brent@poseidon.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (02/17/86)
It's funny how accidents can creep up on you at the most unexpected times. A couple of years ago I was visiting the DZ at Spaceland, TX where they have all the Twin Otters. A nice place to jump and a nice bunch of people. On the climbout you get a good view of the Johnson Spacecraft Center and the Saturn V rocket lying on it's side. I participated in a fun 6 way dive, then docked third on a triplane during the canopy ride. I was feeling quite happy and relaxed; what could go wrong now ? On approach to the landing area I noticed that we were going to land short, so I asked to be dropped. I flew out to one side to clear the other two, and continued toward the packing area. I flared for landing and tippy-toed into the grass. I was suprised when my canopy crashed to the ground in front of me with a loud THUMP! The canopy struggled a bit, then a dazed skydiver emerged. It seems that after clearing the biplane I had flown back underneath it and the stack pilot had dropped his buddy into the middle of my canopy as I flared. We were all very grateful that it hadn't happened just a little bit higher! Whose fault ? We agreed that we all were at fault. Being underneath, my canopy had blocked my view of them, and I had assumed that they were looking out for me. In concentrating on their own landings, they had not noticed me sliding back underneath. Needless to say: I'm very careful now to be aware of where everyone is when I'm coming in to land. It's nice when fate gives us such gentle lessons in safety. -- Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ {ihnp4|mtuxo|pegasus}!poseidon!brent (201) 576-3475