After another tunnel session and a relaxed fun 3-way, it seemed as though all the flat flyers at Nethers had gone into hibernation so I planned a trip back to Sibson to find some FS coaches to do my FS1 dive. Did one relaxed practice jump with Rich and dirt-dived with him, Sam and Fiona but the weather closed in so had to wait until the following day to actually do the 4-way. Sam was working so Pam took the tail slot and agreed to film. And I passed! Still loads to work on, some of which I tackled on another tunnel session but it was fantastic to just be able to turn up back at Nethers and jump with Steve, and then with Neil and Gabriel. The 3-way was great fun - linked exit with Neil and Gabriel diving after, then open accordion followed by flying around the formation to take grips on the other person :-)
And I packed for myself ! Steve helped me get the canopy into the D-bag when I was struggling the first time, then the second time I did it all myself. Lovely soft opening, and very happy that I am now properly independent and can just rock up at any DZ and find someone to jump with. Currently takes me about 30-40 mins to pack (which tends to include a second effort at preparing the canopy to go in the D-bag, lol) but that will improve with practice as I have to take lots of rests. Maddy showed Gabriel a different way to get the canopy into the D-bag so I will try that next time I pack.
Next canopy course with Brian Vacher booked for April though I shall try and keep jumping through the winter to stay current. Maybe a trip to the Algarve boogie in late March, or just a chill-out visit to Spain for a long weekend. My canopy handling has definitely improved as I stood up 2 nil-wind landings at Netheravon and landed neatly on the grass at Sibson even with the wind changing direction whilst we were in the air.
Could have jumped on Sat on the last day of the season for Sibson but I had a nasty cold and couldn't concentrate so went back to bed and had a duvet day instead. Felt very decadent to just laze in bed listening to the tannoy announcements and the plane taking off and landing :-) Turned out to be a very wise decision as my cold developed into a hacking cough and vicious sore throat - definitely not worth the freezing temperatures of freefall and under canopy!
Tuesday 16 December 2014
Saturday 22 November 2014
Wow - what a change! Nov 2014 (yes, another break!)
So BIG difference now! I have my B licence!!! And I have a rig!!! And am well on the way to my FS1 qualification. Back to being very excited about skydiving, I just need to be able to jump with other people and this will be a whole new activity :-)
So what prompted the change? Basically, Sibson becoming a lousy place for fun jumpers! After managing one jump, I was essentially looking at several hours before being manifested again due to the very high volume of tandems. After the trip to Chatteris, I was excited about jumping again, but ended up having another break due to weather and dad being in hospital.
Came back to it at Netheravon with Rich after he qualified as an FS coach. More difficult to get jumps in due to waiting so long for hire kit to be packed, but did my first 3-way (thanks Donna!) with another recently qualified coach. It didn't quite go according to plan but we had fun anyway. Since I am Rich's guinea-pig for coaching, he isn't charging me for his jumps and Donna joined us as she was at a loose end because Matt was wing-suiting. Did more 2-ways with Rich and started to work through the FS requirements properly and finally managed to move sideways through the air without spinning.
Another weekend at Nethers, and I got my swoop-to-pin signed off (nailed it!!) on another fun 3-way. And more critically, I got my spotting signed off and the CCI signed off my B licence application!! So I am finally able to do long-term kit hire. And now I have a funky black and grey Silhouette 190 in a green and purple Vortex rig and am waiting impatiently for the weather to improve so I can go and jump it :-) Going to be a lot of pre-seconds on that jump, lol. My own rig (hired for 6 months), first time on a 190, first collapsible slider, pud instead of a hackey for a pull..... I've jumped my own pack jobs before but it's been a while since I last packed so will need to practice that again, but have already played with getting the D-bag into the rig and closing it up, then cocking the pilot chute and stowing it. And I pulled the cutaway and put it all back together again correctly (under Rich's strict supervision :-) ) so that was fine too.
So what prompted the change? Basically, Sibson becoming a lousy place for fun jumpers! After managing one jump, I was essentially looking at several hours before being manifested again due to the very high volume of tandems. After the trip to Chatteris, I was excited about jumping again, but ended up having another break due to weather and dad being in hospital.
Came back to it at Netheravon with Rich after he qualified as an FS coach. More difficult to get jumps in due to waiting so long for hire kit to be packed, but did my first 3-way (thanks Donna!) with another recently qualified coach. It didn't quite go according to plan but we had fun anyway. Since I am Rich's guinea-pig for coaching, he isn't charging me for his jumps and Donna joined us as she was at a loose end because Matt was wing-suiting. Did more 2-ways with Rich and started to work through the FS requirements properly and finally managed to move sideways through the air without spinning.
Another weekend at Nethers, and I got my swoop-to-pin signed off (nailed it!!) on another fun 3-way. And more critically, I got my spotting signed off and the CCI signed off my B licence application!! So I am finally able to do long-term kit hire. And now I have a funky black and grey Silhouette 190 in a green and purple Vortex rig and am waiting impatiently for the weather to improve so I can go and jump it :-) Going to be a lot of pre-seconds on that jump, lol. My own rig (hired for 6 months), first time on a 190, first collapsible slider, pud instead of a hackey for a pull..... I've jumped my own pack jobs before but it's been a while since I last packed so will need to practice that again, but have already played with getting the D-bag into the rig and closing it up, then cocking the pilot chute and stowing it. And I pulled the cutaway and put it all back together again correctly (under Rich's strict supervision :-) ) so that was fine too.
Monday 1 September 2014
Tunnel time and decisions to be made
Managed another jump on Thursday, this time on the Nav 200 and landed it fine. It's a bit quicker at turns but I still came almost straight down on my final leg so doesn't feel very different to the 240 and 260!
Actually went up to jump Andy's rig but it turned out to be way too big for me so no point in buying it. Tried on a couple of rigs that are actually sized for me and there is a massive difference between student hire kit and a rig that fits properly. Damo thought he might have a rig that would suit me better but so far haven't heard from him, so presumably it's been sold already. Still need to decide whether I'm going to continue jumping - I could easily quit, it's not that interesting jumping solo and it will take quite a bit of commitment to get my FS1 so I can jump with other people. Tunnel last night was great fun and I am still improving though not sure it's enough for my qualification. And Sibson is turning into a tandem factory so it's getting increasingly difficult to jump there. 134 lined up for the weekend after next!! The reason for that became rather more apparent after seeing a post on the forums asking for applications for several staff positions at Beccles including TI's and a CCI. Not sure what happened but it was obviously pretty drastic! And since the tandems at Beccles partially fund the fun jumping at Sibson, it's easy to see why more tandems are needed at Sibson whilst Beccles is sorted out.
Still very ambivalent about continuing, there are plenty of other things I could do with my life, but there is still a niggle that says if I just get my B licence and FS1 and then see how things are, my perspective might be very different. We shall see....
Actually went up to jump Andy's rig but it turned out to be way too big for me so no point in buying it. Tried on a couple of rigs that are actually sized for me and there is a massive difference between student hire kit and a rig that fits properly. Damo thought he might have a rig that would suit me better but so far haven't heard from him, so presumably it's been sold already. Still need to decide whether I'm going to continue jumping - I could easily quit, it's not that interesting jumping solo and it will take quite a bit of commitment to get my FS1 so I can jump with other people. Tunnel last night was great fun and I am still improving though not sure it's enough for my qualification. And Sibson is turning into a tandem factory so it's getting increasingly difficult to jump there. 134 lined up for the weekend after next!! The reason for that became rather more apparent after seeing a post on the forums asking for applications for several staff positions at Beccles including TI's and a CCI. Not sure what happened but it was obviously pretty drastic! And since the tandems at Beccles partially fund the fun jumping at Sibson, it's easy to see why more tandems are needed at Sibson whilst Beccles is sorted out.
Still very ambivalent about continuing, there are plenty of other things I could do with my life, but there is still a niggle that says if I just get my B licence and FS1 and then see how things are, my perspective might be very different. We shall see....
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Back in the air after a 2 month break
Skydiving has taken rather a back seat over this summer, partly due to adopting my collie-cross Lady and partly due to having so many other things to do.
I did manage a demo course with Conrad in March and a canopy course with Brian Vacher in June and finally made it to LPS when they were open and have done a few jumps with them too. Still on Nav 240/260 canopies - did try a Spectre 210 once at LPS and had so many 'got away with it' moments during that canopy ride that I haven't tried it again. Skydiving is not a forgiving sport.....
So finally got back to Sibson on Friday for an Advanced First Aid for Skydiving course - absolutely brilliant course, well worth attending so definitely worth the slog of a drive up from Exmoor!
Weather was a bit dubious on Saturday, plus about 60 tandems were in with only the SMG 9 seater available for jumping. I managed one jump on load 3, then my next manifest wasn't until load 11! By that time the wind had got up, it was raining intermittently and I decided not to jump. Several people decamped to Chatteris and after initially declining the invitation, once I was on the A1 and the sun came out, I changed my mind. Good decision! Although the weather meant I couldn't jump again on the Saturday, I got 4 good jumps in on Sunday, all 2-way practice jumps for my FS1 qualification. So I practiced matching fall rates, turns, docking and even a couple of attempts at swoop to pin :-) I also had a go at being the outside person keying the exit which didn't go too badly - nearly lost it on the hill but managed to regain stability at the last moment by remembering to straighten my legs - think I will be filling the beer fine fridge next time I'm up there, lol.
I have more tunnel time booked on 31 Aug so hopefully will refine my turns and side slides and if the weather plays fair, will have another go up in the air mid-week.
I did manage a demo course with Conrad in March and a canopy course with Brian Vacher in June and finally made it to LPS when they were open and have done a few jumps with them too. Still on Nav 240/260 canopies - did try a Spectre 210 once at LPS and had so many 'got away with it' moments during that canopy ride that I haven't tried it again. Skydiving is not a forgiving sport.....
So finally got back to Sibson on Friday for an Advanced First Aid for Skydiving course - absolutely brilliant course, well worth attending so definitely worth the slog of a drive up from Exmoor!
Weather was a bit dubious on Saturday, plus about 60 tandems were in with only the SMG 9 seater available for jumping. I managed one jump on load 3, then my next manifest wasn't until load 11! By that time the wind had got up, it was raining intermittently and I decided not to jump. Several people decamped to Chatteris and after initially declining the invitation, once I was on the A1 and the sun came out, I changed my mind. Good decision! Although the weather meant I couldn't jump again on the Saturday, I got 4 good jumps in on Sunday, all 2-way practice jumps for my FS1 qualification. So I practiced matching fall rates, turns, docking and even a couple of attempts at swoop to pin :-) I also had a go at being the outside person keying the exit which didn't go too badly - nearly lost it on the hill but managed to regain stability at the last moment by remembering to straighten my legs - think I will be filling the beer fine fridge next time I'm up there, lol.
I have more tunnel time booked on 31 Aug so hopefully will refine my turns and side slides and if the weather plays fair, will have another go up in the air mid-week.
Wednesday 19 February 2014
Tunnel time - 15 Feb 2014
15 mins of tunnel time with Sam and Charlotte and I have definitely learned some new techniques to try. I am still very tense when I'm concentrating which means I have a tendency to 'pop up' the tunnel - I had 9 rounds in the tunnel altogether and the last 2 where I played Tunnel Twister with Charlotte were definitely the best. She moved round the tunnel and touched the wall, then I followed and tried to touch the same place. I was so much more relaxed and was able to turn and adjust height without having to think about it so much. Well, going up was easy enough, getting down again took a bit more effort, lol. I am still very floaty!
I need to find some way of piling up cushions or something so I can practice the coordination of dropping a shoulder and the opposite knee for turns, then dropping a shoulder and the same knee for side-sliding. Forward and back isn't too much of an issue, I have to do that a lot anyway when I bump into the tunnel walls, rofl.
Taking grips will be more challenging. I only tried once and couldn't get low enough to Charlotte so made the mistake of reaching down for the grip and flipped onto my back. Was able to flip back again relatively easily but it was obviously a case of trying to do a little too much all at once.
More tunnel time booked with Kye in March so hopefully I'll remember enough to be able to progress a little more. Won't really have much time to practice in free fall as I'm busy for the next 2 weekends, then the following weekend will be concentrating on hop and pops for the demo course so won't have any free fall time.
I need to find some way of piling up cushions or something so I can practice the coordination of dropping a shoulder and the opposite knee for turns, then dropping a shoulder and the same knee for side-sliding. Forward and back isn't too much of an issue, I have to do that a lot anyway when I bump into the tunnel walls, rofl.
Taking grips will be more challenging. I only tried once and couldn't get low enough to Charlotte so made the mistake of reaching down for the grip and flipped onto my back. Was able to flip back again relatively easily but it was obviously a case of trying to do a little too much all at once.
More tunnel time booked with Kye in March so hopefully I'll remember enough to be able to progress a little more. Won't really have much time to practice in free fall as I'm busy for the next 2 weekends, then the following weekend will be concentrating on hop and pops for the demo course so won't have any free fall time.
Seville Round 2 - Big Success :-)
So I'm back from Skydive Spain with renewed enthusiasm and having had a lot of fun, despite unusually bad weather there too!
I only got one jump in on my first day due to weather, then no jumping at all for 2 days, followed by 5 great jumps on my last day :-) I also downsized from the Nav 240 I was jumping in December to a Nav 220 and stood up all my landings, so my canopy handling hasn't suffered too much from a 2 month break.
I asked about exiting the plane in the most stable position for a low altitude exit and have now learned how to do a float exit - so easy! Can't believe I was ever nervous of trying to climb out of the plane, lol. After having a couple of goes at it, I was then coaxed into doing a coached FS1 jump with Jacobo for my 3rd jump of the day. After some instructions and practice on the creeper, we had a go at fall rates. And it went surprisingly well. I suspect that tunnel time probably helped as I have done a little work on matching fall rates and learning to go higher and lower in the tunnel, though the techniques are slightly different in free fall. Jacobo videoed it for me and we managed to get it onto my phone SD card so at some point I have to figure out how to get it onto YouTube so I can post a link :-)
I did another couple of solo jumps to practice the techniques but was too tired to do another coached jump, plus it was getting late in the day and it was very cold at altitude so my hands were suffering, despite all the precautions with surgical gloves inside my leather gloves to protect from wind chill.
I will come back in March to do some more coached jumps - it will still be way too cold to go to altitude in the UK, and it's rare that we get above 13,000' anyway, whereas in Seville they always go to 15,000 which gives that bit extra time in freefall for practising new manouevres!
The tunnel scrambles were also great fun, though a little frustrating. It's now very apparent that although I have improved a lot since last time, I am definitely the very weakest link to a team through my lack of ability to turn in place and to match fall rates with several people at once. I ended up with 24lbs of lead on me to keep me down with everyone else, since I am so floaty, despite a very close-fitting 'fast' jumpsuit. I also don't have booties on my suit which apparently will make a difference - time to get some more tunnel coaching since I can't jump in this rubbish weather anyway!
I only got one jump in on my first day due to weather, then no jumping at all for 2 days, followed by 5 great jumps on my last day :-) I also downsized from the Nav 240 I was jumping in December to a Nav 220 and stood up all my landings, so my canopy handling hasn't suffered too much from a 2 month break.
I asked about exiting the plane in the most stable position for a low altitude exit and have now learned how to do a float exit - so easy! Can't believe I was ever nervous of trying to climb out of the plane, lol. After having a couple of goes at it, I was then coaxed into doing a coached FS1 jump with Jacobo for my 3rd jump of the day. After some instructions and practice on the creeper, we had a go at fall rates. And it went surprisingly well. I suspect that tunnel time probably helped as I have done a little work on matching fall rates and learning to go higher and lower in the tunnel, though the techniques are slightly different in free fall. Jacobo videoed it for me and we managed to get it onto my phone SD card so at some point I have to figure out how to get it onto YouTube so I can post a link :-)
I did another couple of solo jumps to practice the techniques but was too tired to do another coached jump, plus it was getting late in the day and it was very cold at altitude so my hands were suffering, despite all the precautions with surgical gloves inside my leather gloves to protect from wind chill.
I will come back in March to do some more coached jumps - it will still be way too cold to go to altitude in the UK, and it's rare that we get above 13,000' anyway, whereas in Seville they always go to 15,000 which gives that bit extra time in freefall for practising new manouevres!
The tunnel scrambles were also great fun, though a little frustrating. It's now very apparent that although I have improved a lot since last time, I am definitely the very weakest link to a team through my lack of ability to turn in place and to match fall rates with several people at once. I ended up with 24lbs of lead on me to keep me down with everyone else, since I am so floaty, despite a very close-fitting 'fast' jumpsuit. I also don't have booties on my suit which apparently will make a difference - time to get some more tunnel coaching since I can't jump in this rubbish weather anyway!
Sunday 26 January 2014
26 Jan - Rubbish weather, looking forward to Seville :-)
To be fair, I haven't tried that hard to jump - it's been cold and frequently wet and windy and I haven't felt inclined to drive for hours to one of the few dropzones that are open in the winter, just on the off-chance I might be able to squeeze in one or two jumps.
