stuck in a updraft

[HeatherObscura 0]

So on my last jump i got stuck in the air under canopy for about 25 minutes and i had no idea that was possible..

so heres the story
first of all ill preface this by saying i was jumping a 240 which is HUGE for me (im 130 lbs) but the only student rig that was left at the time..
On the way to altitude, an instructor told me to pull a little low because he thought it was going to storm and it was getting really cloudy. Up until this point i was pulling at 5 but i hummed it down to 4 on this jump. Canopy opens pretty good, a line twist or two, i look around me and theres just dark clouds so i try to just make s turns on top of my landing area so i dont get blown away somewhere...i look at my alti, and i seem to be stuck at 2000 ft for a few minutes. Make a few more s turns, getting nervous, look at my altimeter again and it says 3000 ft..holy shit, i thought my alti broke but then i realized the ground was getting smaller AND the wind had picked up in the complete opposite direction of the landing pattern i planed. i knew i could do some spirals to lose altitude but there was so much turbulence that i didnt want to induce any line twists or anything.. i thought i was going to be stuck in the sky forever. My legs were going numb and i saw lightning. I gathered myself together, got away from the clouds and eventually got to the ground. i stood up my landing but my legs were totally asleep and i walked goofy for a while till i got the blood flowing back through...all was well in the end, got some good advice and i have to say that was a definite learning experience, i just wish someone had told me that was not only possible, but very likely for the conditions.

next time when i look out one side of the plane at 10 grand and theres a big black cloud..i think ill ride the plane down

[JohnRich 4]

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On the way to altitude, an instructor told me to pull a little low because he thought it was going to storm and it was getting really cloudy...

It seems to me that if the instructor has to give you this kind of advice, then he should have just told you to ride the plane down instead. If he was that concerned about oncoming storm clouds, then he shouldn't have put you out into that air to begin with.

But what do I know, I'm not an instructor.

[west33freefall 0]

Yeah I am newly licensed I probably wouldn't have jumped. Especially with a big freakin sail like that student canopy. Wind is so important with big canopys. Even the small ones are affected but can get more drive and control out of them. I jump a semi-eliptical 170 and I get caught in thermals every now and then. Start studying weather. I am a pilot too and the weather knowledge of being a pilot helps a lot in decisions and understanding what is going on around you. Good job on getting the job done!

Blue skies!

[councilman24 36]

Getting caught in a thunderstorm is very dangerous and can be fatal. A friend and experienced jumper got caught in a front coming in and landed several miles away and was drug through a fence. This can happen no matter what the wing loading.

There are a couple of ways to get stuck in the air. Your were stuck in local weather conditions causing uplift. Be aware that in that situation a top priority should be to get to the ground, short of cutting away. (newbies ignore the following; I can envision a situation where I would cutaway to get down. But I don't expect to ever make a mistake to get in that situation) Spirals on a large student canopy are probably not going to induce line twists. Trying to beat the front is always a bad idea. You shouldn't have been put out but you've survived to learn the lesson. Ride it down. Sometimes that may mean the airplane can't land at the DZ either and has to divert to anothe airport.

You can also get caught in the air in thermal uplift. That may not be common in Florida but in the midwest we can get over a plowed, dark, farm field and find local thermal lift. Students can do it inadvertantly. Usually you need to turn to stay in it so student don't stay in the lift for too long. Longer when we were using rounds. Experienced people, before most were jumping pocket rockets, could do it on purpose. Tought to find enough lift to go up, but to stay at one level wasn't too tough.

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

[HeatherObscura 0]

weather for dummies here i come!

[Fast 0]

Glad you learned the "Don't try to beat storms lesson" safely. Not to say I haven't been there a few times myself. I have made the right decision a few times as well though. One load went up (I didn't) only 1 person landed on the DZ. Another guy lost his cutaway handle when he chopped after landing to prevent being dragged.

All kinds of havoc can be met trying to beat storms!

~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

[Chubba 0]

Talk about getting onto a smaller canopy.

I had similar problems (150lbs) on high wind days with the 240+ canopies.

Once I setup my final @ 900ft, DIRECTLY above the treeline / 30ft from the target.

Still landed in front of the target In 900ft of decent I barely moved foward 5 - 10ft and nearly landed in tree's.

[Rover 9]

In Aussie in the early 80s a CRW team got sucked up into a storm cell resulting in 1 guy getting sucked up to 12 grand or so before he chopped. From memory he opened his reserve at about 1500 ft still in cloud and was fortunate not to get sucked up again.

2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

[danielcroft 2]

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weather for dummies here i come!

I didn't get on a load last weekend because of an incoming front. I'm not good enough to deal with crazy weather.

I wasn't there obviously so I don't know and I'm a NOOB but sounds to me like you should have pulled off the load, ridden the plane down given that you were on and your instructor should have had you stay on. Weather is unpredictable though and hindsight is 20/20. With a more highly loaded student canopy you may not have had this issue.

Lesson learned and you're safe, that's a very good thing.

[mrbiceps 0]

good post. i never knew this was possible. our student rigs are 240 also but i weight 90kgs though. a few weeks ago i did my stage 4 and the wind was a bit narly. the instructor said it was borderline and I was offered to do stage 5 and told the instructor that i like my ankles the way they are pointed now. So i went home. i am a experienced scuba diver also and some days you have to admit that the weather has beaten you. thats when the xbox gets turned on

[danielcroft 2]

I've been riding a motorcycle a few years now, I think that's where I get the "it's time to sit down" training from.

... I have a PS3 though

[Oke 0]

What you experienced was convection or more commonly noted as a thermal. You can think of a thermal as a rising colum of air which is warmer than the surrounding air. As this air rises it cools and eventually will condense into what you see as a nice puffy cumulus cloud.

The theory of what comes up, must come down still stands. As this colum of rising air is going up, the air surrounding this colum is falling. It’s on a mission to replace what went up. As you can not just have air disappear into … thin air .

This sinking air surrounding the rising column of air is depicted by blue skies above. Keeping drift into account the cumulus cloud may not be directly above you as this column can be on a slant … same goes for blue skies or the sinking air.

But generally speaking …. If you wanna stay up in the air … seek puffy flat bottomed cumlus clouds and circle beneath them. Usually spotted by freshly plowed fields, ashfault, anything that looks like it will give off heat. If you wanna get down … seek BLUE!

With one jump under my belt, and a couple hundred hours of soaring … I do however have an idea about lift

-Adam Oke

[HeatherObscura 0]

that makes a lot of sense, thanks...now i just need to learn how to fly a plane

[Oke 0]

The addiction of power flying and gliding is far more expensive. I say do it! ... but don't say I didn't warn yea about the debt/eating KD for years on end.

Come september I'm about to splurge on the skydiving addiction I picked up 2 years ago on the first jump . Time to get solo!

-Adam Oke

[MarkM 0]

Welcome to the wonderful world of being a lightweight jumper. You're going to just have to be a little more aware of the weather than the guys with the pocket rockets, since you'll be at a lower wingloading for awhile.

But I'd recommend getting your own gear soon. Your legs shouldn't be falling asleep on a long canopy ride. People do high altitude hop and pops all the time at Sebastian and with a comfortable harness it's not a problem being in the air for a long ride.

[HeatherObscura 0]

my legs falling asleep seems to be a common theme for me..i guess im just in an ill fitting harness but almost every canopy ride is uncomfortable. Im financing my own gear but im not ready to downsize yet...ive been flying a 200 when its available but on this particular day 240 was the smallest student rig that wasnt being used.

[MarkM 0]

Yeah, wait until you're ready to downsize. My guess is you'll end up buying gear that can fit a 150 and 130. That'd last you quite awhile.

Also if they don't have anything smaller than a 200 at Deland, Sebastian does. They have a couple rentals with 170's you can play on when you get to that point.

[Shawndiver 0]

Congrats on arriving alive!
Be aware that cloud suck can easily overpower any canopy manouevers to lose altitude (short of cutting away). I have experienced cloud suck on a hang glider that, despite having the bar at my knees (which normally would produce a screaming dive) I was still going up at almost 1000' per minute. I managed to get out past the edge of the cloud before I was actually sucked up into it, and then realized that those nice puffys I had been playing with were rapidly developing into cu-nims! Getting some weather education and being able to recognize the potential for changing weather conditions should be required in any aviation related activity!

And yes, thermaling under normal conditions in a parachute/paraglider/hang glider can be a ton of fun!

Cheers,

Shawn

_________________

[BillyMongilly 0]

Being the pilot or JM should have called off the jump is beside the point now.

A copule of things to remember if you get stuck under canopy for awhile, like in a cross-country dive: If your legs feel like they're going to sleep, try tucking your legs up and repositioning your leg straps. Just don't mess with the snaps! :)

How high are we going? Oh about 9000. Oh Mr. Pilot! How high are we going? Oh about 12000! That's the ticket!

[mrbiceps 0]

If the gear u are using is unfomfy try this. When my buddy told me this tip it changed my jumps completely. I used to be under canopy with my legs straight down and you could hold a straight edge down my back to the backs of my legs.
Now as soon as i open i reach under my bum and pull the straps a few inches down the back of my legs and bend at the waist and kind of sit back in the harness. A bit like sitting in a chair. this takes the pressure off the straps from being in your crotch to the back of your legs which is alot more comfy. hope this helps.

[voltage 0]

In a thunderstorm the updrafts are usually followed by downdrafts when it has reached the mature stage. These mixed up- and downdrafts create strong turbulance (windshear) in the air and gusty strong winds on the ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm#Life_cycle

I really enjoy watching thunderstorms from the ground, they are a big spectacle and an impressive demonstration what mother nature is capable of. And in the summer its nice and cool after the thunderstorm has passed

[JCulver 0]

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Im financing my own gear but im not ready to downsize yet....

A little off topic here....but how are you financing your own gear? Are you doing it thru a bank or will one of the manufactures hold the account for you?

I've never heard of this before.

[HeatherObscura 0]

20% down payment, 100 dollar payments a month...free gear rental in the meantime

all through the dropzone

[Freeflaw 0]

I recently managed to do this with my 190 sabre2. Sweet deal for the last load of the day. Otherwise probably a bad idea to float around in an updraft for 20 mins over the dropzone on a busy wknd. Fun Stuff.

[kimemerson 7]

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On the way to altitude, an instructor told me to pull a little low because he thought it was going to storm and it was getting really cloudy...

It seems to me that if the instructor has to give you this kind of advice, then he should have just told you to ride the plane down instead. If he was that concerned about oncoming storm clouds, then he shouldn't have put you out into that air to begin with.

But what do I know, I'm not an instructor.

Well I am an instructor and you're right. I can't see telling a student to pull below their designated pull altitude unless it's part of the normal progression of training. But especially when coming in and that's the reason for the lower pull. Any instructor worth the rating should have scratched you off the load and possibly even suggested the whole load stay down. Even though you were on a large canopy and that had its effect on you, in the conditions you describe anyone else could have had their own trouble too. Trust me, you never need to skydive. It's ok to stay down and live to jump another day. Glad you walked away, though.