not the one that's $100 or $200 less than the others.

The lower steering line will have no effect on the opening, that's the upper steering line (the brake fingertrap being the split between upper and lower). The length of the upper is really only relative to the length of the other lines. Given the condition of the other lines, the upper may not match the factory numbers and the canopy might still open well. The 'ideal' is that all the lines are on the factory spec, but somtimes you don't get that. The lower, provided that it's long enough to allow for full flight with no tail deflection, and front riser turns with the toggles in your hands with no tail deflection (if you do front riser turns), then the length of the lowers can be whatever the pilot wants. Riser length, arm lenght and personal preference will all come into play when setting the lowers. Of course, the other consideration is the flare/stall point. If the lines are too long, you'll never get a full flare out of it. On the flip side, you'll never stall it either. What you really need to do is just hook it up and jump it. See if the lines are long enough to allow for full lfight and front riser turns, and short enough to allow to 'reach' a full flare and just barely reach a stall. Once you have the lwoers set, you may have to reset them in a couple jumps as the line set stretches and shrinks from use.

One idea with skydiving, especially for new jumpers, is that it's a good idea to only add one new thing per jump. This way, you allow yourself the ability to concentrate on the 'new thing', and you help to the limit the possibility of getting caught off guard by more than one 'surprise' that sometimes comes with new things. So maybe on your first solo, just repeat an easy jump. Have you ever demostrated a stable, on-heading exit, followed by alternating left and right 360 degree turns, with good altitude awareness and a stable, on-time pull, all on a solo jump? It sounds like a simple proposition, but it's something you couldn't even imagine doing 5 jumps ago. Let's remember, you still have to think about all the other facets of your jump. The gear, the ride to altitude, gear checks, the climb out, the deployment, possible malfunctions and the canopy ride/landing, in addition to your freefall, so maybe keep the freefall simple, within your wheelhouse, and let the 'solo' be the new thing. In terms of your canopy control, that's one of those things you'll work on every jump for the rest of your life. If you want to practice manuvers, do them high enough to cutaway if you should create a malfunction. Be sure to check for trafiic before and after each manuver, and keep an eye on your spot. The wind is blowing you around the whole time you're under canopy, including during turns, so just make sure you're always close enough to the DZ to make it to the pattern entry point.

Good news all around. The best news was this - That's one of those fundamental lessons that will open the door to tons of learning and new lessons. Back to your jumps - That's a funy story, but not a reliable or advisable method for moving forward and developing that skill. A late or early flare can lead to a hard landing and injury, and not something that should be left something as ambiguous as 'the third oh shit'. Ask your instructors about the' two-stage flare' technique. More or less, you break the flare into to steps, the first being about half of the flare stroke. Once you have the toggles halfway down, you pause and see how things look, and continue based on what you see. How high are now? How much did the half-flare arrest your descent rate? If you were high, you can hold the toggle position (NEVER put the toggles back up once you start your flare near the ground), and then finish the flare as you approach the ground. If you were low, you can skip the 'pause' between the two steps, and just haul the toggles all the way down. At the very least, you'll land with a half-flare, and with a good PLF this should be enough to walk away injury-free. The fine print - not all canopies can be flared this way. There are several caveats to this method, and you need to consult with your instructor before moving forward with any modification to the landing phase of your jump. Landing with a good PLF and the toggles down in the full flare position is almost always a good idea.

Welcome to the sport. No joke, making sure your shoes are tied tight and double-knotted should be a part of your gear-up routine. I go so far as to take the loops/tails, and tuck them under the criss-cross of laces to make sure the wind doesn't blow them around and untie them. Is it a big deal? Generally no, but it's one less thing to worry about if they are all squared away. Good on you, and I hope you remember the most important lesson - that your current level of expertise in the cockpit took 17 years to achieve, and that it has nothing to do with your ability as a skydiver. Often times we see people will accomplishments in other sports, sometimes unrelated to aviation, sometimes aviation itself, and they seem to think that it gives them some edge over 'everyone else' learning to jump, and that is a sad mistake they're making. Don't get me wrong, your aviation experience will help you to be a better student/skydiver, within the confines of the regular progression. It doesn't give you magical powers above and beyond the other students/newbies, or qualiy you to do things that your experience/time-in-sport don't suggest you should be doing, it just gives you perhaps a better chance for success along the same road everyone travels. I mention this more as a cautionary tale, and really for the benefit of everyone reading, not just yourself. On top of that, nothing you said specifiacly suggested that you felt as if you had any advatage over erveryone else, so don't take it that way. Consider it a public service announcement, nothing more, nothing less.

Below is a copy/paste of an email I got from them just last week - Hey Dave, We are at Velocity Sports Equipment 56885 Enterprise Drive Suite 103 Bend, OR 97707 Have a good one! -Tony

Short story - the AFF program will clear you to self-supervise, meaning that you can make solo jumps or jumps with a USPA coach (or approved 'expert' skydiver). You are still considered on 'student status' meaning that you are restricted to the limitations of a student (specific gear, lower wind limits, etc). You may also have a problem going to a different DZ as a 'student' and making solo jumps, they might want you to make a check-out dive with an instructor before letting you jump solo. Once you finish the training and get your A license, you are free to jump at any USPA DZ, with any other licensed jumper (or solo). What exactly Phase I and Phase II mean at your local DZ, I don't know. You need to call and ask. It's not a waste of their time, it's their job to speak with jumpers/customers.

