Good first jump

Why can't they all be as good as this? Being an AFFI would be a walk in the park:-)
(jump from last weekend)

Things more important than safety - part 1

As I described a few posts earlier, I had a problem with my reserve container: it didn't open when I pulled silver (luckily, this happened on the ground, the canopy needed a repack). The spring failed to push open the reserve-container.

I'd like to go into some detail of this. If this technical stuff is not your cup of tea, no problem, just watch my videos and read my other posts. But otherwise, read and weep...

My Atom rig (Parachutes de France) was designed for a cutter that was placed on the bottom of the container, but PdF issued a bulletin that the cutter had to be relocated above the pilot chute. Same goes for Wings and Mirage rigs. So now the cutter is placed on the lateral flap, and the extractor has to slide past it to push open the reserve container, and that's where things went wrong: the top-plateau of the extractor stayed stuck behind all the extra webbing and tape on the (now much more rigid) flap.


This modification was required by Airtec after an incident report (in Russia, if my memory is correct), about delays in reserve opening if the loop were way too long and not siliconized (2 major repack faults - in that case do not change the equipment, change the Rigger …).

I believe that this modification that creates blocking of the reserve container is far more dangerous than the problem it tries to solve.

I also believe that safety was not Airtec's prime concern, but a pretext to create problems at Vigil by imposing a set-up where the cutters with plastic inserts were easily dammed between the hard pilot chute top and the grommet (quiet a hot topic at the time, maybe you remember).

Disclaimer: I am not a rigger, I have no interest in Parachutes de France or any of their competitors. I am just a skydiver who has been around for some time, and I represent no one but myself.

In the second part of this mini-series, I'll talk about the solution that PdF proposed to this situation.

Busy

There's not enough lift capacity at our DZ. Only 1 Cessna Caravan that will take 18 skydivers. Only 1. Whenever we try to operate 2 planes, we have trouble with our local traffic control (we're in the waiting zone for the Brussels National airport). And our club already operates three DZ's. And Belgium is so full and so crowded and so over-regulated that it's virtually impossible to start a new DZ. It's gonna be a tough summer. Isn't it hard when you're spoiled rotten? Luxury problems are problems too, I guess :-)

So it was the first really-good-weather weekend of the year. I arrived on saturday around 10.00 AM, and I only made three jumps during the whole day. I want more!!!

First was a level 1. The guy, a Columbian, made a really great jump. He was really into it, doing everything as was briefed, reacting and interacting with us, enjoying himself tremendously. On landing he misplaced a foot and broke his ankle. :-{ So not that great a jump after all. Just pure and simple bad luck. I'll try to add his video one of these days.

Next a 2-way sitfly with a newbie. He was mainly blobbing around on his back, trying (and failing) to push himself up into sit. I managed to stay within a few meters of him, and to slow down enough to stay with him. Yahoo!

A level 2 next. Not a good jump (but he didn't hurt himself at landing, so maybe a good jump after all). He was nervous, but he started off well, a good exit, a bad body position, no reaction to our signs, and gradually the skydive overwhelmed him. As the dive progressed, he got worse, and at 5500 ft, there was nobody home anymore. So what's the most important thing of your dive? PULL!

All the remaining loads for the day were booked, so we had to start early on the beers.

I am late, the first load has already filled up when I arrive. When fitting is called for the first load, it appears there was a mix-up somewhere, and there is one place left. Of course, I volunteer to take it :-) There are three other bellyfliers on the load, so we quickly brief a 4-way. Those three other guys are all experienced 4-way team jumpers. I'm not.

I am point. The jump is easy and quick: sidebody, open acc, donut, yuan, satellite. Exit is good. First time round, the yuan-satellite transition is not good. It feels like I move away from my partner. Well, let's do better... Second time, same problem, so apparently it's what I'm trying to do that's wrong. Third time, I try to change the axis of the satellite a bit, but it still doesn't work. Fourth time, the jump is now going so fast I can't think anymore, I am happy to just remember what I need to do. After that, I loose count. Maybe I should do more 4-ways. They are fun! Or we could brief for more than 30 seconds, or even use creepers. Anyway, great jump!

Some more people join us. Next is an 8-way, with a beautiful brain-lock by Jos. He docks on the wrong person, I wave him to his slot, and while flying he signals sorry. One guy didn't even notice there was something wrong. But another good jump.

Another 8-way, another good jump, more difficult than the last (frisbee, slot switchers, etc), but I'm not very happy with my own flying. No big mistakes but too low on exit, a bit of level on a back-in, those small annoying things.

Last jump of the day is a 6-way: a funnel exit, somebody falling on my back (a block move where our piece turns backwards and is to be picked up by a guy coming out of a vertical move - I didn't make this up), etc. A real zoo jump.

But we have a couple of good laughs afterwards, playing the videos of our jumps in the cafetaria :-)

First...

... AFF's of the year. A guy who went to level 5 last year and than he took a winter-break. Last jump was October. So, let's start with a level 3 for him. Clouds are low (2000 to 2500 ft) but there are enough see-through holes. So it is very beautiful under canopy above the clouds, you can see what you are doing and where you are going, and you get that incredible feel of speed when you are flying your canopy passed a cloud, or through some haze. Yiihaaa!

The jump is difficult. The student is nervous, burns a whole through the sky at over 140 mph, has a backslide, and can't stop turning. It takes us all of the jump to sort this out.

Because I saw him readjusting and improving during this jump, I don't expact problems for the next one, but nevertheless, rather than going straight to level 6, we agree to do a level 5 first, to be absolutely sure that hoover-control and starting/stopping turns are in the bag. And he makes a beautiful level 5 indeed.



Also his canopy work is good. Approach, wind-check, clean circuit, and a good landing in the area he aimed for.

After this one, level 6 is great fun. We both had a good day!

2 quick jumps

Strange things are hapening... The hardcore jumpers who turn up early, who turn up even if the weather isn't too great, are today a bunch flockers, VRW team jumpers and freeflyers. That used to be the FS teams.

2 sitflys and a few beers today.

hmmm...

Another typical winter jumping day. Sunny and cold, not many people around, and those nice, relaxed jumps that only seem to happen off-season. 3 FS jumps today, a 5, a 6 and a 7-way.

Karel had his new camera-and-lens today. He made some jumps with us to test it. Looks OK to me :-) Thx Karel!

It is nice to see an FS jump from a tandem camera position, rather than a top view. It also shows very clearly the fall rate problems we had, all the wobbling going on. The oldest guy in this jump is in his seventies(!), the "youngest" in his thirties.


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I am the one in the white jumpsuit. Can you spot my 3 brain locks? One of them is obvious (I go for zipper instead of cat), but the other two are harder to spot. But I knew it when I was doing (or rather not doing) it. Maybe a little too relaxed? Anyway, I like jumps like this. And I'm not alone. We all had a good time.

And I like a beer afterwards :-)