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Kramer

Question: What's The Lowest You've Ever Pulled?

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Lowest main deployment was 1,600’ saddled out at 1,200’. A license, boy wonder lost altitude awareness while free flying.

Many jumps later tracking from a 60 way I had a jumper in front and below pitching out at about 2,000’. Rolled around him. Checked altitude, I was at 1,500’ after the maneuver looked at both handles garbed both and pulled reserve only. I would estimate I was below 1,000’ when the pin was pulled. During the reserve opening the cypress did fire but the loop was slack and it didn’t cut the loop. Expensive skydive but in reality it was cheep. After opening I was at 500 after un-stowing the breaks
Memento Mori

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Main pilot chute pulled out at 1500 feet.

A jump that ended a team. Tracking on back and person above was stupid enough to keep following the low man down.... WAY DOWN. At 2000 feet I said F*%K IT, went to my belly, turned 90-degrees tracked for two seconds or so and dumped regardless of his location.

I got to the ground and questioned my team members ability to skydive safely - right to his face. Our team ended a week later because he quit skydiving.

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Pulled at 500 feet open at 200 feet...several times, after being dumped from a biplane at airshows. by the time I wiggled and waggled my arms and legs to makee the crowd think the pilot had fallen out as the announcer said, it was get it out quick time. Always used a Paracommnder and a few tricks to make sure it would open.. I assure you, its a thrill to make you smile all week long. I loved doing it.BILL COLE D-41 Canada Lowest on a rserve was pull at 300ft because I didnt have enough height for my main.




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I hadn’t intended to prove Darwin wrong that day but - - -

3-way planned out of a Cessna during a “Beach Weekend” – we’d planned on the usual crappy Oregon weather and expected 3 grand. Launch, track and pull. In my fussing over getting an observer in place and belted, I left my altimeter, but hey – I had several hundred jumps and we had a simple plan – it should be ok.

Instead, the pilot got us 6500 when a hole opened. We made up a few points as we climbed, then went. The third point was a cat, me in the middle. We had grips, when the lead jumper suddenly dumped in my face – later reported to be at 1100. Instead of dumping immediately, I started to kick the last jumper off my legs when he was suddenly gone. I started to reach – and learned about ground rush.

I could see the ripples in the sand, sticks, logs. Don’t know how long I froze, but then I threw out – I was flat packing my Sabre in those days. WHACK opening, grabbed the brakes, made a small turn and flared. Had I been pro packing I suspect the ending would not have been as good.

How low? Too stupid low.

I use that story with students when I talk about why I am so intense on altimeters – their use and their problems.

And ground rush can kill. (IMHO)
A male pilot is a confused soul who talks about women when he's flying, and about flying when he's with a woman.

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You are mistaking fear with freaking out. Fear is an excellent tool if used properly.
Sparky



Fear keeps us sharp and honest. It's like a force that you can keep contained like a ball. You can use it then, very powerfully. Panic is when you let the ball out of control and it grows around you and swallows you. Just once I felt fear try to grow into panic, after chopping a streamer. Looked for my reserve handle and couldn't see it. Had a huge "oh shit!" spike on the fear meter (no AAD either), could feel it exploding towards panic, but I told myself,
" IT HAS TO BE THERE and if I can't see it, then just find it with my hand". The next moment, I felt my thumb slide through it, closed my fist and punched it. Obviously it opened. But from that event I learned that the difference between fear and panic is a matter of who's in control, you or the fear. It's a physical difference.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

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Not interested in being in a low pull contest, but had a total packed for me by my bro's mate and dumped reserve somewhere around 1500....I think...
xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

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did a tandem chase w/ my daughter as student. got on my back to watch at what i thought was 6k camera flier dumped, tandem dumped, and i said to myself why are they pulling so high? put my hand up to block the sun and my alti. said 1600. I said o shit flipped to belly and dumped. was looking at the river below. barely made the football field. Altiltude awareness can get away real easy. the hop and pop out the door under 2k was good also. runway looked like a parking lot
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

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Ummm...does an AAD opening count as a pull???My first time sitflying and enjoyed myself a little too long. I thought I still had plenty of altitudeB|


The secret to life is not arriving at the grave in a well preserved body but sliding in sideways completely worn out yelling "holy crap" what a ride!!!

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I don't mind dusting off old threads, so here's my 2 cents.

I don't know which sounds more stupid, accidentally getting sucked going low, or intentionally going low - as below. And silly activities always sound worse when done recently. If one says it took place in the '70s or '80s, then everyone is a lot more accepting.

Anyway, once upon a time, it was a grey autumn day at the DZ. Much of the day the overcast ceiling hovered just at or under the legal minimums. Only a small group of jumpers were around, making hop and pops. Then the DZO was off somewhere on an errand. One, uh, 'friend' took out his wingsuit and decided to try to get some freefall time. An old F-111 CRW canopy was used. The C-182 pilots were giving high speed passes, at the maximum door open speed of 100 mph. When some jumpers faced that for the first time (at least on a 182), they looked like first jump students, struggling with the unexpected wind.

The high speed exit and flight straight up jump run minimized altitude loss in the first seconds, and fooled the Protrack into showing the exit slightly lower than the actual 2000'. Normal freefall tables show 2000' equals 15 seconds. Even with the exit error, the Protrack showed 15 seconds freefall -- not bad for a hop and pop day -- and open at 800'. Protrack display attached.

It's just too easy to "do something once", so the jump was repeated. It doesn't need to be repeated again for a long time.


(The other main low-pull thread that I know of is http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=271397 . It is quite a bit longer but in the Bonfire.)

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~275' - Terminal wingsuit skydive. Open above 100'

Terminal BASE jump 250', no wingsuit/trackpants, multiple times
Terminal BASE jump 275' -wingsuit, multiple times. Over a dozen pitching just above 300'
Subterminal freefall BASE jump, exit 215' pitch ~190'
Static line BASE jump - 120'

If you're going to go low then use the right tools for the job, otherwise it's foolish and very poor risk management. I never understand why people at a DZ will brag about going low and pitching below 1500' with a modern elliptical/semi elliptical ZP main which was poorly packed.
A waddling elephant seal is the cutest thing in the entire world.
-TJ

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