P A R A C H U T I N G ' S N E W S M A G A Z I N E
Ask the Editor
Contents of Batch 12:
What's the correct response
to a total?
Finding Airblades
Minimizing hypoxia
Jumping with diabetes
Flying jumpers without a
Commercial Pilot's Certificate
Cerebral palsy and
skydiving
Fatality statistics
The following questions were submitted by visitors to our Web site and answered by the editor of Skydiving magazine. .
To ask a question of your own, click here.
What's the correct response to a total?
Q. If I deploy my pilot chute and nothing happens, what do I do? I mean, if I don't feel anything come out of the rig, should I cut away and then pull my reserve, or should I pull the reserve right away?
A. The correct response to a total malfunction is the subject of frequent debate within our sport. Everyone agrees with one thing, however: You must act quickly, as the ground is approaching pronto.
Some jumpers contend it's better to pull the cutaway handle before pulling the reserve ripcord. That response, they say, helps insure that if the main starts deploying before the reserve deploys, it might cleanly separate from the jumper and allow the reserve to deploy in clean air.
They also contend that, from a training standpoint, it's better to teach new skydivers one response to all canopy malfunctions: cut away and pull the reserve. It's simpler and requires less decision making, and simpler is safer.
But other jumpers say the best response to a total is to just pull the reserve ripcord. Proponents of this response say cutting away only wastes valuable altitude. They also say the main is more likely to entangle with the reserve should both deploy nearly simultaneously.
Me? I'd pull my reserve ripcord only.
Obviously, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to total malfunctions. Here are ways to minimize the likelihood of ever having to deal with a total malfunction:
1. When deploying the main pilot chute, toss it vigorously to the side. Sometimes we get lazy and simply release it in the airstream, and the occasional result is a pilot chute that gets sucked into the burble over one's back. Also, if you hold the pilot chute at arm's length before releasing it, you run the risk of having the container open before the pilot chute is anchored in the airstream.
2. Watch the deployment of your pilot chute and bag; don't just lie there and passively wait. A good procedure is to throw the pilot chute out to the side, then sit up slightly and look straight up over your back. After you're sure the pilot chute has inflated and you see the bag, you can lower your head (and brace yourself for the slam that may follow). If you don't see the pilot chute, or if it's not inflated, then you can take a few quick steps to solve the problem before using your reserve.
3. Have a predetermined response to a pilot-chute hesitation. Know, for instance, that you're quickly going to do a quarter barrel roll and, if that doesn't anchor or inflate the pilot chute, you're going to pull your reserve (or cut away and pull your reserve, if you like that procedure better).
4. If you use a kill-line pilot chute be sure it's cocked before boarding the aircraft for each and every jump.
5. Pack your main pilot chute correctly. Be sure the handle is accessible, and be sure no loose or exposed bridle is near it. (Pulling on a loop of bridle instead of the handle can cause all kinds of nasty problems.)
6. Be sure the bridle is routed correctly from the pin to the pilot chute-it must not pass under any flaps. Never open and re-close a packed rig without removing the pilot chute from its pouch and checking the routing of the bridle.
7. Don't use a bridle made of cord; use one of flat tape. The accident record proves that cord bridles are more likely to knot and snag than those made of tape.
8. Use a bridle of the correct length. (We recently had the opportunity to watch a friend deploy on several consecutive jumps at terminal. We were surprised how each time the inflated pilot chute "hovered" over his back an instant before leaving it. It wasn't unsafe, but it wasn't the quick launch we typically see. He told us later that this is a result of his Racer's shorter bridle.)
9. Be extra careful when jumping a camera suit or other winged jumpsuit. The bigger burble created by these suits can cause deployment problems. Suits with partially detachable wings also create the possibility that a wing will be attached over the bridle, perhaps causing a pilot chute in tow. Jumping with a flag or other "extra" gear also must be approached with caution.
10. Keep your gear relatively snag-free. Pilot chutes have snagged on all kinds of things: boot hooks, cameras and camera mounts, crudely attached hook knives, caribiners, smoke brackets, exposed toggles, altimeters, helmets-the list goes on.
Q. I'm looking for Airblades. Can you help?
A. Reggie Eastaugh makes Airblades. Telephone in California is (909) 239-2321 or email him at arblade@c2i2.com.
Q. What kind of physical training would be best to minimize the effects of hypoxia? We'll be jumping from high altitudes and wearing oxygen masks.
A. Research has shown that young, healthy and fit individuals can better cope with higher altitudes. Although skydivers can't do anything about their ages, they can stay physically fit and avoid smoking. They can also refrain from difficult jumps when they're ill, exhausted or hung-over.
