brake fire & reserve ride

[willhill 0]

Nothing new here, but a lesson learned. Pitched my Spectre 170 loaded at 1.1 at 3K and immediately went into a violent left spin that held my body at a near horizontal angle. The slider was crumpled below a couple of tight line twists. "If all I see are line twists, why the hell am I spinning like this?", I wondered - but not for long. Chopped it at 2K and, thankfully, the Skyhook delivered a stable reserve before I even had time to pull my reserve handle. After landing, first thoughts were line over or tension knot but, upon inspection of the main, we discovered toggles stowed but right-hand brake line out.
Lesson: Be meticulous about stowing excess brake lines.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

upon inspection of the main, we discovered toggles stowed but right-hand brake line out.

Are you saying that the brake toggle was not threaded through the cat's eye in the brake line, so that the brake line was not packed in the half-brakes position?

Did you think to try and reach up and release both brakes to see if that would stop the spin?

Yeah, you might have still had ugly line twists, but that would have given you more time to deal with the line twists, and a cleaner cut-away for reserve deployment.

[willhill 0]

Are you saying that the brake toggle was not threaded through the cat's eye in the brake line, so that the brake line was not packed in the half-brakes position?

Yes, I think so. Someone else recovered my main after a long search by a bunch of us. He told me that the toggle's pin (Vector 3) was still stowed but the line was out. By the time I saw it, both toggles had been unstowed.

Did you think to try and reach up and release both brakes to see if that would stop the spin?

In retrospect, that's the first thing I should have tried. I was just stunned and surprised, whipped around and, frankly, didn't hesitate much to chop it. Also knew I was on a long spot and would probably have to quickly find a place to land out - and did.
I don't have much experience but always appreciate feedback.

Thanks, John........

[tbrown 26]

Quote

Are you saying that the brake toggle was not threaded through the cat's eye in the brake line, so that the brake line was not packed in the half-brakes position?

Yes, I think so. Someone else recovered my main after a long search by a bunch of us. He told me that the toggle's pin (Vector 3) was still stowed but the line was out. By the time I saw it, both toggles had been unstowed.

Did you think to try and reach up and release both brakes to see if that would stop the spin?

In retrospect, that's the first thing I should have tried. I was just stunned and surprised, whipped around and, frankly, didn't hesitate much to chop it. Also knew I was on a long spot and would probably have to quickly find a place to land out - and did.
I don't have much experience but always appreciate feedback.

Thanks, John........

It's true that a brake misfire can be quickly and easily cured by pulling both toggles down evenly to about shoulder high. Most of the time that simple move will chill everything out nicely.

BUT you're also saying you had line twists. Things may well have gone beyond the point of fixing. If you were spinning around that hard with line twists, you were going down FAST. You don't want to use up the rest of your life trying to fix something like that. I think you did the right thing by chopping.

And next time, you'll learn to be more careful stowing your brakes when you pack.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !