Apr 16, 2006, 6:27 PM
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AADs Scare Me
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OK, first off I am just starting out in the sport. The thing is, as I near my first jump I keep getting an image in my mind of the AAD firing for no good reason at 150 ft. AGL. I just HATE introducing a machine that I cannot control into the formula that saves my life every jump. Is this an unreasonable fear?
I guess I'd just rather rely totally on myself than on a machine.
Are you going to trust yourself to regain consciousness in time to deploy in the event that you somehow get knocked out in freefall?
As a student on IAD, what is going to knock me out? Unless I hit a bird, I think I'm pretty much golden. Also, I can control things that might knock me out, but I can't control that AAD.
Where, exactly, have you gotten the idea that your AAD is likely to be "firing for no good reason at 150 ft. AGL"?
Edited to add: one of the keys to succeeding in this sport is learning to trust your gear. One of the best ways to learn to trust your gear is to learn about it. Your fear, as far as I can tell, has no basis in facts, so go out there and learn. Download a Cypres manual, read all about it. Do the same with other AADs. Learn how they work, learn their operating parameters, learn their safety record.
Same goes for ALL your gear.
(This post was edited by NWFlyer on Apr 16, 2006, 7:05 PM)
OK, first off I am just starting out in the sport. The thing is, as I near my first jump I keep getting an image in my mind of the AAD firing for no good reason at 150 ft. AGL. I just HATE introducing a machine that I cannot control into the formula that saves my life every jump. Is this an unreasonable fear?
I guess I'd just rather rely totally on myself than on a machine.
Where, exactly, have you gotten the idea that your AAD is likely to be " firing for no good reason at 150 ft. AGL"?
There have been misfires, right?
Zipp0
Please read my edited post above. Learn about your gear. Learn about the circumstances under which misfires have occurred. I think you'll find that your fears are unfounded, at least as long as you're not going to be swooping a high-performance canopy any time soon (which, I might add, would be significantly more likely to kill you/injure you at your experience level than an AAD misfire).
Edit: Put more broadly, shit happens in this sport. Gear has been known to fail, even when properly maintained and used within the operating parameters. You can spend a lot of time worrying about the things that can go wrong in very rare circumstances, or you can learn about how to maintain and use your gear so that you can minimize the risks and so that you can learn to trust it.
(This post was edited by NWFlyer on Apr 16, 2006, 7:14 PM)
Here's the thing - If I screw up badly, or have a freakish mal and go in, well, that's how it goes. But in my mind I can see myself under a good canopy, happily floating along, and then WHAM, cypress fires low. For the next few seconds I would be extremely pissed.
It's probably a stupid fear, and I'm sure as soon as I exit the plane I will never think about it.
I'm a lot more likely to be rendered incapable to pull than to have an AAD misfire.
Really? AFAIK most Cypres fires happen not because the jumper was "rendered incapable" but instead because they lost altitude awareness.
AAD's aren't perfect. Neither are skydivers. Each of us needs to decide for ourselves if the additional risks of having an AAD on our rigs (and yes, there are risks involved) outweigh the potential benefits.
Where, exactly, have you gotten the idea that your AAD is likely to be " firing for no good reason at 150 ft. AGL"?
There have been misfires, right?
Zipp0
There has not been a cypres "misfire" that I have heard about. What people often call a "misfire" is when the cypres fired when they did not want it to. But they put the cypres in is "firing envelope" and it did just what it was designed to do.
Since you have yet to make a jump I would say that yes this “Is this an unreasonable fear?” There are many other things that you should be focusing on in order to complete you first jump successfully.
I think in terms of probabilities: I'm a lot more likely to be rendered incapable to pull than to have an AAD misfire.
Actual stats showing this to be true would make me feel much better about the issue.
Zipp0
Years back there was a rash of Cypres fires on the ground. They solved that problem with static proofing or something like that. I don't know that there have been any misfires under canopy, even under the highly-loaded, high-performance canopies.
The closes thing to a misfire I have heard of is when someone pulls low, has a slow deployment of their main, and the Cypres fires, but in that case it is operating within its normal parameters.
I think in terms of probabilities: I'm a lot more likely to be rendered incapable to pull than to have an AAD misfire.
Actual stats showing this to be true would make me feel much better about the issue.
Zipp0
Scott, you list Maytown as your home DZ. Ask one of your instructors or a DZ rigger about your AAD concerns. I know, for a fact, there are numerous riggers at Maytown. You might even get to talk to 'Handsome Dave' himself...
Modern AAD's are very reliable. Airtec and Vigil both have websites detailing exactly your concerns.
I think in terms of probabilities: I'm a lot more likely to be rendered incapable to pull than to have an AAD misfire.
Actual stats showing this to be true would make me feel much better about the issue.
Frankly, under a student canopy, even if your cypres fired at 150 feet I doubt very much the reserve would actually come out of the freebag and open up before you landed. Under a student canopy you probably wouldn't have enought airspeed to have the thing open....
I wouldn't say it's really anything to worry about at your stage.
Scott, you list Maytown as your home DZ. Ask one of your instructors or a DZ rigger about your AAD concerns. I know, for a fact, there are numerous riggers at Maytown. You might even get to talk to 'Handsome Dave' himself... .
I will, thanks. I just brought it up here because, you know, it's Sunday night....
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