Stupid things I have done

[jeremy556 0]

Is this the first person video of the accuracy crash on skydivingmovies?

[Ron 7]

Got a new one. This one is about how easy it is to screw up and how complacency can get you.

OK, Tandem jump (Strong). A lady brings her best friend to do a tandem, I get the best friend.

I move towards the door and as soon as I get out, I toss the drouge....Bamm! I have the main out. WTF?!?!?!? The drouge acted like a pilot chute and there I am with my tandem passenger at 12K.

As the main opens, I automaticly reached for handles ,but didn't pull any since nothing was wrong....Well nothing other than sitting under canopy at 12k.

I check the canopy, then start to wonder what the heck happend. I look and both my handles are in place.

It seems that during my preflight I missed the double loop being misrouted. It did not go through the small ring of the three ring.

For those that understand, you know what I am talking about. TI's that jump Strong that don't get it, please ask you local friendly rigger. Those that don't understand, just understand that *I screwed up*. I didn't pack it, but I didn't catch it in my preflight.

I could give a reason why I screwed up, I got distracted by a question from the Passengers family. But the real truth is "I just screwed up." My fault, no one else's. Nobody got hurt, but a lesson all the same.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[matthewcline 0]

How did the passenger fair with the long canopy ride?
Did her legs go numb or did you spend a bit of time getting really comfy?

Thanks for the post Ron, honesty is hard to use when Pride and Ego are such strong emotions, there is a country song on this I think.

All is well and thats what counts when learning a lesson.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[brabzzz 0]

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The local skygod comes walking by me sitting in the packing area and throws his rig at me and says "New fuck, pack this".

That shit actually happens?

I was gonna say 'i hope you left the slider collapsed/packed slider down or left a toggle loose'. Looking back through the thread, it turns out you did - even if accidentally! Awesome.

Bad attitude just f**ks me off at the DZ. If you're not gonna be friendly, pack-up'n'pi**-off.
Might as well contribute to the thread. I've hooked my base canopy up backwards. Thankfully that was on a skydiving rig for a hop-n-pop and it was noticed before the jump. Could have been more of an issue under different circumstances!

Don't get distracted when gearing stuff and treble check everything.

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Ex-University of Bristol Skydiving Club
www.skydivebristoluni.com

[Ron 7]

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How did the passenger fair with the long canopy ride?
Did her legs go numb or did you spend a bit of time getting really comfy?

Great question. She was very skittish even before the jump. I asked her several times if she wanted to do this, and she said yes, but you know the type.

After the canopy opened and I did a bunch of gear checks, and self checks to make sure that the early canopy was the only thing that was going to happen, I made several adjustments to the harness for her. Her legs went a little numb, but not bad. Also her stomache was upset and we could do nothing but straight flight. So any turns I had to do I had to make them really slow and distract her with conversation.

I did not want to worry her and risk a panic attack, so I told her that we opened a bit higher than normal, but that everything was fine. Once on the ground I told her the whole story.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[matthewcline 0]

Wow, well at least she got the full nickle of the nickle tour.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[Reginald 0]

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As the main opens, I automaticly reached for handles ,but didn't pull any since nothing was wrong....Well nothing other than sitting under canopy at 12k.

Well you did get a BIG round of applause when you finally hit the ground!

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[jerry81 10]

Here's one I'm not really happy about:
attached is a picture of me in freefall. Not the guy in center frame- I'm the little white blob in the lower left corner.
This was the sunset load yesterday and we were really pushing it- the plane needs to be on the ground before the official sunset and it seemed so tight we weren't even sure if there would be time for a go-around if needed. Full load, lot of groups and the loadmaster (with whom I was jumping) tells the people "3 seconds". I guess this wasn't so bad, coupled with a fast plane and the fact that most people just took the order as "don't take too long in the door".

However, him and me were third out, after two flat 2-ways that had about 5 seconds between them. Our plan was an over-under impro freefly jump and the last time we did it, I pulled a 'sudden exit' on him, which is a fun way to make sure your partner is on the ball right from the exit. Well, this time he did the same to me- exactly 3 seconds (checked my video) after the second group exits, as I'm still kneeling by the door looking after them, I hear "OK, go!" as the guy steps past me and out. So I went, thinking "Crap!". But still, I went. You can see us in the second photo...

We had a nice jump, did some tight eagles and kept the right heading. The first two groups were pulling a little higher (4k), but I believe we were still the first to open. I was checking the airspace like mad right after and I definitely didn't like how close (horizontally vertically they were at least 1000 feet above) the second group was when they opened.

The rest of the load apparently took a little longer getting out (as expected) and the last few groups got a 180 and it all worked out well. But seeing these pictures that a friend took yesterday, I feel that I've slipped a little. Maybe not much, but a potential link to something more serious anyway.
Just a personal reminder that I thought was worth sharing.

[metro 0]

On my 7th jump and first freefall (5 seconds) placed my left hand too far back behind my head and leaned forward to look as I pulled my ripcord. Did a front flip thru the chute as it opened, got my left arm wrapped up in the risers and nearly lost my right shoe and had complete sensory overload.

Finally figured out what was wrong with my arm, had a hell of bruise down the length of it for a while, and stuck my landing. Scared the crap out of me, took a two month hiatus and went back to jump this past weekend but got rained out. Took a great refresher course and am pumped to jump this weekend.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance.
Unknown

[recovercrachead 0]

Did a night jump at a dropzone that I never saw before . I got there around 10:00 pm. skys the limit.

Track high, Pull LOW!!!

[kenneth21441 0]

Many years ago back in the early 90's.

I Rolled pack my main tight to see how it opens and when I pulled at 3500 feet. It took over 1500 feet to open had my hands on the handles and was about to cut away when it started to unroll.

I guess I trusted my equipment too much.....

But I did not cut away and from that I learned do not roll the nose and tail so tight and so much.....espially when it comes to pulling at 3500 feet..... Also was wanting to test different packing methods that if I was going to pack I might as well jump.

Best course: play it safe and do what you know for others.

Kenneth Potter
FAA Senior Parachute Rigger
Tactical Delivery Instructor (Jeddah, KSA)
FFL Gunsmith

[Jumpah 0]

160 jumps, 190 saber1, WL 1.18:1. Only have about 30 jumps on this canopy and still getting used to how much faster I decend vs. the 210 saber1 I used to be on. From 3.5-1.5k I was playing with deep brakes and stalls and forgot what direction the wind was blowing...and then stopped to gawk at the 2-stack nearby. At 1,500 my collapsed slider became suddenly uncollapsed, so I worked on fixing that by removing my hands from the toggles and recollapsing it, not paying much attention to my canopy direction which was running downwind. That was fixed shortly, but I was over forest at 1k, downwind, and descending faster than I could make it home at full flight. I shot East towards the runway (I could make that easily), but then noticed the Otter coming in on its downwind leg. Sure hope I make it to the runway before him...gonna be tight. Well, half-brakes on this canopy with this WL responds a HELL of a lot better than on previous canopies, and when I curled into a ball I made it over the trees with 100 feet to spare and landed in the normal area.

1) Collapsed slider isn't important...landing safely is.
2) Maintain altitude awareness
3) Know your wind direction
4) Otter has right of way

[NWFlyer 2]

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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.

I will let him stay anonymous, but I got the coolest PM a couple weeks ago from a jumper who had read the detailed discussion of this particular stupid thing I did and remembered it when trying to diagnose and fix a rapid turn on a larger, more docile canopy. Sure enough, it was a toggle fire and he was able to get the situation under control without having to go to EPs.

Just wanted to share a success story. Sharing stupid things is a pretty smart thing, if you ask me.

