rmarshall234

We used to joke that Buzz would print his jump tickets with disappearing ink at SDSD. He used some kind of cheap paper and printer and somehow, after keeping a jump ticket in your log book for a month or so you would pull it out and it would be either blank or unreadable. But more to your point... This business model has always bothered me but I didn't realize it has progressed (devolved?) to the point that the dz is refusing to refund an account. That's crazy. It always seemed to me like...."ok, give us a bunch of money and we'll let you know when it's all gone and you can give us more". You're right. It seems blatantly unfair and I don't know why people put up with - and by doing so support - a policy like this.

I've spoken with the guy that does their rigging and have his cell #. If that is what you need PM me and I'll pass it along.

>Skydivers are the least disciplined of all aviators. I think I would agree with the premise but not sure I would state it that way. When I was taking my primary flight training in 1997 I had already been jumping for two decades. When the weekend would roll around after a week of flight training / preparation, I would say to those that would listen...."I can't wait to go make a mindless skydive". I don't think that is because I had already mastered (Ha!) the act of skydiving and flying was still relatively new to me, I think it is because there is so much less involved and so fewer things to think about and manage when making a skydive as opposed to flying. I think this ties into Grimmie's comment as well. We don't do a very good job with the educational side of the sport. Especially continuing education. If there were more markers that we needed to study for, and standards that had to be met along the way in order to progress in the sport, we would have a more disciplined group.

I once had a Lev I that indirectly caused me to have a reserve ride: I was reserve side and Karen Lewis was main and we worked our ass's off to keep him belly to earth. When she finally dumped him out (much to my relief) I tracked off and opened my stiletto and sure enough - it spun up on me. I was so fatigued from the jump I wasn't able to stop it and had to chop. When I went to pull the cut-away handle, I was now totally out of juice and couldn't clear it until I said out loud to myself "save yourself weakling" which provided the shot of adrenaline needed to finish the job. Not my worst, but one of the most memorable. You're absolutely right about the forces that can be involved up there. It would be interesting to see an aerodynamic study of it.

I'm with Peek on this. This is what I was taught and always practiced. The reserve side's *primary job is to provide stability. That includes through deployment until the student is lifted out of their hands. The main side's *primary job is to communicate with the student and to assure main parachute deployment. Having said that, both assist each other in performing their respective functions and if necessary "switch roles". It's a division of duties and when done properly, worked exceedingly well for all the time I did AFF. The idea of cutting away for the student and then possibly pulling the reserve rc as well, seems ill advised. At least as standard protocol. Where I would differ with Peek is......"just once???

And then there is this: (true story, was all on video years ago at Otay...) Jumper dumps his main and as it is sniveling, the cheap plastic hook knife which was in a Velcro pocket on his chest strap comes free. As it floats upward and the lines come under tension, the knife cuts 3 of the lines. Jumper has to cut-away and land under his reserve. Weird shit happens up there sometimes...

>how freaked out should I be? I wouldn't be freaked out but I'd definitely be concerned and here is why: What else did this person miss? This little omission speaks to attention to detail and double checking one's work. Everything else is probably fine, but I wouldn't be able to relax until I had the entire rig checked by a qualified rigger.

But did you smell it??

Also: Take a drive around the neighborhood of your local DZ with the idea of "what if I had to land _there_, or there." You get a much different - and better - perspective when looking at your possible outs from ground level. It becomes much less of an abstract idea as well. When going to a new DZ especially, show up about 10 or 15 minutes early and take this little drive around the neighborhood. In doing this, you'll find that the idea of landing out - and then the actual practice of doing so when it becomes necessary - is no big deal.

Jerry, Sorry to hear of your friend's passing. People in the skydiving world are very unique individuals and I'm sure Bob was one of those. I'll be giving Thanks this week, to the ones I know that are still with us.

And daisy chained lines. Only thing missing is a Paralert.

It ages very slowly, but the material does age. I can't claim any values with confidence, but here's something quotable from a 2014 post of mine in a similar thread: (Although just based on a single Australian military study in 1984 that used elevated heat to then extrapolate strength loss over many years in more normal conditions.) http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4604089#4604089 UV and mechanical wear from packing are another matter. Excellent. Thank you for your reply! That is the science-based response I was looking for and very helpful. (The OP's response that he heard it from PD carries weight as well, but I don't care for his tone and don't like that his profile is empty so I'm moving on from this thread.)

