Reserve Ride

[ScubaSteve 0]

Had my first reserve ride Saturday afternoon. Thirteenth jump. Jump went very well ending in a three second seperation track. Break off was 7k. After counting 1000 2000 3000. I arched hard. Looked at alti at was at about 6k. Held arch til 5-5 the wave and toss. Then BAM! www.triadriders.com/scuba/v/ouch.wmv Damn that hurt. I was gasping for air really bad. I felt like something hit me. Looked at alti - right at 5k ish. Canopy was square but I noticed I was turning. Looked up and grabbed left toggle to unstow brake. That stopped the turn. I was VERY painful reaching arm over head for toggle (9 out of 10) and I still had not caught breath. Reached for right toggle to do control check. Pulled it and all the line came down with it. I thought SHIT!! Looked at alti and about at 4.7k . Looked at red handle on right side and thought ( THIS BETTER WORK) Peeled and Pulled. Grabed sliver and pulled. The RSL beat me to the pull but I was under a fully functioning (Beautiful Yellow) Reserve by 4k. Did I say I was loving that yellow 7 cell. Looked where main was planning to land and headed back to DZ. Did a straight in landing ( was going to complete patteren planned for main but JM radioed me to come straight in). Sliding landing ok for a no wind day.

Back and hamstrings in very much pain. Went to hospital later that day to get checked out. Just to be sure no back injury. Xrays came out ok and I got my first taste of viociden. That stuff is very strange. I now only have to deal with the hemotoma on my thighs and hams. Big purple bumps( 3 inchs deep) where leg straps were.

Everyone at DZ told me I did everything ok but for some reason I feel I did something wrong. Is this normal. Thanks.

[Hazarrd 1]

thats what the reserve is there for man. you dont like what you have over your head, get rid of it! congrats on saving your own life.

.-.

[freeflir29 0]

Quote

Everyone at DZ told me I did everything ok but for some reason I feel I did something wrong. Is this normal.

Sounds like you had a NASTY opening that damaged your canopy. You executed your emergency procedures and had a safe landing. Can't do any better than that!

[Brian425 0]

Steve,
Congrats on a good decision. If you don't think you can land it, cut it away. I'm glad you are ok.

I just took Scott Miller's class this Saturday. We spoke about landing on rear risers. Scott said it's difficult to land rear risers and if you are unsure about landing rear riser, cut it away.

If you walked away unhurt, you made the right choice.

The only time you should look down on someone is when you are offering them your hand.

[freeflir29 0]

Quote

Scott said it's difficult to land rear risers and if you are unsure about landing rear riser, cut it away.

Quote

Thirteenth jump

On jump 13........I certainly wouldn't recommend trying to land on rear risers. I wouldn't even recommend it on jump 130.

[TypicalFish 0]

Thanks for sharing the narrative; glad you came out OK.

"I gargle no man's balls..." ussfpa on SOCNET

[ScubaSteve 0]

Thanks for feedback. I was aware that I could land with risers but have not been instructed to do so yet. My back was (is) messed up and I could not easily move arms. When my reserve opened I was glad to see the red toggles so close to reach. I am still trying to figured out what hit my forehead and face. I have two big red scrapes.

[pilotdave 0]

Quote

Quote

Scott said it's difficult to land rear risers and if you are unsure about landing rear riser, cut it away.

Quote

Thirteenth jump

On jump 13........I certainly wouldn't recommend trying to land on rear risers. I wouldn't even recommend it on jump 130.

Or in my case jump 192. Been out a month now because of a rear riser flare gone bad (stuck brake line), and I'm not even sure what I did wrong. If I have the same problem on my next jump, I'm not sure I'd cut away, but I'll definitely PLF!

Dave

[sundevil777 102]

Quote

rear riser flare gone bad (stuck brake line)

Landing on rear risers is tough enough. Doing it with a stuck brake line means that you're starting with the brakes already applied, making it even harder to get a good landing.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Michele 1]

Quote

I feel I did something wrong. Is this normal. Thanks.

Yes...quite a few people have that feeling, especially when it's a low number cutaway. I know I had it for a while - had a conversation w/ my JM (I cut on AFF3) about it. I kept asking him if I had done anything wrong to cause the cutaway. He responded "you had two good canopies before a bad one. Sucks that it happened, but it did, and it wasn't you. The only way to be sure, though, is get back into the air and see if it happens again."

At the time, I wanted to clock him, but he was right...and 97 jumps later, I haven't had that happen again...this means it wasn't me.

So yes, right now you'll be wondering if you did something to cause it. The truth is, bottom line, you may never know. The thing you do know, and the understanding to come away from this, is that you know your reserve procedures, you used them appropriately, and you walked away.

In other words, GOOD JOB for handling something, despite your pain, and congratulations for really starting to understand the sport.

Well Done, Steve.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[Brains 2]

Quote

I am still trying to figured out what hit my forehead and face. I have two big red scrapes.

When i had a really hard opening, it was my knees that hit my face and forehead

Congrats on saving your own ass. An the rear riser landing thing, i have over 680 jumps now and i would have done the dame thing you did.

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.

[Remster 30]

Looks like you handled the emergency procedure well.

