Landed off??....Let's hear about it!

[VideoFly 0]

After filming an uneventful skydive from a bad spot, I panned around and caught a buddy cutting away below me. I left my camera on as I followed his separated main toward the ground. By the time I tracked its landing into a small pond, I was miles from the DZ. There were several large fields below me; each surrounded by beautiful white wooden fences. As I got down to about 800 feet, I realized the fences divided sections of a horse farm. Terrified of the giant equines, I chose to land in the field with only two horses on it and swooped right up to the fence furthest from the ominous giant carnivores. My canopy fell over to the other side of the fence and in a super-human leap; I followed quickly behind it. As I turned around, one of the horses walked up to me and smiled for my camera. Concerning my buddies main, he followed the screams of the farmer’s wife, who thought a jumper went in with the failed main. He took off his jumpsuit and waded into the shallow pond to retrieve it. I took a pretty good ribbing when I returned to the DZ yelping about my terrifying close encounter with the dangerous beasts. It made for some fun video too.

[AFFI 0]

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swooped right up to the fence furthest from the ominous giant carnivores. - the screams of the farmer’s wife, who thought a jumper went in with the failed main.

That is funny, I am terrified of horses! Only time I want to be near one is when it is on my plate, medium rare...

Poor lady, she is probably still in therapy...

[sundevil777 94]

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ominous giant carnivores

Horses aren't carnivores They can kill you, but they won't want to eat you.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[cjsgrlsx3 0]

Nice to see some people from Suffolk here....never landed off but I am sure my time will come. So Eric make sure you follow me and get me running from the "carnivores"!

[skyshimas 0]

My most scary land off was under a round parachute. I probably had 3 to 5 jumps at the time. It was windy that day and we had a lot of first timers to do their first static line with a round. Me and my friend as very "experienced" jumpers convinced dzo to let us go and "check" the winds before they let go newbies hehe. Other people on the loud were jumping square parachutes. So we went and the spot wasn't very good for us- too short to make even a huge landing field. I saw I wasn't landing in the field and looked over my shoulder what was awaiting for me as I was flying backwards. All I could see was some scattered trees and swamps. I thought that can't be good- I am gonna brake something this time. well I landed in some grandmas back yard my feet barely passed the roof of her house I was going sideways not even facing into the wind did a good PLF got up looked around. I was 10 feet away form a little pond 5 feet from some metal pole sticking several feet of the ground my friend asked if I saw the power lines(which I didn't see) I just missed on the way to grandmas house. All ended up well with no injuries to me or my friend only grandma was terrified that someone went in in her back yard.

[JerryBaumchen 1,051]

Hi kturnau,

I made my first jump 9 Feb 64. In those days if you made 10 jumps, two were probably 'off.'

Way too many to count,

Jerry

[Krip 2]

Scariest was getting blown backwards under a PC towards the RR tracks that we occupied by a very long moving freight train

Decision time: continue to face into the wind and get blown backwards and land short of the train or do a 180 and try and run over the train.



Jumping a chinook chooper at FT Lewis the dude spotting was in the front of the chopper and gives the peeps on the tailgate hand signal to exit.
After we opened didn't have a clue where we were at, other peeps on the load opened high enough to make it to a lake. We decided we were to low and went for a open field next to a dirt road.
As we got closer to the ground The open field was actually covered with large trees laying down in every direction.

Repacked in the in the field and climbed thru the Barb wire fence. Then we notice the signs on the fence "DANGER DO NOT ENTER IMPACT AREA."

Not sure what was impacting the area but it must have been little things since there weren't any huge holes in the ground, just no trees left standing.
Got a boo boo (blister) from the long walk back to the LZ.

Dillingham Field
What polo Field

Small back yard with a taLL horse that got spooked enough the owner came out to see whats up.

Packed in the back yard, walked to the road and some jumpers stopped to give us a ride.

They joked about a late start or bad spot

[Baksteen 84]

My scariest off landing wasn't even that far away from the DZ.

It was the first time I'd been to 12k, and I found myself in a flat spin I could not correct, even in delta.
(issue resolved on the very next jump)
I pulled and ended up with some line twists, which I managed to get out with plenty of altitue remaining.
However, I was a bit shaken from the "scary freefall", so I bollixed up my left hand pattern.

I found myself over a farmhouse at 500 feet, made a small correction, and realised I was going to end up in a ditch.
I made another small correction, and did a stand up landing on a small freshly sown lawn. One of my feet was on solid ground, the other dangling above the ditch.
Fortunately the wind caught my canopy and blew me back onto the little field.

"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

[Andy_Copland 0]

Me and a guy called John landed off and this truck came by asking if we were OK, it was just a typical family complete with mum, dad and a couple of kids.

They offered us a ride back and as we climbed in the back the kids wanted to ask us questions and Johns canopy got complimented on "wow thats a pretty colour" which i thought was kinda funny as it was a little girl meaning John has a gay canopy. Thats not the cool part though, i thought nothing of it. Anyway before they even got driving the DZ bus showed up so we didnt have to trouble them.

Nearly 3 months later Popsjumper introduces me to his newest student and the guy says he's met me. He was the one that piked us up.

That was pretty cool in my opinion. Maybe seeing us land, pick us up and have a chat was the catalyst he needed to go do it himself

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[Faicon9493 114]

A few years back, I was doing a tandem jump on a slow weekday at Sky Knights SPC in E. Troy, WI. Prior to us taking off, there was a private pilot flying there flying a helicopter. I had a line over after opening followed by uneventful cutaway and landing. We landed in a nearby cemetary and the main landed close by. After I gathered the gear, the guy who was flying his helicopter landed in the cemetery, picked us up an ferried us back to the airport! No joke!

[pirana 0]

The most amusing off landing for me was a 4-way into a farm about 8 or 10 miles from the DZ. Missed it by THAT much (holding up fingers showing a 1/8" space).

We had went up in a Cessna and the clouds moved in, ceiling at about 4K. The pilot is being really patient and flying us around looking for a hole. We find one and we can see the freeway, but no other references. So we know we are somewhere on an east-west line with the DZ, but no idea how far up or down the line. The senior jumper among us says "Let's go, OK!?" We all nod and start climbing out.

The amusing part was that just as he is starting the climb out, he turns to the pilot and gives him a 10 degree left correction. I don't know what made him call out the correction, but that still makes me smile. A fellow pilot giving the jump pilot a 10 degree heading change, when we are 10 miles from the DZ. Maybe he is into perpendicularism and just wanted to exit at a right angle to the freeway.

But the story is not over. We come out of the clouds and notice that the town we are near is not our town. We pick a place to land, near a farm, and all set down safely. Before we even land though, the farmer and family, as well as the neighbors across the road already have out lawn chairs and are taking this in as free entertainment. IIRC, the neighbor said she got the call before we even landed.

They were very friendly, and I think we were their event of the season. While waiting for a ride, we had sodas, got a tour of some chainsaw art, viewed the family photo album, etc. They offered beer but we were hoping to make another jump. We figured we'd probably end up in their tiny town paper because they took pictures and called friends, a few who came by to visit while we were still there; but we never bothered to see if that happened.

Anyway, just a good clean fun story. And I never tire of giving Mr. Anderson a hard time for "Ten left and cut" when all he could see was the tops of clouds.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[shunkka 0]

first jump on a new DZ in Italy... no briefing of the zone... i was stupid enough to jump first without looking down before... (jump number 65)
jump... all good... open.... looking around... no canopies on the sky... just me... a highway and some powerlines... decide to land in a garden... where a nice old woman start to scream in italian "ma che fai ragazzo"... that something like... what the hell are u doing ... i tried to explain that i come from the sky and i want to go back to dz but nothing... after half an hour i got a car and back to the dz

nice experience

-------------------------
"jump, have fun, pull"

[roscoep 0]

Had two:
first one, a buddy and I were jumping at the Ranch and were near the second to last to exit the plane. Seemed like we were going long and there was plenty of clouds to obscure the view of the spot. Someone said "pull high" right before we left. Needless to say, upon opening we were very far away and me and three other guys put it down in a camp ground field.
second: high altitude jump at Lake Wales during last years Great White North Boogie. Just about the entire load landed off. I was under canopy flying along a rail road track not wanting to land anywhere near it and the associated hazards (power lines, fence etc). Well, I see a large stand of trees coming up ahead of me and I turn to the right to get away from the r.r. tracks and the trees. I should have just made that my down wind and landed as I had a large field out ahead of me. Like an idiot, i try to do a 360 to bleed off a little altitude. bad move. The wind is screaming at my back and I am flying right back at the r.r. tracks. I instantly realize that I am dropping to fast to make an aggressive turn back into the wind, but can see that I am going to be able to make a slight turn and PLF just in front of the r.r. tracks and a barbed wire fence. I PLF, manage to avoid every pile of cow shit in the field, and promptly get dragged by my canopy (at a pretty fast speed) right into a barbed wire fence. I went under the fence, snapped two strands, and my canopy flopped down over the top of it. My helmet probably saved my life on that one. Scratches down the top to the back of my neck. Had that been my head I would have been shredded. As it was, the back of my neck got cut up pretty good, but I patched it up and kept jumping (after having several friends remove me from the fence and render a little first aid). Learned alot on that jump.

[highspeeddirt 0]

Lets see....ours was at Ripcord para centert in new jersey. Scotty Carbone, i believe it was, put everyone out 8 miles from the dz through cloud cover.

[DougH 270]

The worst was in the shark fin field across from the river. You can see the dz but you have to walk for miles to get to it.

Other people have gotten across the river by nice neighbors with canoes. I was just lucky that the power line access road was unlocked, or it would have been a two hour walk on foot.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[denete 2]

AFF-6, the accuracy trick told me I wasn't going to make it (winds must have shifted a bit). I headed for the neighbor's grass runway. It was getting dark, and depth perception was not reliable. Remembering there was a hill to the side of the runway, I turned into the runway and made a safe landing. I gathered my things, turned off the radio, picked up the canopy and the golf cart drove up. I hopped the fence, climbed into the back of the golf cart with Kim holding the canopy in the front seat, and rode back to the hangar. Pretty uneventful for a first. It never hurts to spend time with google maps prior to a jump.

SCR #14809

"our attitude is the thing most capable of keeping us safe"
(look, grab, look, grab, peel, punch, punch, arch)

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

Funniest: Did a small dive with my dad flying video, and we were like 3 miles from the DZ (don't even ask how!). Anyway, I only had like 150 jumps, so I followed my dad down, and he knew I was following, so he landed in a big open backyard of a farmhouse. Then when I was at about 100 feet, I saw a huge german shepard charging him from the house! He whipped off his camera helmet and was about ready to start swinging when the owner figured out what was going on and reigned the dog in!

Stupidest: in a maybe 50 x 50 foot patch of grass surrounded by two large aircraft hangers, a tent, and a parking lot with an RV on the edge at Rantoul. There was also a van in one corner, and 20+ mph gusty wind. An incredible string of bad decisions led to me whipping a 180-left-270-right toggle hook from like 300 feet and coming to a flawless tiptoe landing, 10 feet short of hitting the van. Exactly one person saw this (I didn't know him) and he sincerely congratulated me for surviving. I remember thinking at 80 feet or so "shit. I'm going to die" followed immediately by something to the effect of "never give up until blood fills your goggles", and the next thing I knew I was shocked to find that I had pulled it out of my ass.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[JAGOZ 0]

My mate was spotting from a Caribou and plotted the streamer drift the wrong way.

Had to cary 365sq MC-5 for about 1 km through some pretty dense bush

"Chicks dig guys that jump out of Planes! "

[matthias 0]

First load of the day last sunday, first one out of the plane. There was alot of "industrial haze" that ranged from 2K up to 10K, but I was able to recognize the white houses next to the DZ before exiting.

AT 5K I came out of my sitfly, getting ready to pull, checked my airspace and due to the excessive-said "industrial haze", I couldn't recognize anything. I decided to pull a tad higher in the chance I pull steer clear, get my bearings, and make it back. I avoided flying through the clouds but couldn't see the airport, or get my bearings, I saw FM 362, but couldnt see HWY 290 to get an idea if I was east or west of it, the other landmarks were not visiable as well.

Below 2K, the DZ finally came into view....way the hell out, and I pretty much knew neither was I going to make it back, but I wasn't going to come close. So..I looked down and had my eye on 4 possible fields that woulda been good. At 1,000 I was working out my approach for one of the fields closest to me when I noticed what looked like a bull, by himself, within the compound... "nope, lets try something else."

Across the street (Penick and Betka near 362) was a long stretch of field with no obsticals and I was able to remain clear of the power lines. Final approach and landing was uneventful, managed to land into the wind with plenty of space.

Luckily, someone driving nearby who was a former D license picked me up and gave a good critique of my landing.

_________________________________________
trance/house mixes for download:
www.djmattm.com

[travisjones 0]

Night jump, first out, got out too soon, Pulled at 3, I tried to make it to the dz but i couldnt. I ended up landing in a huge sunflower patch. I thought about powerlines, but i relized i couldnt see them. Then i thought about poles and other narly shit that could shank me, only to my disappointment i could not see them either. I my landing was rather rough but nothing a good plf cant handle. I gathered up my gear, and started walking to the road i landed 50 yrds from. When i thought all my troubles were over i remembered the rattlesnake warning sign posted at the dz. I hate fucking snakes..

[Broke 0]

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Luckily, someone driving nearby who was a former D license picked me up and gave a good critique of my landing.

nice

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[wildWilly 0]

Funniest, I was in ZHills about 5 years ago and there was a student coming in but wasn't going to make it. He landed in a near by field
on a cow. When asked why, he said he was told not to turn below 500 ft. and that he was yelling at the cow but it wouldn't move.

Most interesting, 3 years ago at the Canadian record attempts. First attempt was a 60 way and we had a bad spot. Almost everyone landed off
I swooped a back yard to the delight of the family sitting on the back deck.

Blue skies,

Willy

growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

[Broke 0]

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Funniest, I was in ZHills about 5 years ago and there was a student coming in but wasn't going to make it. He landed in a near by field
on a cow. When asked why, he said he was told not to turn below 500 ft. and that he was yelling at the cow but it wouldn't move.

Most interesting, 3 years ago at the Canadian record attempts. First attempt was a 60 way and we had a bad spot. Almost everyone landed off
I swooped a back yard to the delight of the family sitting on the back deck.

Blue skies,

Willy

I would have said I was aimingfor the cow

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[NWernig 0]

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Funniest, I was in ZHills about 5 years ago and there was a student coming in but wasn't going to make it. He landed in a near by field
on a cow. When asked why, he said he was told not to turn below 500 ft. and that he was yelling at the cow but it wouldn't move.


Willy

Maybe he thought the cow would give him a lift back!

Nathan

[jcecil 0]

Worst "out" landing I've had was in Eloy. Luckily it was February so it was only 85 degrees, but I ended up landing a little over a mile out in the desert, and had to walk the whole way back (the entire load except the first group landed off, and I was the only one that didn't get a ride back ). Was right off the end of the runway though, so I took some great pictures of the Otter on short final and taking off as I walked back