Survival Skills for Canopy Control
Landing Accidents
Avoid landing accidents by doing all you can to eliminate landing off the DZ.
As soon as you're open, evaluate the spot. When faced with a bad spot, quickly find out how far you can go by using the accuracy trick. You can greatly extend your parachute's capability to get you back to the DZ by learning how to use the entire control range to your advantage. The accuracy trick will help you learn how to quickly choose the best toggle or riser position for any bad spot. Why deal with unfamiliar hazards off the DZ? Avoid them through better canopy control.
A. The Accuracy Trick Defined
Find the point on the ground that doesn't move.
1. Choose a point on the ground in front of you. If it seems to move towards you (the angle gets steeper in your field of vision), then you will fly past that point. If the point seems to move up or away (the angle to the point gets flatter in your field of vision), then you won't make it that far, unless something changes. If you keep looking between these two points, you will find one point on the ground that does not appear to move in your field of vision at all. (The visual angle doesn't change.) I call that point the "special point" that doesn't move. The visual angle to all other points on the ground seem to move outward from this point as you travel towards it.
2. If the winds never changed, and you never moved your toggles, you would end up crashing into the ground right on that special point! If the winds do change, you can tell right away because the special point that wasn't moving will start to move as soon as the winds change. That means there is a new point that doesn't move. A new special point replaces the old one. That special point will also start to move if you change your toggle position.
B. Using The Old Accuracy Trick
1. When you have a tail wind and the spot is quite long:
Find the toggle position that would take you to a point furthest past the DZ. Then you will arrive at the DZ with the most altitude (and most options) remaining.
A simple rule such as, "on a long spot with a tailwind, fly half brakes," may be better than nothing, but it is far from ideal. To avoid the off-airport landing, you may need better performance than a simple guideline can give. With a strong tail wind, it is likely that going to deeper brakes will help even more, but how much brakes? Use the accuracy trick to choose what control position works the best in the particular tailwind you have at the time: Find the special point, then add some brakes. See how you have a new special point as you change the toggles? If the visual angle to the new point is flatter, you are doing better. The visual angle to the old point will get steeper and steeper. Now add some more brakes. If your field of vision changes again just as described, then you're doing even better. Each time you change the toggles, (or each time the wind changes), you will have a new special point. Add more brakes. You're flying really slowly now. If the visual angle to the new point is steeper, then you're not doing as well. If this is the case, the visual angle to the old point will get flatter and flatter. So reduce the brakes back to the optimum. 2. If you have a tailwind coming slightly from one side, and you have a long spot, quickly choose the right crab angle to fly a straight path to the DZ.
You've turned towards the DZ and have chosen the best brake position that would take you to a point furthest past the DZ by using the accuracy trick described above. You can draw an imaginary straight line between you and the special point, through the intended landing point. If you start drifting off this line, immediately make a crab angle that will keep you on this line. See how the visual angle to the special point changes as you create the crab angle? Adjust the brakes to put that special point in the best position again. If you were really deep in the brakes, you will probably need less brakes after you create a crab angle.
Do not "home" back to the DZ by pointing straight at it while drifting sideways. Since the crosswind will blow you slightly off the wind line, you will likely readjust your heading again and again to point back towards the DZ, without ever counteracting the crosswind at all. This means you will be flying a long arc back to the DZ. The quickest way back is a straight line, so crab rather than home! 3. What about a headwind on a long spot?
If you have a headwind, the special point that doesn't move will be quite close to you. If you need to fly past this point to get to a safe landing area, you will probably need to use front risers. (Make sure your canopy is quite stable on front risers before using this technique) How much front risers? Use the accuracy trick to find out! Try a little front riser and the special point will move. (The angle will start changing). Try a little more and it will move again. Try a little more. Did the point move the wrong direction? That's too much front riser. See how this method works to determine the best control position in any bad spot situation? How about a headwind coming from slightly from one side?
4. Don't forget to leave yourself plenty of safety margin.
Use the accuracy trick in this way to get back to a safe place, but be careful to avoid fixating on this technique so much that we forget to use our safe options while they still exist. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of altitude and maneuvering room to plan a safe approach and landing.
II. Learn To Fly Defensively
A. Defensive Flying Has Two Basic Parts
1. Developing such high skill that you get to the ground safely in spite of the stupid things people are doing all around you.
2. Developing such good judgement that you make your decisions in a way that helps create safer situations for yourself and others.
B. Stage The Approaches To Avoid Heavy Traffic
Many of the worst accidents are collisions that occur at landing time, often because there are just too many canopies going too many directions to be safe! Staging the traffic can help reduce this risk.
1.To create more seperation from other traffic.
After opening decide quickly whether it is best to float or dive, assuming the spot is good enough to allow for some maneuvering. The goal is to prevent a high frequency of landings occurring in a short period of time. Less traffic density means less chance of an accident. This is similar to the idea that eliminating tailgating reduces the chance of accidents on the highway. To stage the approaches to the landing area, you must look way ahead and predict how the traffic will arrive at the landing area. Then, adjust your fight path so that you have as little traffic as possible when you are landing. The more people on the load using this technique the better! Noticing heavy traffic when you're already on final approach is too late! Planning is the name of the game.
2. How do you stage the approaches?
First, look all around you after opening. See where everyone is. Ask yourself two questions: Are you near the top of the bunch or near the bottom? Is your canopy loaded more heavily or more lightly than the others? Then:
If you're more towards the bottom, and have an average wing loading for the group: You should land as soon as possible. You're trying to stretch out the time period that all the landings will occur by getting the landing process started sooner. If you don't do this, you may start crowding up the traffic behind you, just like a car driver would if he drove slowly in the fast lane.
If you're more towards the bottom, but have a big floaty canopy: The faster traffic will probably catch up and pass you. Where would you prefer this to happen? If you dive down and try to set up on final approach early, you will probably be passed during your final approach. In this case, assuming the spot is good, it might be better to float in the brakes right from the start. This will force the faster traffic to pass you while you are still quite high. Being passed up high is safer than being passed on final approach.
If you're more towards the top: You should try to float in the brakes. You're trying to stretch out the time period that all the landings will occur, by landing later. This is easy if you are on a larger floaty canopy.
What if you're more towards the the top, but you have a high wing loading? If you're loaded heavily, you can still probably float in brakes quite well. Try to stay up with the big floaty canopies, until you find the biggest gap in the traffic that is below you. Then you fly down and fill that biggest gap. That gap is usually just in front of the big floaty canopies.
C. Learn The Habits Of Others
Anticipating the actions of others will help keep you out of trouble.Here are some examples:
1. The indecisive slow poke.
This is someone with a big canopy that likes to do sashays while in the final approach area. If you're flying a much faster canopy, don't follow him on his downwind leg. You may get stuck behind him, needing to pass him on late final. The problem is, you may not be able to predict where he will be when you pass! Better to pass him earlier on, or turn your base leg early, landing more up-wind than him. Perhaps you can land somewhere else. Just don't cut him off, because he might get overloaded by the whole thing and make a mistake, causing an accident.
2. The last-second hook turner.
This guy loves to do low toggle-turns, way lower than you're willing to risk. If you're following him back from a bad spot, don't wait for him to turn into the wind before you do! You'll probably be turning lower than you want to be! If he is following close behind you and below you, he might be obstructing your turn into the wind. Remove yourself from this situation while there is still plenty of altitude.
3. Have you ever known someone who likes landing downwind for fun?
In today's jumping environment, you have to be ready for anything, so keep lots of options open.
D. Diffuse The Hot Landing Area
This you do by taking the initiative to land somewhere else.
Walking is healthy! It's better than being carried back on a stretcher. By choosing to land somewhere else, rather than joining into the already crowded traffic on final to the "cool" landing area, you'll make it safer for yourself, as well as making the "cool" landing area a little less crowded for the others.
E. Check The Spot Early During The Skydive
Many marginal spots are made worse by aimlessly wandering around for a few seconds while figuring out where you are. If you can do so quickly, check the spot during climb out if you're a floater waiting for others to climb out. Check it if you have an idle second or two during freefall. Checking the spot early and frequently will give you advance warning of a bad spot. You will know, right away, which direction to fly the canopy. You might even decide to leave a touch early, to start getting safe separation sooner, and therefore permit a little higher opening too.
F. Improve Your Tracking
You'll get safe separation sooner, if you improve your tracking. Then you can deploy your canopy higher and avoid problems with bad spots. This will help you avoid the off-airport landing. You can also get more separation, which will reduce chances of a collision during opening.
1. How much separation is necessary?
The higher the wing loading on the load, the more separation is required. Most people are way too comfortable with way too little separation! You should be able to have an off-heading opening facing directly towards another jumper and still have enough separation to allow for a rear riser turn to avoid a collision. Blaming off-heading openings for canopy collisions is a major cop-out.
2. To Improve your tracking, first improve your attitude: be dissatisfied!
You must be dissatisfied with your present tracking, or you will have no real incentive to improve. Satisfaction with your tracking is a trap and an ego protection device. This ego protection device helps you make your bad excuses for poor tracking more believable. One bad excuse is, "That jerk tracked right over my head when I was ready to pull." Really? Or did you track too steeply and not see where you were going? Be dissatisfied and you'll get constant improvement.
3. With your attitude changed, now experiment with technique.
Many people have not really experimented with body positions for tracking, so you often see poor tracking. I suggest that you occasionally devote an entire skydive just to tracking. You'll have plenty of time to experiment. Make sure you track away from the line of flight, to avoid conflicts with other jumpers.
4. Avoid these common errors:
Arching. This is OK for a beginner, but it causes a steep track. De-arching makes the track flatter. Try bending a little at the waist.
Knees and ankles bent. This slows the track, making it mushy and steep. Straight knees and pointed toes are better, and they should push down onto the relative wind.
Arms up, streamlined with relative wind. This causes a steeper track also. The arms should be pressing down onto relative wind to make the track flatter.
Legs and arms too close together. This does not help the speed much, and usually causes difficulty avoiding a rolling motion side to side. A slightly spread position, with feet almost shoulder width, and hands 6" 12" from torso is better because it aids in stability and makes it easier to deflect more relative wind. 5. When you leave a formation and track up and away, rather than down and away, you're starting to get the hang of it!
On most jumps the fall rate is fast while doing RW, and the body is arched. Since the track should be de-arched and flat, a good track may actually have a lower descent rate than the formation!
III. Conclusions
I have not covered reducing the risks of normal landings and swoop landings because that will be addressed in a different seminar. As you can see, I believe that most of the canopy survival skills are a combination of improving skills and developing better judgment. Because of my emphasis on improvements, there can be no end to this process, and no real conclusion. I do not wish to fall into the too common trap of thinking that I've completed my learning process and I'm safe from harm. I've seen that this is a deadly trap. That is why I would like to encourage you all to share your ideas on the subject with me. I hope I have presented to you some thought provoking ideas and concepts that you can use to help you reduce the risk of accidents at your DZ.
Canopy Skills Drills
Learning to fly our parachutes is absolutely necessary for long-term survival in this sport. The philosophy that the canopy is simply a means to get down from a skydive is gradually becoming a thing of the past. This may be as a result of individuals with such an attitude dropping out of the sport due to canopy-related injuries, or from the insurmountable fear that comes as a result of a lack of control over their experience. Regardless, many jumpers have been taking an increased interest in flying their parachutes better.
Reading and talking about canopies is the beginning of this process. We must understand the principles that allow our canopies to fly. To make a real difference in our capabilities, however, we need to physically experiment with our parachutes in flight. We must practice in the real world.
Here are a few exercises that will increase your abilities to save your own life, and enhance your feeling of control while under canopy:
Pitch Control Exercises
Manipulate the canopy on the pitch axis using the brakes.
Look at canopy to notice the amount of pitch axis change.
Notice the difference between "soft" and "sharp" inputs: slow application vs. quick.
Why?
Controlling the pitch angle is how we manipulate the angle of attack of the wing. Without a dynamic change to the angle of attack, we will be unable to increase the lift of the parachute enough to change the direction of flight from its normal full flight glide to level flight. This maneuver is essential for safe landings.
Pitch Control With Bank Angle
Begin a turn using a single steering toggle.
Apply the opposite toggle while still in the turn.
Experiment with soft versus sharp inputs to negate decent.
Look at canopy to notice pitch changes.
Why?
Having the ability to control the pitch axis while in a bank is what gives the pilot the ability to control the decent rate while in a turn. The natural tendency is to loose altitude in a turn, but this is not necessarily the result of turning with bank angle. By increasing the angle of attack while in a bank, we can increase the amount of lift that the parachute is producing, and even alter the flight path to level flight despite significant bank angle.
Dive Arrest: Toggle Turns
Place the canopy in a spiral dive using a single steering toggle.
Arrest the dive as quickly as possible by sharply applying the opposite toggle as well as the inside toggle; the inside toggle is not applied until the two are matched in the degree of input. When the toggles are matched, a short stab of collective brake pressure is usually all that is needed to achieve level flight.
Exercise both banked recovery and wings level recovery.
Why?
Turning too low is the preliminary cause of many injuries in our sport. Unfortunately, most canopy pilots assume that bank angle must be eradicated before arresting the dive. This leads many to waste valuable altitude in the process of leveling the wing. In situations with very little altitude remaining, this may delay the collective brake application until it is too late. By rehearsing a transition to zero decent while still in a bank, the pilot becomes accustomed to applying the toggle on the outside of the turn as a learned instinct, reducing the chances of a turn leading to serious injury.
Dive Arrest: Front Riser Dive
Place the canopy in a dive using the front risers.
Rehearse dropping the front risers and quickly stabbing the brakes.
Rehearse both straight front riser dive recovery as well as turning dives.
Why?
