Parachuters ?

[PpPete]

Not a chute problem - but I had something of a harness problem on my one and only static line jump at Aldershot some 3 decades ago.
I'm tall and was quite skinny back then. The PTI who tightened my harness was somewhat muscle-bound and very enthusiastic in his duties - with the result that I was somewhat scrunched up and it wasn't easy to walk out to the aircraft.
Hanging on the chute, that meant I couldn't get my legs underneath my body. Instead they went forward at a distinct angle. My heels hit the ground first, and slid rapidly and uncontrollably away, depositing me on my arse, fortunately without injury.

 

[flatflr]

Anyone out there can enlighten me and perhaps put my mind at rest....
Work today, there's a parachuting centre maybe 2 or 3 miles away across flat fields. Been a lot of jumpers today but late on I was looking across the fields and saw a group of 6 or so coming down and I said to mu colleague....that doesnt look right. Chute seemed to be flapping vertically, falling vertically and much faster than the rest of them. No drop in speed (it wasnt going super fast but too fast to avoid probable injury I'd have thought) as it neared the ground.

Question...if you were forced to deploy emergency chute, would you jettison ypur main chute...is that what I possibly saw ?

We did ring the centre to tell what we'd seen...I couldnt let it go unsaid in case someone was laid injured in a field. They did mention an emergency chute but the conversation was a bit garbled.

Falling like that it sounds like a canopy that had already been "cut away" due to a malfunction, the jumper should have already been under their reserve canopy.

I've jumped at Sibson quite a few time and they have a system where they count the canopies as they open so they will be well aware they there will have been a cut away. Some drop zones make one check in when you land.

The automatic devices that a few people have talked about are AADs (automatic activation devices) and will activate the reserve canopy if the jumper is at 150ft falling at 75mph (from memory).

I've jumped at 8 drop zones in the UK and they all operate under the same rules defined by the BPA (British Parachute Association).

Nick

 

[midlife]

Slighty off topic, when we were in the cubs we visited some Army place that hgad a scaffold type apparatus that we jumped off and it swung to the ground simulating a parachute drop. We practiced on the ground sort of bending at the knee, then the hip and rolling sideways with legs straight hitting the ground last.

One by one we lined up and one by one we all landed like a sack of spuds.....how there were no broken bones beggars belief.

Shaun