Booster_MPS

In a sport where the community is so small and close, the community of African American sky divers is even smaller and I thank you for welcoming me. It was always great to see Burt when he would come in town for big ways and it's through meeting great people like him that I learned that so much of the good stuff in the sport does not always happen in the air. It's all about the people, great people like Burt. This just should not have happened my friend. I will miss you so much bro, it is just too soon. Way too soon.

Any video or camera at this point in your career is a distraction so just don't do it. I can give you a bit of advice that will without a doubt hold true. If you stay in the sport and continue jumping, you will have more than enough pictures of yourself in the sky and plenty of video as well. Just be patient and you will be on jumps where there is video and if you pay for a pack job or two, your video guy might share them. Slow down and enjoy the sport knowing that all the good stuff will come in time.

Great opportunity for you to use your double fronts and figure this out for yourself. Remember your parachute is a wing and produces very similar responses to inputs as the control surfaces on a plane. Double fronts deflect the front of the canopy down decreasing the angle of attack. An airfoil produces the majority of its lift towards the front and this deflection reduces the magnitude of lift, thus you will lose altitude. Think of this as rotating your lift vector forward and decreasing the magnitude of it. Spend a moment with an advanced canopy pilot to discuss the forces/vectors acting on your canopy system and how they are oriented with different inputs.

1. Why would it matter if you are tracking until deployment altitude and then doing a barrel roll right before pitching? 2. If I was on a bigway RW dive, I would turn 180 track on my belly for a sec and then turn to my back to make sure the air remained clear above me. I bet you $1000 I could out track you on my back. **There is no way in hell I'm going to waveoff, deploy, and cross my fingers that there is no one above me and put his/her life and my life at risk. I do understadn though that some training would be needed for RW jumpers that haven't left their belly since '93. I can't emphasize enough that this is just not the way to do it. I have zero big way jumps, but I have been on 20 way + jumps and around many of these events. In a big way you track off in groups and the point is to stay with that group and fan out together. You must track well but the point is not to burn it away from your tracking group, you only fan out from the group at a pre-determined altitude and at that point, nobody should be above you if every did their job (and only people that can do their job are invited to these events) Congrats, you can out track everybody on your back but that does not mean that you leave and RW group and go to your back while risking losing altitude doing that. When I teach tracking, I emphasize that during a track you focus on 1. heading and 2. tracking flat. If you do those two things you are doing your job and keeping your friends safe. Oh and by the way, while you are being cool on your back, good luck seeing the person under canopy that you might be tracking towards. Just don't do this.

I am sure seasoned big way skydivers will step in quickly but I will advise that anything other than tracking away on your belly from a skydive, especially a big way, is never advised. You track for your life on a big way, period, and rolling on your back or any other shenanigans can kill you and others. If you told me you were going to roll on your back even in a 4/8 way, I would think that would show poor judgment.

denete I had the exact same mal. I chose to keep the canopy as cutting it would have trapped my finger and I could flare and control it. Turns out the hitch came out at the bottom of my flare during landing.

1. If slack brake line is not properly stowed, when you grab a toggle you could possibly create a knot at the metal ring on the riser - imagine grabbing a toggle that has gone through a loop of line. 2. Even if you carefully release tension on your brakes to adjust your chest strap, it is possible for the wind to flip a toggle around the brake line The lesson is to always look at what you are grabbing.

I have a Wings container DOM 4/2007 and the elastic keepers are quite difficult to use. I find them to be rather small and difficult to thread slack line through without deforming the brake line long before it should be replaced. The method that I have been using to stow the slack is by taking the loop formed by placing the toggle through the cat's eye (below the ring) and placing it on the top of the toggle before stowing the toggle in the top keeper. The top of the toggle goes through the loop of brake line. Brake line to the inside of the riser going to the canopy, excess to the outside of the riser. Going forward I will either have a rigger modify the loop on the back of the riser to make it bigger or try Mirage's riser which has a larger loop. For the record, I always store the slack line. I had the tip of one of the fingers on a glove get caught in my brake line as I deployed them once - the excess was not stowed.

Well said tbrown. Jumping with an AAD beyond student status is and always will be a choice as it should. AAD related/prevented accidents are NOT the problem that we face in this sport. The issue this stands before us now is keeping people alive after they have a fully functional canopy over their head and making sure they make good decisions under that canopy. Stay safe everybody and take care of each other.

