Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: notesfiles - hp 1.2 08/01/83; site hp-pcd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!oliveb!hplabs!hp-pcd!kas From: kas@hp-pcd.UUCP (kas) Newsgroups: net.rec.skydive Subject: Re: USPA Boogie Tales Message-ID: <41800028@hpcvlo.UUCP> Date: Wed, 28-Aug-85 21:38:00 EDT Article-I.D.: hpcvlo.41800028 Posted: Wed Aug 28 21:38:00 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 7-Sep-85 06:08:17 EDT References: <41800023@hpcvlo.UUCP> Organization: Hewlett-Packard - Corvallis, OR Lines: 53 Nf-ID: #R:hpcvlo:41800023:hpcvlo:41800028:000:3325 Nf-From: hpcvlo!kas Aug 28 17:38:00 1985 Dane, Just a quickie (?) response to your question. Stay tuned for more stories next week. >....................................................... I will say, however, >that if I had been the guy on the bottom, I would not have been asking >questions all the way down to 1200'. My rule is 1800' if possible -- >1500' if it is not clear that I should cut away. Anything below that >I consider emergency territory! Was this one of the earlier jumps that you >made or did this happen towards the end of the trip? Congratulations on >getting down safely on this one. I agree that 1200' is a little low for comfort, and I wondered at the time why he was taking so long. Even after talking to him later, I still don't know. I think he was hedging his bets that either I would get untangled, or the canopy would somehow work its way loose and slip off. I was fairly sure that neither of those events would happen, because I was pretty firmly trussed. Besides, I frankly made little effort to untangle myself, because I couldn't see WHAT was wrapped around WHERE, since my head was pretty much buried. He tried for a while to "talk" me out of the tangle -- as in, "move your left leg back and to the right..." -- but you can guess how effective that was. In a way, I'm kind of glad he didn't cut-away immediately anyway. If he had, I may not have had a grip on his canopy yet, and it could possibly have slipped up my lines to my canopy when his weight was suddenly released. As I said before, it took quite awhile for me to wriggle loose enough to find my toggles, and get his canopy into a position that I felt I could hang onto it. The collision occured at about 2500', but it wasn't until we were down to 1500' that I felt like I had the situation under control. It was at that point that I told him I felt I could land us both together if he wanted to, but if he wanted to cut- away, he'd better do it now. Apparently, he mulled over his options a few more times before deciding to split. I'm sure I could have landed both of us safely, if he had chosen to stay with me, but the landing would have been a bit rough. I think he chose (correctly) to split because of the slight possibility that his canopy might slip off of me 50' off the deck, and then not have time to reinflate. A nasty possibility. Anyway, this jump occured right in the middle of the Boogie, on Friday. I jumped again a couple of hours later. Sort of like falling off a horse -- get up and keep at it. Your CRW story sounds scary indeed. Sort of convinces me that maybe I should leave well enough alone and stick to RW. I assume that the two fellows involved in the wrap were not tangled in canopies or lines, thus allowing them both to cut-away safely. I agree with your comment that freefall problems are probably easier to deal with, with the possible exception of high-speed collisions. But it is my impression that canopy wraps happen all the time, whereas high-speed collisions are rare. I did make a couple of futile attempts at CRW while I was there, but my canopy "floats" alot because it has such a high glide ratio. Nobody could pin me. If I ever do try it, it will have to be with someone who has a similar canopy, so that we are reasonably matched. Well, 'nough for now. Ken