While acceleration on final approach can be great fun and usually leads to longer swoops, the acquisition of speed is not really the hard part. What keeps us alive is the judgment and skills necessary to save us when we dive the canopy too close to the ground. If we rehearse the solutions to the dangers, the likelihood of a dive resulting in serious injury is reduced. Letting the front risers up slowly may be the best way to get a long swoop when the dive is rounded up slowly and with ample altitude. Unfortunately, this muscle memory may not serve us when we are really low. In the time it takes to smoothly let up on the front risers we may find ourselves planted in the ground like a shrubbery. Dropping the front risers allows the pilot to keep their hands down, ready to stab the brakes aggressively to arrest a mortal dive. A short, sharp, shock on the brakes may be all that is necessary to place the jumper back under the wing, and to the higher angle of attack that saves their life.
Slow-Flight Practice
Place the canopy in 90% brakes and hold for 60-90 seconds.
Make controlled heading changes of 45-90 degrees.
Notice the difference in responsiveness as compared to full flight turns.
Notice that lifting a toggle on the outside of the turn reduces the risk of stalling the wing on the inside of the turn.
Why?
Most pilots spend the majority of their canopy ride in full flight. This means that the feeling of the canopy in this mode is most comfortable to most people. It also means that flying in deep brakes places many out of their comfort zone. This means that most people are feeling somewhat uncomfortable just prior to putting their feet on the ground every single jump. In fact, this anxiety often causes people to hold their breath, and then offset their steering toggles toward the end of the landing in order to get to the ground sooner. They simply want this part to be over. In order to land with great consistency, we must become intimately aware of the flight performance of our parachutes in very deep brakes. The more time we spend in this flight mode, the more comfortable we will be. If we are to land well, we must be as comfortable with deep brakes as we are with full flight.
Brian Germain is the author of The Parachute and its Pilot, a canopy flight educational text. Brian is also the President of Big Air Sportz parachute manufacturing company, and teaches canopy flight courses all over the world. To learn more about parachutes, or to order the book, go to: www.BrianGermain.com .
By BrianSGermain, in Safety,
Skydiving Gear - Avoiding and Solving Problems
This article is about learning how to “Understand parachute equipment so you can avoid and survive dangerous situations”!
Important gear concepts exist and are always valid, regardless of who makes the gear, where it is used or what someone is telling you about it!
The best way to solve a problem is not to get in a situation where you are forced to solve one, but if you do, you still need to know what to do. How can we do that? The answer is- understanding the equipment and knowing what you can do with it.
Example- being aware that the Reserve pilot chutes can experience spring lock/pilot chute partial malfunction/, will prepare you for the moment if this happens. What can you do in this situation?
There is no one else to rely on up in the sky except you, with your knowledge, skills, and experience. Understanding the equipment can help you avoid and resolve situations.
Equipment concepts have been around since parachutes came into existing and they are the principals that define how and why equipment is designed, manufactured, and used. Therefore, they are independent of arbitrary opinions and politics.
Equipment
1. Must be a Mechanical system
2. Must be Functionally sound
3. Must be Safety compliant
Do these concepts feel familiar in any way?
They are pretty much the principles you follow on every jump to ensure the equipment is safe while doing your checks, post deployment procedures, flying the canopy, etc. etc. All these actions ensure that 1. The mechanical system/parachute/ is 2. Functional and 3. Safe!
This particular article will look at what are the factors defining the parachute equipment as a Mechanical system.
Parachutes need proper environment/atmosphere, gravity, fluids resistance etc./ to work. Even though they were designed on Planet Earth, parachutes successfully worked on Mars, using the same principles https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8875/testing-proves-its-worth-with-successful-mars-parachute-deployment/
The Parachute used for Mars landings
Airplane equipped with emergency parachute
What defines a Parachute as a Mechanical System?
1. The system needs to comprise all its parts!
Learn what are the parachute components of your main and reserve and how they work. Are they all what they should be? Here you can start with your parachute manual!
“Parachute assembly normally, but not exclusively, consists of the following major components: a canopy, a deployment device, a pilot chute and/or drogue, risers, a stowage container, a harness, and an actuation device (ripcord)”. All the parts mentioned are vitally important for the parachute operation. If the pilot chute gets separated from the D bag on deployment, it won’t be able to extract the main from the container causing a malfunction. However, sometimes parachutes can operate with missing parts -D bag can be extracted and thrown on the wind flow manually if the PC is in tow; you can pull the RSL lanyard on some models for a reserve activation. As you can see, knowing all the parts and their function will give you the advantage of extra ability to avoid and solve problems.
When you inspect your gear, you check if all the visible parts are present and connected. Sometimes you are not able to inspect all the parts inside the container, for example when someone else has packed for you but you trust your packer or rigger. That’s where teamwork and cooperation come in to play!
2. The system is real- nothing magical happens up there
Investigate the reasons for accidents and learn the reasons that caused them. Consider what you would have done with your gear to avoid each one of them! Consult with knowledgeable person!
Parachute is a physical system; laws of mechanics and aerodynamics apply. Higher windspeed under the canopy creates lift. Pulling a toggle, creates resistance on this side of the canopy, and it turns in the same direction caused by that increased resistance. Uneven body position contributes to line twists/mains or reserves/, high speed on deployment causes hard openings. There are reasons for everything that happens with the equipment and the consequences. Sounds logical, right? Learn what causes line twists so you can fly your openings and avoid them, learn what causes hard opening so you can pack better and avoid them, learn which canopies fly better in turbulence and get one of them, learn what causes pilot chute in tow and you can avoid them.
Have you personally investigated all accidents that have happened to learn what to do to protect yourself in the future? Really, have you done that, at least for the fatalities you have heard about recently? If you have not- you have holes in your knowledge how to save your life. Take a minute to think about it now! Why haven’t you done that? There are officials that should be able to answer all your questions and are also people on the field that have a lot of answers.
3. Mechanical systems malfunction, both- main and reserve.
Learn what has caused mains and reserves to malfunction or would. Then, think what you can change or do to avoid malfunctions!
Yes, parachutes malfunction, both mains, and reserves. Understanding the equipment can help you identify potential malfunction and reduce the anxiety.
Before jumping, we should know how the canopy we jump would react in different situations. Knowing the difference between 7 and 9 cell canopies, we can anticipate what surprises we can get on opening or while turning with them.
What settings enable your canopy’s optimum glide ability- flying it with rear risers, on 50 % brakes, how effective they are downwind, into the wind? Knowing all that before returning from a long spot can keep you out of troubles.
Most reserves are usually built as 7 cell F-111 square canopies. Why is that? You should know what could contribute or cause reserves to malfunction and avoid these situations. In case the reserve malfunctions, you should know what is possible to do to rectify the situations. Take a minute to think about your options if this happens. What is the design and materials of your reserve? If you have questions- ask someone that knows, not someone of authority that thinks they know.
Ask yourself- are my knowledge, skills, and experience where they should be? Am I doing everything I can to improve them?
It is not manufacturer’s job to tell you everything you need to know, so they don’t, they are companies and have different priorities. Often, federations and associations can be slow with bringing to you the education you need. More than 80% of fatalities are result of human error, don’t become part of this statistic. Educate yourself!
In skydiving there is always someone that knows more than you! Find them and ask! Start with:
Every time, looking or handling parachute equipment, think about it in the context if- 1. The mechanical system/parachute/ is 2. Functional and 3. Safe!
Understanding the equipment will enable you to know what to do in situations you don’t know what to do! A real advantage when it is time to save yourself.
To be continued!
Kras Bankov
GLH Systems
[email protected]
By glhsystems, in Safety,
Skydiving Emergencies And Procedures
Skydiving Emergencies
The bulk of the content from this section is republished with permission from Chapter 4 of Parachuting: The Skydiver's Handbook by Dan Poynter and Mike Turoff. Although rare, the fact of the matter is that there are a number of possible emergencies in skydiving that could either hurt or kill you. The emphasis in this section is on education. If you are uncertain about anything speak to your jumpmasters.
On The Ground
Briefings and Safety Considerations
Hazard Briefings
Alcohol and Drugs
Health Concerns
Scuba Diving Alert
Some Fear is Good for You
Airport Safety
In The Aircraft
Emergencies in the Aircraft
Airplane problems
Open parachute in the airplane
On Exit
Exit Emergencies
Exit hazards-static line
Exit hazards-AFF
Dangling static line
Student in tow
Static line not hooked up
Pulling high is dangerous
In Freefall
Freefall Emergencies
Accelerated FreeFall (AFF) emergencies
AFF: Loss of one jumpmaster
AFF: Loss of both jumpmasters
Five-Second Rule for loss of stability
Loss of altitude awareness
Goggles
At Deployment
Deployment Emergencies
Lost handle
Hard pull
Pilot chute hesitation
Pull-out v. throw-out
Trapped pilot chute
Pilot chute in tow
Under Canopy
Canopy Emergencies: Breakaway
Jettisoning the main canopy
Two Action System (TAS)
The Single Operation System (S.O.S)
Canopy transfer
Harness shift
Parachute Mulfunctions
Total malfunctions
Partial malfunctions
Major partial malfunctions
Bag Lock
Horseshoe
Violent spin
Line overs
Partial malfunctions that may be majors or minors
Rips and tears
The snivel
Slider hang-up, at the canopy
Slider hang-up, halfway
Broken suspension line(s)
Minor malfunctions
Line twists
Premature brake release
Broken steering line
Steering line(s) won’t release
Pilot chute "under/over" problems
End cell closures
Combination malfunctions
Two canopies open
Tandem jumping malfunctions
Large ring and ripcord handle
Change of emergency procedures
Breakaway training
Emergency priorities
Canopy collisions
On Landing
Landing challenges
Turbulence
Dust devils
Thunderstorms
The tree landing
Power lines
Water landings
Buildings
Other obstacles
ZP Canopy Landing Tips and Techniques
Irrespective of how long you've been jumping, piloting today's high-speed canopies is not for the faint of heart. With thousands of landings on old zero performance canopies such as round 1.1s, PCs, Piglets, and Strato Stars, many of our founders are frankly fearful of fast canopies. Moreover, as canopy development continues in the present direction toward ever faster, smaller models, skydivers new and old need to be continuously educated on landing technique.
As one who recently returned to skydiving after a lengthy layoff (13 years) I knew I needed to get better acquainted with today's high-speed wings. They were obviously different from what I had been used to. Faster ... make that "swoopier" ... and although they looked to me to be more fun, there were too many people getting hurt under them. Wanting to avoid that, I set out to discover what I needed to know that I didn't about piloting these new canopies.
To provide some perspective, before learning these tips I'd rather have had to shoot down-wind accuracy on a round than land a small Z-Po 9-cell on a hot still day. Surprised? Remember that a landing in 110 F temperatures, say at Perris' 1,450 MSL, is like landing at 5-6,000 feet. One of the first persons I got turned onto was John LeBlanc, design engineer for Performance Designs. He explained that my old-fashioned notions about the handling characteristics of ram air wings have little relationship to designs now on the market. New high performance Z-pos are lighter and more durable, but they also demand much more attention to landing. Because what you don't know can hurt you, John tried to explain why I couldn't land a zero porosity canopy the same way as my old ram air.
Here is my understanding of how to land today's canopies. While some of these ideas, tips, and techniques are from John LeBlanc please remember that they are all filtered by an old time skydiver: all mistakes are my own. This is advice from a canopy expert interpreted by a relic:
Stepping up to the ground?
On a nice sunny day, John and I watched some landings at the DZ. He used his hands and feet to show me how, having picked my landing area, it should be done. 'You simply level out,' he told me. 'Convert your forward and down approach into forward speed. Eliminate any down for now, but stay inches off the ground.'
Inches? with a high forward speed? That seems scary; why not feet?
Says John: "The idea that neophytes should be several feet off the ground is okay for flying super big student gear, but it's not what the goal is, and is definitely not okay on the smaller stuff! Several feet up feels worse and worse as you go smaller, whether you're a neophyte or a self-acclaimed expert. As a result , we (Performance Designs) consider it unwise to go smaller (in canopy size) until you can consistently level out with feet at ground level under your existing canopy. Going smaller won't make it any easier, but rather it becomes more difficult!"
John compares good landing technique to getting off an escalator. "The down escalator is like the ideal descending approach, level off and landing." Escalators do offer a good canopy landing analogy. Both modes of transport demand coordinated, mindful movements at journey's end. Try visualizing a landing approach as John describes how your landing will resemble stepping off a descending escalator: "Now, think of an escalator. When it levels out, your feet are just below ground level by an inch or two. You can gently transfer your weight from the step (the harness) to the ground because you are at that level. The forward speed is no problem, because you're at ground level. You're stepping up onto the ground, rather than down to it."
"If the escalator dumped you off even as little as a foot high, the first few steps would be tough! This is because your forward speed is still there, as it will be on any no-wind landing. (If you level out too high) you crunch down with a (higher) rate of descent. This is why leveling off several feet up for neophytes is not a good idea. They have to come down sooner or later, and when they do, it will be with a (greater) rate of descent at the time of contact. With a little canopy, that will be a bad landing because it will hurt!" I mull this over.
There you are, storming across the turn, just above the ground. While you still have forward speed, your feet just brush the weed tops. As your speed decreases, you provide a tad more flare so as to maintain your feel of the grass. Then, just step up. Step up? Wait a minute, I protest. Easy enough for you to say that stepping out of my harness should be as simple as getting off an escalator, but if it's so easy why do so many people crash and burn? Obviously this analogy only applies to a smooth, known landing surface. Life and landing, I remind John, are both dangerous.
Yes, he agrees, "You are wise in emphasizing that brushing the feet applies to a known, smooth landing surface." and adds: but notes that "the altitude of your body should be the same, even if you're lifting your feet to stay clear of a poor surface until touch down time."
More importantly, John continues, "As wing loadings go over 1.1 lbs per sq. ft., this technique is a required for acceptable no-wind landings."
