Reginald 0 #1 December 15, 2003 I am working toward my A license. On the sunset load we were planing on going to 13,500 to do a coaching jump. After we took off some low haze suddenly appeared and the load was converted to a pure hop n’ pop. I needed to do one for my A license requirements but was a bit nervous. I was planing on making it my last jump for my A. Oh well no time like the present, I was on an airplane with a parachute… The instructor gave me some last minute advice (which I should have listened to a little better). I got in position and jumped. Instead of a nice 3 count I reached to pull on a short 1 count. I threw out and managed to wrap the bridle around my arm! Damn! I’m amazed I was so cool, however. I simply reached over and unwrapped it from my arm and threw it into the wind without thinking. By this point I was head down. I paid the price of not being ideally stable with about 8 line twists. Fortunately, I had a good square main above me though so I had some time to think about it. I checked my altitude and had only lost about 700ft. from exit, so I still had a little time before my cutaway decision altitude. I looked at my handles just in case. I proceeded to pull and kick the line twists out. Fortunately they came out fairly easy. I flew down and had a good landing. I find out later the instructor and a birdman that were still in the plane had a great view of my little jump and looked over at each other with wide eyes. I can only imagine that in those few seconds where I was floundering, they were thinking about how they would fill out the incident report. Self jump review: Good aspects- stayed cool and corrected all of the problems. Bad aspects – I created all of the problems myself. I’ll put this jump into the category of a learning experience. In fact I had a WHOLE LOT of learning going on! I got some good advice over a few beers that night – on full altitude jumps practice stable exits with a calm 3 count and a practice touche. This will help prepare me for the next real hop n’ pop. Blue Skies, Ron"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
atsaubrey 0 #2 December 15, 2003 glad to hear everything worked out. I"m scared shitless about doing a hop n' pop. But to get the A you have to do what you have to. I'll have to talk to the packers on that one too...my canopy takes about 1000ft to open...YIKES"GOT LEAD?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casie 0 #3 December 15, 2003 Glad to hear you did everything correctly & you're ok! Man, my first H&P was hilarious I didn't want to jump cause it looked toooo low.....LOL I held onto the door with the firmest grip I think I'd ever had, but once I got out the door, it was a BLAST!~Porn Kitty WARNING: Goldschlager causes extreme emotional outbursts! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grega 0 #4 December 15, 2003 Just think of it as a first step to BASE jumping "George just lucky i guess!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lazy 0 #5 December 15, 2003 my first was soooo low (4000 ft) i was very scared Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #6 December 15, 2003 Good job on getting yourself out of a potientially BAD situation! I love taking students up for their H&Ps after they completed their AFF jumps. For one, its basically an easy jump, but for the student, its the lowest they've ever been exiting, so I'm there for support and to help keep them calm. The thing that will help you the most, is the thing that will help you the most on ANY skydive. Relax. Take some deep breaths before you exit, have a nice arch and pull. I tell my students a mantra that helps them with the time. Ready, Set, Go...Arch-1000, reach-1000, pull-1000. This keeps them going in a calm pace and gives them something to concentrate on while letting the other things come on their own. Quite often I see students that do that, forget about arching, BUT they have a really nice arch when they exit. They forget they're lower then normal, they have a good time and a nice safe, fun, successful skydive. Remember something VERY important, though. No matter who gives you information here, they're still not your instructor, listen and follow what your instructors tell you.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FrogNog 1 #7 December 15, 2003 Quoteglad to hear everything worked out. I"m scared shitless about doing a hop n' pop. But to get the A you have to do what you have to. I'll have to talk to the packers on that one too...my canopy takes about 1000ft to open...YIKES If your canopy takes 1000 ft to open, that's 1000 ft when you're moving straight down at terminal, which is probably between 5 and 10 seconds. (It would be "about 5 seconds" except once you start opening, you slow down.) On a hop-and-pop, you're not moving straight down very fast when you deploy. So opening at 3,000 feet on a hop-and-pop means you have more time than opening at 3,000 feet on a regular jump. Plus at lower overall initial airspeed, the slider will not inhibit the canopy's complete opening as long. -=-=-=-=- Pull. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyyhi 0 #8 December 15, 2003 I will have to do a hop N Pop for my A license when I get there, but now that I have opened at 4,000 and STILL have a long time under canopy, I am not really that concerned about it. . .just disappointed that I won't get much free fall time. . .________________________________________ Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ FGF #6 Darcy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kramer 0 #9 December 15, 2003 Reginald, awesome job fixing the problem that arose. You're handling things well. I did a backflip (unintentionally) on my first hop and pop, and pulled on my back...felt the pilot chute go between my legs. ....scary stuff. Nice attitude wanting to get back on the horse, you'll thank yourself someday for that. -Kramer The FAKE KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron 7 #10 December 15, 2003 You didn't die...you did fine."No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reginald 0 #11 December 15, 2003 QuoteGood job on getting yourself out of a potientially BAD situation! Hey, what's the worst that could have happened...oh, wait a minute - don't answer that. Seriously, I am happy that I keep a very calm and cool head and did what I needed to do. I'm beginning to see myself take action without having to consciously think about it."We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DShiznit 0 #12 December 15, 2003 Hey man, congrats. I was supposed to do my H&P a week ago, but the winds were too high.... We'll hit it up later. See ya, bro. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamUK 3 #13 December 15, 2003 Someone at our DZ did a similar thing and ended up upside down with his feet in his risers. The instructor put him back on DRPs! for that one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RoadRash 0 #14 December 15, 2003 Glad you were ok and that you learned from the experience!I was exiting from the Porter and I could not for the life of me get completely out on the strut(I wasn't even nervous, but had never jumped the Porter before!). The prop blast was just too much at the time! So I more or less flung myself into the relative wind, luckily I was stable immediately and pulled...LoL...Now I absolutely love hop'n pops!!!! Enjoy!!!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Fly the friendly skies...^_^...})ii({...^_~... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dterrick 0 #15 December 16, 2003 Nice one, Ron! Many, many hop n pops later I had a leg entanglement while tossing head-down on a 5 sec delay form 3k ( I tripped over the still-installed JM and did a VERY slow frontloop that "just continued"). If you can survive what you did with a clear head then you are a VERY aware skydiver for your experience level - just keep up the mental practice for such events "forever"... mine took till about jump #150 to happen. Glad you enjoyed your Beers as much as the H&P. Wait till you try such foolishness under an eliptical and you'll learn how inportant your cutaway drills are (never spun one up but a 1 sec delay does not a stable eliptical deployment make) Dave Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstime 0 #16 December 16, 2003 Hey reg, Great job, I did pretty much the same,scared the snot out me. back to earth??? looked at my alti 3000', I dumped had a few line twist and made it back. There was a guy named Kip on the load who saw me flaundering as if I wanted to get back to the plane. He said "arch" I said yeah yeah I know but. "just watch the plane as soon as you get out till your neck hurts" best advice on exit I have rec'd. Im now stable in 2 seconds. We can laugh now but It's still a serious situation. We discuss this stuff here but you learn from your instructor. Also PLEASE read Frognog's reply... Great point!!! Enjoy & be well Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reginald 0 #17 December 16, 2003 Quote"just watch the plane as soon as you get out till your neck hurts" best advice on exit I have rec'd. Im now stable in 2 seconds. That I am working on. I remember seeing the plane fade away on only a few jumps. It's both a really cool visual and a good training technique. Unfortunately, it's not easy."We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sdgregory 0 #18 December 18, 2003 This is one of my very first posts "Hop&pop was a little hairy . . . my pilot flew through my legs but I rolled it out real quick, thought I was gonna have to pull reserve though. Not really anxious to do that again yet, but maybe this weekend I will try again. Never know when you may need it. " Was a really weird feeling in my stomach as I watched that pilot chute go right between my legs. Liek you I kept a cool head and quickly went into action. When I landed and walked up to my instructors they were saying that I gave them a little scare there for a second. Glad yours worked out too. Keep doing the H&P's you'll get better and they get more fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vonSanta 0 #19 December 20, 2003 Heh, I can identify with this. Sort same happened when I was an AFF student doing my hop n' pop. "No fucking way! This is too low! These guys are crazy! At 3000 feet my canopy is supposed to BE out, not "maybe-it'll-come-maybe-it-won't"! Got out, counted to one before deciding it would take too long even at max speed to get to three, dumped PC, had bridle come up between arm and body, put bridle on correct side, saw container in the gap between my legs and got pissed for being so stupid in the first place. Had a long talk with some experienced instructors and on the next hop n' pop I took it veeery slowly - no problems despite a less than perfect exit. Practise makes perfect Santa Von GrossenArsch I only come in one flavour ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
