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The S1 pilot that had to bail out brought some good discussion about what to do if you bail out of your plane. I have some experience with skydiving (7,500 jumps, three instructor ratings, military qualified..etc). I have taught and experienced all kinds of emergencies, to include bailing out of three planes that I was not flying when they broke in flight and several live water training exercises.
So I will attempt to give some ideas on what to do and what not to do.
Best thing? Take a skydiving course and make a jump. The experience is not something you can read and understand anymore than a non pilot trying to understand how to do a hammer head. Just the experience will give you confidence in the equipment and maybe help make that life or death choice a little easier than just jumping into the unknown. Nigel Hopkins had a few hundred jumps and I think that was a factor on why he got out so quickly.
1. First we need to make sure you have the correct gear.
Canopies are rated for weight and speed. You could easily have too small of a canopy or one that is not rated for the type of speed you will experience when you "hit the silk". I am not going to go into great depth here.... Most will not pay attention anyway since most consider the parachute to be an expensive seat. But if you want more info, contact the manufacturer. But for example a National 360 is rated for 177 pounds and 140 knts. Above that, and you are rolling the dice. So if you are 200+, the National 360 is not the right canopy for you. The 490 is rated for 241 pounds for example.
http://nationalparachute.com/page5.html
2. Next you have to take care of the parachute.
Nylon is weakened by sun, dirt, and chemicals. The webbing used to make the harness is nylon. I see guys (particularly glider guys) just leaving the parachute in the seat and in the sun. The sun is killing your gear. I have my plane in the hangar as much as possible, but at contests and training days I carry a towel with me and I use it to cover the parachute AND the seat belts... Yep, they are also nylon and also degrade in the sun.
Try not to store your parachute in places where chemicals like hydrocarbons are... What are hydrocarbons? Petroleum products like gas and oil.
Dirt also destroys fabric by attaching to the fibers and then acting like sandpaper and destroying other fibers. Another sure fire way to damage your gear is to let the hardware drop onto the ground, it dings and dents it and when you run that dinged hardware over your nylon... It cuts it.
So don't leave it in the sun, don't lay it in puddle of 100LL, and don't drag it in the dirt, don't let the hardware get dings.
3. Now you have to wear it correctly.
I see lots of people put a harness on all lose and I'll tell you that they are asking for a rude awakening if they ever have to use it. First off, things are NOT where they were once you step out. So that handle you "know" where it is, will move on you in zero G or in 120 MPH wind. And once the canopy opens, lets just say you want the harness sized correctly or "the boys" might get crushed if they are not in the "center of the room" if you get my drift. I used to jump with just boxers under my jump suit.... I had an incident where one of the guys got caught under a leg strap. I now jump in swim trucks that cradle that area and secure them.
Attached, find a picture of a young lady that had the rip cord trapped UNDER her bra. This would have made for a difficult time to find, grab and pull the reserve. Next some of us have those cool and comfortable Acro harness made by Softie, make sure that the webbing with the reserve handle is ON TOP of the other one. It is pretty easy for the webbing to slide over and cover the handle otherwise. In the attached picture, I think they show it wrong. I have seen little things like this kill people.
4. Making the choice.
This is the part that is the most difficult. And one area that having some skydiving experience helps the most. If you don't REALLY trust the parachute, you might ride the plane in out of fear of the unknown. The time to decide to bail out is before you take off. Just like having a plan for the engine out should be made before you add power to take off.
You have to factor in the shock value, the fear factor, the choices left. Best to make as many of those non-events before you need them. Getting the fear out of the way can be done by jumping experience, but the choices are the difficult part. For me, fire and I am out if I am above pattern altitude and not over an airport.
Short case study: Nigel Hopkins vs Andrew Wright.
Nigel lost the engine and the left wing of his plane. Andrew lost the tail. Nigel had the advantage here since he could easily SEE the plane was broken. Andrew had seconds to try and figure out what happened and he could not easily see the tail left. Andrew pulled power from his plane. I surmise that he was trying to figure out what happened and what controls he had left and ran out of time before he could decide to bail out. Nigel SAW the wing leave and knew the plane was not survivable and since he didn't have "parachute fear" got the heck out.
When I was learning to fly a Pitts, I asked the CFI what would he do if the engine quit right now... He said,"*I* would land on that road because I know I can do it. YOU, with your jumping experience and lack of Pitts time... I'd get out if I were you."
So I was pre loaded to get out if something happened and was for maybe 50 hours before I started to notice places I think I could put it down.
5. Doing it.
Try to decide early and the ACT and don't rethink your choice. Try to get as much "housekeeping" done as you can before you release the seatbelts. If you open the seatbelts but have not gotten rid of the canopy, well the G-load might throw you against the wall and you will not be able to open the canopy then.
I can't give you exact steps for your plane... I'll give you mine:
1. Canopy open
2. Ignition off if I have time
3. Grab the side with my right hand.
4. Undo belts
5. Try to stand and jump/throw myself clear
6. Grab reserve and pull
I don't include taking off a helmet or unplugging it, because I wear a QT halo and it will just get ripped off/out. But a helmet you might want to add "unplug"
6. Landing.
Well another reason to take a first jump course is to get instruction in parachute landing falls (PLF). I am not going to go into detail trying to teach by type. But you want to not even attempt to stand up. Just don't risk it. Put your feet and knees together, bend the knees a bit, bring your arms into your sides and use you forearms to cover your face. Hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and just allow it. You try to stand and you will break a leg. You try and catch your fall with an arm and you will hurt a shoulder or arm/wrist.
Trees: Get your feet and knees together and prepare to PLF as soon as you hit the tree, don't try and grab anything till you come to a stop. Often times you will go right through the tree and then hit the ground. Prepare to PLF from the start till you are done. Once you stop, grab something or just sit and wait. Unless you KNOW you can climb down, it is best to wait for recovery than fall and break your neck from 10 feet.
Powerlines: Don't land in them. If you do, prepare to PLF. DO NOT try and reach out for anything, this could end badly for you if you complete a circuit. If you find yourself hanging a few feet from the ground.... DON'T. If you are touching the lines and the ground, you will complete the circuit and it will not be fun. If you are hanging there and someone tries to grab you... DON'T let them.
Water: If you can, loosen your harness as you approach the water. If you have a chest strap, loosen it or even remove it. Got a helmet on? Ditch it, it will drag you down. I'll even take off my shoes if I have time since it is easier to swim without them. Before you hit the water, take a big breath of air and hold it. It will allow you not to panic needing air AND it will help you float up.
Once you hit the water... Be ready to PLF! It may only be a foot deep and breaking a leg would suck. Once in the water, try to stand up... I have seen guys land in a ditch and you would think they were gonna die till they realized they could just stand up and walk out. If the water is deep, bring your arms in and try to shrug off the harness. Then swim DOWN and then up stream if you can. The current will pull all the crap away from you.
If you find yourself unable to ditch the equipment, swim to the surface using as little arm as possible. Flailing your arms about is a sure way to wrap lines around them. Take one arm if you can and raise it above your head. This will prevent you from hitting your head on a boat, log, alligator... Whatever. As you reach the surface if you can now shrug off the gear and swim away. If you are under the canopy... Don't panic, push the canopy up and take a breath of air. Then find a seam of the canopy and start pulling on that seam till you run out of canopy and are in the free air.
Swim away from the gear trying to shuck the lines off of you. Don't panic... The gear will actually float for a while.
This is not everything and I could not possibly cover everything anyway.
So I will attempt to give some ideas on what to do and what not to do.
Best thing? Take a skydiving course and make a jump. The experience is not something you can read and understand anymore than a non pilot trying to understand how to do a hammer head. Just the experience will give you confidence in the equipment and maybe help make that life or death choice a little easier than just jumping into the unknown. Nigel Hopkins had a few hundred jumps and I think that was a factor on why he got out so quickly.
1. First we need to make sure you have the correct gear.
Canopies are rated for weight and speed. You could easily have too small of a canopy or one that is not rated for the type of speed you will experience when you "hit the silk". I am not going to go into great depth here.... Most will not pay attention anyway since most consider the parachute to be an expensive seat. But if you want more info, contact the manufacturer. But for example a National 360 is rated for 177 pounds and 140 knts. Above that, and you are rolling the dice. So if you are 200+, the National 360 is not the right canopy for you. The 490 is rated for 241 pounds for example.
http://nationalparachute.com/page5.html
2. Next you have to take care of the parachute.
Nylon is weakened by sun, dirt, and chemicals. The webbing used to make the harness is nylon. I see guys (particularly glider guys) just leaving the parachute in the seat and in the sun. The sun is killing your gear. I have my plane in the hangar as much as possible, but at contests and training days I carry a towel with me and I use it to cover the parachute AND the seat belts... Yep, they are also nylon and also degrade in the sun.
Try not to store your parachute in places where chemicals like hydrocarbons are... What are hydrocarbons? Petroleum products like gas and oil.
Dirt also destroys fabric by attaching to the fibers and then acting like sandpaper and destroying other fibers. Another sure fire way to damage your gear is to let the hardware drop onto the ground, it dings and dents it and when you run that dinged hardware over your nylon... It cuts it.
So don't leave it in the sun, don't lay it in puddle of 100LL, and don't drag it in the dirt, don't let the hardware get dings.
3. Now you have to wear it correctly.
I see lots of people put a harness on all lose and I'll tell you that they are asking for a rude awakening if they ever have to use it. First off, things are NOT where they were once you step out. So that handle you "know" where it is, will move on you in zero G or in 120 MPH wind. And once the canopy opens, lets just say you want the harness sized correctly or "the boys" might get crushed if they are not in the "center of the room" if you get my drift. I used to jump with just boxers under my jump suit.... I had an incident where one of the guys got caught under a leg strap. I now jump in swim trucks that cradle that area and secure them.