In my words, if you have a 150 square foot canopy and weigh 170 pounds, and your suspended weight per square foot of canopy exceeds a ratio of 1:1, then you gotta swoop the ground to avoid eating it. Then, a good landing will allow you to cautiously stand up out of your harness, starting from where the parachute is holding you up to where your feet are supporting you. The major tactile feedback is that your weight is transferred from your leg straps to your shoe soles.
Low wind landings and high speed dirt
What about the special challenges of no-wind landing conditions? "You will still stand up out of your harness," says John, "but you'll do so at a fast walk to a run, depending on canopy and wing loading. " The more wing load, the faster you'll have to run.
We watch several more landings in which many of the canopy pilots flare too high or too early. One thing hasn't changed about landing, I tell John. Landing softly requires precise timing. How do you time your flare?
He explains that if you flare too high, you'll land from higher up with an increased rate of descent, "if its done too soon, it results in a big gain in altitude, which means that you are too high (to land softly) again! " When you flare too high and then crash in on a little canopy, you'll likely get in a few front loops. Of course, if you flare too low or not at all, no matter what size canopy you're under you'll eat much dirt and still do several front loops.
People will laugh. Late flares are not considered good form; they tend to dirty your jumpsuit and gear. It's a good idea to avoid them, so you'll eat less dirt less often. As John adds that a good way to learn how, "is to figure it out on a bigger, more docile canopy. (less dirt eaten.)"
A backyard swing model
Remember the fun you had as a kid swinging in a backyard swing? You could go real high or not. You could even try to jump out at the top of the arc or lower. Or, if you had a littler kid in your lap, you'd just let the swing slow down to nearly stop and then just step out of the seat onto your feet. You do it so smoothly that there is no fear and no pain. It is satisfying. The little kid is happy but not scared. "The swing can be moving slow or fast, but if you get off at the right time, it's easy in either case." [to step out of the seat and onto your feet. No sweat, no fear. Like on a slow-moving swing, it's easier to time your touchdown under a bigger canopy], "The slow swing (big canopy) is easier to time, and the steps are slow. "
A fast moving backyard swing is something like a landing small fast canopy notes John, "The fast swing, (like a small canopy), is harder to time and the steps are quicker. But (even fast steps) don't hurt if you step (up) onto the ground at the bottom, when the rate of descent is exactly zero." Just imagine you are stepping out of that swing seat and onto your feet. If done smoothly it's fun, even satisfying. You've just had a good landing and you know it. But "Now try goofing on the timing ... get off on the upswing; things get real rough if you're moving fast! That is just like finishing your flare too high."
The transition from sitting in the harness to standing on the ground is subtle enough for another analogy. Thinking for a moment, he used a child's walking chair: and said something like 'I'm talking about those contraptions they put toddlers into. It's a seat with four wheels, and the kid's feet just barely touch the ground. They can paddle around and get into all sorts of trouble. Or they can quit paddling and just stand up. The difference is so smooth that they hardly notice whether it is their feet or the seat holding them up. That's what a good landing is like.' Yes, John said, "The walking chair analogy. Nice."
Putting this to practice, I find the idea of a two-stage flare is helpful for transitioning to the horizontal. First, flare with only about 6-12 inches of toggle. This converts the ground-rush into a swoop just above the ground. At the end of the swoop, when the canopy won't stay up any longer, depress (bury) the toggles for the second part of the flare.
After thinking about it, John added these remarks: "OK, I like the idea of a two-stage flare except for the part about burying the toggles at the end. This will make many canopies stall, and others might just quickly mush onto the ground. If your feet are at ground level, then this doesn't make much difference. You step up onto the ground just the same. But, if you haven't realized that you're a little higher than the ideal, you'll get a rude awakening when you bury the toggles. [Burying the toggles then] you drop down onto the ground with a thud."
He also strongly endorses flare-practice, before finial approach, while still high up, "I like... practicing the flare a lot. I do it on EVERY jump. its fun!" Practicing upstairs helps because you can hear and feel what your canopy is doing without the distraction of high speed dirt coming at you.
Keep "hands-on" canopy control
Canopy control inputs should be smooth and fluid, not abrupt and mechanical. Whatever landing you do make, says John, "you must still keep your hands controlling the canopy, even if you have the urge to swing your hands as you step (or run). If you are unknowingly moving the toggles, the canopy will do some unwanted maneuvers! People also use their hands for balance cause some pretty wild gyrations, too!"
However, "If you continue to fly the parachute properly when you are taking your first steps, [then] the parachute will continue to help support you during those initial steps. Again, this technique is not critical on a big canopy, but becomes more and more important as the wing loading increases."
So, remember, parachute canopies only do what you tell them to do. They are so responsive that heretofore unnoticed hand movements will give you yaw and cause you to veer off. In other words, they're responsive enough for perfect landings every time. Or they can turn a twitch into a turn. Keep your hands in sight so you always know what they're doing.
Smaller is not always smarter
While today's new smaller Z-Po parachute canopies are faster, most do appear to have wider safety margins than did the squares of yesterday. However, I'm convinced that going to a smaller canopy shouldn't be an automatic goal. For some of us, consistently painless landings require lower wing loadings via bigger canopies.
As PD's John LeBlanc puts it: "Square foot for square foot, today's canopies are generally more forgiving than those squares from years ago. But as you downsize from one size modern ram air to a smaller canopy of the same type, you give up some of that forgiveness.
"So, make sure you've really got things well under control before you even consider going smaller. On the larger canopy, little technique problems will not affect the softness of the landing noticeably, but the same poor technique will cause problems on the next size smaller canopy."
Pat Works, SCS-1
Legal Disclaimer: Serous injury or death can result from applying written techniques to a high speed sport. Although the quotes are from John LeBlanc, Neither he nor Performance Designs endorse, condone, apporve, or reccomend anything herein. Parachutes are dangerous: you could kill yourself using 'em.
Copyright 1994 by Pat Works
RWu Parachuting Publications
1656 Beechwood Ave. Fullerton CA. 92635
(714) 990-0369
FAX 529-4769
Advanced Canopy Control via CRW
The Advanced Canopy Control Course is designed for the average skydiver. It will give
the skydiver confidence and ability to fly in close proximity to other canopies safely,
while providing the skills necessary to avoid problems caused by others. It does not
however, address proper tracking and deployment awareness, or landing skills.
The purpose of the course is to improve safety by teaching proper canopy maneuvering
techniques and to develop a sincere and lasting respect for Canopy Relative
Work, through
Advanced Canopy Control.
The course includes one hour of ground training each day before jumping and is divided
into three parts. Each part consists of five jumps for a total of fifteen jumps. There is
a multiple choice, true/false test at the end of the course. The course will expose the
skydiver to the fundamentals of Canopy Relative Work through Advanced Canopy Control.
Areas of emphasis will include proper equipment, dirt diving, aircraft, weather,
spotting techniques, exiting, piloting, approaching a canopy formation, catching, proper
docking procedures, docking techniques, transitioning, break-off and emergency procedures.
At the completion of the course, the skydiver will have learned the basic abilities
that are required to avoid potentially fatal collisions with others in congested
conditions. The jumper will be better prepared to handle a tight landing situation, dock
safely onto various canopy formations, and deal with situations that can rapidly develop
when other jumpers do not fly safely.
Ground Training - One Hour Each Day
Emergency Procedures
Wraps
Entanglements
Communication
Docking
Formation Funnels
Avoiding Problems
Instructors Note:
If the student has recently graduated AFF, please help with packing, spotting
and landing; encouraging on heading awareness, groundspeed/winds and controlled ground
approaches without a windsock --should be 100% before & during a
skydive...
For example, packing: explain the difference between rolling the nose and splitting it.
Tail pockets vs. bags. Large toggles that can be kept in the hands when risering, staying
on proper heading
spotting: judging the aircraft heading whether crabbing, going
downwind or upwind. This requires having a sense of speed over the ground. For instance,
normal jump run airspeed is about 90 knots. If theres no wind at altitude for the
first five jumps, then you will get a feel for 90 knots of ground speed looking down from
the door. Then if on later jump runs, if you are traveling half as fast across the ground
you could surmise that there is a 45 knot head wind, etc. Encourage this type of analysis
along with wind direction; i.e. crabbing characteristics as viewed from the door and even
odd occurrences where it would seem that due to a very fast ground speed you might be
going downwind unbeknownst to the pilot! Ground approaches: the old method of feet
together at 1000' check groundspeed with toes, turn 90-degrees, recheck, turn 90, etc.
taking the slowest groundspeed heading as the direction for landing, and treat landings
with the utmost respect for 100% awareness! A windsock should be considered a luxury.
Think of anything that could cause you an 'accident' sometime and how you
would avoid getting hurt.
Emergency Procedures
The first step towards successfully surviving an emergency situation is to have
a plan, prior to the onset of the emergency. It must be a well-considered plan, based on
experience gleaned from the wisdom of experts and analysis of fatal errors committed by
others. Do not limit yourself to a single course of action, however. This is
your life under canopy or in freefall. Be spiritual in some way to accept
any risk, but always perform at 100% and encourage the student to do
likewise. You'll always be happy with the performance and you'll be in
control should there be any major challenges.
For example: You are wrapped! The canopy is wrapped around your head and the lines are
wrapped around your neck. You cant communicate with the jumper below you. Your face
is turning purple and consciousness is fading. Your plan was for the guy who wrapped you
to relieve the situation by cutting away, since he cant hear you yelling
instructions to him. He is supposed to cut away, but he cannot. Unknown to you, he has
become wrapped severely and is having his own problems. Therefore, you whip out your
trusty Jack the Ripper and lay waste to his canopy, thereby saving your own life.If
you are truly confident in your decisions, I believe you will survive and
your student as well IF they follow the doctrine of always doing their very,
very best.
A primary plan is necessary, but dont limit yourself to a single emergency
procedure and kid yourself that it is going to work every time, all the time.
The second step is to practice it. You should practice your emergency procedures so
that they become second nature to you. The middle of an emergency is not the time to
become confused or indecisive. You should review your emergency procedures prior to each
skydive. You should also quickly review your emergency procedures whenever you become
involved in a rapidly deteriorating situation. This will replace potentially paralyzing
fear with a positive plan, and the plan will be the first thing that comes to mind.
Once your mind goes into survival-mode via 'procedure' --you'll gain
additional insight as to how to deal with the problem. Each problem is
unique. It's luck in my opinion that you get out of it. You do EVERYTHING
you can thoughtfully and distinctly think of one-after-another solutions and
go for it intelligently without panic and resolve the issue in time &
with altitude. Once you're clear and under a reserve --I suppose if you were
really hard-core you could go look for some more action but I would stay
clear of anyone and get to the ground safely.
The third step is to do it!
Sounds easy,
but you need to realize you will die if you don't. Definitely --clear
it while checking altitude. Speak out loud your actions so they can be
heard. Get under the problem with strength & body-English. use the
hook-knives, lines off of you --check altitude
and yell it out. Clear the air and chop it. Make your OWN decisions.
Types of Emergencies:
CRW emergencies are divided into two categories, Wraps and Entanglements. A Wrap
occurs when a canopy becomes wrapped around a jumpers body. An Entanglement occurs
when two or more canopies become entangled with each other. Either way, you
are fucked. One way you may still have a good canopy above you --the other,
both are twisted together doing their absolute own thing and there's nothing
you can do but get away from it by chopping (so long as you are BELOW the
bullshit).
Wraps
A wrap can be compared in severity to a low speed free fall malfunction. With
sufficient altitude, you will have time to consider the problem and solve it. The canopy
of the jumper above you, who is wrapped, should remain inflated. This gives you
substantially more time to deal with your malfunction than you would have during a high
speed freefall emergency. But it is very serious. Take care of it while you
have the LUXURY of TIME.
Do not land a modern square canopy with two people suspended under it. You will have
incredible forward speed because of the increased wing loading on the still-inflated
canopy. Landing impact will be severe, particularly to the bottom jumper.
BUT --if you are in a Bi-Plane at 1500 feet, can't see your pilot-chutes,
--plan on landing it --the pilot chutes 'may' be entangled --ain't worth the
risk.
The rule for wraps: The bottom jumper cuts away first. The top canopy usually remains
open, so there is no reason to release it. Also, if the person who is wrapped cuts away,
(the top jumper), he will go into freefall with the bottom jumpers canopy wrapped around
him. That will only make the situation much worse --definitely for him,
perhaps for you too.
Usually, you can extricate yourself from a canopy that has wrapped you by sliding it
down your body. If not, then the bottom jumper will have to cut away. That will release
the tension and make it easier for you to extricate yourself and get free of the fabric.
If he can't hear you then he might just cut-away. Then gather-up the canopy
to throw it away 'whole' --DON'T
throw it away if you think there may be a stray line or two wrapped-around
your neck or leg, etc. Keep it gathered-up, stuff it between your legs and
land with it.
Entanglements
An entanglement usually results from one person passing through the lines of
another persons canopy. This causes the two canopies to become entangled, with the
jumpers dangling beneath the partially inflated or completely collapsed canopies. This
situation almost always requires both persons to cut away. This can result in both jumpers
being subjected to sudden and extremely violent G forces. Usually, one person is suspended
higher than the other, but not always.
The general rule for entanglements is for the top person to release first. If the
bottom person releases his lines first, the risers may recoil upward and wrap the other
person. When the top person releases first, he may impact the bottom person on the way by,
but he wont have much momentum.
The top person is usually the one who passed through the lines of the bottom person,
and, many times, his canopy will pull itself out of the mess after it is released.
Sometimes the entanglement begins to spin, and one person will be hanging downward
while the other one is orbiting the entanglement. This spin may accelerate rapidly. In
this situation the orbiter should cut away first. This will fling the orbiter clear of the
entanglement and does not alter the other persons orientation to the entanglement.
If the jumper who is hanging downward releases first, it can cause the orbiter to change
orientation to the mess and could make the situation worse.
