Another parachute malfunction

JCranford

JCranford

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JCranford
Well crap, a had my 8th malfunction (in over 3500 jumps) yesterday. It was another tandem jump with a really excited old Marine 'nam vet. The guy was pumped up! Normal deployment and in the saddle by about 4000, except my head was getting squeezed by the risers and I knew I had line twists. Got my head loose and started working the line twists. I was trying to coordinate kicks with the passenger to free the lines. At 3000 ft I peeled the Velcro on the cutaway and reserve but felt some movement. I gave it one more try but by 2400 ft we were no more free than we started. Peel punch, peel punch!! Reserve out by 1800 or so and made a nice stand up landing on the DZ. I had a couple of the tandem camera guys who saw it all walk by and tell me 'dude, those looked gnarly!' Yeah, I know, I was there.

I might be pressing my luck.

Naaaa, probably not!
 
It's only a factor if your reserve fails in sequence.... The odds..??? Do the math, but figure the reserve will fail less often due to professional packing.
 
Sometimes it's body position at deployment. Sometimes (probably in this case) an older stretched line set on the canopy.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
It wasn't meant to burn, if I know him he will take it the right way! (fully expecting termite jokes from him)
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Man I wish I had thought if the termite thing. That's funny. This was the best I could come up with:
images
 
Now I'm kind of surprised the cirrus doesn't have a backup chute
 
Glad you made it down slowly. People make a very sick thud when they burn in and bounce.
 
In all my 100 or 101 sport jumps, not one malfunction to report! LOL And I have not jumped in several years. Not sure if I will again.

I am glad you had another successful reserve save JCranford! I know a malfunction is inevitable the more jumps a person has and you have plenty. Blue skies!

David
 
I was gonna come down to Texas to jump with you, but now I'm rethinking that.
 
What kind of chute, what kind of failure?

I'm just curious. I haven't been around parachutes since I got out of the Marine Corps in the 70's. I had been trained as a rigger for ejection seats, but only occasionally got involved with packing the whole time.

Back then, I watched civilian jumpers repack right in the landing area. They'd wrap the pilot chute around the wind sock pole and have someone lean back on the harness to apply tension while they whipped, folded and bagged it, then hopped right back on the plane. No buddy jumping back then.

I did make 3 jumps myself, one at NATTC Lakehurst, no records of anything. First jump was Navy, 3 second freefall (no static line) in a tuck position out of a C-46. I was one terrified Marine!
 
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kontiki said:
What kind of chute, what kind of failure?

I'm just curious. I haven't been around parachutes since I got out of the Marine Corps in the 70's. I had been trained as a rigger for ejection seats, but only occasionally got involved with packing the whole time.

Back then, I watched civilian jumpers repack right in the landing area. They'd wrap the pilot chute around the wind sock pole and have someone lean back on the harness to apply tension while they whipped and folded, bag it, and hop right back on the plane. No buddy jumping back then.

I did make 3 jumps myself, one at NATTC Lakehurst, no records of anything. First jump was Navy, 3 second freefall (no static line) in a tuck position out of a C-46. I was one terrified Marine!
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I have never heard of that packing method. These days it's "pro" pack, "flat" pack or "psycho" pack. I think there is a "trash" pack method also.
 
rolivi said:
The chute is SUPPOSED to be the backup. But you Cirrus guys can afford to buy new planes after each landing, so have at it.
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Did you see what 6PC got last time he bought new in his last video though? It didn't look like the newest plane. lOL
 
kontiki said:
What kind of chute, what kind of failure?
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Chute was a Strong 360 tandem. Mal was unrecoverable line twists. No matter how much I kicked to get out I never made more than 1/2 a turn of progress. I tried from 4000 agl to below hard deck at 2400 agl. You cannot steer or flare with line twists. Youre kinda like a Cirrus, youre at the mercy of the wind.
 
flhrci said:
I have never heard of that packing method. These days it's "pro" pack, "flat" pack or "psycho" pack. I think there is a "trash" pack method also.
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That's roughly a method to pack a round. Fit's with the 70's description.
 
flhrci said:
Did you see what 6PC got last time he bought new in his last video though? It didn't look like the newest plane. lOL
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He put all that money into the headset with the Danger Zone button!
 
Lady that goes to my church jumps. I don't know how long she has been doing it, but she is evidently an instructor. She must be seventy. She is older than I am. But she has been trying to get me to jump tandem with her for years, and I keep telling her I'm married.
 
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