"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

[MrFreefall383 0]

Hmmm, what stupid things have I done in a scant 23 jumps? A couple. First one was around my 4th or 5th jump. I had a linetwist for the first time, and forgot everything about linetwists I was taught in the FJC. I noticed it quick, reached up, released my toggles, and started trying to kick the twists out. When nothing happened, I realized I was an idiot and attached my toggles to the risers, yanked the risers apart and managed to get the twists kicked loose. Thought about it afterward and realized it could've gone much worse.

Second one was around jump 17 or so, when I packed for the first time. I was so concerned about whether my main would open on my own pack job, that I didn't completely square away my right leg strap. Nobody noticed it, including an instructor with another student on that load, and shortly before deploying at about 4500, the leg strap came out of its stow pocket and started flapping against my leg. I noticed it as soon as it happened, and thought to destabilize quickly and put the extra strap between my legs to avoid tangling with the bridle. Accomplished that, rolled onto belly, and deployed smoothly. Got down safely, took the rig off, and thought to myself, "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

[Stevetaylor 0]

OK, I'll add my stupid thing here that I just just about 2 hours ago. Jump #24, just doing some relax jumps until an instructor was available for the last two coach jumps. Winds at takeoff were out of the south at about 8.

While in the air, the ground winds picked up, and were now about 15-18 on the ground as I set up my pattern.

FU #1- Didn't look at the wind sock to see if the winds had increased, just assumed that they were the same as when we took off.

FU #2- Was watching the landing patterns that other jumpers were taking, and assumed that I could take the same track. Never mind that the two I was following had more experience, different gear that my 260' mushroom, and WAY better piloting skills that I do.

FU #3- Went WAY to wide on the downwind leg, as well as too long. So when I turned onto the base (west) leg, I was both wide (east) and long (north). Not a good situation for a newbie flying around with his thumb up his butt...

So here I am, under 1000' and over areas I do not want to land on. At 200' I was over trees, but at least facing into the DZ. I cleared the edge of the tree margin by about 30', and ran smack into turbulence that bounced me around. I pullled into 1/4 brakes to absorb the turbulance, as well as extend my glide.

I saw my landing area was going to be a small patch of gravel and weeds adjacent to the DZ, with a paved road on one side and some iron roof trusses under tarps to the other. The space I had to set down in was perhaps 80' wide from the road to the tarps. I let up on the brakes at about 75' to get some forward speed. At about 40' got bounced to the right by some rather hostile air, and corrected with a wee bit of left toggle to stay away from the iron trusses.

On the good side, I flared well and did an excellent PLF, and walked away from this fiasco. Got a well deserved lecture from some of the staff onsite, reminding me to stay within the boundaries of the LZ when under 1000'.

Shortly thereafter, the DZ restricted jumps to those with A licenses or above, which left myself and several other students sitting. Not sure if the restriction would have happened anyway, or if my actions caused the restriction, but I would not be at all suprised if the student groundings were a result of me (and certainly warrented).

Feeling rather dejected and stupid today, and having second thoughts about skydiving. Not that I love it any less, or that I'm embarressed out of the sport, but I don't want to hurt anyone else or cause the DZ (and skydiving in general) to have negative press because of my actions.

At the very least, I'm thinking of sitting through the ground school course again, and then taking the canopy control program the DZ has to offer. Although I'm at 24 jumps, I'm nowhere near ready to be licensed....

No blue skies for me....just sitting in the blues...

Steve

The definition of insanity is to keep doing things the same way, but then to expect different results. -Einstein

[Elisha 1]

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No blue skies for me....just sitting in the blues...

Steve

Yes, but as they say, better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky then the other way around.

Recently on a 4-way, I kinda lost altitude awareness, trying to continue to dock at breakoff. The experienced person I tried to dock on shook my grip off and then I saw the 4K on my alti and tracked away like the others. The experienced guy thought no big deal, but I felt like a fool. I shoulda been aware.

[christelsabine 1]

...

At the very least, I'm thinking of sitting through the ground school course again, and then taking the canopy control program the DZ has to offer. Although I'm at 24 jumps, I'm nowhere near ready to be licensed....

No blue skies for me....just sitting in the blues...