Communication
When jumpers become involved in a wrap or an entanglement, the first
thing to do is to communicate. You need to communicate the altitude, the problem and the
plan. When someone has a canopy wrapped around them they may not be able to read their
altimeter. In all the excitement they may have forgotten what the altitude was the last
time they checked. You certainly dont want them to panic and cutaway.
It is very
reassuring to hear the altitude called out every 500 feet when you are totally engulfed in
nylon. It can also be encouraging to hear that your canopy is OK. --do
it.
If you cannot get any response from the person wrapped up in your canopy, then you
should go ahead and cut away. They probably have nylon across their face or around
their neck and cant respond orally. They may not even be able to
breath at all. You need to release the tension by releasing
your risers, (cutting away) and leaving them with a ten pound mess of canopy
--or a re-inflating canopy that jerks their head/leg off from time to time.
Point is --better to leave them sooner than later if they are NOT
communicating.
If you are the person who is wrapped in a canopy, you should communicate that you are
working on the situation, if you can. This information should be conveyed at regular
intervals. Be cautious of your terminology. Dont say to the other person,
"Dont cutaway!", or anything else that could be misunderstood!
Once the decision to cutaway has been made, dont panic. Do it right!
Keep your shit together. It only takes seconds to do
right. Follow the numbers straight-thru and you survive according to the
statistics --I think.
First, get your hands on both handles and insure that you are clear of any lines. You
should peel your cutaway handle off the Velcro, but leave the reserve handle in its
pocket. If you have a hard pull on the cutaway handle, you can momentarily release your
grip on the reserve handle and use both hands to cutaway. Keep your eyes on the reserve
handle, so you can regain your grip quickly. Be prepared to do a freefall delay, if you
have sufficient altitude. Look down where you will fall and figure you need
around 400 feet or more of clear air beneath you.
If there is going to be more than one person cutting away, the first one out needs to
freefall for five to ten seconds, altitude permitting! This will provide sufficient
vertical separation for the next person who cuts away to safely deploy a reserve.
The most important thing that can be done to maintain a margin of safety is to
remember your altitude!
Most problems begin during docking or break-off. USPA states that the minimum altitude
for docking is 2500 feet. How low would you want to be in a wrap?
The next question is, how low would you want to be in freefall? USPA states that the
minimum safe altitude to initiate a cutaway is 1800 feet. These limits have been
determined by years of experience and several fatalities. Respect them.
It is also conventional wisdom that a cutaway initiated below 500 feet has almost no
chance of being successful. At that altitude you may save yourself by deploying
your reserve into the malfunction. It is better to increase aerodynamic drag than it is to
accelerate toward the ground in freefall.
Docking
What causes wraps and entanglements? Usually, bad docking techniques. The three
factors most often involved are speed, (closure rate), angle, and distance from center. If
you have too much speed, your body continues to travel forward after you have docked. The
point where the target jumper grabs your canopy remains stationary, but the rest of the
canopy continues to move in your direction of travel.. The canopy may then lose
pressurization and wrap the person you docked on. Because objects tend to swing in an arc,
it is common for the canopy to dissipate its momentum by wrapping securely around the
jumper that you docked on.
There are good and bad angles to dock from. Docking from straight behind, a zero degree
angle of approach, is the safest angle. Docking head-on is obviously the worst angle. A
head-on dock can result in injury.
Docking with your canopy heading 90-degrees to the target jumpers heading will
still give you too much speed. The most efficient angle is 45-degrees to the side of
straight behind. Docking unintentionally with an end cell is more likely to generate a
wrap than docking with a center cell. These three factors combine to make a dock safe or
unsafe.
Formation Funnels
Another cause of wraps and entanglements is when the formation
"funnels." This can be the result of the unanticipated collapse of a mismatched
or misflown canopy. It can also occur if a canopy in the formation stalls.
In a plane formation, the nose of the canopy below you is pushing on your brake lines.
Your canopy can stall if you apply as little as half brakes.
If someone docks and wraps the corner of a formation, it can cause part of the
formation to funnel. It can also funnel at breakoff because the trim of the formation
changes as canopies leave it and the stress distributed throughout the formation changes.
Another problem is carelessness. Some people dont look where they are going. You
should always look before you turn. Dont fixate on the formation.
(Many people have gotten wrapped on a freefall jump by not looking where they were
going, after opening. If you are looking at your toggles right after your canopy opens,
you may experience a sudden and violent encounter with someone else who is doing the same
thing).
Avoiding Problems
What can we do to prevent or ease wraps and entanglements? The foremost
preventative measure is thorough planning. Perform a thorough dirt dive. That is the time
to share techniques that will work for the type of formations and transitions that you are
planning to accomplish.
CRW is very three-dimensional and, therefore, quite complex. Participants can easily
miscalculate a maneuver, if they are trying something new. Dont just dirt dive the
formation. Share what you know. If someone is approaching too hot, you can spread out your
arms. and prevent the canopy from wrapping you. Even if it does wrap, you can extract
yourself easier because you wont be cocooned so tightly. Nylon will stick to itself
like a Chinese finger trap when it is wound tightly around you. If you can give it some
slack it will come loose. You can grab the area of nylon with the most tension, then lift
it, if only an inch, then as you let it down it will loosen and start sliding down your
body.
If you are in a formation and someone below you gets wrapped, hold on to them until
they can sort things out. Do not drop them unless they expressly request it. This gives
them more time and less to worry about, as it will keep their canopy on heading.
If you are planed on the jumper above you and they have become entangled in your lines,
you can apply light front-riser pressure. This re-tensions your nose and tends to keep
your canopy from spinning. They may then be able to slide up your lines, which will allow
their canopy to stay inflated. This front risering must be done initially, as the problem
occurs. Once the two canopies become entangled, one or both of you will have to cut away.
If an end cell wraps around your foot, it can be difficult or impossible to release.
You cant lift the jumpers weight up with one leg. Attempting to do so can
injure you. As a canopy starts to wrap around your foot, you should stick the other foot
in there, also. This will enable you to lift the jumper who is fouled on you and will
allow you to get your hands on the canopy to relieve the tension on your legs and feet.
This can help prevent injury.
Example wrap: The canopy
hits you with its left end-cell. The end cell stays (you gripped-it or
snagged it) and the canopy flies around in front of you counter-clockwise
(left turn) and continues around and stops back on its original heading when
it first made contact with you. Reach over with your right hand andgrab your
left front riser, Reach with your left hand in front of your right arm and
grab a hold of your right front riser. Stiffen your body and pull your hands
together and and out to your sides --this will turn you to the left 180
degrees --repeat the same move again and get the correct grip for a solid
point. (Don't forget to present the point) it shows you know what you are
doing.
If the canopy is collapsing and
re-inflating, you dont want to fight it. Have the
bottom person cut away. The snatching action of the rapidly inflating-deflating canopy can
really damage your ankles.
The best strategy to prevent or reduce the effects of wraps and entanglement is to wear
proper equipment. All participants should wear thin, leather gloves, shoes, socks and long
pants or a jumpsuit. Wrist mounted altimeters are not recommended. Your RSL should be
disconnected. AADs are fine. If you are too low and going too fast, you want your reserve
coming out, regardless of the circumstances.
You need a CRW parachute to do safe and sane CRW. The time to learn CRW is not
after completing a freefall opening at 2000 feet on your little micro-lined skyrocket.
Learn it from an expert, using the proper equipment, and at the proper altitude.
Part One Jumps
Basic Techniques
1.Introduction:
The student exits 1st and is promptly docked on top by Instructor
A. Instructor B docks on the student from below, on Instructor Bs center cell. The
student will catch Instructor Bs center cell and take foot grips in his center
lines. On command from Instructor B, the student drops the grip. Instructor B will re-dock
on the student, approaching from the right side. Emphasis should be placed upon the
students technique in properly and smoothly catching Instructor Bs center
lines and getting quick foot grips, then returning to toggles in hands.
Instructor B is then released by the student, and docks the student from the left.
After the third dock by Instructor B, the student then releases his grip on Instructor B
and then retreats when Instructor A releases him.
The two instructors shall then form a biplane and the student will set up low, on
center, and float up for a center dock.
(always get the student from the top on their first CRW jump, you never know how they
will react and you need to be in control. Keep the docks from Instructor B smooth and
accurate, encouraging the student to catch the centerlines without a lot of moving around,
etc. Setup with Instructor B quickly for the student. They usually will approach from
straight behind, and may even use front risers, however, the plan for the
classic bottom-up approach instills confidence, wave them in or tell them to 360 and set
up for them if they abort. Make sure they understand if you move to not follow; they wait
for you to stop moving and then they continue their approach.).
2.Base Setup Repetitions:
Instructor A exits. Student follows 5 seconds later. Student positions canopy
next to Instructor A. Instructor B positions himself behind and below. Student leaves
Instructor A and positions himself next to Instructor B. The instructors continue to
provide various approach angles for the student to practice.
(use the rear risers to float up behind the student, telling them to do the same, 360
fast, they do the same. 90 out, 180 back, then on heading, they do the same, creep out
front, have them tuck up knees to get to the scrimmage-line
be creative!)
3.Sashay Wing Rotations - No Grip:
Student exits first. Instructor A docks right wing. Student turns out to the
left and back, then down and over to dock left wing on Instructor A. Instructor B then
docks left wing on student. Instructor A leaves and student turns out to the right and
back, then down and over to dock as right wing on Instructor B. Instructor A waits for
student to dock. Instructor A then descends to make contact as right wing on student.
(use the word "Point" between formations, get them to react quickly,
encouraging direct approaches. Try to get a flow going, have fun!)
4.Sashay Center Rotations with grip:
Student exits first. Instructor A docks the student on top; Instructor B docks
student on bottom. Rotation begins with emphasis placed on keeping the formation on
heading. This should be the students first successful dock.
(each time you dock them, tell them to check heading. Make sure they get their toggles
in hands quickly after they catch, emphasize the importance of piloting the
formation
holding steady while someone else is rotating, correcting the heading if
necessary after the catch.)
5.Tri-Plane piloting exercise:
360,180, and 90-degree turns. Emphasis is placed on recognizing formation
appearance, taking proper grips, and observing the leading edge characteristics of other
canopies and how to handle them. Also, awareness of the DZ should be emphasized.
Instructors should fly slow, leaving student leaning forward on top.
(toggles in hand & 4th finger grips on centerlines for stability,
arching and proper foot grips. Proper turns, smooth but deliberate.)
Part Two Jumps
Top Docking, Rotation and Sequential
6.Top Dock, Plane - Repetition:
Student spots the jump run, taking mental note of actual ground
speed to compare with future spotting during course. He exits 3 seconds after Instructor A
to set up for a top dock. Instructor B follows student. Emphasis is on keeping the
students focus on instructors canopy leading edge. The instructors
leading edge should be kept level with the students body while the student
approaches. The student will be given every opportunity to complete his top dock. After
the dock, the formation heading is changed intentionally. The student then descends the
instructors lines to form a bi-plane. Instructor B sets up behind, low and to the
side on heading and the student leaves the top to go back and get him.
(help them with vertical separation, but make them work everything else. Tell them not
to look at their canopy but keep their eyes on yours. When they climb down the lines, have
them do it symmetrically bare handed, then leaving from an arched, straight-legged posture
with toggles in hand.)
7.Warping and End Cell Tag:
Adding equally opposing forces on the airfoil, with a front riser and an
opposite toggle while maintaining heading and stability, the student uses strength and
finesse simultaneously. Emphasis is on using deep front riser and deep opposite brake
without inducing heading changes. Tagging begins as the instructor flies end cell to end
cell and bumps lightly on one side. The instructor then backs-up a little and flies over
to the students other side and flies forward a little and bumps again on the end
cell. After the instructor bumps each side once, the student unwarps his canopy while
maintaining heading, then performs this same tagging on his instructors end cells
(Instructor goes into a warp after his 2nd tag). Student gains experience of
passing through burble and is encouraged to be aggressive towards bumping end cells.
Instructor B stays close throughout dive to increase students awareness.
(this is going to be new to them. Explain it as though they were under a round in this
warped configuration, where the unwarped canopy has the advantage. The burble can be
explained as the area where a bridled pilot chute points
teach them where it is so
they can avoid it, or use it. Bumping end-cells shows the canopies can take
it --repeat the dive to be more aggressive if required., Make sure
you just bump fabric-to-fabric (no line groups closing --loss of control). Also, warping can be a great way of top docking from
above. --encourage thinking along these lines --ie top-docking, warps,
flying 'down the chimney' with a close pair, your own reason for
excelling. Get them turned-onto doing their best)
8.Stack-Plane-Side by Side Repetition:
A lot of line work with flying & catching fast empasized--not
sloppy but more aggressive than last dive...
Student is positioned on the bottom at the beginning of the exercise. Emphasis
is on smooth, clean docks, creating smooth planes and smooth side by sides with clean
break-offs and quick comebacks. Student must show communication skills during all side by
sides, i.e., simple conversation.
(simple conversation, jokes, good vibe stuff, no yelling, have fun, eye-to-eye. Watch
out for risers snapping back into the face during the breaks. Keep aware of handles during
grips. Get the toggles back in the hands quickly after breakoffs for a quick turn back
into the stack approach. Hit the breaks a little harder for a quick smooth plane then
back-off the nose away from the lines and settle it in tight.)
9.End to End, top or bottom:
The best sequential drill I can think of for single-flying. 8
seconds between points is a good pace...
With the student at the leading edge of Instructor A end cell, the student taps
the outside edge of Instructor A canopy with his foot. Then he flies towards the opposite
end cell without passing it, and taps it with his other foot. Then the student returns to
the opposite end cell without going past. Instructor B is relative and preventing him from
going past Instructor A end cell (Instructor B is 1/2 span distance from Instructor A,
level with student, on heading). Then student Sashays out across, back & down into a
wing position on the bottom of Instructor A and flies from end cell to end cell on the
instructors body. The instructor will then sashay into a wing position on the bottom
and the dive repeats. Emphasis is placed upon flying relative to the instructor, while
using deeper than normal brakes throughout most of the flying.
