ScratchTX

Hey good job/good story. But I wonder about: In your case, yes, but that lesson of course does not apply to the main handle... :>) And also except that I'd think at a certain altitude (say, 500 - 700 feet) it would be better to stop looking for it and pull the reserve -- go for the "more nylon overhead" approach. I mean, that you kept calm and found your cutaway handle was crucial -- panicking and going for the reserve could have probably killed you. But if I was spinning on my back and my canopy was diving, and I hadn't practiced finding my cutaway handle in difficult cirumstances, and I just could NOT find it, and I was going to hit ground hard enough to injure or kill myself anyway, isn't pulling the reserve better than nothing? What do the more experienced people think on this? I see more and more people saying this here lately--Pull stable is the THIRD of the pull priorities, NOT the second. Pulling while not stable MAY get you; pulling too late WILL get you. If you meant something else, then never mind... --Scratch

This may sound like a troll, but it isn't -- I have never jumped at a large DZ. Can't you ask people, "What are the uppers like?" and "where have you been getting out?" before you go up? I have been in situations where the uppers were strong and different from their usual pattern, so jumprun and the spot were way off from where I am used to seeing them, but I knew what to expect when I looked out. It was a good practical lesson in freefall drift... (wow, I really did end up opening here...!) If I thought that we should be getting out at one particular spot, but we were actually way on the other side of the highway somewhere else, I hope I would say "whoa, no thanks, go around please." In the heat of the moment, I suppose I might just go anyway and get my experience the hard way. That happens, too... Also, I don't think I could really tell much if the winds had changed significantly since takeoff, so I could be screwed there. But really, I guess I need to get out more to see the big world. Although we don't have the winds aloft posted at my dz, and I can't tell you the compass orientations of our runway, we do always talk with the pilots and previous loads about the winds/spot, and identify landmarks for where we should climb out, exit, and (hopefully) be at opening. I can imagine how it is much harder to do that at a big dz with larger planes (and more of them.) Lucky for me that I am a slacker jumper, not driven to make 7-8 loads a day (HA HA HA), so I am perfectly happy at the smaller paced places, looking out the door of a Cessna. I can see the appeal of the "far from the door, third group out, oh well, they have GPS so I'll just go" mentality, but I think it would freak me out a little. More stress too, about whether to intervene or not re: winds, spot, exit order, etc. It's easier to exercise being more in charge of my jump on a plane with four or five other people who know me, vs. 21-23 other random skydivers and unknown pilot...

It also depends on how you answer "current enough for what?" I waver on the edge of currency frequently. If I'm way behind in jump numbers, (1-4 jumps in the past 1-2 months) I'll figure I'm "current enough" for a solo or simple two-way with an experienced jumper. A little less behind, I'm "current enough" for a three-way with experienced jumpers I trust. To do a 4-5 way with a mixed group (experience-wise), opening at a usual 3k altitude, or to try some new equipment or a new kind of jump, I'll need to be feeling "current enough" to have my window of awareness opening up again, to feel confident in my ability to track for good separation on my own, and to be confident in my landing pattern since I won't have as much time during the skydive to think about it. Recent jump numbers are a big part of that, but other things affect my skill/awareness level and I try to take that into account, too. I rehearse emergency procedures on the ground everytime I go to the dz. I'll go to the standing harness to do practice pulls if it's been more than two or three months, or if it crosses my mind that I might want to do that.