What buggs me is what lead to it. You said you praticed with a track, and then arched hard to stop it. I'm doing lots of assumptions here, but at 13 jumps, your track is probably somewhat steep, and arching hard is not the best way to stop a track, expecially if you are going steep and fast. You probably had a deployement at high speeds.

When tracking, you want to stop your speed before opening. If you have a flat track, that means stoping your horizotal speed; if you are still working on your trck and are going steep, and fast, make sure you slow down both H and V speed.

EDIT: just looked at your video. Yea, you went pretty steep. Glad you're OK. Going fast isnt a garrantee to have a hard opening, but it sure can help.... Get some local coaching to get your traking flatter and stopped more efficiently

Remster

[seekfun 0]

Scuba Steve,

When we talked on Sunday morning, I thought maybe your face had been slapped by a riser when your body was flailing about. But now, after watching this horrible video, I must change my opinion.

Dude, I think your brain slapped your face from the inside.

Damn that thing opened fast!

Heal quickly man. See you back out at the DZ...

- topher

"...there is a there out there..." - Tom Robbins

[catfishhunter 2]

HOLY SHIT! Glad your ok. That hurt me just watching. Glad you didnt' die!

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[AdD 1]

Wow dude, that freaks me out, mainly because almost the same thing happened to me last wednesday on jump 26, 7 cell 210 main and reserve, pulled stable and it just opened hard as hell and a cell was torn nose to tail. Took a look did control check and decided it had to go. Sometimes you can do everything right and shit happens anyway and you just have to deal with it. Personally I feel safer jumping now than I did before knowing my reserve will save my life. Does anyone else feel better after their first chop? I know people here who are having dreams about it if they think they're due for their first chop or mal. Anyway good job buddy cuz you're still here.

Life is ez
On the dz
Every jumper's dream
3 rigs and an airstream

[atsaubrey 0]

Dude I was watching the video here at work and everyone looked at me when I went "oohhhh ooowww" yeah it came out pretty load. Glad your ok! Good Job!

"GOT LEAD?"

[quatorze 1]

all I can say after wathcing that vid is ow and good job with your emergency procedures

I'm not afriad of dying, I'm afraid of never really living- Erin Engle

[themitchyone 0]

You're still on the radio at 13 jumps? Glad you're ok!!

-Michele

"If the Bible has taught us nothing else, and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girl's sports such as hot oil wrestling and foxy boxing." - Homer Simpson

[sillie1111 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

Scott said it's difficult to land rear risers and if you are unsure about landing rear riser, cut it away.

Quote

Thirteenth jump

On jump 13........I certainly wouldn't recommend trying to land on rear risers. I wouldn't even recommend it on jump 130.

Or in my case jump 192. Been out a month now because of a rear riser flare gone bad (stuck brake line), and I'm not even sure what I did wrong. If I have the same problem on my next jump, I'm not sure I'd cut away, but I'll definitely PLF!

Dave

=====================================
Is it harder to do a rear riser landing with a smaller canopy or vise versa? Because I have been jumping a Raider 220 and I do rear riser flares up high all the time, I feel comfortable enough with them that if I was not injured I would land with them. I enjoy flying with my rear risers most of the time. Would this be because it is a very docile canopy?

And congrats on doing the right thing!!! Ohh and Dont forget the beer!!

~Shelly

• Quote

[VectorBoy 0]

Whow dude, me too. Scarey.

I had one saturday morning also. And you know what? After reviewing the video it was avoidable, I just needed to "fly the snivel" for longer before diverting my attention. I knew something was wrong when I glanced back up to see line twists where there was none before and my canopy heading to earth while I was on my back... in a wingsuit... with a camera helmet. My new H-mod ensures a hefty ground hungry dive compared to before and now the canopy stays in a snivel for a long time.... no really!

It was avoidable but I did the right thing, no regrets there. Its all on video which is cool and a learning experience. One of the thoughts ironically going through my mind was all of the people that have gone in fighting junk after recent joking by peers.

Smart move on not attempting a rears landing in a panic situation. My first rears practice was in a perfect situation, slow speed and still pretty dramatic in a comedy kind of way and on video too. Practice rears later maybe with a coach and video.

[pilotdave 0]

I dunno but I had time for one practice flare on downwind before the real thing, and I had tried some up high before. Felt easy, wind noise dropped, and I seemed to be leveling off. When I did it for real, it was almost like I hadn't flared at all. Not sure if I was too late, or maybe too fast and stalled, or just didn't flare enough.

I landed in some guy's back yard. He mentioned he was a paratrooper many years ago. I think my landing looked pretty standard to him. He just thought I was lucky because I missed some dog shit by about a foot.

On my old PD 9-cell, I don't remember if I really could flare with the rear risers. Pressure was much higher. Probably not so bad I could have done a chinup but hard enough that I couldn't really turn with rear risers.

Dave

[ScubaSteve 0]

Thanks again to all that replied. I appreciate all the input. I guess I have some questions to review with an instructor when I can make it back to the DZ. Hopefully this weekend. Is it bad to be limping around DZ wishing you could jump? I dont want to scare any students or tandems.

____________________________
You're still on the radio at 13 jumps? Glad you're ok!!
____________________________

I think at SDC a student has a radio until AFP 15 (hop and pop). I try not to be dependant on the radio. I usually hear only, good job, oe final corrections. I have 13 jumps but only on afp 9.