First cutaway

[bmcd308 0]

So here's my only NSTIWITIWGTD story:

Jump 358. Wings container, Hornet 190 at 1.2, Tempo 210. After a 9-way RW jump with an ambitious plan that might as well have had 9 AFF students on it (in actual fact, it had a total of about 15K jumps on it and two world record holders, but we still managed to screw the pooch), breakoff at 5,000 feet.

Track, wave off and deploy. My Hornet opened in a diving turn to the left with the slider stopped a good 3/4 of the way up the lines. I grabbed both rears to pump the slider down, which did nothing, then I pulled just the right rear to try to stop the turn, which did not do nearly enough. The slider was square, but way up the lines. I really think I could see the excess brake line on both sides, because I told myself that both brakes were still stowed. I was turning pretty hard, but not on my back or any crap like that. Still, I did not want to land that.

Then I noticed that I had a somewhat familiar feeling that I could not quite identify. The feeling was not tandem in the door scared, nor was it AFF Level 3 why the hell did you guys let me go scared, but it was similar. I quickly realized that I was first cutaway scared. Identifying the feeling made things seem a little easier, so I gave up on the risers and lookredgrabredlooksilvergrabsilverpullredSNICKgirlyscreampullsilver.

As I was waving off, I was just below 3. I saw that I was a good bit below 2 while I was pulling on the risers. I am guessing that I pulled the cutaway handle at 1500. I was saddled out under my reserve at 1200.

Landing was uneventful. All my sh!t landed on the dropzone; more specifically, on the runway. When I thanked Mullins for the spot, he said that he used to spot cutaways for the peas, but other people kept stepping on the cutaway mains, so now he puts them on the runway. Good to see that he was able to keep his sense of humor about my littering his runway while he was on final.

Examination of the canopy once recovered revealed that the left brake was unstowed. I really think I did this when I was trying to work with the rears, since having the left brake unstowed would actually cause a right, rather than left, turn.

The Tempo 210 had a pretty good right hand turn built in. My rigger is taking it home to measure the lines and see if the turn was due to a trim problem. Loaded at 1.0, however, the landing was a gentle standup despite the fact that I had a very weak flare due to having the left toggle below my nipples to fly straight.

Thanks to Chris and Judy for teaching me EPs, thanks to Danny Hall for the reserve pack job, thanks to Dane Justice for retrieving my gear from the runway, thanks to Mike Mullins for the ride up and the kind spot, thanks to Steph and Kevin for calming me down and untangling my main after I landed, and thanks to all the folks who expressed their happiness that I did not die after I landed.

Your beer is coming.

In order to do another jump that day, I borrowed a brand new student Mirage with a Tri 260 and got on another load. This was by far the most comfortable student rig I have ever worn. I am 6' 6" tall, so it was a little short on me even all the way out, but it was WAY better than the older student rigs at WTS. I have worn Javelin and Telesis student rigs in the past, and I have to say that for comfort, the Mirage wins hands down when I am shoehorned into it. Just a little unsolicited plug for a student container that really did impress me.

Brent

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www.jumpelvis.com

[mattjw916 2]

I am sure if/when I have to perform a cutaway I will be letting out a "girly scream" and yelling large amounts of profanity at my reserve until it inflates properly.

Glad you made it back safely!

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[drakeshelby 0]

That must have been one awsome spot!!

Your main and free bag hit the center line of the runway!!!


Kudos to Mike on the spot or to mother nature for not blowing that day!!


drakeshelby

drakeshelby

[jlmiracle 7]

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Thanks to Chris and Judy for teaching me EPs

Your welcome.

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lookredgrabredlooksilvergrabsilverpullredSNICKgirlyscreampullsilver.

Chris must have taught you the girly scream.

Judy

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.