What Should I Know About a Cross Country?

[justinb138 0]

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THE RESERVE's going to come out and then you have another canopy to try and fight.

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim.

[kelpdiver 2]

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THE RESERVE's going to come out and then you have another canopy to try and fight.

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim.

indeed - the wind was powerful enough to pull my buddy on the ground, but did nothing to the reserve bundle when he cut away.

[ntrprnr 0]

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don't unstow the brakes until you are sure you're making it back

This next comment is not directed at MotherGoose, but people wouldn't be so afraid of Cross-Country jumps if they spent more time flying their canopies and less time worrying about getting back. Get up there and pull high more often and learn what sort of range your canopy has. High pulls are not to be feared and they are a great way to not only learn more about your canopy but they are a great way to enjoy the incredible view from up there.

Agreed - In Scott Miller's class, he had us go 2 miles out, hit deep brakes at a 5k h/p, and float home. Made it with tons and tons of altitude to spare. I was amazed.

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"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[ntrprnr 0]

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Don't do what we did here:
http://www.para-teuge.nl/index.php?option=com_weblinks&task=view&catid=50&id=19

The plane was still flying into the wind when we exited, with a few secs between jumpers too.... Guess what, by the time us 2 camera peeps finally exited we were way farther and the rest couldn't wait for us anymore

Got a comfy ride back though, and 2 others landed out too.

I also found iut a Tri 120 doesn't glide as well as a Xaos whatever the next xcountry jump we had the plane fly perpendicular to the wind so everyone had a shot, we exited more quickly, we flew back as a group, and landed out as a group (well, 2) too

That is SUCH a great video! Even though you were out, it looks like you had SO much fun!!

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[Eatgrass 0]

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THE RESERVE's going to come out and then you have another canopy to try and fight.

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim.

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I fought a R3 reserve durning a off airport landing on my 48'th jump.

Reserve PC's are spring loaded----that and the bag are coming out for sure cuz if the PC's out the reserve flaps are open so the bags going to fall out....I've had to field pack my main and walk in more than once...thats bad enough in the hot sun and stickers out in the wilderness with fire ants trying to eat you and your gear up Trying to field pack the whole damn container providing you have enough
pull up cords along would really suck. And the reserve
or any part of it comes out---thats a paid repack job!
Nope I pulled the brass thingy whenever in doubt about the ground wind situation on DZ or off.
Whats the madder don't they teach them to pull both handles RSL or not in the modern USPA or even how to unlatch one while hanging harness? Or do modern skydivers depend on cypress to do all the pulling? Its the njumpers choice
anyway----let them learn the hard way if they want!
blue skys be safe....think about it before you
make that XCif you are still follwing the thread original poster----talk it over with your S&TA or a rigger...one would hope the S&TA is briefing that particular load just as he or she would a night jump
because cross countrys arn't done that often anyway

Old rule of thumb kids:
"PLAN YOUR DIVE AND DIVE YOUR PLAN"

key word being ~P L A N~

relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course
Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

[Eatgrass 0]

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THE RESERVE's going to come out and then you have another canopy to try and fight.

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim.

indeed - the wind was powerful enough to pull my buddy on the ground, but did nothing to the reserve bundle when he cut away.

Lucky thats all---IMHO Out there in the bush, alone why take a chance? Your buddy probley landed under ideal conditions on his feet if you are a liteweight it don't take much to pull you over, the repack may have been fresh and tight....out there alone in totally unknown winds not even the direction in a tight landing spot, why take a chance when operating a RSL is such a simple thing?

In 94 or 95 I had bag in tow, chopped it when it stood me up in the air. Damn thing fell at least 8,000 ft landed between the runway & peas (GOOD SPOT) still bagged. Serious bag lock from bag in tow type line twists yet have fought a open reserve on the ground in winds blowing at only non student levels It like to have whipped my big butt till I pulled the line group in on one side, lost the toggles in a
kind of tumble then slide-----I think your'e just hoping to earn some reserve repacking money around your home DZ kid
ALSO

Ever consider why they designed the RSL to be so easily latched & unlatched you can do it with one hand while suspended? bsbs

relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course
Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

[kleggo 145]

point your parachute in the right direction to land at your destination.
bring a beer
open it behind you, opening a beer in front of you with a 25mph "headwind" is not something you'll repeat.

be safe

kleggo

[Eatgrass 0]

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don't unstow the brakes until you are sure you're making it back

I don't agree with this advice. You are potentially robbing yourself of so much performance from your canopy by only assuming it will make it back in one mode of flight. If you've got a strong tail wind, then yes flying in brakes is a good way to make it back. But flying one's rears can increase your glide a lot. Instead of being a passenger (continue to fly with your brakes stowed), why not be a pilot and use all of the tools available to get back.

This next comment is not directed at MotherGoose, but people wouldn't be so afraid of Cross-Country jumps if they spent more time flying their canopies and less time worrying about getting back. Get up there and pull high more often and learn what sort of range your canopy has. High pulls are not to be feared and they are a great way to not only learn more about your canopy but they are a great way to enjoy the incredible view from up there.

I agree with you Canuck, except half brakes is better than no brakes or full brakes, nothing beats working the rear risers to slightly pitch the nose up just enough to trim her out to improve the glide for distance. I tried it all three ways working my way back from long spots on the old F111 9 cells and was so impressed with milking the rear risers I had a Master Rigger sew hand loops on my rear risers (split slider's help also, they not only give you 25 percent more flare power but let the canopy spread out and grab more lift when its flying----every little bit helps if one is strugglin to get back without walking.....Can't speak for these modern epp's and stuff like that, wouldn't want to..... their kind of twitchy like their owners. A lot of the overloaded ZP people who made fun of my clunky old gear & one to one F111 material canopys use to have climb the fence after walking quite a spell to get back on the DZ though!
~No I didn't rub it in~

[Eatgrass 0]

On my first cross country, we had 10 people go out with a full briefing by experienced jumpers. We were also advised to unhook our RSL's. We were told that not only do you not need one at that altitude, but in case an aircraft is heading at you, you want to be able to cut away and fall well out of its path. If your RSL is attached, you deploy reserve immediately on cut-away and are still in harms way.

