Wing loading

[Blassiter 0]

Ok so I have heard a lot about wing loading and I know how to figure out what my wing loading is depending on my canopy, but my question is what is exactly does wing loading do? I mean I know the higher the numbers the more difficult it is but what exactly does it do?

Edit: Also what wing loading do most DZ's usually start aff students out at?

[Hausse 0]

What my DZ did: I started skydiving last week and had a 288 sqft first and got then assigned to a 235sqft. I have probably about 190lb exit weight.

[wildfan75 1]

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What my DZ did: I started skydiving last week and had a 288 sqft first and got then assigned to a 235sqft. I have probably about 190lb exit weight.

Switzerland's 288sq ft was on a F111, and the 235 was on a ZP canopy. He was only allowed to jump the 235 zp after landing about 5 jumps w/o radio in zero wind and 2 in pretty good winds with one being ground swatted (which he stood up).

And Switzerland...if you're going to call it "my dz", you better start looking for a school in WI to transfer to so you can continue to jump at Wissota, not just get licensed there.

[bob.dino 0]

The easiest way to think of it is "the higher the number, the faster everything happens".

The canopy moves faster and responds more quickly, and therefore the margin for error is lower.

[billeisele 122]

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The easiest way to think of it is "the higher the number, the faster everything happens".

The canopy moves faster and responds more quickly, and therefore the margin for error is lower.

ditto: faster forward speed, generally (without getting too complicated) faster descent rate, faster turns, and the more mistakes hurt

there probably is guideline in the SIM on wing loading for students but i've seen them in the range of 0.5-0.9:1, really depends on student performance, training method, canopy availability, etc.

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[mnskydiver688 0]

Another aspect is a 150 sq ft canopy loaded at 1:1 is going to behave differently than a 220 sq ft canopy loaded at 1:1. Just throwing that in.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Fast 0]

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Ok so I have heard a lot about wing loading and I know how to figure out what my wing loading is depending on my canopy, but my question is what is exactly does wing loading do? I mean I know the higher the numbers the more difficult it is but what exactly does it do?

Edit: Also what wing loading do most DZ's usually start aff students out at?

The whole point of it is to have a general guideline for the performance of a canopy. It gives you a general idea of if you are in the right ballpark. It gives a general idea of how fast the canopy flies.

In truth though, as someone has pointed out, there is a lot more that goes into understanding the performance of a canopy. Wingloading plays one part. Planform (i.e. The shape of the canopy) plays another part. The trim of the lines, meaning what angle the canopy is neutral flight at can determine how fast the canopy comes out of the sky. Also, the shorter the lines the faster the canopy will react. A smaller wing can also react much differently. It is a huge topic and a lot of people don't understand most of it.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[ladyhawke 0]

Isn't it VERY important to understand how the canopy performs in order to be a good canopy pilot?

"It is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities." - A. Dumbledore

[AggieDave 6]

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Isn't it VERY important to understand how the canopy performs in order to be a good canopy pilot?

Yes and no. You don't have to necissarily understand the differences in aspect ratio and minor differences in line trim and how they effect each other. You should have an understanding in the general understanding of how the canopy works and why; you should also have a solid understanding and experience with the canopy in all the different flight configurations.

Beyond that to be a good canopy pilot the biggest issue I seen from the largest majority of people I see is flying consistent landing patterns. Head-up-ass is another big issue I've seen from people with enough jumps to know better.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Ether 0]

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What my DZ did: I started skydiving last week and had a 288 sqft first and got then assigned to a 235sqft. I have probably about 190lb exit weight.

Switzerland's 288sq ft was on a F111, and the 235 was on a ZP canopy. He was only allowed to jump the 235 zp after landing about 5 jumps w/o radio in zero wind and 2 in pretty good winds with one being ground swatted (which he stood up).


It seems that various DZs use a wide range of guidelines for when to downsize students. e.g. at my DZ, all students start off on 270s (or if they're really huge, a 290), and don't get downsized to a 230 until they have their solo - even in my case where I didn't get my solo until jump 23 and my naked weight is 135 lbs (putting my wingloading at just over 0.5) (landings by this point were getting pretty boring I must say!) Someone at the DZ (not an instructor, so I take it with a grain of salt) says I should not get off the 230 until I can land in the bowl 10 times in a row. This seems far more stringent than just "graceful standup landings somewhere near the mark" as quoted above.

Just throwing that out there...

Looking for newbie rig, all components...

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[billvon 2,395]

> Isn't it VERY important to understand how the canopy performs in order to
>be a good canopy pilot?

To be a very good canopy pilot, yes. Many people are perfectly adequate pilots without knowing much about how they fly though.

[Fast 0]

Like the others have said there is a lot of stuff that you don't really need to know to skydive. Most of it only comes into play when you want to start doing pretty advanced stuff or understand how to get a couple extra feet out of a swoop or something.

A lot of the stuff people do know by instinct / experience and don't know that they are doing it or understand it and could never explain it to someone else.

Not really a big deal.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka