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From: mark@nyit.UUCP (Mark Smith)
Newsgroups: net.rec.skydive
Subject: To cutaway or not to cutaway...
Message-ID: <144@nyit.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-Nov-85 20:14:30 EST
Article-I.D.: nyit.144
Posted: Fri Nov 29 20:14:30 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 2-Dec-85 03:18:24 EST
References: <476@spice.cs.cmu.edu> <365@link.UUCP> <1321@poseidon.UUCP> <135@nyit.UUCP> <1325@poseidon.UUCP>
Organization: NYIT Computer Graphics Lab., Old Westbury, N.Y.
Lines: 47

> If you have been trained never to touch your capewells then
> it's better to stick with the way you have been trained.
>
> ...                                         I'm not sure
> how easy it would be to collapse a fully inflated reserve.
> I'm sure it would not be an easy job given just a few
> minutes of canopy time.    ....
> 
> Two canopies out occurs most commonly because the student
> dumps the reserve during deployment of the main - perhaps
> because of a pilot chute hesitation.  ....
> 
> Do you know what kind of reserve you have ?  It should at least
> be steerable so you can turn into wind for landing.

	I'm told pulling in an inflated reserve is difficult,
	especially at the end.  There is a good chance of accidently
	letting go of it and having it inflate again.

...

	Actually, they trained me to come down under the main if
	at all possible.  When I look up to check my canopy and
	see its plural, then the thing to do, that I left out
	in my previous description, was to check the main chute.
	If the main chute is okay, then come down on that.  If
	it's not, then I should use the capwells and cutaway.

	The reserve is a round 28 (I'm not sure of anything else
	about it) and the main is what they called a 'jumbo'
	paracommander (I'm a big guy, +200 lbs). The reserves are
	steerable, but don't have toggles on them; the steering lines
	have to	be identified while under canopy.  They're very
	simple and have no sleeves or other dampening devices on them.

	What it comes down to, I guess, is that if you have to
	down under a canopy (which is the preferred way of course),
	it might as well be the main chute.

						Mark
-- 

				Mark Smith

				NYIT Computer Graphics Laboratory
				Old Westbury, New York
				...{philabs,sbcs}!nyit!mark