rgoper

this is not even close to the point of my post. please do not take the post out of it's original context, as it may save someone's life one day. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i thought it better to follow up here with this post rather than continue with it in the "Incidents" forum. a remark was made by a poster that his wingload would not have presented him with as severe an emergency as it did the jumper that experienced the brake line mal. while it's true a "lighter" wingload would "slow things down a bit" it should not be taken for granted, and it should not be relied upon. all malfuntions should be addressed with immediate identification, assessment and the proper emergency procedure initiated immediately. remember, while your evaluating and identifying all of this, your burning serious altitude and you are not aware of how much because it's highly unlikely your concentrating on altitude at this point, this is the most valuable lesson to be learned fron this incident. "don't ever get too low to cut away and deploy your reserve" ever, an unnecessary cut-away and reserve deployment is better than the alternative any day. and for goodness sakes, don't take anything for granted merely for a "comfort factor" blue skies, hot days, take care and be safe. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

tell that to the people who have died under big lightly loaded canopies. "low ground turn" does not mean striking the ground after the low ground turn, it can be a building, a hangar, a vehichle, there have been many instances of this in the last 5 years. that's a hell of a statement, this thread has been all about low timers on small canopies. the whole thing is we cannot regulate the students and low timers, thus the casualties will continue to mount. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

any canopy can be hooked in no matter what the wing load, and low ground turns kill just as fast on lightly loaded squares. i've seen AFF students biff in hard flaring too early, then letting the toggles go, that's fugly. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

don't worry about that tail, i just got through jumping the same aircraft, it simply wasn't a problem. if this jumpship is outfitted with rw steps which i'm sure it is, i just put one foot on the step and pushed off of it presenting my chest to the prop blast, don't sweat it, it's cool! they are a blast to jump! as far as landing off, check your wind direction, plan a landing pattern, 1000'-500' then be 250' on your final and land into the wind, it will come easy. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

yeah, i guess this is what caused the swoop deaths, and the jumper who landed in double fronts. a lot of sky divers are trying to emulate more experienced sky divers who are proficient at swooping and canopy control. if you look at this months parachutists, you'll find a vast majority of the deaths and injuries were caused by low ground turns and making bad decisions at kow altitudes. what i meant by "tricks" is that if you fly a high wing conventionally, no risers, no carves or 180's, 360's etc the possibility of incidents would subatantially and immediately decrease. i could mention a few incidents, but won't in respect for the deceased jumpers and their families. as far as seeing something that "scares" you, be ready with a contingency plan for every possible scenario, and training will kick in, and fear will not. if i would have freaked the other day, i wouldn't be here now. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'd like to test the one i have when i get back from saudi arabia, i will video it as well, i just have to line up a chest mounted reserve, i think lexington has one, i will video it as well. by the way, tonight i tested the pull force on my J-4 with a reserve mounted slider keeper installed on the reserve flap, guess how much force it took to open it, and pull it free? exactly 12 ft. lbs of force. and it's fairly new. if you get to do this before i do, let me know, i'll fly up and help out with the test. there is another train of thought that crosses my mind: "would your slider be in the stowed position" in the event of a malfunction? 98% probably not. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

while wing load is most certainly a determining factor in a lot of incidents, i am of the opinion that a higher than 1.1:1 to 1.8:1 could be safely flown providing no "tricks" were attempted. it's not the wingloads that are killing our sky divers, it's bad decisions and low ground turns, mid air collisions, etc...bottom line, ignorant stunts pulled at low altitudes are asking for it. DISCLAIMER: i do not condone, or reccomend higher than a 1.1:1 for jumpers with less than 300 jumps, and increasing your wing load to be "in vogue" is a foolish and generally fatal mistake. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i stand corrected, i passed the rings through the grommets, not the entire web on one side. oops! either way, test jumps with velcro testing coming. c ya in a month or so, gotta go to work in saudi to work for a while. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

el-wrongo. my risers have mini-rings on them, and my slider is an oversized slider for the canopy anyway, and the brass grommets are huge in I.D. they will, and have passed through the grommets of the slider, i know, i assembled it and checked this myself. yes test jumping coming soon with video to put this bs theory to rest once and for all. if i didn't think it was safe, i wouldn't fly it...period. if it does hold, i'm going to invent some velcro slinks, just think, easy to use, and stronger than a mofo. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

