I am starting to get extremely comfortable with my canopy and am try to experiment with new things. I usually land reletivly close to my mark everytime. but I have a few questions.
-What is the best way to lengthen your ground track to reach a landing spot Under 1,000ft? And what is the best way to get down faster/but safe under 1,000ft?
- When using dive loops where to put the toggles? Keep them in your hands, wrist, or restow?
-When using rear risers to land brakes stay stowed or un stowed?
- What is the most risky situation you can put your self in with your canopy?
My canopy is rather docile but it lets me play a bit as well and I have to do some of this stuff just for the A license any wayl. I rather take advice from others than attempt blind for the first time. All my instructors were rather confident in my canopy skills which makes me feel rather confident in my canopy skills. I want to know things not to do as well so I can avoid situations will trying things out.
Most of these questions can be answered by respected instructors or coaches, if you don't have those around then seek coaching.
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What is the best way to lengthen your ground track to reach a landing spot Under 1,000ft? And what is the best way to get down faster/but safe under 1,000ft?
No wind/ light winds - rear risers with your toggles in your hands Head wind - full flight and getting your body small Down wind - brakes and making your body big. *Note - under 1000' is not the area to try new things like double fronts really close to the ground. try all new manuevers above 2000' before you start bringing it closer to the ground.
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When using dive loops where to put the toggles? Keep them in your hands, wrist, or restow?
Keep them some place that you can use them immediately and effectively if that's around your wrist then great but you should always have them in your hands
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When using rear risers to land brakes stay stowed or un stowed?
When practicing, always keep toggles in your hands. however there could be emergency situations where you find yourself without toggles (broken steering line)
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- What is the most risky situation you can put your self in with your canopy?
Doing stupid shit close to the ground (ie low turns, s-turns, sitting in brakes over the HP landing area, ect). try all new maneuvers or inputs up high and out of canopy traffic.
Thanks, I do not try anything new below 1500ft, but why I asked about things under 1000ft, is just so if I am coming in to land and am like 1000-500ft high and notice I am a little short or a little long how I could help myself get a little closer with out doing anything stupid. and with the dive loops i wasn't sure if pulling on the dive loops with the brakes in hand, pulled the brakes down as well, or enough to put you in a bad situation. Thanks for your help.
Your best bet for building accuracy is to not worry about any voodoo tricks to make your canopy land in the peas, which could sacrifice your and other's safety. Your best bet is to work on your landing pattern. Fly your pattern as planned, as long as it is safe to do so, then you can adjust your pattern accordingly for the next jump. Eventually you'll learn how to setup your pattern properly for the winds of the day.
Low jump numbers or not, this I feel I can confidently answer.
In this scenario the wind is moderately strong and coming from behind you so it's blowing you back to the DZ. Going to deep brakes does eliminate the canopy's 'natural' forward speed but also minimises altitude loss, therefore maximising the time that the wind can blow you back and increasing your range.
To profit even more from this effect, you try to catch as much wind as possible by presenting a large profile. Keep in mind though that you'll have to experiment to see which method/how much brakes will increase your range the most.
Unfortunately, this is wrong: When you are flying do you feel the wind in your back or coming from in front of you?
The answer to this question shows that by getting 'big' you are increasing drag, which hinders the performance of your wing: in all cases you should always try to reduce drag when trying to glide further...
Edited to add: Even in deep brakes you will never eliminate your forward speed in the relative wind, unless you're stalling of course, but that is not the point of this thread...
(This post was edited by Guinness_fr on Jun 25, 2008, 7:25 AM)
And the question was about going downwind, ie being upwind relative to the DZ, right? So presenting a larger profile will help you make it back. When going upwind, ie being downwind from the DZ I agree that you should try to reduce drag by rpesenting a smaller profile.
This has probably been beaten to death a thousand times in this forum, but the thing is that you are flying within a mass of air, the fact that this wind is moving relative to the ground changes your trajectory accordingly (i.e. add the vector of your flight within the air mass to that of the moving mass of air to have your speed relative to the ground). Now making yourself big increases your drag but does not make your canopy fly any better, does it? In other words: in still air, when flying in brakes, do you stay longer in the air by making yourself big or is your wing less efficient due to the added drag? If you do not stay longer in the air by making yourself big (which I presume is the case), then it doesn't matter whether you are upwind or downwind: when you are flying the wind is never pushing your back, never, unless you're in a stall.
Thanks, I do not try anything new below 1500ft, but why I asked about things under 1000ft, is just so if I am coming in to land and am like 1000-500ft high and notice I am a little short or a little long how I could help myself get a little closer with out doing anything stupid. and with the dive loops i wasn't sure if pulling on the dive loops with the brakes in hand, pulled the brakes down as well, or enough to put you in a bad situation. Thanks for your help.
Any of these scenarious can be handled safely by modifying your patern in flight instead of using additional control inputs.
Extend legs of the pattern, shorten legs of the pattern, cut the corner, round out a corner.
I suggest you get yourself a copy of Brian's book. It is a great read.
(This post was edited by DougH on Jun 25, 2008, 12:26 PM)
I've been guilty of thinking the older way myself for sure.
Me too, I finally understood why that was wrong when I first discovered this forum and started reading all the existing threads, 5 or 6 years ago...
You're right that making yourself big can be useful when trying to fly with another canopy: it does alter the way you fly but usually by decreasing the performance of your wing.
-When using rear risers to land brakes stay stowed or un stowed?
In Reply To
Depends on the situation.
Unless you've already deeply, deeply fucked up (ie. stuck toggles and too low to cutaway) why would you ever want to try and land on rears with the brakes stowed?
-When using rear risers to land brakes stay stowed or un stowed?
In Reply To
Depends on the situation.
Unless you've already deeply, deeply fucked up (ie. stuck toggles and too low to cutaway) why would you ever want to try and land on rears with the brakes stowed?
I agree that a stuck toggle is about the only reason for this, but I would not address that as deeply f@#$ed up. I have landed a stuck toggle on rears, after making that decsion with plenty of altitude to have done otherwise. With a docile canopy, plenty of rear riser practice, and a good PLF, I dusted off with not a scratch.