(this is slow, controlled flying. Stay close to them, almost crowding. Its a
difficult dive worthy of a thorough dirt dive. This is a good time to introduce the idea
of catching with the feet only.)
Towards the end of the dive, with the student on top, the student uses a foot-grip-only
walking method to get to the other side of the canopy, while maintaining his heading, and
he practices until breakoff.
(stay light to make it easier on them.)
10.Wedge Rotation - No Grip:
Fast dumps, risers, warps --whatever it takes. No grips / No
worries. Juyst make the slot as fast you can without waiting for a grip
and go to the next point. Call the points to get the dive going faster.
Student starts as left wing, then rotates to the pilot position, then rotates as
right wing, then pilot again, then rotates as left wing, etc. Emphasis is on proximity
flying with contact, where required (You can place your canopy on his hip
. but he
keeps his legs together and away from any grip, when he rotates as wing on you, you let
him touch your body at the hip more or less, but do not take a grip - just fly relative).
From the pilot position, the student learns to rotate diagonally across the top skin of
the adjacent canopy and down, taking the wing position (as in dive 4 with coaching by
Instructor B). In the wing positions, the student is encouraged to make contact with his
canopy end cell on the instructors waist area, while staying to his side of the
centerline of the pilot.
(make sure they can get across your top skin when they leave. Awareness of missing the
bridle as they skim the skin is important!)
Part Three Jumps: Relax
Gain Smoothness and Fly with Finesse
Pieces, Wing docking
11.Three Stack Rotation:
Clipping the tail, sashaying out & in.
Toggle hard & back with front riser & breaks --just teach the
method you're best at to 'show' the student.
Or:
Emphasis is placed on over-the-top rotations, staying on center
and docking with minimal momentum.
(teach whichever method youre most comfortable with, but teach how to stop
the canopy, i.e. dinking the risers after the toggles.)
12.Wedge Rotation with Grips:
Emphasis is placed on promptly acquiring grips, preferably with feet only,
and maintaining the proper position relative to the other canopy. Hence the hand grip, if
used, must be quickly obtained, so that the student can quickly return his hands to
his toggles, enabling him to stay relative and on heading. The student is reminded that a
legal grip can be with a hand or foot, so long as the shoulder is directly above
the grip.
(might be a good time to show them some part 53 stuff and get them turned-on to
competitive flying. You can also explain the use of outside riser trim,
inside toggle or warping when
flying in a wing slot.)
13.Tri-Plane Rotations:
This exercise involves building a tri-plane. Student is pilot, Instructor A
second, Instructor B third. Student leans forward in his harness and applies brakes to
float up, creating a two stack with a third canopy planed (called a "One-Two")
formation. He then releases his foot grips and rotates up, back and over the top of the
biplane, and uses risers to get his canopy level with the shoulders of Instructor B. He
then docks on Instructor B, and applies brakes to plane cleanly. Emphasis is placed on a
smooth and timely transition from plane to stack, and risering to shoulder level as
described.
(keep them forward as they slide up to avoid the head or reserve snagging the bottom
skin. Make certain you can observe when they release the risers to give them a real-time
critique of stopping at shoulder level.)
14.Two-Stack Rotation:
Initially, the student will serve as the pilot of a three-stack. Instructor A is
second. Instructor B docks third. After the initial formation is completed, Instructor A
drops Instructor B. The student keeps his grip and flies his two-stack up, over, down and
behind to dock on Instructor B. After the student docks his stack on Instructor B,
Instructor B will then release grips and rotate to the bottom of the formation to create
another three-stack, with the student on top as stack pilot. The student then repeats the
two-stack rotation again. Emphasis is placed upon smoothness, acquiring proper grips, and
good, clean riser work.
(teach them to step on to their own feet to hold the grip on the lines, then risering
down will not cause them to slide down the lines
)
15.Student organizes!
Dive ends with a Downplane, and an accuracy landing in the peas.
(go along with anything they want. Make them responsible for dirt-dive, pilot
communications, spotting, calling points, breakoff
everything. Stick to the 2500-foot
breakoff rule. If they win at the accuracy buy their jump! Explain that 15 CRW
jumps should give them respect for the dangers
not to go out by themselves and do
CRW with just anyone, but that they should now be able to fly safer and be more aware of
others, etc.)
AccViaCrw Test
Multiple choice (check all that apply), true/false, etc.
VISUALIZE EACH SITUATION
1. What are the three steps towards successfully surviving an
emergency?
Altitude awareness, anticipating the problem,
wearing the proper equipment.
Have a plan, practice it, then do it!
Proper flying techniques, trimming the canopy,
adjusting float
Mental preparedness, a will to survive, fast
thinking.
2. How many categories of CRW emergencies are there?
1
More than 5
3-5
2
3. What are the categories of CRW emergencies?
Stalls, spirals, unintentional end cell docking
Wraps & entanglements
Equipment failure, incompatible canopies, line
lengths
Formation funneling, poor beakoff/transitioning
techniques
4. Which type of emergency can be compared to a low speed freefall malfunction?
Biplane with pilot chutes entangled
Mismatched canopy stall inside formation
Wraps
Top person passes through the lines of the bottom
canopy
5. Rules for wraps
Bottom jumper cuts away
Top person cuts away first
Top person cuts away
Bottom jumper cuts away first
6. Rules for entanglements
Bottom person cuts away
Top person cuts away first
Bottom person cuts away first
Top person cuts away
7. Who is usually the one that passes through the lines of the other person during an
entanglement?
The person who docked last
The person on the bottom
The wing position
The top person
8. If you and another jumper are orbiting an entanglement and he is beneath you, you
should
Tell him to cut away
Be the first to cutaway
Check altitude, then tell him to cut away
Be the last to cut away
9. What is the 1st thing to do if you become involved in a wrap or entanglement?
Immediately try to get out of the situation
Communicate
Get out your hook knife
Check your own canopy first
10. If you cannot get any response from the person wrapped up in your canopy you
should
Maintain a stable heading
Apply light rear riser pressure
Tell him to cut away
Cut away
11. The most important thing that can be done to maintain a margin of safety is to:
Remember your altitude
Wear the proper equipment
Look before you turn
Always know where the landing area is
12. When are the two most likely times problems may occur?
During Breakoff
Using mismatched canopies
During docking
While in a asymmetrical formation
13. What usually causes wraps or entanglements?
Poor communication
Improper equipment
Mismatched canopies
Bad docking techniques
14. What is the safest angle to dock from?
90 degree angle of approach from either side
From directly below
From above, on center
Zero degree angle of approach from straight behind
15. What is the most efficient angle to dock from?
From above, on center
45 degrees to the side of straight behind
Zero degree angle of approach from straight behind
90 degree angle
16. True or False
Docking unintentionally with an end cell is more likely to generate a wrap than docking
with a center cell
True
False
17. If someone is approaching you too hot you could
Pull your knees up and hope he misses
Spread out your arms to prevent the canopy from
wrapping you.
Yell at him to abort the dock
Try to deal with it after he docks
18. If you are in formation and someone below you gets wrapped...
Hold on to them until they can get things sorted out.
Yell out "Drop the bottom man"
Call for "break it down"
Turn the formation into the direction of the landing
area
19. If you are planed on the jumper above you and he begins to get entangled in your
lines you can...
Pull some breaks to lighten the load on him
Turn away slightly from the entanglement
Tell him to drop you
Immediately apply light front riser to retention your
nose and help keep your canopy from spinning,
20. As a canopy starts to wrap around your foot you should...
Apply deep front riser to sink and get your foot out
Immediately reach down and grip the canopy
Stick your other foot in there too!
Look first, then turn away from the wrap
21. If you have just one foot wrapped 360 degrees
Call out for more breaks from the man below
Apply deep front riser to sink and get your foot out
It should slide off of you on its own
Turn away from the wrap and backwards from your
canopy
22. If a canopy is collapsing and reinflating...
Apply breaks to stable out the airfoil
dont fight it have the bottom person cut away
Use alternating front and rear risers
Get a good grip with gloved hands and wait it out
23. What is the recommended breakoff altitude for CRW?
2500 feet
1500 feet
Depends on the experience level
Depends on the formation type
24. Under what circumstances is being on top NOT the safest?
With a mismatched canopy is approaching the formation
When the person on top has little or no experience.
When both sides of the formation funnel
simultaneously
During turbulent wind conditions
25. When is it preferable to spot going downwind?
In High winds
In lower winds
In no wind
In average winds
WHY?The DZs always visible, heading not as critical.
26. When is it preferable to spot short, going upwind?
During high wind conditions
When There are freefallers on the plane
When there are low winds
During multiple jump runs by the same plane
WHY?The DZs always visible, heading not as critical.
27. When piloting a canopy formation you should always know where the landing area is
True
False
28. As your walking towards the plane you notice there are five or six groups of
freefallers on the same load. You want to get out short and work towards the DZ since
there is no wind. You should
Ask the pilot to insure all groups exit on one pass
Change your spot to another side of the windline
Change plans and get out last avoiding a potential
go-around by the freefallers.
Get out first and work towards the DZ
29. You are in a biplane at 1500'. You notice the pilot chutes are entangled. You
should...
Immediately breakoff
Try climbing back up to a stack position
Retrim the nose of the bottom canopy
Plan on landing the biplane
30. You have a canopy docked on your left leg. Another canopy attempts to dock on your
right leg however the dock is sloppy and it begins to come around. You should...
Drop the good canopy
Turn away from the sloppy dock
Call for a "break it down"
Try to keep the good canopy and salvage the dock
31. How might you achieve greater float without drastically sacrificing forward speed?
1 inch of rear toggles
Pick up your knees and apply light front risers
Warp the canopy
Rear risers
32. If youre approaching a target from beneath and lose sight of the target, you
should
Frontriser to the side until you can see the target
and then setup for another approach.
Rear riser back up to dock
Use toggles to float
Turn with a toggle and go setup for another approach
33. A formation can funnel at breakoff because
Canopies may leave the formation in an asymmetrical
fashion.
Some formations have a tendency to funnel by
themselves
The trim of the canopies changes as they leave it and
the stress distributed throughout the formation changes.
Very high winds aloft
34. A planed formation can funnel because
-
In a plane formation the nose of the canopy below you
is pushing on your break lines and you may stall in as little as half brakes.
There are too many people in formation
No cross connectors are being used
People that are docked are not looking where they are
going
35. You open your canopy. Everything is wrong. Weather, lots of traffic, (canopies in
the air) bad spot. You should
Achieve vertical separation
Find a landing area.
Look for hazards
Look for alternate areas
e Determine wind direction for landing
36. Your canopy opens, another jumper opens his right in front of you, facing you. You
should
Execute a rear riser turn away from him
Dive down into clean air below you
Perform a hard toggle turn to avoid him
Call out to him to get his attention
37. When approaching a formation after exit when should you execute your turn to setup
your approach
When you are directly along side
After you pass the side of the formation
Before getting to the side of the formation
Below and behind the formation
Your ground test is over. Please anticipate being tested in the air on
future skydives! Be safe AND prepared. And always do your very, very best!
AccViaCrw
Answers
1. What are the three steps towards successfully surviving an
emergency?
b Have a plan, practice it, then do it! 2. How many categories of CRW emergencies are there?
d 2 3. What are the categories of CRW emergencies?
b Wraps & entanglements 4. Which type of emergency can be compared to a low speed freefall malfunction
c Wraps 5. Rules for wraps
d Bottom jumper cuts away first 6. Rules for entanglements
b Top person cuts away first 7. Who is usually the one that passes through the lines of the other person during an
entanglement
d The top person 8. If you and another jumper are orbiting an entanglement and he is beneath you, you
should
b Be the first to cutaway 9. What is the 1st thing to do if you become involved in a wrap or entanglement?
b Communicate 10. If you cannot get any response from the person wrapped up in your canopy you
should
d Cut away 11. The most important thing that can be done to maintain a margin of safety is to:
a Remember your altitude
12. When are the two most likely times problems may occur?
a During Breakoff c During docking 13. What usually causes wraps or entanglements
d Bad docking techniques 14. What is the safest angle to dock from
d Zero degree angle of approach from straight behind 15. What is the most efficient angle to dock from
b 45 degrees to the side of straight behind 16. Docking unintentionally with an end cell is more likely to generate a wrap than
docking with a center cell
True 17. If someone is approaching you too hot you could
b Spread out your arms to prevent the canopy from
wrapping you. 18. If you are in formation and someone below you gets wrapped...
a Hold on to them until they can get things sorted out. 19. If you are planed on the jumper above you and he begins to get entangled in your
lines you can...
d Immediately apply light front riser to retention your
nose and help keep your canopy from spinning. 20. As a canopy starts to wrap around your foot you should...
c Stick your other foot in there too! 21. If you have just one foot wrapped 360 degrees
d Turn away from the wrap and backwards from your
canopy 22. If a canopy is collapsing and reinflating...
b dont fight it have the bottom person cut away 23. What is the recommended breakoff altitude for CRW
a 2500' 24. Under what circumstances is being on top NOT the safest?
b When the person on top has little or no experience. 25. When is it preferable to spot going downwind?
a In High winds 26. When is it preferable to spot short, going upwind?
c When there are low winds 27. When piloting a canopy formation you should always know where the landing area is
a True 28. As your walking towards the plane you notice there are five or six groups of
freefallers on the same load. You want to get out short and work towards the DZ since
there is no wind. You should
c Change plans and get out last avoiding a potential
go-around by the freefallers. 29. You are in a biplane at 1500'. You notice the pilot chutes are entangled. (Or, you
cant see the pilot chutes
) You should...
d Plan on landing the biplane 30. You have a canopy docked on your left leg. Another canopy attempts to dock on your
right leg however the dock is sloppy and it begins to come around. You should...
a Drop the good canopy 31. How might you achieve greater float without drastically sacrificing forward speed?
d Rear risers 32. If youre approaching a target from beneath and lose sight of the target, you
should
a Frontriser to the side until you can see the target
and then setup for another approach. 33. A formation can funnel at breakoff because
c The trim of the canopies changes as they leave it and
the stress distributed throughout the formation changes. 34. A planed formation can funnel because
a In a plane formation the nose of the canopy below you
is pushing on your break lines 35. You open your canopy. Everything is wrong. Weather, lots of traffic, (canopies in
the air) bad spot. You should
a. Achieve vertical separation b Find a landing area.
c Look for hazards
d Look for alternate areas
e Determine wind direction for landing 36. Your canopy opens, another jumper opens his right in front of you, facing you. You
should
a Execute a rear riser turn away from him 37. When approaching a formation after exit when should you execute your turn to setup
your approach
c Before getting to the side of the formation
Always do your very, very best!
THINK: Energy, Altitude, Position
and you'll be there
--it's 150 seconds of pure adrenaline & finesse!
Becoming An Experienced Convention Skydiver
For most of us that have been to the World Freefall Convention (WFFC) before, the excitement begins to build as soon as we drive up to the airport entrance and stop at registration. Just seeing canopies in the air is enough to get our adrenaline flowing and make us hurry to get in the sky so we can have as much fun as the people we see there already.
But wait! For safety's sake we need to slow down and take some time to familiarize ourselves with the convention facilities. In particular, those of you who have never been to the World Freefall Convention at least need to take a look at a map of the airport and convention site so you know where to find the best places to park, camp, and land your parachute safely.
There aren't many rules at the convention, but the ones we have are important, because they affect the safety and enjoyment of the convention by you and everyone else who attends. We skydivers are generally some of the most safety conscious people around, but the excitement and fast pace of a large skydiving event have the potential for making us forget or ignore the usual good judgment we use back at the home DZ. One of the most important safety rules that we ask you to follow is to not push yourself and exceed your skill or capabilities. This applies in several areas:
Getting On A Load
The World Freefall Convention has the widest variety of skydiving opportunities you may ever experience in a short period of time and at one location. You will have a chance to jump from many types of aircraft and be on many types and sizes of skydives that might not be available to you back at your home DZ. Load organizers will be available for all of the skydiving disciplines, as well as seminars, coaching, and formal instruction by well known skydivers in these areas. These people will do all they can to help you learn to skydive better and to help you get on skydives that are safe, fun, and challenging.
Most people who come to the convention seem to be interested mainly in freefall formation skydiving. If you are one of these jumpers the best bet is to start off with a group no larger than you usually jump with, and keep it simple until you are comfortable jumping with people you don't know and with figuring out where you are going to land. Even some experienced jumpers who have been to several conventions in the past try to first find a small group of jumpers and "warm up", while at the same time refamiliar- izing themselves with the convention at a relaxed pace. If you usually jump with small groups it wouldn't hurt to break off a little high on some of the first few loads so you can get some practice tracking a good distance from others in case you want to get on larger loads. Just be sure to use that time tracking, and don't open higher than recommended.
Once you have made a few jumps you may get the urge to try bigger formations, and a good way to start is by checking with the load organizers that are available at the convention. The organizers are there to help you get on a skydive quickly, and to plan safe and successful skydives for jumpers at all experience levels. If you have any questions about safety or what type of skydive might be appropriate for someone with your skydiving experience while at the convention, just ask one of the load organizers. They will be happy to help you even if you are not jumping on one of their loads, or if you already have a group with whom to skydive.
Landing
Landing areas at the convention are generally unrestricted and we would all like to keep them that way, but this depends on your good judgement and common sense. If you are experienced enough and are conservative, you can land right next to where you are parked or camped, but there are plenty of large open areas in which to land, and the short walk you will make back to your packing area in some situations might be well worth the additional safety. While under canopy you will need to constantly be checking for other jumpers that may not see you. Think ahead and plan your landing site and pattern while still high enough to avoid other canopies without requiring evasive maneuvers. Hook-turns (turns more than 90 degrees for landing) are allowed only on approach to the swoop pond (where they are expected) and must not be done anywhere else! As a reminder, there are some situations in which you will definitely want to land in a large open area:
If you are jumping a demo canopy with unfamiliar flight characteristics.
If you have any problems with your canopy and decide that it is safe to land anyway, for example, a broken steering line, an accidental step-though pack job, or a canopy connected backwards.
If you have a reserve ride.
Demo Gear
Most of the major manufacturers of skydiving gear will be at the convention and they will have gear available for you to see and to test jump. However, these people probably do not know you, and do not know your experience level and abilities. If you exaggerate your experience or ability when deciding what gear to try out you are only putting yourself and others in danger.
Canopies are the most likely piece of gear that you will have the opportunity to test jump and there will be a wide range of types and sizes available, some of them very high performance types. Be conservative, and take the manufacturer's advice on what canopy to try first. Most importantly, land in an open area that is away from other jumpers. A quick toggle turn required by suddenly finding another canopy in your path could be disastrous in an unfamiliar high-performance canopy.
The harness/container systems provided by the manufacturers to test jump or to use when trying out a canopy are always very nice pieces of gear, and some of them even allow you the option of where to put the pilot chute. Still, they are not the same as jumping your own gear. Make sure the rig fits well and that the leg straps are tight and securely in place. Practicing your pull before the skydive is a good idea.
In Conclusion
The World Freefall Convention can provide us with some of the greatest opportunities and most fun skydiving times of our lives, but we must exercise a good deal of caution to keep it that way. Please be careful so we can all share in the fun for years to come.
Wings Level
Wings Level
I've been thinking for some time about a final bit of advice,
some catchy canopy control phrase, to say to students when they
are about to go up. This morning it finally came to me:
Wings Level
When you're close to the ground keep your wings level
This covers a lot of ground. Most of the injuries I can think
of violated this principle.
You can survive a lot of horizontal embarrassment by pulling
your breakables in and doing a PLF. The vertical stuff is what
hurts, and that mostly comes when your canopy is not level.
There are three common situations: turbulence, SLAMMs and flaring.
Turbulence
One feeling of turbulence is the canopy suddenly rocking/tilting
right or left. If it tilts to the right our untrained reaction
is to raise our left hand to catch our balance, and lower our
right hand to catch ourselves. This causes a hard right turn
and slams us into the ground.
Under canopy we must retrain ourselves to think "Wings Level!"
and counter the tilt with our toggles.
Tilt to the right:
Think "Wings Level!"
Left toggle down / Right toggle up
Canopy overhead
Back to neutral or continue flaring or ... If we're flaring when this tilt to the right happens another
part of our reaction is to raise our left leg up and reach for
the ground with our right leg. This is an injury prone position
to hit the ground in.
Our ground based habits are strong, and it takes some effort and
practice to use only canopy control, our hands and toggles, while
we're still in the air.
Active control is the idea, you fly the canopy, don't let it fly you.
SLAMMs - Stupid Last Minute Moves
SLAMs - Stupid Low Altitude Maneuvers
I got this term from Rick Horn. It refers to last minute panic turns.
These last minute turns happen when people
Get too low before facing into the wind (Get-home-itis)
Try to avoid last minute obstacles
Chase the windsock Large scale canopy strategy - thinking ahead - is the approach to
focus on here.
The idea is to get up wind of target, and then fly a landing pattern.
It starts before you even put your gear on.
Get a flight planner (an aerial photo of the drop zone).
Go outside and look at the ground winds.
Draw both left and right hand landing patterns for these winds.
Pick one or the other based on obstacles and other factors.
If the winds are still the same when you jump, this is the one
you will try to use.
The actual jump often happens differently than the plan.
The point here is to learn a process, a way of thinking,
an approach, that keeps you out of the awkward situations
and last minute moves in the first place.
Now draw the jump run (what have previous loads been doing?).
Mark where the first and last groups got out (watch the actual
jump or ask people who have just landed where they got out).
If the uppers are strong mark both exit and opening point.
Now put yourself in the shoes of someone who has just opened.
I'm here, the windsock is still the same, so my two possible landing
patterns are there, what do I do between now and later to get from here
to the onramp, the beginning, of the landing pattern I want to use?
Should I run? Should I hold? Should I crab?
If I keep facing the way I'm facing now, where will I land?
There's an obstacle, a lake, some trees, a power line between
here and there. Can I fly over it? Should I fly over it?
What if the wind changes and I land on it? Is that a disaster,
or just inconvenient?
If I can't make it back, where's a clear spot that I can land in?
Which way is the wind blowing and therefore what landing pattern
should I fly?
Can I make it back but the wind has changed, the windsock is moving?
What's my new landing pattern and how do I get from here to the onramp?
Is the windsock going in circles? Are the jumpers ahead of me landing
in all directions? Should I move my landing pattern over a bit and
land outside the swarm of clueless sunday drivers?
Am I too long but the wind is at my back so I can pull a few inches
on the toggles and come down slower and ride the wind back?
Am I down wind and don't want to blow away so I should face the wind
and pull a few inches on the front risers and get down quicker?
Have I by some miracle of forethought made it to the onramp of my
chosen landing pattern? How do I handle it now?
As a student they told me the 1,000 - 600 - 300 ft technique, but
most experienced jumpers guage the pattern by angles and rates.
On a light wind day I fly the down wind part at a certain distance
from the target so the target is at the correct angle down from
me. I fly down wind until the target is maybe 45 degrees behind
me and turn cross wind. Once again the target is at the correct
angle down from me. At the magic moment I turn on final.
If I'm too low in the pattern I can cut across corners and shorten
my flight path. If I'm too high I can go into brakes, come down
slower but steeper, and bleed off unwanted altitude.
If I've misjudged the whole thing, I remember that it's better to
land out and walk back than land in and get carried away on a stretcher,
so I do my turns onto cross wind and final at a nice safe altitude,
and congratulate myself on what good judgement I have.
It is hard to stress enough the value of persistently trying to
fly your canopy on a predetermined course (get up wind of target,
and then fly a landing pattern) rather than zooming aimlessly
around and then landing.
The value is that trying to make your canopy go where you plan to
go in all the different conditions teaches you how to make your
canopy go where you *want* it to go in all the different conditions.
Canopy control is not simple and it's not easy. There are zillions
of variables and circumstances, and on any given jump you don't
even know what they all are.
If you put genuine effort into this for 200 - 300 jumps you will
start to sort out the patterns and learn what you can and can't do.
Knowing what you can and can't do is especially helpful in staying
out of the SLAMMs when you're landing out.
Sometimes, even when you're thinking ahead, you have to make a turn
close to the ground. There is a way to do it and still keep your
wings level and that is braked (flat) turns.
The idea is to first go into the right amount of brakes, half brakes,
deep brakes, and then use one toggle slightly up or the other slightly
down, or both, to turn.
This gives you a change of heading with only a slight bank.
If you were really at 50 or 75 ft when you did this, you just have
to land that way (PLF).
Practice braked turns up high until they feel really comfortable so
that when you need one close to the ground it will be easy to do.
Letting up from deep brakes near the ground is tricky because you drop
quite a ways before your canopy resumes its normal glide path.
At some point it's worth spending maybe 10 or 20 jumps edging gradually
into this to find out what you can do. It's different with each canopy.
Turn onto final in part brakes. At say 150 ft let up slowly and see
what happens. Push gradually (that's *gradually*) into deeper brakes,
lower altitudes, faster let ups. After while you will get a sense
of what you can do.
If you keep pushing you will eventually scare yourself and then you
will know where the boundary is.
Flaring
Another place where you can get wings unlevel is flaring
flare too high and then let up
flare too high and stall
flare unevenly There is an old accuracy technique called double clutching,
where you let the toggles up 6 or 8 inches (not a foot!),
let the canopy fly for a moment, then toggles back down maybe
4 or 6 inches.
If you flare too high and just hold it, you will land hard
but probably get away with it by doing a PLF.
If you flare too high and then let up, you will land much
harder and may not get away with it. Even big, slow student
canopies can slam you in if you do it wrong enough.
If you've been practicing double clutching up high where it
doesn't hurt, you can impress your friends and coaches with
your great canopy control.
If you flare unevenly, one hand lower than the other, you get
the canopy tilting one way or the other as in turbulence.
Tilt to the right:
Think "Wings Level!"
Left toggle down / Right toggle up
Canopy overhead
Back to neutral or continue flaring or ... Some people look at their hands or bring their hands together
at the bottom of the flare in order to flare evenly.
Those can be good short term techniques, but in the long run it
is better to focus on what the canopy is doing.
If the canopy tilts or banks I want to counter with one toggle
down and the other up regardless of whether it was turbulence
or an uneven flare that caused it.
The flare works in two stages. The top quarter or top third
stops your downward speed and levels you out (for a short while).
The bottom part slows your forward speed.
This means that in high winds, where you're barely penetrating
and your horizontal speed (relative to the ground) is already
stopped, you just do the top part of the flare, and you do it
much closer to the ground.
If you do a full flare in high winds you get picked up and thrown
backwards pretty hard. This will impress your friends and coaches
but not the way you want.
The hard part of flaring in no winds is guessing when to start.
You start the top part higher. This levels you out, changes your
visual picture, and gives you immediate feedback on how good your
guess was.
If your guess was good, then do the bottom part and land.
If you started too high, then pause for a moment, and then do the
bottom part.
Part of the trick is where you look.
If you look at the horizon then you can't see the ground well enough
in your peripheral vision and you can't tell when.
If you look straight down under your feet all you see is ground
rushing by and you can't tell when that way either.
Up higher I'm looking more out ahead.
As I'm starting the flare I look ahead of where my feet are going
to touch down just like you do on an uneven mountain trail.
As my feet are just about to touch down I look more downward just
like you do at a rough spot on that mountain trail. What I'm looking
for is any rock or uneven spot where I might twist an ankle.
If your flare motions are too slow you don't get the effect, but
if you yank the toggles down you just distort the canopy and airflow
and that doesn't work either.