Attached, find a picture of a young lady that had the rip cord trapped UNDER her bra. This would have made for a difficult time to find, grab and pull the reserve. Next some of us have those cool and comfortable Acro harness made by Softie, make sure that the webbing with the reserve handle is ON TOP of the other one. It is pretty easy for the webbing to slide over and cover the handle otherwise. In the attached picture, I think they show it wrong. I have seen little things like this kill people.
4. Making the choice.
This is the part that is the most difficult. And one area that having some skydiving experience helps the most. If you don't REALLY trust the parachute, you might ride the plane in out of fear of the unknown. The time to decide to bail out is before you take off. Just like having a plan for the engine out should be made before you add power to take off.
You have to factor in the shock value, the fear factor, the choices left. Best to make as many of those non-events before you need them. Getting the fear out of the way can be done by jumping experience, but the choices are the difficult part. For me, fire and I am out if I am above pattern altitude and not over an airport.
Short case study: Nigel Hopkins vs Andrew Wright.
Nigel lost the engine and the left wing of his plane. Andrew lost the tail. Nigel had the advantage here since he could easily SEE the plane was broken. Andrew had seconds to try and figure out what happened and he could not easily see the tail left. Andrew pulled power from his plane. I surmise that he was trying to figure out what happened and what controls he had left and ran out of time before he could decide to bail out. Nigel SAW the wing leave and knew the plane was not survivable and since he didn't have "parachute fear" got the heck out.
When I was learning to fly a Pitts, I asked the CFI what would he do if the engine quit right now... He said,"*I* would land on that road because I know I can do it. YOU, with your jumping experience and lack of Pitts time... I'd get out if I were you."
So I was pre loaded to get out if something happened and was for maybe 50 hours before I started to notice places I think I could put it down.
5. Doing it.
Try to decide early and the ACT and don't rethink your choice. Try to get as much "housekeeping" done as you can before you release the seatbelts. If you open the seatbelts but have not gotten rid of the canopy, well the G-load might throw you against the wall and you will not be able to open the canopy then.
I can't give you exact steps for your plane... I'll give you mine:
1. Canopy open
2. Ignition off if I have time
3. Grab the side with my right hand.
4. Undo belts
5. Try to stand and jump/throw myself clear
6. Grab reserve and pull
I don't include taking off a helmet or unplugging it, because I wear a QT halo and it will just get ripped off/out. But a helmet you might want to add "unplug"
6. Landing.
Well another reason to take a first jump course is to get instruction in parachute landing falls (PLF). I am not going to go into detail trying to teach by type. But you want to not even attempt to stand up. Just don't risk it. Put your feet and knees together, bend the knees a bit, bring your arms into your sides and use you forearms to cover your face. Hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and just allow it. You try to stand and you will break a leg. You try and catch your fall with an arm and you will hurt a shoulder or arm/wrist.
Trees: Get your feet and knees together and prepare to PLF as soon as you hit the tree, don't try and grab anything till you come to a stop. Often times you will go right through the tree and then hit the ground. Prepare to PLF from the start till you are done. Once you stop, grab something or just sit and wait. Unless you KNOW you can climb down, it is best to wait for recovery than fall and break your neck from 10 feet.
Powerlines: Don't land in them. If you do, prepare to PLF. DO NOT try and reach out for anything, this could end badly for you if you complete a circuit. If you find yourself hanging a few feet from the ground.... DON'T. If you are touching the lines and the ground, you will complete the circuit and it will not be fun. If you are hanging there and someone tries to grab you... DON'T let them.
Water: If you can, loosen your harness as you approach the water. If you have a chest strap, loosen it or even remove it. Got a helmet on? Ditch it, it will drag you down. I'll even take off my shoes if I have time since it is easier to swim without them. Before you hit the water, take a big breath of air and hold it. It will allow you not to panic needing air AND it will help you float up.
Once you hit the water... Be ready to PLF! It may only be a foot deep and breaking a leg would suck. Once in the water, try to stand up... I have seen guys land in a ditch and you would think they were gonna die till they realized they could just stand up and walk out. If the water is deep, bring your arms in and try to shrug off the harness. Then swim DOWN and then up stream if you can. The current will pull all the crap away from you.
If you find yourself unable to ditch the equipment, swim to the surface using as little arm as possible. Flailing your arms about is a sure way to wrap lines around them. Take one arm if you can and raise it above your head. This will prevent you from hitting your head on a boat, log, alligator... Whatever. As you reach the surface if you can now shrug off the gear and swim away. If you are under the canopy... Don't panic, push the canopy up and take a breath of air. Then find a seam of the canopy and start pulling on that seam till you run out of canopy and are in the free air.
Swim away from the gear trying to shuck the lines off of you. Don't panic... The gear will actually float for a while.
This is not everything and I could not possibly cover everything anyway.
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