Kiting a canopy / Groundlaunching experience

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to share an experience I had this weekend.

I took my skydiving canopy out in the snow to play in the wind. I just wanted to kite it and see how it handled, get used to the risers etc... The least that I can say is that kiting the canopy is not the hard part....

I went out Friday evening. The winds were blowing at about 20km/h and it was very easy to fly the canopy and everything went well. I did that for about an hour in a large open field.

Saturday, I noticed the wind had picked up considerably and since the night before everything went well, I thought why not try it in higher winds.

So here I am in a large open field, winds are 29km/h, gusting to 40 km/h and I'm in the middle of it with a 135sq/ft canopy. Opened up the canopy, kited it just fine, got lifted up about 2 or 3 feet a few times, played around with the risers and brakes and all WAS going well until....

So I was getting tired as it was a fairly good workout to hold the canopy in that wind, I was causing traffic to backup because everyone was slowing down to look, and I wanted to go home so I could leave to go snowboarding. This is when the problem started. I figued stalling the canopy would be the best way to get it to the ground...not so much. All it did was put the 135sq feet of canopy directly against the wind. It did not simply deflate. So I spent the next 15 minutes fighting with the canopy, trying to get it to collapse. Tried stalling it on rears, no go, tried full brakes, no go, tried one toggle, no go, front risers, no go. I'm starting to get worried at this point because I'm about 50 feet away from a barbed wire fence that I'm getting dragged towards and cannot collapse my canopy. Not to mention that if I made it over...or through the fence I would now have to contend with crossing a street, then another barb wire fence. I was really getting scared, now 20 feet from the fence, I realized I either had to chop, or get it under control. I was completely exhausted at this point. I held it in a full stall, which held it mostly from dragging me, but still not collapsed. I grabbed a toggle with one hand and started wrapping it around my free hand to get the canopy to me. I figured If I can grab the nylon it can't possibly fly, I was right. I managed to get the canopy under control, and pick it up with tonnes of snow and threw it into my car. I was only 10 feet from the fence that would have destroyed my canopy, or my canopy and myself. I had so much snow in my car but didn't give a damn at that point. Got home, brushed out my car, hung my canopy up in my living room and went snowboarding.

LESSONS:

1-Know exactly how to collapse your canopy.
2-Stay away from "obstacles", including fences and roadways.
3-Don't go when the wind is gusting so much, start slow.
4-Don't groundlaunch until you are VERY proficient on the ground.
5-Understand that you will likely be dragged and ruin your gear, thankfully I was in the snow in a grassy field.

I'm sure that there is so much more to be learnt, but I have to get back to work. Feel free to comment. I posted this to share my experience, and hopefully someone else who is interested in kiting will read it and take a step back.

I'm done kiting for a while now...and I think 25km/h is my limit for winds now.

Chris

EDIT: Typos... and I forgot to mention that I drove my car in the ditch while trying to park. I tried to move as far off the road as I could, then it slipped off the shoulder and sung in... I managed to get out on my own after about 5 mins. Thank god for winter tires.

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[diablopilot 2]

Pulling one control line hand over hand untill you pull the tail into your hand will kill a canopy pretty quick. It's something you should have remembered from your FJC.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[billvon 2,400]

Drop the risers (or cut the canopy away if you're in a harness) and hang on to the toggles. The canopy will get to the limit of the control lines and then collapse with its tail to the wind.

[stayhigh 2]

last time i try kiting at 35+ plus wind, i was like sec close to cutting it away...

pulling on the toggles don't work when the wind howls at 35+

with big canopy+windblade ripping wind=dragging time...

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[hookitt 0]

So what you're saying...

After the fact, it was fun!

Definitely too much wind. Try kiting outside the harness. Stand backwards. If you can't control it, it's too windy. If it's too windy, let go.

Let go of one brake and start reeling in the other one. It will fly to the ground. Be prepared to run after it while reeling in the toggle. Or, do what billvon said. hold the toggles and cutaway.

