Rounds - what were they like to land ?

[RMK 3]

Seeing some of the D-Day Anniversary events today; was thinking that I've never actually seen anyone land a round.

Roughly understand that there was a small slit in the back that you could (in limited manner) control some direction. When you landed did you want to be head on or at slight angle to get a good PLF going?

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[GooniesKid 0]

RMK

Seeing some of the D-Day Anniversary events today; was thinking that I've never actually seen anyone land a round.

Roughly understand that there was a small slit in the back that you could (in limited manner) control some direction. When you landed did you want to be head on or at slight angle to get a good PLF going?

According to the internet it kinda goes like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnvb7QvjhF0

[rifleman 61]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnvb7QvjhF0


FIFY

Atheism is a Non-Prophet Organisation

[Amazon 7]

rifleman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnvb7QvjhF0


FIFY

He had other things on his mind....

[councilman24 36]

Friend of mine just made his first round jump after a couple thousand jumps. Didn't believe my spot and hung out too long. 195 under phantom 28 was just fine. BPA allows.it not.hard.to.find out Put an old round reserve on 3ring risers with a bag and a throw out PC and put it your sport rig.

Routinely stood up.when 170lbs under a 35 ft T10 like in the video. On occasion stood up Paracommander. And with modern round reserves you have control. Last time I jumped one was 18 years after the previous round jump. Hit pea pit from 5000ft. exit and 1/2 mile out. But landing approach starts at opening.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[SecondRound 0]

Made 6 round jumps back in 1977. I have been back jumping for just over a year now and my take is, "my worst landing under a square was just an average Round

[craddock 0]

I have never jumped nor have much desire to jump a round but here is a funny thing relating to them. I bought a ram air Sharpchuter 244 that I was going to use for Base when I only had a few jumps. ( Couple local people who are both gone now where doing A's with Furys and what not). Only jumped it twice but the Placard said something like "This is a high performance Ram Air canopy. You must have a minimum of 500 jumps......"

Then I was at a Boogie where they were offering round jumps for those nostalgic souls. Requirement was that you had to have a minimum of 500 jumps!! LOL. How times have changed. And this was 14 years ago

That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

[airtwardo 6]

What were they like to land?

Well - when you're 240 pounds nekid with 40 pounds of gear on ya & jumping a 'high-performance' 24 foot competition canopy...you wear really good jump boots because you hit the planet just a hair under terminal.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Krip 2]

airtwardo

What were they like to land?

Well - when you're 240 pounds nekid with 40 pounds of gear on ya & jumping a 'high-performance' 24 foot competition canopy...you wear really good jump boots because you hit the planet just a hair under terminal.

Peas or die

One Jump Wonder

[Usetawuz 1]

Damn!! You make me feel OLD!!!

_________________________________________
The older I get, the better I was!

[airtwardo 6]

Krip

***What were they like to land?

Well - when you're 240 pounds nekid with 40 pounds of gear on ya & jumping a 'high-performance' 24 foot competition canopy...you wear really good jump boots because you hit the planet just a hair under terminal.

Peas or die


Yup, I always scored pretty good in accuracy competitions...the judges would tend to back off a fair distance when I'd approach the pit going the same speed as your average iron core meteor...

Either that or they figured since I walked away from THAT ~ I was pretty hard to kill & they didn't want me 'questioning' their distance from target assessment.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[GooniesKid 0]

rifleman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnvb7QvjhF0


FIFY

Thank you! You'd figure in this day and age of advanced technology, the browser would automatically put the url brackets as soon as you paste a url right? I keep on forgetting

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

I keep on forgetting

r

No...you're just untrainable.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[jimjumper 25]

I was about 230 when I bought my first rig. To jump a square you had to have 50 jumps. The school was using ragged out 35' T10's and my landings were pretty rugged. I bought a 27' Russian PC which landed me much better so I'd survive getting off student status. The reserve was a 24' flat (non-steerable). While I was being trained on my shot and half cutaways, the Instructor recommended, not entirely in jest, that I not cutaway from anything better than a streamer!

[BIGUN 1,050]

I remember them more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2_RZZ8hx4

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[SivaGanesha 2]

RMK

Roughly understand that there was a small slit in the back that you could (in limited manner) control some direction. When you landed did you want to be head on or at slight angle to get a good PLF going?

Most of my early jumps from 1983-1985 were under Sierra round canopies--which are quite different from square canopies but also, I think, not quite the same as the parachutes used in WW2 on D-day, etc.

The Sierra had some forward speed but not as much as a square--you could certainly steer it with toggles and control what direction you were going. Unlike a square it didn't create any lift, so you didn't so much fly it as just ride it down to the ground.

It had some advantages, though. I found it easier to focus on the PLF than with a square because, when landing, basically ALL you did was focus on doing a good PLF. That's different from a square where you have to simultaneously focus on doing a good flare. You set up into the wind and focused on the PLF. Landing seemed to me a more passive process--feet and knees together and look out at the horizon--whereas with a square there is a lot you have to be doing actively.

After awhile I was able to occasionally do a stand up landing under a round by pulling down on the back risers, but most landings were PLF's.

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[JohnnyBoulder 1]

I jumped a round 110 times back in 82-83 when I was in high school. I was working as a bus boy so bought a dirt cheap rig with round parachutes, shot and a half cutaway system. I had a Sparrow 24' canopy. Yes, you could turn it and it had a bit of forward speed, but mostly you were at the mercy of light winds and a good spot. I was 17-18 so landings were just a tumble like you might do today when you PLF and did not hurt me being so young. Although rounds come down, not so much forward. I stood mine up all the time. You had to time it just right, but you could wrench down on the rear risers and cup the air for a split second just before your feet touched down. If I did that now it would really hurt the back.

