Stand up landings

[billvon 2,400]

>What dropzone is going to put up with that for more than about twice?

A lot. When I was S+TA at Brown, we were after a guy for about two months to quit doing the stupid shit. We figured we'd be able to reach him eventually. We couldn't, so we finally grounded him. He went on to Perris, where he was also grounded, and then to Eloy, where he finally broke himself. It took about six months all told.

At many DZ's there's an attitude of "if I'm not hurting anyone else, leave me the fuck alone." It's much stronger when that person is a tandem instructor they need, or the DZO's pal, or some other "respected" person. Keep in mind that not all DZ's are even aware that landing against the pattern is a very bad thing; they may have a Cessna 206 and thus it may not be much of a problem.

>My point was, a PLF is a perfectly acceptable landing, and no
>more dangerous to anybody else than a tiptoe on the X.

Absolutely; as a way to mitigate a bad landing, it's an excellent idea. However, if a jumper is PLFing regularly, it may be indicative of a lack of canopy control skills. Modern canopies can be landed safely without a PLF, and the safest skydiver out there is one who can land his canopy without PLFing - but who knows how to do it if he really has to.

[fred 0]

This past Sunday I made a number of mistakes.

It all started jumping a new canopy. I'd jumped the Triathalon 210 earlier in the day, and had a great landing. For the second jump, a less experienced jumper wanted the 210, so I took the Manta 200, which I hadn't jumped before.

New canopy, so I opened high, and did a lot of practice flairs. After about the 8th or 9th practice flair up high, realizing that it didn't behave nearly as well as that triathalon, I also noticed that it was taking a lot more effort, and my arms were tired.

With few canopies in the air, I decided I wanted to save myself a walk back on landing, so rather than the big wide open newbie area, I planned a course for the smaller "experienced jumpers" area (Mistake #1). I thought I had a good idea of the pattern to follow, though it took me a bit over the taxiway before my crosswind and turn to final (Mistake #2). Winds had been dead all day, so I completely neglected to look at the flag (Mistake #3), which would have shown me that winds had picked up a bit since takeoff. ]

Well, I took a soft breaked turn to crosswind, since I thought I needed a bit more distance to land where I wanted. Then I did a 90 degree turn to final. And this canopy lost a lot more altitude than I'd expected. Suddenly, instead of looking out onto a nice soft grass landing area, I thought I was going to land smack dab in the middle of the taxiway (Mistake #4/Inexperience showing). In fact, I didn't make it that far. On the near side of the taxiway, there's a small (3 ft?) drainage ditch, and I came in right toward that.

As it is, the practice flairs paid off. As did a good PLF (I was nervous about actually being able to PLF, but the dirt/grass stains on my cloths and the rig seem to suggest that I did a reasonable job of spreading out the impact).

In the end, the only thing that hurt was my pride. I like standup landings because they show that I did a lot of things right. I like PLF's because they show that I did something right at the end, despite having made mistakes earlier on.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

It all started jumping a new canopy. I'd jumped the Triathalon 210 earlier in the day, and had a great landing. For the second jump, a less experienced jumper wanted the 210, so I took the Manta 200, which I hadn't jumped before.

New canopy, so I opened high, and did a lot of practice flairs. After about the 8th or 9th practice flair up high, realizing that it didn't behave nearly as well as that triathalon, I also noticed that it was taking a lot more effort, and my arms were tired.

How about doing your homework before you start jumping something new?

An F1-11 canopy does not flare as good as a ZP or hybrid canopy. It can be landed soft if you know and practiced how.

[jumpwally 0]

Wow,,i just don't get that...your canopy choice is very odd for having all the stainless in ya ! Care to explain ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[flydog 0]

I have upsized to a stilleto 135. I am not current enough to jump my 104 on a regular basis. When I get more current I will be back on it. Also that is the canopy that bit me. Thats why I am slow to getting back on it as an everyday canopy.

[adamx 0]

During my AFF, I was required to PLF the first 4 landings. All 4 could have been really smooth stand up landings. It kind of pissed me off at the time. Why would I PLF an otherwise smooth landing?! Either way, I went home and practiced PLF's after every jump. Lots of them. To simulate the forward motion of the canopy, I progressed on the ground to a running speed/spring off 1' plyo box/feet and knees together while airborn/hands in flare position/hit the ground in a PLF. I did hundreds, until I was GOOD at them.

Around jump 5 they gave me the go ahead to start standing them up. Since then, i've stood every one up.

Well...except for that ONE.. The wind picked up, carrying me extra long. Got really turbulent about 20' off the ground. I was getting tossed side to side, and boy I was booking. Full flare on the big F111 canopy felt like it didn't slow me down an inch. Split second, feet and knees together, PLF. I didn't have a scratch on me. If I would have tried to stick that landing, or just had a bad PLF (which I see a lot of.. going straight to knees/straight to butt slide/straight onto your face/etc) I might have been limping away or worse.

I'm VERY thankful they drilled the PLF right off the bat. Better to learn sooner than *ouch* later. THanks

[Chubba 0]

Good attitude adamx.

Our dropzone drills PLF's during the FJC, unfortunately nobody is required to practice them under canopy which can be dangerous.

Saw it happen on the weekend. AFF4, on radio. AFF 1 - 3 all perfect standups. Canopy was shaking a bit on final, he flared, it dropped him like a sack of spuds... what did he do? Picked his legs up/froze and smashed in vertically right on his tailbone/back.

Very lucky the canopy was ~300sqf and landing was in 5 inch deep water, that being said, he came away busted.

[NWFlyer 2]

Kudos to your dropzone for its approach and to you for practicing them. Muscle memory comes in handy when you really need it.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke