It had been over three months, so I had to do a refresher jump with Jason. He reviewed emergency procedures with me and asked me lots of questions. The review was well worth it.
We did a jump with a dive exit, two practice pulls, a back flip, and two 360 degree turns. There were a ton of clouds rolling in, so I spent nearly the entire canopy ride in a tight turning spin to lose altitude. Around 1,900 feet I was under the clouds and flew the pattern in for a perfect landing.
It was awesome!
Showing posts with label Jumps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jumps. Show all posts
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Only One Lousy Jump Today- Number 41
I managed to get a jump in on the first load of the day then had to hurry South to make it to a surprise birthday party for Korby. He's older than me again. I can feel good about that for five months.
I did some fall rate control practices in free fall. I think I'm doing well, but have no way of knowing without other jumpers
with me or a logging altimeter.
The chute opening was dramatic again. Stupid thing opened about half way and stayed like that for a few hundred feet. That's called a Snivel, and is caused most often by the increased porosity of older canopies. Too much air rushes through the canopy instead of forcing it open. The jumper is pulled upright, but is still falling very fast.
I released the brakes and yanked on them several times very hard to get it open.
Once open it had a bad end cell closure on both sides. They opened up with more toggle tugging.
So, I had a good landing then sat by the taxiway to watch the next load of jumpers' chute openings. I feel like such a Drama Queen for all the recent bad openings I've had. I want to verify once again that I'm not crazy or making a big deal out of nothing.
So, a full load exits the plane. Nearly 20 jumpers. I watched every single chute open. THEY OPEN FINE!!! Nobody is up there white knuckling it while their chute stays closed! None of them are in a spinning dive or climbing their risers to get at a popped toggle.
They throw the pilot chute and the main opens up. It's just that simple.
I need to revisit the idea of buying my own gear.
I did some fall rate control practices in free fall. I think I'm doing well, but have no way of knowing without other jumpers
with me or a logging altimeter.The chute opening was dramatic again. Stupid thing opened about half way and stayed like that for a few hundred feet. That's called a Snivel, and is caused most often by the increased porosity of older canopies. Too much air rushes through the canopy instead of forcing it open. The jumper is pulled upright, but is still falling very fast.
I released the brakes and yanked on them several times very hard to get it open.
Once open it had a bad end cell closure on both sides. They opened up with more toggle tugging.
So, I had a good landing then sat by the taxiway to watch the next load of jumpers' chute openings. I feel like such a Drama Queen for all the recent bad openings I've had. I want to verify once again that I'm not crazy or making a big deal out of nothing.
So, a full load exits the plane. Nearly 20 jumpers. I watched every single chute open. THEY OPEN FINE!!! Nobody is up there white knuckling it while their chute stays closed! None of them are in a spinning dive or climbing their risers to get at a popped toggle.
They throw the pilot chute and the main opens up. It's just that simple.
I need to revisit the idea of buying my own gear.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Valentines Day Jumps
I got three jumps in. They have a special for free gear rentals Monday through Thursday. The weather was bad all week, but today looks great. Three jumps cost me $85.50. Normally they would run $141. Not too shabby.
Th first jump was uneventfull until I failed to land into the wind. It was a crosswind landing. The flare did next to nothing to reduce my speed and I slid across the ground on my knees for at least 20 yards then came to a stop and hopped up. Thankfully there weren't any rocks in my path. Another skydiver at a similar experience level was standing nearby and managed to conceal his laughter. A few minutes later he told me that his landing was a mess also.
The second jump had a hard landing when I forgot to look at the horizon on my final approach and flared the canopy at about 2'.
The last jump of the day was my 40th!!!! WOW. I pulled an accuracy landing so close to the flag that my lines came down over the pole. Sweeeeeet.
Th first jump was uneventfull until I failed to land into the wind. It was a crosswind landing. The flare did next to nothing to reduce my speed and I slid across the ground on my knees for at least 20 yards then came to a stop and hopped up. Thankfully there weren't any rocks in my path. Another skydiver at a similar experience level was standing nearby and managed to conceal his laughter. A few minutes later he told me that his landing was a mess also.
The second jump had a hard landing when I forgot to look at the horizon on my final approach and flared the canopy at about 2'.
The last jump of the day was my 40th!!!! WOW. I pulled an accuracy landing so close to the flag that my lines came down over the pole. Sweeeeeet.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Jumps 36 and 37
These jumps were made on Saturday 1/26.
