Mikki_ZH 0 #126 August 9, 2005 On jump 375 I wanted to do a 180 front riser approach. I looked if nobody is in the way and reached for my loops. I missed the left one and had to find it. I lost about 3 to 4 seconds, and pulled the front riser down. During this few seconds I did not observe the landing area another canopy also hooked in. I found myself about 20 feet behind and around 10 feet above the other canopy. Fortunately everything went well. Lesson learned: Always check your air space immediately before doing a HP landing.Michi (#1068) hsbc/gba/sba www.swissbaseassociation.ch www.michibase.ch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydivermom 0 #127 August 9, 2005 I asked him if he wanted me to pack for him again with an evil smile YOU ROCK!Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydivermom 0 #128 August 9, 2005 New plan...I don't like what I see and its GONE. ---------------------------------------------------- That is one of the best things you can impart to a student! That is going in my skydiving notes for sure, Thank You!Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydivermom 0 #129 August 9, 2005 Okay, it's only fair if I'm going to reply to some of the posts that I also come forward with my recent mistake. Obviously my jump numbers are very low as I am a student. I've had several experienced jumpers tell me to make my mistakes now! Of course I would rather not make them at all but that is not realistic. Anyway, last Saturday I did my second SL jump. Left the plane with an awesome arch and had a great canopy flight. My landing was good too until my brain shut off. I had already made my final turn and was landing into the wind. The next thing I know I'm making another left LOW turn. As soon as I did it I was yelling at myself inside my head. I flared on time and did a sliding landing. Stood up and was not hurt, so just waited for my instructor to come over and let me have it! I will certainly not do that again!Mrs. WaltAppel All things work together for good to them that love God...Romans 8:28 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #130 June 15, 2006 QuoteI started this thread to show folks a few things: 1. That you WILL make mistakes. Newbie or old hand, you will screw up. How you react to that screw up decides if you will survive to learn the lesson, or if others will learn the lesson at your funeral. 2. I see a trend on here for people to not admit to making mistakes, or trying to hide or lie about the mistakes they made. Bill made a good post about a stupid thing he did and it got me to thinking that maybe we ALL should be honest about some of the dumb things we have done. By being honest and not hiding our mistakes others can learn from our moments of stupidity...And we all have them. Since I have made my fair share of really bad mistakes and choices, I decided that I would go first. I wanted others to know that everyone makes mistakes and that it is ok to admit them and share them. I would like this thread to continue since there are others that read these and think "How could that happen?". I want two things to come of this. I want people to be honest and admit and share when they screw up. I want others to learn from others mistakes before they make them. So please allow this to be a tool for absolving your stupid moments, and a place to learn. Worth repeating (emphasis added is mine). And worth bumping. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #131 June 15, 2006 Good thread.... 1. About jump 20, repeating full series cos the last one was too slow.. Decieded to go faster by cutting out the "unnessesary" things, like alti checks. Opened at 700 ft - years before the cypres was introduced or AAD's were used on student gear - completely unaware of my altitude. 2. Jump 159, swoop landing number 3. After succesful 90 degree and 180 degree toggle spanks, I had "slowly" worked my way up to a 270. I hammered in and smashed my left femur. 3. About 600 jumps. Asked for a run in of 65 kts from a Jet Ranger on a demo jump into a University. On run in, saw we were moving BACKWARDS. Asked the pilot if we were doing 65 KTS and he confirmed. I said "Faster" and exited anyway... 4. Around 1000 jumps. Joined "The magic 1" (A lunatic fringe group inspired by the low pull competitions of the past and required a terminal main deployment below 1000ft.) I lived. Yay. 5. Kicked a pilot with about 60 hrs and no instrument rating out of bed in really bad weather to fly. Called him a pussy till his ego got us off the ground. Spent about 5000ft stuck to the roof watching the airspeed indicator way past VNE and the VSI against the stop as the alti undialed. Got out at under 2000ft when he managed to recover. (The spot sucked) I've probably done another 30 - 50 things at least as stupid as these. Others have died doing everything right. This sport really isn't very fair at all, but luck does count. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildfan75 1 #132 June 15, 2006 Jump #6--I didn't quite make it to the arch position after pulling my RC, hands went down the front of my body on the hard opening and my thumb caught my reserve handle. 