chronistin 0 #1 July 16, 2001 Hi everyone, I had two scaring jumps this weekend (out of 4 total, which makes my ratio 0:4:0)First one was late on saturday. I went up in Cessna Caravan (first time I jumped that kind of a bird, a nice one!) and exited fairly late. On jumprun, when it was my turn, I watched the guy before me, waiting. Everybody was yelling "gogogo", I was thinking "too early" but I went out at the same time. Tumbled a little after the exit, I'm not used to side-exits, but it was fun. Kind of rolling around all directions at the same time. After getting stable I tried to sit, saw a friend of mine who exited after me going by in a great headdown position. Turned around on my belly to watch him going down. Suddenly I noticed there was someone right below me, too close to feel good about it. I tracked away from him, and, thinking that I went far enough, forgot all about him. On opening altitude (1000m / about 3000ft (?)), I grabbed my hackey, and suddenly - woosh - out comes a canopy right beside/below me. seems the guy had taken the same way as I did. I knew that I couldn't open at the same time, the chances of us colliding were too big. I kept the pilot chute in my hand, hoping that not too much bridle was out already, thinking that I had to go lower to open safely. Shit, the ground was coming nearer sooo fast... hold it for 2 more seconds... alright, that should be enough, now let go!I was under canopy at about 600m (1800 ft(?)), heart beating like some disco machine.Ever since I've been wondering: How could I forget about this guy after I'd already seen him? I was sure I got away, but should have looked again. And secondly, was that the right way to handle the situation in the end? Can't think of anything else to do... but still... pretty scary.The other situation was not that bad, pilot chute stuck in its pocket, I pulled and pulled and finally thought: Just one more try, than I have to go for silver... pulled really hard, and it came out... pretty scary too, I'm gonna be a little more careful about tucking that thing in...Anyway, still alive & jumping, just had to share all this with people who understand...GreetingsChronistin || Andrea*************************************http://www.wortwerkstatt.at/skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dove 0 #2 July 17, 2001 Hey Andrea. I know this is easier said than done, but you shouldn't jump unless you feel comfortable with the spot/separation. You are looking out the door and it is your life. But I know it is rough when everyone is SCREAMING at you "Exit! Exit! Exit!" Still, better they be pissed at you than feeling sorry for you as the ambulance hauls you off! As for the hard pull - I am so paranoid about those I never jump before checking my hackey by giving it a "test" pull. I pull it out about 1/4 of an inch and if it the whole thing pulls as a unit (you can see the tail end move) it is cool and I push it back in. If it bunches up at the mouth, I pull the whole thing out redo it neater. I haven't had a hard pull since I started this check. The important thing is you made it through both situations ok (both mentally and physically). Cheers!Elisa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly 0 #3 October 14, 2001 andrea,hey. i know this is old but I was in that same situation before. i rushed the exit. didnt like the fact that i could see somebody freefalling below me.. luckily i had announced a solo RW dive as my plan so i wasnt suddenly Belly flying instead of freeflying while others on the load thought i was FFing.. since i was still doing the same kind of dive i aborted my dive plan. instead i stayed on my belly and didnt do 360's or backloops or anything, and watched the other jumper most of the skydive. i flipped on my back to check seperation of the next jumper too. back to my belly. watched the other jumper. glad i made sure to keep an eye on him, he ended up dumping higher than he said he would and so i dumped higher too. if it happens again, keep an eye on the lower person.. make sure you start looking for them at the bottom end of the skydive, a few thousand feet above planned deployment. this will give you a few seconds to locate him again and see his desicions to deploy i.e: dumping early, line twists, maybe even flying the canopy towards where youll be in a few. i was able to watch him deploy, and as i was freefalling i made the descision that i would be passing closer than comfort allowed, cause he could always turn and start flying in my direction too. give good exit counts. watch for that 45 degree angle of seperation... if you still find yourself too close, dont give it a deep arch, instead make yourself slower, be alert and ready to react.just my .02 centskel"i can not attest to what i did, just what i remember...."~me, after one too many Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chronistin 0 #4 October 14, 2001 Funny that you should bring this up again... cause I thought of the situation just today. I started doing RW lately, and in just a few jumps learned to look for everybody before going anywhere... it's really easy once you're used to it - much easier than actually get any program done - but still scary if someone shows up where you don't expect them!Quoteinstead i stayed on my belly and didnt do 360's or backloops or anything, and watched the other jumper most of the skydive. i flipped on my back to check seperation of the next jumper too. back to my belly. watched the other jumper. glad i made sure to keep an eye on him, he ended up dumping higher than he said he would and so i dumped higher too.Right, but still a little tracking does usually help Did my first 4way yesterday - no beer, cause it should've been a 5way... we had planned a high separation, and as we do just that, I can see that we got a VERY bad spot - so it would be a good idea to pull higher - turned around and saw someone above me - couldn't have been one of us, because I could see them all where they had tracked away, must have been the one out after us - so I decided to stick to my announced pull altitude, which caused me to land wayyyy out. better than any kind of collision, I guess.Quoteif you still find yourself too close, dont give it a deep arch, instead make yourself slower, be alert and ready to react.excellent advice. seems to work without thinking... a few jumps ago on a trackdive with 4 other people, we got separated and two were way below... couldn't do much tracking cause that would've brought me in the space of other people... so I just tried to stay clear and watched and pulled a little higher cause I was sure that no one was above me - checked my portrack after the jump and found i was 20 km/h slower than my usual average on that part of the jump - the subconsciuos reaction, I guess.Now I got carried away... too many words, I'm still absolutely happy after the best jumping weekend of my short skydiving live Andrea(and I got my own gear now... here: http://www.wortwerkstatt.at/skydiving/stuff/gear.html*************************************http://www.wortwerkstatt.at/skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FallinWoman 1 #5 October 15, 2001 If it was your first jump out of a caravan, your ratio should read : 0:4:1, the one being the case of beer you owe for your first caravan jump!!Glad everything worked out ok!Anne Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyhi 24 #6 October 15, 2001 Andrea,Something is wrong with the URL you posted. I went to it and couldn't read a word. Must be some type of dyslexia thing happening. flyhi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chronistin 0 #7 October 15, 2001 well, it's german *g* but the picture is multilingual, I guess...*************************************http://www.wortwerkstatt.at/skydiving Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