But it's now just over a week until I fly back out to Seville for a few days and hopefully that will make a massive difference. I'm trying not to set myself any expectations on how many jumps I might manage to jam into 5 days, though a sneaky little voice keeps telling me that 20 would be nice to bring me up to my first 50, lol. A tall order perhaps, I'll be grateful for some sun and some warmth to start off with :-)
Before I head off, I have the tunnel scrambles at Bedford on 01st Feb which should be fun and hopefully will help me remember what an arch feels like, lol. It seems like a very long time since I last jumped (8th December!) so I am a little nervous of heading back out to Seville which wasn't the most forgiving of landing areas, to put it mildly. But at least there won't be mud swamps!
And I have more tunnel time with a bit of 4-way coaching booked for mid Feb so I may slowly get coaxed towards my FS1. But my main focus is still on my canopy handling so really looking forward to my Canopy Course with Brian Vacher in June. That seems so far away right now, but I guess that means more time to practice my CH2 and there's also Conrad's demo course in March. Now that's going to be challenging, lol. At least it's all hop and pops so even if it's cold, hopefully I won't suffer too much, but I can't really see the weather cooperating too well that early in the season! I like hop and pops so not too bothered about the exits though I'm not certain about the actual exit I'm supposed to be using. I've only ever dived or jumped, I've not held onto the plane so that will be new. Maybe I can get someone to show me some options in Seville. My main concern is the accuracy of the landings - I'm doing this to learn new stuff, not to have any hope of qualifying, rofl. And I'll be way low on jump numbers anyway since the minimum is 100. But at least I may be able to help out on the ground - assuming I go back to Sibson. Not sure if it's a generic qualification and if so, where it might get recorded. A separate certificate like a packing certificate? Might have to have a quick Google of that :-)
But it's now just over a week until I fly back out to Seville for a few days and hopefully that will make a massive difference. I'm trying not to set myself any expectations on how many jumps I might manage to jam into 5 days, though a sneaky little voice keeps telling me that 20 would be nice to bring me up to my first 50, lol. A tall order perhaps, I'll be grateful for some sun and some warmth to start off with :-)
Before I head off, I have the tunnel scrambles at Bedford on 01st Feb which should be fun and hopefully will help me remember what an arch feels like, lol. It seems like a very long time since I last jumped (8th December!) so I am a little nervous of heading back out to Seville which wasn't the most forgiving of landing areas, to put it mildly. But at least there won't be mud swamps!
And I have more tunnel time with a bit of 4-way coaching booked for mid Feb so I may slowly get coaxed towards my FS1. But my main focus is still on my canopy handling so really looking forward to my Canopy Course with Brian Vacher in June. That seems so far away right now, but I guess that means more time to practice my CH2 and there's also Conrad's demo course in March. Now that's going to be challenging, lol. At least it's all hop and pops so even if it's cold, hopefully I won't suffer too much, but I can't really see the weather cooperating too well that early in the season! I like hop and pops so not too bothered about the exits though I'm not certain about the actual exit I'm supposed to be using. I've only ever dived or jumped, I've not held onto the plane so that will be new. Maybe I can get someone to show me some options in Seville. My main concern is the accuracy of the landings - I'm doing this to learn new stuff, not to have any hope of qualifying, rofl. And I'll be way low on jump numbers anyway since the minimum is 100. But at least I may be able to help out on the ground - assuming I go back to Sibson. Not sure if it's a generic qualification and if so, where it might get recorded. A separate certificate like a packing certificate? Might have to have a quick Google of that :-)
Tuesday 14 January 2014
12 Jan - Packing practice and my tangle test !
Had planned to try and jump at Langar today if the weather had been kind but it is bitterly cold - got down to -2 degrees C on my drive up last night and it was no better this morning! Lots of frost on the cars and rooftops - I like my fingers attached to my body, there's no way I'm even doing hop and pops in these temperatures, lol.
So pro-packing practice it is then :-) It's been a few weeks since I last did a practice and it shows. Setting the brakes was easy, doing the 4 line checks was also ok, I have one set of lines over each shoulder, the slider at the back of my neck and...... now what?? I can count all the different sets of lines (As, Bs, Cs etc) but then have no clue what comes next. Something to do with counting nose cells ..? After a few minutes of racking my brains and not coming up with any inspiration, I admit defeat and confess to Conrad I can't remember what happens next. So we start again.
The first part was ok - laying out the canopy with the container face down, then checking the steering lines and setting the brakes. The four line check was also ok so I had actually got as far as Check Stage 1 by myself.
