March 17, 1997

Dear George,

I had a chance to see my Raven I over my head a few weeks ago after I dislocated my left shoulder in freefall during a "rodeo" dive with a friend. The rest of the skydive was quite painful and I opened my main at about 3,000. I tried for a few seconds to pop my arm back in place, but it wasn't cooperating with me, hanging by my side, totally useless. It quickly became apparent that I was going to have to land myself safely with only one functioning arm. I was barely able to steer because of the pain, and could not flare with just one hand. Quite frankly I didn't think my heavily loaded ZP canopy was going to bring me down in one piece. At about 2000 feet, my decision to land under a much larger reserve was an easy one. Chop! Thankfully I had an RSL to take care of the second half of the procedure for me. The opening was quick and on heading, and really quite gentle.

Before I knew it I was watching the slider come down over my head. I unstowed the right toggle and steered myself to land on the edge of a soft field. I did a textbook PLF, and rolled over onto my back. Even without a flare the Raven still brought me down without further injury. I know that this would not have been the case if I had tried to land under my main. A trip to the hospital got my arm back in place, and I will jump again soon.

I guess the important lesson was that a reserve should be sized for the worst case. Just the day before I had been working out a deal to go down a few sizes in my container and reserve. Not anymore. In this sport, the unexpected can kill you in a second. I never for a minute thought I'd find myself in that situation. I'm sure there are those that would argue against cutting away a flying canopy, but its not how it flies, its how it lands.

I'm glad that I had the extra square footage on my back that day. I know this account probably isn't as dramatic as most that you receive, but I'm not looking for glory in one of your ads. Just want to say thanks for making a fine product, and I hope I never use it again!

Thanks.

Dan Bowles