Chris, please explain "two rotations of the parachute". Were you
steering the chute in circles, and if so, why, or was this uncommanded?
Were you using a round canopy or ram air? What did you jump with
previously?

Glad nobody suggested having a glass panel with synthetic vision...

On 11/7/2015 8:19 PM, Christopher Giacomo wrote:
Ramy - Not sure who landed first, as I only saw the glider for the first two rotations of the parachute. Last time i saw it, i was ahead on the way down.

flubber - The key element you are missing in that thought process is the ability to see the terrain coming. In that location, much of the mountain tops were completely in the clouds, so determining when to pull up and how to aim could have been impossible. As many other alluded to, i probably was more predisposed to jump due to my experiences and having a much cheaper ship than most. Chances are, if i had come out from the clouds under control, i probably would have tried to put it down on rt 16, in the wildcat parking lot, or someplace similar. All of those probably would have resulted in similar amounts of damage to the glider.

I knew full well that a bailout would involve the risk of breaking bones, puncture wounds, and being stranded in the woods. To me, those are all far more comforting than the thought of entering trees with a pair of 11" metal spars buckling behind my head and not knowing what was coming through the canopy. When i crashed, it was only 1300 local, so it wasn't really that late in the day.
Chris

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Dan, 5J