This was back at my home dropzone. The DZ owner actually owned the entire airport and the land it sat on. To help offset the cost he rented out the parts of the property to local farmers to grow crops. That year there was corn, really really tall corn as it was a wet year that bordered the north side of the landing area.
Not a big deal as the landing area was very large. Well, one of the local Skygods (idiot that thinks they’re cool, but they’re just an idiot and has an attitude about it) thought that it would be fun to do a hook turn in to the corn…
For those of you that have been in corn fields, yes you are guessing correctly on what happened next.
You see, do such a low and aggressive turn under a parachute generates a LOT of speed and he generated that speed… So he goes out over the corn, hooks the parachute dives into the corn. Those of us watching were highly entertained seeing a parachute traveling just above the tassels of the corn at a high rate of speed for an impressive distance. The guy burst out of the corn field onto the landing area rolling head over heels and came to a stop in a quivering lump.
He had multiple lacerations, contusions, and his gear was in such bad shape he had to send it back to the respective manufacturers for repair.
He never jumped there again and I’m not sure he ever went back to skydiving. Probably for the best.
This was back at my home dropzone. The DZ owner actually owned the entire airport and the land it sat on. To help offset the cost he rented out the parts of the property to local farmers to grow crops. That year there was corn, really really tall corn as it was a wet year that bordered the north side of the landing area.
Not a big deal as the landing area was very large. Well, one of the local Skygods (idiot that thinks they’re cool, but they’re just an idiot and has an attitude about it) thought that it would be fun to do a hook turn in to the corn…
For those of you that have been in corn fields, yes you are guessing correctly on what happened next.
You see, do such a low and aggressive turn under a parachute generates a LOT of speed and he generated that speed… So he goes out over the corn, hooks the parachute dives into the corn. Those of us watching were highly entertained seeing a parachute traveling just above the tassels of the corn at a high rate of speed for an impressive distance. The guy burst out of the corn field onto the landing area rolling head over heels and came to a stop in a quivering lump.
He had multiple lacerations, contusions, and his gear was in such bad shape he had to send it back to the respective manufacturers for repair.
He never jumped there again and I’m not sure he ever went back to skydiving. Probably for the best.