I demo'd both a Tri 135 and a Spectre 135, at about a 1:1 loading. I found both to open softly; the Tri opening was too slow for my liking until I changed the way I packed it (didn't roll the nose at all, just stuffed it gently). Very similar characteristics, ditto what's been said here re: slightly more responsive turns on the Spectre. I found front riser input to be noticably easier (less pressure required) on the Spectre, though. I preferred the landings on the Tri but I think that was because it was more like my current square PD 7-cell. Also I was less current when I demo'd the Spectre, and the wind conditions were more challenging for me, and I blew my landings just fine on my own -- the canopy just did what I told it to. (Decided to stick with my 150 for a while longer.) --Scratch

Okay, I am just a few days away from sending in my deposit for the Search IV in March at Sebastian... Anyone else going who wants to talk about ways to share/save $$ getting from the Orlando airport to Sebastian, and/or between the dz and nearby cheap hotels? (No, I'm not camping at the dz -- it's a creaky bones/realistic rest kind of thing...) --Scratch

Good work! So I guess you are starting to figure out that relaxing thing now!

Yes it was scary when I thought about it later. At the time as my second canopy deployed, I did think "this could be the one, where I die," but then I didn't and then I was busy.Some good preparation and planning and lots of luck worked in my favor. Body input for turns? Actually, I have gotten so uncurrent over the past year that I don't think i could accurately tell you how I did this. I need to review it next weekend. (What if I had to use it again?) Basically, you use weight shift in the harness, and, specifically, raise and twist a knee to turn your canopy. I understand it has MUCH more of an effect on more highly loaded higher performance canopies, and in theory should not even have an effect on the big old dogs I was flying -- but all I know is I saw an ugly area with power lines, and a better area with just some small trees, and changed direction by lifting/shifting my knees. Intuition tells me I shifted my weight/knees hard left to turn left -- but as I say, it has been a long time since I did this and I may have it entirely backwards. Anyone more current on this/with more snap who could explain accurately how to turn a canopy with just body input/weight shift? --Scratch in Texas

I had two out around jump 40.(PC in burble -- saw NOTHING overhead after deploying, two, three, four, still at terminal after checking, looking, twisting, decided I needed a canopy NOW, went to silver) I'd done a little CRW but not enough to even think about making them downplane, just enough to not freak at seeing two canopies flying a side by side. My thought process as it happened: *Good, I am not at terminal anymore, about time. *oh shit there goes my freebag falling down *Can I grab it? *No, it's deploying LET GO, let it go *oh shit I'm having two out, should I cut away now? * no. compatible canopies, I can see the reserve deploying to my side, clear of main. Don't know which/what riser is doing what in front of my neck. *Is that riser that is in front of my neck going to strangle me as the canopy opens? *Better put my fist in there and tuck my chin hard *Okay now I have two canopies flying a stable side by side and I am still breathing, not strangled *If it aint broke, don't fix it. I am low, leave it alone. Unstow nothing. *Used body input to steer away from obstacle area [I know this should not have been possible with such big low-performance canopies, but I did it] * prepared for a controlled crash on landing, no flare but 300 sq ft of nylon overhead *Poor PLF, knocked the wind out of myself *walked away, bruised and very humbled I had read the pia report before, knew that if they downplaned I'd have to cut away, but also felt fairly confident that if I gave no radical inputs, there was no real reason that they would not maintain a side by side. Excepting the "shit happens" condition. Wendy yelled at me and told me if I wanted to do more CRW, I should do it with her, and not by myself...

One thing I'd like to add... I don't think these questions and uncertainties are things you ever grow out of, and I don't believe it will ever be "too late" to follow your heart, change paths, or go where your life calls you. Sure, there are some genuine physical and circumstantial limitations as you get older, but that just means you have to do things differently -- not that you can't do them. Going to college at 32 was different than it would have been had I gone when I was 18, but I still did it. Traveling to Europe at 39 was different than it would have been had I gone when I was 25. Starting skydiving at 40 was different than if I had started at 22. Road trips now at 43 are indeed different than when I was 22. Changing my job now requires a different kind of thought than did my job changes at 21, 27, 31, and 40. But I can and do still do all those things when I want to. Having a house and a relationship of 17 years factors in differently, but it doesn't mean anything in and of itself. It's always a little scary, sometimes very scary. But it gets more familiar and comfortable with time. It's sometimes euphoric, sometimes damn hard. Interests and priorities change. You never really know what is going to happen. But you are always right there, having to deal with it and make decisions unless you are dead... Sounds kind of like skydiving, eh?... Thinking "I gotta do it/figure it out while I'm young because later it will be too hard/too late!" only makes it harder and scarier to make decisions because they seem soooo final and absolute. Do it now, whenever now is. Life is short, so eat dessert first -- but don't forget you'll be able to keep eating dessert as long as you are still able to eat! The questions asked here, the uncertainty expressed about life and directions to take -- that's not something anyone has to grow out of. You never know the answers. That's the hard thing; I still get frustrated by that sometimes. And that's also the best thing; the thing that makes it all worthwhile. You're never too old to yell "door," look, correct, and go. And you're never too young or old to decide you don't like your landing area and select an alternate. Unlike skydiving, there is less urgency in life about just when you have to figure it out. "Living" is just about the only thing on your "to do" list while you're here, right up until the end. --Scratch

Nothing to add, just wanted to bump this excellent post back up to the top. We were discussing just this very thing on the drive to a friend's memorial last week. Then I read here about a very very similar incident happening at a different dz a week later, resulting in multiple fractures and injuries, but this time the skydiver survived. The cards fall where they will, but you can at least stack the deck in your favor when you shuffle them.

Feel every moment of it -- it's the one that really sets the hook. Feel the hill on exit, look at the clouds and ground in freefall, get a view of the countryside miles around you. Play on the relative wind, like a kitten being tossed in the paws of a mama tiger who would just as soon eat you as play with you. Marvel in this fierce and fantastic thing we do. It's your first chance for it to be just you, the sky, the ground and your rig; no one and nothing else. Savor it. --Scratch in TX

very true. The size was my main point, not really the material. In fact, my PD160 is very old, and quite porous. It does still flare but is definitely more demanding of a total, full toggle flare. I actually want to go to a Tri150 or Spectre 150 now, instead of the 135 I'd been considering. (I've jumped 9 cells too but just like those 7 cells!) The speed increase from downsizing is my main concern -- I ended up downwind in the corner due to my own poor planning and was glad (for a change) to be on a slower canopy. My body doesn't recover as fast now as it did in its first three decades...

Still resting a mildly sprained ankle as I write this... I have been practicing flat/braked turns for a while. Sometimes I fly my landing pattern with flat turns to see how flat I can get them. Haven't yet tried turns while actually flaring, but I understand the concept and will try it. But here's my question -- since canopies ideally should be at full flight speed before initiating the flare, doesn't doing a flat turn at, say, 30-40 feet, ensure a worse flare/rougher landing? Long story short: with a series of errors, brain farts and screw ups, I put myself in the proverbial and literal corner. I was fine with continuing downwind on what had been (until now) an almost windless day. I was fine with finding the gap in the fence to avoid hitting it. But when I was about 30-40 feet up, and went to about 1/3-1/2 brakes and then pulled the right toggle down a little further to avoid the tree.... In the time it took to lower both toggles and then lower the right one more, I was now pretty much almost at flare height so I flared. But it didn't have a whole hell of a lot of effect and I mostly focused on preparing for a pretty ugly landing. Ugly it was. Sore but okay, but the two other jumps I did after that put my ankle and knee over the edge. Other than NOT PUTTING MYSELF IN THAT SITUATION AGAIN, is there anything else I could have done to help that landing? Or is that the best to be expected, and I should just chalk up a mildly injured ankle as damn cheap tuition? Last note -- Listen to Bill Von etc. about wingloading and downsizing. There is no such thing as a "correct" wingloading. I jump a F-111 loaded at about .85:1 and was very glad I was under that and not the 1:1 ZP canopy I had just been demoing the week before. Jump numbers and time in sport aside -- make sure you are truly Master of your Canopy before you downsize. Know yourself and be true. --Scratch in Texas (yep there are three Sc/kratches)