Lessons learned from my first Cut-Away & Reserve ride

[JGarcia 0]

BEER!!!

After 9.5 years in the sport, and on my 1606th jump, I finally had my first cutaway. There have been 2 other times where I probably should have, but I was able to clear or resolve the malfunction in time to land.

However, this time was different, this one was getting chopped.

Scenario: 10-way sunset flocking at Dublin boogie.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't follow through with deployment if on a slight fish-tail when reaching back for the hackey.

2. Velocity 90, although it's never given me a hint of a problem before (50 to 70 wingsuit jumps), is not the most "docile" canopy to be jumping with my Skyflyer. I usually jump a Xaos-27 93 with my wingsuit, but didn't bring it with me for the boogie... not that that's a much better choice.

3. Don't hesitate for a second, pulling the LQRS when I felt it spin up. That slight hesitation gave my canopy enough time to build up speed and momentum, as I was facing the sky and my canopy was screaming towards the ground.

4. Riser inserts are my friend. My risers were twisted, and even with the riser inserts, I had stronger cut-away forces than I expected. Come to find out, my cutting away also ripped the riser inserts out of my risers, as they were no longer on the risers when I went to hook my main back up.

My thanks go out to:

God for GRAVITY. But also for giving me the clear mind to not panic, check my altimeter, and take the necessary steps to resolve my problem.

PhreeZone (Eric), who followed me to landing, having his own spectacular landing along the way.and for helping me look for my canopy as soon as we landed.

StwbryPi (Angela), who helped me clean my cut-away cables just 2 weeks ago! She saw the whole thing unfolding, from deployment to reserve ride, and followed my cut-away canopy (even though it meant landing in BFE). She then trekked it back to the packing area, jumped in her SUV and tried to find the canopy before it was too dark. She definitely rawks!

Dublin local who found my freebag, and subsequently, my Velo 90, within minutes of my getting back to the packing area.

Crutch (Art) for packing up my reserve and having my rig ready to go the next morning.

Jumpingbean001 (Tammy) for telling me I needed a more docile canopy (before, and after this jump) and for taking Angela up on her first Wingsuit jump. She absolutely loved it!

LoudDan for being the meat missile we were all chasing on this memorable flocking dive.

Juan Arango for running to get the beer for me to give to the local when she showed up with my PC and Freebag and also for helping me look for my main.

SkyMonkeyOne(Chuck) for the Tempo 120...it worked!

Cheers!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[jumpingbean001 0]

You are welcome! I am glad you had no major problems/injuries! You definitely need to post Eric's landing video...lol. You know, it is my job to harass you about flying with an eliptical canopy. But, of course, it is only a suggestion. In the end, you have to decide for yourself!

Take Care Jairo!
See you in Williston!
Tammie

Let's have fun! :)

[PhreeZone 20]

>Don't hesitate for a second, pulling the LQRS when I felt it spin up.

You are not the only one that learned to pull that on that jump. I had my zipper get stuck and I fought with it till 2000 feet when I popped my toggles to head home only to find you with a White canopy (I originally thought you were LoudDan since I last saw him going low once I popped my wings ). If I had not looked over at the Altimeter about then I could easly have seen myself fighting with the bootie for another 500+ feet and then if I had a toggle issue I would have really been up a creek.

I should have pulled the LQRS but I did'nt want to have to mess with holding on to the cable and rethreading it. STUPID decision on my part. I should have pulled it and will pull it in a second if the situation ever pops up again. In talking with you afterwards it just reinforced my decision to pull that in a heartbeat in the future.

And don't bother with the video... No one wants to see me tumble.

Also what type of risers and inserts did you have?

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

No one wants to see me tumble.

There are plenty of no ones on this forum.

Post it.


Be safe.
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[jumpingbean001 0]

I wanna see..post it Jairo!


T

Let's have fun! :)

[crutch 0]

Jairo, what did the napkin at Applebees say

DOCILE

I didn't realize that was your first one! Hell no wonder you spent the night drinking! And anyone watching the video doubts you could have kicked out of those line twists, but the landings in the field are the best! I think the air over that field was funky since both you and eric biffed your landings!

[JGarcia 0]

I don't know, Phree... seems like there's a demand for this video! LOL... Besides, it'll be strictly for educational purposes!

The rig I was jumping was a Wings with the "Birdman" Modifications (or Wingsuit Mods, to be politically correct). Risers were the standard (longest) risers they come with (I believe they're 22 inches long). In speaking with Ankie at Sunrise Manufacturing, she informed me that they are currently changing the way the riser inserts are tacked on to the risers. From what I understand, their current method of attaching the riser insert to the cable channel would allow the riser insert to come free from the riser in case of riser trauma, such as my spinning line-twist malfunction.

They are sending me new inserts... I'll let you know what they physically look like, since I hadn't looked at them or noted specifically how they were tacked on originally. I'm a dealer for Wings, so there's quite a few of them running around my DZ. I'll make note of how the riser inserts are currently tacked onto the risers, and how it differs from the way they're attached on my 2nd rig's risers (Xaos-27 93 is on Mirage Risers); I'll post what I see on this thread.

Cheers!

--Jairo

Low Profile, snag free helmet mount for your Sony X3000 action cam!

[inzite 0]

What up Ro?
Glad to hear you saved your own life. Just wish I could have been there to see it (and enjoy the free beer). I'd always been wondering how long your were gonna be able to go before pulling silver
Have you posted the video anywhere? skydivingmovies.com? I'd like to check that out.
Hopefully I'll run into you again sometime at Williston - next time I can make it over there. After all, I still owe beer!
Again, congrats on not dying!!!
-- Will

[leroydb 0]

check out my near double mal on skydivingmovies.com. it is called bmsf3cutaway i think... very intense situtation

Leroy


..I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw my bath toys were a toaster and a radio...