If you back off a little from the yank to a definite, strong
motion, it works pretty well.
The final bit of flaring technique is to practice PLFs until
they are comfortable and natural, because in spite of all this
great technique there is nothing like a PLF to save your body
and your pride when you misjudge it.
A point of terminology is that panic turns are not hook turns.
Hook turns, canopy swooping, turf surfing, pond swooping are a form
of canopy flying that you can learn about later if you want.
If you are interested, then go to some of the larger drop zones
in Florida or California or some place and learn from the people
who are already good at it.
Like any envelope pushing around high speed dirt, it's pretty easy
to kill yourself if you fuck up, so it's smarter to build on the
experience of others.
Meanwhile, in your day to day jumping, keep your wings level when
you're close to the ground.
Sometimes, in spite of our best efforts, our best training, our
best intentions, we have a brain fart and do something stupid.
Here's one that ranks right up there with the best of them.
One year at Quincy it was hot, it was humid, it was late in the
week, I was tired, I didn't want to land out and wait for the
pickup, and I had to cross the loading area to get back.
The loading area is a pretty wide section of concrete filled with
Otters and Casas picking up jumpers, getting fuel, spinning props,
planes taxiing in and out, tents full of waiting jumpers.
I had seen it in freefall, I had been eyeing the situation from
the time I opened.
Can I do it? I'm not sure. It's gonna be close.
I'll just face that way and decide when I get closer.
Can I do it? I'm not sure. Just barely. Maybe. No, I should
turn around and land over here. I'm going for it.
Concrete. Staying aloft by sheer terror. The slightest gust
and ... Shit.
Props. I could land on the tail. Massive social humiliation
and broken bones but I'd miss the props. Shit.
The tent. I'm going to land on the tent. Shit.
I'm over. I land.
I gather up my chute and walk back thinking that was the stupidest
thing I've ever done.
To this day I can still hardly believe that I did that.
It's not just students who show bad judgement under canopy.
Bryan Burke has said that minds are like parachutes, sometimes
they just don't work.
That means that we must develop the best set of habits and background
experience that we can, so that when our minds don't work we might still
accidentally do the right thing.
Keep your wings level when you're close to the ground.
Skr
Parachute Malfunctions
A malfunction is any failure of the system to provide a normal rate of descent and this includes loss of canopy control. Malfunctions are normally caused by one or a combination of the following: bad packing, poor body position during canopy deployment and/or faulty equipment. There are some malfunctions, however, that just happen (Acts of God); parachutes are good but not perfect. Failures of the main parachute can be divided into two areas. Either nothing comes out and you have a total malfunction or the canopy starts to open but something is wrong with it and you have a partial malfunction. Each of these two areas will be broken down still further in this chapter.
It is because of the possibility of an equipment malfunction that the USPA’s Basic Safety Requirements list the opening altitude for students at 3,000 feet AGL. (For tandem jumps, it is set at 4,000 feet AGL. For A and B licensed skydivers, it is set at 2500 feet.) The BSRs and the FARs require that a second (reserve) parachute be worn for all sport jumping. It is important that you are drilled in its use. But even with the stated opening altitude safety margin or cushion, you must be aware of the time, speed and distances involved. If you exit the aircraft at 3,000 feet AGL, for example, you will begin to accelerate; you start off at zero vertical speed and then fall faster and faster until you reach terminal velocity (more about that later). If you didn’t have a parachute, it would take you about 22 seconds to reach the ground. In the case of a partial malfunction, you will have a little braking from your canopy and this means even more time. But even if you have a total, allowing for reaction time, you should be open under your reserve at well above 1,500 feet. In fact, while it seemed like an eternity to you, your friends on the ground will tell you that you performed your procedures quickly and efficiently; you will be surprised at how fast you react to a malfunction. Your main parachute takes 3-4 seconds to open and the reserve may be just slightly faster. Even at terminal velocity, which in a face-to-earth,stable position is about 110 mph, (the fastest you can fall in that position), four seconds translates into about 700 feet.
If you haven’t been jerked upright by the sixth segment (second) of your exit or pull count, you should already be into the emergency procedure for a total malfunction. Static lines not hooked up, in-tow situations, lost or hard ripcord pull or pilot chute problems have already been discussed and won’t be repeated here.
Total Malfunctions
Of all the possible equipment malfunctions, the total (pack closure) is the safest to deal with because there is no other garbage over your head to interfere with the deploying reserve. While the total is the easiest malfunction to rectify, remember it also presents you with the least amount of time in which to act. Do not spend time trying to locate a lost handle; you do not have time. Do not waste time breaking away; a loose riser could tangle with a deploying reserve. When in doubt, whip it out. (Pull the reserve ripcord.)
Partial Malfunctions
A partial malfunction is one in which the canopy comes out of the container but does not properly deploy. The canopy may not inflate (e.g. a streamer that hardly slows your descent at all) or it may take on some air and be spinning violently (e.g. a line over or slider hang-up). You could have an end cell closure that will probably slow you enough for a safe landing. So, partial malfunctions may be major and minor. An additionally important consideration is that they may be stable or spinning. Most partials can usually be attributed to an error in packing or poor body position on opening. Some partials, however, just happen.
Some partials are so minor, most instructors do not even classify them as malfunctions; they call them "nuisances." Some of these things that just happen are line twists, end cell closures and a slider that has not fully descended. These are correctable problems which you will be trained to handle.
A good canopy is rectangular (square) and flies straight once the slider is down and the brakes are released. It is stable through the flare and turns properly with the correct toggle inputs. (Remember the controllability check?)
Major partial malfunctions. Ones that you don’t waste time to correct.
Bag lock presents you with trailing lines, bag and pilot chute but the canopy will not come out of the bag. This problem is not likely to clear itself. Breakaway and pull your reserve.
Horseshoe. This malfunction can result from bad maintenance, failure to check equipment and incompatible canopy/container systems. It can happen when the locking pin or ripcord is dislodged from the closing loop, allowing the bagged canopy to escape before you have removed the pilot chute from its stowage pocket.
The horseshoe can occur if you tumble during the deployment sequence, allowing the pilot chute to catch on your foot, your arm, or some other part of your body, but these are rare occurrences today. Another possibility is a poor launch of a pilot chute from your container, allowing it to fall back into your “burble” (the partial vacuum behind you) where it can dance around and snag on something, preventing it from properly deploying. Improper hand deploy procedures can lead to the pilot chute being caught on your arm.
The danger of a horseshoe malfunction is that a pulled reserve may tangle with the horse-shoed main as it tries to deploy. If you experience a horseshoe, and you are using a hand deployment technique, pull the main’s hand deploy pilot chute immediately. Then, and even if you can’t pull the main hand deploy pilot chute, execute a breakaway and deploy the reserve. Chances are that there will be enough drag on the lines and canopy to separate the risers from their attachment points and present only a single line of “garbage” for the reserve to clear (rather than a horseshoed main).
Violent spin. Unless you can tell immediately that you have an unstowed brake, breakaway and pull your reserve. If you have plenty of altitude and the problem is not compounded by line twists, push the toggles down to the crotch for two seconds, then let up slowly. If the spin continues, break away and pull your reserve.
Line overs can occur when a brake lock releases during the opening sequence allowing one side of the canopy to surge forward over itself, or due to a packing error or an Act of God. If you are on a very high clear and pull, you may try to pull down on the end lines (by the risers) to make the other lines slip off. However, if you deployed at the normal pull altitude, you do not have time for this maneuver on the main. Break away and pull your reserve ripcord. If this happens on a square reserve, pulling down on the side the lines are over is your best hope, along with a great PLF.
Partial Malfunctions That May Be Majors Or Minors
Partial malfunctions that may be majors or minors. You may have time to make a decision as to how to handle them.
Rips and tears are not common on ram-air canopies and may usually be ridden in. Even a rip from leading edge to trailing edge on one surface can probably be controlled. Internal rips may not be visible. See whether the canopy is controllable with toggle pressure no lower than your shoulder. If your controlability check indicates a serious problem, break away and pull your reserve ripcord. If the check does not indicate a serious problem, make slow, shallow turns and flare slowly for landing.
The snivel is a slow, mushy opening. The canopy’s fabric weave opens up slightly after a few hundred jumps and becomes more porous. Higher permeability leads to sniveling. Look up after pulling to watch your canopy open. Learn to distinguish a slow-opening snivel from a never-opening streamer. Sometimes replacing the pilot chute will lead to quicker openings. Try packing the nose of the canopy in different positions but check with a rigger before you experiment. Contact the manufacturer about resetting the brakes two inches higher. Then the canopy will take to the air with the tail somewhat higher giving the leading edge a better bite of air.
Slider hang-up, at the canopy. The slider may hang up at the top of the lines because it is caught in the lines or caught on the slider stops. Grommets become battered and rough as they slide down and hit the connector links at the risers. The links should be fitted with plastic sleeve buffers. Make sure the grommets are smooth. A slider hang-up at the canopy is a high-speed malfunction and will be hard to clear. You may be upright but you are descending quickly. There is little time to deal with a slider hang-up at the canopy, so jettison your main and pull your reserve ripcord.
Slider hang-up, halfway. A slider hang-up halfway down the lines will slow you down but possibly not enough for landing. Check your altitude and if there is time (you are still above the decision altitude for emergency procedures), release the brakes and pull the toggles down to your crotch for two seconds in an effort to stall the canopy and relieve some of the spanwise spreading of the canopy. Repeat if necessary, pump the steering lines up and down. If the slider descends to within 10 or 12 inches of the connector links, that is close enough. Sometimes, the slider is caught higher in a suspension line or steering line. Let both toggles up to determine whether the canopy will fly straight. If you have to pull down the opposite toggle to more than shoulder level to maintain straight flight, the canopy will probably be unstable. If you don’t gain total control of the canopy by the decision altitude (sometimes called the hard deck), break away and pull your reserve ripcord.
If the slider comes down the lines halfway and stops, the canopy has probably changed in some way. After you are safely on the ground, measure the line lengths and compare opposite lines. Check the slider grommets for damage. Bring the canopy to the equipment manager (if it is student gear), your rigger, or send it to the manufacturer for inspection.
Broken suspension line(s). Most line breaks only put the canopy into a slight turn. Correct the turn with opposite toggle pressure. Occasionally the broken line causes the slider to hang up. Do a controllability check. If there is any internal damage to the canopy, it will not perform as expected. Failing a controllability check will dictate a breakaway and a reserve deployment.
Minor Malfunctions
Minor malfunctions are more like nuisances that can be dealt with and don’t threaten you unless they get worse or are complicated by other problems.
Line twists. Sometimes, the bag rotates a few turns as it lifts off. Now you may find it difficult to get your head back to look up at the canopy. The problem is that the risers are closer together and twisted instead of spread. These twists can happen with or without your help. If you are kicking, rocking or twisting just as the bagged canopy lifts off, you can impart a twist to it. The principle is the same as when you give a Frisbee disc a flip of the wrist on launch. Line twists are more common on static line than freefall jumps.
Determine quickly whether the canopy is flying straight, your altitude and which way the lines are twisted. Reach above your head, grab the risers and spread them to accelerate the untwisting. If necessary, throw your legs in the twist direction. Line twists are worse on a ram-air canopy than a round because you cannot pull down on the steering lines to control the canopy until the twists are cleared and this may take up to 30 seconds. If the canopy is spinning in the same direction, you may not be able to untwist faster than it is twisting. Do not release the brakes until untwisted. While you have the risers spread, check your canopy to make sure nothing else is wrong with it. A spinning canopy descends quickly. If you haven’t untwisted the lines by 1,800 feet AGL, break away and pull your reserve.
Premature brake release. Ram-air canopies are packed with their brakes set to prevent the canopy from surging on opening. If one brake releases on opening, the canopy is likely to turn rapidly which can escalate into a spin and/or an end cell closure if not corrected immediately. If the canopy doesn't have line twists, grab both toggles and pull them down to your waist. (Grabbing both eliminates having to choose which one to pull.) This maneuver will release the other brake, reduce your forward speed, stop the turn and let you see if any lines are broken. If the premature brake release is compounded with line twists, releasing the other brake may have some or no effect. Be aware of your decision altitude and try to unspin from the line twists. If you are sure that just one steering line is still set in its deployment setting, you might try to release it.
Broken steering line. When you find one of your steering lines has snapped or floated out of reach, release the other brake and steer the canopy by pulling down on the rear risers. Do not try to steer with one control line and the opposite riser. The turns will be inconsistent and you may find yourself in a dangerously low turn when you flare for landing. Pulling down on the risers may be hard but it will steer the canopy. The canopy will probably want to turn in the direction of the good control line. If you cannot make the canopy fly straight with the opposite riser, break away and pull your reserve. If the broken line wraps around the slider, do not try to pump the slider down any further. It will only make the turning worse. Reserve some energy to pull down on both risers at about ten feet from the ground to flare the landing. You want to start this flare lower because pulling down on the risers results in a more pronounced flare.
Steering line(s) won’t release is similar to dealing with a broken steering line, except that one may release while the other won’t. If neither steering line releases, simply fly the canopy to a safe landing using the rear risers. If only one releases, then you can pull that steering line down to the point at which the canopy will fly straight, then control the direction the canopy flies by either using the rear risers or using the one working steering line. Quite often, you will have time to grab the riser of the steering line that won’t release and work towards getting it released. Be mindful of your altitude as you work on the problem. You don’t want to steer yourself to a hazardous landing while you are distracted with this release challenge.
Pilot chute "under/over" problems. The pilot chute may fall over the leading edge of the canopy and re-inflate underneath, usually causing a turn in the distorted canopy. Attempt to stall the canopy slightly so that it backs up, possibly allowing the pilot chute to come back up and over the front of the parachute. If the canopy cannot be controlled with toggles, break away and pull your reserve ripcord.