Many animals respond to decreased blood-oxygen levels by increasing the number of red blood cells in the blood. But it takes weeks for full adaptation to occur. Thus, a jumper who lives in Denver (it's called the Mile-High City for a reason) will be more resistant to hypoxia than a jumper who lives in San Francisco (you know, the City by the Bay).
But the best way to jump safely and comfortably from higher altitudes is to correctly use supplemental oxygen equipment. Just having the gear isn't enough; it takes training or close supervision to use it right.
Our advice: Get help from experts. Many military-trained skydivers know how to jump safely from altitudes above 15,000 feet, and some have access to the right training and equipment.
The U.S. military makes its altitude chambers available to civilians through the FAA's Physiological Flight Training program. Small groups of civilians can sign up for a course that takes about a day at any one of many facilities scattered across the country. The course is essentially free and is actually fun. Local Flight Standards District Offices have information.
Q. I've recently been diagnosed with Type 2 adult-onset diabetes. I'm taking two pills a day and watching what I'm eating. What does the FAA have to say about someone jumping who has diabetes?
A. We couldn't find anything in FAR Part 105 or AC-105 about jumping with diabetes; there's certainly no regulation against it. While the FAA has very specific medical standards for pilots, it has none for jumpers.
Although diabetes typically disqualifies an applicant for an FAA Class 1 or Class 2 medical certificate, that same applicant still might be able to meet the lower Class 3 standards. (Basically, airline pilots need a Class 1 certificate, commercial pilots need a Class 2, and private pilots must have a Class 3.)
The application procedure is detailed in "Medical Certification of Insulin-Treated Diabetic Applicants," an FAA document that runs two pages in length.
U.S. manufacturers of tandem gear require that their customers hold FAA Class 3 certificates or, sometimes, the "equivalent." Tandem instructors with diabetes are often able to obtain a Class 3 certificate by following the application procedure cited above. (In fact, it was T.K. Donle of the Relative Workshop who gave Skydiving a copy of the FAA document.)
Because in some cases diabetes can result in sudden loss of consciousness, seizures, and impaired mental function, it is not a disease skydivers should trifle with.
But diabetes shouldn't always prevent someone from participating in the sport, even as a tandem instructor.
Flying jumpers without a commercial certificate
Q. I think the answer to the question printed in Skydiving #219 about the pilot training required for jump operations was incomplete.
It is true that a commercial pilot certificate is required if the pilot is to be compensated for the flight.
But it's also true that a commercial rating is required if the passengers pay for the flight or if the flight took place for commercial purposes. One litmus test that the FAA uses is, "Would this flight have occurred if the passengers did not pay for the ride?" Rarely would a jump operation pass this test and be permitted to use a private pilot to fly a load.
Passengers are allowed to "share" in the cost of the flight but the question remains. And since the FAA is the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury, in their own court system, they rarely lose. The moral of the story is that even in a club environment, the pilot should hold a commercial certificate and of course the appropriate rating(s). -- Mark R. Williams, New Brunswick, N.J.
A. Just paying for a flight doesn't automatically make it commercial in the FAA's definition of the word. A passenger may pay something towards the direct costs of the flight; he may share certain costs with the pilot. The pilot of a Cessna 182 could, for instance, let people jump from it providing he or she wasn't compensated (paid beyond a portion of the direct costs) for the flight, even if the pilot held only a private certificate.
The pilot and jumpers could split the cost of the fuel, however, and other direct operating costs.
As Williams notes, our sport in the U.S. is almost exclusively pursued at commercial centers, so rarely would a pilot not need a commercial certificate to carry skydivers. At a for-profit DZ, even if the pilot isn't paid, the aircraft owner or operator is. The FARs require a commercial certificate in those situations.
But private pilots may, in some situations, legally haul skydivers.
Q. I have cerebral palsy and want to go skydiving. Is it possible?
A. Tandem parachuting has opened up the sport to thousands of people who can't jump by themselves. If you can safely tolerate an experience that will be as rough on you as briefly riding a galloping horse, then you could most likely make a tandem jump. But the obvious caveat is in order here: Check with your doctor first. And remember, no parachute jump is risk-free.
Q. What are current fatality statistics for skydiving? How does it compare to other forms of dying?
A. On average, 30 to 35 people die each year in sport parachuting accidents in the U.S. We've never thought of our sport as a "form of dying." But if you want to look at it that way, we can flippantly tell you the end result is the same.
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