Taking a canopy course is an awesome idea and I am very glad that I spent a couple days taking Scott Miller's course. You will certainly get your questions answered during the class and also have an opportunity to put your knowledge into action over a few jumps. I can't emphasize enough the importance of knowing how and when to apply braked/slow flight in your pattern and the effects of slow flight on your pattern and approach depending on being upwind or downwind. We will all find ourselves having to make good decisions under canopy over unfamiliar terrain. The key is being prepared. Not to dodge the answer to your questions, but it is best to have this discussion with an instructor one on one so that you can have a conversation and discuss all of the possible situations that you could see under canopy.

I strongly suggest that you work with your local instructors to understand two things: 1. Know the effects of each of the 8 inputs to your canopy flight 2. Fully understand the difference between flying your canopy in slow flight and full flight when you are flying downwind and also when flying upwind. You will really need these skills when you find yourself in an off landing situation or when there are obstacles that you have to deal with. This is not the time to make an error piloting your canopy.

Every team or group is different in what they like to use and there is no rule. Jumping with the same people regularly you begin to find a rhythm that allows everybody to get set. When I am outside I always wait for the group to be "quiet" in the door with no motion, that lets me know I am good to go. Sometimes I might ask to have grips taken on me last to let me know the team is set. Even if it is a random group of people, dirt diving the door a couple of times on the ground with the same timing helps a lot.

Everything you need to know is found in the SIM Your instructors should also be able to go over everything. There should be nothing covered that you have not seen in your student program.

I'm sorry but you have no base of experience for this opinion and example. If you've let a malfunction last long enough to make it close to g-lock, then your altitude doesn't matter anymore. What kind of dytter or wrist mount altimeter doesn't matter. What kind of cool jumpsuit you're wearing doesn't matter. None of that matters. You already waited too long to chop and are 100% behind the curve. Since you're big on people needing to be on the "cool kids" list in order for them to even have an opinion, I'll let you read this guy's opinion. Apparently he's on the "cool kids" list. His last name is Booth. Risk of spinning mal with g-forces not allowing you to cut-away I think the point is (assuming your profile is correct) that the bottom line is altitude awareness no matter what type of instrument that you use. Indeed as Bill states things can happen very quickly after a poor opening followed by a malfunction. The lesson to be learned is that you should be altitude aware during 1. breakoff 2. end of your track and 3. when you pitch your PC. Analog, digital - it's only a tool. Always stay altitude aware and you don't get in a corner during a high G malfunction.

I personally agree with this course of action and this is how I was trained. Rely on your own training as you were instructed. One thing that should be mentioned in this discussion is altitude awareness. If you are deploying at your licensed altitude please keep in mind that the ground is quickly approaching and it is critical to get something over your head. If you are accurately able to see a PCIT, then in no way can you make the assumption that it "might" clear. You have no information while you are in the moment that leads you that way. Because of this I would go silver ASAP. Stay safe everybody.

This is a total malfunction. How were you trained to handle this situation?

What were the formations for the commercial?

Just to clarify: The Spaceland STP program includes two no release jumps prior to the first release dive flow. The STP program is also begun after the student completes two tandem jumps and attends a first jump course.

Good peice of advice. I have for quite some time, and actually gotten into the HABIT of stowing my brakes & resetting my slider as a part of my post-landing canopy collection "routine". We are ALL taught to stow our toggles upon landing. I hope I'm wrong but it appears that you are meaning to saying "set" your brakes and un-collapse your slider in the landing field. That's NOT a good idea. Very good point Pops. The landing area can be a very busy area and it is very important to keep your head up and on a swivel. Even if your DZ is not busy and the landing area is casual, when you travel to a large DZ - Eloy/Perris - your habits will go with you. Setting brakes should be considered part of the packing process. Just be careful everybody. Also we should consult with the OEM on the correct way to stow brake line but I will say passing it through the top of the risers sounds like a red flag. I learned the hard way about stowing slack when I grabbed my toggles and the tip of my glove became caught in slack line. Again, let's all be careful and look out for each other.

We share the same DZ so I will share some things with you for you to consider. First I was correctly told when I started the sport that if you stay with it you will own all kinds of gear: helmets, suits, eventually maybe rigs. No rush to purchase something just because you think it might be the only one that you will own. I don't think that you could ask for a more friendly DZ than Spaceland. Show up, introduce yourself and jump a lot, people will notice and you will get to know everybody. People look for a thirst for knowledge when they consider who to embrace so just let your desire to learn shine. You have plenty of people to emulate and admire there besides Anomaly and many of them with medals. Deguello, Havok, SPX-8 all have members that jump outside their team so seek them out and ask questions. Consider coach jumps to help you get used to being in the air and touching other people and being in proximity. If you have your A license, I would be happy to jump with you. Lastly there is free organizing available every second weekend so utilize that resource as well.

I stow the excess with the pin, but I jump a tiny canopy that has very little excess brake line. After I thread the excess through the elastic keepers on the back of the risers, I'm left with a loop about 4" in length. The loop is not big enough to cause the reach through knot malfunction. I don't need to pin that small loop, but I do and it works great for me. Doug yeah I am in the same situation as you. We have however had two reach through "malfunctions" at my dz. Both jumpers were new jumpers and opted to cutaway. I just want to point out though that, you can cause a reach through problems with other types of risers too. I have gotten a glove stuck in the excess loop for a while with a sloppy grab before. They key point is that you need to be looking at what you are doing when you are unstowing your brakes. Fast - very good point. This bit me once as well and it really highlighted that every thing we do from climbing in the aircraft to walking in the packing room matters (as well as your pack job). There are no "little things" or "minor details" in skydiving - have fun, but bring your A game every time you are at the DZ. I think that new jumpers (like myself) need to hear these experiences from seasoned jumpers to help give them an awareness of skydiving safely.

First, I would highly recommend that after your layoff from the sport you take a canopy course to help answer your questions and sharpen your skills, you won’t regret it. I took Scott Miller’s course in Deland and learned more than I could ever repeat here in the forum. Some things to think about Feet and knees together on final. You need to have you landing gear under you and ready to go. Maintain a good upright posture in your harness with your head up and toward the horizon – this is your cue for descent, not what is below your feet. You will also have a good sense of forward speed in this position. Fly your canopy all the way to the ground. No big inputs but sense what your canopy is doing. I take the first inch or so of brake line into slight tension (so there is no slack) just so I can feel where the flare will begin – this also gives you a mechanism for tiny inputs. A full flare is just that. Arms at your side and fully extended. Think of this as putting the brakes on when you drive your car. You can do this hard and stop short or not enough and impact. This is what you need to figure out with your canopy. Learn EVERY input to your canopy and what it does. Work with an instructor on this skill as it is critical. You should understand what your harness, toggles, front risers, and rear risers all do in full and slow flight. One last thing – this is one of Scott’s drills. Practice at altitude in clear airspace 5 flares – Fast, slow, normal, eyes looking up at your canopy, closed eyes. Each time let your canopy come back to full flight after feeling the flare, acceleration, recovery and then return to normal flight.

Hackish - I would lean on your instructors of course but those with much more experience here have noted specifically that a bag lock could clearly stand you up. Don't try to rationalize this too much. If nothing else, please consider where your risers connect to your harness and how a force at this point relative to your cg will induce a moment (force/torque) and potentially put you on your feet. EP's! Observe and act.

I wish that I could have been there to comfort him, pray with him, and let him know that he was loved. Pretty much ever Saturday morning as I get my gear from my car and walk to the hanger, Scott is the first person that I would see as he is cleaning up, pushing an airplane out, or filling the water coolers. We always spoke in the mornings and there were a lot of times I would kinda laugh as he would have a fresh shave but always with a cut on his face.....and dabs of leftover shaving cream that somehow never really mattered to him! He did it all at the DZ. Scott was the guy that cleaned bathrooms, fueled planes, cleaned up around the drop zone, pre-flighted airplanes, and loaded people. He did everything with a smile which says a lot - many employees at drop zones come and go but Scott who did the least of the jobs - the very least - always was on time and worked his ass off. Before every load he had his list of who was on the load and would be walking around checking off names. He knew everybody and spoke to everyone there with a smile even reaching out to the tandem students. He was always the last person I would see as I would get on the plane and he would always offer offer a slap and a fist pound without fail. Scott, it was not the same without you this past weekend, and it will never be the same as I am climbing into the Otter. Your family mourns losing you. Eternal rest and peace buddy. Blue skies Better days George D. III

Putting a knot in the bridle seems like a horribly bad idea. I would suggest you run that by some other instructors/riggers/mentors. Stay safe. Can you tell me how its a bad idea? The guy who taught me that said a rigger taught him. If it is, in fact, something that could maybe damage the bridal or have an effect on the way the pc stays cocked then by all means tell me. Miller – in no way did I intend the comment to come across harsh, it just struck me that the step seemed a bit unnecessary. I hope that I did not offend. I will say simply because I have not seen something done does not mean that it is not ok, after all, I am VERY much still a rookie in the sport. I suppose that I wanted to highlight the fact that during packing it is possible to introduce an unknown if along the way you do something unorthodox and rely on memory to check it and remove it. I offer this because there can be a lot of distractions in the packing room after a jump (video, conversation, other people, other gear) that can give you a window as a new jumper to lapse. Also, remember the big huge canopy can kill you just as quickly as a 135 even if it is not heavily loaded. From experience I can offer that when things go wrong, it can happen in an instant (I am 1:1.08 on a 210). Again, all the best and stay safe.