2 out, cutaway and I was so nervous about just getting to the ground I ended up landing with the wind, which I didn't know until the next weekend when someone mentioned it to me. Luckily I walked away with not even a scratch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #133 June 15, 2006 was rather high on a bigger way and went to a partial sit to lose altitude - went about 10 feet low. Not a good idea and got way too close to the formation building, even though I got up and into the slot - learned from it and now do different techniques to get down, need to be fast, but still predictable worst ever - carved into a high speed landing on an off airport landing - in a tight area, at an unfamiliar DZ, on a fairly new downsized canopy - ended up with really bad bruised hip form the second impact on that landing. Lucky I didn't break the hip bone. When in other parts of the country or any place not familiar, you'd be surprised how much crap and little rocks and stuff is hidden in taller grass first reserve ride was on a round on a windy day - uneventful, but why jump in weather that EITHER of your canopies can handle I've been lucky, especially on the 2nd one above ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #134 June 15, 2006 I won't go into the low openings except to say that I have had at least two where I was in the saddle under my main at 700 ft. Both were from terminal. Probably the most dumbass thing I have done was on a solo jump where I was working on my track. Rather than tracking back and forth on a path perpendicular to the jump run I tracked for the DZ and tracked right past someone from a previous group who was opening. The thought that I could have hurt or skilled someone by doing that really scared the piss out of me. I'll never do it again. edited to add: Another good one was years ago when I was trying to impress a girl I had brought to the DZ. I went into a hard toggle spiral directly above the landing area. I held it until I was scared out of my wits and then held it another 360. I had to start flaring as soon as I came out of it. I barely cleared an above-ground fuel tank and landed between a building and the a student mockup, just short of some other obstacle. Everyone saw it and I was really glad they did because I knew it would be the first and last time I would do that. The girl was not the least bit impressed. She figured I did that kind of thing all the time. Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #135 June 15, 2006 Low pull screwing around thinking "just a little lower this time" In the saddle under 800. Cypres fire, 2-out...landed biplane unhurt. Bitch-slapped myself silly (nobady could have been any harder on me than I was on myself) and will not do that again. Tonto, please do NOT add my name to the magic 1 group. My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thijs 0 #136 June 15, 2006 Jump 1: Landed WAY to close to the hangar of the dropzone, luckly everything went well with a nice butslide Jump 3: downwind landing. Overshot the place where I wanted to land. Fell over on landing and hit a concrete fence. Result was a weekend at the hospital instead of a weekend at the dropzone. Jump 5: Backsommersault with a static line. Not on purpose, but yeah, not very safe. Jump 10: Another downwind landing (I checked the winddirection just before we got in the plane, but it changed while climbing to altitude). The smart thing I did on that jump was not to try to land on my feet, because that would have been double femur. Made one hell of a move to keep my bones intact, to bad no one filmed it. Jump 12 (First freefall after 11 staticline jumps): Jumped of unstable, went on my back and pulled the cord. Nothing came out, so I threw away the cord to grab my handels (and I was still on my back). All the sudden I see the main-canopy deploying between my legs, lucky no entanglement. Jump 21 and 25: Tracking parallel to the line of dropping. Not smart. Nothing happend but it was definatly not smart. Jump 22: trying double backflip at 6000ft. Didn't work out well, think I went stable again at 4500ft (pulling at 4000ft). Scared me a lot (because at first I didn't get stable again) so I don't do any complex things anymore 2000ft before pulltime. Jump 26: Clouds from 13000ft until 5000ft due to a sudden weather change. Zero visiblity. Looking back I should have stayed in the plane, couldn't do anything on that jump and had an extra packjob to do. On multiple jumps not waving off before pulling I'm lucky and happy to be here... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Hawkins121 0 #137 June 15, 2006 Did something really really stupid last sunday.. Sunset load.. 9 way speed star... Went low... started tracking at 4500.. Pulled early around 4k... As the canopy opened i saw 3-4 bodies dive bomb past me... Godamn that was stupid.. I got on the ground expecting everyone to kick my ass. I wouldnt have even fought back... Everyone was cool about it though... I wanted to shove that pilot chute back in right after I pulled it out. I need to stick to 4 ways or below and pay more attention to where everyone is at pull time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites AFFI 0 #138 June 15, 2006 Walt, you must have a lot of stories for this string! I know I do, you remember how reckless I used to be?!?!? Early on, when I went through the "I got is all figured out" stage is when I made an abundance of stupid calls - that is why it is sometimes difficult to tell a newbie to not do something stupid because chances are I did the same thing which more times that not resulted in a "close call" and I had a lot of fun doing it. Certainly there are stupid things yet to come on the horizon, but probably the stupidest thing I ever did in skydiving was not listen to those with more experience than I when they were warning me about all the stupid things I was doing.Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites waltappel 1 #139 June 15, 2006 QuoteWalt, you must have a lot of stories for this string! I know I do, you remember how reckless I used to be?!?!? Honestly, I used to think your death from a skydiving-related accident was only a matter of time. You've really turned it around and I admire you for that. I remember one time you had some sort of close call at SSM and IIRC you had well under a hundred jumps at the time. What I noticed most when you were talking about it was the look in your eyes. You never said it, but I could clearly see that you had enjoyed the rush. You had loved the intensity of it. That's a trap that is pretty easy to get sucked into and you were right in the middle of it. That was a long time ago, though, and you're way different now. I've developed a great deal of respect for you and your views from reading your posts and I know that you really mean every word of it. Way to do it, my friend!Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites billvon 2,379 #140 June 15, 2006 >Early on, when I went through the "I got is all figured out" stage is >when I made an abundance of stupid calls. . . Yep. When I got to about 200-300 jumps I finally realized that I knew everything about skydiving, and that I was now super safe because I knew so much. (Come to think of it, most of my skydiving injuries happened around that time.) Took another few hundred jumps to realize how little I knew. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Jumpah 0 #141 June 15, 2006 I've resisted posting this...but its appropriate here in the S&T forum: Jump 45: Landed in a forest about 60 feet off the ground on a rather comfy branch. I came into the top of the tree onto one of the topmost branches and grabbed the trunk with my left arm and disconected my main with my right (RSL was disconected at 500 feet). I didn't check the spot from the plane (the guy ahead of me did, and while it was appropriate for HIM (many thousands of jumps and a HP canopy) it wasn't for me. The winds were at 10-15 on the ground but rising...so much so that under canopy at 500 feet I was going backwards. I was downwind of the DZ under canopy despite tracking back to the DZ for most of the 15 secs of freefall (6,500 H&P). Many on that load landed off and one other in a tree. Lessons learned: 1) Check your own damn spot. If you don't like, step back 2) if a friend on the ground says "good luck in these winds", consider stepping off the load 3) a keg goes a long way to obtain complete forgiveness from the 20+ people who helped belay your sorry ass out of the tree (or who just hung around cracking jokes and making fun of said ass) 4) Don't fear landing out...this was a mental hang-up...I kind of couldn't believe this would be my first out-landing so I was busting my ass to get back while using up precious altitude. I have since gone for walks around two of the outs to get a feel for what the land is. 5) What is right for others is not necessarily right for you. No injuries...very lucky! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites NWFlyer 2 #142 June 15, 2006 Quote I have since gone for walks around two of the outs to get a feel for what the land is. Awesome idea! It's one thing to look at the aerial photo and think "that looks clear," it's entirely another to actually walk through it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Tonto 1 #143 June 15, 2006 QuoteTonto, please do NOT add my name to the magic 1 group. I can't.. The small print was on jump number 2 you need to be the "guide" for the next person in and dump AFTER them. Don't choose a newbie who waves off first... tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites beowulf 1 #144 June 15, 2006 around jump number 150 I got fixated on making it back and ended up being too low to turn so I landed down wind while watching swoopers have to abort their swoops due to me landing down wind in front of them! I sat on the ground for a couple of hours really thinking hard about that one. around jump number 500 did a 4 way sunset jump that turned out to be a night jump. Looking down at the lights of a city at night that I am not familar with and trying to decide where to land was pretty scary. There were numerous other mistakes made in this jump that I am embarassed to even think about. But I didn't get killed or even hurt, that was mostly luck. I happened to choose the right blacked out area to land in. It was a somewhat educated guess, I was sure there was clear land in front of the High School that I had driven past on the way to the dropzone. Turned out to be a soccer field. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites NWFlyer 2 #145 June 15, 2006 Oh, and since I bumped this, I certainly have stuff to contribute, most of which has already been discussed here... I'm not shy about admitting I fuckup. I'm going to leave out all the stuff I did before I got my A license, but suffice it to say I was the student from hell. Jump 60ish: Visited a new dropzone, waivered, and got on a 10 minute call on a new aircraft type without even doing a dropzone briefing. Fortunately, it was a dropzone with a huge, easy-to-locate landing area and it all ended fine but still ... getting the lay of the land before getting in the plane is always a better idea. Jump 65ish: Packed, jumped, and landed a step-through. Jump 160ish: Passed out under canopy due to position in the harness on a high hop & pop. Didn't even occur to me to move/loosen the damn leg straps. Bottom line: no injuries, just doctor's bills to have it all checked out to make sure there was nothing wrong. Jump 215ish: took a slight downwind landing (oops, you mean that tetrahedron was fixed?) after the sunset load at Eloy, ended up overshooting the landing area and taking out a small tree (the rumor that I hit the fence to Larry Hill's house is just that, a nasty rumor). That one was compounded by the fact that I had taken bad advice about shortening my brake lines and had a canopy I couldn't adequately control on landing. Had I researched it myself I would have known that was not a solution. Bottom line: two weeks of side effects from a nasty concussion. Jump 234: Packing error and EP errors. Recently discussed so I won't go into that here. Bottom line: no injuries, but the resulting gear replacement/repair cost me almost $900. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites moonglo 0 #146 June 15, 2006 Great thread! We were just discussing our stupid but lucky things at the DZ this past weekend after a freefall collision (both guys are ok) on a Tandem SCR 9way.... Stupid shit I've done: Jump 30 - first trip to a new DZ, new rental gear, new A license....The wind pushed me back after opening to where I had to land off, lucky there was a nice big rectangular field under me. I'd always been told "no low turns" and "land into the wind" so I did, the short way in the field. Got below the tree line, my canopy surged, and I swooped/ran into a tree to avoid the barbed wire fence. Ended with a broken face and a trip to the ER, missed my last week of work, no jumping for a month+. **A crosswind landing would have given me a much longer landing area. 70-ish jumps I saw I wasn't going make it past the big pond and cranked a toggle at less than 50'. My canopy snagged a tree and saved my life, then let go as I swung out under it. Ended up just chipping my fullface helmet a little in front. **A flat turn or a pond landing would have been a much better choice. Jump 221 - first cutaway. I packed in a hurry to make the load. Fast spinning mal, cutaway around 2.5k, no reserve handle! My d-ring had fallen out of the velcro and was trapped behind my back under my rig. I managed to pull the cable at about 800' all the while chanting "my cypres will fire at 750', my cypres will fire..." Landed, my cypres was not turned on!! **Don't rush to make the load, maintain all velcro, get a gear check, remember to turn on the AAD! 350-ish jumps, wingsuit jump 37 - I depolyed with line twists and undid my arm zippers to help get me out of them. I didn't know at the time that my left side main lift web was starting to fail and I was leaning in the harness, so for every twist i kicked out of it twisted right back up. Cutaway at just under 2K and one of my unzipped armwings inflated and made me barrell roll. At this point I got smart and deployed my reserve on my back, leaving line burns on my right arm wing. I spent too much time getting the rest of the way out of my wingsuit and didn't do any practice flares. I flared too hard (no wind) and bowtied my reserve, my head hit the ground the same time as my heels **Don't unzip a wingsuit until you have a good canopy, cutaway the wings if need be so you maintain control over them in the event of a cutaway. Practice with a new canopy if altitude allows! I now plan to PLF every reserve ride with a 1/2 flare (unless wind conditions allow me to stand it up like my third one). 