windcatcher 0 #1 July 26, 2004 So there I was, having completed two well done practice ripcord pulls, paying attention to how to learn to fly my canopy and as I listened to the radio instructions, I turned left and BAM! I flew right smack into the middle of a cornfield. I was like, "What the heck is this guy telling me?". Yes, I landed my canopy into 6 ft. tall corn! Hello! I think the ground guy overcorrected my turn a LITTLE bit. I was probably at least 20 feet in the field, and I didn't even know which direction to start walking to get out of there. So I learned my lesson: when in doubt, forget the instructor if you KNOW how to fly your canopy!!!! Just my little story from the weekend... Sarah Mother to the cutest little thing in the world... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grue 1 #2 July 26, 2004 Say... you weren't jumping in Luverne, MN were you? Just curious, a female student had an unplanned late corn lunch Saturday there.cavete terrae. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evelyn 0 #3 July 26, 2004 Glad we don't have corn in Perris. Sometimes there are sheep in the surrounding fields and manifest will make an announcement saying there are sheep in ---- field, please do not swoop the sheep. And of course that makes everyone think, oh, sheep, swoop, cool. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ~ Helen Keller Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evelyn 0 #4 July 26, 2004 Oops. Better modify, Maybe not everyone thought that. Maybe it was just my warped thinking. But I didn't intentionally swoop the sheep. Thought they were plump white bushes until I got down close. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ~ Helen Keller Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
windcatcher 0 #5 July 26, 2004 Yes I was jumping in Luverne... Are you new at our dz? Sarah Mother to the cutest little thing in the world... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFFC 1 #6 July 26, 2004 QuoteAre you new at our dz? Sarah Yes, Yes he is... ----- ~~~Michael Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #7 July 26, 2004 Quote Hello! I think the ground guy overcorrected my turn a LITTLE bit. I was probably at least 20 feet in the field, and I didn't even know which direction to start walking to get out of there. Is it possible you weren't going to make it back to the landing area? Maybe you being given directions to land there as it was the safest place to land? Quotewhen in doubt, forget the instructor if you KNOW how to fly your canopy!!!! If you knew how to fly your canopy, why were you being given instructions? Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #8 July 26, 2004 I've landed in 7 or 8 foot tall corn a couple times. Sucks, doesn't it?? Our little landing area is almost surrounded by cornfields. Great outs in the spring, but so annoying this time of year. Gotta plan your route out from the air, and hopefully not fall down and get disoriented on landing. Deciding when to flare can be tough. Flare at the top and you're gonna stop too high. I tried to start my flare right about when my feet hit the corn, but you better know how tall it is before ya try to land in it. Luckily corn is pretty soft! Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PrairieDoug 0 #9 July 26, 2004 If the radio guy instructed you to fly into a wall or do a 180 deg turn at 100 ft, would you? Not trying to bust your chops, just making the point that you are ultimately responsible for your own safety. That is true from jump #1 to jump #10,000. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grue 1 #10 July 26, 2004 QuoteYes I was jumping in Luverne... Are you new at our dz? Sarah Yup. Yesterday was my first day, I'll be back on 7 August for some PRCP and then hopefully I'll freefall on the 8th.cavete terrae. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grue 1 #11 July 26, 2004 QuoteQuote Hello! I think the ground guy overcorrected my turn a LITTLE bit. I was probably at least 20 feet in the field, and I didn't even know which direction to start walking to get out of there. Is it possible you weren't going to make it back to the landing area? Maybe you being given directions to land there as it was the safest place to land? Quotewhen in doubt, forget the instructor if you KNOW how to fly your canopy!!!! If you knew how to fly your canopy, why were you being given instructions? Actually, I saw this one happen. She was coming down well, and even to my untrained eyes, it looked like the ground crew might have over corrected her course. In fact, I said to the guy next to me "She's coming down in the corn, she can't turn that low to avoid it", but I might have had a better angle on it than the guy with the radaio.cavete terrae. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grue 1 #12 July 26, 2004 Oh, Sarah, I was the big tall guy in the static line class: http://spiceweasel.net/skydiving/ready.jpgcavete terrae. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BASE813 0 #13 July 26, 2004 Quotepaying attention to how to learn to fly my canopy and as I listened to the radio instructions, QuoteSo I learned my lesson: when in doubt, forget the instructor if you KNOW how to fly your canopy!!!! So which one was it? were you learning? or do you know?............ second, why not discuss what happened with the instructor to find out what happened? just a thought............... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeth 0 #14 July 26, 2004 Hey, welcome to the club! I landed in the corn on my 1st jump! But I wasn't directed there, my radio was broken so I didn't get any instructions. (So I can only blame myself. Actually, I didn't think it was that bad. Being that it was 10 ft tall, I knew exactly when to flare! And unlike your experience, I did look which way I was coming in so I knew which way to walk out. As my DZ is surrounded by about 4 corn fields, I'm sure that one won't be my last! Jeth "At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #15 July 26, 2004 Quotewhy not discuss what happened with the instructor to find out what happened? That's my thought as well! At 8 jumps its very doubtful that a jumper has the experience and skill to know truely whats going on and how to fly thier canopy. There are some rare execptions, obviously, like a very experienced pilot, hanglider, paraglider, etc. However, a FJC will give you the information you need to know how to fly your canopy safely to the ground. I'm wondering if the student had looked at the winds and actually figured out the landing pattern for the winds of the day. My students (and all the other students at my DZ) fill out a flight planner before each jump. There's a lot of good information done, such as figuring out the spot, etc, but the biggest key is the DZ photo on the back. With the winds the student actually draws out what the intended landing pattern will be. This gives the student a good idea of what their doing and what they can expect. This is done with the knowledge that on average the student canopies we use travel roughly 520ft across the ground for every 300ft in altitude in no wind/perfect conditions. The ground winds are figured into this (as well as the winds at 3k for their "holding pattern" before 1000ft) to achieve the correct distances and land marks for flying a good pattern to land them safely in the main landing area (and the peas). The instructor working the radio for the low jump number students has the flight planner in hand while working the radio. That way the instructor has a pretty good idea of what the student intends to do (obviously students can be very surprising sometimes in this regard). So far so good, the only problems we've had have been students brain locking and going the wrong way, turning left on right turn commands and a jump where the ground winds changed nearly 180deg while on jumprun (everyone was out of the plane right before the plane was reached on the radio to warn). Our students are learning their canopy control faster and how to spot more efficiently then I've seen before and/or any where else.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BASE813 0 #16 July 26, 2004 QuoteQuotewhy not discuss what happened with the instructor to find out what happened? That's my thought as well! At 8 jumps its very doubtful that a jumper has the experience and skill to know truely whats going on and how to fly thier canopy. There are some rare execptions, obviously, like a very experienced pilot, hanglider, paraglider, etc. However, a FJC will give you the information you need to know how to fly your canopy safely to the ground. I'm wondering if the student had looked at the winds and actually figured out the landing pattern for the winds of the day. My students (and all the other students at my DZ) fill out a flight planner before each jump. There's a lot of good information done, such as figuring out the spot, etc, but the biggest key is the DZ photo on the back. With the winds the student actually draws out what the intended landing pattern will be. This gives the student a good idea of what their doing and what they can expect. This is done with the knowledge that on average the student canopies we use travel roughly 520ft across the ground for every 300ft in altitude in no wind/perfect conditions. The ground winds are figured into this (as well as the winds at 3k for their "holding pattern" before 1000ft) to achieve the correct distances and land marks for flying a good pattern to land them safely in the main landing area (and the peas). The instructor working the radio for the low jump number students has the flight planner in hand while working the radio. That way the instructor has a pretty good idea of what the student intends to do (obviously students can be very surprising sometimes in this regard). So far so good, the only problems we've had have been students brain locking and going the wrong way, turning left on right turn commands and a jump where the ground winds changed nearly 180deg while on jumprun (everyone was out of the plane right before the plane was reached on the radio to warn). Our students are learning their canopy control faster and how to spot more efficiently then I've seen before and/or any where else. that sounds like a pretty good way to get students to think about canopy control and patterns, i have never seen this type of thing before............ is this a common thing in the US? (getting students to plan approaches on DZ plans each day?) Thats pretty cool............ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grue 1 #17 July 26, 2004 QuoteQuotewhy not discuss what happened with the instructor to find out what happened? I'm wondering if the student had looked at the winds and actually figured out the landing pattern for the winds of the day. My students (and all the other students at my DZ) fill out a flight planner before each jump. There's a lot of good information done, such as figuring out the spot, etc, but the biggest key is the DZ photo on the back. With the winds the student actually draws out what the intended landing pattern will be. This gives the student a good idea of what their doing and what they can In her defense, the winds were kinda on and off, and changing direction a lot that day. I was lucky enough to jump twice and get the same winds both times late in the day, but she jumped earlier in the day, when the wind was still shifting a lot. It was a very light wind, but it's wind nonetheless.cavete terrae. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #18 July 26, 2004 Quoteis this a common thing in the US? (getting students to plan approaches on DZ plans each day?) Not to the extent that SD Aggieland (my DZ) does it. Every student that has gone through the FJC or the tandem transisiton course fills one out every day, more then once if the uppers are forcasted to change or the ground winds change drastically. The USPA has these worksheets available and all you have to do is send them the photo you want to use to get it printed up for your own DZ. I tried to see if I could find it on the USPA's website to show you, but I couldn't find it, its probably there somewhere (the USPA website sucks), though.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #19 July 26, 2004 QuoteIn her defense, the winds were kinda on and off, and changing direction a lot that day. Then she could have come up with a shorter/tighter landing pattern to give her a margin of safety. My point is, if nothing was pre-planned on the ground, with the wind accounted for, then its hard to accomplish your tasks. In this case, landing on target on the DZ. I understand that winds change and shift (oh trust me, I definately understand that), but I think before her next jump (you too) it would be a good idea to look at the areal photo of the DZ and really and truely plan out your landing pattern. It would be even better if you chatted to your instructor about it before you do it, then review with your instructor after you figure out what you think should be right. This will do nothing but help you and her with canopy control and possibly give you a better understanding on landing patterns, etc.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brains 2 #20 July 26, 2004 Quote............ is this a common thing in the US? (getting students to plan approaches on DZ plans each day?) Thats pretty cool............ I don't jump at that dz regularly, however i can say that i had the opportunity to sit in on an instructors meeting there one morning and NOTHING about their student training is COMMON to the US. The dzo there has taken steps to standardize their student training unlike any other dz i have been to. It truly is an incredible operation.Edit to add: Admittedly, i have not had the opportunity to see all that many student programs, but i still say Skydive Aggieland has a great one. Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeth 0 #21 July 26, 2004 Quote that sounds like a pretty good way to get students to think about canopy control and patterns, i have never seen this type of thing before............ is this a common thing in the US? (getting students to plan approaches on DZ plans each day?) Thats pretty cool............ At my DZ (Skydive Chicago), I had to fill out that sheet in my class and go over where everything was. (We did actually draw on the picture, too.) Then before we jumped the winds had changed so we went over it again with a big picture in the training room. I am really glad we did, too, cause my radio didn't work so I had to fly myself home!"At 13,000 feet nothing else matters." PFRX!!!!! Team Funnel #174, Sunshine kisspass #109 My Jump Site Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PLFKING 4 #22 July 26, 2004 QuoteSometimes there are sheep in the surrounding fields and manifest will make an announcement saying there are sheep in ---- field, please do not swoop the sheep. The announcement isn't really about protecting the sheep....it's more to prevent you from hitting Clay in mid-thrust. Don"When in doubt I whip it out, I got me a rock-and-roll band. It's a free-for-all." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
windcatcher 0 #23 July 27, 2004 Well, I do feel quite inadequate when it comes to canopy flying...that's why I was quite surprised when I saw the corn rushing up at me!!! I mean come on, I wasn't being cocky, I laughed my head off the WHOLE way out of the corn. For a student, it's pretty funny. I KNOW I have to learn more... So there! Mother to the cutest little thing in the world... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peacefuljeffrey 0 #24 July 27, 2004 QuoteIf the radio guy instructed you to fly into a wall or do a 180 deg turn at 100 ft, would you? Not trying to bust your chops, just making the point that you are ultimately responsible for your own safety. That is true from jump #1 to jump #10,000. After that, you can blame other people? Sweet!! I'd better get movin' though; I hit 00098 this weekend. --Jeffrey "With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #25 August 3, 2004 I have been trying to warn people about the Evil CORN for many years... this time of year with fully grown stalks.... long razor like leaves.... and huge ears over a foot long to beat you with.. they are indeed a formidible menace..... I think I will go pop some more of their young before they too.... can grow up to be menacing creatures to my fellow skydivers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