The first was a solid jump with some sit flying that wasn't too terrible. I held on the brakes for my final approach, then let off them just before flaring. This was the last 'in sky' requirement for my A license.
The second jump was a little more interesting. Free fall was great, mostly sitting. This opening was strange though. I don't know why it felt strange, but something was different than normal. On opening there were several line twists which put me into a spinning dive.
I grabbed the risers and kicked out of the twists. The twists were more extensive than I had seen on any previous jumps. Now that I'm flying the smaller 170 sqft canopy the twists often put me into a spinning dive like this one, which can be pretty scary until you remind yourself that you can kick out of it and that everything is okay.
Typically the most relieving moment of a skydive with line twists is watching the risers spread open. This time it turned out to be the most unnerving. As soon as they spread apart the right brake toggle ripped through the fabric that holds it to the riser. It shot up and lodged itself inside a small metal ring about one foot out of my grasp.
This was bad news. I was put into the tightest spinning dive I had experienced. It was amazing how hard it was to pull myself up the riser with the centrifugal force of the spin pulling me away. I grasped for it three times and decided I would try once more before cutting away. I gave it all my strength and managed to get a finger through the toggle loop. It came down fairly easily once I had a grip on it and flew great except for the natural right hand turn that rig number 9 has every time I jump it. They tell me I'm not tightening my leg straps evenly. I guess I've done it unevenly to the same side on every one of my eight dives in the rig.... Not likely, but possible.
So, my scariest dive yet and I was fully under control of the canopy by 2,900 feet. Not bad. My hard deck is 2,000. At that altitude I must stop trying to fix anything and pull my reserve. This means I had between 6 and 15 seconds remaining before I would have had to cut away.
The first was a solid jump with some sit flying that wasn't too terrible. I held on the brakes for my final approach, then let off them just before flaring. This was the last 'in sky' requirement for my A license.
The second jump was a little more interesting. Free fall was great, mostly sitting. This opening was strange though. I don't know why it felt strange, but something was different than normal. On opening there were several line twists which put me into a spinning dive.
I grabbed the risers and kicked out of the twists. The twists were more extensive than I had seen on any previous jumps. Now that I'm flying the smaller 170 sqft canopy the twists often put me into a spinning dive like this one, which can be pretty scary until you remind yourself that you can kick out of it and that everything is okay.
Typically the most relieving moment of a skydive with line twists is watching the risers spread open. This time it turned out to be the most unnerving. As soon as they spread apart the right brake toggle ripped through the fabric that holds it to the riser. It shot up and lodged itself inside a small metal ring about one foot out of my grasp.
This was bad news. I was put into the tightest spinning dive I had experienced. It was amazing how hard it was to pull myself up the riser with the centrifugal force of the spin pulling me away. I grasped for it three times and decided I would try once more before cutting away. I gave it all my strength and managed to get a finger through the toggle loop. It came down fairly easily once I had a grip on it and flew great except for the natural right hand turn that rig number 9 has every time I jump it. They tell me I'm not tightening my leg straps evenly. I guess I've done it unevenly to the same side on every one of my eight dives in the rig.... Not likely, but possible.
So, my scariest dive yet and I was fully under control of the canopy by 2,900 feet. Not bad. My hard deck is 2,000. At that altitude I must stop trying to fix anything and pull my reserve. This means I had between 6 and 15 seconds remaining before I would have had to cut away.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Jumps Update- 35
I have 35 jumps now and have completed everything for the A license except a braked approach and landing. This isn't a big deal, but I wanted to save it for last because it can cause a very rough landing if you don't know your canopy.
Since my last jump posts I've done a 2 way with a really good D licensed jumper, another coached jump (this one with Uwe), and a hop-n-pop at 3,300 feet.
The 2 way was pretty cool. We took turns turning 360's then I watched as he pulled right next to me and fell away from him. That was sweet.
The coached jump was pretty crappy from the start when I flipped head over feet on my way out the door. I didn't push off with my right foot so it decided to stay in the plane. Then Uwe was pretty tough to catch up to as we altered our fall rates. He has 12,000 jumps, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.
The hop-n-pop is a requirement for the A license. It worked out really well that we had heavy weather moving in on us after we were in the plane. We could either jump below the clouds or ride the plane to the ground. Ten jumpers went out one right after the other, pulling their chutes immediately out the door. Eight stayed on the plane (figure that out).
Since my last jump posts I've done a 2 way with a really good D licensed jumper, another coached jump (this one with Uwe), and a hop-n-pop at 3,300 feet.
The 2 way was pretty cool. We took turns turning 360's then I watched as he pulled right next to me and fell away from him. That was sweet.
The coached jump was pretty crappy from the start when I flipped head over feet on my way out the door. I didn't push off with my right foot so it decided to stay in the plane. Then Uwe was pretty tough to catch up to as we altered our fall rates. He has 12,000 jumps, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad.
The hop-n-pop is a requirement for the A license. It worked out really well that we had heavy weather moving in on us after we were in the plane. We could either jump below the clouds or ride the plane to the ground. Ten jumpers went out one right after the other, pulling their chutes immediately out the door. Eight stayed on the plane (figure that out).
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Three Jumps- One Coached with Dee
I did three jumps on Sunday. Prior to the second jump Uwe (Safety and Training Advisor) downsized me to a higher performance canopy, 170 sq ft. What a difference! This thing goes where I want it to and really responds to tugs on the front risers. Here's a sample picture of a guy in a front riser turn- Two things to notice: his position relative to the Earth (diving, Earth is upper right of photo) and his left arm is pulling on the black strap which is the front riser. There are four risers. He is pulling on the one which is attached to the lines in the front of his canopy on his left side. This is a front riser turn.My last jump of the day was a coached jump with Dee. I will need two or three of these to qualify for the A license. They are around $105 each, compared to $47 I am paying for normal jumps with gear rental.
I'll do another post with details of the jump.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Saturday's Jump- Minor Malfunctions
Let's start positive. Here's a video of the landing. Very nice-
I had to use a rig with a larger canopy than the one I normally use and doesn't fit as well. No big deal, maybe... A woman who also rents gear actually put this rig on by mistake after I checked it over and everything. We switched back just a few minutes before loading.
We got out at about 13,000 in a bit of a hurry to avoid some incoming weather. I did a bunch of sit flying which went pretty well. Not perfect on the position, and I spin constantly, but I'm sitting :-) !
Just below 5,000' I waved off and threw the pilot chute... oops, nope I missed. Got it with the second try.
I feel it catch me and turn me upright. I start watching it ... watching it.. watching it o..p..e..n..
It stayed in a nice pretty square a bit longer than I'm used to, but eventually opened up, sort of.
It opened with the left side closed up a little with what is called an end-cell closure. Great, it put me in a left turn. No big deal though, all you do to open up a closed end-cell is release the brakes, called 'toggles', which are used for steering and hold them down until it opens.
So I release the toggles and pull both.....pull.. pull.... nope! They both came free but the left toggle's line is tangled up and won't allow it to come down. Now I'm spinning hard to the left and dropping quickly. The procedure for this malfunction is to counter the spin by pulling all the way down on the right toggle. I pulled the right side down and it mostly flew straight without dropping too quickly.
Of course at that point I started yanking VERY hard on the left toggle to free the line. It came free after a few tries and I believe I tore the fabric loop that holds the brake line clear off the riser. Whatever, it flew straight.
I didn't get to have any fun under canopy because all of this drama carried me pretty far down wind so I needed to fly straight into the wind to make it back to the landing area.
FUN STUFF!
This jump made me very happy that I do a lot of reading about malfunctions and how to handle them. I also read all the incident reports across the sport and participate in forums that critique the jumpers decisions. Dropzone.com and USPA.org are invaluable resources for self safety education.
The problems on this jump weren't very bad ones in comparison, but an unprepared jumper could easily have caused their own death with a spiraling fall if they weren't educated on the proper procedures. Too many jumpers are out there jumping towards a certification or attempting to learn something 'fun' without taking the time to learn about safety and improve their ability to make decisions in critical situations. It's a very, very rare malfunction alone that causes a death. Poor decision making in critical situations due to poor metal preparation is a root cause of a high percentage of skydiving fatalities.
I had to use a rig with a larger canopy than the one I normally use and doesn't fit as well. No big deal, maybe... A woman who also rents gear actually put this rig on by mistake after I checked it over and everything. We switched back just a few minutes before loading.
We got out at about 13,000 in a bit of a hurry to avoid some incoming weather. I did a bunch of sit flying which went pretty well. Not perfect on the position, and I spin constantly, but I'm sitting :-) !
Just below 5,000' I waved off and threw the pilot chute... oops, nope I missed. Got it with the second try.
I feel it catch me and turn me upright. I start watching it ... watching it.. watching it o..p..e..n..
It stayed in a nice pretty square a bit longer than I'm used to, but eventually opened up, sort of.
