First mal/reserve ride

[Mindcake 0]

I had my first main mal yesterday it was a nasty tension knot that was tough to get out, with tools, on the ground...... I pulled high (5000 ft) in a attempt to make it back to the DZ but had the mal. I checked my alt and then messed with the knot for 1500ft, then decided that it wasen't going anywhere, took a deep breath, relaxed, and pulled the cut-away handle. The harness spun me sideways and I cartwheeled for a bit (500 ft?) then became bell to earth stable and pulled the reserve handle. The reserve chute opened and I had a un-eventful ride into a bean field with most everyone else (as the spot sucked). My instructor/friend said the onlt thing I did wrong was wait too long. I was under a reserve canopy by 2000 ft or so and I felt the I should mess with the mal if I wasent spinning (and I wasen't). What doese anyone else think ???? should you chop that quick that high?????

Don´t belive the hype

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

As long as you keep an eye on your alti, I don't see a problem.

____________________
Say no to subliminal messages

[skybytch 273]

You done good.
I'd have messed with it too, given the altitude you had. The only possible reason I can see for someone saying you should have chopped it earlier would be that the spot was bad.

[ChileRelleno 0]

Yo Dude, ya did just fine,your walkin and talkin with the rest of us. You had a problem and YOU TOOK CARE OF IT! Your instructor may have preferred that you make a decision ASAP but you had altitude,you sound like you altitude aware and you chopped and popped at a appropriate altitude.
I say cheers and beeers,GOOD JOB!

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

[Spy38W 0]

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Your instructor may have preferred that you make a decision ASAP but you had altitude,you sound like you altitude aware and you chopped and popped at a appropriate altitude.

...Thinking about this I can kindof relate, you know that feeling when you are watching somebody below you and they just look like they are too low, and shit is going to get ugly, or when you're on the ground and watching somebody while screaming pull! I guess this is probably worse for the instructors because of the feeling like "ooh, what if I didn't train them well enough in this and that area, etc." I know instructors train to the best of their ability and knowledge, but it's something I've thought while watching solo students go around the pattern (airplanes)

But at any rate, good job, glad everything turned out well, and welcome to the club.

--
Hook high, flare on time

[Gravitymaster 0]

You will find this is a preventable malfunction if you set your brakes as soon as you land.
Good job on the cut-away.

[Cornholio 0]

BEEEEEER!!!

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You will find this is a preventable malfunction if you set your brakes as soon as you land.
Good job on the cut-away.

hrmm... Aren't tension knots mainly from poor packing ? Such as when the lines go slack during packing and when you push the lines up to the slider, they can knot up upon deployment ? My understanding was that tension knots had to do with slack in the lines and a knot "forming" around other lines, but it had little to do with setting the brakes.

Edit: How does not setting the brakes cause this problem, other than twisted lines ? This is assuming that the brakes are then set properly before packing.

Butthead: Whoa! Burritos for breakfast!
Beavis: Yeah! Yeah! Cool!
bellyflier on the dz.com hybrid record jump

[weegegirl 2]

Yo, Jim. You did good, dude. Did you ever find Brent's main?

[superflie 0]

Here's a question for you: Why do you not have an RSL on your rig? At 30 jumps and on a 210, I see no reason not to have one. And I don't want to hear any nonsense about this. I do not have one, but I jump a fairly highly loaded eliptical.

Also, every once in a while, you should untwist your brake lines to prevent these things.

[Engovatov 0]

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I see no reason not to have one. And I don't want to hear any nonsense about this.

Hm. Is it just a remote possibility that other people have an opinion different then yours? Just asking..

[weegegirl 2]

When you are as new to the sport as he is, you don't necessarily own your own gear yet. I know when I started shopping around for mine, I was jumping a different rig each time - some with an RSL, some without. I think under the circumstances, he did an excellent job to save his life on borrowed gear. The guy who owned the gear he jumped that day has a ton of jumps and ratings. .... Sorry, just thought I would add that info to the picture.

[MC208B 0]

hey, if Rick had an RSL on his rig (the recent plane crash at Estacada) the outcome of that incident would have been much different. RSL's are not for me! Mike

[wallygator 0]

Glad everything worked out for you. I'm still green in the sport myself. On jump 34 I broke my centre suspension lines. I chose to ride it to the ground, for a fast safe landing on a 254. Judgement call, low to no winds, 300 acres of open field. Flat turns got me down safe from 2300'. play safe blue skies

--------------------------------------------------
who Jah bless Let no man curse.

[AndyMan 7]

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Hm. Is it just a remote possibility that other people have an opinion different then yours? Just asking..

Probably not. There's a reason that the USPA mandates RSL's on all student rigs. They save lives.

The decision to remove an RSL is a very personal one, one that should only be made by those with sufficient experience to make the decision themselves. This isn't a case of "ask your instructor, do what (s)he says" - it's a case of "ask all the people you can, then use YOUR judgement, based on YOUR experiences". New jumpers are more likely to screw up their emergency procedures, and less likely to have the knowledge necesary to decide to remove one.

I'd be very surprised if you could find me any instructor, DZO, or USPA official in the US that would recomend someone with 30 jumps not have one.