>Nylon does not degrade from age alone. Are you sure about this? Because I've heard otherwise. Not arguing the point, just curious.

>It should be noted, however, that pulling at 2000 feet after exiting is very different than pulling at 2000 feet at >the end of a freefall. In general the 2000 foot clear and pull is a _lot_ safer. Unless you have one of those Bungee Cord pilot chutes...(nobody is using those anymore I hope!)...and you are on one of those Adam Callahan "my altimeter says 2K" Otay crummy day hop and pops....and you tow your pilot chute for about 700 ft until you reach operating speed for that bungee.... (Nah, I wasn't on that load either..

A couple of comments... Can't tell from the video but are you sure you aren't stripping the brake line loose by grabbing the risers during deployment. Also, instead of fighting the spin by grabbing the risers why not release the brake on the other side to stop the spin.

Sent you a PM.

I am glad you are ok and thanks for posting so everyone can learn from this. I have a few comments that are relative and can expound on each. 1. I was dealing with this exact scenario last week: a manufacturing omission. 2. I have had this exact malfunction: a riser release on opening. 3. As great as MARDs are: they do have a downside. Number 1: I was inspecting a reserve last week and discovered a missing reinforcing tape on one of the panels. I called the manufacturer and they took ownership of the problem, corrected it immediately, and did an internal review of their processes. We are all human and make mistakes, how we deal with them is what is important. Some of the best people I know work in the parachute industry. The inspecting rigger doing the 180 day inspection (me in this case) is the last line of defense in discovering a problem like this. There is the manufacturer, the person that assembled the rig (needs to be a trained rigger) and the rigger doing the periodic inspection. You as the end user, are untrained and cannot be expected to notice a flaw such as missing stitching. Number 2: When I had this same malfunction decades ago, it was due to an untrained jumper (me at that time) misassembling the riser release system on one side. When it opened into a streamering mess I cut away, rolled over from my back, and deployed my reserve at 1000 ft. No MARD or RSL and the deployment was clean, crisp and on-heading. Number 3: MARDs and RSLs are great innovations and have saved countless lives but they do have a downside. They are designed for low-level use. There is a saying in aircraft design that goes like this: “Everything is a compromise”. The same applies to gear design. Do we want fast and unstable reserve openings or slower and stable ones? Because we can’t have both. In your particular case if you did not have a MARD or RSL, you could have cut away the malfunctioning main, turned a few points with your friends, and then had a nice clean (and crisp) on-heading reserve deployment at 3000 ft. Without line twists. (I’m not suggesting the nonuse of MARDs or RSLs but simply pointing out the differences for those that may not have considered them.) I would also take slight exception to the title of the thread. I would not consider line twists on a reserve to be a double malfunction. And, you owe your rigger a bottle.

>Maybe I will when I have ADS-B installed If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the new ADS-B Out unit by UavioniX. Replaces your existing nav light. Only for experimentals at this point but they are working on a certificated unit. A very clever design, sure hope it works as advertised.

What the hell is that radio above it? An ADF???...

I would say tell your friend to shop around and travel if necessary to find an instructor that he/she likes and feels comfortable with. Sounds like a confidence / comfort issue as opposed to a skills problem. Making a student at this level feel comfortable and believing in themselves, is a real talent and there are guys and girls that possess that talent but one must look around to find them. Make sure he takes his log book with him as documentation of what he's accomplished already.

There is an outfit in Oklahoma that does Static Line / Gutter Gear jumps and training out of a C-47. Not sure of the name but if you google you should be able to find it. Not sure if they have a tower either.. Good luck.

Well....I wouldn't say I "love em"...but, I do appreciate their hard work. And, recognize that it must be a Thankless Job. So,....Thank You!

>But I do wanna know what causes it. The basic answer to your question is: The Rate of Inflation. But that's a sub-terminal opening on the video. I would expect (or at least not be surprised) that the slider needs to be pumped down after a sub-terminal opening like that. The canopy is filling with air very slowly. Look at how long it takes for the end cells to inflate. Until the end cells inflate and the canopy can spread out, there isn't enough force to push the slider down from the opening forces alone. That's my take at least, I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say.