I met with my instructor for the first time on April 12. I completed ground school with a couple of fellow adrenaline junkies! Ground school taught me how to successfully deploy and fly a parachute. My instructor Randy was sure to drill the three most important questions about parachutes into our heads:
1: Is it there? – after deployment check to see if that parachute even opened!
2: Is it square? – the ram-air parachutes used by recreational skydivers are always always always supposed to be rectangular, if not – you’ve got yourself a big problem: aka: Ball of Trash
3: Is it maneuverable? – parachutes are maneuvered by pulling two toggles – “brakes” are applied by flaring- pulling both toggles straight down at the same time.
If one of these three crucial questions is answered with a “no”, the parachute must be cut away and the reserve must be immediately pulled – better hope that the reserve is in better shape than the main!!
My fellow students and I were also cautioned by Randy to not make any sharp turns below 300ft as it would likely result in being “femured” (driven straight into the ground and breaking the femur bone… ouch!)
So basically: Is it there? Is it square? Is it maneuverable? And DON’T GET FEMURED!
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