That might be going a little far. A more conservative approach would be to just downsize the slider. Call PD and see what size they reccomend. A less expensive approach would be just tug on the rear risers mid-snivel, or whenever you're ready for the opening to be over and the canopy ride to begin.

You just heard that last week? Either way, it goes for way more than just your main. Same thing when picking a reserve. Same thing when choosing a pull altitude. Same thing when planning a skydive. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Keep in mind that there are certain physical limitations at work. You're a bigger guy, and some people are much smaller and lighter. Even if you can get to 115, can you fly and manuver at that speed, or are you 'stuck' just trying to hold that speed? You need to have some 'room to move' while going a more 'normal' speed, meaning that you can manuver with the formation, take grips, and stay in your slot. Just like the little girls need to work on body position AND wear weights, the big guys need to have good body position AND get a suit to help put them in the right range.

I read it again, I guess 'leather head cover' is a little odd, especially for an old-shcool jumper who should know what a 'frap hat' is.

I don't know, the ad is informative with plenty of details and correct 'lingo'. There is no attempt to conceal the identity of the 'model', or the indentifying marks on the suit. Combine that with the age of the suits, and it looks like someone is just cleaning out their closet. Actually seems like a good deal for 3 barely used, name-braind suits.

Call the company, tell them your story, answer their questions, and see what they say. They're the experts on suits and their options, let them do their job and go right to the source.

This is why I'm behind the concept of aircraft based launches and parachute based landings. If anything goes wrong, let it happen 1000's of feet from the planet with time/altitude to deploy a canopy. Of course, the 'project leader' keeps talking about reaching 'hover speed' for testing, and I'm not eve sure what that is for a fixed wing craft. Technically, I guess if your airspeed matched the windspeed, you could hover, but the 'wing' in question is far from those types of flight speeds (or the planet is far from those types of wind speeds).

This helps to rule out hypoxia. The ride up would have been 'fuzzy' in your memory, and you would have been 'slap happy' the higher up you went.

Say it anyway you want, but the minimum controllable airspeed for that wing is going to be well into the range that could kill a pilot, especially given the orientation of the pilot on your 'aircraft'. If you can come up with a way to flight test your wing without flying, maybe you could share that with us. If you can come up with a way to fly your aircraft with the risk of a take-off and landing (besides an aircraft based launch and parachute based landing), maybe share those details as well. Inquiring minds want to know..,

This can be tough. There aren't many rigs around with a harness that small which will hold the bigger canopies you're going to need to start with. What you should do is look around for a rig that will hold a 150-ish main and reserve, and that has a medium or smaller harness, and then contact the manufacturer about a harness resize. It will add $200 to $400 to the cost of a rig, but the overall price will still be far less than the cost of a new rig. The resized harness will fit you perfectly. Do not buy a rig that is 'close enough' in harness fit. Too big is too big, and you should not spend any additional time in a oversized harness than you need to. Beyond your student jumps where you're jumping a student rig, get your own stuff and make sure it fits right. There are some drawbacks to being smaller (or larger) than average, and the gear issue is one of them.

How did you feel in the plane on the way to altitude? Excited? Aware? Nervous? Any light-headedness in the plane? Being a runner, and consdiering that you had no problem until the canopy opened, I'm not guessing hypoxia. That tends to happen at altitude, and returning to lower altitudes generally will fix that almost immediately. It sounds like you had a common problem with tandem harness that are not properly adjusted. You tend to hang more forward in a tandem passenger harness, as opposed to straight up and down in a solo harness. What this does is put pressure on the forward part of your inner thigh, right on your femoral artery, and then you pass out. There would be no pressure until the canopy opened, so you would have no symptoms until the canopy opens. Check with your doctor, and if you get the 'OK', try another tandem and bring this up with your instructor. There is a trick after the canopy opens where you lift yout knees, and slide the legstraps from your crotch forward a few inches to just under butt/ upper thigh. This has you sitting more than hanging, and takes the pressure off your femoral artery. Provided you don't pass out on that jump, proceed to solo jumps. You sit much differently in a solo harness, but even then you can do the same trick as with the tandem harness if need be. Most people do not need to do that trick with a solo harness.

It does sound like short brake lines. At a safe height, and clear of traffic, do some front riser manuvers with your toggles in your hands, and look at the tail of the canopy while you do them. If there is tension on the brake line and/or it's actually pulling on the tail, the lines are too short. What's happening is you're pulling the front risers, which means 'go', and deflecting the tail, which means 'stop' at the same time. If this is the case, speak to a rigger. You may have extra steering line stored inside of your current lines, and they can just let them out to the proper length. If not, you'll need new lower steering lines, which will take more time to build/install, but shouldn't be very expensive. Truth be told, if your lines are older, you might just have the entire steering line replaced, top to bottom, just to be safe.