didn't want to hijack so...

[jellob 0]

I thought I would start my own thread similar to Hackish's post...

Had my 10th jump the other day and passed AFP. Jumped a new canopy for the first time and had problems from opening on. I am now terrified to jump again.

First, my opening was excessively hard. I have bruises in places I have never bruised before.

Second, in going through my checks, I discovered that I had to hold my right toggle in almost half brakes and left in full flight in order to stay on heading (and, no, my leg straps were not uneven). I tested out flying in full flight and when I did, my canopy spun me pretty violently to the left and twisted my lines. I grabbed the risers, kicked out, and just held the toggles unevenly to get back to my holding area.

Third, in landing I flared when I normally would, but never heard or felt the air come out of the canopy and slammed into the ground. Error on my part to not PLF, but I knew I flared and thought I was fine.

I kept looking up at my canopy while under it thinking I would see something obviously wrong, but I am still such an infant in the sport that I would not know what to look for!

Before the "talk to your instructors" police jump all over this, I have. I like to hear from others as well, though.

Thoughts? Words of wisdom?

[cocheese 0]

Try a different rig.

[billeisele 122]

if the risers were even and the canopy was fully inflated then something on the canopy must have been damaged - broken line, tear, hole, etc.

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[JustChuteMeNow 0]

It is hard to determine the problem without more information but some canopies have a history of opening hard and perhaps your canopy falls into this category. But it is hard to say because you didn't post the canopy.

As far as flying the canopy goes what happened is not normal and the canopy should be looked at by a qualified rigger. For instance it could be that one brake line is set longer than the other. Whatever the reason if you flared normally ie brought both toggles down at the same time to the same height......this would cause a dive because from what you have stated a dive occured when both toggles were level and at full flight . Since you went into a left hand dive at full flight you would also go into a left hand dive when you flared if both toggles were flared to waist level. I hope this makes sense.

FWIW my daughter had a canopy that beat her up and bruised her on every jump. I think it was a combination of how she packed as well as the type of canopy she had. I didn't realize the extent of the problem until she showed me the bruises on her arms and legs. She used to dread openings on her canopy. At that point skydiving was not fun for my daughter. I put on a pocket slider and she has not had a problem since with hard openings. She is also enjoying the sport again. My point to the story is that no one can really enjoy this sport with consistent hard openings and that this is not normal.

Think of how stupid the average person is and realize that statistically half of them are stupider than that.

[jtval 0]

Quote

Before the "talk to your instructors" police jump all over this, I have. I like to hear from others as well, though.

Have you spoken to your instructors?

personally add that disclaimer because I need to know that someone isn't trying to bypass the first line of info. Thanks for letting us know.
If I read your thread correctly, all of that happened on one jump(#10)

The flare issue is something that, if you had more experience, you could have dealt with. Unfortunately, Experience isn't something you have until JUST AFTER you need it.



Correct me if I am wrong, okay? I'm not being accusational here but it may sound that way in text.

You said you had to hold your toggles unevenly til you got back to the landing area. Whn you flared, did you flare with the same uneveness? I assume you just finished your flare which would make one hand reach full extention while the other eventually caught up with it. that would make the canopy dive to one side and screw up your landing.


The opening...Well, Sometimes they just open hard. It depends on how it was packed. Once you get to the point where you pack your own rig you'll be able to have more control of the pack job.


Bruises-
Well, they happen ,too. people get bruised in places they never bruised b4 due to the harness. Once you have a harness that is MADE FOR YOU those bruises will more than likely stop happening.


EDIT:
So if My assessment was correct the lessons that can be learned is:

Flaring evenly doesn't always mean keeping your arms even. It's more about keeping the canopy even. Talk to you instructors about this. It's too much to type and some one may read this in the future and try adjusting thier landings incorrectly.

if possible, choose your packers.

jump a rig that fits to prevent bruising.

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[Baksteen 84]

Personally, if I am not happy with what i see or feel overhead, I ask myself, "can I land this?" If the answer is "probably", reserve time it is.

If the answer is "absolutely", then I'll land it, but I'll be expecting to PLF if I have to, flare issues or no.
But that's just me.
Based on what you posted, I think I would have cut away, but YOU were there, and only YOU can decide at that moment whether the canopy can be landed or not.


So what did your instructors tell you in the debrief?

"That formation-stuff in freefall is just fun and games but with an open parachute it's starting to sound like, you know, an extreme sport."
~mom