600+ jumps - My friend and I were doing RW with our friend on his first tandem (my skydiver friend's first time jumping with a tandem). Weather was moving in, green light was turned on at 11k (normally 13k+) and there was a cloud layer under us. The tandem had an unstable exit and flipped a few times before getting the drogue out. We dove but didn't get there before they disappeared in the cloud. We came out of it at 6K+ in the cone of death as the TM was reaching to pull. Camera guy saw us and waved for us to get outa there. Saw the tandem canopy go up about 20' away between my legs as we were tracking for our lives. ** I should have stayed in the plane since I couldn't see the ground, never get above a deploying tandem or anywhere in the "cone of death"! I'm sure I've done many other stupid things, and I know I got really lucky surviving some of these. These are just the ones that stick out in my mind as being obviously stupid on my part and reminded me of the safety rules I overlooked at the time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites goose491 0 #147 June 15, 2006 QuoteMy first night jump ever.....a land boat storage yard. ...Stood up my landing with my nose inches from the barbed wire fencing. canopy went over the fence. Had to climb the fence get the canopy back over as it was the only way out. Found out an hr later that there is usually a guard dog in that storage lot! HA-HAAAA! Jen! I remember that! I landed out that night too... but not nearly as far as the marina. I got out, did my freefall thing and deployed. I remember shouting a couple times to make sure there was not invisible traffic. Then hearing someone shout back. I had this eerie feeling that I was about to have a head-on with another canopy. 6th sense-style. I grabbed a front riser and did one full diving 360. Looking upwards thereafter, sure enough, I saw the silhouette of another canopy whiz by overhead in the other direction. WHOA!!! That was close... now, if he was going that way... and I'm going this way... urm... where is the DZ? Yup, I had lost track. Looked ahead and all around. Turned myself around in the harness (so as not to waste more altitude in a turn until I had my bearings) and looked directly behind me. Did you all catch what I missed? ..directly below me. Of course, it was far too late by the time I figure it out. Landed three fields away. I remember thinking I was going to bust a leg because the "texture" of the field, I could hardly determine. Started walking back and was picked up by an old couple in a mini van. I must have looked pretty weird walking down the road in the middle of the night, goggles and helmet, floppy jumpsuit, covered in broken glowstick juice, canopy slung over the shoulder. "Are you heading to that Skydive place?" they asked. "There's a skydive place around here??" I answered. My Karma ran over my Dogma!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites MB38 0 #148 June 16, 2006 Jump 17: Was trying to get "braked approach" signed off for my A card. Meant to stay in half brakes until about 50 feet to allow the canopy to slow its surge before landing. Let up at about 20 feet, panic flared just before impact and PLF/slid it out. Deserved a broken ankle, got damaged pride. Jump ~30: two-way RW jump with somebody of a drastically different fall-rate. Couldn't keep up with him, decided a sit would be a good option at the time. Matched him just as we entered clouds at 6,000. Got flat, turned to what I felt like was 180 degrees and tracked until I came out of the clouds at about 3,800 [probably tracked in a circle or in the same direction as him]. Looked all over the place for him, waved off and pulled at 3,500. Found myself uncomfortably close, heading right for him. We both risered right and ended up clear, talked about it on the ground. Learned a handful of lessons that day.I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites borgy 0 #149 June 16, 2006 On jump 60 something I exited the plane doing a two way, and felt my helmet strap slap me in the mouth. I reached up just in time to grab the helmet by the strap (I have no idea how) and have it beat the crap out of my hand for a few thousand feet while I struggled to put it back on my head. I was lucky I caught the helmet and it didn't take out the other person who was above me on the two way, I had a very bruised hand and a hard reminder to check ALL my gear before exiting.I only trust two people in this world, one of them is me and the other one aint you. Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe in "Con Air" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites phoenixlpr 0 #150 June 16, 2006 Quote Jump 17: Was trying to get "braked approach" signed off for my A card. Meant to stay in half brakes until about 50 feet to allow the canopy to slow its surge before landing. Let up at about 20 feet, panic flared just before impact and PLF/slid it out. Deserved a broken ankle, got damaged pride. Lucky you. I got a broken ankle that way. #87 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next Page 6 of 27 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. 