Newb Jumper Story

[Blong801 0]

Today was an awesome day of skydiving. I finally received my A license. It took me 32 jumps to achieve it, but I was in no rush, being done at 25 wasn't the goal for me. What made this day an awesome day was all the things I was exposed to and overcame. Today I did my first hop n pop at 3500' and on my own pack job, I've only packed two jumps for myself. I also had my first canopy mal, a line twist after a good opening (2 twists). I have been wanting to do a hop n pop for several weeks now and wasn't disappointed, one of the most exciting jumps I've done. These exposures were in two separate jumps, the h/p couldn't have gone better, was an awesome jump.

The mal was a cause of downsizing, and being too aggressive. I've been wanting to downsize canopy throughout my student status I went from a 260-240-220 in these 32 jumps, I weigh 185-180lbs and 6' tall. I thought I was being conservative on my first downsize 260-240. the change wasn't that significant, and didn't change my canopy control or landings that much, but there was a small difference. I figured I was ready for the change to 220 shortly after that.

The mal happened like this, it was completely an error on my fault, expecting a more significant change, and like getting a newer, faster, sportier car, I floored it. I wanted to find out what this canopy could do, and what was in store for the future, downsizing and more aggressive canopy control. the opening was fine, did a canopy control check. fine.. then I hit the gas, pulled the right toggle to the hip, and then the right to the left down to the hip. I got tossed almost fully above my canopy, and lines began spinning as I fell back underneath it. My heart skipped a beat, my first mal. WHAT DO I DO? KICK IT OUT! I was proud of myself for being able to think calmly under pressure. checked my alt, tried to kick it out, didn't work, grabbed my lines and kicked, finally got myself back to some straight lines. flew back to the landing zone and made my landing.

I'm grateful that I was able to land safe and was able to learn from this mistake. I've read a lot about being extremely conservative with canopy downsizing, but you get complacent as a student, and I wanted change. I also checked with instructors about the downsizing and they passed it off, so I think I was just too aggressive with my canopy control. is there canopy control classes out there? I would like to learn more about what I can do under the canopy, its as much fun to me as the freefall.

Id like to hear your opinions on what and where you would steer a newly licensed skydiver. I'm in no rush to free fly and enjoy the RW. id like to be a well rounded diver and like being active.

[JackC1 0]

That kind of aggressive manoeuvre can give you line twists on virtually any canopy. The reason is two fold. First you initiate a turn one way and generate some momentum, then you tell the canopy to turn hard the other way. But you haven't given your momentum a chance to reduce so your body momentum one way and canopy trying to turn the other creates a torsion on the lines. The second part is that as you flick one way to the other, the lines lose tension due to the change in lift vector. Put them together and you get line twists. Many people have had to chop the resulting mess. Do that too low and it might be the last thing you ever do.

It's kind of important to keep line tension as that is the only thing that keeps you in control of your canopy. Lose that connection and all you have is uncoordinated fabric and string with no way to control it. At normal flight, you have 1G of tension. Any manoeuvre that reduces that tension is heading towards bad territory and if you lose enough tension can cause your canopy to collapse. The main thing is to be aware that this can happen, what causes it and where the limits are on your canopy.

I'm sure there will be canopy courses in your area, ask around. Definitely get on one (or two, or three), they'll be the best money you ever spend in skydiving. It's no substitute for a real course but Brian Germain's book "The Parachute and it's Pilot" is worth a read too.

[skywombat 0]

Canopy courses definitely do exist. There is more to flying than the basics taught in AFF, and it is great that you are trying to seek out further instruction. Ask around your DZ and they can point you in the right direction. Flight-1 has a schedule of courses online where you can check what is in your area, but they are not the only ones teaching them.

Definitely try to sign up for a canopy course if you can find one in your area. You will likely learn more about canopy flying than was probably presented in your initial training, and the information becomes more easy to digest now that you've done a handful of jumps. Expect the course to cover things like proper flaring, flat turns, braked turns, etc. These techniques will put you in a better position for making it through a less-than-ideal landing situation, should you ever find yourself there.

[dthames 0]

Congratulations on the A license. I am working toward that as well. If you take a look at the Canopy Control Proficiency Card and what the SIM said, with each new canopy we need to relearn those canopy tasks that we did in Category D-H in the initial training. I just got a rig of my own, and now I am starting that process all over. I could not cause a line twist on the student 260 with hard reverse turns. I bet I can on my 210, if I went all out like you did . I will be sure to ease into that when I do the hard reverse turns. Thanks for sharing.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[scottd818 0]

If you have trouble finding a canopy course in your area check out Brain Germains online courses. They r awesome. I took it and it changed everything i thought i knew about canopy control. You just have someone record you canopy fight from the ground and they watch it with him and he with review it with you and tell you what to do to improve. Its awesome and Brian knows his stuff. Also definitly get a copy of the parachute and its pilot. that is his book. and remember line tension is key while under canopy its only your canopy as long as you have line tension so you always want to maintain it. here is the link to his online classes.
http://adventurewisdom.com/home.html