Basejumper.com - archive

1st Jump on a new canopy, had a 180° on opening and looked up just intime to see the PC fall infront of the nose.

My DBS were on full.

The likelyhood of this happening again is pretty slim i guess.

funny for a canopy sponsored by SURVIval TEChnology

My Idea

I've only had it on a skydive on my second AFF jump. I've never seen or heard of it since then.

What was the wind doing?

headwind

I had this happen to me while I was on my 4secs delay, jumping with a rip cord rig. The PC has a heavy spring inside, which makes it more likely for this to happen.

Be careful though. After the canopy opened I didn't realise that the PC was like that and I went off to do some spins. Somehow the spins made the PC go (twice or so) around all the lines from one of the sides of the canopy and the bridle was squeezing all those lines together.

I had to land with one toggle all the way down and the other one up. No flare.

I think this is unlikely to happen on a base jump since there is no spring on the PC and usually not enough altitude for spining but if it does, you could end up with a rough landing... and tell the skydive students to watch out.

Once watched a fellow post whore
go hand-held in a strong tail wind
and end up with the bridle in his
lines, which he landed downwind
painfully with little flair & no PLF
thank God it was a plowed field.

Was the DBS a factory setting?
Did your opening experience surging?
How long was your delay?
Was your PC in trim, calibrated for symmetry?

Take care,
space

You can also get your PC caught in your brake lines, which results in a ton of fun on landing.

Factory DBS
no surging
7 secs
How do you mean 'in trim'? Yes - its a new 38" centre point PC. Looks to be ok.

7 seconds with slider up on DBS?
Why not shallow brakes? that probably contributed to it.

Why are you using DBS on a slider up jump?




Have you checked the symmetry of the PC?

As Dan_Inagap said. DBS slider up is generally not a good idea. But factory settings? hmmmm. It's hard to tell. The can cover a large range vs exit range.

about the 180,
As for the PC Trim. It has nothing to do with being new.
It has to do with the length of the tapes being equal in length. Secure the bridle and pull equally to see if they are equal in opposing pairs where they meet the skirt, then compare to one. if you notice the trim being out. If it is a fixed attachment point you cant do anything about it. If it is an unfixed, you can try to even it up.
Take care,
space.

I wanted to do a few drills and see how the canopy flew on max DB.
Next time - ill set it on the lowest setting.

Lowest? How many settings do you have?

Its a Seven, So there are 3. Two, close to Max and a Low setting.

See there is your problem. You chose the wrong Brand.

I've witnessed this occuring on 3 seperate occasions with 3 seperate jumpers/gear. I ve also seen it "almost" occur a few more times on top.

It was a while ago, I havent been in the field for a couple of years now, so I dont remember what we determined to be the issue or what the gear configs were.

Just thought I would mention due to the guessing of slim chances.

Play safe.

-M

Both me and the guy jumping after me had the pc coming over the front. Terminal jump. Guessing the wind is to blame.

By the time you reach terminal, there should be no relative crosswind/headwind/tailwind effect on the opening. Your falling body is already "in" the moving air mass by the time you reach terminal.

Thats true. I was thinking it could have come over just after opening. Thought it was weird getting two of those in a row with different jumpers and different gear.

Sometimes this:

Quick opening canopy that surges quickly forward, then snaps back. The pilot chute is burbled so it keeps moving downward faster than the air can cause it to trail behind the canopy. As the canopy snaps back it can fall in front.

Factors may include weight of the pilot chute, bridle length, speed of opening vs a canopy surge forward, then back magnified by tracking and or brake settings

If it happens to fall in back before the canopy snaps back, it can be trapped by the brake lines.

Pilot chutes fairly often hit the top of the canopy so it does stand to reason it will occassionally drop in front.

That happened a lot with spring loaded pilot chutes.

I always thought it was one of these guys smaller cousins creating mayhem!

aaroncosbey, Have you not been taught about PCsym? Get your instructor to contact me or Tom the moderator of the website. it is unbelievable almost that your instructor doesnt know about this issue.
I have nothing more to add to this conversation.
take care,
space

I am often surprised to learn how little material is covered in many "First Jump Courses."

thanks Tom, i wanted to give crap but backed off. So here is a question for FJC instructors and students.Do you do an inspection on the gear of your student? Last one I did found 3 missing bartacks and a PC that was out. The bartacks werent so critical. The PC was. I have in an MSexcel that I give to the student.
Take care,
space

I had a virgin show up with a packed BASE rig
loaned to him by his friend who at the time had
more BASE jumps than me. We were going out
to do my friend's first BASE jump...

I asked Xxxxx if he was comfortable trusting
his friend's gear configuration and pack job. I
forget his exact reply but remember the PC
was hooked up wrong, not going through both
the load tapes AND the center, sloppy knot,
and the brake lines were routted through the
guyed rings although packed slider-down.

That's debatable ;-)

Yeah, can't see nothing wrong with this part of the configuration. :)