[chuteless 1]

I have jumped rounds from 1962 to 1972, and beyond. I like the Para Commander, which if you speed packed it, you could open as low as you wanted to. openings at 200 feet to 500 feet were great, especially if someone on the ground was below you...they usually thought you weren't going to open at all.

I loved the rounds for a reserve. belly mounted, they were nice to see go up and blossom before your eyes.


Made for a great demo.

That was a great canopy, better than any square. Ive had many rounds of various makes, but the P.C. was the best.


BILL COLE D-41 Canada

[wmw999 2,116]

Oh thank you for posting that
The nicest thing about rounds is how quiet they are. You're really floating down.
I jumped a starlite last fall. Landed about thirty feet from the peas. Definitely did a PLF. I made about 500 round jumps back in the day, mostly on the starlite. But now I think I'll stay with my stiletto.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[gunpaq 1]

Rounds-what were they like to land? Well, I can tell you what they were like to land for my then young 185lbs? My 24' flat circular unmodified rerserve canopy landed me a little softer than a meteor. My 28' 7-TU canpoy landed me like a ton of bricks. Working my way up to my rented 32" lopo which landed like jumping off a 4" high porch. My friend the T-10 7-TU landed about just right and most always with a good PLF and every once and a while a stand up. My fancy dancy red Para-Commander was the cats meow and got me to where I wanted to land and only required a fall down immitation PLF when not standing it up. What I appreciated most about landing a round canopy was the relative certainty that I risked injuty upon landing and not death as we experience today with the highly loaded "square" canopies when mistakes are made.

www.geronimoskydiving.com

[riggerrob 558]

airtwardo

What were they like to land?

Well - when you're 240 pounds nekid with 40 pounds of gear on ya & jumping a 'high-performance' 24 foot competition canopy...you wear really good jump boots because you hit the planet just a hair under terminal.

....................................................................................

Why were you so mean to the planet?
Hah!
Hah!

[riggerrob 558]

Not all rounds have "slits in the back."
The army still jumps non-steerable rounds.
Given their most common scenario (below 500 foot exit altitude, ruck-sack, rifle and snow-shoes, in a snow-storm, on a DZ you have never jumped before, in a country you never heard of before, where they don't speak a language that you understand, against an enemy you never heard of before, etc.) 300 or more scared young soldiers in the air at the same time, most of whom might have done one jump during the past year .... steerable canopies would cause more casualties than the Taliban.
By the time you have "checked canopy" you have less than a minute to lower your ruck-sack and rifle and snow-shoes and clamp your knees together for landing.
Forget about steering way from obstacles, because you probably cannot see them in the dark.

[GD64 1]

Rounds pound.......600 hundred or so jumps on old military surplus canopy.
Great canopy for humming it :)
However, it sucked in the wind.

[sralston 0]

If you are talking about jumping rounds (T-7s or T-10s) in the military, it goes something like this. You are packed into an aircraft with 63 other jumpers in a C130 or 143 jumpers in C141. You have a 35 pound of chute on your back and a 12 pound reserve on front. If you are jumping equipment, than add anywhere between 30 to 120 pounds to you. Don’t forget the helmet that was in no way designed for parachute operations! Also, the sardine can (the aircraft) is doing a low altitude run and it only takes one jumper to start getting everyone sick!

Once you stand up (10 mins out!) and the door opens, it is like pure haven. That nice fresh air hits you and it also means you are mostly likely going out! Up to this point took you about 8 to 10 hours. Also, remember that equipment I wrote about. It is pulling on your lower back the entire time you are standing. My back hurts just thinking about it.

Then you hear the (if in the front) those blessed words. “Stand in the Door” and then thirty seconds later “Go” and the train starts to move! The energy of everyone is just staggering! It is truly an awesome experience.

Once you step out the door, all is right with the world. You are now at peace (as long as you counted to four and you have a chute over your head) with the world. That god awful weight is off your shoulders and lower back, and it is so quite!!! I never understood how it could be so quite! The plane you just stepped out of for your 800 foot decent is maybe 300 to 400 yards away once you have a chute over your head. Hell there may be another plane right above you. We talk about landing patterns! I would just pray a lot and hope no one hits me.

But the little piece of heaven only last a few seconds as you realize you are heading towards the earth and you got about 30 seconds! So you look down and hope there is nothing under you. That is if you are luckily and it is a day jump. Most jumps are done at night. So at 200 ft you release your ruck and other heavy equipment and get prepared to do a good parachute landing fall. If you don’t do a good PLF, you most likely will break an ankle. Then 10 seconds later you slam into the ground at the wonderful speed of 22 to 24 feet per second! Plus whatever the wind is moving you at.

Then you have the one other bad news. You usually don’t get to go drink beer afterwards since you will be out in the woods for a few days to a week!

That is why airborne school is three very intense weeks.

Also, don’t forget what paratroopers say about skydiving.
I don’t care how many skydives you have. Until you've stepped out the door of an airplane into complete darkness at 800’ with 120 lbs of combat equipment and 42 pounds of parachute, you are just a F&*king LEG!

[Krip 2]

I'm just a happy leg.

One Jump Wonder