how long does it take if your parachute doesn't open. the rest of your life!

chapter 3 oops
I was lucky Most of my mess ups happened as I got more experience.

Before one particular Jump George told me that whichever way I faced I would be going forward. How absolutely wrong he was. Once I was out of the plane and my canopy had opened not only was I not going forward I was going backwards at a rate of Knots. I was missing the airfield, I was heading towards roads and woods and houses and never at any point had any chance to figure out a safe way to go. My canopy and me were flying backwards until finally I heard cracking branches and was falling and then I stopped falling. I laid on my back apparently in a tree. One part of training was that if you're in a tree don't move and don't look down because you don't know how high you are. Needless to say I made the slightest move and I fell out of the tree. My gods were smiling, I was on the bottom branches and only fell a few feet onto the ground. When I had time to take it in it seemed the tree I landed in was the safest place to be. On one side I could have slid down a grain silage Bin about 30 or 40 feet high, ouch! On the other side there was a house to fall off. In front there was even more trees and fences as well as telephone and electric cables strung across the yard. Another training instruction was the pilot would circle above the drop zone to make sure everyone was ok. Course they do. The owners of the house rang the DZ to ask if anyone was missing a skydiver and Ken one of my kind skydiver friends came and got me. My jump teacher George yelled at me which I would have humbly tolerated if it had been my fault but as it wasn't I pointed out on equally loud terms that I hadn't put me there, he had. Later when I did perfect right and left turns he said my flying was spot on and he was going to make me a cup of tea. George never made cups of tea!

During all the early training including the turns and back summersalts we used Round parachutes which were slow and had minimal steering. Once you had done a certain number of jumps and as long as you landed within a reasonable range of the airfield for example, you progressed to a another chute that was still round but was faster and more steerable. this canopy steers similar to square Parachutes, if you pull on the toggles as you are about to land you can stall it so that you can just step down and avoid getting dragged by the wind. If however you misjudge where the ground is the canopy stalls but unfortunately it also throws your body forward and that means that instead of landing on the strong ankles and feet that are designed to be landed on you land on wrists that snap as mine did. Bi-lateral collis fractures and no jumping for three months. I was warned, this time totally my fault.

You're trained that if you're chute doesn't open at all, you open your reserve. You physically practice this procedure over and over every jump and even when not jumping, it has to be automatic. If the parachute partially opens, you cut away the main (so it doesn't get tangled as the reserve comes out) and open reserve. I practiced the cut away as much as anybody but I always wondered what if?
I arrived at the drop zone one weekend to find someone had stolen my parachute. The theft was bad enough but how was I supposed to jump? Ali lent me his parachute that's how. Ali had packed his chute and he would have just picked it up and jumped so I did the same. I should have checked it but what would I have checked. I should have asked him a question but what question should I have asked. I jumped and flew until opening. pulled the pilot chute out of the leg strap pocket and threw it away which should have pulled out the pin to deploy the canopy just like every other jump. The span of time that passed from when I threw my pilot chute to where I felt my parachute start to open was instilled in me. When I pulled Ali's and threw it away I fell furthur than usual, I kept falling past the time when I knew my chute would have opened, but Ali's might take a second or two longer. Then I knew! If it was opening it would be above me by now. I cut the main and pulled the reserve. When you are in trouble there's always someone around. Ken could have headed for the dz but instead he followed me down yelling about the power lines. I had seen them but it was comforting that he was making sure and then because we were couple of fields away Stevie drove to get us. Even though I missed all the hazards including the wild life park and landed safely, on the way down it occurred to me how strange that I thought a broken leg doesn't seem so bad when things could have been worse .
I got told off again! Why did I cut away the parachute when it hadn't been deployed at all? I should have just opened reserve. Even after all my jumps l still wasn't checking the canopy. The reason Ali's chute didn't open was that instead of just the pilot chute he had run a strap from the pilot chute all the way up to the waist strap and he had used velcro to secure it . I threw away the pilot chute but it was still secured to the waist strap and wasn't going any where. I should have looked, Ali should have told me. All's well that ends well and at least I knew the answer to my question to what if?

Sitting in the doorway while Climbing up to 6000 feet in the middle of winter when there is no door is cold. Getting to 6000 feet and finding there is the most beautiful wildest snow storm going on and that you can't possibly get out is even colder. Having to go back to 3000 feet apparently makes you go blue. I jumped out and tried to get hold of my pilot chute but my hand was too numb. I couldn't grasp it. Butterflies but no panic. Hanging out of the leg pocket the pilot chute has a toggle which is connected by about an inch or two of thin twine and somehow, probably sheer will, I got my index finger and middle finger either side of string behind toggle and pulled. Parachute opened and I'm still here but It never occurred to me my hand would be unable to grasp my pilot chute . How can you plan for what you can't foresee.
It was my frequent jump partner Moo that pointed out how blue I was.
I did have a good snow jump one time and it was when It started snowing on the way down. Instead of snow falling towards me like it does on the ground it was falling away. Beautiful, I was so busy watching I got told off for pulling a bit low. On the other hand hitting rain on the way down hurts just hurts.

The club was happy to go and do demos and exhibitions but I was only around but for a couple. The first was when the local fire brigade asked if some sky divers would jump into their fete and a few of us went. It was good even thogh I actually missed the fete and landed in the field next door. My friend Moo landed on target and a little old lady told her how wonderful it was to see but then asked "but how did you get up there?"
The second was a mass jump and it was supposed to be a drop of over 100 parachustists to comemorate the D Day Landings of the war. There were supposed to be Three Dakota planes at west Malling in Kent but one plane broke down and couldn't get there so in the end there was about 40 of us in each of the two planes. We had to run down the plane just like in the pictures, surreal, and then the sky was full of parachutists singing because that was the best way to make sure that the people flying around at 20 or so miles an hour in cloud didn't hit each other.
Night Jumps are scary and magic and we only ever did one. We used those plastic sticks that you crack to be luminous on suits an helmets and one for the altimeter. It was only a 5 second delay as I remember and then a dark canopy ride down. All you see are loads of little lights flitting in front of you in the sky as well as the those of the airfield. You have no idea where planet earth is in relation to your feet so even if you're ready to land its a bump of a surprise.

My best memory is of a quiet mid week jump day George and a few of us were in the plane climbing to height over the sea. Don't know why but an image special to me is that of late evening sky with the planes shadow reflected on the sea.