Actually had a commercial airliner fly straight at me at 12/5 once, wasn't a cross country....We had a Mr. Bill fad going on at the time and I played Slugo for all the lightweights, well naturally they were not strong enough to hang my harness so I end up at 12/5 under canopy....so I'm flying along there and here came a 4 engine jet right towards me out of the city, so I'm watching him come on towards me,
try turning away at a angle, here the sucker comes
turning with me. Unhooked my RSL and waited.
Lucky I didn't pull cuz he finally put a wing up and turned away....then give a little wing wiggle. Guess they may have been coming over just to look at the dumbass under canopy at 12500 ft. Gave me pause for thought----Mr. Bills were over for me. for more reasons than that...Another reason was the uppers at that altitude can really be ripping along and if you don't pay attention and use some technique ya might need to ride a Greyhound Bus to get back to the same county the DZ's in...... besides the banty ass's were leaving knuckle prints in my chest trying to hang on durning opening shock.

~don't say this belongs in Bonfire cuz the post that bought back memories is in this forum, where I've
been following the RSL aspects of the conversation
and throwing in my 2 cents on the subject~

[packerboy 3]

Go far and pull high.

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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

[JENNR8R 0]

bring a beer
open it behind you, opening a beer in front of you with a 25 mph "headwind" is not something you'll repeat.

[piisfish 140]

bring some american beer, Mum.. You should be OK

And noone asks you to pack after the jump.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[JENNR8R 0]

Young man - don't let me hear that you have been drinkin' and flyin'
I'll have to come over there and give you a whippin'... and I won't be bringing you any Poptarts!

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.

[piisfish 140]

I didn't pack after the flights

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Eatgrass 0]

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bring a beer
open it behind you, opening a beer in front of you with a 25 mph "headwind" is not something you'll repeat.

I was talking with a friend last night about this. He said it's true. I'm amazed that people actually drink beer while under canopy. I wouldn't pack my parachute after having a beer, much less try to land while under the influence. I'm loopy after half a beer.

[Eatgrass 0]

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What about RSLs? The last time I did a cross country, everyone was yelling at me in the plane because I had my RSL hooked up, something about "how if you have a cutaway you'll fuck up everyone else..." I don't think they really understood why either, probably just something they always heard. We were not doing CRW either.

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I've been thinking about this a couple of days now, first response --I misread the post......Ah well that happens when you get up into your 60's and 70's sometimes. RSL is a piece of safety gear...RSL latch or unlatch is your choice really I would unhook mine before landing out probably. For reasons stated in other posts. But thats personal experience & preference. As far as screwing them up----ain't figgured that one out yet. Maybe one of the crybabies on that load can help me out if they stumble through all these posts.
Its not crew....people are going to end up pretty well strung out in the air.... so the main floating around is not a problem, its going to be doing that anyway Only thing I can think of is their afraid your reserve will come out so fast someone will run into you. Thats their problem they should be heads up and maintaining some seperation anyway.....The faint of heart tend to bunch up, follow doesn't mean be bumping somebody in the butt....Just nerves on their part probably----cross countrys are probably done less than night jumps because their opportunistic jumps, things you don't do on a regular basis tend to make you tense and you see booger men where none exist......Yeah NERVES I think, they were probably just projecting fear. A few panic stricken people on a load can cause mass hysteria.
They should have talked it out at the pre jump briefing with the person in charge of the specialty jump so everybody would be on the same page
Then the winers wouldn't be disturbing everybody else's climb zen...Nothing worse than to be packed in a cabin on the climb and have someone freak out.

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[Eatgrass 0]

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THE RESERVE's going to come out and then you have another canopy to try and fight.

While the RSL may pull the reserve pin, the chances of the reserve deploying are slim.

Perhaps your friend had a weak spring in his reserve PC....I've seen them spring out so hard they let out quite a few stows then dent the sheetrock. I used mostly Senior riggers for repacks, mostly because they were handy and not overloaded with work. We had two Master riggers in the area though and every few Senior repacks I'd take it to a Master rigger for a repack.....They often notice things a less experienced rigger might not pick up on, like minute
changes in spring tention....They were both older and more conservative and had been around for years, witnessing many sport and gear related deaths....Wise enough not to except a slim chance as exceptable for doing nothing. Your friend was lucky----bet it didn't happen on a cross country with a long long out either

[ZigZagMarquis 9]

Take a beverage with you...

[Eatgrass 0]

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There is some really useful information in all of your replies to consider. Thank you!

Don't follow that skygod jerk!! who said "all you have to do is follow me" Yikes
~people like that generally get you in trouble~

relax kids, all you need is airtime airtime airtime and the ability to relax of course
Plan your dive and dive your plan bsbs

[Airman1270 0]

...Others provided good stuff about what to take with you...well, except the beer joke...maybe...
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Huh? That was a joke? Oops... This might be a bad time to reflect upon the two beers I drank to celebrate my 500th jump ten years ago. Calling it a "cross country" is a bit of a stretch, as there was NO wind. We got out at 13,500' straight over the DZ. Popped the second beer at 9000', released the brakes at 3000'. Nice landing despite poor circulation in the legs.

Cheers,
Jon S.