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Hawkins121 0 #137 June 15, 2006 Did something really really stupid last sunday.. Sunset load.. 9 way speed star... Went low... started tracking at 4500.. Pulled early around 4k... As the canopy opened i saw 3-4 bodies dive bomb past me... Godamn that was stupid.. I got on the ground expecting everyone to kick my ass. I wouldnt have even fought back... Everyone was cool about it though... I wanted to shove that pilot chute back in right after I pulled it out. I need to stick to 4 ways or below and pay more attention to where everyone is at pull time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #138 June 15, 2006 Walt, you must have a lot of stories for this string! I know I do, you remember how reckless I used to be?!?!? Early on, when I went through the "I got is all figured out" stage is when I made an abundance of stupid calls - that is why it is sometimes difficult to tell a newbie to not do something stupid because chances are I did the same thing which more times that not resulted in a "close call" and I had a lot of fun doing it. Certainly there are stupid things yet to come on the horizon, but probably the stupidest thing I ever did in skydiving was not listen to those with more experience than I when they were warning me about all the stupid things I was doing.Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #139 June 15, 2006 QuoteWalt, you must have a lot of stories for this string! I know I do, you remember how reckless I used to be?!?!? Honestly, I used to think your death from a skydiving-related accident was only a matter of time. You've really turned it around and I admire you for that. I remember one time you had some sort of close call at SSM and IIRC you had well under a hundred jumps at the time. What I noticed most when you were talking about it was the look in your eyes. You never said it, but I could clearly see that you had enjoyed the rush. You had loved the intensity of it. That's a trap that is pretty easy to get sucked into and you were right in the middle of it. That was a long time ago, though, and you're way different now. I've developed a great deal of respect for you and your views from reading your posts and I know that you really mean every word of it. Way to do it, my friend!Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,379 #140 June 15, 2006 >Early on, when I went through the "I got is all figured out" stage is >when I made an abundance of stupid calls. . . Yep. When I got to about 200-300 jumps I finally realized that I knew everything about skydiving, and that I was now super safe because I knew so much. (Come to think of it, most of my skydiving injuries happened around that time.) Took another few hundred jumps to realize how little I knew. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jumpah 0 #141 June 15, 2006 I've resisted posting this...but its appropriate here in the S&T forum: Jump 45: Landed in a forest about 60 feet off the ground on a rather comfy branch. I came into the top of the tree onto one of the topmost branches and grabbed the trunk with my left arm and disconected my main with my right (RSL was disconected at 500 feet). I didn't check the spot from the plane (the guy ahead of me did, and while it was appropriate for HIM (many thousands of jumps and a HP canopy) it wasn't for me. The winds were at 10-15 on the ground but rising...so much so that under canopy at 500 feet I was going backwards. I was downwind of the DZ under canopy despite tracking back to the DZ for most of the 15 secs of freefall (6,500 H&P). Many on that load landed off and one other in a tree. Lessons learned: 1) Check your own damn spot. If you don't like, step back 2) if a friend on the ground says "good luck in these winds", consider stepping off the load 3) a keg goes a long way to obtain complete forgiveness from the 20+ people who helped belay your sorry ass out of the tree (or who just hung around cracking jokes and making fun of said ass) 4) Don't fear landing out...this was a mental hang-up...I kind of couldn't believe this would be my first out-landing so I was busting my ass to get back while using up precious altitude. I have since gone for walks around two of the outs to get a feel for what the land is. 5) What is right for others is not necessarily right for you. No injuries...very lucky! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #142 June 15, 2006 Quote I have since gone for walks around two of the outs to get a feel for what the land is. Awesome idea! It's one thing to look at the aerial photo and think "that looks clear," it's entirely another to actually walk through it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #143 June 15, 2006 QuoteTonto, please do NOT add my name to the magic 1 group. I can't.. The small print was on jump number 2 you need to be the "guide" for the next person in and dump AFTER them. Don't choose a newbie who waves off first... tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beowulf 1 #144 June 15, 2006 around jump number 150 I got fixated on making it back and ended up being too low to turn so I landed down wind while watching swoopers have to abort their swoops due to me landing down wind in front of them! I sat on the ground for a couple of hours really thinking hard about that one. around jump number 500 did a 4 way sunset jump that turned out to be a night jump. Looking down at the lights of a city at night that I am not familar with and trying to decide where to land was pretty scary. There were numerous other mistakes made in this jump that I am embarassed to even think about. But I didn't get killed or even hurt, that was mostly luck. I happened to choose the right blacked out area to land in. It was a somewhat educated guess, I was sure there was clear land in front of the High School that I had driven past on the way to the dropzone. Turned out to be a soccer field. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #145 June 15, 2006 Oh, and since I bumped this, I certainly have stuff to contribute, most of which has already been discussed here... I'm not shy about admitting I fuckup. I'm going to leave out all the stuff I did before I got my A license, but suffice it to say I was the student from hell. Jump 60ish: Visited a new dropzone, waivered, and got on a 10 minute call on a new aircraft type without even doing a dropzone briefing. Fortunately, it was a dropzone with a huge, easy-to-locate landing area and it all ended fine but still ... getting the lay of the land before getting in the plane is always a better idea. Jump 65ish: Packed, jumped, and landed a step-through. Jump 160ish: Passed out under canopy due to position in the harness on a high hop & pop. Didn't even occur to me to move/loosen the damn leg straps. Bottom line: no injuries, just doctor's bills to have it all checked out to make sure there was nothing wrong. Jump 215ish: took a slight downwind landing (oops, you mean that tetrahedron was fixed?) after the sunset load at Eloy, ended up overshooting the landing area and taking out a small tree (the rumor that I hit the fence to Larry Hill's house is just that, a nasty rumor). That one was compounded by the fact that I had taken bad advice about shortening my brake lines and had a canopy I couldn't adequately control on landing. Had I researched it myself I would have known that was not a solution. Bottom line: two weeks of side effects from a nasty concussion. Jump 234: Packing error and EP errors. Recently discussed so I won't go into that here. Bottom line: no injuries, but the resulting gear replacement/repair cost me almost $900. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moonglo 0 #146 June 15, 2006 Great thread! We were just discussing our stupid but lucky things at the DZ this past weekend after a freefall collision (both guys are ok) on a Tandem SCR 9way.... Stupid shit I've done: Jump 30 - first trip to a new DZ, new rental gear, new A license....The wind pushed me back after opening to where I had to land off, lucky there was a nice big rectangular field under me. I'd always been told "no low turns" and "land into the wind" so I did, the short way in the field. Got below the tree line, my canopy surged, and I swooped/ran into a tree to avoid the barbed wire fence. Ended with a broken face and a trip to the ER, missed my last week of work, no jumping for a month+. **A crosswind landing would have given me a much longer landing area. 70-ish jumps I saw I wasn't going make it past the big pond and cranked a toggle at less than 50'. My canopy snagged a tree and saved my life, then let go as I swung out under it. Ended up just chipping my fullface helmet a little in front. **A flat turn or a pond landing would have been a much better choice. Jump 221 - first cutaway. I packed in a hurry to make the load. Fast spinning mal, cutaway around 2.5k, no reserve handle! My d-ring had fallen out of the velcro and was trapped behind my back under my rig. I managed to pull the cable at about 800' all the while chanting "my cypres will fire at 750', my cypres will fire..." Landed, my cypres was not turned on!! **Don't rush to make the load, maintain all velcro, get a gear check, remember to turn on the AAD! 350-ish jumps, wingsuit jump 37 - I depolyed with line twists and undid my arm zippers to help get me out of them. I didn't know at the time that my left side main lift web was starting to fail and I was leaning in the harness, so for every twist i kicked out of it twisted right back up. Cutaway at just under 2K and one of my unzipped armwings inflated and made me barrell roll. At this point I got smart and deployed my reserve on my back, leaving line burns on my right arm wing. I spent too much time getting the rest of the way out of my wingsuit and didn't do any practice flares. I flared too hard (no wind) and bowtied my reserve, my head hit the ground the same time as my heels **Don't unzip a wingsuit until you have a good canopy, cutaway the wings if need be so you maintain control over them in the event of a cutaway. Practice with a new canopy if altitude allows! I now plan to PLF every reserve ride with a 1/2 flare (unless wind conditions allow me to stand it up like my third one). 