{"id":17605,"date":"2017-01-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=17605"},"modified":"2017-01-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T00:00:00","slug":"2017-01-11-overconfidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/2017-01-11-overconfidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Overconfidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Overconfidence.<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Complacency.<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Gravity.<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

These three things came together for me at the Reserve Backyard Challenge.\u00a0<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

I normally jump a 190 so I had asked for an Optimum 193 for the competition. That canopy was needed for a jumper with far fewer jumps so I was asked to jump a 176 Optimum. I agreed and calculated my wing loading. I did my normal safety checks on my gear and mentally went through my EPs on the way to altitude\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I exited the airplane and had a nice opening. Instead of taking my time and practicing with the smaller canopy to get used to it I let overconfidence and complacency take over. I spiraled down to get more vertical separation and set up my pattern like I normally would for an accuracy jump. I figured the smaller canopy with a higher loading would penetrate further. I was wrong. I turned it into the wind on final and it died. I was not getting hardly any penetration.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The ground soon taught me a valuable lesson as I pounded in like a sack of bricks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Chad<\/p>\n

I was embarrassed and upset with myself for miscalculating instead of thinking about my landing. Overconfidence. Since I was getting hardly any penetration I decided (I still don’t know why) to land using my rear risers. I have done this many times on my canopy but never on a reserve\u2026especially a smaller one. The ground soon taught me a valuable lesson as I pounded in like a sack of bricks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n