It opened with the left side closed up a little with what is called an end-cell closure. Great, it put me in a left turn. No big deal though, all you do to open up a closed end-cell is release the brakes, called 'toggles', which are used for steering and hold them down until it opens.
So I release the toggles and pull both.....pull.. pull.... nope! They both came free but the left toggle's line is tangled up and won't allow it to come down. Now I'm spinning hard to the left and dropping quickly. The procedure for this malfunction is to counter the spin by pulling all the way down on the right toggle. I pulled the right side down and it mostly flew straight without dropping too quickly.
Of course at that point I started yanking VERY hard on the left toggle to free the line. It came free after a few tries and I believe I tore the fabric loop that holds the brake line clear off the riser. Whatever, it flew straight.
I didn't get to have any fun under canopy because all of this drama carried me pretty far down wind so I needed to fly straight into the wind to make it back to the landing area.
FUN STUFF!
This jump made me very happy that I do a lot of reading about malfunctions and how to handle them. I also read all the incident reports across the sport and participate in forums that critique the jumpers decisions. Dropzone.com and USPA.org are invaluable resources for self safety education.
The problems on this jump weren't very bad ones in comparison, but an unprepared jumper could easily have caused their own death with a spiraling fall if they weren't educated on the proper procedures. Too many jumpers are out there jumping towards a certification or attempting to learn something 'fun' without taking the time to learn about safety and improve their ability to make decisions in critical situations. It's a very, very rare malfunction alone that causes a death. Poor decision making in critical situations due to poor metal preparation is a root cause of a high percentage of skydiving fatalities.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Thanksgiving Jumps
I got two jumps in this morning! Left Blue Springs at 7:30 and made the two hr drive to Sebastian. This was my first time relying on Blackberry Maps alone to get me somewhere. Very impressed, but that's a different story..
I got two jumps in before I needed to head back. Very cool, but turns out the Turkey took a lot longer than expected so I could have made three or four jumps. Oh well.
The jumps were pretty uneventful, which was nice..
I did more sit flying and made progress on keeping myself upright. Now I get to work on holding a heading rather than spinning. The canopy rides were great also with a lot of turns being made with the rear risers and a couple feeble attempts at front riser turns and a dive. I need to try this at the beginning of the canopy ride as I'm a little hesitant to really pull on them below 2,000 feet.
Hope to get back on Sunday!
I got two jumps in before I needed to head back. Very cool, but turns out the Turkey took a lot longer than expected so I could have made three or four jumps. Oh well.
The jumps were pretty uneventful, which was nice..
I did more sit flying and made progress on keeping myself upright. Now I get to work on holding a heading rather than spinning. The canopy rides were great also with a lot of turns being made with the rear risers and a couple feeble attempts at front riser turns and a dive. I need to try this at the beginning of the canopy ride as I'm a little hesitant to really pull on them below 2,000 feet.
Hope to get back on Sunday!
Monday, November 19, 2007
Unwanted Jump Excitement
The first jump on Sunday was a little dramatic. Here's how it went:
I've always known that I could look around during free fall and see other jumpers, but I've always been focused on what I'm working on and of course... the ground.
So my first jump Sunday I went out the door 5 seconds after a group of three belly fliers (doing maneuvers and relative work while on their bellies). I told them I would be pulling at 4,500', which is the reason I went out after them.
Here's what happened:
I jump out and start working on the sit fly position. It's not going too hot. I keep flipping over backwards.
After about 30 seconds I realize that I'm covering a good bit of ground (going NE) and no longer very close to the airport. I think 'No big deal' and start tracking back towards the airport. The wind is so strong that in my best tracking position I'm basically falling straight down, which is fine. I'm not allowing myself to get 'blown away' and should be able to fly back under canopy.
Ho hum, just tracking along without going anywhere and guess who ends up about 500' BELOW me! The group of three belly fliers. They are drifting with the wind while they practice their maneuvers without paying any attention to the airport (they are more experienced and know they can get back) so our paths cross. This is really really bad because if one of them pulls their chute I will fall through it at 130mph!! Uncool.
Immediately on seeing them underneath me I turned and tracked away from them to the West. It was awesome how quickly I moved away from them. During this leg of the track I did not check my altimiter. I was focused on moving away from them. Well, 200 feet per second eats up a lot of altitude very quickly.
Just as I finished my track the belly flier closest to me pulled his chute. I was about 150' away. Safe. Shortly afterwards I pulled mine, at about 3,200 feet.
Needless to say I got to have a strongly worded conversation with that belly flier back at the hangar. He was really nice, but very interested in making sure that didn't happen again. I don't blame him.