Debates over removing RSL's for experienced jumpers are complex, and offer many issues to ponder. However, having them for new jumpers is a no-brainer.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Mindcake 0]

I should have stated that it wasen't my pack job (and I wont be jumping anyone elses pack job from here on out) and had the rig I borrowed had a RSL on it I would have been in more trouble. My when I cut the main it let the right side go sooner then the left and it caused me to cartwheel a bit, this could have wound up my lines on my reserve. Liz we did find everything but the cut-away handle and the guy who packed it will be paying for the repairs to the chute as it seems that everyone at the DZ agrees that it was the pack job that caused the knot.

Don´t belive the hype

[PhreeZone 20]

There is a reason the right side released first, that cable will clear the loop first due to the length of the cables. (this is by design)

Reserves ARE made to be deployed while unstable so unless the freebag went through your legs there was little difference a RSL probally would have made.

And I'll jump other peoples gear if they pack it or if I pack it. I'll jump my gear if I pack it or if one of two packers pack it. I only trust 2 people to pack it they way I want it packed. Its more likely that I'll pack mine sloppy and cause bad openings then a packer will.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[freakflyer69 0]

I think the reason he may have thought you waited too long was between you cutting away and waiting 500 feet to get stable Pulling is the priority, stabilty is secondary, as long as you knew where you were (2000') then a couple seconds might be ok but in a high speed malfunction it could be easy to loose track of time.
good job
dan

[Casch 0]

hehe...speaking of freaking out your instructors, on my first solo(hop-n-pop), Jessie (DZO) was telling me to get a good look at the plane then pull...so I got a good look...and kept looking for about 3 extra seconds and scared the shit out of her. I didn't do this on purpose, it was the first time I actually looked at the plane after jumping and I thought it was bitchin!. Then on my 10 second delay, I did an accidental back flip off the step and freaked out my JM, but I stabilized quickly. Anyways, I can see why your instructor said what he said...you had him worried.

[homer 0]

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I had my first main mal yesterday it was a nasty tension knot

First you said it THE BEER IS ON MINDCAKE!

You did good glad it went all ok for you.

CSA #699 Muff #3804

[winddrift1 0]

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it was the first time I actually looked at the plane after jumping and I thought it was bitchin!.
How did you get on free fall with out seeing the plane what program did you take sounds like you shouldn't have been doing your first free fall if you had not seen the plane before this jump how could the jump master know if you where jumping out of the plane with your eyes open or closed and if your head was down not a good arch position to be in. Just a thought for all of you who are going on free fall

[winddrift1 0]

First of all i'm glad you cutaway good job!!!!
1. If you know the spot was bad why did you leave the plane?. You did the right thing by opening high when you did figure it out. I hope you where the last one out of the plane.
2. I agree with your instructor you wasted time under a malfunctioning main when you could have used that time fixing a problem with a reserve such as a line over or tenstion knots and other things that could go wrong with a reserve.
3. As for going unstable when you cutaway get yourself in a training harness and practice your cutaway procedures and make sure you are tought how to do it properly.
4. If the cutaway cables were different lengths then that rig should be grounded. When you cutaway the cables should release the same time or one cable is longer talk to a riger about it.

All in all it's a learning experience hope i have helped you and others Blue skies.

[ernokaikkonen 0]

>1. If you know the spot was bad why did you leave the plane?. You did
>the right thing by opening high when you did figure it out. I hope you
>where the last one out of the plane.

You did mention it but I think this could be stressed more: Opening high is very dangerous unless you are absolutely sure there's no-one above you. I really wouldn't recommend opening high as a standard response to a bad spot. If you got out on a bad spot; tough luck - you're landing out.


>2. I agree with your instructor you wasted time under a malfunctioning
>main when you could have used that time fixing (...) things that
>could go wrong with a reserve.

This is debatable. If there is enough altitude, I sure would try to fix any problem with the main rather than save that altitude for the remote possibility of a problem with the reserve. I don't plan for trouble with reserves(but then again I pack my own). As a plus it's easier to find your main if it doesn't drift too far...

>4. If the cutaway cables were different lengths then that rig should be
>grounded. When you cutaway the cables should release the same
>time or one cable is longer talk to a riger about it.

Actually, with rigs equipped with an RSL(or just the possibility of fitting one), the side with no RSL should be released slightly before the other side to ensure a clean cutaway before reserve deployment.

Erno

[weegegirl 2]

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1. If you know the spot was bad why did you leave the plane?. You did the right thing by opening high when you did figure it out. I hope you where the last one out of the plane.

Hey,

First of all, I totally agree... you should ALWAYS look down before getting out of the plane. But I must say that that load had a bit of an unusual twist to it.

It was first load of the day and nobody realized how strong the uppers really were. One of the engines of the twin otter had broken down. The door and exit lights were NOT working. And somebody had called the wrong spot to begin with. My 3way was first to exit. The pilot came on the PA and just started shouting "Exit! Exit! Exit!" So everybody got out quick. I think this had something to do with the lights being out and the engine breaking. We are also working with a fairly new pilot.

Needless to say, due to a mix of circumstances, the entire load landed off. Including the camera flyers with the tandems - they even had zero penetration.

Things could have been a little better, but that was the situation. And Mindcake was right in the middle of the load.

[dterrick 0]

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It was first load of the day and nobody realized how strong the uppers really were. One of the engines of the twin otter had broken down. The door and exit lights were NOT working. And somebody had called the wrong spot to begin with

...sounds like "safety and training" poster material... you know, the one where that statement made is

"Accidents are never caused by ONE thing alone but rather a series of events..."

...well, that one and the "there's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane"...

the Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[weegegirl 2]

Gotta love it. When it rains, it pours. That was one freaky load all together.