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[tdog 0]

Also... Which way were you pulling???

Think of a childhood kite above your head. If you want the kite to rise you need either MORE wind - or you PULL against it.

If you want it to crash, you need LESS wind - or you need to RUN towards it...

Half the people I see fighting their canopies in the wind are doing exactly the wrong thing, trying to pull against it in a tug of war contest. The canopy will win.

As everyone said, pull in a toggle until you have fabric in your hand, while running TOWARDS the canopy. That way all the A, B, C, D lines go slack while you fold the canopy flat in the wind. (Think of your hand out the car window facing up and down vs facing left and right... Which one has more drag.

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[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Hey,

Thanks for all the input. I wasn't terribly worried about having to chop the main because I knew I could get it up flying again and walk backwards.

The fear came when I got too close to the fence I didn't want to risk attempting to get it flying again for fear of getting dragged into the fence.

In reponse to the comments about pulling a toggle. I agree, this was learnt in my FJC which is why that's the first thing I tried. The problem was that the canopy tended to keep flying anyways. It would dive and turn, then stay inflated with the end cell was against the ground. It was an awkward situation. I explained it fairly simply above to keep things short.

I think the advice about chopping while holding onto 1 or both of the brake lines would work pretty well. Anyone know if chopping and holding onto 1 riser would essentially do the same thing? If it didn't work, the worst I could do is let go of the riser.

Great learning experience though. I would be very hard pressed to jump in wind that high, so I can't see myself in that situation, but if I ever am, I feel confident that I have a few different options.

Thanks

Chris

EDIT: I also know that fighting the canopy will keep it inflated, but "theoretically" I would have to run at least 29kph to catch the canopy....And being that I was 10 feet from a fence...wasn't going to risk it. The canopy was never dragging me out of control, I was always on my feet or ass, but I just couldn't collapse it.

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[tdog 0]

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I think the advice about chopping while holding onto 1 or both of the brake lines would work pretty well. Anyone know if chopping and holding onto 1 riser would essentially do the same thing? If it didn't work, the worst I could do is let go of the riser.

No, it will keep the canopy inflated. The reason, you are keeping tension on 1/2 the A, B, C and D lines.

Want proof... My swoop video edit: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2722 has a classic kite by only holding risers intro...

Also, paragliders learn to kite holding on to risers (by some teachers) before they strap in, because they can always let go.

And I disagree about your theory you have to run 29 kph towards the canopy in 29kph winds. Yes you have to run fast while pulling in a toggle, but your goal is to reduce tension on the A's, you don't have to completely go as fast as the wind, pulling the toggle at the same time does most of the work.

[dorbie 0]

Yup canopy airspeed while kiting is affected by the load on the wing.

From a loaded wing yank your rear risers or haul in your brakes while moving backwards (if you use brakes keep hauling them in, if you use rears grab the lines as far above the risers as you can). The wing has momentum it will not instantly react but it will be fast.. If it's windy you have to collapse AND move back and commit or you'll be dragged, and you have to complete both, it's no use pussying around on your brakes you'll wind up on your ass getting taken for a ride.

Collapsing one side or trying to turn the wing can be very bad, your canopy can spin and leave you in a strong wind with riser twists or slam the open cells into the ground and blow open your cells destroying the wing. Even if it works you still need to haul in your trailing edge somehow or you'll still be on your ass ground-surfing behind the sail you just made.

You can try to bring the canopy down to your side and get behind it (some people call this a cobra or reverse cobra). Basically using your brakes you fly your canopy still pointed into the wind down to your side as you transfer your weight in the opposite direction to load it from the side instead of vertically, it is still flying into the wind. You should be able to touch the ground and start to collapse the lower cells, then you can move quickly round behind the fabric to collapse it.

The other approach is to kite with a friend, they can take your brakes and collapse for you or get behind the wing and grab the trailing edge & generally deforming the wing.