Steve

[MrFreefall383 0]

Trust me, the change in jump restrictions would not have been your fault. If you're following the rough line of a few other jumpers, you're doing something else that is possibly smarter than you think: you're avoiding canopy collisions at an altitude where it would kill both you and the other guy. I say you came out of that better than before, and should jump again tomorrow. An increase in ground winds is sometimes sketchy to read. I've messed it up too, that's part of being a student. That's part of learning a new trick. In this case, the trick is setting a canopy down without breaking bones (which you did successfully I might add).

Don't beat yourself up too bad, just do a little reflection, think about the small things you can do to improve on that jump, and keep getting in those damn aircraft and doing what you love.

"If at first you don't succeed... well, so much for skydiving." - aviation cliche

[AFFI 0]

Stupid things I have done?

Read this thread:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2458894#2458894

[Titanman2789 0]

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Got a new one. This one is about how easy it is to screw up and how complacency can get you.

OK, Tandem jump (Strong). A lady brings her best friend to do a tandem, I get the best friend.

I move towards the door and as soon as I get out, I toss the drouge....Bamm! I have the main out. WTF?!?!?!? The drouge acted like a pilot chute and there I am with my tandem passenger at 12K.

As the main opens, I automaticly reached for handles ,but didn't pull any since nothing was wrong....Well nothing other than sitting under canopy at 12k.

I check the canopy, then start to wonder what the heck happend. I look and both my handles are in place.

It seems that during my preflight I missed the double loop being misrouted. It did not go through the small ring of the three ring.

For those that understand, you know what I am talking about. TI's that jump Strong that don't get it, please ask you local friendly rigger. Those that don't understand, just understand that *I screwed up*. I didn't pack it, but I didn't catch it in my preflight.

I could give a reason why I screwed up, I got distracted by a question from the Passengers family. But the real truth is "I just screwed up." My fault, no one else's. Nobody got hurt, but a lesson all the same.

did you yank on that 3 ring at all? always gotta pull on it a bit to make sure everythings attached

[Ron 7]

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did you yank on that 3 ring at all? always gotta pull on it a bit to make sure everythings attached

Where the hell were you when I needed you?

Nope, I got distracted by questions from the husband..."What color is the canopy? Where is the reserve? How many times have you done this?" It knocked me off my checklist.

I just flat screwed up. No excuses from me.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Titanman2789 0]

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Where the hell were you when I needed you?

haha well i guess its all good since you were ok. packing tandems is my job out at the dz.

[lauras 0]

I'll add my most recent stupid thing:

CRW on little Katana starting at 1800' by two people who should know A LOT better. Oh yeah, and I had my chest strap wiiiide open which made looking for handles just that much more exciting while spinning around on my back. I was under my reserve and looked at my alti at 600'. The ground is really fucking big at 600' for this non-base jumper.

Many lessons learned, including that I was off my game and needed to rethink some equipment choices. It's never too late to upsize! And CRW down low sucks (for me, anyway)!

[Reginald 0]

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Stupid things I have done?

Read this thread:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2458894#2458894

LOL!

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[co-popsdiver 0]

I had already completed Level 7 and was jumping with a couple of other students in Eloy, trying to get to my 25 completed jumps. Around jump 13 I went out last so they could comment on my landing. I was so concerned that they would be out of the way near the peas in the student area that I proceded to get to about 300 feet directly over same said peas going downwind. I then decided to do all three legs of my landing pattern. All of the legs being very quick indeed. My 1st and so far last hook turn in my short skydiving history happened directly over the trailer park which housed my instructor who was also appointed the STA for Eloy that very week. So while my two buddies were giving me high five's for my perfect stand up landing dead center in the pea's we heard a couple of people screaming and running towards us. Both my instructor and one other had heard the distinctive sound of a canopy hooking in, directly over their trailers. It was then explained to me what a hook turn was in a very loud voice for the entire, long walk back to the packing area. I have appreciated that lecture on every one of my jumps since.

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Am I still in this world?
Yes, Grandfather.
I was afraid of that.