Michael (Ted) Farnsworth dropped us a line the other day, to tell us about a reserve ride he recently had on his PD Optimum reserve. It's always great to hear from people using our products (hint hint, if you have a story to share, send it in!). Reading this e-mail we felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside, so we decided to share it with the readers of the PD blog. Enjoy. And to you Ted - thank YOU for choosing PD!
Dear
PD,
On a routine Tandem
Video jump this weekend, I opened to find line twists and a diving canopy that
was applying pressure to me in a way that made it impossible to untwist the
lines. I cut away after some concerted effort to correct the problem proved
ineffective. My PD Optimum-143 Reserve (S/N OP143-000396) opened quickly,
smoothly and without any twists or surprises. I thought that was very nice. I
then did a canopy-control-check to ascertain the condition and flight
characteristics of the canopy, so I would be familiar with it for landing. I
was very pleased with the control range and stability of the canopy. I then
turned to fly back to the landing area so I could video the landing of the
Tandem Pair. I initially thought that I would not be able to make the landing
area due to the extra altitude loss from the malfunction, but I was again very
pleased with the way the reserve floated with rear riser input, without loosing
much forward speed. I made the landing area easily, turned into the wind and
set up for a moderate final approach and landing. The Flare was predictable,
and powerful. I had a beautiful, tip-toe soft standup landing. The Student was
unaware that I had had a cutaway and reserve ride, and the Tandem Instructor did
not comment until after we were out of earshot on the subject. I have been
jumping for 29 years, have around 5000 jumps, and have around 14 reserve
activations for various reasons. I have 7 rigs; all with PD reserves. I am a
Master Rigger, and have been rigging since 1981. This was the smoothest,
cleanest opening, best flying and landing reserve I have ever had the pleasure
of using. Thanks for continuing to do the research and development that results
in improvements in the technology we as skydivers rely on to keep us safe and
whole, and thank you very much for making MY
Optimum-143.
Sincerely,
Michael (Ted)
Farnsworth
Professional
Skydiver
A-6814, D16891