600+ jumps - My friend and I were doing RW with our friend on his first tandem (my skydiver friend's first time jumping with a tandem). Weather was moving in, green light was turned on at 11k (normally 13k+) and there was a cloud layer under us. The tandem had an unstable exit and flipped a few times before getting the drogue out. We dove but didn't get there before they disappeared in the cloud. We came out of it at 6K+ in the cone of death as the TM was reaching to pull. Camera guy saw us and waved for us to get outa there. Saw the tandem canopy go up about 20' away between my legs as we were tracking for our lives. ** I should have stayed in the plane since I couldn't see the ground, never get above a deploying tandem or anywhere in the "cone of death"! I'm sure I've done many other stupid things, and I know I got really lucky surviving some of these. These are just the ones that stick out in my mind as being obviously stupid on my part and reminded me of the safety rules I overlooked at the time. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goose491 0 #147 June 15, 2006 QuoteMy first night jump ever.....a land boat storage yard. ...Stood up my landing with my nose inches from the barbed wire fencing. canopy went over the fence. Had to climb the fence get the canopy back over as it was the only way out. Found out an hr later that there is usually a guard dog in that storage lot! HA-HAAAA! Jen! I remember that! I landed out that night too... but not nearly as far as the marina. I got out, did my freefall thing and deployed. I remember shouting a couple times to make sure there was not invisible traffic. Then hearing someone shout back. I had this eerie feeling that I was about to have a head-on with another canopy. 6th sense-style. I grabbed a front riser and did one full diving 360. Looking upwards thereafter, sure enough, I saw the silhouette of another canopy whiz by overhead in the other direction. WHOA!!! That was close... now, if he was going that way... and I'm going this way... urm... where is the DZ? Yup, I had lost track. Looked ahead and all around. Turned myself around in the harness (so as not to waste more altitude in a turn until I had my bearings) and looked directly behind me. Did you all catch what I missed? ..directly below me. Of course, it was far too late by the time I figure it out. Landed three fields away. I remember thinking I was going to bust a leg because the "texture" of the field, I could hardly determine. Started walking back and was picked up by an old couple in a mini van. I must have looked pretty weird walking down the road in the middle of the night, goggles and helmet, floppy jumpsuit, covered in broken glowstick juice, canopy slung over the shoulder. "Are you heading to that Skydive place?" they asked. "There's a skydive place around here??" I answered. My Karma ran over my Dogma!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MB38 0 #148 June 16, 2006 Jump 17: Was trying to get "braked approach" signed off for my A card. Meant to stay in half brakes until about 50 feet to allow the canopy to slow its surge before landing. Let up at about 20 feet, panic flared just before impact and PLF/slid it out. Deserved a broken ankle, got damaged pride. Jump ~30: two-way RW jump with somebody of a drastically different fall-rate. Couldn't keep up with him, decided a sit would be a good option at the time. Matched him just as we entered clouds at 6,000. Got flat, turned to what I felt like was 180 degrees and tracked until I came out of the clouds at about 3,800 [probably tracked in a circle or in the same direction as him]. Looked all over the place for him, waved off and pulled at 3,500. Found myself uncomfortably close, heading right for him. We both risered right and ended up clear, talked about it on the ground. Learned a handful of lessons that day.I really don't know what I'm talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
borgy 0 #149 June 16, 2006 On jump 60 something I exited the plane doing a two way, and felt my helmet strap slap me in the mouth. I reached up just in time to grab the helmet by the strap (I have no idea how) and have it beat the crap out of my hand for a few thousand feet while I struggled to put it back on my head. I was lucky I caught the helmet and it didn't take out the other person who was above me on the two way, I had a very bruised hand and a hard reminder to check ALL my gear before exiting.I only trust two people in this world, one of them is me and the other one aint you. Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe in "Con Air" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phoenixlpr 0 #150 June 16, 2006 Quote Jump 17: Was trying to get "braked approach" signed off for my A card. Meant to stay in half brakes until about 50 feet to allow the canopy to slow its surge before landing. Let up at about 20 feet, panic flared just before impact and PLF/slid it out. Deserved a broken ankle, got damaged pride. Lucky you. I got a broken ankle that way. #87 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