The initial part of Check Stage 2 had also started well, with checking the sets of lines (A, B, C, D and brakes / steering lines) but the first thing I had forgotten was to quarter the slider and make sure it was neatly tucked high up amongst the lines. The next step is to gather all the lines together, in one hand, turn the whole canopy onto my hip and flake out the nose cells. Ah yes, this is looking more familiar. Nose cells between the knees to keep them neat, then find the centre of the tail. Flaking alternate sides in to get all the lines together, then wrapping the tail around the grommets to keep it all in place, by twisting the back edges together without disturbing the rest of the canopy, before attempting to squash some air out. Laying the whole thing neatly on the floor was also another challenge!
And now the biggest challenge - getting the canopy neatly into its D-bag. Hmmm, there might be some leeway required on the definition of neatly......
I also forgot to cock the pilot chute as student parachutes don't need this step and I'd only done it once before. Though I still should have checked the D-bag and bungees regardless so not really much of an excuse, lol. So now I have a cocked pilot chute, the D-bag is inside out with all the bungees untwisted, all I have to do now is S-fold the canopy and put it into the bag. Yeah, right! As I wrestle with this step over and over again, with more and more layers of clothing coming off as I get hot and out of breath with the struggle, Conrad shows me various different ways of folding the canopy to get it into the bag. So long as the slider stays high and the lines back to the container stay taut (and hence don't have the chance to tangle or wrap over the canopy), it's really just a case of squashing all the air out of the canopy so it will fit in. Hmmm.... Once it's finally in, the next challenge is to try and keep the tail wrapped tightly round the lines, which need to stay taut, whilst getting the first couple of elastic bungees secured. My fingers are not going to forgive me for a while..... Having finally won that battle, and secured the rest of the lines in the stows, I've reached the end of Check Stage 3. Time for a cup of tea! Then Conrad pulls it all apart and I do it all again from the beginning. Now I'm starting to get the knack of this part, it's time to move on to the last stage.
So the D-bag goes into the container with the lines at the bottom (for freefall. Apparently the lines go at the top for static line!). There is a very simple statement on my check sheet at this point which merely states "close container and stow risers". Ha ha ha! If I hadn't already been hot and sweaty from putting the canopy into the bag, then doing battle with the closing loop and pin would definitely have done it. And I'd forgotten the closing sequence of the flaps too - it can vary but mostly it's Bottom, Top, Right, Left (Aide-memoire: Bengal Tigers Roar Loudly. Or Conrad's preferred option: Big Tits Require Looking). I did remember to put the bridle for the pilot chute out to the top right, though again, that can vary by container.
So having squished enough air out of the canopy to get the flaps closed (see, this is where I reckon heavier people have a major advantage; they can squash the air out more easily when they kneel on the container, lol) and put the locking pin in place, it was time to stow the risers, then stow the bridle and pilot chute.
Having done all that, a quick check of the 3 ring system, cutaway pad and reserve handle and I'm done, ready for Check Stage 4.
So Conrad pulls it all apart slowly to check each step. A few comments and tips (like remembering to tuck up a bit of the bridle before stowing the rest and turn the steering loops to the inside) and we get to the stows on the D-bag. Mostly they are taut but the first one was slightly uneven because I hadn't tied the harness rings tightly together (another tip - use the pull up to tie the largest of the harness rings to each other; not only does it mean the lines will be more even, hence helping to avoid line twists on deployment, it also means you'll know exactly where the pull up is (and that you have one handy!!) when it comes to closing the container).
Overall he's fairly happy with it, so once it's back in a heap on the floor, I start again from the very beginning.
By this time it's taking me around 35 minutes from start to finish - not as bad as I'd feared, lol. We take a break for lunch then Conrad pulls it all apart again. It's looking ok, so I put it all back again and this time, instead of pulling the canopy out, he pulls the cutaway out and gets me to put it back together again. Once that is done, another review of pulling the whole thing apart, then Conrad sends me off for a cup of tea whilst he sets up a tangle test. Uh oh! Wasn't expecting this! Hopefully he's not going to be too mean, lol.
Back again and Conrad has the container over one shoulder, with the canopy and lines bundled in his arms. He drops the whole lot on the floor and leaves me to it! Arrrghh!
First thing was a twisted steering line, wrapped around other lines and tangled so I sorted that out and stowed both (without setting the brakes) whilst I had a look at the rest. The lines looked pretty twisted so I started by following the steering lines down from the canopy and untwisting those, before setting the brakes. Then I attempted the four line check to see if I could work out what was wrong.
