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The first day – we gathered around 10.00 AM and started packing the equipment. It was quite of a job to transport it to the location and to install it, but we made it somehow. After the testing, which Tomas took the risk to do, we could start our course, somewhere around 12.00 PM. There were 17 people on the first day. Considering it was a working day, that was quite a number. Both of our reserves opened both times we threw them, so we packed them again hoping never to actually use them, except in courses like this. So, we dedicated ourselves to packing reserves and hooking people to the funicular. A lot of people, and even more reserves packed, and the day was finally over when it had already darkened. We went home hoping for a nice meal, hot bath and sleeping.

The second day – this day started earlier, already around 09.00 AM. More than 20 people came and tested their reserves and improved or gained knowledge in packing them. Considering we've already done the throwing yesterday, we were just there to help. It was a busy day and it ended around 05.00 PM, when we all were both glad and sad that it's over.

So, what to say in conclusion? We believe that this was quite a useful thing to do. When we sum it all up, we had around 40 pilots on the course and three reserves that didn't open – one due to tangled ropes, one due to wrong packing, and one due to the handle that broke when the pilot tried to throw the reserve. Thinking of the fact that the reserve is there to save your life, we would have lost three lives in a real situation. Luckily, this was only a practice. Three reserves not opening is real reminder that we all should check our life saving devices more regulary. Last year there was an accident in Serbia where reserve parachute deployed spontaniously after the launch. Since the terrain was steep and rocky result was fatality. This could be avoided by simply checking the equipment before flight. One life would have been saved. So don’t be to busy to spend a minute for checking your reserve pins. If not before each flight, than regulary enough. You don’t need to pack your reserve yourself, let someone experienced do that for you, but basic checks can be done easily and there is no excuse for not doing that.

Some of us learned the direction and strenghth they need to pull to open the reserve and some of us also learned that packing the reserve is not as hard as it looks like. All in all, it was a great course. Courses like this raise safety in our beautiful sport so we recommend them for everyone. Even if you think, there's nothing to learn, it's a good chance to re-pack your reserve. And beside that, it is so much fun to launch your friends from the funicular. And that wasn’t the only fun we had – a bunch of people trying to pack a single reserve is a priceless site. :-) With another thank you to Tomas and Rostja and with kind regards from Serbia

Marko and Svetlana, AC Jat

NOTICE: The reserve that didn't open due to a bad packing was packed in an AVA sport harness. Therefore we would like to ask all the pilots that fly AVA Sport harnesses with side or under the seat reserve to pay good attention to the red letter notice on the AVA Sport web site. You have a good explanation there how to pack your reserve properly, so that you don't experience any problems. The handle of the reserve should be tied side-long inner container, not on the centre of it. If it is tied to the centre, the stripe leading to the container is shorter than the one leading to the pins, so when you pull the handle, you're pulling directly the container instead of pulling the pins, which makes the opening of the reserve impossible. 

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