Avion

This is one of my posts from another thread. With some more thought on this, I was wondering if loose stows allow the bag to rise more quickly and the canopy to be more quickly extracted from the bag resulting in a more abrupt inflation of the canopy. This is basically aproximating a case of line dump. If the stow are made to have the proper tension, line stretch and canopy extraction from the bag progresses in a slower more orderly manner.

Congrats, way to go! All I can say is that your response sounds perfect. You made a quick survey of the situation, and acted in a fast successful way. Cheers

I had some work done to my rig that resulted in my cutaway cable getting trimmed too short on the non-RSL side. My DZO saw that the cable was popping out of its keeper pocket every time I jumped, and mentioned to me among other things that it's a particularly nasty mal when one riser disconnects during deployment. I can imagine the same would apply to only one riser disconnecting during a cutaway, leaving half the canopy catching air and the other half wildly flapping around. I first saw this video a while ago. It looks like the jumper clears the reluctant riser after the reserve is deployed. One thing about that video is that it makes it scary obvious how an entanglement can get started. With the main spining like that, all it has to do is catch the reserves bridle and twist it up with it. Maybe that's why the reserve has a free bag instead of a D-bag. So, even if the bridle gets intangled the reserve still has a chance to slip free and fully deploy. I'm going to make it a point, when I practice cutting away, to clear the cable

OK, so you decided to pull the reserve with the main still attached by one riser. Now that your reserve has managed to open without entangling with the main, do you cutaway the stuck main riser, presuming you already tried pulling the handle again and it's still stuck, reel in the main and stuff it between you legs, or just continue to just let it flap around behind you as attempt to land?

What if you have a Skyhook?

I just learned about a two sided Racer RSL issue. However even that is still covered by general RSL safety issues. I did a good bit of reading before I started jumping, and decided that for me as a beginner a RSL is a good thing. The Skyhook makes it a better thing. However, there are few situations where a RSL can work against you. People doing CReW, want to make sure they fall clear of a wrap or entanglement before deploying a reserve. That, I see as the only valid reason to exit a plane without one or with one disconnected. Speaking of disconnecting them. There are other times after exiting when they should be disconnected, and if you have one you should be aware of these times. For example: After any reserve deployment, including two out situations. This includes the Racer issue where the RSL is connected to both of the main's risers and could possibly entangle the reserve, when the main is cutaway, if the reserve has deployed through the mains risers. Being dragged by high wind after landing. Pop the RSL before cutting away or you may get dragged again. The same goes after landing on top of a building, You could be dragged off the roof by the reserve if it deploys after you cut away the main to avoid being dragged off the roof There are additional times, where could reasonably disconnect one, ie a high reserve pull, but I will omit futher elaboration upon that, because it gets into preference areas

I had quite a bit of tunnel time, alot more than I actually needed, before I did AFF. If you can afford it 20-30 mins in a tunnel I think would be very helpful in getting you familar with freefall and help you acquire some basic skills, stability and turns etc that will hopefully enable you to get through your AFF levels on the first try. Have you noticed the recurring posts about people failing levels for wobbling or being unable to stop turning?

I've had a small tear in the topskin of the #2 cell that presumably was caused by pinching between the D-bag link and gromet. One solution, that was suggested to me was to secure each end of that link to the D-bag using two pieces of pull up ribbon. Thus helping to prevent any part of the canopy from slipping between the link and the gromet, by keep it fixed close to the bag.

Yep, I use a different book too. My notes on tunnel stuff get lengthy at times. Although, I have seen at least one skydiver logging his tunnel time in his jump log. He had about three hours, and wanted to be able to conviently show any interested parties his jump and tunnel experience in one easy way. Cheers

Good one

People who I seen with a Mamba say it rocks. I have a Oxygen A3, it's sweet. I also have a Z1 Evo for freeflying. Cheers

You think you got power steering now? Just wait till you do a good leg turn in a bootie suit Cheers

I'd repack it just for the peace of mind.

Cut through the risers, only two of them.

There was just another incident, making a total of three I know about, concerning an Omega rig porduced by Performance Variable. The video of the the second one, was a major motovator for me to jump with a HK. There was also a good video about a premature deployment that entangled a jumper's right arm in a spinning mal. Since I have a RSL, for me the situation is complicated even futher. But, basically you have a deployment, either delibrate or premature, and for some reason you have a line entangled some where on your body or rig that is keeping the canopy from fully deploying. You cut away, but the entanglement, is still with you. What do you do? Pull the reserve and risk a main/reserve entanglement. Or, pull out a hook knife, cut the entanglement, then pull the reserve. Before yanking that reserve, remember that at least with these rigs, just doing that has worked out badly more than once. Also, taking to long to fix a problem has worked out badly more than once. So, should one, take a moment after cutting away to make sure they've cleared the main before pulling the reserve. Unless, you've pulled 2500 or lower, does this seem reasonable? These scenerios have also been a major motovator for me to continue pulling high. BTW Does anybody know of a case with one of there Omega rigs entangled like this, then clearing by itself as the reserve deployed?

Opps, I captioned the guy in the middle. "Hey man, I told you, you can't pull on you back, and expect a clean deployment!" Guy on the right, "Mmm..."

I simply say, "It's the most fun I ever had sober!"