let's just assume for the moment that the velcro would hold. once cut away was initiated, even if the velcro did hold the slider, there's absolutely no way the rings, etc... wouldn't pass through the grommets in the slider upon cut away procedures. i understand a lot of people are concerned about stowing sliders with velcro slider keepers, i'm just not one of them, and never will be. i'm not professing it cannot happen, because i know "murphy's law" is ever present, but in this case, it's highly unlikely this would happen, especially since my slider keeper is attached to my reserve flap and would fly off anyway upon deployment of reserve. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

your on the right limb! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Hey Doc: i think who ever ripped you off knew what they were taking, maybe even someone who knows of you, or what you do, just a feeling i get, when i look to the west! i hope whoever stole it burns in. take care. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Contact Mr. Ron Schott, founder and administrater of Christian Skydivers Association P.O. Box 1451 Valrico, Florida 33595-1451 813.737.9392 E-Mail: [email protected] --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i'm willing to risk it. hell, i may die proving my point one day, but it's mechanically impossible for the strip of velcro to hold a cut-away main and slider at a high speed, if it will hold, i'm going to start using velcro slinks. (sarcasm) tell ya what i'll do, next reserve repack due, i'll chop the main with the slider in the velcro stowed position and have someone video the results. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

yes, i did, it was attached to nothing, just the back of my helmet holding it down, although i do have a velcro slider keeper. i'm not real sure, but let's just say the slider was stowed under the slider keeper, at the speed i was traveling, the velcro would never have held the canopy, or the slider in the event of a chop-reserve deployment. it takes about 2 miliseconds to collapse and stow my slider. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

no, not a spinner. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

fair question. i collapsed it and stowed it behind my helmet because i have slinks, and the damn thing was right on top of my dive loops on my risers and covering my toggles, so i did what i did to actually expedite getting to my toggles, fighting the slider instead of collapsing and stowing it would have been counter productive. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

i agree, but i'm clutching at straws sorta..kinda in a way. i've never experienced this sort of deployment before, this canopy opens 400-500 feet every time, i straight pro-pack, just push in the nose, nothing fancy, i had a Hornet that deployed the same way, i like the short openings, it's not really a hard opening shock load either, so it's not a "slammer" opening, just "brisk" --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

no, they were set, i set them myself everytime, when i released them, the excess slack came with it. i already thought about that one. the only thing i can possibly think of is the slider pushing down on the diveloops? is this a possibility? even though it was momentarily scary, after i got it squared away it felt kinda good to not have freaked! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

the other day i was at Lexington jumping the 207, i bailed at 13,500 had a great freefall, deployed at 2400 AGL, the canopy went into a downplane dive, with me belly to earth, straight for the freaking ground, i ain't seen this one yet. but i didn't freak, i was fully inflated, slider was down, so i collapsed it and stowed it behind my helmet, unstowed my brakes and flared like a mofo. fixed it...BUT the uncomfortable part of it, is what caused it? i was SSS at 1450 AGL and had an otherwise uneventful landing. by the way, the canopy is a Heatwave 170^2 loaded at 1.58:1. this is the first "event" i've had with this canopy, the people that saw it from the ground freaked, i'm glad i didn't, it's really kewel when your training kicks in, now another 100' and cha-chink! any thoughts on what happened anyone? thanks. (slider pushing down on dive loops??) --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

not even. i live in the country in the middle of nowhwere, it would be hard to explain to the authorities if an intruder gained access to my house unauthorized. (for the intruder that is) personally, if i witnessed the intrusion, i'd probably just step back and watch the mauling, because nothing, or anybody that isn't recognized, or invited comes in or around my house or yard, that's why i have my dogs. like i said, they may get in, but they won't leave by themselves. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

dogs (4) semi automatic pistols (several) and semiautomatic rifles .223 & .308 cal. all military versions, and all semi automatic. they might get in, but they ain't leaving, whether it be wounded, or dead. --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

Saved From The Fleas! Yich! --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"

The Story Here this promises to be an intriguing story as it unfolds. god have mercy on this poor SOB's soul if he did actually kill his pregnant wife. the most intriguing question in my mind, is why did police wait until bodies were discovered to make the arrest? i'm aware of "corpus stelecti" but the DNA results weren't final at the time of his arrest. what are your thoughts? did he do it? does he know anything about it? or is it some "strange coincidental chain of events?" i know i went fishing christmas eve to, so...hey... --Richard-- "We Will Not Be Shaken By Thugs, And Terroist"