grimmie 177 #26 July 30, 2012 I had the first ever cutaway (spinner) at my DZAnd of course some mr. Helper dialed 911 as he watched my main float to the ground gentlyFD, PD rolled of course but were cool. We now have the dispatch center on speed dial.The guy that called 911 was almost pissed no one died wanker. So I owe beer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #27 July 30, 2012 No shit, there I was, didn't think I was gonna die. 13-way zoo load, when everyone else broke @ 5, three of us zoomed into the center for a pre-planned couple of quick donut points before breaking @ 3.5. Turned and tracked, deployed. WHAM! Hard opening. Looked up and checked the canopy, and the right steering line was broken. The whole right rear corner of the canopy was flapping loose in the breeze like a flag on a windy day. Didn't seem to be any pressurization there. Wondered if some fabric was torn also. I started to think about landing it. It was stable, no spin. Released brake on other side, still no problem. Should I try a practice flare? I'll have to use left brake and right rear riser. Hmmm. Or maybe both rear risers. Hmmm. And what's the flare going to be like with both rear risers with those missing D-lines on one side. Hmmm. I realized I was over-thinking it and wasting time. Decided to quit fiddling around and chop it. I still had the toggle with broken line in my right hand, and left it there. I still had my main ripcord in my right hand, and flipped it back over my knuckles out of the way. I looked below me - no canopies in the way, but there sure was a lot of woods underneath me, and I hoped I wouldn't have to land there. Looked at handles, grabbed handles, arched. Pulled cutaway, and felt myself drop - clean breakaway. But I didn't arch hard enough and fell straight down and then onto my back. Damn. Now what: do I pull the reserve while I'm on my back, or take the time to flip back over first? I cut-away high enough, 1,800', that I knew I had a few seconds to spare, so I half-barrel rolled back to my belly and pulled the reserve. A quick but soft opening. Everything looked good! Released brakes and started flying back to the DZ. On my way down I kept looking over my shoulder and monitored where my cut-away main canopy was going, and had a good bead on where it was in the jungle. I flew back to the main landing area, and landed smack dab in the grass in front of the hanger doors. My hands were full of handles: right toggle, main ripcord, cutaway pillow, reserve ripcord - saved 'em all! I headed for the woods and quickly found my canopy, but it was 20' up in a tree. Drove back to the DZ for a saw to cut the tree down, and the manifest guys at the DZ acted like they had never heard of anyone needing a saw before to retrieve a canopy. No one knew where to find one in the maintenance hanger. Finally asked a pilot, and got a limb trimmer. Headed back to the woods and found two other people had already retrieved my canopy by pulling it down. I worried about how much force they used and whether anything got torn on snags. Continued searching the jungle for my freebag but never found it. Very dense woods. Poison ivy. Shorts. The kicker: I had just picked up my rig from a reserve repack that very morning. This was only my 2nd jump since the repack. I took everything back up to the rigging loft, and the rigger looked surprised, and then laughed. That was a quick turn-around, only about 5-hours since I had picked it up. I hope to get a full 6-months out of the next one. Checking my records, the line set has 561 jumps on them. There was no significant wear visible - they looked good. The break was at the fingertrap joint at the bottom of the cascades. Not happy with the way I fell over onto my back at cutaway. Oh, and that right toggle with broken line was rather long and dangling behind me, since the break was up at the cascades. Didn't realize that at the time. I shouldn't have had that much line dangling behind me on reserve deployment. Should have tossed that thing and got it out of the way. And every DZ with woods around it should have a tree saw on standby for such occassions. Other than that, no complaints. I tipped the guy that got my canopy down, and I've bought a special beverage for the rigger. I was due, statistically. That was cut-away #10 in over 5,500 jumps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guppie01 0 #28 July 30, 2012 I jumped my gimpy ass about 2 feet up, and 3 feet back, all the while holding a pizza to avoid getting hit by a car. g "Let's do something romantic this Saturday... how bout we bust out the restraints?" Raddest Ho this side of Jersey #1 - MISS YOU OMG, is she okay? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #29 July 31, 2012 Quote I was due, statistically. That was cut-away #10 in over 5,500 jumps. Helluva day there, John.And on a brand new repack, damn.Good thing us old farts are good at that stuff. BTW, I'm right with you, 10 cutaways in 5700. Knock on wood. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #30 July 31, 2012 Quote I had my first cutaway this Friday... Hop-n-Pop... then chop. Jump #32 ((Yes, lots of beer to be had... only the free bag is missing, I kept the handles)) No $hit? Nice job, esp. the handles. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
loch1957 0 #31 July 31, 2012 OK probably a dumb question but whats the metal ring on your thumb for?Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 177 #32 July 31, 2012 The "free bag" should be renamed the "expensive bag", since they get lost so often Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #33 July 31, 2012 Quote OK probably a dumb question but whats the metal ring on your thumb for? No such thing as a dumb question...The ring is attached to a steel cable on which the smokes are fastened. The ring starts out connected to a quick release snap inside the container where it stays for most of the spin. Somewhere between 300 & 800 feet depending on what I'm flying over, I release the snap and put the ring on my thumb. As I begin to flare the canopy for landing I simply point my thumb down and drop the icky dirty cable & hot smokes and land 50 feet in front of them. That keeps the canopy from getting dirty and or burned up as happens if it should land ON the pyro still attached to the harness. There are a few vids on youtube showing me doing the candy-cane, on some of them the camera is aimed lower and you can see me controlling the cable as I described. Go to about 2:20 0n this one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDDKLGv31vs&feature=context-chv ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #34 July 31, 2012 Quote Quote I was due, statistically. That was cut-away #10 in over 5,500 jumps. Helluva day there, John.And on a brand new repack, damn.Good thing us old farts are good at that stuff. BTW, I'm right with you, 10 cutaways in 5700. Knock on wood. I'm at 14 with 3900 jumps...Anyone that's ever seen me PRO pack in the 90's knows why! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SansSuit 1 #35 July 31, 2012 QuoteDid my first demo with a flag(small one) on saturday (its raw and unedited vid, exit @ ~1:30, the flag is visible around 2:55). Nice job!Peace, -Dawson. http://www.SansSuit.com The Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