My AFF instructors said to count to 4 after pulling, before checking if the canopy is opening. I might be counting in double time, but I get at least a good three, before I can look up, grab the risers, and see the canopy starting to spread out. So, that's at least a second and a half. In any case, I would definitely say substantially longer than 0.6 to 0.9 seconds.

Pull: Throwing out the hacky. Start of the Opening: The lines are stretched, the canopy is out of the bag and starting to get wider than the slider. It's a Spectre. The first time I jumped one, which was a 230 demo, the opening scared me because it easily took 2-3 times longer than the Navigators and F-111 9 cells I had been jumping durning AFF. I said,"Oh my God, is it going to open... is it going to open... is it going to open... Wow, that took a long time!" It took 4-5 jumps just to get used to that My openings regularly take 600-800 feet. Interestingly, the 230 Silhouette I demoed, opened almost as softly and only took about 500 feet to do it. The Navigators and the F-111 9 cells opened significantly harder.

This is a matter of on-going thought for me. For example: I'm at 4500 my wave off altitude. So, I wave off and pull. My Spectre Takes a good three seconds till the opening starts. I look forward rather than up durning that time. I only look up after line stretch and the canopy is starting to wided out. So, if I have a PC in tow, a bag lock, or a container lock, it's going to take me 4-5 seconds to realize something's wrong. That means, I'm now at 3K or lower. Hmm.... I should do something... NOW! Whoops, oh yea, this is hook knife thread. OK, well, I'm 4500.... My canopy is open but it looks like it's twisted around 1/3 of the way in from the right. It's flying level, but it's turning to the left. Uh, WTF! I look at my alitmeter... I'm at 3,200' OK, I can handle this. I got altitide; I got reserve. Let's see... I unstow the right toggle, and wiggle it a bit. I see the line running to the leading edge of the canopy. Cool! It's a brake line. I pull out my hook knife, and cut the control line below the eyelet... The canopy canopy squares out, and looks good. But I'm still turning to the left... WTF! Oh yea! Duh, the left brake is still stowed. I unstow the left brake, and land the canopy with the rear risers. Come to think of it, since the stall point of my canopy is below my full arm extention, and I would have to take wraps in order to stall the canopy with the toggles, which is more involved than I want to get at this point, I could first try a deep RR stall. That would be alot faster, just a second or two to try. Then, I could still try cutting the control line, or resort to chopping the main if need be. I tend to agree with the view of cutting the main away as a last resort. On the other hand... I'm at 4500... My canopy opens but the whole left half is a small, twisted ball of Sh#t. I'm am spining fast to the right, and losing lots of altitude... Uh, this is BAD! PULL RED... PULL SILVER... F*CKING COOL! My reserver opened. I guess, I owe my rigger beer

Durning my RR flare practice up high with my Spectre 210, I find I can pull them down almost a foot and get a good swing forward under the leading edge of the canopy. When I pull a little more, maybe to 14 16 inches, it feels like I get a slow sink. Then, as I pull a little farther maybe 18 inches, I feel a definate drop while the canopy starts to flap from the tail forward as it goes into a RR stall. I'm still a little concerned about getting tense, pulling them too far and stalling when landing, if I'm still going downward or forward fast as I approach touch down. More practice huh?

The issues about landing with the rears are basically will your canopy let you do it and did you practice. Thead here: >>> Clicky Clicky

Hey, that's another good point. I see there are a bunch of posts about clearing lineovers with and without a knife. That will be good reading for a while.

That's why I asked if there was any body out there who had cut a brake line. I have read posts where people claim,"If I had a control line over, I would cut it and land with the RRs. Why should I cut away an otherwise good main and hope the reserve opens right." I am presuming, if the control line goes over the main, then when the toggle is unstowed and tugged the line can be seen to go to the front of the canopy instead of to the back where it's suppose to be. Zero thought, just pull and look where the moving line goes. If it's a big tangled mess, pull red, then silver, and pray aye?

I'm just curious why. Ever had any type of spinning malfunction? > No, but I have unstowed only one brake just to see how fast the canopy will turn. It turned moderately slow, and I have done hard spirals diving straight for the ground, above 2500 of course. Ever practiced pulling your hook knife out fast? > Yes. Ever had any training in identifying which line is causing the lineover? > No, where can I get some? Ever landed on rear risers? > No, but I'm planning to do that soon. I'm waiting for a day with a steady moderate wind for my initial attempt. Ever practiced your cutaway procedures? > Repeatedly, before every jump. Trying to cut the line is just a waste of valuable time, in my opinion. Cutaway procedures are quick, easy, and well practiced. Fiddle with that hook knife for a few seconds and you might suddenly find yourself under 1000 feet with no idea what to do. Bad things happen faster than good things. > I'm only considering cutting a brake line when I am at an altitude that allows me the option. Cutting a suspension line strikes me as more involved than I want to get at this time. So why try to cut a line? Save some time and maybe some money if all goes well? > Historically, as you probably know, the argument goes chopping the main also involves taking on the risk of having your reserve open properly. If it is only a brake line that is over, which should become obvious when unstowing the brakes, and if the canopy is flying straight or turning slowly, it seems reasonable to take a few seconds and cut the line. If the canopy is spiraling down in a fast dive, I agree getting rid of it as fast as possible would be the best action. Even as big as my canopy is, five hard spirals equal 1000' in just a few seconds longer than freefall.