I think the appropriate action immediately upon seeing jumpers underneath me would have been to pull my chute. You can't possibly fall through people if you're floating under a canopy.
Regardless, the lesson learned is simple: If you say you are pulling at 4,500, PULL AT 4,500!!
I've always known that I could look around during free fall and see other jumpers, but I've always been focused on what I'm working on and of course... the ground.
So my first jump Sunday I went out the door 5 seconds after a group of three belly fliers (doing maneuvers and relative work while on their bellies). I told them I would be pulling at 4,500', which is the reason I went out after them.
Here's what happened:
I jump out and start working on the sit fly position. It's not going too hot. I keep flipping over backwards.
After about 30 seconds I realize that I'm covering a good bit of ground (going NE) and no longer very close to the airport. I think 'No big deal' and start tracking back towards the airport. The wind is so strong that in my best tracking position I'm basically falling straight down, which is fine. I'm not allowing myself to get 'blown away' and should be able to fly back under canopy.
Ho hum, just tracking along without going anywhere and guess who ends up about 500' BELOW me! The group of three belly fliers. They are drifting with the wind while they practice their maneuvers without paying any attention to the airport (they are more experienced and know they can get back) so our paths cross. This is really really bad because if one of them pulls their chute I will fall through it at 130mph!! Uncool.
Immediately on seeing them underneath me I turned and tracked away from them to the West. It was awesome how quickly I moved away from them. During this leg of the track I did not check my altimiter. I was focused on moving away from them. Well, 200 feet per second eats up a lot of altitude very quickly.
Just as I finished my track the belly flier closest to me pulled his chute. I was about 150' away. Safe. Shortly afterwards I pulled mine, at about 3,200 feet.
Needless to say I got to have a strongly worded conversation with that belly flier back at the hangar. He was really nice, but very interested in making sure that didn't happen again. I don't blame him.
I think the appropriate action immediately upon seeing jumpers underneath me would have been to pull my chute. You can't possibly fall through people if you're floating under a canopy.
Regardless, the lesson learned is simple: If you say you are pulling at 4,500, PULL AT 4,500!!
Yesterday's Stuff
I added a slideshow of yesterday's jumps on the right side of the page. I think you can get it a lot bigger if you click on it.
Check out Sara's super skydiving safety shoes!
Her parachute is the one with purple. Mine is gold and red.
Check out Sara's super skydiving safety shoes!
Her parachute is the one with purple. Mine is gold and red.On our way there she asked me to make sure she was partnered up with 'some big hairy guy' as her tandem instructor. We did really good in that department, managing to line her up with Uwe. He's a big German/South African (I don't understand either. Ask him some time) dude with something like 14,000 jumps.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Today's Action
Keith came along again today and did his AFF levels 2 and 3. Last Sunday he did ground school and level 1. He's passed all three with flying colors, so he's already doing better than I did!
I got three jumps in today. They went pretty well, with a couple minor issues..
I had some pretty rough line twists on the first jump of the day from a rather hard opening, and ended up with a closed end cell on the last jump of the day. Here's a sample pic of an end cell closure:
Two minor malfunctions in a three jump day! Not bad. :-0
Seriously, I happened to review all the malfuntion procedures three times during the week, so I was very confident in handling them as they came up.
The line twists were pretty bad compared to what I've seen previously, but the canopy flew straight so it wasn't a big deal. A few kicks and I was out of them. Here's a sample picture of line twists:
The end cell closure was really minor and popped open immediately with some input on the left steering toggle. This was my first end cell closure.
I got three jumps in today. They went pretty well, with a couple minor issues..
I had some pretty rough line twists on the first jump of the day from a rather hard opening, and ended up with a closed end cell on the last jump of the day. Here's a sample pic of an end cell closure:
Two minor malfunctions in a three jump day! Not bad. :-0Seriously, I happened to review all the malfuntion procedures three times during the week, so I was very confident in handling them as they came up.
The line twists were pretty bad compared to what I've seen previously, but the canopy flew straight so it wasn't a big deal. A few kicks and I was out of them. Here's a sample picture of line twists:
The end cell closure was really minor and popped open immediately with some input on the left steering toggle. This was my first end cell closure.
Monday, November 5, 2007
More Jumps!
Well, I've done five jumps since graduating. The first couple jumps without an instructor watching were pretty nerve wracking, but I'm pretty comfortable now. Here are a few pictures (BIG thanks to Korby for taking these):
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
