First Cutaway OR Why I hate Whuffos! (Long)

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Well, it was bound to happen. After nearly 5 years in the sport, 500 jumps and roughly 4000 pack jobs...I had my first chop this morning.

Rushed to the dropzone Saturday afternoon after working all day and made the sunset load ($13 jumps!!!) - I've known for a couple of weeks that my canopy is slightly out of trim with around 300 jumps on the lineset, but I had the brakes adjusted to spec (couldn't afford a full re-line at the time) - my Stiletto 170 (loaded at 1.5) made a slight turn into line twists upon deployment that was easy to kick out of.

I decided to sleep in this morning and walked into the hanger around 11am. Sarah wanted to do a two way (I would be belly, she would sit) and we got onto the next load. I felt a little weird all the way to altitude thinking about the opening I had last night....that nawing feeling in the back of my head should have been a warning. In fact, I was going to mention to Sarah that I would probably drop my canopy off for a re-line tonight if she thought the store could get it done by Friday....but she had her eyes closed.

At 10grand we all got up for gear checks and I practiced and visualized my emergency procedures three times.

The winds up top were hauling ass and we knew the spot was going to be long, esp since we were going to be out just before the tandems. Somehow we managed to funnel the exit but still had a great jump. I remember noticing that her main pin flap on her Mirage had somehow come open....I also noticed just how floaty she is in a sit!

During my track I reminded myself that the opening could be interesting and I made sure I was stable all the way thru deployment. Checked my alti as I was passing thru 3500, waved off, reached and pulled right around 3000. I let go of the PC, felt the risers come off my back and swung into the saddle evenly. I didn't even get a chance to look up at the canopy before I saw my left riser come into view and I was starting to spin. Looked up, saw at least 4 or 5 twists half way up the lines with the slider above the twists. I thought "no big deal" grabbed the risers and kicked. Nothing moved. Hmmm...try that again. Nothing. By this point I am on my side and the speed is increasing. Hmmmm...looked up and realized I was kicking the wrong way and kicked the other way ....oops, wrong move....I was now on my back in a violent spin and thought "hey dumbass, you are in the middle of killing yourself" and instantly grabbed both handles, arched and pulled. Nothing happened, and the handle was still there. I pulled without peeling! Instantly I had both hands on my handle and pulled with all my force....cha-chink and I was back in freefall doing a headlow backtrack watching my canopy and handle go away (I remember thinking "there goes $40"). Flipped to my belly with one hand on the handle and then pulled with both. I was still clearing the ripcord from the channel when I realized I was under a canopy again. I looked up and said - OH, it's yellow and had a good laugh. Stuck my handle in my jumpsuit, reached for my toggles as I looked at my wrist - I'm just at 1100.

Those PD reserves fly sweet! Picked a wide open field close to wear I guessed my canopy would land and did a nice PLF.

I turn around in time to see my freebag land in a field near a tourist attraction and notice a large group of kids running to that location.

I then went back to watching my main land ON TOP of Farmer McNasty's Barn roof. I chuckled when I saw that. I couldn't walk to the barn because of the large ravine in the way...thats when I saw someone from the farm next to me take of on a quad towards McNasty's barn.

The house I landed near was nice enough to let me call the DZ and let them know I was fine and where I could be picked up. Someone was already out there trying to find me and noticed someone on the roof of the barn and noticed all the kids.

Yup, the kids took my freebag (WTF are they going to do with it?) and I wasn't able to get it back.

The canopy wasn't on top of the barn anymore, so we went to where the quad came from - yep, this guy took it and was quite proud of it. In fact, he wanted me to pay him "several hundred dollars" to get it back. WHAT???? Are you serious? That's not even your farm, and thats MY canopy. You trespassed to steal? His defense was he wanted to make sure there wasn't a body attached to it and that someone paid him $250 to get one back last year. After several minutes of arguing as calmly as possible, he finally handed the main back over to me. I tried to shake his hand when I said thanks and he refused then bitched about how he almost broke his neck saving my canopy. I just kept my mouth shut and got back into the truck.

That was one very expensive $13 jump! Looks like I may not be jumping for a while since I can't afford both the repack and a re-line.

Oh yea - that was the riggers first save. He has a nice bottle of Jack coming his way this weekend, and there will be beer at the bonfire as well.

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you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[weegegirl 2]

Congrats on saving your life! Welcome to the cutaway club.

A month ago, when I had my first mal, my friend Gretta landed with my stuff. Apparently there was a guy there in the process of taking my main. He said "Finders Keepers." She would have nothing to do with that and promptly stole it back from him. Thank, God! Bloody whuffos!

[AirMail 0]

Good job Bo. Glad you're OK.

Patrick

--
It's never too late to have a happy childhood.
Postal Rodriguez, Muff 3342

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

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Congrats on saving your life! Welcome to the cutaway club.

A month ago, when I had my first mal, my friend Gretta landed with my stuff. Apparently there was a guy there in the process of taking my main. He said "Finders Keepers." She would have nothing to do with that and promptly stole it back from him. Thank, God! Bloody whuffos!

I was pretty wired at the time - I just wanted to tell the guy what a stupid ass he was but I just kept thinking if I went off on this McNasty Jr he would hold onto it.

One of the guys in the truck pointed out that we wouldn't ransom off one of his cows if it wandered onto our property. Very valid point IMHO.

Oh, and can I just say - I'm sooo happy I didn't have the RSL connected.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[diverdriver 5]

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"hey dumbass, you are in the middle of killing yourself"

LOL.....bwahahhahahah......Nice job Bo!

[Rdutch 0]

I had a dumbass, steal my canopy, and we even got it on video, it also didnt land on his property, it landed in a public park. Luckily the nice Police woman I called informed him that it was Felony theft, and that I wouldnt press charges if he just gave it back. He denied having it, so she arrested him, where he immediately said oh you mean Parachute, I have that, I dont know what a canopy is. The worse thing about it is, I had to identify it because he had a collection of them, almost everytime a canopy lands in the park it is never found.

Ray
Small and fast what every girl dreams of!

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

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I had a dumbass, steal my canopy, and we even got it on video, it also didnt land on his property, it landed in a public park. Luckily the nice Police woman I called informed him that it was Felony theft, and that I wouldnt press charges if he just gave it back. He denied having it, so she arrested him, where he immediately said oh you mean Parachute, I have that, I dont know what a canopy is. The worse thing about it is, I had to identify it because he had a collection of them, almost everytime a canopy lands in the park it is never found.

I've never understood why whuffo's run to get gear and then hide it. What the hell is the point. I was at a dropzone one day when a local stops by and asks if anyone lost a canopy - he had found it a couple years earlier and claimed he didn't know there was an airport in the area.

I had to stop a whuffo in Rantoul from stealing a freebag....

....a friend watched an old couple pull up next to a canopy and throw it in their trunk - luckily he saw the plates and the local police chased them down a week later. They said "oh, we were going to bring it back soon."

Ugh. Pisses me off

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[Faber 0]

well so becours YOU did make a mistake to not get your gear updated,YOU blame other people....Rember if you didnt had to cut away then you would be were you are now...
Dos´nt make it legal to steal your gear but have a thought... If you suddenly saw a case of beer in the side of the road or some mony would you take it or would you leave it... guess what i would take the beers or mony,im just human what can i say..The persons sure thourght it were a cool chute,and as you wanted it back he expected a fine as he had helped you..

just the back side of the coin...

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[Casch 0]

What's the point? Parachutes are cool, everyone wants one whether they would use it or not. It's a neat decoration anyone that believes in the finders keepers "rule" is going to take it and wont want to give it back. I would probably start kicking some ass if someone didn't give it back after I asked nicely. I'm not letting anyone walk away with $1K+ of my stuff without a fight.

Not all whuffo's are bad whuffo's but they sure as hell ain't all good ones

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

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well so becours YOU did make a mistake to not get your gear updated,

Actually, by having the brakes adjusted I did have my gear updated. 300 jumps is rather early to need a lineset redone and I was under the impression I could get another 100 jumps on them.

Beer or money on the road has some relevance - you could use both. Not too much a whuffo can do with a Stiletto other than get hurt or throw it out.

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[SkydiverRick 0]

I had a cut-away on a beach jump in Sebastion a few years ago. My freebag landed on A1A and my main landed on a driveway a couple hundred yards west. Before I could get to it someone driving by stopped and grabbed my freebag. There was a state trooper standing by my main talking to the home owners. When I tried to pick it up off of the asphalt the trooper ordered me to leave it alone. I tried to explain to him that it was mine. He wanted ID ,which I did not have with me. He said that I could not have it without ID. I asked the trooper "how many altimeter wearing criminals argue with cops in an effort to steal things?" He finally had me put in his trunk and I followed him to the bar and someone else produced some ID and he returned it to me. I also got lucky with the freebag, it was at the bar waiting on me. I guess not all whuffos are bad.

never pull low......unless you are

[Darius11 12]

Hi
i am new to the sport and love it.
Help me what is a whuffos???????
I need to learn this stuff it took me a week to find out what LOL ment in a chat room.
Thank you

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[SkydiverRick 0]

Help me what is a whuffos???????

[Faber 0]

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300 jumps is rather early to need a lineset redone and I was under the impression I could get another 100 jumps on them.

HUH?!?

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In fact, I was going to mention to Sarah that I would probably drop my canopy off for a re-line tonight if she thought the store could get it done by Friday....but she had her eyes closed.

hmm im sure you didnt wanted to do another 100 on your setup..

Dont want to blame you,just saying that, jumping in gear you dont think is 100%ok is a bad idea...
I cant blame people for picking up stuff if they think its interesting,however they should give it back as the owner claims it..

i forgot to say congrat on your first cut,now you know the feeling,and you sure wont through away that pillow next time

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[adamT 0]

Yeah not all wuffos are bad, on my fist chop (student status) the main was returned by a man in a pickup just as our van was pulling away from the landing area. I don't know if the free bag was recovered, i didn't even know what a free bag was at the time.
adam

[Darius11 12]

thanks
now i know

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

[jerm 0]

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Rember if you didnt had to cut away then you would be were you are now...

sure, he could have just gone in. Perfectly fine gear also malfunctions, it could jsut as easily ahve been on a spinetto with a bran-new lineset

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The persons sure thourght it were a cool chute,and as you wanted it back he expected a fine as he had helped you..

hogwash...if he'd asked for/needed the help, then there might be a case for that, but doing semething for someone and the demanding payment w/o prior arrangement is extortion or blackmail or something like that... if you car is dirty and i come wash it for you w/o asking, do i have right to then demand you pay me for the job?

Landing without injury is not necessarily evidence that you didn't fuck up... it just means you got away with it this time

[HeatherB 0]

I've already given him crap about jumping an out of trim Stiletto. I think he's had enough!

Well...you know...he kept saying he wanted to have a cutaway and get it over with! I told him I used to say that too, and then I promptly had one...and then another one 60 jumps later.

Be careful what you wish for!

But I can see your point, Faber. The mentality of "That repair can wait for a few more jumps... That hole in my canopy isn't too big yet, my spandex BOC pouch isn't *too* worn out, I'll get those riser inserts put in next weekend etc etc etc." can lead to really kicking yourself (or worse) after an easily preventable mal or problem.

I gave Bo crap but I am very glad he is one piece!

--Heather

[skygazer 0]

Glad you made it down safely...

Did that happen late morning-early afternoon Sunday? My husband and I were watching from the picnic tables and saw someone land waaaaay out. All I could think of was: I hope they are ok and what a long trip back.

Take care!!!!!

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[ChasingBlueSky 0]

Ah hell....just got word from my rigger...

Looks like when the farmer took the canopy off the roof there was damage done to the canopy. The damage is on the bottom skin near the center cell, including an adjacent rib (jagged, tear-type holes), and on the topskin almost all the way to the right side as you look up at the canopy in flight (4 holes, all the same shape, where the fabric stacked on to itself).

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

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Glad you made it down safely...

Did that happen late morning-early afternoon Sunday? My husband and I were watching from the picnic tables and saw someone land waaaaay out. All I could think of was: I hope they are ok and what a long trip back.

Take care!!!!!

Yup, right around noon or so....Northwest of the DZ....

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[ChasingBlueSky 0]

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I've already given him crap about jumping an out of trim Stiletto. I think he's had enough!

Thanks Hun. She was really sweet on the phone asking if I was ok and all....then proceeds to say "that's what you get for jumping an out of trim Spinletto."

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Well...you know...he kept saying he wanted to have a cutaway and get it over with! I told him I used to say that too, and then I promptly had one...and then another one 60 jumps later.

Yea, I knew it had to be coming sooner or later, I just wanted to get it out of the way. I was even thinking of getting an intentional cutaway rig just to know what it felt like.

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But I can see your point, Faber. The mentality of "That repair can wait for a few more jumps... That hole in my canopy isn't too big yet, my spandex BOC pouch isn't *too* worn out, I'll get those riser inserts put in next weekend etc etc etc." can lead to really kicking yourself (or worse) after an easily preventable mal or problem.

I gave Bo crap but I am very glad he is one piece!

I called the loft today to ask them to measure the lines just so I can find out just how out of trim it is...

_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

[juanesky 0]

Glad you made it safe.

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[Lolie 0]

I was jumping with Sarah on my cutaway, too! I think you're just trying to be cool like me.

-Miranda
you shall above all things be glad and young / For if you're young,whatever life you wear
it will become you;and if you are glad / whatever's living will yourself become.