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JoHawley

recovering from a breakline fire

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Is it really that simple to recover from a breakline fire?



For the most part, yes or grab the opposite riser and fly the canopy then release the other brake.The other thing to be aware of is that sometimes the toggle covers stretch and a brake fire may occur. I have had this happen on three consequtive jumps. Replaced the toggle cover and presto...have your mate always check to see that the toggles are seated tightly and that both require the same amount of input to remove.
Cheers!
B^2








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It can also depend on how quick your reactions are and what type of canopy you are under. If you are under a boat, then you can probably correct with a riser or simply pop the other toggle. If you are under a tiny HP canopy, you either need to be exceptionally quick or cutaway because it will spin you up into linetwist that you wont be able to get out of. On my first Velocity jump, I had a break fire and it started spinning me. My first reaction was to pop the other break. I got to it while I was in 1/2 a line twist...if it had gotten any worse I would have had to chop it. I strongly recommend that you do not start popping break lines while you are in linetwists (FJC material, that you should have learned). Good question.:)

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A mate of mine recently had a breakline fire and was told that if he had released the other break he would not have needed to cut it away. Is it really that simple to recover from a breakline fire?

" end quote.

It depends upon wingloading.

For example, the last time I mis=packed a brake line on my Sabre 170. I just pulled down on a rear riser to stop the turn and give me time to analyze the problem. I soon saw my error, released both brakes and flew the canopy back to the bowl.
The same packing error on a heavier-loaded canopy might produce unrecoverable line twists.

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I think it probably depends on your canopy. Recently I've been having alot of brake fires (3 in 20 odd jumps) on my Spectre (loaded at around 1.3): it comes out with 2 or 3 twists - due to the uneven inflation - but also turning pretty quickly because one brake is released. But the twists kick out ok and once I've released the other brake it all calms down a bit. From inflation to flying straight and level probably takes about 7 or 8 seconds.

Gus
OutpatientsOnline.com

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I've had a brake toggle release on opening. It openend on one side first then flung me into line twists and started spiralling. It pinned my head down so there was no way to even attempt to release the other toggle.

On other occasions it was controllable.
-
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My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

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If you find yourself spinning on your back



A month or so ago I had a toggle snap out during deployment which immediately put me into a hard fast spin. First spin belly down I saw the hanger on the horizon, second spin belly up I saw the hanger. Sometime during the second spin I released the remaining toggle and the spin immediately stopped. I checked for line twists, saw none, checked my alti...holy shit batman, I had lost almost 1000 ft in two revolutions.

I hard rapid spinning situations, try to clear once and then cut that puppy away. You are lower than you think.

Blue skies,

Jim

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pretty much, yeah.

I jump a relatively highly loaded stiletto. I have had opening where toggles come undone.

A jumper aware of whats going on during opening should be able to get control of a canopy before it spins up from a popped toggle.

On larger canopies, you can just grab the other toggle - er, rather - grab BOTH toggles so you don't need to think about which one.

On smaller, more loaded canopies it's smart to pull on the riser on the side that popped, to control the spin as it starts up.

I've never chopped from line twists, wether caused by a popped toggle or not.

_Am
__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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I'd say the most important thing is to try and recover the ability to control the canopy's heading first, before you do anything else. If you open up with a spin going on, grab the rear risers and correct it (assuming you don't have line twists, of course). Then (after checking you're airspace) you can investigate what actually happened. If it's just a break-release, pop the other one out and move on. If you can't get that handled, then you move on to other options. You must retain the ability to maneuver at all costs! Collisions happen as a result of failing to meet this criteria.

The point is, rear risers are easy to jump on and gain control. Plus, if you can get the wing level, you're not losing altitude while you decide what you're going to do or what needs to be fixed.

We teach our students that rear risers are the FIRST thing you grab after opening. Only after all is well and good, and your airspace is clear, do you screw around with toggles.


"...and once you had tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.
For there you have been, and there you long to return..."

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For example, the last time I mis=packed a brake line on my Sabre 170. I just pulled down on a rear riser to stop the turn and give me time to analyze the problem. I soon saw my error, released both brakes and flew the canopy back to the bowl.
The same packing error on a heavier-loaded canopy might produce unrecoverable line twists.



In my experience, a packing error in which one brake line in not set can prodece different result than what I consider a "brake fire" My current toggles/risers give me a lot of Brake fires- which usually happens and some point during the opening process. The later this happens the less of an issue it is. I have had weekends where at least one third of my openings have a toggle pop off. I load my canopies between 2.2 to 2.5. On my FX I use the riser initially to get it flying straight, and then just use the harness to correct while I stow my slider, loosen chest strap, ect. It does not take much effort on this canopy to keep it flying straight with one toggle unstowed. On my xaos 27, it does require quite a bit although the biggest complaint I have about the Xaos 27 is that it is not very sensitive to harness input compared to my other canopies.
Most of my brakefires to not happen until the canopy is open, which is much different than what some may be talking about.
Josh
That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

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Had it happen to me third jump on the sam
just had slinks fitted (forgot to specify slinks when i ordered)
slider came down and took the RH brake off
remember thinking what the f**k got on the rear risers straight away and controlled it to some extent
reached up and got the other brake off
all ok it hadn't had time to spin up
i think if i hadn't been as quick on the risers i'd have been getting off it though

Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.
Michael Pritchard.

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