Landing in stadiums

[rendezvous 0]

Is landing into a stadium a tough thing considering there is so much of open space to come into.
Why is it such a special thing. Shouldn't it be like a routine landing.

[billvon 2,463]

It is one of the toughest demos you will ever do.
1) The winds _will_ change when you hit the lip of the stadium. You will most likely see zero or counter winds on landing.
2) Believe me, it looks a lot smaller under canopy. You don't have much room for an approach and there are no outs whatsoever.
3) Many stadiums have wires to hold foul ball nets, banners etc. These are invisible during approach.
4) If your choice is to do something that may kill you, or go into the crowd, you have to be mentally prepared to take the first choice. That's not easy.
5) You will likely be jumping a larger F111 canopy that you have less experience on. (ZP's, even big ones, are a mistake. I learned that the hard way.)
6) If you jump at night the lights will be blinding, especially because you will need night vision during the jump itself.
7) You will be under sufficient pressure that good judgement is more difficult, especially if the jump is a paid demo.
They are doable, and you can do them safely. However, they take a lot of preparation, practice and experience, and are absolutely unforgiving. We average one serious/fatal accident a year at stadiums around here, generally with military demo teams.
-bill von

[chicagoskydiver 0]

Here's my take on it. It is wide open, but it's completely surrounded by landing hazards that aren't present at the dz...stands and spectators mainly. No room to have an off landing here, and we've all had one at one time or another. Plus, I would think that the likelihood of turbulence would be much greater inside a stadium, which gives you a smaller landing area if you want to stay away from it. Also, I think another concern is that the crowd watching a demo at a stadium typically expects pin point accuracy, so I would guess being a good accuracy jumper is important for good PR. I may be totally off base, but those are my thoughts on the matter.
Hackey

[Shark 0]

Bill is right on. Watching the Leap Frogs jump into the "Q" at San Diego stadium is really cool, but can be pretty gnarly if you're the one coming out of a Tri-by-side or a downplane, then setting up for the approach. Needless to say, those dudes are bad-ass. I'll stick to the Little League fields if I land off the DZ; although the Lake Elsinore stadium does look tempting............

[pyke 0]

billvon is right, as said before. I was doing security at a stadium in NZ when the RAF Parachute team was do land on the grass....
well...only on jumper made it to the stadium due to the winds....and he landed on the roof and slipped off onto the ledge of the office about 12' feet down from his point of contact (had that not been there...he would have *based* a 60' ledge - prolly to either his demise, or serious injury)...two others landed uneventfully on the sidewalk on the stree near the stadium and one landed in the back yard to a house on the edge of the stadium's side streets....falling through a (of all things to watch out for!!) a CLOTHESLINE and breaking his leg seriously!!
So, if you have perfect conditions (and we all have been around long enough to know those can't be determined prior to jumping...only on final) you can pull it off...but as even the military show time and time again...even the experienced can encounter problems and/or death.
Wait until you are a *very experienced* jumper....be ground crew for a couple of demos into stadiums...listen, learn...then one day you might get invited on one and get a PRO rating!! Then report back...we'd love to hear about it!!
Kahurangi e Mahearangi,
Pyke
NZPF A - 2584
USPA C- ?????

[Iflyme 0]

I caught a glimpse of a jumper hooking it in on a stadium jump on RealTV at work the other day ... it was awful -- he did a low turn, was up beside the canope when he hit, and actually bounced a good metre into the air, sat up, then flopped over. As the volume was down, I did not hear the commentary, but it clear to me that this person was busted up real bad... Does anyone have furthur info on who this jumper was and how seriously he was injured?

[herv 0]

I saw the same show on realTV. The jumper lived but busted his leg in two places