jwynne

Ifly San Diego is up and running. I drove down and flew Saturday. The smooth air is unbelievable. My standard is IflyHOLLYwood, so there's no comparison. San Diego's a bit far of a drive for me. I can't wait until Ontario comes on line. It's supposed to happen in March.
Janna

I've got a friend who flies in the wind tunnel fairly regularly. He's not great, but he'd love to participate in a competition. He's 85 years old. Are there any tunnel competitions that split groups up by age. He's not looking to win, just not embarrass himself.

Years ago I cut away a tension knot malfunction. I try to look for the root of the problem whenever I can. I learned about twisted up brake lines as a cause. I learned how to stow my toggles without letting them go and I also run my brake lines and get rid of any twists at the end of a weekend of jumping. Most packers won't have the time to straighten out brake lines, especially if, they're working a busy event.

I had a knee replacement about 18 months ago. It's not quite as good as I hoped, but I'm not sure it's done improving. I was skydiving before surgery. Pretty much sliding in all my landings. Now I'm up to landing on my feet about 50% of the time. If I'm team training I can make 10 jumps a day and I can run across the runway better now than before surgery.
Janna

One of my toggles was coming partially unstowed on opening. My rigger looked at it and thought it was fine. I tried stowing it more carefully. Kept happening. I finally had a brake come unstowed on opening. Stupid me for putting up with it that long. I took it in and hand the lower keepers moved up and snugged. I think as the gear got well broken in the toggles just got softer and didn't stay tucked as well. I was careful on my first jump because I thought it might be harder to unstow the brakes. I just jumped it Saturday. Brakes stayed snug and unstowed fine. Good fix. Prevent the problem before it happens. Janna

Not an instructor here, but if I was going to have a student practice a reverse arch on the ground I would try it using a big exersize ball. Much better than a couple of rigs or a padded ball. It simulates the arch pretty well. I use it to strech my back and hip flexors to help with my arch.

Contact Jim Wallace. He has a separate skydiving shool at the Perris Dropzone. You can find lots of information on line. His number is 951-657-9975. He has helped many disabled first time jumpers make their dreams a reality.

Follow the plan and PRAY. I'd probably keep tracking at least to 3000 hoping to get clear of clouds and be able to see. Do everything you can not to be in this situation. Hopefully jump with trusted organizers who will have 200 people ride the planes down if we can't get out safely. This is not uncommon.

I was on a 100 way over solid clouds many years ago. I was the pullout for the second breakoff wave. I deployed into solid thick cloud. I was terrified for my 60 friends who just turned and tracked. We all lived through no fault of our own, but I never want to do that again.
Janna

I didn't start this discussion proposing that what I've done is right or correct for anyone else. Mostly just food for thought for all of us. In retrospect I have checked my altimeter while kicking out of line twists. Those were potential slow speed malfunctions. The ones that were going slow were all correctable.

I made one change in my gear after the last malfunction. I switched out my cutaway pad for a fabric loop. I'm confident I can grab it and keep it in my hand if my hand is frozen. I've also declined to be on the first load of the day on frosty days sometimes. We do occassionally have frosty mornings in Southern Ca winters.

How many people really check altitude during a malfunction? I thought about this reading the recent hard pull discussion. I’ve had 5 malfunctions and I don’t think I’ve ever looked at my altimeter during a malfunction. Probably I would if I had pulled high and knew I had time to mess around, but I’m usually pulling between 3,500 and 2,000 and I just want the situation corrected as fast as I can. I do adjust my responses by knowing where I pulled. I’ve taken a few seconds to fix a toggle fire because I knew I pulled at 3,500 and on big ways when I pull at 2,000, I know if there’s anything wrong there will be no hesitation.

In retrospect, taking seconds away from dealing with the problem to look at my altimeter doesn’t always make sense. Here’s a couple of examples – years ago reached for a pilot chute that got buried in a leg pocket and I couldn’t find the handle. I ended up giving it 3 quick tries and deploying my reserve with my right hand completely without thought. I looked at my altimeter when I had an open canopy. I was at 2,800. My most recent malfunction was in freezing weather with numb hands. I had a toggle fire which I didn’t manage to correct fast enough because my hands were numb. Chopped, lost my cutaway handle halfway through the pull. One riser disconnected under a streamer. Grabbed yellow cable and finished the pull. What would looking at my altimeter have bought me except closer to the ground? The ground was in my peripheral vision and coming up way too fast.
Janna

I knew I loved it on my first tandem. Went back in and signed up for AFF. The DZ had a deal if I prepaid I got one AFF jump free. I didn't get video, not in my budget. I bought a used rig at jump 20. I didn't wnat to spend money on rental gear. I think I bought custom gear about jump 200. 20 years later I'm still loving it.

I had an ACL replacement about 5 years ago. The same knee has been causing me a lot of pain. I just had an MRI and was told there's not much meniscus or cartilage left. The doctor told me that I should be considering a knee replacement. I'm a pretty active skydiver, making 300-400 jumps a year and competing in 4way and 8way. I associate knee replacements with old people relearning how to walk.

I'm hoping to hear from some athletes that have had knee replacements. What kind of limitations did they have? How long were they down? How was their knee function after replacement?

Thanks in advance - Janna

Sad commentary from a Perris jumper, but go to Eloy, especially if you want to work on freeflying. The Perris tunnel is over priced and underpowered.

Sorry to belabor the question, but ... I train to pull my reserve if I hear my dirt alert screaming at 1500 feet and I have not initiated main deployment. I may well revert and deploy my main. As long as I don't hesitate and take action.

I have a different response to watching that video. There were lots of alarming things in the backround. High mountains, high mountains above the jumpers. Lots of other jumpers deploying. How about checking the ground, deciding the spot was bad and you better take action. Seems like the more relevant corrective action.

Toally disagree. As a newbie, PLF is the safest way to go. Downwind landings just mean you're coming in faster. PLF for all your worth. With thousands of skydives and a bad knee, I slide in a lot of landings I can't run them out any more. It's not the way to start. There's timing and experience involved and you can break a leg or hurt you back if your timings off or the grounds uneven. Stick to a PLF. It's the more reliable way to walk away.

I had an interesting reserve deployment that was different from anything I ever practiced. On a total, I couldn't find my hackey. It was burried in a leg pouch. I tried for it 3 times and then with no thought, deployed my reserve with my right hand. I was under my reserve thinking "Wow, that's my reserve" before I thought about the action. My guess is my right hand was in action, 3 tries and go for the reserve. It worked.

I'm just so sad. My heart goes out to Pat's wife and his children. He loved them so much. A few years ago a friend of his died in a canopy collision. It really affected him. He stopped jumping for about a year. He told me that he stopped jumping because the thing he wanted most in the world was to be there while his children grew up. Then he was travelling a lot. He wasn't happy with that either because it took him away from his family. Pat introduced me to 4way and shared his love of the skies. I'll think of him when I'm up there.
Blue Skies - Janna

I've got one other suggestion to add. Before you get on the plane, take some photos with your banner in front of the plane. I've seem a couple of pretty funny banner jumps and the banner will probably never look that nice again. One banner tore right off the rope and another accordion-ed up the rope. Pretty funny video watching my husband try to stretch the banner out in freefall. Take photos first.

Anyone interested in sharing the drive? I need to leave Tuesday after work. I'm more flexible on the way back. I could head back Sun evening or Monday.
Janna

My reserve handle is a silver D ring. It was not the issue. I lost the soft cutaway handle. I do 1 handed cutaways. I have seen cutaway handles that are fabric covered loops. Might be a good idea.

Other thoughts: Grabbing the left toggle or the left rear riser right away might of corrected it, but I used up my time trying something else. I was out of time.

Bill - I'm not sure I would of been OK if I hadn't completed the cutaway. My Cypres should of fired the reserve, but I was feet to earth under a streamer. My reserve might of cleared, or maybe not.

I'm really glad I'm posting here, and it's not a friend posting about me in incidents. Early bird lift, cold winter morning. I didn't have my heavier gloves with me. Great jump. Pulled main. Left toggle unstowed or fired on opening. Reached for my right toggle. My cold numb hands missed on the 1st try. Got it on the second try, but now I was in a pretty good spin. One yank, toggle stuck. One more harder yank, no good. At this point I actually thought, "I could get it loose if I used 2 hands", then thought, don't be stupid, sounds like a way to die.