Definitely a twist of the canopy passing through its own lines so I cautiously started spreading the line sets out to see if I could determine which way the canopy needed to go. After trying a couple of different ways of laying out the lines, I made enough space to put the canopy between them, picked them up and flipped it whilst keeping tight hold in case I'd got it wrong, ha ha. It looked a lot better once I'd done that but I still had a twist in one set of lines near the canopy. That was confusing - how did I get a twist only on one side?? And how on earth do I get it out?? It doesn't make sense. I decide to do the four line check again just to make sure I'm not missing something, and this time I end up with a twist on each side. Ok, that makes much more sense. Except now I have to flip the entire canopy between its own lines without dropping anything. Or do I? The twists are at the top of the lines above the slider, but if I coax the twists below the slider, maybe I could just flip the container over instead. Aha! Much simpler option and it works.
Right, back to the beginning again. I check the steering lines again for twists and have to undo the brakes and reset them. After that, it's all pretty straightforward. Conrad pops in and out, checking on my progress, and he's probably eavesdropping on my mutterings too, lol. It's going well up until the point where I have to get the canopy into the bag. This time it starts slithering away from me. I retrieve it a couple of times and eventually it's in the bag, but looking at it, I'm not overly happy that I would jump it. I'm not sure the slider has stayed high (actually it had) and the tail has definitely unwrapped from the lines. Would I be comfortable jumping this canopy if it was mine? No. Right, back to Check Stage 1 then <sigh> It goes a lot better the next time around and I complete the entire sequence to Check Stage 4. I would happily jump it this time so I hand it over to Conrad for his checks. And out it all comes again ....
And I passed! Conrad was happy with it and I'd got all the steps right. It took me a little over an hour, which I was more than happy with considering I'd redone Check Stage 2, and Conrad took pity on me and repacked it for the final time, showing me more tips and techniques as he did so. Right, where can I get hold of a rig to practice on..???
So pro-packing practice it is then :-) It's been a few weeks since I last did a practice and it shows. Setting the brakes was easy, doing the 4 line checks was also ok, I have one set of lines over each shoulder, the slider at the back of my neck and...... now what?? I can count all the different sets of lines (As, Bs, Cs etc) but then have no clue what comes next. Something to do with counting nose cells ..? After a few minutes of racking my brains and not coming up with any inspiration, I admit defeat and confess to Conrad I can't remember what happens next. So we start again.
The first part was ok - laying out the canopy with the container face down, then checking the steering lines and setting the brakes. The four line check was also ok so I had actually got as far as Check Stage 1 by myself.
The initial part of Check Stage 2 had also started well, with checking the sets of lines (A, B, C, D and brakes / steering lines) but the first thing I had forgotten was to quarter the slider and make sure it was neatly tucked high up amongst the lines. The next step is to gather all the lines together, in one hand, turn the whole canopy onto my hip and flake out the nose cells. Ah yes, this is looking more familiar. Nose cells between the knees to keep them neat, then find the centre of the tail. Flaking alternate sides in to get all the lines together, then wrapping the tail around the grommets to keep it all in place, by twisting the back edges together without disturbing the rest of the canopy, before attempting to squash some air out. Laying the whole thing neatly on the floor was also another challenge!
And now the biggest challenge - getting the canopy neatly into its D-bag. Hmmm, there might be some leeway required on the definition of neatly......
I also forgot to cock the pilot chute as student parachutes don't need this step and I'd only done it once before. Though I still should have checked the D-bag and bungees regardless so not really much of an excuse, lol. So now I have a cocked pilot chute, the D-bag is inside out with all the bungees untwisted, all I have to do now is S-fold the canopy and put it into the bag. Yeah, right! As I wrestle with this step over and over again, with more and more layers of clothing coming off as I get hot and out of breath with the struggle, Conrad shows me various different ways of folding the canopy to get it into the bag. So long as the slider stays high and the lines back to the container stay taut (and hence don't have the chance to tangle or wrap over the canopy), it's really just a case of squashing all the air out of the canopy so it will fit in. Hmmm.... Once it's finally in, the next challenge is to try and keep the tail wrapped tightly round the lines, which need to stay taut, whilst getting the first couple of elastic bungees secured. My fingers are not going to forgive me for a while..... Having finally won that battle, and secured the rest of the lines in the stows, I've reached the end of Check Stage 3. Time for a cup of tea! Then Conrad pulls it all apart and I do it all again from the beginning. Now I'm starting to get the knack of this part, it's time to move on to the last stage.