End cell closures occur when the pressure outside the canopy is greater than the pressure inside. They usually happen during canopy surge on opening but they can also be caused by radical turns or turbulent air. Turbulence can occur on hot, no-wind days, on windy days downwind of trees and buildings, and during stormy conditions. Lightweight jumpers under large canopies (called low wing loading) will experience end cell closure more frequently. To avoid end cell closure, fly with one-quarter to one-half brakes. To counteract end cell closure, push the toggles down to your crotch for a few seconds, until the cells inflate, then let the toggles up slowly. Repeat if necessary. End cell closures are not a major concern. Keep the canopy and land it if it is not spinning. If the end cells collapse below 200 feet, do not try to re-inflate them.Pull to half brakes to stabilize the canopy. When you flare for landing, the cells will probably pop open.
Combination Malfunctions
When confronted with more than one malfunction, correct for line twists first. The canopy will be uncontrollable until the twists are removed. When in doubt, whip it out, especially if you are at or below decision height (1800 feet AGL).
Two Canopies Open
You may find yourself confronted with two fully open canopies. This can happen in several ways: The automatic activation device on your reserve could fire when you are happily flying your canopy through 1,000 feet; you may have reacted very quickly to a pilot chute hesitation without effecting a breakaway; or the main release system may have failed to separate during an emergency procedure.
If the two canopies take off at different times, they may not deploy into each other, but you need to be prepared to handle that possibility. At the Parachute Industry Association Symposium in Houston in 1997, a detailed report was presented on the performance of two ram-air canopies out — a very dangerous situation.
First, quickly check the condition and position of the main and reserve canopies, then make your decision based upon the following:
If the two canopies are flying side by side, steer yourself to a safe landing area by using gentle control inputs on the larger canopy. Due to the nearly doubled surface area supporting your weight, the effective lift of the parachute system will make flaring the canopies unnecessary. Flaring one could create a hazardous situation, especially close to the ground.
If the two canopies are both flying downward towards the ground (called a downplane), jettison the main. Note:Certain reserve static line lanyards may have to be disconnected so as not to foul the reserve parachute when the main is disconnected. Ask your instructor about the specifics concerning your system.
If the canopies are flying one behind the other and in the same direction (called a biplane), make gentle steering inputs with the lead canopy (which is usually the main). Do not release the rear canopy’s deployment brakes. Do not flare the landing.
If the reserve container has opened but the reserve canopy has not yet, or not completely deployed, make gentle steering inputs with the main and try to haul in the reserve and stick it between your legs.
Tandem Jumping Malfunctions
Tandem jumping malfunctions may be aggravated because the weight is doubled while the effective drag area of the two falling bodies is not. As long as the drogue pilot chute has been deployed properly, freefall speeds are about the same as a single skydiver. If the drogue is not deployed or fails to work properly, the terminal velocity will be much faster than that of a single skydiver (110 mph); perhaps as much as 160-170 mph. The greater speed places a much greater strain on the parachute system and on the jumpers.
Large Ring And Ripcord Handle
Older harnesses used a plain round ring for the largest of the rings in the 3-Ring canopy releases. When the main canopy is jettisoned, the largest of the riser-release rings remains on the harness. If the rings flop down on the lift web, the one near the reserve handle may be mistaken for that handle. Both are large silver rings and the reserve handle may have shifted from its normal position. Some jumpers have broken away only to tug on the wrong ring. Some never lived to tell about it. Newer equipment may have a shaped large ring or a smaller (mini) ring that is more difficult to confuse with the reserve handle. If you have older equipment, you should be aware of this potential problem.
Change Of Emergency Procedures
Anytime you change your equipment or emergency procedures, make sure you are thoroughly trained. Practice in a suspended harness until proficient on the new equipment. Each corrective procedure is different and you must not waste precious seconds in an emergency thinking about what you should do. You must act automatically and quickly. Review your emergency procedures prior to each jump and touch all your handles before you proceed to the door.
Breakaway Training
Breakaway training is essential to assure that it will be accomplished completely, quickly and well. Training must take place in a suspended harness that is easy to rig up. Simply tie an old set of risers to an overhead beam and attach them to your harness. The drill must be repeated again and again until it becomes mechanical and automatic so that you will perform correctly and without hesitation should the time come. When you take your reserve in to be repacked, ask your rigger if you may practice the breakaway to include the reserve pull. It is a valuable experience and in this controlled environment, it is safe for your gear.
Emergency Priorities
Think about and review the seven priorities of skydiving:
Pull - Open the parachute.
Pull by the assigned altitude or higher - whether stable
or not.
Pull with stability - to improve canopy-opening reliability.
Check the canopy - promptly determine if the canopy has
properly opened and is controllable.
If necessary, activate the reserve - perform the
appropriate emergency procedures if there is any doubt that the main canopy is
open properly and is controllable.
Land in a clear area - a long walk back is better than
landing in a hazardous area.
Land safely - be prepared to
perform a PLF with the feet and knees together to avoid injury.
Canopy Collisions
Let’s assume that your canopy has just opened properly and you are reaching up for the toggles when suddenly, you look ahead and see another canopy coming directly towards you. What should you do? If the collision is avoidable by steering to the right or left, choose the right. The turn to the right is virtually universal in all forms of navigation. If the collision is unavoidable, spread your arms and legs out to absorb the impact over the most surface area possible. Chances are that spreading out will allow you to bounce up and over the lines and canopy you will be colliding with. You may get a bit hurt, but you will be alive so long as you don’t make full body contact with the other jumper. If you find yourself entangled with another parachute, the general rule of thumb is that the lower person has the right to perform emergency procedures first. Communicate with each other as to what you want to do, what you’re going to do, then do it while you still have enough altitude to do it safely.
Most canopy collisions occur during the landing phase of the skydive, when too many people are trying to get into one tiny area all at the same time. Vigilance in canopy control and choosing a less congested area can help avoid this emergency. If you do end up tangled at an altitude too low to break away (less than 500 feet AGL), ride about half brakes and get set to do a fantastic PLF.
Canopy Formation Parachuting
By Peter Pfalzgraf
In the early days of CReW (as canopy formation skydiving used to be called) I wrote and published a little booklet for those who were interested in learning the new sport. Things have changed a lot since then. So, I found it necessary to publish something new to make general information on our sport available to everybody interested. This essay combines techniques and hints from Europe and America. The latest input came from the training camps for the new canopy formation world record attempts aiming for a 100-way formation.
Canopy and Harness (Figure 1)
The times are gone where they had all-around canopies that could be used fairly well for any kind of skydive. Such canopies as the Cruisair, ¬U¬nit, Pegasus, Cruislite and Fury were once very common.
Today, the best parachutes for canopy formation parachuting (briefly known as “CF”, in the old days) are 7-cell canopies. These parachutes are the safest concerning deployment and stability in flight, especially in turbulent conditions. It is no coincidence that reserve parachutes and canopies for BASE jumping are mostly 7-cell canopies. Triathlons and Spectres with Dacron lines can be used for casual CF jumps, although Lightnings are the CF canopies of choice. If you intend to do a CF jump today you are well advised to use a canopy that has been designed for this kind of activity.
As a compromise for your first attempts, you may use a 7-cell canopy with a thick profile (for instance a student or accuracy canopy). Never attempt CF jumps with elliptical canopies, canopies with wide wing spans (in comparison with the depth of the profile/length in direction of flight) and/or a low profile.
Today’s CF canopies are available in different sizes for different weight classes. It is important that people intending to join a CF jump use the same type of canopy with the same line length and trim. Furthermore, the wing loading (weight under canopy per square foot) should be reasonably identical to guarantee similar flight characteristics.
The container of your harness should be big enough for the packing volume of the canopy to make sure it can be closed properly (safety!). There should be no handles, container flaps, pop-top pilot chutes or anything else sticking out that could get caught in another jumper’s lines. Those things could result in unintentional reserve openings or problems on separation. The bridle should be short or even better, self retracting to prevent your pilot chute from being caught in the other jumper’s lines while you are in a formation. You can imagine that separating a plane formation with one jumper’s pilot chute entangled in the other jumper’s lines will most certainly result in serious problems.
Additional Equipment
The altimeter should be worn in a way that makes sure it does not get snagged and can always be seen while you have your hands in the toggles.
The helmet should provide not only head protection but also allow good hearing. It should not cause wind noise that might affect your hearing.
Every CF jumper should carry a hook knife that can be used in case of an entanglement or wrap. Sometimes it only takes one line to be cut to get free and save a reserve ride.
The hook knife of course should also be worn in a way that prevents it from being caught or ripped away.
Your shoes must not have any hooks. They should fit loose enough that you can get rid of them if need be in order to get free.
It is very useful to wear long socks to protect your legs against bruises and line burns.
Aerodynamics of the Airfoil
Lift is the force that keeps a canopy in the air. Opposite to a round canopy that only creates a big air resistance to slow down your descent using a large area of fabric, the square parachute, or airfoil, really produces lift like the wing of a glider for instance. The square footage of an airfoil is approximately one-sixth to one-quarter of a round canopy, and yet has a far lower rate of descent.
The lift of the airfoil consists of 1/3 high pressure under the profile (similar to the round canopy) and 2/3 low pressure on the top surface created by the undisturbed airflow. This effect is the important matter for us.
The physical reasons for this effect aren’t pertinent to this particular discussion. What is most important is to know that the main part of the lift depends on the undisturbed airflow on the top surface of the square canopy, forward speed and the shape of the profile. The lift increases with forward speed and grows with the thickness of the profile. The air resistance of the canopy slows the forward speed down.
Due to the different pressure at the upper and lower surface of the profile air will flow around the sides of the canopy from the bottom to the top following the pressure difference. This effect reduces the lift and is called induced resistance. As a consequence of this, the maximum lift is in the centre of the airfoil. The stabilizers on either side of the profile are designed to reduce the loss of lift by hindering the airflow from the bottom to the top surface. Another way to reduce the loss of lift is to make the airfoil very wide so that the percentage of wing area being affected becomes comparably small. A good sample for this solution is the paraglider. This shape of airfoil is, of course, not good for CF activities.
Because of the airflow around the sides and also around the tail, a parachute gliding through the air leaves a track of turbulence. The side turbulence creates a zone of turbulent air on either side beginning at the trailing corners of the airfoil. The turbulence of the tail creates a turbulent zone rising from the trailing edge of the canopy.
It is clear that a parachute or canopy formation flying into such a turbulent zone will be affected by losing lift. Even aircraft flying through the turbulence of a canopy formation will lose considerable altitude.
Figures 2 and 3 show the shape and position of the zones of turbulence.
In a formation these phenomenon cause effects that can be noticed clearly. Just the top canopy in a formation gets only undisturbed airflow and has the maximum possible lift. All canopies having a body in front or on a front corner will lose lift due to the turbulence caused by the body out in front.
Aerodynamics of the basic Formation Types
Knowing the things mentioned above, we can predict that any type of formation cannot perform as well as a single canopy. That is useful for building formations as it gives the single canopy the potential to approach and dock on a formation due to its extra lift and forward speed.
In principle all formations consist of a few basic types. Let’s look at the conditions in these.
The Stack
The stack (Figure 4) is the most basic formation. To build a stack one jumper sits on top the other jumper’s center cell and hooks his feet behind the center A-lines of the lower canopy similar to sitting on a chair. There will be some tension on the lines because the lower canopy in this type of formation will have a little less lift. In a stack the body of the top jumper is in front of the center cell of the lower canopy. The turbulence of that body meets the airflow of the lower canopy exactly at the point where the main lift is created and leads to a considerable loss of lift. This means that a stack will sink far more than a single canopy.
The Plane
The plane (Figure 5) is created out of the stack. The top jumper climbs down the center A-lines and hooks his feet behind the front risers of the lower jumper underneath the slider. The lower jumper supports him by putting on some brakes to increase the lift of his canopy. For this formation type one or two cross connectors are required, which either connect the front connector links (one line) or two lines that connect the front and rear connector link on either side. Otherwise the top jumper might slide back up due to his plus of lift and pull up the slider, which would result in a collapsed lower canopy.
In a plane formation, the turbulence/loss of lift effect is not as strong. As the top jumper’s body is beneath the two canopies, one might think there is no loss of lift at all, yet the line contact causes deformation in the lower canopy and additionally forces both canopies into a new aspect ratio. This leads to a loss of performance. A single canopy will perform better than a biplane.
If a plane becomes bigger there will of course, be canopies with bodies in front of them. Planes with more than four canopies will sink faster as the plane formation grows larger.
The Stairstep
In a stairstep formation (Figure 6) the top jumper is positioned outside of the lower canopies end cell. He takes a foot grip on the outside A-line. Flying the stair step requires much more experience than flying a stack or plane formation because the link is not as stable. It is more of a pivot point than a stable connection. The lower jumper has to compensate for the influence of the upper jumper’s body to the flight of his canopy. To prevent the lower canopy from coming up and around you can put some tension on the outside front riser of the lower canopy or the lower jumper can stretch the outside leg while lifting the inside leg.
The stair-step is far less turbulent than the stack and plane. The body of the top jumper only causes turbulence on the outside corner of the lower canopy and that is a part of the airfoil that contributes only a minor amount of lift. That means that a stair step formation is only slightly less efficient than a single canopy.
Because only one side of the lower canopy is affected, the other side will perform better and cause the canopy to rise and drive forward. If the lower jumper does not compensate for this, his canopy might come up and around, leading to a wrap. To prevent that the lower jumper will start to compensate for the difference as soon as the top jumper has taken his grip. Possible ways to compensate include putting tension on the outside front riser and stretching the outside leg while lifting the inside leg. One might also apply some slight inside brake.
You can determine how much trim is needed by easing up on the risers or brakes after the canopy is set. Sometimes the formation will fly well with only slight trim or none at all. Nevertheless, the lower jumper should keep a watchful eye on his canopy to immediately compensate, if necessary.
That wraps up part one. Join Peter in a week or so for Part 2, when we'll dive deep into building and controlling these formations.