On Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:49:37 AM UTC-7, Christopher Giacomo wrote:
I did wonder how long it would take for the story to make it on RAS...

Not to ruin the growing myth with facts, but here is my recollection of questions already posed...

1) The leg straps were absolutely checked prior to takeoff. If I unhooked them prior to bailout, I will never know. I may have unhooked them while hanging in tree. I do know that most of my weight in the parachute ride was sustained by my arms, which made navigating to the correct landing point more difficult than normal.

2) The descent speed was between 60-80mph IAS, with the vertical speed averaging between 15 and 30kts from 18k down to 8.5k. The HP-14 is an incredible ship in this regard, and performed flawlessly through all stages of flight.

3) The FAA and NTSB investigations are on-going, but ultimately at this point I believe my decision to attempt to make it down through the closing Foehn gap, and "local pilot" mentality to flying in the area contributed to my need to make more drastic decisions (1st spiral in IMC then bailout) in a failed attempt to climb back up and go downwind.

4) I fully plan to share the details of this event, and welcome any constructive comments you may have on the flight and decisions made throughout it. Ultimately, I believe the results of the day came down to the time that each pilot made a decision to takeoff, climb, descend, or pause for additional time to consider each option. I perhaps focused too hard on the solution of descending through the gap before it closed, only to find the bottom of my intended gap also had rocks in it.

Thanks for sharing, and please consider sharing on RAS as a good thing. Each one of us can learn from those accidents that almost happened especially from the source, vs the useless NTSB reports, or just keeping quiet. This is the 2nd bailout due to IMC in wave in the US this year alone that I am aware of, so a good reminder for everyone about the risk of flying in wave and getting into IMC situation, to always consider your options downwind, and to consider installing an electronic T&B such as TrueTrack or other similar options available now in flight computers (and get some IFR training under the hood) if you flying in wave and even for flying in convergence where you occasionally find yourself above lower clouds.

Ramy