So the D-bag goes into the container with the lines at the bottom (for freefall. Apparently the lines go at the top for static line!). There is a very simple statement on my check sheet at this point which merely states "close container and stow risers". Ha ha ha! If I hadn't already been hot and sweaty from putting the canopy into the bag, then doing battle with the closing loop and pin would definitely have done it. And I'd forgotten the closing sequence of the flaps too - it can vary but mostly it's Bottom, Top, Right, Left (Aide-memoire: Bengal Tigers Roar Loudly. Or Conrad's preferred option: Big Tits Require Looking). I did remember to put the bridle for the pilot chute out to the top right, though again, that can vary by container.
So having squished enough air out of the canopy to get the flaps closed (see, this is where I reckon heavier people have a major advantage; they can squash the air out more easily when they kneel on the container, lol) and put the locking pin in place, it was time to stow the risers, then stow the bridle and pilot chute.
Having done all that, a quick check of the 3 ring system, cutaway pad and reserve handle and I'm done, ready for Check Stage 4.
So Conrad pulls it all apart slowly to check each step. A few comments and tips (like remembering to tuck up a bit of the bridle before stowing the rest and turn the steering loops to the inside) and we get to the stows on the D-bag. Mostly they are taut but the first one was slightly uneven because I hadn't tied the harness rings tightly together (another tip - use the pull up to tie the largest of the harness rings to each other; not only does it mean the lines will be more even, hence helping to avoid line twists on deployment, it also means you'll know exactly where the pull up is (and that you have one handy!!) when it comes to closing the container).
Overall he's fairly happy with it, so once it's back in a heap on the floor, I start again from the very beginning.
By this time it's taking me around 35 minutes from start to finish - not as bad as I'd feared, lol. We take a break for lunch then Conrad pulls it all apart again. It's looking ok, so I put it all back again and this time, instead of pulling the canopy out, he pulls the cutaway out and gets me to put it back together again. Once that is done, another review of pulling the whole thing apart, then Conrad sends me off for a cup of tea whilst he sets up a tangle test. Uh oh! Wasn't expecting this! Hopefully he's not going to be too mean, lol.
Back again and Conrad has the container over one shoulder, with the canopy and lines bundled in his arms. He drops the whole lot on the floor and leaves me to it! Arrrghh!
First thing was a twisted steering line, wrapped around other lines and tangled so I sorted that out and stowed both (without setting the brakes) whilst I had a look at the rest. The lines looked pretty twisted so I started by following the steering lines down from the canopy and untwisting those, before setting the brakes. Then I attempted the four line check to see if I could work out what was wrong.
Definitely a twist of the canopy passing through its own lines so I cautiously started spreading the line sets out to see if I could determine which way the canopy needed to go. After trying a couple of different ways of laying out the lines, I made enough space to put the canopy between them, picked them up and flipped it whilst keeping tight hold in case I'd got it wrong, ha ha. It looked a lot better once I'd done that but I still had a twist in one set of lines near the canopy. That was confusing - how did I get a twist only on one side?? And how on earth do I get it out?? It doesn't make sense. I decide to do the four line check again just to make sure I'm not missing something, and this time I end up with a twist on each side. Ok, that makes much more sense. Except now I have to flip the entire canopy between its own lines without dropping anything. Or do I? The twists are at the top of the lines above the slider, but if I coax the twists below the slider, maybe I could just flip the container over instead. Aha! Much simpler option and it works.
Right, back to the beginning again. I check the steering lines again for twists and have to undo the brakes and reset them. After that, it's all pretty straightforward. Conrad pops in and out, checking on my progress, and he's probably eavesdropping on my mutterings too, lol. It's going well up until the point where I have to get the canopy into the bag. This time it starts slithering away from me. I retrieve it a couple of times and eventually it's in the bag, but looking at it, I'm not overly happy that I would jump it. I'm not sure the slider has stayed high (actually it had) and the tail has definitely unwrapped from the lines. Would I be comfortable jumping this canopy if it was mine? No. Right, back to Check Stage 1 then <sigh> It goes a lot better the next time around and I complete the entire sequence to Check Stage 4. I would happily jump it this time so I hand it over to Conrad for his checks. And out it all comes again ....
And I passed! Conrad was happy with it and I'd got all the steps right. It took me a little over an hour, which I was more than happy with considering I'd redone Check Stage 2, and Conrad took pity on me and repacked it for the final time, showing me more tips and techniques as he did so. Right, where can I get hold of a rig to practice on..???
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