It's best to avoid strong gusty wind, even when experienced. Wind has a speed gradient so you're often raising your wing into even stronger wind 20ft above the ground.

[dorbie 0]

P.S. you should be wearing gloves, otherwise you may discover the amazing flesh burning/cutting powers of your lines.

[bluesidedown 0]

Just a note on the 'cutaway while holding one toggle' idea:

I played with kiting my canopy last winter... it was fun stuff for sure. I'd camp out on top of this local hill at night when the wind was right, and just kite until my hands went numb.

Anyways, one night I thought it'd be cool to test the ol' cutaway system- just to get a little confidence in it. I thought that the best and most realistic way to see it go would be to hang on to one toggle and let 'er rip.

So I grab my left toggle and cha-chink...

When I saw every line except the left steering line be absorbed straight into the middle of the canopy as it folded into itself, I realized I really learned the hard way that night. That night I spent about a half hour untangling things. I thought it was going to take three times as long, so I was lucky.

I'd recommend grabbing one riser instead of a steering line before chopping on the ground, so that you keep your canopy, while giving it enough slack to deflate to a more managable sail.

[Guinness_fr 0]

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I'd recommend grabbing one riser instead of a steering line before chopping on the ground, so that you keep your canopy, while giving it enough slack to deflate to a more managable sail.

Grabbing one riser will allow one half of the canopy to stay inflated, this can still lead to injuries
Untangling your canopy does no harm and is good practice

[dorbie 0]

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I'd recommend grabbing one riser instead of a steering line before chopping on the ground, so that you keep your canopy, while giving it enough slack to deflate to a more managable sail.

Grabbing one riser will allow one half of the canopy to stay inflated, this can still lead to injuries
Untangling your canopy does no harm and is good practice

I agree, some canopies are also likely to spin up like a whirling dervish if you do this. If you're gonna try this at the very least grab one rear riser and grab it high, probably up on the lines. You may still end up with a ball 'o crap (TM).

In general chopping is not a good plan unless you're in real trouble, you basically lose a significant element of control over your canopy. You unload it but what does that do? It reduces the air speed (wind speed stays the same) so unless you actively collapse it you lose it or you have to load it with your hands instead of your harness. It's a bad option.

Learn to ground handle, build up w.r.t. wind speed, avoid strong wind, if you get caught in wind grab high on your rear lines or brakes and yank them in backing towards your canopy, and don't do it half heartedly.

Wear gloves.

By all means chop if you get into trouble, grabbing high on one rear riser/lines is probably the best option if you feel the need to do this.

P.S. learn to reverse kite, this will make controlled collapse on brakes or rears much easier. you'll be facing your canopy walking towards it instead of being pulled back wondering what your wind is doing. This makes a HUGE difference.

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Hey,

Just thought I'd add an update and some clarification.

I was wearing gloves during this, otherwise I can almost guarantee that my hands would be sliced to shit. I was actually reverse launched the whole time. I knew this way I could see what my canopy was doing.

I have since launched a few more times and also gone down a small sliding hill. I have kited a few more times in lesser winds and not so gusty. The 2 times i tried launching down a hill, I specifically chose a day where there was enough wind to inflate my canopy, but not much else. I also chose a hill that was about 150 feet long and had a pretty shallow slope, with no obstacles. My purpose in doing that was not actually to get airborne, but to fly my canopy while running and get used to it that way. I made about 15 runs the first time getting zero airtime. The second time I made about 10 runs and got a bit of air. A "bit" is equal to about 5 seconds without ground contact and maybe 4 feet off the ground. (All of this was done in fresh powdered snow..)

Either way, it's getting much better and I'm still taking it very slow. I actually found that my Spectre is very sensitive to stall when on the rears rather than the toggles. I tried a few runs on each and got much better results on toggles than on risers. I'm sure on a bigger(steeper) hill, the rears would be better.

Thanks

Chris

"When once you have tasted flight..."