Milo 0 #1 March 24, 2002 Does anyone have more info on this? From abcnews.com http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020324_505.htmlLOUISA, Va. March 24 — A veteran skydiver plunged to his death after his parachute malfunctioned as he made a turn about 50 feet off the ground, officials said.Bob Kresge, 33, of Laurel, Md., who had made more than 500 jumps, died at the Louisa County Airport on Saturday."On his final approach to the landing area, he attempted a small turn at about 50 feet over the airport," Mark Woods, co-owner of Skydive Virginia, said Sunday. "One side of his parachute collapsed and he started spinning."Kresge could not regain control of his parachute before striking the taxiway.At the time, the wind was blowing about 10 mph with gusts to 16 mph, but Woods said the wind wasn't strong enough to collapse the parachute. He said the death was the company's first in its eight years in Louisa.The sheriff's department, the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Parachute Association were investigating.Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #2 March 24, 2002 I just called the DZ and asked some questions.. Only thing I could find out is it WAS NOT a crossfire.I am awaiting a call back for details... Sounds like they are keeping it hush hush to me.Rhino Semper Fi ..... http:// www.aahit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
diverdriver 5 #3 March 24, 2002 Ok rhino, I don't know if you jump there or not but why should they tell you anything? The official people (FAA and Local Officials) are investigating. If they say anything to you and it is taken out of context then it can come back to bite them. Why don't we give them a chance to do a full investigation before we start insinuating that there is a conspiracy to cover up here?Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #4 March 24, 2002 I said NOTHING about a consiracy.. I said they are keeping it quiet.. That means not releasing information for whatever reason.. UPDATEDZO just called me and told me what happened. He was coming out of a right hand carve, nothing radical, the right side of his canopy collapsed causing line twists which could not be recovered. Possible rotors. Not know for sure. He impacted the taxi way.10-16 mph winds.. He was flying a xaos21 68 sq feet.. No lines broke. Canopy condition was fine..Rhino Semper Fi ..... http:// www.aahit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lummy 4 #5 March 24, 2002 blue skies brother......Grew up way to fast, now there's nothing to believe, and reruns all become a history.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #6 March 24, 2002 Yes.. Blue skies indeed... Semper Fi ..... http:// www.aahit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 15 #7 March 24, 2002 Blue Skies Bob....I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend... ~3EB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skybytch 259 #8 March 24, 2002 My condolences to his family and friends....pull and flare,lisa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viking 0 #9 March 25, 2002 Best wishs to his family and friends. Now how in the hell could a x-braced canopy collapse? Even with possible rotors.I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #10 March 25, 2002 NO CLUE...The DZO told me there was nothing visually wrong with the canopy.. No brokel lines.. That sort of thing.. I can't speculate on this one.. Considering he was jumping a 68 I would think it was heavily loaded. Semper Fi ..... http:// www.aahit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbarnhouse 0 #11 March 25, 2002 Bkue skies and endless jumps Bob.Condolences to the family.It only takes a little pixie dust...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MiataDRM 0 #12 March 25, 2002 Dude...I'm already having a bad...I've NEVER met this guy & I think I'm about to cry! Blue Sky & Semper Fi Brother,Majdi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zennie 0 #13 March 25, 2002 Condolences. BSBD"Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheMarshMan1 0 #14 March 25, 2002 Blue ones forever, Bob...."If I could be like that, I would give anything, just to live one day, in those shoes..." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chicagoskydiver 0 #15 March 25, 2002 QuoteI said NOTHING about a consiracy.. I said they are keeping it quietYou may have not said it directly or used the word "conspiracy", but it certainly could have been interpreted that way. I'm not getting on your case or anything, because anyone could have made that mistake, I have many times. Sometimes you have to choose your words carefully. For example, you could have said that they didn't want to say anything until all the facts are clear or that it was too soon to speculate. Saying they want to keep it "hush hush" smacks of coverup, which I'm very sure that's not what they were doing.Hackey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rhino 0 #16 March 25, 2002 Get over it...Rhino Semper Fi ..... http:// www.aahit.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevin922 0 #17 March 25, 2002 QuoteCopyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. You might wanna chop that next time Blue Skies. Sorry to hear that.. wonder what the loading was on that canopy? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnischalke 0 #18 March 25, 2002 I met Psycho Bob (they called him psycho because of his pack jobs) last weekend at the Blarney Over Orange Boogie. I found him to be one hell of a nice guy and am still pretty upset over the news. It took me a while to nail down that this was, in fact, the same person I met. Now I have confirmation. We'll miss you, Bob!!Blue Skies! mikeThe Lord giveth and the M-79 taketh away. Welcome to the world of zero slack. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,431 #19 March 25, 2002 >Now how in the hell could a x-braced canopy collapse? Even with possible rotors.Cross-bracing makes a wing more dimensionally stable when flown normally. It does _not_ make it immune to turbulence. If turbulence is sufficient to move the stagnation point (point at which the air splits to go both ways) above the wing, there are no tricks in the world that will hold it there against the air pressure.-bill von Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rgoper 0 #20 March 25, 2002 blue skies forever brother, my heart goes out to his family and friends.......Richardno clever quip this time :( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdctlc 0 #21 March 25, 2002 Any information about the canopy and conditions would be appreciated. I jump a Xaos21-108 loaded at ~2.0 and would appreciate more information as it may relate to other Xaos21's out there. I have had no problems with mine and love flying it. Condolences go out to family and friends, both in the air and on the ground.Scott C. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnischalke 0 #22 March 25, 2002 There are two things I would like to point out to help recoil any fingers pointed in possibly the wrong direction. These are my observations, and in no way intended to fuel speculation..1. Bob was not a big guy at all.2. I found the wind to be gusty as hell this weekend in VA.Just my observations.I will post any new info as it becomes available.mikeThe Lord giveth and the M-79 taketh away. Welcome to the world of zero slack. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Engovatov 0 #23 March 25, 2002 >there are no tricks in the world that will hold it there against the air pressure.Umm.. airlocks? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,431 #25 March 25, 2002 >>there are no tricks in the world that will hold it there against the air pressure.>Umm.. airlocks? Nope. It's not the stiffness of the canopy, it's the basic fact that if you have air pressure above a canopy, the lines go slack and the canopy falls. Lines have no rigidity and cannot resist a downward push. Airlocks can help a bit if the air is just shaking your canopy around, but can't help if the turbulence is so bad that it's moving the stagnation point around.This might be a good time to cover some common myths about airlocks and turbulence. An airlock helps with turbulence two ways:1. Since it generally goes completely across the inlet, it makes an excellent cross-brace for the nose2. It maintains its internal pressure better than a non-airlocked canopy when external pressurization is compromisedHonestly, I think both are significant factors, but not the major one. By far, the most important stabilizing force acting on your canopy is the air pressure below the canopy offset by the normal force of the lines pulling it down. For your typical jumper, that's 200 pounds of stabilizing force.Turbulence is basically rapidly-changing airspeed as seen by your canopy. Airlocks are good for one specific instance of turbulence - a change in wind direction such that you lose airspeed over one end of the canopy. An ordinary canopy might begin to deflate, and experience slack lines on one side. An airlocked canopy will still experience the slack lines (since it is air pressure, brought about by an airspeed/angle of attack combination, that keeps them taut) but it will maintain its shape better both because of the cross-brace effect and the higher internal pressure. This doesn't mean the canopy is flying any better, but it does mean that it will recover more quickly when the air returns.That's just one kind of turbulence. A rotor may generate a downdraft on a canopy, and there's no ram-air in the world that will withstand that. It may increase the airspeed as seen by the canopy, which is no problem for most canopies - but then when the gust goes away you may be left with _no_ airspeed, and even an airlocked canopy needs airspeed to fly. If this happens during a swoop, the canopy may stop recovering - this happened to a friend of mine last weekend. It may introduce a crosswind component that will make the canopy want to weathervane into it, which feels very strange, and can be hard to fly.Anyway, airlocks may help, but they by no means allow you to land safely in dangerous turbulence. It's a lot better to choose a landing area away from turbulence (or, better yet, choose to not jump under such conditions.)NB - this is _not_ a commentary on the accident mentioned at the start of this thread, but rather a comment on airlocks in general.-bill von Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
