1 more take-offs than landings.

[g.collins]

I reckon I could jump, I went up in a micro light once, it was an open cockpit like Wallace and grommet, when you only have one eye, it all looks flat, and I got the feeling I could step out, on to an Earth colored carpet. :o
Ill jump with you tiggerbiker, thou the spot landings may be hared, I would pull my control lines 6ft to early or to late.
regards G

[venquessa]

I`d never open the shute, not because i didnt want to, because i would have died from heart failure jumping in the first place lol

luckily you don't get a choice at this level.  the chute pull is attached to the back of the pilots seat.   as soon as you leave the plane its already deploying.

[FPVSteve]

In that case, with my luck, it'd get hooked on something and I'd be getting dragged along by the plane - would make for an interesting landing......  :o :o

;D

[venquessa]

I would pull my control lines 6ft to early or to late.

Actually my girlfriend flared early.  she jumped after me from same plane.  I seen her leave the plane and her chute open.

when I landed I watched her approach down the field.  the she sort of stopped dead about the height of a house up.  a good 20ft.  then down she came, straight down, thump, rolled over forward face first and jumped raging at herself.  she had a radio failure and was on her own the whole way down!

[Coyote]

Lol your accounts of this are ringing saftey alarms in my head now :)

[venquessa]

Lol your accounts of this are ringing saftey alarms in my head now :)

Obviously nobody can say jumping out of a plane is entirely safe.  :D The very nature of it is throwing yourself into a life threatening situation and then getting yourself back out of it again without injury and actually trying to enjoy it!

That said, everything you learn about is safety, safety, safety.  Problems you can solve and how, problems you can't solve and the emergency procedures for those.  There are very few single problems that could kill you.  Luckily multi malfunctions are very, very rare.

For example... the static line itself.  Both you and the instructor check it's properly attached while getting in.  When you get in the door to jump, critical, never forget item is, DO NOT GO UNLESS YOU HEAR "GOOOO!!!".  This allows the jump master to check your static line is clear of everything, actually sets the slack on your back, makes sure it can't be around any part of you, or someone else, quick visual check of your gear, then GOOO!!!!.  

What is you DO get caught in the line, like it loops round your hand or leg and you get hung up?  Well, the jump master will show you a knife, you grab your reserve handles and as soon as you feel the line cut, you do you emergency drill for reserve.

Most likely... there is about 10 feet of static line bolted to the pilots seat, about 1 foot from the end is a little pin that keeps the backpack (container) closed, as you hit the end of that line, about 1 second after you jumped the pin pops out and the pack opens like a flower to reveal a bag and lines zig-zagged up in elastics, the end of the static line is fixed to that bag, so the bag gets lifted off your back and the elastics pop off as the lines open out.  When the lines reach full extent, nice n straight up off your back and shoulders, the bag get ripped off the chute and it immedaitely gets inflated by the air stream, from the centre "nostril" out.  A bit of material on rings slides down the lines, it's job is to use the air stream to slow down the inflation by holding the left and right sets of lines together.... but as you slow it loses the battle slides right down to the risers and the chute fully inflates into a big fat wing.

Fairly likely problem straight off will be line twists.  Can't fly a parachute with line twists and it's not recommended to try.  Has to be fixed.  Simple enough, it's like a play park swing with the chains twisted up, just pull the twist and kick and swing round until they come out.  Trouble is, while unlikely they can twist up so bad they don't open as a straight wing, but a curved buckled wing and you go "sycamore seed" spinning rapidly straight down.  This one is a malfunction you don't play with.

So, LOOK - Find the cutaway and reserve handles, LOCATE - grab both handles tight, thumb in the reserve D ring on the left, cut away pad gripped tight in your right, CUT - Tear the cut away handle out of it's velcro'ed pocket, AWAY - Pull it down hard, all the way, this pulls a little cable out of a nylon ring at your shoulders, which allows a load bearing ring to disconnect and the main chute is gone, RESERVE - Pull the reserve handle.  ARCH - arch your body so you continue to fall belly down and allow the reserve to open behind you.

If you forget to pull the reserve, doesn't matter, it is pulled for you anyway by the main chute as it goes or as you fall from it, pulls the reserve deploy for you.

What if the static line fails and you have no deployment?  You'll get to "4 thousand, check canop.... SHIT, LOOK, LOCATE, CUT-AWAY, RESERVE, ARCH"

But... what if, what if you banged you head (how?) on the way out, or you just passed out.  Static line fails, somehow, you have no chute, but are unconscious.  Dead?  Nope.  On your left shoulder harness is a little barometer that messures pressure rise (from falling), if below 1,400ft (in my case) you are falling fast (ie. free fall), it will automatically deploy the reserve.  If your still unconscious then you might just land a bit hard, but you'll live... depending on where and on/in what you land.

[g.collins]

O! that's alright then :laugh:

[electricmick]

It all sounds so simple........

[FPVSteve]

That all sounds great and all, but ... do you get a free nappy?  :o

[venquessa]

Have to post this....

This is pretty much memory lane for me.

1st Parachute Jump Sean "Pat" Garrett RN-10.3.09


"Feet out!", "Arm down!", "Look up!"  "GOOOOO!", GONE!  !!ROAR!!, "OH MY HOLY GOOD F***ousand", "ITS OKAY THERES A PARACHUTE...ousand", "NOT GONNA DIE...ousand", "LURCH...ousand", "CHECK, CANOthank f***'ing youOPY!".  Not falling, good times, I have a wing and a landing zone.

[FPVSteve]

Guess what I won't be doing any time soon.  :o

Respect.

[venquessa]

Guess what I won't be doing any time soon.  :o

Respect.

2 jumps in.  It's a matter of trust in yourself.  If you don't trust yourself and you jump out of an airplane at 3,500ft then you will afterwards.  To throw yourself into what your instincts tell you is simple suicide, but trust it will be okay and it is.  The instant you are out of the plane you are on your own.  It doesn't matter how hard or how loud you scream, nobody will here you and even if they did what can they do?  It's you and yourself up there.[1]

But you do what you were trained  to do and you land in the right field, without even getting a bruise.   They can't teach you how to fly a canopy.  So, 1,000s of people every year launch from 3,500ft under a canopy wing and land in a small field, into the wind, correctly.  Go figure.  Man was born to fly!

Do it a lot and go higher and have your own chute release toggle... 10 or so jumps in, you really can fly!  No wing, no anything, you can fly... granted it's averaging 120mph descent, but you fly.

[1] Actually there is an earpiece connected to a radio so the ground observer can talk to you and talk you in on landing.  Remember, no motor, no go around.  Parachute glider angle is obscene!

[venquessa]

My First Static Line Parachute Jump

[venquessa]

Thought I'd post this... 
I decided to sit this one out so I could video the girlfriend from the landing site.

Caroline and Rajith Static Line Jump

The music was kinda chosen for me because there was another jumper who showed up in his car and had the boot open playing that tune.

[Coyote]

Pretty cool mate. Caroline wins on the landing, couldnt have been better by the looks of it.