Went for cutaway handle, thinking, "You're hands are numb, pull it like you mean it." Grabbed handle, pulled. Lost the handle halfway through the pull. One riser released, one still hung up & spinning. Grabbed a handfull of yellow cable and pulled. Crap left. RSL pulled the reserve as I pulled the handle. Open canopy at 900 feet.

A couple of personal lessons to share. I've fixed a lot of fired toggles on opening. I was probably a little overconfident. I should of given it only one try & moved on. I though adrenaline would override numb hands and I could make them work. Not so. Do I really want to jump when it's that cold? I'll think on that one.

Glad to be here, healthy & in one piece - Janna

I'll be in NC for a 4way tunnel camp in April. I want to stay a couple of extra days and work on some freeflying. I'm just looking for some input on good coaches and contact info so I can get something set up ahead of time.

Thanks - Janna

My last chapter in trying to understand why Harry died: I reviewed the autopsy report with a cardiologist who felt that his cardiac abnormalities were the cause of his unconsciousness under canopy. A lot of detail follows. Some of it is not nice at all. Don’t read on if you don’t want to read some graphic medical information.

After 2 months I received the final autopsy report. The blunt trauma part from hitting the ground was pretty horrible. Aortic transection, skull fracture, multiple rib fractures, diaphragmatic hernia. The cardiac abnormalities were also very significant. His heart was enlarged, and the left ventricle was thickened. He had severe atherosclerosis with severe narrowing of the major coronary arteries. The left anterior descending coronary artery was 90% blocked.

For me, the question that I wanted answered was: Why was Harry unconscious? Harry deployed his canopy and then became unconscious. The blunt trauma occurred because he gave no input flying his canopy. His canopy was in a moderate spiral with one brake released. Was the loss of consciousness due to a hard opening, a cardiac event, or some combination of the two?

Yesterday I sat down with the Director of Cardiology at UCLA and reviewed the findings. She was very confident that the cardiac findings were the cause of unconsciousness and he was probably dying from the cardiac problems when he hit the ground. Sudden death is the most common way coronary artery disease is identified. The coronary artery blockages Harry had are classic for causing ventricular tachycardia, resulting in no blood flow to a portion of the heart, causing sudden and immediate unconsciousness and frequently resulting in death. Unlike a heart attack, this is sudden and painless. The person experiencing it does not know it’s coming. The mechanism is, the coronary artery is 90% blocked, a small fragment of plaque or clot moves through the narrowed vessel and lodges long enough to completely block the artery. No blood flow, no perfusion, Vtach & immediate unconsciousness leading to death. The severely narrowed LVA is called the “widdowmaker lesion”. I asked her if a hard opening canopy could have been a factor in this occurring. She thought it was unlikely.

Other people may interpret this any way they like. For me, I think it will help give me peace. His death was not a random, shit happens, skydiving event. It was due to a medical problem that could of occurred anytime, anywhere. I wish we could of identified it somehow and had bypass done, but he was completely asymptomatic.

I just spoke to one of the deputies about Harry's autopsy. It was done on 10/14. They are sending out for toxicology, so it will not be final until that information is back. The cause of death was trauma, but a contributing factor was heart disease. His heart was enlarged with significant coronary artery disease. They said it seems likely he suffered a heart attack during deployment. He may have been alive, but unconscious when he hit the ground. This makes the most sense to me. I couldn't imagine Harry being incapacitated by a hard opening with an unstowed brake.

Harry's father died of a heart attack in his forties. Harry was very aware of his genetic predisposition for heart disease. He exercised, ate well, monitored his blood pressure & cholesterol. We do all we can, but I guess when our time is up, it's over.

Please pass this information along. I think it will help us to eventually be at peace with this.

Janna

The outpouring of love and affection from all the people whose lives Harry touched has been amazing. His aviation friends asked what they could do, and I said "organize a memorial service for his aviation family, I can't deal with it'"

Harry's aviation family will be holding a Memorial Service
this Thursday, October 16th, 2008, at 3:00 in the afternoon
at the Long Beach Flying Club
2631 E. Spring St @ Temple Ave
Long Beach, CA

Harry's skydiving family is welcome. There will also be a Memorial Day and Ash Dive for the skydiving family in a month or so. We'll keep you posted.

No flowers, please.
Contributions can be made to Planned Parenthood. Harry's favorite charity, no joke.

Thanks everyone. Nothing is going to fix the hole in my heart, but you will all help me get through it.
Janna